The afterlife of modernity in the politics of the postmodern∗

Abstract

Though poststructuralist and postmodern critiques provide a powerful tool for deconstructing contemporary power relations, when they are overextended, they lose their subversive edge and actually begin to serve the development of new forms of social domination. Taken as an example, Baudrillard's theory of postmodern society reflects this very tendency. While on the surface Baudrillard has abandoned the hierarchies of modernity upon which order and domination have depended, his critique reintroduces its own countersubversive hierarchy upon which a postmodern order depends. As parts of a postmodern conceptual framework, these hierarchies serve to expand the system of domination manufactured in contemporary communications industries and to undermine resistance through the production of simulated social and political realities.     

The Dilemmas of China’s Political Science in the Context of the Rise of China

The rise of China has changed the global balance of power, which could also have an impact on the international development of political science scholarship. Very little attention, however, has been paid to the impact of China’s rise on the development of political science within China. This article examines how the rise of China has posed serious challenges to political studies in China. It addresses critical issues concerning the contemporary features and strategic direction of the discipline. It first analyzes three different meanings of what constitutes China’s political studies and discusses three different intellectual production models. It then highlights the dilemmas that political science faces in China, and exposes problems of and obstacles to its development, such as an unwarranted sense of pride, the bureaucratization of the scholarly community, and, critically, the absence of democracy and academic freedom. The paper examines and engages several ongoing debates on China’s political studies. In responding to the debate over whether it is desirable for Chinese political studies to move towards scientification, this paper presents four arguments for a balance between science and the humanities and outlines four strategies for achieving this balance. It also examines the debate on the localization of Chinese political studies and the doctrine of China’s uniqueness; and points out that the rise of China requires Chinese political studies to be cosmopolitan, global and universal, but the current regime is interested in reproducing the discourse of China’s uniqueness to maintain its political legitimacy.     

Re‐electing the Culprits of the Crisis? Elections in the Aftermath of a Recession

Theories of economic voting and electoral accountability suggest that voters punish incumbent governments for poor economic conditions. Incumbents are thus expected to suffer substantially during significant economic crisis but their successor in office will face the difficult task of reviving the economy. The economic crisis may, therefore, negatively affect government parties in subsequent elections even though the economic conditions may, to a large degree, have been inherited from the previous government. It is argued in this article that economic conditions play an important role in such circumstances as they place specific issues on the agenda, which structure the strategies available to the parties. Therefore, the article studies the 2013 Icelandic parliamentary election in which the incumbent government parties suffered a big loss despite having steered the country through an economic recovery. While perceptions of competence and past performance influenced party support, three specific issues thrust on the agenda by the economic crisis – mortgage relief, Icesave and European Union accession/negotiations – help explain why the centre‐right parties were successful in returning to the cabinet.     

Determinants of the probability and timing of commercial casino legalization in the United States

The adoption of lotteries by state governments has received significant attention in the economics literature, but the issue of casino adoption has been neglected by researchers. Casino gambling is a relatively new industry in the United States, outside Nevada and New Jersey. As of 2007, 11 states had established commercial casinos; several more states are considering legalization. We analyze the factors that determine a state’s decision to legalize commercial casinos, using data from 1985 to 2000, a period which covers the majority of states that have adopted commercial casinos. We use a tobit model to examine states’ fiscal conditions, political alignments, intrastate and interstate competitive environments, and demographic characteristics, which yields information on the probability and timing of adoptions. The results suggest a public choice explanation that casino legalization is due to state fiscal stress, to efforts to keep gambling revenues (and the concomitant gambling taxes) within the state, and to attract tourism or “export taxes.”     

The groupuscularization of neo-Nazism in Germany: the case of the Aktionsbüro Norddeutschland

Since the beginning of the 1990s, in the aftermath of a series of brutal attacks on foreigners and asylum-seekers, seventeen neo-Nazi organizations have been banned in Germany. In addition, public events such as the yearly marches in honour of Rudolf Hess have been prohibited. It is for this reason that some members of the neo-Nazi movement have turned to the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany), which, under a new leadership, has opened its ranks to neo-Nazi skinheads. Another part of the violent far right has developed new organizational modes of operation, without central, rigid or formal structures. Small, locally based groups—the so-called freie Kameradschaften (free fellowships) have been set up and are operating mainly at a local or regional level. Co-operation between them is ­guaranteed by regular meetings and by longstanding contacts between their leaders. If the freie Kameradschaften are analysed as a social movement, one can identify numerous groupuscules within the German neo-Nazi scene that contribute, each in its own specific way, to its continuity, development and diversification. One of the more relevant of these groupuscules is the Aktionsbüro Norddeutschland (Northern Germany Action Bureau), whose ideology is openly neo-Nazi. Its main field of activity is its Internet website, from which it appeals to its supporters to take part in neo-Nazi demonstrations and virtually organized campaigns.     

