Don't call me a populist! The meaning of populism for western European parties and politicians

In recent years a common understanding of the core elements of populist communication has been achieved in academia. Yet, we know less about how the term populism is used by political parties themselves, despite widespread assumptions about the use of populism as a battle term to disqualify competitors. Based on a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of Twitter content from mainstream and populist actors in six western European countries, this study finds that populism is indeed used by mainstream parties in a pejorative way in order to label political competitors. Yet, not only populist but also mainstream competitors are labeled populist by the center parties linking a variety of different negative meanings to the term, which are often of a less demonizing nature not questioning the legitimacy of others. Populists in Italy and France refer to the term in a positive way, while Spanish and German populists rather reject the label.     

Affective blocs: Understanding affective polarization in multiparty systems

Research has suggested that affective polarization (AP)—the extent to which partisans view each other as a disliked out-group—has increased, especially in two-party political systems such as in the US. The understanding of AP in multiparty systems remains limited. We study AP in Finland, characterized by a strong multiparty system and a low level of ideological polarization, between 2007 and 2019. We find that AP has increased, driven mainly by voters evaluating their least favorite party more negatively. We also propose an approach that goes beyond earlier literature, which has mostly used a single aggregate metric to measure AP. Using latent profile analysis, we find that voters are grouped into blocs that view some parties positively and others negatively. This suggests that the complex dynamics of AP in multiparty democracies involve relationships between not just individual parties but between what we call affective blocs that span across party lines.     

From opinions to policies: Examining the links between citizens,representatives, and policy change

Recent studies show that policy changes appear to correspond primarily to the preferences of citizens with high socio-economic status. However, the mechanisms explaining this trend remain largely unexplored. In this paper, I look closer at the role of political representatives as the critical factor connecting citizens’ opinions and policy changes. While the link between public opinion and elite opinion as well as the link between public opinion and policy output is relatively well studied, few studies have looked at the entire relationship between public opinion, elite opinion, and policy output concerning social groups. This paper combines data from Swedish election studies, surveys with members of parliament, and a database of policy change. It shows that representatives’ opinions reflect advantaged groups better than disadvantaged groups. Similar biases are found in policy responsiveness; policy changes correspond more closely to the opinions of the advantaged groups.     

How to estimate the policy preferences of party supporters: Disaggregating data from voting advice applications versus modeling survey responses

Valid and reliable estimates of the policy preferences of political parties' supporters are essential for the study of political representation. However, such estimates are not directly available from standard surveys of public opinion, which are typically representative by design only at the national level and rarely ask questions about public support for specific policies. In this article, we explore the possibility to use data from voting advice applications (VAA) to estimate the policy preferences of party supporters. To do that, first, we identify 10 questions on preferences towards issues of public policy that were asked around the same time and with similar wording in traditional surveys of public opinion and in VAAs fielded in Germany and in the Netherlands. Then we compare the VAA data disaggregated by political affiliation of the respondents to the survey data adjusted via multilevel regression modeling with poststratification (MRP). We find strong positive correlations between the estimates derived from both methods, especially after weighting the VAA data. Yet, point estimates are not always very close, and the match is sensitive to the treatment of neutral and ‘don't know’ answers. Overall, our results bode well for the validity of using VAA data in empirical research on political representation.     

Economic voting in multi-level contexts: Evidence from Kerala and West Bengal in India

What determines electoral support for national incumbent parties and state-level challengers in sub-national pro-poor contexts? Based on survey data from the Indian states of Kerala and West Bengal, collected prior to the 2019 national election, we find that voters were more (less) inclined to vote for the sub-national incumbent relative to the national incumbent if their household economic conditions were perceived to have improved (deteriorated) relative to national economic conditions. Our findings indicate that voters in these settings correctly assume that the sub-national incumbent cannot be held responsible for changes in national economic conditions, but, at the same time, the existence of a strong welfare state at the sub-national level creates expectations that the sub-national government is responsible for personal welfare. Hence, the national election is used to assess the economic performance of both the sub-national and the national incumbent.     

大学生对政府的信任状况研究

信任是人与人交往的核心因素,当信任上升到政府层面就尤为重要了。人民把权力委托给政府去行使,这个委托行为的前提就是信任。大学生作为国家未来发展的生力军,他们对于政府的信任态度直接影响到国家未来的发展。对这一群体的政府信任感的研究,无疑能给政府的决策和高校的教育提供信息和建议。通过高校的教育来培养和加强大学生的政府信任,对于构建和谐社会、维持政权的稳定性、为经济建设提供良好的政治环境,都具有非常重要的意义。本文利用对天津7所高校1300多名大学生的问卷调查结果,来探讨现今大学生对政府的信任状况及影响因素。     

浅谈高校辅导员应具备的人格面貌

高校辅导员作为对大学生进行思想政治教育、塑造其健康人格的重要力量,其人格面貌状况直接影响大学生的人格成长,通过对高校辅导员政治人格、道德品质、业务知识、应时能力及人生态度等人格面貌的探讨,能够更好地发挥其思想政治教育的生力军作用。     

构建和谐政党关系的路径选择

和谐的政党关系为社会主义和谐社会提供坚实的政治基础和广泛的力量支持。促进我国政党关系的长期和谐,要在“和而不同”和求同存异的思想理念和实践中,正确处理“同”与“异”的关系,为政党关系的长期和谐奠定稳固的思想基础;要加强多党合作的制度化、规范化、程序化和法治化建设,为党际和谐提供制度性支撑;要加强中国特色政党制度的互相监督尤其是民主党派对执政党的监督作用,为党际和谐提供坚强的制衡机制。     

当代政治文化建设的若干问题浅析

当今世界的综合国力竞争,中心是经济实力的竞争,关键是科学技术的竞争,实质是文化力的竞争。一个民族,一个国家,如果没有自己的精神支柱,就等于没有灵魂,就会失去凝聚力和生命力。有没有高昂的民族精神,是衡量一个国家综合国力强弱的一个重要尺度。而一个国家民族精神的振奋,民族凝聚力的增强,则离不开政治文化的建设和熏陶。政治文化无论是从微观上提高公民个体的政治素质,还是从宏观上转变整个国民的政治价值观,都将为国家的政治发展提供主体保证。     

当代中国政党关系结构与廉政建设

腐败作为政治毒瘤,是公权力缺乏监督而造成的一种政治后果.民主党派在当代中国政党关系结构的制度设计中,作为一种纠错和鞭策的力量而存在.执政党必须有效地利用民主党派在国家政治中的独特地位,发挥它们的民主监督职能;创新政党监督方式及工作机制,达到制约权力的功效.