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This text introduces the special issue that examines the opinions and political behaviour of young people in the three Maghreb countries - Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco - over the last ten years, after the so-called >Arab Spring>. The assumption is that, although young North Africans do not form a homogeneous category and may even defend antagonistic outlooks on society, there are underlying trends that structure this emerging generation. The contributions of this special issue are articulated around three main topics: the construction and the representations of Youth as a social and political category; the political attitudes of young people and their perception of their respective societies in general and of political actors in particular; and finally, on the conflict between, on the one hand, the recognition of their rights and spaces for civic participation and, on the other, their electoral disaffection as reflected by opinion surveys and official data. In other words, this special issue discusses the complexity of the rise of a new generation through their narratives and their practices.

Abstract
The importance of NGO s' participation in poverty alleviation has not only been well documented by extensive studies but also confirmed by rich experience both at the international and national levels. In China, the government officially opened its resources to NGO s in combating poverty in 2005, and NGO s are expected to work as important participants in China's accurate poverty alleviation project, which is the largest anti-poverty campaign launched by the central government since the foundation of PRC. However, empirical data in the paper shows that NGO s' participation in this ambitious project is at best very limited. Drawing from more than 30 interviews and some other sources of data, this paper argues that it is the nature of poverty alleviation in China, which can be defined as political task, that should account for the NGO's limited participation. To be more specific, the excessive workload assumed by the local government deprives officials' motivation to cooperate with NGO s, excluding NGO s out of the poverty alleviation project is also a rational behavior that can avoid risks for officials. Moreover, the over-supplied financial resource also makes the participation of NGO s unnecessary. This research adds more insights to the study on NGO s in China by arguing that the state-society interaction in China is still asymmetrical.

This poster highlights the importance of citizen participation in Peruvian high schools. This poster explains the surrounding elements (two sets of factors) that encourage youth to be more engaged and committed to civic activities. More significant, this poster indicates the effects of political acts of citizen participation, which are also useful and necessary in democratic societies.

Empirical studies clearly show that not only are members of associations more politically active than non-members, but they also take a greater interest in politics and participate more often in political debate. Based on analyses of the correlation between association membership and participation in political discussions, the following article shows that these empirical findings are attributable only in limited measure to the political socialization effects of voluntary organizations. The results of multivariate analyses suggest that it is not so much association membership as early political socialization and education that lead to greater participation in political discussions. Associations do have a politicizing effect, however, chiefly when they afford an opportunity for their members to learn or cultivate organizational and communication skills or the ability to deal with conflict.

"The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) - one of the major innovations of the Lisbon Treaty - allows citizens from April 2012 to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act within the framework of its powers. However, the formal requirements for such an initiative have been set very high: to be successful, an ECI will require a million signatures from at least seven out of twenty-seven member states. While the idea behind the ECI is to address the democratic deficit in the European Union by helping citizens to participate directly in the legislative
process, implementation issues could undermine the effectiveness, relevance and democratic potential of this new instrument." [author's abstract]

THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT THE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE NEW FEDERAL STATES AND THE REORGANIZATION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN LINE WITH PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION GOES HAND IN HAND WITH THE REMASCULINIZATION OF POLITICAL PUBLIC LIFE AND WITH THE RESTRUCTURING OF GENDER RELATIONSHIP INTO A RELATIONSHIP OF DOMINATION: WOMEN IN THE NEW FEDERAL STATES ARE THE "LOSERS OF GERMAN UNIFICATION"--IN SHORT, THIS IS THE RESULT OF THE UNIFICATION PROCESS UNTIL NOW. IT SUGGESTS THAT IN THE SHORT PERIOD OF TIME THAT HAD ELAPSED SINCE THE "WENDE" IN THE FALL OF 1989, MALE DOMINANCE WAS NOT THE CASE RIGHT FROM THE START. THIS STUDY OF POLITICAL CULTURE AND THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE GDR AFTER THE WENDE TAKES INTO ACCOUNT BOTH THE HISTORICAL COMPONENT AND THE SOCIAL COMPONENT.

Examines whether geographic concentration makes individuals in industries exposed to international commerce more likely to mobilize politically; analysis of manufacturers, 1988 and 1990.

