Determinants of young people’s civic and political participation in Turkey

This special section provides a timely reflection on current debates that are of extreme relevance in order to gain a better understanding of the concepts of citizenship and active citizenship in Turkey, by looking at the determinants of civic and political participation, at the patterns of political and civic mobilization and at the orientations of political behaviour. Its originality stands on the specific focus on young people in comparison to other age groups. The different papers remark upon the importance that the reframing of the notions of citizenship and active citizenship have in the Turkish context along with the determinants that make this remark more relevant than ever.     

金砖国家粮食安全合作评析

粮食安全与否,对人、国家和国际体系的安全都意义重大。它所产生的威胁具有高度跨国性、扩散性、嬗变性、多层面性和多向度性,是典型的非传统安全。实现粮食安全,要超越以国家为中心的传统安全观念和手段,建立以共同、综合、合作、可持续的新安全观为基础的粮食安全治理体系,构建多层次和大规模的非传统安全共同体。金砖国家粮食安全合作,有利于提升各成员国的粮食安全水平,促进金砖国家落实《2030年可持续发展议程》,提高金砖国家参与全球粮食安全治理能力,推动全球粮食安全治理改革,构建金砖国家命运共同体。作为金砖国家非传统安全合作的重要组成部分,金砖国家粮食安全合作基本确立了合作架构,初步搭建农业科技信息平台,金砖农业实力不断壮大,全球粮食安全治理中实现有限合作,具有了金砖国家非传统安全共同体的雏形。但其仍然面临着合作动力减弱、合作机制不完善和合作领域亟待深化的挑战。只有金砖国家真正树立并践行新安全观,才能聚合各方诉求,加强合作动力,深化气候、科技创新、农业贸易投资便利化、信息交流与共享等领域的合作,完善政府、科研、企业三位一体的合作机制,推动全球粮食安全治理体系向更加有利于发展中国家的方向发展。     

The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century

One of the most important developments affecting electoral competition in the United States has been the increasingly partisan behavior of the American electorate. Yet more voters than ever claim to be independents. We argue that the explanation for these seemingly contradictory trends is the rise of negative partisanship. Using data from the American National Election Studies, we show that as partisan identities have become more closely aligned with social, cultural and ideological divisions in American society, party supporters including leaning independents have developed increasingly negative feelings about the opposing party and its candidates. This has led to dramatic increases in party loyalty and straight-ticket voting, a steep decline in the advantage of incumbency and growing consistency between the results of presidential elections and the results of House, Senate and even state legislative elections. The rise of negative partisanship has had profound consequences for electoral competition, democratic representation and governance.     

How election dynamics shape perceptions of electoral integrity

In recent years a growing literature focuses on how and why some election processes are viewed as having integrity while others lack it. Some scholars examine how a state's characteristics (e.g. its economic development, the education levels of its citizens, and their experience with elections) shape the voting process while others study how individual voters view the process and their role in it. The relative importance of election dynamics themselves and the process of their evaluation, however, remain unclear. What stages of the election process are most important when people evaluate elections? We argue that a better understanding of how election dynamics shape perceptions of election integrity is crucial because theoretically this process is at the heart of democratic representation and because from a policymaking standpoint these dynamics vary more over time than individual and state-level factors. This paper explains why certain parts of the election cycle are critical to determining how an election is judged—especially the fairness of election laws and media access, the conduct of election authorities, and the use of political violence. Empirical results using new data on 121 elections held in 109 countries during 2013, 2014, and the first half of 2015 are supportive of our argument.     

The Devolution of the Electoral System in Russia

The author describes how the democratic content of electoral legislation was eroded in the 2000s, and considers the prospects for a new democratic reform.     

Why Is China＇s Sovereignty Over the South China Sea Challenged Frequently？

Sansha City, founded on July 24, 2012, has jurisdiction over an area of more than two million square kilometers in the South China Sea. It has the largest territory among all Chinese cities, but the smallest land area and population.     

The "Question of the Ethnic Russians" in the Context of Ethnic Relations in the Russian Federation

The author examines the current and likely future position of the Russian ethnic group within Russia's systems of interethnic and ethnofederal relations. He also examines the meaning of the term nationalism as used in Russian politics and warns about the danger of growing imbalances in state regulation of federal and ethnic relations. He proposes a new federalism that would eliminate asymmetries in relations between ethnic Russians and other ethnic groups inhabiting the Russian Federation.