Pre-parliamentary party career and political representation

Abstract

Members of parliament are accountable to both their district and party. Consequently, they have to balance their responsiveness to these competing principals when their preferences diverge. Existing research on this representational dilemma focuses mostly on the role of political institutions, whereas this article offers a new individual-level explanation: pre-parliamentary party careers. Using sequence analysis, three ideal-typical pre-parliamentary career paths are identified: the party local, the party functionary, and the party civilian. The share of party locals increases over time at the expense of party civilians in the Danish parliament, and these party locals are more likely to diverge from the party’s position when it is unpopular among their constituents. These findings corroborate existing evidence of political professionalisation in parliamentary democracies, but they also suggest that professionalisation may be associated with a localisation of politics leading to more rather than less constituency representation.     

Maintaining registration and tax benefits: Consequences for professionalisation of voluntary membership organisations in Norway and the UK

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how regulation related to maintaining state registration and tax beneficial status affects professionalisation, covering paid staff and volunteers with specialist skills, of political parties, advocacy groups and service providing organisations. The article fills a gap in the literature which until now has been mainly concerned with the influence of state funding on professionalisation. To study the consequences of first-time exposure to reporting requirements, eight organisations in two contrasting regulatory regimes, UK and Norway are analysed, on the basis of extensive documents and a series of semi-structured interviews with different organisational actors. The study finds that organisations – irrespective of type - exposed to constraining regulation adjust to reporting requirements through recruitment of specialised personnel. Organisations’ financial capacity determines whether the organisation professionalises by taking on specialist volunteers or by taking on paid staff. The study demonstrates the pervasive impact of regulation on organisational maintenance of voluntary membership organisations in contemporary democracies.     

Otto Kirchheimer and the catch-all party

Otto Kirchheimer's conception of the catch-all party was part of his more comprehensive theory of party transformation, encompassing four interrelated political processes. By tracing the development of the catch-all thesis and placing it within the wider context of Kirchheimer's complete work, it is possible to reconstruct a more precise understanding of what Kirchheimer meant by the catch-all concept, which itself remains highly contested. Kirchheimer's anxiety about modern democracy originated with what he saw as the vanishing of principled opposition within parliament and society, and the reduction of politics to the mere management of the state. This leads to collusion of political parties and the state, severing of the societal links of party organisations, and erosion of the classic separation of powers. Vanishing opposition, cartelisation and professionalisation of politics pits citizens against a powerful state, which increases political cynicism and apathy. Kirchheimer's comprehensive approach remains relevant to much of the contemporary debate about the transformation of Western political systems.     

Training for development management: Reflections on social know-how as a scientific and technological system

This paper explores the linkages between development, “appropriate” administrative technology and the training of development managers. In so doing, it traces the intimate relationships between development administration, conceptual paradigms and administrative know-how as a scientific and technological system. Orthodoxy, neo-orthodoxy and critical paradigms are discussed and a number of elements to reformulate a development administration paradigm are considered. Based upon this discussion the paper concludes with a tentative outline identifying training needs for development managers and a number of observations about such training: its “appropriatness”, professionalisation and the issue of international cooperation.     

Professionalism and the Millbank Tendency: The Political Sociology of New Labour's Employees

This article analyses party employees, one of the most under-researched subjects in the study of British political parties. We draw on a blend of quantitative and qualitative data in order to shed light on the social and political profiles of Labour Party staff, and on the question of their professionalisation. The latter theme is developed through a model derived from the sociology of professions. While a relatively limited proportion of party employees conform to the pure ideal-type of professionalism, a considerably greater number manifest enough of the core characteristics of specialisation, commitment, mobility, autonomy and self-regulation to be reasonably described as 'professionals in pursuit of political outcomes'.     

Der Widerspenstigen Selbst-Zähmung? Zur Professionalisierung der Internationalen Beziehungen in Deutschland

The article deals with the development of International Relations in Germany. Following a brief history of German IR, the authors focus on its development since the 1990s. For this period, German IR has been a success story with respect to professionalisation, institutionalisation and internationalisation. Furthermore, with the Global Governance concept, German IR has even established a thematic umbrella to further its integration and identity. Still, the authors caution against complacency as the success story of German IR has the in-built potential to eradicate its very own foundations.     

Is the Higher Public Service a Profession?

Professionalisation in the public services is regarded as essential but the concept is ambiguous and organisationally weak. Moreover, if not jeopardised by managerialism, public service professionalisation today faces some major barriers or limitations. Nonetheless, the public service may be able to maintain greater professional status with increased emphasis on job security, occupational closure and horizontal organisation. The prospects for such conditions may now seem remote, but with this criteria in mind Australia will neglect the professionalism of its public service very much to its cost.     

