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Historically, male sexual fitness was framed by a patriarchal politics of life centred on regeneration, population and nation. In the later 20th century, as successful ageing became promoted by the lifestyle practices of an idealized healthy and active senior citizenry, traditional gerontocratic power over the sexual risks of youth gave way to a medical sexology concerned with sexual functionality across the lifecourse; in particular, erectility. Recently, erectile dysfunction has expanded to become a population-wide health problem with increasingly refined diagnoses based on `phases', `early warning signs' and preventative regimes, especially as Viagra has become so widely available. This article explores a new bodily configuration in the making; arising, on the one hand, from the pharmacological and scientific technologization of male sexuality, and, on the other, from a contemporary politics of life that both contests the late-life ageism of the past and fosters a mid-life ageism in the present.

Asia-Pacific governments are only in the initial phases of adopting information and communications technology to improve financial management information and reporting, streamline the delivery of government services, enhance communication with the citizenry, and serve as a catalyst for empowering citizens to interact with the government. This article begins with a brief review of the potential benefits of e-government in supporting public sector reform and poverty reduction. It then gives some examples of adoption of e-government in recent years in the Asia-Pacific region, to see the extent to which these benefits have materialised. It explains why the pace has been slower in the public sector than in the private sector, gives examples of six stages of e-government, and reviews both the benefits and challenges of each stage. Finally, the article discusses three major, cross-cutting challenges and suggests some directions for further research. (Asian J Pol Sci/DÜI)

The increased militarization of the Mexico City police & its structural & political impacts on the police, military, citizenry, & US-Mexico relations are discussed. Attempts to reform the reputed corrupt & undisciplined Mexico City police force since the 1970s have only led to public unrest, more crime, & feelings of frustration & insecurity. As in the past, military forces were called in temporarily in crisis situations in 1996 & 1997 (described here), but had the effects of raising civilian concern over abuse of the system & corruption in the military ranks, & of provoking a power struggle with the police forces & nonmilitary groups. The evidence of corruption in military & police units responsible for drug trafficking led to an increase in US training of military & police personnel (albeit without human rights training) & increased US influence in drug investigations & anticorruption measures. The relationship between the police & military is still undergoing change. Reorganization of the police force & better pay could ease the problematic nature of this system. 9 References. M. Pflum

▪ Abstract  A central claim of democratic theory is that democracy induces governments to be responsive to the preferences of the people. Political parties organize politics in every modern democracy, and some observers claim that parties are what induce democracies to be responsive. Yet, according to others, parties give voice to extremists and reduce the responsiveness of governments to the citizenry. The debate about parties and democracy takes on renewed importance as new democracies around the globe struggle with issues of representation and governability. I show that our view of the impact of parties on democratic responsiveness hinges on what parties are—their objectives and organization. I review competing theories of parties, sketch their testable implications, and note the empirical findings that may help adjudicate among these theories. I also review debates about the origins of parties, about the determinants of party-system size and characteristics, and about party competition.

The mechanisms that underpin kinship are mobilized by states to organize the citizenry for state-building, often transporting patriarchy & (re)inscribing it in public arenas. While the gendering & aging of citizenship is predictable in the deployment of patriarchal kin institutions for state-building, the focus here is less on these outcomes & more on patrilineality, which is commonly subsumed in feminist analyses of patriarchy, particularly in the study of the Middle East. Understood as kinship descent through the father's lineage, patrilineality is often conflated with patriarchy in societies in which both are present, resulting in the essentialization of patriarchy & a glossing of critical cultural differences in the gendering & aging of citizenship. While kinship in Lebanon has been fluid & Lebanese have mobilized both patrilineal & matrilineal principles of kinship as deemed necessary, the codification of rules of patrilineal descent in citizenship laws by the state has narrowed the spaces for negotiation for women & men, children & adults. By disaggregating patrilineality from patriarchy, the analysis exposes a key substructure of patriarchy significant to the gendering & aging of citizenship in Lebanon. 37 References. Adapted from the source document.