AbstractThis paper investigates the relationship between socioeconomic resources and women's political participation, more precisely whether the distinction between individual and household resources helps to identify different mechanisms behind a possible "resource effect". Based on a Bayesian multilevel analysis using the Swiss Election Study 2011, we show that both individual and household resources matter for explaining female electoral participation. However, resource effects must not necessarily be positive: While higher education of women and their partners tend to increase female participation, a demanding job of either the woman and/or her partner rather decreases her propensity to vote. Moreover, the mechanisms behind partner effects are contingent on women's individual resource endowment. While low and medium educated women most strongly profit from higher educational partner resources, i.e. from a compensatory mechanism, the resource "time" seems to particularly confine political involvement of women with both high professional status or no employment.

The article "Chorotega indigenous woman: from the realm of custom to local political participation, contributions from the towns of Madriz and Nueva Segovia", is inscribed in a broader research work titled; The Chorotega peoples, current affairs and changes, 1992-2016. It analyses the case of the five indigenous groups of Madriz and Nueva Segovia as a proposal for a doctoral thesis. This article shows the process developed by the Chorotega people in the region of Nueva Segovia. Here the participation of women has been of great importance in order to strengthen and invigorate traditional representation of structures in indigenous peoples. Ethnographic qualitative techniques such as interviews, focus groups and observation have been fundamental for writing this article. The Chorotega indigenous woman has transcended the normative spaces of custom in the territories and communities, until reaching formal political representation within the municipalities of the Nueva Segovia region. ; El artículo "Mujer indígena chorotega: del espacio de la costumbre a la participación política local, aportes desde los pueblos de Madriz y Nueva Segovia", se inscribe en un trabajo de investigación más amplio titulado; Los pueblos chorotegas, actualidad y cambios, 1992-2016. El caso de los cinco pueblos indígenas de Madriz y Nueva Segovia, como propuesta de tesis doctoral. Este artículo muestra el proceso desarrollado por los pueblos chorotegas de la región de Nueva Segovia, en la cual ha sido de relevancia fundamental la participación de la mujer para fortalecer y dinamizar las estructuras de representación tradicional en los pueblos indígenas. Las técnicas cualitativas tales como entrevistas, grupos focales y la observación como recurso de la etnografía han sido fundamentales para el desarrollo de este artículo. La mujer indígena chorotega ha trascendido los espacios normativos de la costumbre en los territorios y comunidades, hasta llegar a la representación política formal dentro de los municipios de la región de Nueva Segovia.

The article "Chorotega indigenous woman: from the realm of custom to local political participation, contributions from the towns of Madriz and Nueva Segovia", is inscribed in a broader research work titled; The Chorotega peoples, current affairs and changes, 1992-2016. It analyses the case of the five indigenous groups of Madriz and Nueva Segovia as a proposal for a doctoral thesis. This article shows the process developed by the Chorotega people in the region of Nueva Segovia. Here the participation of women has been of great importance in order to strengthen and invigorate traditional representation of structures in indigenous peoples. Ethnographic qualitative techniques such as interviews, focus groups and observation have been fundamental for writing this article. The Chorotega indigenous woman has transcended the normative spaces of custom in the territories and communities, until reaching formal political representation within the municipalities of the Nueva Segovia region. ; El artículo "Mujer indígena chorotega: del espacio de la costumbre a la participación política local, aportes desde los pueblos de Madriz y Nueva Segovia", se inscribe en un trabajo de investigación más amplio titulado; Los pueblos chorotegas, actualidad y cambios, 1992-2016. El caso de los cinco pueblos indígenas de Madriz y Nueva Segovia, como propuesta de tesis doctoral. Este artículo muestra el proceso desarrollado por los pueblos chorotegas de la región de Nueva Segovia, en la cual ha sido de relevancia fundamental la participación de la mujer para fortalecer y dinamizar las estructuras de representación tradicional en los pueblos indígenas. Las técnicas cualitativas tales como entrevistas, grupos focales y la observación como recurso de la etnografía han sido fundamentales para el desarrollo de este artículo. La mujer indígena chorotega ha trascendido los espacios normativos de la costumbre en los territorios y comunidades, hasta llegar a la representación política formal dentro de los municipios de la región de Nueva Segovia.

The chapter provides a view of the ongoing innovation of 'citizen panels' as a method public participation. It shows how recourse to technoscientific modes of political ordering is met by reflexive engagements. Critical academic discourse, direct protest actions, and dedicated assessment exercises work together as a form of informal technology assessment. They counter the emergence of a transnational technocracy of political procedure. A closer look at an assessment exercise on the future development of 'citizen panels', carried out April 2014, reveals the potential and irony of reflexive engagements with technologies of participation. The conclusion extends this to other areas of social innovation. ; BMBF, 01UU0906, Innovation in Governance