Less is more or the more the merrier? Analysing attitudes towards multiple-mandate holding among local officeholders

The practice of multiple-mandate holding is widespread across Europe. Critics argue that this practice contributes to a concentration of political power, a higher risk for conflicts of interest and damage to the public image of political actors. Advocates meanwhile claim that it provides clear benefits, such as local embeddedness of the national or regional political decision-making and a greater degree of professionalisation in politics. However, little is known about how political actors themselves look upon this practice. This especially in a context like Finland, where this practice is said to be embedded in the political culture and where another institutional level has recently been implemented, making it possible for political actors to simultaneously hold political mandates at the local-, regional- and national levels. This paper examines attitudes towards multiple-mandate holding among local political decision-makers using unique survey data gathered through a new online panel. The results suggest that councillors from a populist radical right party and those who perceive corruption and partial treatment as more common were the most negatively disposed towards this practice, while councillors from the traditionally strongest rural party were the most in favour.     

Selective Professionalisation of Political Campaigning: A Test of the Party-Centred Theory of Professionalised Campaigning in the Context of the 2006 Swedish Election

During the last few decades, political campaigns appear to have become increasingly professionalised. However, at present most of the evidence for the professionalisation of political campaigning comes from countries such as the United States and Britain, and there is less evidence with regard to countries with party-centred systems, proportional elections and multiple parties. Moreover, there is a noticeable lack of systematic and comparative research on the extent to which political campaigns have become professionalised. At present, the only theory of professionalised campaigning that has been operationalised to allow systematic comparisons is the party-centred theory of professionalised campaigning. However, so far it has only been applied once. Thus the usefulness and validity of the theory remains largely unclear. Against this background, the purpose of this study is to elaborate on the party-centred theory of professionalised campaigning, and to test this theory in the context of the 2006 Swedish election.     

Anti‐elitist cyber parties?

In the digital age, new ways of interaction provide a new type of public sphere, which dramatically changes party politics. This not only includes the modernisation and professionalisation of mainstream political parties but also paves the way for new challengers and a new dimension of campaigning. The current examples, the Pirate Party, especially in Germany, and the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo, show at least short‐term potential. The Pirate Party caused a media hype about the young activists. Grillo transcended the borders between comedy and politics without the helping hand of the traditional media, which ignored him. The threat for representative democracies lies in the growing anti‐elitism, which combines the Pirates and Grillo. Mainstream political parties should indicate that the claim for a new participatory politics beyond right and left is a utopian one, while attacking the way that party politics works. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DANGER ZONES OF CORRUPTION: HOW MANAGEMENT OF THE MINISTERIAL BUREAUCRACY AFFECTS CORRUPTION RISKS IN POLAND

This article examines the relationship between management of the ministerial bureaucracy and the risk of high‐level corruption in Poland. Four danger zones of corruption in the ministerial bureaucracy are distinguished, comprising the personalisation of appointments, the emergence of multiple dependencies, the screening capacity of the personnel system and the incentive of bureaucrats to develop a reputation of honesty and competence. Empirically, the article investigates the case of Poland from 1997 until 2007 and sets the findings in a comparative East Central European perspective. The article shows that corruption risks in the ministerial bureaucracy increased in most but not all danger zones after 2001 and, in particular, during the period of the centre‐right governments that were in office between 2005 and 2007. The increase in corruption risks is reflected in Poland's deteriorating corruption record during the same period. The conclusion discusses the findings with regard to alternative causes of corruption and the relationship between civil service professionalisation and corruption in other East Central European countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Public affairs in the Czech Republic: an exploratory study of the current situation

The main goal of our research study was to describe and analyse the state of the field of public affairs (PA) in the Czech Republic. So far, PA has been outside the scope of academic interest, and no study has yet analysed the issues or development of PA in the Czech Republic. Therefore, this study not only brings a unique insight into the practice of PA professionals but is also the first of its kind. Our main focus was to describe the current situation and build a solid background of the profession and emerging field for further research: firstly, we characterise professionals working in the field (what is their professional background, education, income and goals); secondly, we want to define what are the main issues they deal with professionally (such as politics, lobbying and the energy sector); thirdly, we will describe the market itself and the level of professionalisation and institutionalisation; and finally, we wanted to analyse how PA as a field is understood and perceived by professionals. In our conclusion, we also state openly a few challenges we met during our research, and we set the next goals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Campaign Advertising and Democratic Citizenship

Concern about the state of American democracy is a staple of political science and popular commentary. Critics warn that levels of citizen participation and political knowledge are disturbingly low and that seemingly ubiquitous political advertising is contributing to the problem. We argue that political advertising is rife with both informational and emotional content and actually contributes to a more informed, more engaged, and more participatory citizenry. With detailed advertising data from the 2000 election, we show that exposure to campaign advertising produces citizens who are more interested in the election, have more to say about the candidates, are more familiar with who is running, and ultimately are more likely to vote. Importantly, these effects are concentrated among those citizens who need it most: those with the lowest pre-existing levels of political information.     

Ballot Structure and Satisfaction with Democracy

This article analyses the influence of ballot structure over satisfaction with democracy. In line with previous literature, we hypothesize that some ballot structures – such as preferential ballots – generate more satisfaction with democracy than closed ones. Yet, we expect these differences to be especially relevant among the more knowledgeable electorate, since any open ballot structure requires more sophisticated voters. Using CSES surveys, our results do not show a clear and simple relation between ballot openness and satisfaction with democracy as some previous research seems to suggest. Our findings rather suggest a more limited effect. Preferential ballots and open lists are the only ballot structures that generate more satisfaction, when compared to most of the remaining ballot structures. Yet, this relation is restricted only among the more knowledgeable electorate. The liberty of choice that ballot structure offers only concerns a reduced portion of the electorate, namely the more politically sophisticated one.     

