Suchergebnisse

Advocates of proportional representation (PR) often cite its potential for increasing citizen involvement in politics as one of PR's fundamental advantages over plurality or first-past-the-post systems. The assumption is that plurality electoral systems distort the translation of votes into seats, discouraging and alienating small party supporters and other political minorities. In contrast, PR systems are believed to provide greater opportunities for representation which are assumed to instil greater efficacy and increase participation. We examine this theory linking institutions to electoral participation across a diverse set of countries using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Using a multi-level approach we find evidence consistent with the expectations about the negative influence of disproportional systems on political minorities. Voters are also likely to have stronger partisan preferences in PR systems, which enhances political efficacy and increases voter participation. The effects of PR, however, are not all positive; broad coalitions, which are likely to be a feature of these systems, reduce political efficacy.

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between political attitudes, affective polarization, and fertility preferences among married couples in Hong Kong. Using dyadic data from a representative household survey (N = 1586 heterosexually married adults), we investigate how individuals' attitudes toward democracy and levels of affective polarization are associated with their fertility preferences. We also explore the influence of spouses' political attitudes and affective polarization on one's fertility preferences. We found that individuals with stronger support for democracy have lower fertility preferences. This negative association between political attitudes and fertility preferences is further amplified by one's level of affective polarization. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of how political factors shape fertility patterns in the context of dramatic political transitions. This study provides valuable insights into the complex dynamics between political attitudes, affective polarization, and family formation decisions in Hong Kong, which have both theoretical, policy and political implications.

The present dissertation is a compilation of three individual papers, and an introduction chapter. While the introduction lays out the theoretic backdrop of the project as a whole, the papers represent interventions into three specific dimensions of China's Party-state order: structural organizational issues, decision-making institutions, and political economic dynamics. These three dimensions are presented as aspects of the same political organizational order, a Party-state order assembled around the hegemony of the Communist Party of China's (CPC), conceptualized in the introduction using a Gramsci-inspired theory of the state. Employing a historical institutional approach, the three papers engage with specific strands of literatures of China Studies in a conceptual and theoretic manner, while also contributing with empirical findings. They discuss the concept of Fragmented Authoritarianism (FA), the organization and institutionalization of Leading Small Groups, and the social embeddedness of state-owned enterprise (SOE). FA has been an influential concept to explain structural issues of China's bureaucracy, and with China's energy administration as example, I review its value as a theoretic notion today, 30 years after its inception. Discussing the growing importance of Leading Small Groups, the second paper addresses some of the institutional "fixes" to decisionmaking and policy coordination, which have evolved in response to structural fault-lines described in the FA paper. The third paper takes the dissertation into the political economic dimension of the Party-state order, providing a case study of how China National Petroleum Corporation, a central, state-owned and CPC led SOE, is organizationally rooted in its local operations, remaining institutionally embedded in local society through its legacy as a socialist work unit (danwei). Using Polanyi's concept of embeddedness, the paper reveals how SOEs are split into two tiers each tasked with the respective objectives of economic development and political stability, and thus as Party-state organizations are used to flexibly support CPC hegemony.

Contents are grouped under the headings: Bossism: the past and the transition; Interest groups and municipal leadership; Leadership, managers, and "metro"; The municipal leader and the state; Low political visibility, stability, and uncertainty.

Siyasi karar tahakküm-yönetim- strateji ilişkilerini içerir ve kendine has bağımsızlaşma yeteneği vardır. Siyasi kararın egemenlikle rabıtası norm ihdasıyla konumlandığından norm ve istisna eksenleri ayrıntılandırılmış, istisnayı dışlamanın asliliği vurgulanmıştır. Aydınlanmacı tezde normların hakikati temsili, özneler arasındalığılığı üzerinde durulmuş Rawls'un düzeltme girişimine değinilmiştir. Müzakereci ve kararcı tezlerin rasyonal addedilmeyen unsurların siyasi kararlara sızışı bakımından farklılaşmaları irdelenmiştir. Schmitt'in reddettiği norma yakınlık ve meylettiği istisna kuramının ulus muhtevasından gelen tarihi sabiteleri dışlayıcı yapısına buna mukabil liberal tezlerin siyasi karar mimarisi bakımından tam yapısızlaştırmayı hedeflediğine ve Rawls'un nötrleştirici tutumuna değinilmiştir. Düzenlemeci teknik baskınlaştıkça siyasi kararların normla tek biçimli cevap üretimine dönüştüğü, istisna kuramının deneyim ağırlıklı teknikte dirençle karşılandığına değinilmiştir. Siyasi kararın üst limitte egemenlikle olan rabıtasına nazaran neyin norm olduğu ya da istisnai olanla, iç limitte neyin rasyonal olmadığına dair dışlamalarla belirlendiği vurgulanmıştır. ; Political decisions which have an independent nature of their own involve the inter-relationships among domination, administration and strategy. Taking into consideration the approach that establishes the relationship between political decision and sovereignty through instutionalization of norms, exceptions and norms are delineated and exclusion of exceptions is emphasized with regards to Schmitt and Agamben-Benjamin. The representation of reality through norms in the Enlightenment thought and the inter-subjectivity ofthe norms with regards to Habermas is elaborated while the additional revisions brought upon by Rawls are discussed. The differentiation of negotiator and decision maker (as in Schmitt) theories are thoroughly scrutinized with respect to their relevant analysis of infiltration of political decisions by factors which are regarded as irrational. The theories of Schmitt which disregard norm-centric approaches and lean towards theexception-centric theories (which exclude historical constants arising from national content) are mentioned. Rawl's neutralization approach is examined in view of theliberal theories aiming to destructuralize political decision architecture along the abovementioned lines. It is mentioned that, as the regulatory technique becomes more dominant, political decisions take the shape of jurisprudencial uniform answers. It is also discussed that the exceptions approach meets more resistance in experiential processes. What is relevant as norm in view of the relationship between political decision and its upper limits, sovereignty, is also considered. Additionally, it is mentioned that the exceptional factors are determined through the exclusion of what is regarded as "off-limits", namely irrational.

The establishment of autonomous public bodies during the past two decades has created a highly fragmented public sector. Using a dataset with more than 200 Dutch public sector organisations, this article examines three related sets of questions: to what extent a relationship exists between formal and de facto autonomy; the level of influence that interested parties exert upon those organizations; whether a relationship exists between levels of formal and de facto autonomy and the level of influence exercised by these parties. We find that formal autonomy does not reinforce de facto autonomy; organizations with less autonomy report higher levels of political influence when policy autonomy is concerned; and that organizations with more autonomy report higher societal influence on their financial autonomy.

This is the eighth volume of Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy. The series aims to publish some of the best contemporary work in the vibrant field of political philosophy and its closely related subfields, including jurisprudence, normative economics, political theory in political science departments, and just war theory.

This study analyzes how political leaders' material backgrounds affect redistributive policies in democracies. Building on political socialization theory, we argue that politicians with personal experience of economic hardship are more likely to have sympathetic attitudes toward redistribution than those without such experience, particularly where political constraints are weak. We posit that firsthand knowledge of economic hardship helps political leaders understand why the poor need government redistribution, and leads them to support more generous social welfare policies. Analyzing an original dataset of leaders' material background in 74 democratic countries between 1980 and 2011, we find that leaders who experienced economic hardship in their youth increase social welfare spending during their tenure, particularly when political constraints are weak. Following prior studies on leaders' personal experiences and policy outcomes, this study provides a new approach to redistribution and welfare policy.