民主制度之“踵”:家族式恩庇侍从关系与菲律宾政治

菲律宾是一个恩庇侍从关系传统深厚的国家。在菲律宾,这种正式制度之外的非正式关系依托地方性的政治家族形成,呈现出菲律宾政治生活的核心特征以及与其他国家的恩庇侍从关系的最大区别所在。在菲律宾的政治体系中,不同政治家族形成不同的恩庇侍从网络,彼此之间相互竞争,一方面使菲律宾的选举制度受到严重的削弱,选举中舞弊、欺诈和暴力盛行;另一方面又完全地替代了菲律宾的政党制度,使菲律宾的政党衰弱而碎片化,易变性极强,成为政治家族的工具,失去利益聚合的功能,使下层民众的利益无法通过政党而被吸纳到政治体系之中。正是这种独特的非正式的家族式恩庇侍从关系,在其与国家正式制度的持续性互动中削弱甚至替代了正式制度的作用和功能,从而给菲律宾的民主制度带来消极影响。     

菲律宾政治文化的发展过程及其特点

笔者在本文中以广义的政治文化的概念为基石 ,尝试性地将菲律宾的政治文化发展过程主要分成三个阶段 :早期政治文化、殖民地政治文化和独立后的政治文化。早期政治文化是菲律宾在东方文化的影响下形成的带有“个人权威”色彩的政治文化源头 ;殖民地政治文化是菲律宾在西班牙的殖民统治下 ,宗教作为一种文化现象对菲律宾政治文化的影响 ;独立后的政治文化是菲律宾在 1946年以后以政党政治为主要特点的政治文化。笔者从菲律宾的传统文化的特点出发 ,考察菲律宾政治发展过程和文化发展过程 ,总结菲律宾政治文化的特点 ,并从菲律宾现实的政治行为找出菲律宾政治文化的表现形式 ,从而为了解菲律宾政治运作方式提供一个新的视角。     

从第七届杜马选举看当代俄罗斯政党政治

普京第三任期以来,俄罗斯进行了一系列与政党和选举相关的立法改革。与普京一、二任期的政党制度相比,新的法律法规确实体现了一定的宽松性,俄政坛上涌现出了一大批新的政党。综合分析第七届杜马选举的背景和过程,可以看出,新法规也起到了为政权党提供制度性保障的功用。强大的制度保障和稳定的政权党相互作用,使俄罗斯政治格局中形成了一个稳定的循环:以制度保障选举胜利,以选举胜利保障立法权,以立法权寻求更有利的制度保障。     

马来西亚政党制度的制度化与政治稳定功能

马来西亚的一党优势制适应性较强,尤其是较好地发挥了政治稳定功能,这与其较高的制度化水平密切相关.制度化是政党制度合法化能力的重要内涵,它能把共同的价值与规范内化于组织结构之中,从而促进政治系统的稳定运行.但马来西亚政党制度也存在一些结构性问题,在日益加大的政治转型压力下,有必要把民主化作为一种积极干预因素引入到制度化过程中,使民主化与制度化形成相互促进的耦合关系,从而在新的合法性基础上建构更高水平的政治稳定.     

柬埔寨政党政治演进与洪森政权长期执政

东南亚国家在民族国家构建进程中普遍参考西方政党政治体制,建立起周期性、竞争性的选举制度。这种制度设计有意通过政党轮替执政的方式,实现政治参与和利益代表最大化。1993年,柬埔寨也确立起以政党选举为中心的政治体制。而在近30年的政党政治发展进程中,柬埔寨并未出现多次政党轮替执政的现象。洪森领导的人民党政权始终主导着国家政治发展走向。通过进行政党内部调整,运用法律、政治和宣传手段,洪森政权有效维护政治稳定、推动经济发展和平衡对外关系,引领柬埔寨探求适合自身发展的道路,树立起强政党与政治强人的形象。     

菲律宾华人政治地位的变化

从二战结束至70年代中期,菲律宾政府对华人实行的严厉入籍政策,使华人在菲律宾社会政治生活中长期处于边缘地位.1974年中菲建交后,华人成批入籍,从侨民转变为公民,基本上享有与菲律宾土著同等的法律地位和政治权益,也因此提升了华人的经济地位.菲律宾华人在继续保持出色的经济活力的同时,也开始表达参政意识,谨慎地参与各种政治活动.然而,菲律宾社会还存在着排华潜流,影响华人在政治上得到当地社会更广泛的认同.     

