Suchergebnisse

AbstractInstitutionalization processes are among the topics most researched by the literature on party systems. This literature is advanced and the debate has led to the construction of effective theoretical models. However, there are still discernible problems of different magnitudes: a) quite often the dynamic dimension related to the institutionalization of a party system and the static dimension, which detects an institutionalized party system (i.e., the outcome of a process of institutionalization) are not sufficiently distinct in the literature; b) static analysis has gathered comparatively much more attention; c) the literature dealing with the dynamic dimension of the problem does not adequately consider the interaction of causal, macro and idiosyncratic factors. This paper aims at dealing with these problems through the elaboration of a set of suggestions constituting a guide for the empirical analysis tested on the Italian and German cases during the 1940s and 1950s. This research shows that a greater attention to the dynamic analysis and to possible interactions among causal factors is able to enhance the understanding of the processes considered. Moreover, this approach provides us with crucial information on how a party system emerges and on how it consolidates itself.

"Im Beitrag werden Ergebnisse aus dem Projekt der Pädagogischen Hochschule Bern 'Was Kinder unter Politik verstehen' vorgestellt. Es wird aufgezeigt, welche Vorstellungen zum politischen System der Schweiz bei Schüler/innen der 2. und 5. Klasse durch das Bild des Bundeshauses ausgelöst werden." (Autorenreferat)

This article uses a case study of Germany to analyse conditions for the participation of national and sub-national parliaments in the EU system of multi-layered parliamentarism. The analysis illustrates that national and sub-national parliaments can enhance their roles in policy formulation and implementation in EU affairs by creating structures of close cooperation and networking – vertically, between parliaments of different levels (European, national, subnational), and horizontally, between the national and sub-national parliaments. Even without a direct representation of national parliamentarians in European decision making on the EU level, national and sub-national parliaments have ways of influencing and controlling the European policy process and thereby adding to the legitimacy of European governance.

USING DATA FROM A NATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY CONDUCTED IN THE SOVIET UNION DURING NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 1989, THE AUTHORS EXPLORE TWO ATTITUDES RELEVANT TO THE REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES THERE: (1) ATTITUDES TOWARD CHANGE AND POLITICAL DEMOCRACY AND (2) ATTITUDES TOWARD A CORE COMPONENT OF SOCIALIST IDEOLOGY, THE LOCUS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOCIAL WELL-BEING (THE STATE OR INDIVIDUALS?). THESE VARIABLES ARE UNRELATED, WITH THE SAMPLE RELATIVELY EVENLY DIVIDED AMONG THE INTERSECTING CELLS OF A CROSS-TABULATION. WHILE SOCIAL CONFLICT MAY BE MITIGATED BY THE SMALL SIZES OF ABSOLUTELY OPPOSING GROUPS, CONSENSUS MAY ALSO BE HARD TO REACH. ETHNICITY, EDUCATION, INCOME, AGE, PARTY MEMBERSHIP, AND LIFE SATISFACTION HAVE IMPORTANT EFFECTS ON THESE ATTITUDES. THE AUTHORS DISCUSS HOW ATTITUDE PATTERNS IN THE DATA MAY BE RELATED TO THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE USSR AND TO PROBLEMS FACED BY THE INDEPENDENT SUCCESSOR STATES AS THEY DEVELOP NEW INSTITUTIONS AND FOSTER NEW VALUES.