Rising Tides of Ideological Simplifications: A Comparative and Longitudinal Analysis of Local Parties

This article explores the strength and causal determinants of ideological thinking within Swiss local political parties. The concept of “ideologization” refers to (1): “horizontal couplings”, as they are manifested in intercorrelations between different opinions, and to (2) “vertical couplings” of specific opinions to abstract concepts of “left” and “right”. Results show high ideologization on the left‐center section of the LR‐scale, especially in the vertical dimension. On both sides of the spectrum, ideological constraints are significantly higher in larger communities than in than in smaller ones. Only in rather small communities, does ideologization correlate positively with the educational level, the modern occupational background of party members and the number of other local parties with which they have to compete. In communities of given size, ideological thinking is more pronounced when parties possess a small share of political power. Finally, it is found that ideological constraints have increased somewhat between 1989 and 2002.     

Political Representation in Bailed-out Southern Europe: Greece and Portugal Compared

The emergence of the economic and financial crisis has already shown important electoral and political consequences in southern Europe. Drawing on the experience of two bailed-out countries, Greece and Portugal, we use original data collected before and after 2008 to examine how patterns of political representation have changed during this period. We argue that austerity measures have significantly affected the way MPs represent their electorates, namely in terms of policy congruence. In addition, the economic crisis has also deepened the legitimacy crisis in both countries. Finally, we find that the short-term impact of the crisis has had a greater impact on voters' attitudes than on those of their representatives.     

赖和“形象建构”与战后台湾文化政治思潮研究

赖和素有“台湾新文学之父”、“台湾的鲁迅”之称。战后台湾,赖和难脱文化政治思潮的羁绊。50至80年代赖和“入祀”忠烈祠、“被驱逐”与“重新入祀”忠烈祠的荣辱兴衰,解严后赖和作为象征符号被卷入国族建构的历史际遇,都源自赖和文学与思想的左翼、民族意识与台湾乡土情怀的各自解读。本论文拟从赖和接受史论述战后台湾政治文化思潮对知识者“形象建构”之影响。     

两岸关系制度化如何处理“台湾当局政治地位”问题

两岸关系和平发展制度化面临的核心障碍是：是否认同“两岸同属一个中国”,以及如何设计两岸都能接受的“一中”法律架构和中央政权架构,而台湾当局的政治地位及两岸关系定位则是争论的焦点所在。两岸在“国号”上的分歧并未改变“两岸同属于一个中国”、“中国的主权以及人民和领土完整并未分裂”的事实,只是中国内战未能彻底结束,导致了“一个中国内两个敌对政权阶段性并存”的格局。笔者认为,在两岸均以谋求国家和平统一为目标的前提下,似可默认在国家统一前双方政权互不隶属,两岸任何一方都不强求对方接受自己作为国内法意义上代表全中国的中央政府,并在国际社会共同维护“一个中国”。未来两岸“统一”的法律目标是：本着相互宽容和谅解的精神,通过平等协商,制定或认可两岸均能接受的、在全中国范围内具有最高法律效力的宪法或宪法性法律,组成能有效管治全中国的中央政府。     

Can we satisfactorily gauge the socio-political trends of our own age? Mark Bevir’s views on governance and changing democracy

Assessing the socio-political trends as they unfold is an art, and it needs to be approached from various angles. Bevir’s anti-foundationalist approach hinges upon the belief (not fact) that governance and networks have replaced government and hierarchies. His analysis is constructed around several strawmen (expert civil servants, street-level bureaucrats, judges, Keynesians, social welfare officials, and the wicked, modernist social sciences) rather than based in careful and balanced empirical evidence. To ‘cherry-pick’ some non-representative cases in support of an ideological perspective is academically unsatisfying.     

Japan’s Political Economy and Koizumi’s Structural Reform: A Rise and Fall of Neoclassical Economic Reform in Japan

For five years of his premiership, Jun’ichiro Koizumi bravely fought against politicians, bureaucrats, and interest groups to promote his structural economic reform. Fortunately, by the time he retired, Japanese economy got out of the depression. But the tide changed. In the July 2007 Upper House elections, the public was opposed to structural reform that Koizumi and Abe had advocated. Now it is not clear where Japanese political economy is likely to go. This paper will take a long-term view on the evolution of Japan’s political economy, and try to understand Jun’ichiro Koizumi’s structural reform in that long-term context.

