The Underexplored Species: Selective Participation in Direct Democratic Votes

While electoral research usually distinguishes voters from abstainers, in the Swiss direct democratic context one needs to take into account a third category of citizens, the selective voters, who decide anew at each vote whether they will participate or not. This article offers an investigation of this common but under‐researched form of participation. To that end, we take advantage of a unique data‐set linking official turnout data with survey data. Our results show that selective voters constitute the bulk of the electorate. While they form a heterogeneous group in terms of socio‐demographic characteristics, selective voters lean more towards abstainers than towards permanent voters with respect to political variables. We argue that this is not necessarily bad news in terms of democratic theory.     

Facilitators and obstacles to cooperation in international development networks: a network approach

This paper draws attention to the value of a network approach for understanding cooperation in international development networks. The approach emphasises the impact of social interaction, and the values, ideas, and behaviours of individuals on the achievement of development goals. Social network analysis is used to analyse the social structure and dynamics of interaction in an aid-funded development network organisation that aimed to develop optometry capacity in Mozambique. The analysis shows the value of combining quantitative and qualitative methods in a complementary way to identify factors facilitating (network consciousness and social skill) and hindering (power dynamics) cooperation.     

Exploring project sustainability: using a multiperspectival,multidimensional approach to frame inquiry

In development studies, programme sustainability has gained significant attention in recent years. One challenge to sustainability is the range of stakeholders involved in international development projects, presenting multiple perspectives and priorities, not always in harmony, nor necessarily communicated. This article presents an approach to facilitating stakeholder sustainability dialogue, an analytic framework for programme sustainability inquiry comprising five dimensions: political; economic; institutional; ownership; and practice. To demonstrate this framework we describe inquiry into stakeholder perspectives in one Afghanistan education development project. The results indicate the value of multidimensional, multiperspectival inquiry in identifying areas of potential sustainability challenge and strength.     

Participation of CSOs/NGOs in Bangladeshi climate change policy formulation: co-operation or co-optation?

The Bangladesh government formulated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategies and Action Plans (BCCSAP) in 2008 through a participatory process involving several CSOs/NGOs and others. This article discusses the participation of CSOs/NGOs in climate change policy-making, focusing on mapping their level of participation in policy-making. It demonstrates that state laws allow CSOs/NGOs to implement several projects voluntarily, but largely prohibit their participation in political decision-making processes. The state invites a few CSOs/NGOs as a condition to receive aid, but displays arbitrary and co-opting attitudes towards CSOs/NGOs that rarely ensure joint decisions in creating policy.     

Obstacles to NGOs’ accountability to intended beneficiaries: the case of ActionAid

While NGO accountability is widely discussed in the literature, there has been little work done on how accountability systems operate in practice. This article aims to address this gap by using qualitative empirical data to provide a case study of one NGO’s initiative in this area. ActionAid has made substantial, high-profile efforts to improve its downward accountability since 2000. Using data from fieldwork conducted in Uganda and internationally, the article reveals the operational obstacles which have hindered ActionAid in its attempts to strengthen its accountability to intended beneficiaries at the community level, and reviews ActionAid’s ongoing commitment to this goal.     

Most Significant Change in conflict settings: staff development through monitoring and evaluation

Capoeira4Refugees is an NGO that uses the Afro-Brazilian art form of Capoeira to promote psychosocial well-being in children affected by conflict and occupation. Capoeira4Refugees introduced the Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology to monitor and evaluate project implementation and impact across two locations in the Middle East. Analysis of interviews conducted with five field staff revealed that in line with, and building on, previous research, MSC became an empowering tool that led to staff development. The potential for MSC to build staff reflexivity, independence, and leadership has implications for other organisations working in conflict areas, particularly in situations of remote management.     

Between anti-westernism and development: political Islam and environmentalism

As Turkey's Gezi Park protests reminded us, Islamist parties the world over demonstrate utter disregard of the environment in their discourse and actions. However, Islam as a religion places strong emphasis on environmental protection. Thus, as the representatives of Islam that these parties claim themselves to be, it is puzzling that environmental policy is all but absent from most Islamist platforms. I ask, what explains the poverty of Islamists in regards to the environment? I argue that the reason for this poverty is found within and conforms to political Islam's problematic relationship with modernity, particularly in regards to their strong anti-western sentiment and self-purported victim status. My findings suggest that the inattention Islamists give to the environment is due to their association of environmentalism with the West and because of the uniquely unfavourable socio-economic environments in which they exist, which sends environmentalism to the purview of ‘low politics’. This analysis points to an inherent weakness in Islamist ideology – their lack of pragmatic policy. Hence, the peculiar case of Islamists and the environment is but a symptom of a larger issue within Islamism and can be a key element to understanding why and how Islamism is likely to fail.     

泰国社会转型过程中的“缓冲器”——制造可控的政治危机

20世纪90年代以来,泰国正经历着社会的全面转型,社会转型带来不可避免的社会动荡。然而有着自身政治发展规律的泰国却通过制造一系列可控的政治危机消减社会转型造成的过剩能量,维持着整个社会的基本稳定,推进着国内政治的发展。可以预见,在泰国社会转型没有最终完成之前,其国内政治危机仍将是社会常态。     

东北亚区域经济合作的政治环境

国际政治环境不仅是一个国家制定内、外政策的依据,更是影响其发展的关键因素。东北亚国际政治环境对于区域经济合作具有重要意义。东北亚这一区域正在经历全球体系中发生的三项重大变革:即,全球化、现代化与国际体系力量核心的转移。这些变革直接影响到区域内的国家之间的关系及其地区内的格局。其中,全球化、国际体系与国家关系的演变对区域合作产生重要的影响。     

政治生态话语中的生态观迷失与回归

近年来的高压反腐和全面从严治党激发了中国"政治生态"的话语热潮,然而,当前的"政治生态"话语更多的是一种政治实践话语,而非学术话语。在国际学术界,政治与生态基于不同方式的结合而形成了生态政治学和政治生态学,生态政治学已发展成为包含不同理论流派和理论分支的成熟学术领域,而政治生态学则研究较少。中国现有的泛化的政治生态话语、文学化描述的政治生态话语、本末倒置的政治生态话语存在生态观的严重迷失。要走出生态观迷失的困境,建构政治生态学理论,需要在生态内涵上实现个体性评价向结构性和规则化观念的回归;在生态伦理上实现从道德整体主义与等级制向个体生命伦理与互利共生关系的回归;在生态运行方式上实现从一体化结构的单向控制向多元分化与制约平衡的回归。当然,生态学的政治价值是有限的,除了"自然正义"以外,我们还需要求助于"社会正义"作为现代政治转型的理论支撑。