“欧洲化”进程与中东欧国家的政党政治变迁

随着欧盟因素的介入,中东欧各国在政治经济和社会生活方面发生了许多重要变化,即出现了学界所称的欧洲化现象,中东欧国家政党也不可避免地受到了欧洲化进程的影响。作为一种超越国家层面的政治社会化过程,欧洲化促使中东欧国家的政党做出调整和改变,以适应新的定位和功能。同时,在欧洲化深入的过程中,中东欧国家的政党政治也面临着巨大的困难和挑战。     

东南亚华人参政的特点和前景

政治权利是族群和个体的根本权利 ,是经济利益的根本保障。近 3 0年来 ,东南亚华人的政治地位有所改善 ,参政意识也随之提升。东南亚华人参与当地政治活动可分为两种类型 :一是华人政党或社团代表华族群体参与 ,如新加坡、马来西亚和印尼 ,但惟有新加坡华族能平等参与社会政治 ;二是以公民身份参政 ,不凸现华族身份 ,不代表华族群体 ,如泰国、菲律宾和越南。     

试论战后韩国政党的特征

随着现代社会日新月异地发展,世界各国的政治现象越来越复杂。当今世界,无论是发达国家,还是发展中国家,大都存在政党。据统计,目前约有2000多个政党活跃在200多个国家和地区的政治舞台上。在现代政治的发展过程中,政党是最主要的政治行为集团。政党是当代资本主义政治制度的基本要素,也是资产阶级政治统治及其民主制度的主要方式。因此,要了解一个国家的政治状况,首先有必要了解这个国家的政党,否则就无法深刻了解这个国家政治制度的实质。     

后苏哈托时期印尼政党制度的变化及其影响

在后苏哈托时期的民主政治化进程中,随着诉求议题的多元化,印尼的政党制度从一党控制下的三党制向多党制转变,伊斯兰性质的政党仍然举足轻重,而华人政党则破土而出。本文认为,政党制度的这种变化对印尼的政治和社会产生了很大的影响一是遏制了印尼专制政府的产生;二是逐渐出现了一批政治精英;三是提高了民众参政议政的民主意识。此外政党体制的软弱也造成印尼政局经常出现不稳和混乱。     

New Conventions Required: Ideas to Re-invigorate Japanese Party Politics

Over the past 20 years, Japanese politics has changed significantly. There have been many improvements over the old LDP politics. At the same time, however, the rules of the game, which were predicated on the dominance of a single political party and on factional politics, have inevitably changed, and, in accordance with this situation, the conventions that prescribed the party-political order have fallen by the wayside. Given this situation, new conventions are now required that will make Japanese politics function. This article will discuss the most pressing topics: they are the appointment of the prime minister, the political cycle, bicameralism and party politics, intra-party governance, and the relationship between ministers and bureaucrats. These rules will not derive from new laws or institutions, but will be based on new conventions agreed to by the political parties. Political parties are to be the key actors in creating the new conventions, which should provide the rules of the game for Japanese politics.     

Radical Change at the Ballot Box: Causes and Consequences of Electoral Behavior in Venezuela's 2000 Elections

This study aims to explain the victory of Hugo Chávez and his party in the 2000 Venezuelan elections, to analyze the factors that made this victory possible, and to examine the consequences for future developments in the Venezuelan political system. The decay of traditional party loyalties without the emergence of new parties deeply rooted in society (dealignment without realignment); underdevelopment; and an institutional setting dominated by a president elected by a plurality electoral system have opened the door to personality-centered politics and weak parties, which are the main features of the current political situation. Compared to the 1993 and 1998 elections, the 2000 elections once again confirm an increase in personality politics and the decay of parties as instruments for articulating interests, representation, and governance. As a consequence, this article argues, instability is likely to remain a feature of Venezuela's party system for some time.     

Anti-Partyism in German Independent Local Lists: Empirical Insights from a Membership Study

In the past few decades, independent local lists in German municipalities have become serious competitors to political parties. However, despite their widespread presence and success, party researchers have largely ignored this phenomenon. Empirical evidence concerning the attitudes of their members towards political parties is rare. Thus far, it remains unclear whether their self-described image as non-parties or anti-parties is restricted to the sphere of local politics or accompanies a general rejection of parties in federal politics. First, the article conceptualises anti-partyism and proposes an analytical distinction between their intensity and related political level. It then analyses the consequences of different patterns of local politics and group characteristics as well as individual determinants to explain the degree of anti-party sentiment. This study improves our understanding of independents and whether they promote party democracy or are a product of political dissatisfaction. Based on a cross-sectional postal survey, multi-level regression models are used to test the hypotheses. The results show that anti-partyism is particularly strong towards party politics at the local level, whereas the general legitimacy of party democracy is not questioned in federal politics.     

Postretrenchment Politics: Policy Feedback in Chile's Health and Pension Reforms

Through a comparison of three periods of health and pension reform in Chile, this article develops an explanation for the incremental form of social policy change that some Latin American nations have witnessed in recent years, despite the dramatic rise of left governments. It describes “postretrenchment politics,” which constitutes a realignment in the way politics plays out in countries that have undergone social policy retrenchment. In postretrenchment politics, the strengthened position of private business interests, combined with political learning legacies and lock‐in effects generated by reforms, results in incremental political change, despite renewed efforts by left parties to address inequality. Global capital also plays an important contextual role, and may influence postretrenchment politics. In postretrenchment politics, newly reformed systems may achieve greater equity, but they do so in fragmented form.     