Assesses contemporary debates on citizenship & national identity, drawing on the secondary literature. It is suggested that the current crisis of citizenship in Latin America is a consequence of the racist colonial legacy, which produced a protonationalism based on racial criteria that has carried over into the republican period, especially in the form of discussion of the status of native Indians in these countries & in the differential concession of citizenship based on economic stratification. Moreover, many Latin American countries followed the colonial example to press for nation-state cohesion through cultural homogenization policies. Latin American social scientists have responded to this situation both by appropriating a particular Western academic paradigm, eg, Marxism, & by adhering to an ideological stance toward regional racial, national, & ethnic groups. Real change in the circumstances of the Latin American citizenry, however, awaits the development of a notion of multinational states, with citizenship & cultural rights bestowed on the population. 62 References. D. M. Ryfe

Reflections are offered on how the US can, by bolstering its educational system, regain the affluence & economic stability that it enjoyed during the halcyon days of the 1950s. It is argued that the country must focus on national educational development, create a world-class secondary educational system capable of producing a literate citizenry, & devote more resources to ensuring that its higher education system is geared toward producing leaders in both international cultural & economic spheres. The impact of declining SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores on the economic future of the US is discussed, & a demographic shift toward lower levels of intellectual, cultural, educational, & economic achievement is identified. It is suggested that there may come a time in the near future when the overall productive skills of the US population will be at such a low level that foreign investment will cease & the US will decline into the ranks of the Third World. W. Howard

The triumphalist thesis that liberalism has proven to be a superior form of political & economic organization is examined in light of recent events in Eastern Europe. It is argued that the demise of communism is not evidence that liberalism has triumphed nor does it preclude some alternative set of allocation principles from being superior to either communism or liberalism. Two ways in which the liberal triumph is cast are explored: as one of historical necessity, according to which liberalism & communism are world-historical opposites; & as a situation in which worldwide consensus is reached on the superiority of liberalism. Other issues explored are: democracy & oligarchy in relation to the triumphalist thesis, the myth of the autonomous state, & alternatives to capitalism & socialism. It is concluded that the financial, technical, & managerial resources of the West could go far in bringing Eastern Europe to a state of material sufficiency "without mortgaging the minds of the citizenry.". 1 Reference. W. Howard

The second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries in Western Europe mark a period of suffrage expansion, the development of mass party organization, and effective incorporation of the newly enfranchised citizenry into political life. The resulting realignments of the interwar period form a backdrop against which the current discussion of realignment takes place; yet this very discussion begs the question of stability as well as the dynamics of the preceding realignment. Path models of these processes in Britain between 1885 and 1950 show the fundamentals of realignment emerged in an earlier period, 1885-1910, crystallized in the 1918 election with suffrage expansion, and remained stable until 1945-1950, when the first signs of weakening appeared. Latent variable partial least squares (LVPLS) constructs dynamic path models of the mobilization, partisan realignment, and social bases of politics. The results are tested further with maximum likelihood (ML) methods.

THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURIES IN WESTERN EUROPE MARK A PERIOD OF SUFFERAGE EXPANSION, THE DEVELOPMENT OF MASS PARTY ORGANIZATION, AND EFFECTIVE INCORPORATION OF THE NEWLY ENFRANCHISED CITIZENRY INTO POLITICAL LIFE. THE RESULTING REALIGNMENTS OF THE INTEWAR PERIOD FORM A BACKDROP AGAINST WHICH THE CURRENT DISCUSSION OF REALIGNMENT TAKES PLACE; YET THIS VERY DISCUSSION BEGS THE QUESTION OF STABILITY AS WELL AS THE DYNAMICS OF THE PRECEDING REALIGNMENT. PATH MODELS OF THESE PROCESSES IN BRITAIN BETWEEN 1885 AND 1950 SHOW THE FUNDAMENTALS OF REALIGNMENT EMERGED IN AN EARLIER PERIOD, 1885-1910, CRYSTALLIZED IN THE 1918 ELECTION WITH SUFFRAGE EXPANSIONS, AND REMAINED STABLE UNTIL 1945-1950, WHEN THE FIRST SIGNS OF WEAKENING APPEARED. LATENT VARIABLE PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES (LVPLS) CONSTRUCTS DYNAMIC PATH MODELS OF THE MOBILIZATION, PARTISAN REALIGNMENT, AND SOCIAL BASES OF POLITICS. THE RESULTS ARE TESTED FURTHER WITH MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD (ML) METHODS.