Changes in the Location of the Median Voter in theU.S. House of Representatives, 1963–1996

We consider the degree of ideological polarizationwithin and between the parties in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives for the period 1963–1996, using theGroseclose, Levitt and Snyder (1996) adjustment method for ADA and ACU scores to ensure over timecomparability of roll call voting data. We focusespecially on the median House member, since webelieve that change in the median offers a bettermeasure of the impact of the change in party controlthan does changes in the mean roll-call votingscore. Our data analysis makes two general points. First andforemost, when we looked at the change in the locationof the House median voter, we found a dramatic changeafter the Republicans gained a majority in the House in1994. After the Republicans became a majority in theHouse, the ADA median in the House in 1995–1996 was at24, far closer to the Republican median of 4 than tothe Democratic median of 83. The shift in medianfrom 1993–1994 to 1994–1995 involved a change of over 25points in one election – far and away the greatestsingle shift in ideology of the modern era. Incontrast, the mean changed only 1 point overthis same period. Second, for the three decades weinvestigated, we found three historical epochs vis a visthe relative locations of the ADA (or ACU) floormedian and the ADA (or ACU) floor mean in the U.S.House of Representatives – two inflection points in1983 and 1994 which are related to trends in regionalrealignment.     

A genealogy of corporate governmentality in the realm of the ‘merchant-king’: the Netherlands Trading Company and the management of Dutch paupers

Abstract

The emergence of the modern corporation occurs at the same time as that of the modern state and liberal governmentality, although its role in the development of ‘bio-power’ has not been carefully examined. This article examines the royal use of corporations to manage the poor through work creation schemes and hence effect a capitalist transformation of the eastern Netherlands; specifically, the creation of the Dutch textile industry. These work creation schemes drew on the cameralistic ‘police sciences’ that Foucault cites in his genealogy of bio-power. This article traces the means by which cameralistic disciplinary techniques for the control of paupers were adopted by entrepreneurs who replaced Willem I, the ‘merchant-king’ as the ‘visible hand of the market’. It highlights the origins of managerialism in ‘social’ not ‘political economy’.     

Gorillas in the closet? Public and private actors in the enforcement of transnational private regulation

This paper examines to what extent the background presence of state regulatory capacity – at times referred to as the “regulatory gorilla in the closet” – is a necessary precondition for the effective enforcement of transnational private regulation. By drawing on regulatory regimes in the areas of advertising and food safety, it identifies conditions under which (the potential of) public regulatory intervention can bolster the capacity of private actors to enforce transnational private regulation. These involve the overlap between norms, objectives, and interests of public and private regulation; the institutional design of regulatory enforcement; compliance with due process standards; and information management and data sharing. The paper argues that while public intervention remains important for the effective enforcement of transnational private regulation, governmental actors – both national and international – should create the necessary preconditions to strengthen private regulatory enforcement, as it can also enhance their own regulatory capacity, in particular, in transnational contexts.     

Stakeholder citizenship: the complexities of Polish migrants’ citizenship attachments in the context of the Scottish independence referendum

This article focuses on the experiences of Scotland’s largest foreign-born minority group, namely Poles, in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. We draw on 20 in-depth interviews to explore our participants’ intentions and justifications for voting (or not) in the referendum. We found that our participants tended to emphasise the jus domicili principle when justifying their eligibility to vote in the referendum. However, our participants extended the jus domicili principle in their justifications to also include the intention to stay in Scotland as a central aspect of their continuing stake in (and right to vote in the referendum to determine) Scotland’s future. Through exploring our participants’ justifications for voting in the referendum, we were able to examine and better understand how migrants constitute their citizenship through articulating their substantive attachments (social, economic and relational or familial) in their adoptive country and in their country of origin.     

In the Eye of the Beholder? Motivated Reasoning in Disputed Elections

This study uses an experimental design to simulate the ballot counting process during a hand-recount after a disputed election. Applying psychological theories of motivated reasoning to the political process, we find that ballot counters’ party identification conditionally influences their ballot counting decisions. Party identification’s effect on motivated reasoning is greater when ballot counters are given ambiguous, versus specific, instructions for determining voter intent. This study’s findings have major implications for ballot counting procedures throughout the United States and for the use of motivated reasoning in the political science literature.     

The Good of Banality? The Emergence of Cost—Benefit Analysis and Proportionality in the Treatment of Aliens in the US and Germany

In this essay, I argue that the gap between 'citizen' and 'alien' has been shrinking in both American and German law. Despite the recent hostility toward immigrants and aliens in both countries, the longer-term tendency has been to grant aliens greater rights. In part this is because the courts have moved to a more functionalist and prosaic perspective and away from grand theories of citizenship and rights. In part, however, this development also points to the reduction of solidarity within these societies and the decline in the power and viability of citizenship as a political and socioeconomic category. The result has been a gain in 'recognition' but at the expense of 'redistributive' politics.     

Assessing the “Quality of Democracy” in Turkey

Turkey is a case of a Muslim-majority country that has known an experience of representative democracy almost uninterrupted since the Second World War. The historical passages that have characterized the path to democracy in Turkey have configured the current set of powers. The aim of this article is to explore how the democratization process in Turkey is relevant in procedural, substantive, and result terms. In the first part is undertaken a historical overview from the perspective of modernization and democratic consolidation carried out by Turkey, also on the basis of the ability to meet the requirements of the Copenhagen political criteria. The second part investigates eight dimensions in which democracy spreads its effects in order to assess the quality of democracy of Turkey.     