Power and Conflict in the Swiss Political Elite: An Aggregation of Existing Network Analyses

Since Kriesi's (1980) pioneering work no study has attempted to provide an overall picture of power configuration among the Swiss political elite. To fill this gap we aggregate recent network analyses carried out in various policy domains. Based on meta-hypotheses regarding the likely effects of the contextual changes that have taken place during the last thirty years, we compare the structure of the Swiss political elite existing in the 1970s to that of the last decade with respect to reputational power, collaboration and conflict. Our results suggest that important transformations have indeed occurred. Thus, both political parties and some specific state bodies could increase their power, whereas most interest groups have lost some. While the internationalization of politics has overall had the expected effects with respect to the power structure and to conflict among political parties, it did not lead to the hypothesized, new conflict among interest groups.     

Protectionism versus Reformism: The Battle for Taukei Ascendancy in Fiji’s 2014 General Election

Abstract

Discussion of intra-communal discourse in Fiji has often been overshadowed by the focus on inter-communal tension. Although the two are linked in dynamic ways, it is important to have an insight into some of the fundamental ideological schisms that have shaped inter-communal politics because they do shape the form and trajectory of national politics in a significant way. This was so during the 2014 election when the two leading political parties, FijiFirst and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), put in significant resources and effort into mobilising Taukei (indigenous Fijian) votes. The differences between the two parties represented the two sides of the Taukei political divide. FijiFirst pushed for fundamental reform and transformation of the Taukei society whereas SODELPA was protective of neo-traditional institutions and values, and the collision between these divergent ideological stances was a central political battle ground in the election.     

Turkey's Application of the Montreux Convention in the Second World War

The primary aim of this article is to examine the policies of the elite in Iran in relation to political parties and organizations that have emerged between 1979 and 2009. It also attempts to argue that the politics of factionalism has proven to be incapable of creating a viable political system. On the other hand, it has been difficult to anticipate the emergence of a system based on party politics in Iran more than three decades after the revolution. The findings of this article demonstrate how determined the elite were in shaping politics in Iran, and will also show that the move away from factionalism to a system based on party politics between 1997 and 2009 faced stiff opposition from the conservative elite. The situation polarized politics in Iran and further increased intra-elite factionalism. This article relies mostly on Iranian primary sources, accessing opinions that have not yet been published or discussed. The focus is on examining the relationship between high-ranking members of the elite and organizations representing different interests within the system that came to existence either before or immediately after the revolution in 1979.     

Parties and political change in South Asia

Over the past seven decades and more political parties have become an essential feature of the political landscape of the South Asian subcontinent, serving both as a conduit and product of the tumultuous change the region has experienced. Yet they have not been the focus of sustained scholarly attention. This collection focuses on different aspects of how major parties have been agents of – and subject to – change in three South Asian states (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), examining some of the apparent paradoxes of politics in the subcontinent. Recurring themes are the importance of charismatic leaders and their families (and the corresponding neglect of institutionalisation) and the lack of pluralism in intraparty affairs, factors that render parties and political systems vulnerable to degeneration.     

Asia’s Conservative Moment: Understanding the Rise of the Right

ABSTRACT

Recent scholarship has identified a new era of post-democracy or democratic crisis in the West, characterised by the increasing resort to authoritarian measures and the erosion of mechanisms such as representative parties and unions that link citizens and social forces with the political process. Conservative political movements, right-wing governments and populism have also emerged in the democratic states of the Asia-Pacific. The existing literature, with its focus on the crisis of social democratic institutions and forms of representative politics, provides inadequate frameworks for explaining these trends in the region. This article suggests that a better way of understanding the emergence of these new forms of political regime in Asia is to locate the origins of democratic crises in processes of global capitalist transformation and political incorporation and disincorporation. The articles in this special issue show that previously dominant modes of incorporation are fracturing under the conditions of neo-liberal capitalist transformation. In the wake of this fracturing, political elites have struggled to created new forms of political incorporation. This has inadvertently resulted in the sharpening of the conditions that give rise to political crisis. The political responses to crises have predominantly been conservative and have led to attempts to restructure the state to limit dissent and electoral competition.     

The territorial genealogies of Russia's political parties and the transferability of political machines

This article uses statistical analysis of aggregate electoral returns in order to establish continuities in the territorial patterns of support between four major political parties of contemporary Russia, on the one hand, and those parties that contested national legislative (Duma) elections from 1993 through 2007, on the other hand. It is hypothesized that such continuities, dubbed “territorial genealogies,” are largely rooted in the migration of region-based gubernatorial political machines from one national party to another, which constitutes a major flow of organizational continuity in the development of political parties. Statistical analysis confirms that the main hubs of machine politics in Russia's regions, originating from the intra-elite struggles of the 1990s, provide United Russia with the territorial core of its current support. Other political parties retain electoral salience in those regions where their electoral appeal is not mitigated by the presence of political machines, which underscores the importance of non-machine party organization for their electoral destinies.