In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 18, Heft 1, S. 92-99
Why does pol'al life in the US seem to suffer from intellectual anemia? Partly at least, because historically, the US has been an Eldorado, the ideal society. For many generations of underpriveleged people all over the world, the 'Amer Dream' was simply the belief in heaven on earth. Hence the US became a messianistic society, with some overtones, on the one hand, of complacency, & on the other of fear of the Villain who would endanger the Promised Land. This mixture of self-righteousness & anxiety forms the basis for a solid conservatism, not only more widely spread than in any other country, but also more respectable-a paradox as such in the most dynamic & progressive nation of the world. Consequently, the security syndrome, if not permanent, can always easily be revived at any moment. Many groups, pol'al or others, respectable or secret, derive from it, for a variety of reasons & flourish on the suspicion of an anti-Amer conspiracy, whether inside or outside the US. Among them, the John Birch Society seems to be one of the most interesting, because the discrepancy between its modest numbers & considerable influence, expresses, by contrast, the extent to which it is representative of a basic feature of Amer soc behavior. AA.
The framing of a message can affect the way people think about an issue, and the framing of attitude questions influences the opinions expressed. Current research investigated political emphasis framing in the context of Voting Advice Applications. In an online survey regarding the European Elections (2019), a conservative vs. progressive frame was manipulated across 15 questions. As the original VAA did not include introductory texts to the questions, a control condition without introduction texts was also added. Participants (N = 106) were randomly assigned to one of these three conditions. Results show that there is an effect for conservative introductions to elicit answers reflecting more progressive attitudes, but only for the group of respondents with conservative voting positions (PTV). This pattern could not be explained by political sophistication: higher political sophistication is related to a main effect of more progressive answering behaviour, but does not explain the framing effect for conservative frames in the conservative group.
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 18, Heft 2, S. 229-241
On the basis of data from the Dutch Parliamentary Election Survey of 1982, & from previous surveys (1971-1981), the voting behavior of employees in the public sector is compared with that of employees in the private sector, & the voting of unemployed & disabled persons is examined. No significant differences are found in voting levels between public vs private sector employees. Nonvoting is a characteristic of registered voters who are jobless. Employees in the public sector are more likely to vote Labor & dissociate themselves from the Christian Democratic & Conservative parties, while private sector employees with comparable incomes exhibit the opposite tendency. The Christian Democratic-Conservative cabinet coalition (beginning in 1982) appears to rely on the electoral support of employees & employers in the private sector. The Christian Democratic Party's predicament is that it is losing its traditional power base in the public sector & is also hurt by the Conservative Party's appeal in the private sector. Modified HA.
While Christian Democratic parties in several Western European countries are often said to be in crisis, the European People's Party holds the largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament since 1999. This paradox relies on the specificity of the different 'national' electoral logics, on the one hand, & the realization of a long-term 'European' majority strategy, on the other. The alliance with Conservatives & Conservative parties has to overcome an absolute electoral decline in 'old' EU countries & a relative decline through the accession of 'new' member states without Christian Democratic parties. The EPP majority strategy is realized through various ways: the key position of the transnational party & party group, the role of political leadership, the way of decision making, the cooperation with side organizations, the problem solving of ideological conflicts, etc. Our analysis proves how the majority strategy of the European Christian Democrats realizes its ultimate 'survival strategy' despite (or thanks to) several national party crises. 2 Tables. Adapted from the source document.
The great promises that "Statistik" yielded in 19th-century Belgium did not materialize, at least as far as political statistics are concerned. In the second half of the 20th century, the output was rather limited & thus very incomplete, & not very professionally conceived & elaborated; their provision was disorganized & their orientation quite conservative, veiling inaccurate & biased categories. It is argued that a rebuilding is necessary, which should entail an inventory of existing statistical data & -- above all -- a master plan to achieve a straightforward view on the 3 P's in Belgium: polity, politics, & policy. A polyarchy has the right to & the need for in-depth information. Statistics are very handy tools with which to provide this information to both policymakers & citizens. Adapted from the source document.
This paper deals with the electoral & political consequences of urban region formation. The electoral geography of new political parties differs substantially from that of traditional ones. New parties are mainly successful in different parts of urban regions. The declining traditional parties have rather a regional pattern, although some of them show new spatial patterns too. These developments are interpreted in the context of the cleavage theory, in which old & new cleavages are linked with a different spatiality. Following the Anglo-Saxon literature an increasing process of polarisation is hypothesised between the welfare state orientated city & a neo-conservative & neo-liberal suburban fringe. This article examines & proofs the existence of these processes in the urban region of Brussels by means of individual-level & ecological electoral data. Figures. Adapted from the source document.