The political party, etymologically and logically, can embrace only a part of the citizenry, politically organized. The party is a fraction; it is pars pro toto. Let us endeavor briefly to analyze its causal origin and its behavior.According to Max Weber, the political party has a dual teleology. It is a spontaneous society of propaganda and of agitation seeking to acquire power, in order to procure thereby for its active militant adherents chances, ideal and material, for the realization either of objective aims or of personal advantages, or of both. Consequently, the general orientation of the political party, whether in its personal or impersonal aspect, is that of Machtstreben (striving to power).In the personal aspect, parties are often based on the protection accorded inferiors by a strong man. In the Prussian diet of 1855, which was composed of a large number of political groups, each was given the name of its leader.

As environmental problems today are understood as being problems of collective action, they also depend on the broad engagement of individual citizens for their successful solution. Institutions directed towards resolving the environmental situation need, accordingly, to be perceived by the citizenry as promoting acceptable goals, for acceptable reasons and by the use of acceptable means. In short, institutions aiming at instigating and sustaining collective action need first to be perceived by the collective itself as being legitimate. Emanating from the notion of public acceptance as essential for long-term effective policies, this thesis takes a first step towards an evaluation of the degree of legitimacy for Swedish environmental policy. In this endeavour, its primary purpose is to elucidate and study the foundations for policy legitimacy, that is, the normative principles embedded in political sustainability aspirations and expressed through the official Swedish environmental policy discourse. The main aim of this thesis is, accordingly; To explore, map and analyse the values, beliefs and principles underpinning Swedish environmental policy aiming at involving household members in the work towards an environmental sustainable society, as reflected through official policy documents and policy instruments in-use on both national and municipal levels of government. By the use of a value-oriented qualitative text analysis of both national and municipal policy documents, the normative foundations of Swedish environmental policy are outlined. Through this approach, important insights are reached in terms of how people, according to policy-makers, are expected to reason in environmental matters; what motivations are used to guide behaviour in this field; and what kinds of policy instruments and motivational statements are deemed the most effective for making people comply with new environmental norms of behaviour. Additionally, by applying three different conceptions of citizenship as the analytical framework by which the environmental norm is analysed, the thesis also examines to what extent the Swedish image of the 'environmental citizen'; on the rights - obligations balance; on her motivations, values and participation in the environmental work, either express an image of a new ecological citizenship or keeps firmly within the traditional framework of the state - individual relationship. The thesis concludes first, that the normative foundations of Swedish environmental policy, on the national as well as the local level of government, draw strongly on collectivist values. All Swedish citizens are bound by a contract based in the membership of the Swedish community and shall therefore dutifully contribute to the common good by actively doing their bit in building the Green People's Home. The state - individual relationship is therefore interpreted as being contractual, territorially bound and based on the expectance of reciprocity. The responsibilities for political authority is, consequently, framed as to actively enlighten the citizens on what is considered the good life, and to steer the citizenry towards making (objectively defined) responsible or informed choices in everyday life. Education for sustainability thus plays an important part as the policy instrument of choice. In this context, the thesis also concludes that the environmental norm is, in almost unaltered form, transferred down to local authorities. Local level environmental policy thereby rests on the same normative foundations as the national policy discourse. Secondly, although Sweden has taken important steps on the way towards instigating new, environmental duties and responsibilities with the citizenry and towards expanding the citizenship sphere to encompass also the private, the image of the environmental citizen provided in the official environmental discourse still predominately resides within the framework of traditional, albeit environmentally sensitive, (civic-republican) citizenship. ; Godkänd; 2006; 20070109 (haneit)