State Reform and the Civil Service in Argentina : Real or Formal Changes ? Since his election, President Menem has initiated two State reforms (in 1989 and 1996). Beyond calling into question the idea of the state-provider, these reforms are being required to take effect against a back-drop of real revolution in Argentine political culture. The reduction in public expenditure has been realised by rolling-back the state in favour of local authorities and the private sector. The process of decentralisation, which has been pursued since the 1960s, has been accompanied by a significant programme of privatisation. A reorganisation of the public sector has resulted from this. Technical reforms concerning the civil service have, however, led merely to a form of patronage which is more subtle than before. Corruption remains one of the principal preoccupations of Argentine society.
In this paper, the transition to democracy by Eastern European local governments is outlined. First, the 1990 elections are analyzed, the first democratic elections in half a century. Strategies of candidates and parties to gain power, and pressures toward privatization and economic development are discussed, drawing on fieldwork by Eastern European teams in the Local Democracy and Innovation Project. To clarify future directions of these new democracies, eight options are discussed—reliance on the traditional Soviet model, unions, clientelism, ethnic or regional identification, the church, the populist leader, voluntary associations, and the new political culture. These eight options constitute distinct rules of eight separate games. Rather than a single game or model predominating, continuity in these eight over time is expected. Still, the first games are likely to be superseded by those further down the list.
Trotz einiger auffälliger Gemeinsamkeiten und Anzeichen für einen transatlantischen Austausch im Bereich der Schulpolitik bestehen doch recht bedeutende Unterschiede zwischen Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten in der Frage der Politik der freien Schulwahl und der marktorientierten Schulreform. In Großbritannien ist und war Bildungsreform immer sehr viel stärker politisch und ideologisch befrachtet als in den Vereinigten Staaten, wo ähnliche marktorientierte Reformbestrebungen durchaus die Unterstützung beider Parteien gefunden haben. Dies läßt sich zum großen Teil durch nationale Unterschiede in der Gesellschaftsstruktur, der politischen Kultur und der Geschichte und Struktur der jeweiligen Bildungssysteme erklären. (DIPF/Text übernommen) ; Despite some striking similarities and evidence of trans-Atlantic policy exchange, there are quite significant differences between Britain and the United States in the politics of choice and market-oriented school reform. Education reform in Britain has been far more politicized and ideologically charged than in the U.S., where similar market-oriented reforms have enjoyed considerable bipartisan support. National differences in social structure, political culture, and in the history and structure of their respective education systems account for much of the difference. (DIPF/Orig.)
This article examines how three potential effects of television news affect the public's perceptions of candidates. Data are used from the networks' nightly news coverage of each candidate during the 1984 Democratic primary campaign and from the National Election Study's 1984 Continuous Monitoring Survey. The analysis provides support for the existence of candidate-specific attention, horse race, and tone effects on (1) the mass public's assessment of a candidate's attractiveness, (2) people's willingness to vote for a candidate, and (3) judgments about a candidate's likelihood of garnering the nomination. Television coverage of candidates matters but in different ways and to different degrees across candidates. Finally, there is evidence for the power of strong indirect media effects, a testimony to the rapid diffusion of media messages into the wider political culture.
Democratisation and the Labour Movement, by Myriam Désert This study examines the interaction of democratie forces propelled from « above » and reactions from « bellow » at worker level. Moves to stimulate greater labour productivity, raise the awareness of workers of their status as citizens with a right to make their own daims and demands. After a brief spell of concordance between workers' aspirations and the aims of perestroika, horizontal and vertical rifts have begun to appear. The idyllic picture of a society marching united towards democracy has given way to one of social division and contradictory currents. The elements preventing the formation of a Consolidated labour movement are analysed as are the channels by which labour demands are expressed. AU these will influence the nature of the political culture which emerges.
AbstractSince 1977, after pressure from secessionists, Papua New Guinea has, with both boldness and hesitancy, sought to decentralize its unitary state. Nineteen elected provincial governments, which are financially dependent on the centre, now control the former colonial districts and the national government public servants within them. National parliamentarians, while competing with provincial governments, have gained strong influence over some of these nominally autonomous bodies. The hoped‐for popular mobilization and the intended sensitization and improved co‐ordination of the public service have not occurred widely, but rather abuses of position, waste of resources and a decline in the legitimacy of the state have resulted. This scheme, which was ill‐suited to the political culture, the country's economic and financial balance and the available human resources, is being re‐assessed at the national level.