To investigate the attitudes of Flemish secondary school students toward politics, interview data were collected (N = 242 Ms & 130 Fs, aged 12-14) in 1981, using the method employed in a French study by Annick Percheron (L'Univers politique des enfants [The Political Environment of Children], Paris, 1974). Analysis of the data reveals that most of the children bear considerable hostility toward the political system. When asked to explain their attitudes toward 18 political concepts (eg, "democracy," "communism") most of the Rs gave equally negative opinions for theories on both ends of the political spectrum. Reactions toward specific politicians were even more negative. Little difference was noted between the attitudes or knowledge of boys & girls. UMc Rs had the highest level of knowledge, while Wc Rs had the lowest. Surprisingly, Wc Rs showed hostility toward unions & tended to have conservative political opinions. 9 Tables, 4 Figures. Modified HA.
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 15, Heft 3, S. 289-318
Data from the 1977 national election survey of Dutch voters are used to test a hypothetico-deductive model of party preference formation, based on the supposition that voters tend to express a preference for the parties with which their views on a particular set of issues are most consistent. The parties examined are the PvdA (Labor), CDA (Christian Democratic), & VVD (Conservative-Liberal). Multiple-regression analysis allows explanation of about 40% of differences in party preference between voters on the basis of voters' stands on issues. Comparison of voters' stands & perceived party stands appears to predict expressed party preference adequately in 69% of cases. These results give support for the view that human behavior is not blindly mechanistic, but involves some minimal level of reflection. Consideration of methodological problems leads to the conclusion that relatively simple models resting on clear theoretical assumptions are preferable to more sophisticated models, which have less solid theoretical foundations & do not gain in explanatory or predictive power. 11 Tables, 1 Graph, Appendix. Modified HA.
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 4, Heft 2, S. 125-138
The development of a strict methodology of observation & analysis in soc sci has always met with resistance. In the current debate on this topic in the US, 2 positions can be distinguished. There are the 'theorists,' who find their inspiration in the work of recent philosophers such as H. Marcuse & J.-P. Sartre; they rate the formation of a pol'al theory as a 1st priority. Then there are the 'behaviorists,' whose first care is for sci'fic method. This contrast is reviewed on the basis of the document, "Political Science at Berkeley, An Invitation to a Discussion," which was published anonymously by a group of students. The criticism of these students can be summarized under the headings 'commitment' & 'relevance.' As far as commitment is concerned, the critics reproach the behaviorists for not taking stands in important contemporary moral issues, & for identifying with the status quo. It is argued here that what leads to acceptance of & identification with the existing pol'al order is not behaviorist methodology as such, but rather the mood of the behaviorists. As far as 'relevance' is concerned, the critics are impatient with the futile detail analysis & data collecting of the behaviorists. The behaviorists' use of a strict methodology of explanation by generalization leads to a reduction of the scope of analysis. Then only the 'easy' aspects ('easy' to quantify, 'easy' to collect, etc) are analyzed, & discontinuous developments are neglected. The argument presented here is that the lack of a dynamic theory of the pol'al process is an impediment indeed for pol'al sci, but that, again, behaviorism as such cannot be accused of being 'conservative' or 'conformistic': the refutation of race theories, for example, was rather a radical undertaking. It is concluded that for the time being it is not necessary to lay other bounds on pol'al sci than those that follow from the claims of rational debate & intellectual honesty. HA.
Hans Schippers assesses the position of the Islamic AK Party led by Prime Minister Erdogan in the light of the relationship between religion and the state in Turkey. Although the AK Party won the general elections in 2002, Erdogan has the Damocletian sword of a military coup hanging above his head ever since. The military consider themselves to be the guardians of Kemal Atatürk's legacy of Turkey as a secular state. In the past decades they intervened four times in politics, the most recent one the 1998 'post modern' coup to oust the Islamic Prime Minister Erbakan, whose approach to Iran, critical opinions on the EU and NATO and favourisation of religious education had gone too far in the eyes of the military. Erdogan cleverly avoided the mistakes of his predecessor. He declared the AKP to be a conservative, pro-EU and pro-NATO party that would seek adherence to the mostly christian-democratic European Peoples Party. His government would be liberal and respect people with different opinions on religion. Erdogan did well in regional elections of 2004. However, he met with growing criticism in the following two years. The organisational structure of the AKP is undemocratic and the number of women active in the party is far too limited, his critics remarked. The party is accused of conducting a campaign of 'creeping islamisation' of Turkish society. The military closely monitor every decision of the government near two-thirds majority in parliament and he could They have the support of the secular president have a party member elected. This would increase Sezer who has amended or rejected a large number the chances of military intervention. Erdogan will of Erdogans proposals. A crucial moment for the probably opt for a compromise candidate. However, AKP-government will be the election by parliament until the arliamentary elections of November, the of a new president, coming May. Erdogan has a political.