Suchergebnisse

From Fascism to Democracy tells the story of the birth of the post-war Italian political system through the lens of a single event: the Italian national election of 1948, the first parliamentary election of the Republican era. Robert A. Ventresca offers the first comprehensive analysis of this central topic of contemporary Italian and European history. Bringing together the broad political and diplomatic narrative of 1948 with the social and psychological dimensions that determined how ordinary Italians experienced the election campaign, this book is about much more than just a political event. Broad in scope, it is a story about the fall of Fascism and the achievements of the Italian Resistance, Italian political culture, American influence in Italian politics at the start of the Cold War, and the interaction between Italy's secular and religious traditions. From Fascism to Democracy expands on the common understanding of what is 'political' to examine how such factors as popular piety, gender, and historical memory became intertwined with the politics of Italy's fledgling democracy.

Telephone surveys have been a principle means of learning about the attitudes and behaviors of citizens and voters. The single mode telephone survey, however, is increasingly threatened by rising costs, the declining use of landline telephones, and declining participation rates. One solution to these problems has been the introduction of mixed-mode surveys. However, such designs are relatively new and questions about their representativeness and the intricacies of the methodology remain. We report on the representativeness of a post election mixed-mode (Internet and mail) survey design of 2006 general election voters. We compare sample respondent means to sample frame means on key demographic characteristics and examine how mail and Internet respondents differed in terms of attitudes, behaviors and demographics. We find that overall the Internet respondents were representative of the population and that respondent choice of mode did not influence item response. We conclude that mixed-mode designs may allow researchers to ask important questions about political behavior from their desktops. Adapted from the source document.

The 14th general election (GE14) in Malaysia saw a democratic breakthrough as the Barisan Nasional's uninterrupted rule since independence finally came to an end. This article seeks to analyse the role and impact of the Bersih movement in GE14 by examining the political context of GE14 via three key political opportunities: the 1MDB scandal; electoral fraud and manipulation; and the re-delineation of electoral boundaries. Bersih's core campaigns, actions, and strategies in response to these political opportunities will be analysed based on information and insights generated from the author's involvement as a member of Bersih's secretariat. The political opportunity resulting from the 1MDB scandal gave room for civil society and the opposition to go on the offensive; Bersih took the lead and continued the tradition of coalition-building between civil society and opposition forces, and brought focus to crossethnic issues. At the same time, Bersih held firm in its agenda for electoral reform by continuing to consistently monitor and mobilise against electoral fraud and manipulation leading up to GE14. Via the re-delineation exercise, it mobilised and coordinated resistance by increasing civic participation in the constitutional process and created new areas of contestation via the judiciary. In parallel, Bersih's efforts and strategies towards these political opportunities had created conditions that contributed towards Pakatan Harapan's victory in GE14. (JCSA/GIGA)

The mobile Internet has become one of the most important technologies in the last decade. It has become a decisive force for socio political participation throughout the world. The communication technology has helped to change the world into a proverbial 'global village'. There is a paradigm shift in utilizing the communication technology among people especially youth as they are becoming more and more active participants in the process of communication rather than being passive audience of mass media messages. The present paper includes the results of a research carried out to analyze the accessibility, usage patterns and socio political implications of Mobile phones and Internet among youth in District Anantnag of J&K state. The paper illustrates the changing patterns of political participation and extent of media penetration in the lives of people more specifically among youth of Anantnag.

Abstract:
The Kremlin faces an existential dilemma. The semiauthoritarianism that has characterized Russia for two decades has within it sufficient basic freedoms, affluence, and access to the outside world to permit the emergence of new social movements that demand transparency, accountability and political participation. Russia has had a great deal of personal freedom but a small circle of people hold an almost complete monopoly on politics. The year 2011–2012 showed that this formula is no longer durable. The middle class is demanding political participation. To maintain a total monopoly on political offices at all levels the Russian government must now limit freedom for the society as a whole. It is not clear that this can be achieved without undermining their own appeal to the public and support within the elite.

H. Tajfel's social identity theory contains certain advantages in comparison to other types of theories used to analyze intergroup conflict. It is particularly useful in formulating hypotheses about the ethnopolitical conflict in Euskadi, Spain's Basque country, since the categorization of social groups plays an important role in this conflict. Questionnaire data from 300 university students & workers in Euskadi on group belongingness, social identity, ideology, stereotypes, & voting indicate that Basque vs Spanish social identity is not significantly influenced by intragroup favoritism & intergroup differentiation. Factor analysis shows that 40% of the variance in the potential for noninstitutional political participation is explained by differentiated identity, a salient outgroup, & an ideology of change. The processes of comparing & differentiating identity in noninstitutional political participation are facilitated through group identity in relation to political instability & illegitimacy. 2 Tables, 2 Figures, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.