Complexity, Coupling, and the Future of European Integration

Why is there more integration in some areas of the European Union than others? Analyzing the dynamics of the integration process at the “normal politics” level, I specify two conditions, complexity and coupling, that make integration in Europe more likely in specific policy domains. Integration is more likely under conditions of low complexity and tight coupling. Using these two hypotheses, I probe tendencies toward more integration in four areas: competition policy, social policy, agriculture, and foreign and security policy. Integration need not be just a matter of conscious design or bargain, but also the perhaps unintended consequence of interaction between the various actors at the EU level. I conclude that European integration is segmented and that a more integrated Europe is necessarily a more expensive Europe.     

Inequality,marketisation and the left: Schools policy in England and Sweden

It is argued in this article that the marketisation of schools policy has a tendency to produce twin effects: an increase in educational inequality, and an increase in general satisfaction with the schooling system. However, the effect on educational inequality is very much stronger where prevailing societal inequality is higher. The result is that cross‐party political agreement on the desirability of such reforms is much more likely where societal inequality is lower (as the inequality effects are also lower). Counterintuitively, then, countries that are more egalitarian – and so typically thought of as being more left‐wing – will have a higher likelihood of adopting marketisation than more unequal countries. Evidence is drawn from a paired comparison of English and Swedish schools policies from the 1980s to the present. Both the policy history and elite interviews lend considerable support for the theory in terms of both outcomes and mechanisms.     

State and Local Government Procurement and the Winter Commission

The Winter Commission proposed a state and local government procurement reform agenda that placed public managers at the core of a depoliticized, deregulated, and more pragmatic public sector contracting process. Drawing on the literature and data from several state and local government surveys, this article shows that between 1992 and 2003, state and local governments’ contracting practices moved in directions consistent with the commission’s reform agenda. By 2003, state and local governments had decentralized and deregulated their contracting processes, were contracting more effectively and in circumstances in which it is more likely to be successful, and had adopted several innovative technologies and management practices.     

Interest groups and social media: An examination of cause and sectional groups' social media strategies in the EU

This paper examines social media use by cause and sectional interest groups in the European Union. The literature suggests that cause groups should focus on building a constituency more than sectional groups, because they do not offer exclusive benefits to their members. Cause groups face collective action problems more than sectional groups, so they have to take a proactive approach to community building. The nature of the causes cause groups lobby for is also more suitable for protest and thus calls to action. An in‐depth analysis of a random sample of 1,000 tweets by cause and sectional groups reveals differences with respect to social media use. Cause groups use social media to pursue two‐way communication with the public slightly—albeit not significantly—more than sectional groups. Cause groups mobilise the public to take action significantly and substantively more than specific interests.     

Electoral volatility and parties’ ideological responsiveness

For a number of decades now, scholars have been indicating that ties between citizens and parties are eroding. As a consequence, electoral behaviour has become more volatile and also more unpredictable. The consequences of this process of change on parties’ strategic behaviour have, however, received little attention. In this article, the impact of dealignment on parties’ strategic behaviour is examined, with the focus being on the extent to which parties are responsive to the mean voter. The expectation of dealignment allowing parties ‘to move around more freely’ leads to the hypothesis that parties are more responsive in a context of dealignment. The analyses provide evidence that is in line with this expectation. Ideological responsiveness is conditioned by the level of volatility in the electorate. The conclusion to draw from these results is that dealignment, which profoundly affects voters’ behaviour, leads parties to become more responsive to the mean voter.     

Constructing and contesting City of London power: NGOs and the emergence of noisier financial politics

Existing literature on the City of London has tended to focus on its ‘structural power’, while neglecting political and narrative agency. This paper acts as a corrective by presenting evidence to show that since the financial crash of 2008 the political terrain the City operates on has become more contested, crowded and noisier. The contribution develops a middle course between a positive assessment of the role of civil society in relation to global finance, and a more pessimistic reading. We demonstrate how macro-narratives and public story-telling both construct and contest City and financial sector power. In a new pattern since the financial crash, NGOs have moved from campaigns of limited duration and narrow focus, to a more sustained presence on macro-structural issues. Adopting a supply–demand framework for assessing governance and regulatory change, we look at the emergence of TheCityUK as a new advocacy arm and the strategies of three of the more prominent and focused NGOs that have mobilized in the aftermath of the crash: the Tax Justice Network’s (TJN) use of the ‘finance curse’; Positive Money on private endogenous money creation; and Finance Watch counterweight strategies at the level of the European Union. We suggest these mobilizations highlight the need for a more concerted and orchestrated construction of a global institutional civil society infrastructure in finance (a global financial public sphere) to achieve greater access, resources, scrutiny and oversight for a range of specialist expert NGOs.