Common‐interest housing in the communities of tomorrow

Abstract

This article offers a broad conceptual framework for understanding the rise of common‐interest housing developments (CIDs), including gated communities, townhouse and condominium projects, and other planned communities. The article begins by describing the CID as an institution and the essential characteristics and varieties of CIDs. Second, the rapid spread of CIDs is attributed to the incentives currently operating on real estate developers, municipal governments, and consumers. Third, this institution is placed in the context of definitions of public and private, and the categories of state, market, and civil society.

The article then presents the eight different “big‐picture” interpretations of this overall phenomenon that could inform the public policy framework within which CIDs are situated. They can be seen as an imperfectly realized version of the “rational choice” or “public choice” model, and reform efforts should be aimed at making choice mechanisms more effective.     

Nationality swapping in the Olympic field: towards the marketization of citizenship?

Nationality swapping in sports is commonly assumed to be a rapidly expanding practice that is indicative of the marketization of citizenship. Sports are said to have become wholesale markets in which talent is being traded for citizenship. In this article, we seek to empirically explore such claims by analysing 167 athletes who have competed for two different countries in the Summer Olympic Games. It seems that most switches occurred after the 1990s. Then, following a citizenship as a claims-making approach, we introduce the work of Bourdieu so as to connect citizenship as both legal status and practice with normative claims. The analysis reveals that the practice of nationality switching is shaped by structural conditions of the Olympic field. First, a complex realm of citizenship laws and regulations produces conditions under which athletes make legitimate claims to citizenship. Second, through a mechanism of reverberative causation, prior migrations are often echoed in contemporary nationality swapping . Only a limited number of athletes acquired citizenship via the explicit market principle we call jus talenti. Claiming that instrumental nationality swapping is indicative of the marketization of citizenship obscures the complex interplay between structures of and practices within the Olympic field.     

Economic Growth and Changes in the Branch Structure of Economy in Latvia： Linkage and the Sequence

From 2000 to 2012 the Latvian economy experienced four important events： （1） accession to the European Union in 2004; （2） the fastest GDP growth in the European Union and one of the fastest in the world in 2006; （3） the fastest GDP decrease in the European Union and in the world in 2009; and （4） resumption of economic growth in 2011. Such substantial changes during relatively short period of time make the experience of Latvia interesting in context of economic growth. Now Latvia has success in overcoming the consequences of the global economic downturn but the question which still remains relevant is the rationality of the branch structure of economy, because of high share of non-tradable sector in GDP. Such high fluctuations of the GDP during period analyzed, as well as requirements of the modem economy show the necessity to provide changes in the branch structure of economy. The most acceptable and popular direction in accordance with the strategy ＂Europe 2020＂ indicates that these changes should be in favor to the innovative manufacturing branches. On the other hand, the question--whether the changes in the branch structure of economy would be a tool for maintaining and providing the economic growth in Latvia--is actual. The importance and relevance of this question are reinforced by the fact that there is no consensus in the literature about the sequence of the economic growth and changes in the branch structure of economy. The article considers the linkage between economic growth and the changes in the branch structure of economy in Latvia, as well as search for sequence between these processes.     

Uprooting the curious grapevine? The transformative potential of reverse standard-setting in the field of human rights

In recent years, the top-down nature of human rights norm-setting has been problematized by scholars and practitioners who — inspired by actor-oriented perspectives on human rights — started to explore the potential role of rights users in the further development of human rights norms at the global level. Based on fieldwork with community-based organizations in Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I argue that the empowering potential of this exercise could be amplified by complementing actor-oriented analyses with a sociostructural analysis of how institutionalized power relations shape the potential for reverse standard-setting. Drawing on new empirical material, I propose a more nuanced way to think about reverse standard-setting and identify four issues that require the combination of an actor-oriented analysis and sociostructural analysis: access, influence, avenues for information sharing, and discursive incompatibilities. In doing so, I seek to increase the analytical rigor, practical relevance, and empowering potential of reverse standard-setting.     

Party organizational development and the electoral performance of the radical right: exploring the role of local candidates in the breakthrough elections of the Sweden democrats 2002–2014

It is today commonplace to view radical right parties as masters of their own fates. However, whereas most authors in the field focus on dominant leaders, the impact of party organizations remains understudied. To remedy some of this, we study the impact of three unique measures of organizational development on the electoral performance of the Sweden Democrats (SD) in four consecutive local elections between 2002 and 2014. When controlling for crucial demand- and supply-side factors, while holding the appeal of the national leadership constant, we find that the size, competence, and stability of the local candidate base were all decisive for explaining the success of the SD. These findings suggest that a developed organizational base not only matters to the long-term persistence of radical right parties, but also to their electoral breakthrough. Additionally, we suggest that party organizations are likely to have a greater impact in countries where radical right parties are already established. We conclude by arguing that our findings potentially provide insights into mechanisms that explain how new parties in general establish themselves.