Suchergebnisse

Mandated by the Federal Chancellery, the research project VOTO analyses after each federal voting the voting decisions of Swiss citizens. For this purpose, VOTO surveys about 1500 eligible voters all over Switzerland. VOTO is a joint project of the Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences FORS and the Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau (ZDA).

This article investigates the relationship between changes in Italians' policy preferences and parties' and governments' responsiveness. It analyses whether there is a congruence between citizens' policy preferences, on one side, and parties' and governments' ideological positions on the other. The study represents the first attempt to estimate the Italian 'policy mood' adopting a methodology already used for other political systems. We infer public preferences from more than 200 survey questions, administered more than 550 times between 1981 and 2015, which ask respondents to 'take a side' on several controversial domestic policy issues. Empirical results sustain the idea that public opinion acts as a thermostat to balance governments' policy goals; and, at the same time, they provide somewhat stronger evidence for the argument that governments adapt their preferences to changes in public opinion. Finally, it is shown that there is a relationship between citizens' preferences and their voting choices.

We investigated how attitudes towards social equality can influence the relationship between conservation motivation (or openness) and personal ideological preferences on the left-right dimension, and how this relationship pattern differs between Western and Central & Eastern European (CEE) respondents. Using data from the European Social Survey (2012) we found that individual-level of conservation motivation reduces cultural egalitarianism in both the Western European and the CEE regions, but its connection with economic egalitarianism is only relevant in the CEE region where it fosters economic egalitarianism. Since both forms of egalitarianism were related to leftist ideological preferences in Western Europe, but in the CEE region only economic egalitarianism was ideologically relevant, we concluded that the classic "rigidity of the right" phenomenon is strongly related to cultural (anti)egalitarianism in Western Europe. At the same time, conservation motivation serves as a basis for the "rigidity of the left" in the post-socialist CEE region, in a great part due to the conventional egalitarian economic views. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

For decades, academics and observers alike have characterized California as being two separate states with those living in Northern California being socially and politically very different from the citizens of Southern California. More recently, pundits, professors, and politicos have argued that California no longer has a pronounced north-south divide, but rather an inland and coastal division has emerged due to demographic changes that produced a political and geographic partition. Proponents of this inland/coastal view argue that it looks like the liberal blue state and conservative red state divide where the California coast has politically realigned to look like New York while the inland valleys and deserts now look like Texas or the South. Taking advantage of over 60 years of statewide electoral data along with time-series public opinion data, this paper argues that the notion of 'two Californias' is incorrect. Electoral records reveal that California has not turned into a state with deep political-geographic divisions. It is firmly a purple state with regions and localities that are pragmatic and rarely show party line voting and one-sided political behavior. While elite level politicians and organizations may present polarized choices and options and candidates that seemingly lead to occasional electoral results that make regions appear drastically different, greater nuance and a broader analysis of the historical trends reveal a purple California, not red or blue regions in the Golden State.

2016 Summer. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Agriculture's role in the expansion of the United States economy is examined through the analysis of five films and their role in presenting societal issues germane to agricultural production. Early in film's history, the ability to motivate others to understand the need for changes in policy, through the use of persuasive visual, aural, and textual techniques was understood to be important to filmmakers—including those representing government agencies and civic groups. The production and distribution of non-fiction films focused on topics relevant to food and fiber production has kept pace with evolving motion picture production technologies since the first films were released in the early twentieth century. This research project analyzes the context in which these films were produced, how and if production objectives and goals were aligned with societal issues, and whether the expected outcomes were obtained. Research methods include: institutional ethnography/case studies/ethnographic content analysis (including video forensics and hermeneutic data analysis), to identify genre, voice and associated societal issues; in-depth interviews of those involved in the filmmaking where available; historic document analysis using structure of in-depth interviews to interrogate archival materials. The films analyzed here were produced and presented as an aid for agricultural producers, policy makers and agricultural educators to come together to create a shared understanding on what it would take to produce food, fiber and prosperity for their communities, and the nation. These all create not only a sense of accomplishment, but the accumulation of wealth and status for a nation that could not only provide for itself, but have an elevated status as the provider for the global community.

The Lake Wobegon Effect is a general tendency for people to overestimate their own abilities. In this study, the authors conducted a large, nationally-representative survey of U.S. citizens to test whether Americans overestimate their own gun-relevant personality traits, gun safety knowledge, and ability to use a gun in an emergency. The authors also tested how gun control attitudes, political identification, gender, and gun experience affect self-perceptions. Consistent with prior research on the Lake Wobegon Effect, participants overestimated their gun-related competencies. Conservatives, males, and pro-gun advocates self-enhanced somewhat more than their counterparts but this effect was primarily due to increased gun experience among these participants. These findings are important to policymakers in the area of gun use, because overconfidence in one's gun-related abilities may lead to a reduced perceived need for gun training. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Contrary to the focus on the events of the last two years (2014–2015) associated with the accession of Crimea to Russia and military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, in this study, I stress that serious changes in Russian domestic policy (with strong pressure on political opposition, state propaganda and sharp anti-Western rhetoric, as well as the fight against "foreign agents') became visible in 2012. Geopolitical ambitions to revise the "global order" (introduced by the USA after the collapse of the USSR) and the increased role of Russia in "global governance" were declared by leaders of the country much earlier, with Vladimir Putin's famous Munich speech in 2007. These ambitions were based on the robust economic growth of the mid-2000s, which encouraged the Russian ruling elite to adopt the view that Russia (with its huge energy resources) is a new economic superpower. In this paper, I will show that the concept of "Militant Russia" in a proper sense can be attributed rather to the period of the mid-2000s. After 2008–2009, the global financial crisis and, especially, the Arab Spring and mass political protests against electoral fraud in Moscow in December 2011, the Russian ruling elite made mostly "militant" attempts to defend its power and assets.

