The Impact of Municipality Mergers on Political Participation

The citizen assembly of the Swiss canton Glarus in 2006 decided to radically reduce the historical number of communes from 25 to three. Studies show that the financial and economic consequences are surprisingly small. This paper analyzes the effects on citizens' vote participation as an indicator of their political involvement. Using the difference-in-difference and the synthetic control methods, we empirically show that vote participation dropped significantly, also compared to neighboring cantons and the rest of Switzerland.     

美国华人地方参政的发展与挑战

近年美国华人竞选地方行政公职成就显著。本文主要采用美国本地资料,研究美国华人地方参政的发展、华人市长面临的制约与考验以及影响华人市长行政的若干因素。随着美国华人问鼎越来越多的行政职位,华人地方官员将面对越来越多的行政考验与挑战。     

华人参政与印尼政治文化革新

本文首先叙述了苏哈托统治时期,印尼华人在政治生活和文化心理上所受到的沉重打击,然后对"五月骚乱"后印尼华人的参政情况作了介绍.文章还从内外两个方面分析了印尼华人对政治生活不够积极的原因,其内因是印尼华人结构复杂,没有形成统一的族群意识,其外因是印尼政治仍有歧视华人倾向,印尼政治文化有待革新.     

The 1968 Movement Revisited: Education and the Distinction in Values,Political Interest and Political Participation in West Germany

The aim of this paper is to take a look at the 1968 generation in West Germany about 40 years after the 1968 events. Whether there was a 1968 generation in the narrow sense of the word will be explored. While comparing the 1968 generation with earlier and later cohorts, political interest, political activity and (postmaterialist) values will be analysed. Education will be theorised as a main mechanism that distinguishes the 1968 generation from earlier generations. Quantitative analyses will be performed employing a temporal perspective and including age, period and cohort effects – so that socialisation as well as individual change over the life cycle and macro influences can be taken into account. The results show a strong influence of education on political interest, political activity and postmaterialism. Therefore, what is called the ‘1968 generation’ only applies to the more highly educated people of this generation.     

The Poverty of Democracy: Neoliberal Reforms and Political Participation of the Poor in Mexico

Twenty years after governments across Latin America began implementing neoliberal reforms in earnest, concern is growing about their impact on the quality of democracy in the region. This article examines this issue in the case of Mexico by exploring how patterns of political participation, especially among the rural and urban poor, have changed since the implementation of free market reforms. It asks whether the institutional innovations associated with free market reforms make it easier or more difficult for the poor to participate in Mexico's political process. The answer is not encouraging. Despite democratic openings, the new linkages between the state and citizens established as a result of the transition to a free market development model stifle the voice of the poor not through the threat of force or coercion, but by creating obstacles and disincentives for political mobilization that affect the poor more severely than other groups.     

Religious Activity and Political Participation: The Brazilian and Chilean Cases

Scholars debate whether the recent conversion of millions of Latin Americans to evangelical Protestantism bodes well for democratic participation or reinforces authoritarian culture and practices. Using a resource model, this study examines the link between participation in religious organizations, political engagement, and political participation in Brazil and Chile. Survey data indicate that religious organizations, particularly Protestant ones, can provide skills that members can transfer to political activity; and that different religions can result in different politics.     

独立后马来西亚华人的政治选择与政治参与

1957年马来西亚独立后,马来西亚华人的政治生活发生了根本性的变化.随着华人政治角色的转换,华人对当地政治的参与度越来越高,华人的政治地位和政治作用日益加强.马来西亚华人参政的经验为东南亚其他国家华人的政治发展带来了许多积极有益的启示.     

菲律宾与印尼军人政治参与的比较

印度尼西亚与菲律宾是有着相似历史和相同政体的东南亚国家,军人在政治生活中起着重要作用是两国政治的共同特点.但由于国家独立过程和两国文化等的差异,两国军人政治又呈现出不同的发展态势.本文主要分三个历史阶段对两国军人政治参与进行比较分析,并对军人干政的共性进行了总结.     

Contacting and Complaining: Political Participation and the Failure of Democracy in Russia

This article analyzes mass political participation as a factor contributing to the failure of Russian democracy. Data from public opinion surveys and firsthand interviews are used to evaluate patterns in Russian citizens' engagement in nonvoting political participation from the late Soviet era to the present. The article asks whether Russians expanded their participation in acts constraining elites, such as party-development work and protests, and investigates practices of contacting public officials, considering the implications of contacting for the deepening of democratic institutions. The factors contributing to patterns of participation, including the weakness of Russia's party system and the paucity of Russian civil society, are also discussed.     

