Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis article studies the persistent effects of past agrarian inequality on contemporary voting preferences. Although Western European countries became industrial (and later post-industrial) economies, the political effects of the agrarian cleavage are still visible in those countries in which the agrarian issue was dominant in the interwar period (the industrial laggards). Looking at the spatial variation in voting patterns in the fifteen elections held in Spain since 1977, we show through mediation analysis that areas with high historical agrarian inequality have higher levels of leftist vote. We examine two transmission channels: one economic (related to backwardness); the other political (related to family transmission of political allegiances). A survey analysis provides evidence in favour of family transmission. A brief exploration of other cases confirms the general argument: a similar effect is found in Italy (an industrial laggard), but not in England (an early industrializer).

The hypothesis that terrorism often emerges when mass collective action declines and radicals take up arms to compensate for the weakness of a mass movement has been around for some time; however, it has never been tested systematically. In this article the authors investigate the relationship between terrorist violence and mass protest in the context of the Spanish transition to democracy. This period is known for its pacts and negotiations between political elites, but in fact, it was accompanied by high levels of terrorist violence and popular mobilization. To test the hypothesis, the authors have created two data sets, one on victims of terrorism and another on participation in demonstrations. The data clearly confirm that terrorism erupted in Spain when participation in demonstrations started to decline. This result sheds new light on the nonstructural conditions associated with the onset of terrorist violence.

AbstractIt is well known that in developed democracies the opposition tends to cooperate with the government. Spain is no exception: around 70 per cent of all 'organic laws' (constitutionally significant bills that require a parliamentary majority to be passed) are approved with the support of the main opposition party. We try to explain the variation in the level of consensus in the first seven legislative terms of the current Spanish democracy. We show that there are three key variables: the balance of power between government and opposition, the nature of the institutional actor that first proposes the bill, and the ideological significance of the bill.

How much influence do citizens have to control the government? What guides voters at election time? Why do governments survive? How do institutions modify the power of the people over politicians? The book combines academic analytical rigor with comparative analysis to identify how much information voters must have to select a politician for office, or for holding a government accountable; whether parties in power can help voters to control their governments; how different institutional arrangements influence voters' control; why politicians choose particular electoral systems; and what economic and social conditions may undermine not only governments, but democracy. Arguments are backed by vast macro and micro empirical evidence. There are cross-country comparisons and survey analyses of many countries. In every case there has been an attempt to integrate analytical arguments and empirical research. The goal is to shed new light on perplexing questions of positive democratic theory

"Why is terrorism such a slippery concept? Unlike other concepts employed in studies of conflict, terrorism is particularly hard to pin down. Can terrorism be equated with civilian victimization? Is it a refined form of coercive violence, based on the spread of terror? Despite the endless terminological debate, there is an underlying logic in the way in which speak about terrorism. This book is aimed at uncovering this logic, providing a systematic, coherent and rigorous conceptualization of the phenomenon. Terrorism is a unique form of political violence due to the underground nature of its violence. Unlike other forms of violence, underground political violence does not require any control of the territory in which the attack takes place. The quintessential underground attack is an improvised explosive device in the enemy's terrain. Because terrorist attacks do not presuppose territorial control, they tend to be ephemeral. Understanding terrorism as underground political violence makes sense of many traits that are commonly associated with the concept: its international dimension, the possibility of lone-actors, and state terrorism as covert operations abroad. Terrorism tends to emerge in highly asymmetric conditions and is frequently used by the weaker party (hence the motto that terrorism is the weapon of the weak). Through large-n empirical tests and case studies (ETA, Tupamaros, Shining Path, Fatah, ISIS, and the Palestinian insurgent groups), this book shows that the conception of terrorism as underground political violence has some "organizing" power and can be used in empirical analysis to shed light on the determinants and dynamics of terrorism"--