In Left-Handed Liberty John Arden takes Magna Carta signed between King John and the Barons in 1215, and reinterprets it from a perspective which asserts that it is not, in fact, a milestone on the path to liberty as was officially claimed. Although based on historical documents, Arden's play does not treat history didactically. He is indeed the master of conveying the social and political life of man within the context of real life experiences which always overflow political identities. Hence, for instance, King John is reinterpreted as a weakling rather than a tyrant as the conventional reading of historical documents portrayed him. Taking an unconventional approach to the Great Charter as the "cornerstone" of the path to human rights, John Arden fills in the "opinions" of the important personages partaking in the shaping of the events during the period and adds, as he says in the introduction to the play, "facts" that cannot perhaps be found among the historical documents but are still justifiable within the historical framework of Medieval Europe. ; Left-Handed Liberty adlı oyununda John Arden, Kral John ile Baronlar arasında 1215 yılında imzalanan, Magna Carta adlı belgeye yeni bir yaklaşımla, bu belgenin resmi tarihin belirttiği gibi İngiltere tarihinde özgürlükleri gerçekleştirme yolunda sanıldığı kadar önemli bir dönüm noktası olmadığının, Kral John'ın aslında zalim bir kral olmaktan çok, zayıf bir kişiliğe sahip bir insan olduğunun altını çizer. John Arden oyun kişilerini her zaman toplumsal ve politik gerçek yaşam deneyleri çerçevesinde tarihsel kimliklerini aşan yönleriyle canlandıran usta bir yazardır. Tarihsel belgelere dayanmasına karşın oyun tarihe didaktik bir açıdan bakmaz. Büyük Ferman adıyla da anılan Magna Carta'yı alışılmışın dışında bir yaklaşımla değerlendiren John Arden, oyuna yazdığı Önsözde de belirttiği gibi, o dönemde önemli görevler üstlenmiş olan kişileri yeniden canlandırırken, tarihsel belgelerde rastlanmamakla birlikte Orta Çağ Avrupasının ruhuna uygun bilgiler eklemiştir.

Svjetski su ratovi ostavili neizbrisiv trag ne samo za svog trajanja nego i kasnije. Jedan od načina prilagodbe čestim smjenama političkih režima karakterističnih za češku kulturu i književnost upravo je humor u književnosti. U središtu su ovoga rada tri romana, proizašla iz pera poznatih čeških prozaika: Doživljaji dobrog vojnika Švejka u svjetskom ratu Jaroslava Hašeka, Dvorio sam engleskoga kralja Bohumila Hrabala i Šala Milana Kundere. Koristeći humor kao dominantan književni diskurs, pisci formiraju lik marginaliziranih (anti)junaka koji, usprkos egzistenciji u različitim povijesnim vremenima, ratuju protiv rata. Nijansiranim će postupcima ironije, crnog humora, sarkazma i groteske razoružati rat i okove (poslije)ratnih ideologija – austrijskog imperijalizma, nacizma i socijalizma, svodeći ih pod apsurd. Svevremenost pacifizma koji zagovaraju ova će djela učiniti jednako privlačnima i današnjem krugu čitatelja. ; World wars have left an indelible trace while they lasted as well as in times after them. In Czech culture and literature one of the common ways of adapting to political regime changes is using humour in literary works. The paper focuses on three novels by famous Czech novelists: The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal and The Joke by Milan Kundera. By using humour as dominant literary discourse, the authors created marginalised characters, (anti)heroes who, despite living at different times, disarm the war. Nuanced irony, black humour, sarcasm and grotesque reveal the true face of wars and restraints of (post)war ideologies – Austrian imperialism, Nazism and socialism by treating them as absurd. Timelessness of pacifism which these works promote makes these books appealing to readers even nowadays.

Contrary to the focus on the events of the last two years (2014–2015) associated with the accession of Crimea to Russia and military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, in this study, I stress that serious changes in Russian domestic policy (with strong pressure on political opposition, state propaganda and sharp anti-Western rhetoric, as well as the fight against "foreign agents') became visible in 2012. Geopolitical ambitions to revise the "global order" (introduced by the USA after the collapse of the USSR) and the increased role of Russia in "global governance" were declared by leaders of the country much earlier, with Vladimir Putin's famous Munich speech in 2007. These ambitions were based on the robust economic growth of the mid-2000s, which encouraged the Russian ruling elite to adopt the view that Russia (with its huge energy resources) is a new economic superpower. In this paper, I will show that the concept of "Militant Russia" in a proper sense can be attributed rather to the period of the mid-2000s. After 2008–2009, the global financial crisis and, especially, the Arab Spring and mass political protests against electoral fraud in Moscow in December 2011, the Russian ruling elite made mostly "militant" attempts to defend its power and assets.

The article is devoted to the problem of the revolution impact on the government legitimacy. Revolutions in modern times have become a synonym of a legitimate way of overthrowing the existing government. If in previous historical era in politics the people´s right to riots and uprisings was denied, the current policy recognizes their right to revolution. Without recognition of this right, the revolution is not only deprived of legitimacy, but also the institutions which arise in the process of its implementation lose credibility. ; Посвящается проблеме влияния революции на легитимность власти. Революции в Новое время стали синонимом легитимного способа свержения существующей власти народом. Если в предшествующие исторические эпохи в политике отрицалось право народа на бунты и восстания, то современная политика признает право народа на революцию. Без признания этого права революция не только лишается доказательств ее закономерного характера, но и доверия к институтам власти, которые возникают в процессе ее осуществления.