Suchergebnisse

An article based on the contribution or three authors. Former political secretary of the Flemish ecological party Green! Geysels remembers the main strategies at the start of the sanitary cordon in Belgium in 1989. After summing up the effects and impact of these statements, he defends the cordon as an instrument which helps to protect the bases of democracy. De Lange, in the second contribution, Right-populist political parties and sketches the academic outlines of the discussion. She warns against unilateral, unfounded and unwise propositions in the debate, certainly when it concerns translating the Belgian experience to the current Dutch situation. Professor Fennema, the third author, studied the forming of extreme Right parties in Europe and is president of the Center of Radicalism and Extremism Studies CRES. He writes of the Dutch experience with the sanitary cordon and its consequences on contemporary political debate in the Netherlands, which has changed into a debate in terms of fear and hate. All three authors emphasize that a comparison between the Flemish and Dutch experience falls: in Flanders, where the cordon functions since 20 years, no party was ever forbidden. In the Netherlands, where discussion on the sanitary cordon has been bled, that happened. O. van Zijl

In contrast to comparative economic studies concentrating on gross national & per capita income, a new approach is presented stressing per capita consumption. Personal expenditures are classified as primary (food, clothing, & shelter), secondary (education, transportation), & luxury. Data from Brazil, El Salvador, the Ivory Coast, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Tanzania, & the US are used to derive an index of consumption inequality, the validity of which is established by a cross-sectional design. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 2 Appendixes, 22 References. M. Meeks

The number of preference votes for the candidates running in the October 2006 local elections in the thirteen main cities of Flanders is largely determined by the position on the list & the previous political mandate. A multivariate analysis shows that an executive function on the local level yields a comparable electoral bonus as a national mandate. The campaign expenditures also have a significant effect. There is a spending limit, but the candidates on average spend only 22% of what they are allowed to. Christian-democratic candidates generally spend the most, with the liberals ranked second. The gender, age & professional status of the candidates have at most a very marginal effect on their electoral score, controlling for the other relevant variables. Candidates with a foreign name obtain a somewhat better result on average, but this is particularly the case with candidates running for the socialist party. Tables, Graphs. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on books by (1) F. Ankersmit & L. Klinkers [Eds], De tien plagen van de staat. De bedrijfs-matige overheid gewogen ([The Ten Plagues of the State. Weighted Operational Government] Amsterdam: Van Gennep, 2008); (20 T. Schillemans, Verantwoording in de schaduw van de macht ([Accountability in the Shadow of Power] (Utrecht: Lemma, 2007); & (3) F. Leeuw & R. Elte [Eds], Turven, tellen, toetsen. Over toezicht, inspectie, handhaving en evaluatie en hun maatschappelijke betekenis in Nederland ([Turven, Count, Keys. Supervision, Inspection Enforcement and Evaluatiuon and Their Social Significance in the Netherlands] Den Haag: Boom, 2007).

In the public debate and amongst scientists anxiety prevails concerning the situation of modern parliamentary democracy regarding nearly all established of nearly democracies. The concern focuses on the electoral loss of middle parties and heavily fluctuating election results, and the rise of radical Left and Right, where words such as pallet democracy, crisis and Weimar republic are used. The author sketches the outlines of different research directions he studied regarding European politics: voter behavior; decreasing importance of the Left-Right antagonism; decreasing political faith; increasing numbers of extreme Right parties. This to study more closely the different aspects of the alleged crisis of European party democracies (do citizens have unrealistically high expectations of government; the evolution from cartel parties to campaign parties, including the growing importance of the media; lack of party representation for large groups of citizens). Foremost, the author mentions that neo-liberal economic policies of the European Union do not parallel public opinion of EU member states. Figures. O. van Zijl

In 2008, the Dutch politician Geert Wilders (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV, Party For Freedom) published on the Internet his film Fitna, discussing the Islam in what the author of the present article calls an amateurish series of stereotypes, prejudices, decontextualized images and (purposeful) mistranslations. The Dutch debate surrounding the movies was almost exclusively directed in terms of freedom of opinion and expression, and their alleged threat. An upheaval amongst the Dutch political elite and within media circles that was, however, disappointingly short. In the present article, the author discusses the obsession for Islam as a symptom of growing political incapacity to make a rational and nuanced analysis of the diversity and complexity of the Islam on the one hand, and the role and place of religion in the 21st century in general. The first part is a criticism of the conducted debate, the second part an effort to formulate the right questions that can lead to some realistic answers. References. O. van Zijl

A historical sketch is presented of how the relationship between Dutch political parties & newspapers has changed since the 1950s, when both relied on support from narrowly defined social class & religious groups. Depillarization & the emergence of a large segment of the electorate with variable party allegiance led to the independence of newspapers from political parties. Despite the diminished influence of newspapers on voting behavior during the 1980s, favorable newspaper comments toward a specific party correlate positively with a higher share of party voters among subscribers. It is concluded that, in contrast to the earlier situation, parties now are dependent on newspapers. 9 Tables, 1 Figure, 20 References. M. Meeks

Results from the 1986 parliamentary elections in the Netherlands are examined to assess the impact on voting behavior of several major factors: pillarization, based on religion & SC; issues; candidate orientations; & ideology. The importance of religion & SC has declined since the 1950s, with religious voters supporting secular parties & secular voters also supporting religious parties, especially the Christian Democrats. Issues & economic ideology are strongly related to party choice; candidate orientations also have some influence. Each of these perspectives explains part of voter behavior; together they yield two discriminant functions, one correlated with Left-Right orientation, various political issues, & support for various candidates, the other with religiosity & abortion attitudes. Together, these discriminant functions correctly classify 52% of voters by party preferences. 20 Tables, 2 Figures. Modified HA

This paper challenges the well-established dichotomy to explain international power phenomena either as hard power or soft power. Reflecting the observation of an increasing decoupling between power capacities of the states and their ability to prevail in international conflicts, the author assumes the existence of a third power category whose origins and models of action are not sufficiently recognized and researched. Borrowing the idea of 'structural power' from Susan Strange, he advocates the hypothesis that it is this third power capacity that frequently makes powerful countries powerless and less powerful countries more assertive. Adapted from the source document.

In the present article the author starts off with a discussion of the Barcelona process and the main reason for its failure: namely the fragility of the Oslo peace process. The second topic focuses on the genesis of the Union for the Mediterranean of July 2008 as a follow-up of the Euromediterranean Partnership dated 1995, and its relevance for both its North African and European shores. Included are the institutional and procedural structures, and an analysis of the place conflict resolution holds within the Union for the Mediterranean, the latter illustrated by the recent Gaza War. O. van Zijl