Classifying political regimes

This study presents a classification of political regimes as democracies and dictatorships for a set of 141 countries between 1950 or the year of independence and 1990. It improves existing classifications by a better grounding in political theory, an exclusive reliance on observables rather than on subjective judgements, an explicit distinction between systematic and random errors, and a more extensive coverage.     

当代亚洲政党政治演进的主要特点

亚洲国家的政党政治发源于19世纪,其发展历程蜿蜒曲折、复杂多样,大体经历了三个发展阶段:第一阶段,从19世纪到二战结束,为亚洲政党政治的形成阶段,产生了一批民族主义政党和工人阶级政党.第二阶段,从战后到冷战结束,为其迅速兴起和蓬勃发展的阶段,各种类型的政党相继出现,政党政治在多数国家立足并发挥作用.第三阶段,从冷战后至今,为其调整与演变阶段,政党政治出现了更为复杂的变化,多党民主浪潮在亚洲部分国家兴起,许多国家的政党政治发生深刻变动.     

Municipality size,political efficacy and political participation: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

It is an old adage that local government is a training ground for democracy. Its human scale means that political amateurs can contribute effectively and meaningfully to the politics of a state. But in a political climate seemingly driven to consolidate local government into ever larger units, can a not so local local government still elicit an efficacious and participatory citizenry? This paper explores the effect of municipality population size on two important aspects of democratic culture: political efficacy and political participation. Via a two-part systematic review, the paper examines how extant empirical literature bears on the relationship between size and both of these aspects, hypothesising that political efficacy plays a mediating role between size and participation. The findings are unequivocal: citizens of smaller municipalities feel a greater sense of political efficacy and participate to a greater degree in local politics.     

Indicators of political development

Development implies goals and the positing of goals requires values. Economists have generally agreed that the increase of wealth (or perhaps welfare) is the proper object of economic development. Political scientists, probably happily, have no similar agreement in regard to the appropriate goal for political development. Moreover, it is doubtful that the various aspects of political change are located along a single continuum. This is an empirical question but investigation ought to begin at least with provision for an n‐dimensional space. Finally, political scientists should concentrate on political change that has too often been neglected in favour of economic and purely social change.     

Rethinking local political leadership

The changing nature of local political leadership in Britain over the past 25 years has received scant attention from political scientists. This article argues that changes in the roles and functions of local authorities have had a marked impact on the nature of local political leadership. Three phases (operational, transitional and collaborative) are identified and leadership roles are related to changes in the political context of local government. The fundamental tasks of leadership have not changed but what has changed is the balance or relative emphasis between them and the way they have been interpreted. While elected local authorities cannot ignore the implications of the changed external agenda – notably the advent of new forms of executive leadership – the way they respond still bears the mark of the local political culture.     

Conceptualizing racialized black political activity within European spaces: a political opportunities approach

African presence in Europe can be traced back to Roman times, yet African peoples within European spaces are continually perceived and often treated as new migrants with no sense of an historical attachment to European soil. This paper seeks to understand and challenge this conception of black migrants to Europe by focusing on the community and political activities of black subjects in European spaces. Using Britain as a primary reference point, the paper argues that the unfolding nature of black political activity in European spaces emerges as a result of dynamic interactions between black protagonists and the state. The nature of these interactions it is argued are racialized in character and that black community organizations and individuals play a crucial role in determining the forms and nature of political activity and outcomes that operate under the guise of minority ethnic mobilization. This paper argues a point that is often overlooked in the literature that focuses on African and other immigrants to Europe as recent migrants with problems. The paper uses a refined political opportunities approach and focuses on state practices and black community organizational practices between the First and Second World Wars to outline the varied nature of black community and political activity in an era of state antagonism towards black populations at home and abroad. The paper argues that context, state power and action, and the activities and ideas of black community organizations interact in dynamic ways to account for the changing nature of black political activity in European spaces.     

New ideas in political ecology

Alain Lipietz, Green Hopes: The Future of Political Ecology, (Polity Press, Cambridge 1995). 169pp. ISBN 0–7456–1327–6.

Andrew Dobson and Paul Lucardie, The Politics of Nature: Explorations in Green Political Theory, (Routledge, London and New York 1995). 240pp. ISBN 0–415–12471–9.

Tim Hayward, Ecological Thought: An Introduction, (Polity Press, Cambridge 1995). 259pp. ISBN 0–7456–1320–9.     

外国政党动态

2007年12月16日,吉尔吉斯斯坦"光明道路"党在议会选举中获胜,成为议会的第一大党.     

外国政党动态

(4月16日—5月15日) 4月17日,伊拉克最大逊尼派政党联盟"伊拉克共识阵线"的官员表示,他们已经原则上同意回到伊拉克总理马利基领导的政府中。此前,由于提出的多项政治要求未能得到满足,"伊拉克共识阵线"于2007年8月1日宣布,该联盟的全部6名部长退出马利基领导的政府。4月20日,巴拉圭反对派联盟"争取变革爱国联盟"总统候选人费尔南多·卢戈以较大优势战胜执政的红党候选人布兰卡·奥韦拉尔,赢得总统选举,由此结束了     

外国政党动态

9月16日,希腊新民主党在议会选举中获胜,蝉联执政,希政治格局保持稳定. 9月17日,俄罗斯自由民主党召开第19次代表大会,确定了年底国家杜马选举中继续保持主要政党地位的目标.     

动荡的尼泊尔政局

近日,尼泊尔局势发生重大变化.4月24日晚尼泊尔贾南德拉国王发表全国电视讲话,宣布于28日恢复2002年5月被解散的议会,还政于民.七党联盟推举大会党主席柯伊拉腊出任首相.5月2日,柯伊拉腊组成7人多党联合政府,权力实现和平移交.5月18日,尼泊尔会议通过决议,解除国王拥有的一切特权,使议会成为全国最高权力决策机构.尼泊尔自去年国王亲政以来的紧张局势暂告缓和.