[spa] La tradición socialista fue heredera y continuadora del republicanismo democrático moderno. E. P. Thompson, como historiador e intelectual comunista, reivindicó de forma precursora los valores jacobinos e ilustrados frente a las ortodoxias intelectuales de la Guerra Fría que dividieron Europa. Al hacerlo, construyó un socialismo democrático, inspirado en la historia británica y en el internacionalismo de los Frentes Populares, que nutriría el activismo de la New Left y del movimiento pacifista. Crear una cultura política democrática, frenar la influencia de la riqueza y aumentar y dar un nuevo sentido a los derechos democráticos fueron los objetivos de este socialismo jacobino. ; [eng] The socialist tradition inherited and continued the values of modern democratic republicanism. E. P. Thompson, as a historian and communist intellectual, broke new ground in vindicating Jacobin and Enlightenment values against the intellectual orthodoxies of the Cold War that divided Europe. In doing so, he built a democratic socialism, inspired by British history and the internationalism of the Popular Fronts, which would nourish the activism of the New Left and the peace movement. Creating a democratic political culture, curbing the influence of wealth, and broadening and giving new meaning to democratic rights were the goals of this Jacobin socialism.
В статье анализируются особенности политической модернизации на постсоциалистическом пространстве. Процесс политической модернизации предполагает установление эффективной системы ограничения политической власти, формирование инструментов ее контроля в интересах как отдельно взятого человека, так и общества в целом. При этом данный процесс предполагает качественное улучшение и совершенствование различных органов государственной власти и институтов гражданского общества. Акцентировано внимание на динамику и эффективность политической модернизации в условиях изменений в мировом политическом процессе (от крушения биполярной системы в конце XX в. до украинского кризиса 2013-2014 гг.). Во всех постсоциалистических странах политическая модернизация проходила в условиях либерализации политической сферы общества и формирования многопартийности. Среди объективных причин устойчивости модернизации в политике называются стабильность политической системы и наличие заинтересованного политического класса. Отмечается, что успех в политической модернизации зависит от политической культуры, наличия широкого спектра институтов гражданского общества (политических партий, профсоюзов и др.). На примере ряда государств (Польши, Венгрии, Чехии) прослежен ряд мер, направленных на укрепление аппарата правительства. Это позволило государствам оперативно решать острые социально-экономические проблемы, обусловленных внутренними и внешними факторами. Заключается, что политическая модернизация на постсоциалистическом пространстве имеет отличительные особенности из-за различий в национальных традициях и уровне политической культуры. При этом механическое перенесение западных демократических институтов на посткоммунистическую действительность не способствует их легитимности, что существенно усложняет их эффективную деятельность. ; The article analyzes some features of political modernization in the post-socialist space. political modernization as a process assumes the creation of an efficient set of restrictions of political power, and of a set of control tools working in the interest of both private individuals and the society in general. Thus, the process implies a "quality leap" in public services and more efficient authorities and institutes of civil society. Our focus on the dynamics and efficiency of political modernization is contextualized within the global political process (from the collapse of bipolar system at the end of the 20th century to the 2013-2014 crisis in Ukraine). In all post-socialist countries, political modernization occurred during the liberalization of the political sphere when the multi-party system was being set up. political modernization is noted to be stable only if the political system in general has achieved stability and a beneficiary political class has appeared. The success of political modernization depends on political culture and on a wide range of institutes of civil society (political parties, labor unions, etc.). Some cases (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic) reveal a number of the measures aimed at enhancing the public services. It allowed these states to quickly solve urgent social and economic problems caused by both internal and external factors. We conclude that political modernization in the post-socialist space has distinctive features of its own due to specific national traditions and a certain level of political culture. Thus, a mechanical transfer of the western democratic institutes onto post-communist reality does not enhance their legitimacy and significantly limits their efficiency.
