Civil society and substantive democracy: Governance and the state of law in Belgium

Since the late 1980s, democratic institutions and an active civil society are being prescribed as important ingredients and preconditions to reduce poverty, social exclusion, and violent civil strife. Multi-party systems and elections are seen as the most important expressions of formal democracy. This paper argues that more attention is needed to substantive democracy, which requires a greater understanding of the various legal-political variants within a democratic framework. The paper discusses in some depth the crisis of governance in Belgium. The analysis raises questions about the relationship between 'political' and 'civil society', and between social movements and political parties.     

The Precautionary Principle as a Device for Greater Environmental Protection: Lessons from EC Courts

Given that the precautionary principle has never been defined in the EC Treaty, the EC jurisdictions have been playing a key role in determining the status as well as the scope of that principle. Although scholars have hitherto been paying heed to the case law on food safety, the literature has become a little thinner when one considers environmental case law. This article attempts to set the scene to explain how the precautionary principle can be invoked in different judiciary procedures at the EU level.     

Conforming to the Dominant Discourse: Framing Distance and Multiparty Competition

This study introduces a measure of framing distance, capturing the degree of frame overlap among parties. Additionally, it provides a causal mechanism explaining differences between parties in framing distance. Parties within PR systems have to take coalition considerations in their stride, and therefore mainstream opposition parties, which have previously governed, are unlikely to adopt large framing distances. Alternatively, challenger parties, those that have never governed, are likely to frame important issues differently. Nonetheless, challengers are expected to reduce their framing distance when performing well in election polls. Electoral success acts as a trigger for these parties to reconsider their goals (policy, office, or votes) and to become more office-seeking. These theoretical propositions are confirmed on the basis of the European integration issue, using a mixed methods approach. Pooled time-series regressions on party manifestos issued by 21 parties between 1987 and 2006 in three political systems (Germany, Netherlands, and UK) are complemented with case study analysis.     

The Development of a Reduced-Item Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS)

Effort assessment is a relevant area in neuropsychological assessment. There are well-established self-report measures, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) FBS Symptom Validity Scale (FBS; Lees-Haley, English & Glenn, Psychological Reports 68: 203-210, 1991) and MMPI-2 Response Bias Scale (RBS; Gervais, Ben-Porath, Wygant & Green, Assessment 14: 196, 2007). However, there is also a need for brief measures of symptom exaggeration. The Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) appears to be a promising self-report measure of symptom validity (e.g., Smith & Burger, Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 25: 183-189, 1997). In order to understand the psychometric properties of the SIMS, a comprehensive item analysis was performed with the questionnaire. Items were removed due to invariable response or lack of relationship with the total SIMS. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses were completed using RBS and FBS Symptom Validity Scale (FBS) of the MMPI-2 with items grouping from the SIMS indices. The results found that limiting the number of items did not affect overall utility. The abbreviated indices on the SIMS had excellent discrimination with the neurologic impairment (NI) and affective disorder (AF) scales and good discrimination with psychosis (P) and amnesic disorder (AM) scales of the SIMS. The briefer measure allows for less time required to administer the measure, while still maintaining the integrity of the SIMS.     

Strategy,market orientation and performance: the political context

This paper investigates the fit between the strategic posture of a political party and its political market orientation, and analyses the impact of this fit on party performance. For this purpose, a configuration theory logic is applied to the context of the political market; in particular, we develop strategic profiles (i.e. strategic postures and political market orientation) of four Belgian political parties represented in the Flemish Parliament. By comparing the strategic profiles derived from a questionnaire administered to 3148 party members with those of ‘theoretically ideal’ profiles, we uncover the ‘strategic misfit’ (or ‘misalignment’) for each party and then relate this misfit to party performance. Results indicate that there is a strong, negative relationship between the misalignment of actual and perceived strategic profiles on the one hand and performance on the other. However, the ‘ideal profiles’ differ with the strategic posture of a party. Thus, our findings show that it is not so much the strategic posture itself that will determine superior performance, but it is the strategic posture that the party aligns with implementing a particular political market orientation that is the most important factor. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender and right-wing populism in the Low Countries: ideological variations across parties and time

ABSTRACT

Although scholarship on the general ideological orientation of right-wing populist parties is well established, few scholars have studied their ideas about gender. De Lange and Mügge therefore ask how differences in ideology shape right-wing populist parties' ideas on gender. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis of party manifestos, they compare the gender ideologies and concrete policy proposals of national and neoliberal populist parties in the Netherlands and Flanders from the 1980s to the present. They find that some parties adhere to a modern or modern-traditional view, while others espouse neo-traditional views. Moreover, some right-wing populist parties have adopted gendered readings of issues surrounding immigration and ‘Islam’, while others have not. The variation in stances on ‘classical’ gender issues can be explained by the genealogy and ideological orientation of the parties, whereas gendered views on immigration and Islam are influenced by contextual factors, such as 9/11.     

Linking local rice processors’ access to rural radio,gender, and livelihoods in Benin

In a context of low literacy rates and a high level of rurality, the use of rural radio in agricultural extension is a method that can bridge the gap that exists between researchers, extension workers, and farmers. This article examines the level of farmers’ access to rural radio in relation to gender and livelihoods. The study was conducted in Benin with 18 rural radio stations and 240 rice processors, using the sustainable livelihoods framework to examine the relationship between access to rural radio and livelihoods. Although the study cannot draw conclusions on causal relationships, rice processors who often listened to agricultural broadcasts had better social, financial, and human capital stocks compared to those who did not. Despite the efforts of 72% of the radio stations to link up with extension services, half of the rice processors rarely or never listened to agricultural broadcasts, because the timing of the broadcasts was inappropriate. Interactive radio sessions with farmers that involve government officials will need to address this if they are to become more effective.     

Literature from the Periphery of São Paulo at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair

This article analyzes the participation of São Paulo as guest of honor at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair (2014). We will examine why the event's curators opted to take writers from the saraus, poetry readings on the city's outskirts, to the Fair, as well as the political arrangements that made the participation of those writers possible. We also discuss why participation in Buenos Aires was so different from that promoted by the federal government for other events, like the Frankfurt Book Fair (2013), where curators prioritized authors with greater prestige or international exposure.