Suchergebnisse

This article contends that contemporary transnational dynamics have given rise to novel political subjects and territories for political engagement. By looking at how parties as organizational actors operate abroad, this study reworks extant classificatory attempts and proposes an amended typology in which the salient elements of variation are the origin of the party abroad and the degree of formalization. These two dimensions produce a matrix delineating four distinct types of party organization: branch-abroad, organization-abroad in franchising, committee-abroad, and semi-political structures. Conceptually, the typology elucidates the multifaceted nature of the structural approaches employed by home parties in their endeavors to establish connections with communities abroad. Empirically, this contribution enhances the comparability between organizational configurations abroad and extant research on party structures at the national level.

Populist parties' dazzling success has been registered in numerous new and old Member states for a while; populism has occupied a crucial position in Romanian politics since the onset of post-communism, with constant emphasis on the iconic role of the people in the democracy, the role of the leader in public statements and in the party's organisation, the promotion of Manichean and simplistic solutions to the political/economic agenda, as well as the constant use of direct and emotional appeals, etc. Within this framework, the research question is: can Romanian populism be understood as a "temporary" problem of adjustment and adaptation, or is it a deeper structural effect, which requires further attention, considering its potential threats to the stability of the post-communist regime? Considering populism as a multi-faceted phenomenon that cannot be traced to a unique structure or a single/specific agency, the conclusions suggest the existence of an osmotic relationship between deep-rooted populism and democracy in Romania, in the sense that it is difficult to clearly identify which is the cause of the other. As such, the Romanian specificity stems from the constancy of this phenomenon and, above all, from its potential for contamination: populist cries become national mainstream catchwords.

The paper aims to inquire into whether the Italian case still provides evidence in favor of the standard theoretical framework according to which European elections are second-order national elections in which national rather than European issues are the main determinants of voter choice. Our findings are rather contradictory. First, the main party in the government coalition received a higher share of votes compared with the results in the previous 2013 national election, confirming a so-called honeymoon period between the Italian voters and the Democratic Party (PD). Still, despite the increased relevance of EU issues in the electoral campaign, the primary motivation of politicians and parties remains their interest in holding on to national government office or to an opposition status (a strategic position for the Five Star Movement - M5S). Second, the lower turnout in European than in national elections was confirmed despite Prime Minister Renzi's successful mobilization of the PD electorate. Though large parties like Forza Italia and M5S lost votes, few small parties surpassed the electoral threshold. Broadly speaking, this analysis points to a vote of trust in government rather than a clear stance on EU issues, considering that Italian voters expressed their preferences mainly in relation to the new government formula rather than to the EU agenda or performance of previous members of the European Parliament.

http://www.editions-universite-bruxelles.be/fiche/view/2435 ; Le fichier attaché à cette référence, version publiée de l'œuvre, est librement accessible, sans embargo, en accord avec les Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This thematic issue covers the participation and representation of migrants in contemporary politics. It focuses on two interconnected analytical dimensions: countries of residence and countries of origin, as arenas of political engagement and the supply and demand sides of political representation. The articles in the thematic issue advance the existing knowledge in migration studies and party politics both theoretically and empirically. They do so by proposing innovative analytical frameworks to assess the extent of participation and representation and by bringing evidence that fosters a better understanding of the intricate relationship between migration and politics.

Populism is undoubtedly one of the most relevant concepts to the study of contemporary party politics. A massive amount of literature has been produced on this topic, especially with regard to the European continent. However, the literature still lacks a comprehensive meta-analysis of this vast body of research. In this work, we summarize the results of one hundred and ninety-four articles present on the two most authoritative bibliographic databases, Web of Science and Scopus, in the last three decades. The meta-analysis enquires into definitions of populism employed across the decades and the main characteristics of the research design. The main results show that, across time, the definition of the concept has become increasingly clear, with the interpretation holding populism to be a thin-centred ideology clearly prevailing. The focus on the empirically oriented partially confirms our expectations, although relevant differences are identified and further discussed. We conclude that more research is needed on this topic, in particular with regard to the diversity of the geographical contexts.