This survey examines the framework conditions of civil society in Austria. It was conducted at the Institute for Sociology and Empirical Social Research at WU. It builds on two previous surveys on the same topic, a Civil Society Index Rapid Assessment (More-Hollerweger et al., 2014) and an update of this Assessment (Simsa et al., 2019). In 2014, the development of public and private funding, democratic rights and performance of civil society organisations (CSOs) were particularly important; in 2019, the focus was on the impact on civil society of authoritarian policies. The current survey initially focused on an analysis of the impact of the change to a more civil-society friendly government at the beginning of 2020. In the course of the year, the effects of the Covid-19 crisis came to the fore. By civil society we refer to the sphere between the state, the economy and the private sphere, in which people collectively represent and try to shape their own concerns (Simsa, 2013). Civil society and its organisations have high benefits for society. In addition to producing services for the common good, they also strengthen diversity, participation and integration. The importance of a pluralistic civil society for democracy is undisputed. Democracy thus needs civil society, but civil society is not necessarily democratic. In the last year in particular, illiberal civil-society endeavours have also gained in importance, especially based on conspiracy-theories. Nevertheless, these were only a marginal topic in the present survey. Rather, in the tradition of previous surveys, the report focuses on those areas of civil society that meet Habermas´ requirements of plurality, tolerance and discursivity (Habermas, 1992). Political framework conditions are decisive for the functioning of civil society in many respects. Apart from general human rights such as freedom of association or freedom of expression, opportunities for participation in legislative procedures, the government's information policy, and the quality of the welfare state and the financial support of civil society organisations by the public sector play an important role. Following on from the 2019 study, the following topics will therefore be analysed: The social climate in relation to civil society; Participation, i.e. political involvement of civil society; Funding of civil society organisations; The human rights situation. While in 2019 a very homogeneous picture was drawn by respondents, currently the impressions and findings are highly diverse. Some respondents complain about the lack of dialogue with politicians, while others see it as much better and more intense than in 2019. The situation is similar with participation as well as with regard to the financial situation. It is a clear result that the general climate with regard to civil society has improved. There is hardly any devaluation or defamation on the part of politicians. The pan-demy has also made clear the high importance of services provided by civil society organisations, which are therefore increasingly appreciated. Currently, many respondents also perceive a better discourse with politicians, although there are major differences in the perception of the two governing parties in this respect. However, the improved climate and the communication that is now partly possible again has shown little effect on the possibilities of political participation. In the health and social sectors as well as in climate policy, the expertise of CSOs is explicitly requested by politicians and partly taken into account, but according to the respondents there is little participation in other areas. It is interesting that the situation in this regard has changed only slightly since 2019, but that civil society currently seems to accept this more than before. Firstly, this can be attributed to the pandemic. Especially in the first months of the crisis, there was more acceptance of quick, less inclusive and less transparent decisions due to the high level of uncertainty. Furthermore, during this time, organisations in the health or care sector were stretched to the limit in coping with the greatly increased work demands, leaving less time for advocacy or criticism. Secondly, the participation of the Green Party in government also has an impact on the critical potential. On the one hand, there is a certain "inhibition to bite" on the part of some CSOs due to political or personal proximity, and there is also increased participation in the Green-led ministries. On the other hand, however, the criticism of politics, for example of asylum policy, is more severe because expectations have been disappointed. As the pandemic progressed, however, deficits in participation became clearer and more strongly criticised. The shortening of review periods, for example, which limited the possibility of comments, transparency and trust, could no longer be argued with the urgency of the decisions. The Covid-19 pandemic is associated with severe restrictions on both fundamental and human rights and civil liberties. Exit restrictions and stand-off rules also affect freedom of assembly. In this respect, there was a difficult situation in 2021. On the one hand, events were restricted at the beginning of the pandemic with reference to the health situation, which was criticised by civil society. On the other hand, however, a series of large demonstrations against the pandemic measures, some of which were banned, took place towards the end of 2020 and in 2021 with the participation of radical right-wing groups, which showed a high degree of willingness to use violence and whose participants in some cases did not comply with the pandemic regulations. Regarding the financial situation of CSOs the previously seen politically motivated cuts in public funding for critical CSOs were no longer seen. However, the cuts made in 2018/2019 had hardly been reversed. A decisive factor regarding the public funding of CSOs was the Nonprofit-emergency fund of 700 million euros decided in June, which had contributed significantly to providing financial security for many of the CSOs. In terms of policy content, hopes of civil society were disappointed, especially for improvements in asylum, ecological and social welfare legislation. The last year was dominated by COVID-19 and the handling of the pandemic, leading to the postponement of other agendas important for the future. The COVID-19 pandemic and the actions of the federal government posed many challenges to civil society and CSOs and caused considerable strain on their actors. It is to be hoped that the projects planned by the government (e.g. initiatives for voluntary work in 2021) will be taken up and that expenditures for absorbing the side effects of the pandemic will not be sacrificed to a new austerity course at the expense of the CSOs. Also, a new awareness of the importance of freedom and assembly rights has grown in many sectors of society. This can lead to an increase in the importance of CSOs in the post-pandemic period, if more people can be mobilised for their causes. The methodological basis of this survey was firstly a literature and document analysis. Secondly, a total of 27 interviews with representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) were conducted between December 2020 and February 2021.