State contexts, mobilization, and the evolving Latino electorate -- Mobilization en Español: Spanish-language radio and the reaction to HR 4437 -- Defensive naturalization and the opportunity to mobilize -- The changing California voter: A case study of mobilizing opportunities and Latino participation over time -- Voice of the people: The evolution and effectiveness of Latino voter mobilization -- The evolving Latino electorate and the future of American politics.

Protests and democratic transitions tend to spread cross-nationally. Is this true of all political events? We argue that the mechanisms underlying the diffusion of mass-participation events are unlikely to support the spread of elite-led violence, particularly coups. Further, past findings of coup contagion employed empirical techniques unable to distinguish clustering, common shocks, and actual diffusion. To investigate which events diffuse and where, we combine modern spatial dependence models with extreme bounds analysis (EBA). EBA allows for numerous modeling alternatives, including diffusion timing and the controls, and calculates the distribution of estimates across all combinations of these choices. We also examine various diffusion pathways, such as contagion among trade partners. Results from nearly 1.2 million models clearly undercut coup contagion. In comparison, we confirm that more mass-driven political events robustly spread cross-nationally. Our findings contribute to studies of political conflict and contagion, while introducing EBA as an effective tool for diffusion scholars.

This paper explores the nature of public participation in Danish municipal wind power planning. Although the procedure for involving citizens embedded in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure for wind power projects is often praised for its participatory character, the approach is not without problems. In this paper, we identify the limitations and potentials of the public space provided for citizen involvement. By means of Gaventa's terminology suggesting a continuum of public spaces for participation, the paper shows how the planning process can be approached from different spatial perspectives – each of them illuminating different forms of power, resistance and opportunities. Based on several cases of Danish wind power planning processes, three spatial categories are explored – the public space as a respectively invited, closed and claimed space. It will be shown that the overall space provided reflects a closed space. Although citizens are invited to participate in a consultation process by the planning authorities, this invited space is characterized by a deficit of openness, impartiality, transparency, influence and accountability. Hence, the planning process tends to decouple citizens' everyday experiences and knowledge while providing space for economic and strategic interests. The incapability of the existing procedure and the inherent public space to capture both the concerns and potentials among neighbors towards wind turbines results in the formation of claimed spaces in terms of counter-publics outside the institutionalized political space from where citizens organize and resist wind turbines. The paper suggests that if the planning procedure should improve in terms of citizen participation it must be reconstituted as a reflective space that functions as a medium for supporting the community to experiment and explore new and more holistic approaches to wind turbine planning

Many scholars have bemoaned declining levels of social trust and civic engagement in our society. A decline in trust, some have argued, is linked to a decrease in civic engagement and vice versa. This study examines the processes through which this dynamic, termed social capital, is maintained. The authors differentiate three dimensions of social capital: social trust, life satisfaction, and civic engagement. They also examine the influence of demographic, personality strength, political interest, and informational variables (hard news media use) on these dimensions. The authors use data from DDB Needham's 1997 Life Style Study to test their hypothesized model. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that personality strength, an amalgam of self-confidence and opinion leadership, has a relatively strong direct impact on all dimensions of social capital, whereas informational variables have rather weak effects that are limited to civic engagement.

This article examines the confluence of two major recent developments with regard to British Muslim communities. For many British Muslim women Islam has become the cornerstone of their identity. However, alongside this development has been the emergence of a new national security agenda based on counter-terrorism with a particular focus on Islamic fundamentalism. The discourse of state agencies locates Islam and Muslim communities not simply as 'problem communities' but as security concerns. The impact of this securitisation on Muslim women's political agency and identity has yet fully to be assessed. The issues surrounding this relatively recent securitisation are explored via the current debates on mosque reform, women's access to mosques and the current discourse which perceives mosques as 'insecure' (terrorist) sites in the UK.

Greece's New Political Economy traces the course of Greece from a postwar developmental state to its current participation in the Euro-zone. Taking an innovative comparative approach, George Pagoulatos examines the political economy of financial interventionism and liberalization, banking politics, relations between the government and central bank, the winners and losers of financial reform, the effects of globalization and EMU and the implications of the new economic role of the state. This book will be an indispensable reference work for anyone seeking to understand the Greek political economy in the light of major contemporary debates.

This collection presents new research on the changing roles of women in Japan and Korea. At a time when women in these two countries are becoming more politically and socially prominent, these essays provide insight into the clashes that have arisen between tradition and change. The contributors compare similarities and differences in the two cultures, considering family life, education, health care, work, reproductive and legal rights, and political participation, including the rise of women's movements in Asia and the battle against sexism and gender stereotyping. Essays written by Japanese