Suchergebnisse

In this paper we study both long term and short term individual effects of political participation at the local level. Participatory theorists argue that political participation could lead to individual emancipation in terms of a rise of political knowledge and, in the long term, political trust. Indeed, in the short term the increased political knowledge associated with participation might enable citizens to better define their self-interest, which may be inconsistent with actual policies pursued by the local authorities and thus might be conductive to distrust. In the empirical part we will test these assertions using two-wave panel data for a random sample of 457 individuals in the district of Deurne (Antwerp -- Belgium). Our results suggest that in the short term participation leads to more local political knowledge and distrust in the local administration. However, we do not find a significant increase in political trust in the long term. Adapted from the source document.

NEXT TO THE PARTY ELITE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, THERE ARE SEVERAL POLICY ELITES IN THE USSR. THEY CONSIST OF OFFICIALS IN EVERY FIELD OF POLICY & HAVE THEIR BASIS OF POWER IN THE RESOURCES THAT ARE ALLOCATED IN THE GOVERNMENT BUDGET. MOST RESOURCES FLOW TO THE ECONOMY, THE SCIENTIFIC & CULTURAL SECTOR, THE MILITARY, & THE ADMINISTRATIVE APPARATUS. ELITES IN THESE SECTORS CAN BE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN THE POLICY-MAKING PROCESS. THE PARTY ELITE MAKES ALL LONG-TERM POLICY DECISIONS, IT CAN REGULATE THE RECRUITMENT OF NEW MEMBERS INTO THESE POLICY ELITES & IT CAN CALL THE ELITES TO ACCOUNT BY PERMITTING PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF POLICY DECISIONS. POLICY ELITES HAVE MORE INFLUENCE IN POLICY-MAKING WHEN THEY HAVE MORE REPRESENTATIVES IN THE POLITBURO & THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE. THEIR REPRESENTATION HAS GROWN SINCE 1953--IRREGULARLY--BUT THE PARTY ELITE STILL HAS THE MAJORITY IN THESE PARTY ORGANS. POLICY ELITES HAVE INFLUENCE AS THERE IS A CONSTANT FLOW OF THEIR MEMBERS INTO THE PARTY ELITE. THIS MAKES THE PARTY ELITE LESS COHERENT & CAUSES MORE INTERNAL DISPUTES. YET THE POLICY ELITES ARE NOT CONTENT WITH POSSIBILITIES TO INFLUENCE POLICY MAKING; THEY ARE IN OPPOSITION TO THE PARTY ELITE THAT DOES NOT WANT TO GIVE THEM MORE INFLUENCE, ESPECIALLY IN LONG-TERM POLICY DECISIONS. HA.

The success of Eurosceptic parties had been predicted at the European elections of May 2014. The morning after the ballot battle made it all the headlines and since then the political cards in the European arena and a number of Member States are mixed thoroughly. But the last word on this electoral success has not yet been written, on the contrary. Many questions remain unanswered. Such as: Is the result an accident the track (for the traditional parties), or part of a more stable, long-term evolution? To what extent does Euroscepticism from country to country? And what is the effect of this victory to the position of eurosceptics in the European Parliament. Adapted from the source document.

Supporting people with disabilities is a cornerstone of the Dutch welfare state. It has become part of our cultural ideal that government people who can not (more) provide (WRR, 2006, p. 115). Care for themselves Especially after World War II, the government has expanded its involvement with the landmark introduction of the Exceptional Medical Expenses Act (EMEA) in 1968. The EMEA is a national insurance scheme, every resident of the Netherlands secures long-term care and assistance at home or in an institution. Were increasingly welfare-related forms of support in the care of the government in the sixties of the twentieth century, moreover, brought and created a versatile professional sector, with specializations as neighborhood and community work, and social work with elderly people (Duyvendak, 2002). Adapted from the source document.

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.

In national elections the results tend to become more 'nationalized': a homogeneous party offer all over the territory, less variation in the results per constituency & more homogeneous electoral swings. This article investigates whether this nationalization can also be witnessed at local elections. It focuses on two indicators: the party offer & the voting behavior. The party offer is the presence of the national parties on the local ballot paper, while the voting behavior looks at patterns of homogeneity across the municipalities. The answer to the question of nationalization is mixed. The Flemish & Walloon local elections display the same long-term trend as the national elections, but they keep their own local character. The heterogeneity of the local party offer clearly demonstrates the local specificity of the local elections, & consequently the voting behavior also differs from the voting behavior at national elections. We also find that the local elections in Wallonia are less nationalized than in Flanders. Although the local character of the local elections remains important, the newer parties -- Ecolo & Groen! -- show until 2000 a clear trend towards nationalization. Especially the extreme right Vlaams Belang shows positive scores on all indicators of nationalization since its first local appearance in 1982. Tables, Figures. Adapted from the source document.