Suchergebnisse

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

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

A debate consisting of a main article on the paradigm of information and communication technologies for development, the so-called ICT4D-paradigm, stating that access to ICT can promote development, leading to a decrease in global socio-economic inequality. The author underlines the parallel with former modernisation paradigms, and the fact that basic market and power structures are ignored. In the first of two responding articles the authors point out possibilities in ICT interaction and participation, thus enabling developing countries to respond actively, not merely passive. Furthermore they plead for further investment in researching the positive impact ICT can have on social change and development. In the second article examples are outlined in which ICT empowered existing development processes with the inclusion of two requirements: participation of interested people, and capacity building locally. O. van Zijl

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