Gender Gaps in Civic and Political Participation in Latin America

This article examines whether there is gender segmentation in civic participation in Latin America, and whether such segmentation is related to gender differences in political participation. Confirming the findings of other studies, this analysis indicates that there is gender segmentation in civic associational activities, and that men are more involved than women in political activities, except for voting. Among those involved in civic activities, however, women attend meetings more often than men or about equally in all types of activities under consideration, except for sports and recreational pursuits. This highlights the need to differentiate between type and intensity of civic participation and provides empirical evidence that Latin American women have strong community ties through a variety of organizations. The regression analysis shows that civic engagement has a positive effect on political participation but that the magnitude of that effect varies by gender depending on the activity.     

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.     

日本妇女参政途径及成效

二战结束后,日本妇女获得了参政权.在半个多世纪的参政历程中,日本妇女通过各种途径积极参政,并取得了可喜的成绩.本文通过对立法、司法、行政、政党中妇女参政情况的考察,分析了日本妇女参政的成效.     

近十年来印尼华人参政情况分析

近十年来,印尼华人参政积极性持续提升,参政情况出现明显变化。通过采访一些印尼华人领袖和学者,作者试图了解包括印尼当地民族在内的印尼民众对华人参政的态度和看法。通过对印尼华人近十年参政情况进行分析,本文总结了华人参政的新特征和面临的巨大障碍及困扰。本文认为,无论印尼华人参政出现何种变化,面临何种障碍和困扰,关键所在是华人要明确方向,努力参与建设繁荣、安宁和现代化的印度尼西亚。     

法团主义视角下越南商业协会的政治参与

革新开放促使国家与市民社会逐渐分离,这使越南商业协会获得成长空间。商业协会利用政策咨询进行利益表达、通过政治代理人和政治游说影响利益配置、借助舆论监督和法律监督维护利益。但商业协会都不同程度地处于政府控制之下,其自主性和政治化程度较低,其利益表达主要限定于经济领域。这种商业协会国家法团主义的特征,反映了越南"强国家—弱社会"的现状。     

当代马华报刊文本中的华族政治参与意识表达

本文通过对《星洲日报》和《南洋商报》及其他马华主要报刊相关言论和社论的文本分析,揭示了20世纪80-90年代期间马来西亚华人政治参与意识的变化,包括民主政治思想的启蒙,民主政治实践的探索,以及超越种族政治的发展变化过程。     

Constitutions against Revolutions: Political Participation in North Africa

This article looks into the genesis of Madisonian factions (or Elster's interests) in the constitution-making process. The North African constitutional transitions offer prime insights into the appetites of political forces to appropriate the key decisions on how to write the constitution, which ultimately leads to undue advantages in the drafting stage. Tunisia, Egypt and Libya show different ways of appropriating that moment and the involvement of different forces. These appropriations, however, all involve limitations to political participation, with various degrees as evidenced in the three experiences. If distortions of constitution-making are deemed inappropriate, then appropriations need to be avoided.     

对马华公会党员及其政治参与的研究

马华公会是马来西亚政治史上最为重要的华人政党 ,本文对马华公会的党员及其政治参与进行了初步研究。     

Security in the Gulf: The View from Oman

For a long time, analysts of the Middle East have justifiably focused their attention on Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three Gulf states holding massive hydrocarbon deposits and financial resources. Their leaders are the main “movers and shakers” of regional affairs and enjoy tremendous influence on the international scene. Still, other Gulf states play significant roles in shaping the Middle East's economic and strategic landscape. Such is the case with Oman, which has been a major US ally in most regional crises and has played a crucial role in mediating Gulf conflicts. This article, based on several visits to the sultanate and interviews with senior officials, analyzes the domestic, regional, and international dynamics being navigated by Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who succeeded Sultan Qaboos bin Said in January 2020. The argument is that the new Omani leader is likely to follow the domestic and foreign policies of his predecessor, with minor adjustments. Oman may witness major changes when Crown Prince Theyazin succeeds his father. For now, given the crucial role Muscat plays in mediating regional conflicts, the sultanate expects more attention from its counterparts in Washington.