The advent of terrorism in the midst of political conflict requires an understanding of local context and history. Anti-establishment leaders like President Rodrigo Duterte expose the limits of liberalism. By applying the critical distinction between "politics" and the "political", we can imagine an alternative framework in our desire to unravel the narrative of Duterte's communitarian style. Disruption is not simply meant to put into question the status quo. The goal of progressive leadership is to transform society in ways that will improve the difficult lives of the people. While the president's critics say that he is authoritarian, it will be argued that radical means are needed to overcome the failures of Philippine democracy.
The emergence of social networking sites offers protest movements new ways to mobilize for action and draw attention to their issues. However, relying on social media also creates challenges, as social media follow their own principles. If protest movements want to be visible in news feeds, they have to adapt to so-called social media logic, as originally postulated in mediatization research. The principles of social media have been conceptualized. However, there is a lack of empirical research on how political actors perceive and orient to this logic, how they learn about it, and the consequences for mobilization (i.e., communicating protest issues as well as taking protest action). As protest movements are an integral part of modern democracies, use social media somewhat intensively, and usually build on a fluid network structure that allows us to examine adaptation processes in greater detail, they are particularly suitable for addressing these questions. Semi-structured interviews with activists organizing protest actions or managing social media accounts from 29 movement organizations in Germany (N = 33) revealed that protest movements have internalized social media logic and paid attention to not only the design but also the timing of posts to suit algorithms. The protest organizations generally built on their experience with social media. The degree to which they followed these principles was based on available resources. Limits of this adaptation arose, for example, if sensitive or negative content rarely produced likes or, increasingly, personalization evoked a presumed hierarchy within the movements.
The article deals with the features of the culture of modernity and postmodernity in relation to the genesis and maintenance of political theories. The term «modern» is the aggregate designation of the epoch of new and modern times to the period of postmodernism. In the political theories the birth of modernism most notably manifested in the works of Machiavelli. Among the political attributes of modernity the central place are occupied by rationalism and the exclusion of theology from politics, the apology of Mind, the belief in its omnipotence and the ability of man to transform society (and nature) in accordance with his ideas, comprehensive materialism and determinism, humanism, conceptual certainty of doctrines, pragmatism, empiricism, the development of projects for changing society and the system of state power, eurocentrism and so on. The political theory of modernism aspired to scientific knowledge of political reality, the elaboration of concepts that shape a perfect society on the basis of bourgeois ideology – often in the form of democracy, the creation of various doctrines of struggle for the building of a just society, a purposeful change in the principles of political life. Postmodern is the concept of a diverse perception of the world in the era of post-industrialism, based on distrust of the rationalistic traditional concepts of modernism and questioning the adequacy of the reflection of reality in the mind of a person. The paper marked the main theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of the political doctrines of the early XXI century. The key attributes of postmodern political science are the departure from the former dominance of rationalism, the rejection of the exaltation of the Mind, the recognition of the transcendent, unprecedented pluralism, the rejection of ideals and values that occurred in the previous era. The modernist apology for uncertainty includes nonlinearity and multivariance of development, the naturalness of randomness and abnormality, unpredictable anomalies and alternatives. Particular attention is paid to the appearance in the political science of our days of so-called «hybrid» concept models. ; В статье рассматриваются особенности культуры епохи модерна и постмодерна применительно к генезису и содержанию политических теорий. Определены основные теоретические и концептуальные подходы к исследованию политических доктрин начала XXI века. Особое внимание уделено появлению в современной политологии так называемых «гибридных» концепций. ; У статті розглядаються особливості культури епохи модерну та постмодерну стосовно генезису і змісту політичних теорій. Визначено основні теоретичні та концептуальні підходи до дослідження політичних доктрин початку XXI століття. Особливу увагу приділено появі в сучасній політології так званих «гібридних» концепцій.