The Stability of Political Attitudes and Behaviors across Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Comparison of Survey Data on Adolescents and Young Adults in Eight Countries

The persistence of adolescents’ political attitudes and behaviors into adulthood is a perennial concern in research on developmental psychology. While some authors claim that adolescents’ attitudinal patterns will remain relatively stable throughout the life cycle, others argue that the answers of adolescents in political surveys have but a limited predictive value for their future attitudes and behaviors. In this article, we tackle this question on an aggregate level, by comparing survey data for 14, 18 and 18 to 30 year old respondents from eight European countries (n = resp. 22,620; 20,142 and 2800). We examine political trust, attitudes toward immigrants’ rights and voting behavior. The analysis suggests that country patterns with regard to political trust and attitudes toward immigrant rights are already well established by the age of 14. We find less indications for stability in the relation between intention to vote (for 14 and 18 years olds) and actual voting behavior (for young adults). The latent structure of the political trust scale was found to be equivalent for the three age groups we investigated. We close by offering some suggestions on why attitudinal stability seems stronger than behavioral stability.

Direction Versus Proximity in the Social Influence Process

Rabinowitz and Macdonald (Am Polit Sci Rev 83(1):93–121, 1989) have advanced a directional theory of electoral choice that stands as an alternative to the proximity models that have dominated thinking in this area for a number of years. In this paper, we assess the utility of directional theory in another area of political behavior: the evaluation and influence of politically significant others in an individual’s social environment. Using two datasets collected during presidential election campaigns in 1984 and 1996, we find that respondents are more likely to evaluate their political discussants highly and be influenced by discussant vote choice if they agree in a directional rather than proximity manner. In looking at agreement on party identification, ideology, and issue positions, the directional model prevailed in 11 of 17 estimations, with neither explanation acquiring empirical support in the other six. In no instance did the proximity model prevail as an explanation of how political discussants relate to each other. We conclude by discussing the consequences of these results for political behavior and practical electoral politics.

Social process as everyday practice: the micro politics of community-based conservation and development in southeastern Mexico

This article explores the everyday exchanges associated with community-based natural resources management in southeastern Mexico to suggest how formal and informal social practices shape conservation and development outcomes. Discussions of social process in most policy analyses emphasize formal exchanges based in rational action but typically overlook the impact of everyday social practices, which often occur “off-stage.” First, I build on existing conceptualizations of social process in the policy sciences by exploring culturally-informed approaches focused on everyday practice, infrapolitics, and performance. Second, I present a case study detailing the emergence and decline of a timber marketing fund to reveal how informal lending among community members contributed to the decapitalization of the fund. Third, I trace flows of economic capital from the fund in order to discuss specific policy outcomes. Fourth, I present ethnographic and archival evidence showing the persistence and frequency of informal lending, the performative aspects of local social process, and the character of “off-stage” interactions. I conclude with a discussion of social process that extends analysis beyond values-based outcomes to consider how long-standing practices based in particular logics (political cultures) collide with formalized (technocratic) practices of the public sphere. I employ this conceptual approach to critically examine questions of petty corruption and local conflict, to uncover multiple dimensions of micro political interaction, and to explore how cultural perspectives on social process might inform policy responses.

Does the Content of Political Appeals Matter in Motivating Participation? A Field Experiment on Self-disclosure in Political Appeals

Although robust citizen participation is fundamental to a healthy democracy, we still lack a clear sense of how to motivate participation. This paper presents the results of an experimental study designed to see if the content of political appeals matters in motivating participation. Previous research in this area has had mixed results. This paper finds that political appeals that include some self-disclosure about the person making the request triggers a liking heuristic that causes subjects to be more likely to comply with a request for action. Subjects receiving the treatment appeal are significantly more likely to donate money to support a political cause.