Crisis of political parties and representative democracies: rethinking parties in associational,experimentalist governance

The contrast between the normative functions of political parties in representative democracies and their empirical working is stark and rapidly increasing. This article starts from a sober, realist account of the empirical state of affairs and from structural problems of democracy and participations – in terms of limits of time, information, qualification and relevant expertise – that have to be acknowledged by any realist–utopian proposal of alternatives beyond the exclusive alternative of ‘thin, realist democracy’ or emphatic ‘strong, participatory, direct, or mass democracy’. We can do better. My search for institutional alternatives looks not for the replacement of political parties but for their relief. Many, not all, of their normative tasks can be shared with other functional networks, associations and organizations. In exploring such a new division of political labour I draw on older debates and designs of associative democracy and on recent discussions to democratize expertise and to expertise democracy in order to address urgent societal problems of high-risk decisions under conditions of extreme complexity, contingency, unpredictability and uncertainty and deep contestedness of our knowledge, problems that turn out to be unmanagable by party politics and representative democracy.     

统合主义下的新加坡劳资协调机制

上世纪七十年代以来,新加坡劳资关系一直保持平和状态,这主要得益于新加坡统合主义背景下的劳资政三方合作。该国建立了以政府为主导、以工会为主体的劳资协调机制,其中政府通过人事参与以及政策支持领导和控制工会,工会则通过参与三方协商,推动集体谈判以及兴办合作社等方式增进劳工福利,支持和拥护政府政策。同时,新加坡劳资争议处理的法律体系、协调机构和调解程序的完备,也促进了该国劳动关系的和谐稳定。     

TheWorld’sResponsibility

正From December 1-12,Peru’s capital Lima plays host to the 2014 UN Climate Change Conference.The conference takes place juxtaposed with a series of side events on climate issues hosted by the Chinese delegation.During these events,China tries to demonstrate the efforts the government,business and academic communities,non-governmental organizations and Chinese youth have made in combating the detrimental effects of climate change.     

China's Plans for a Safe Internet

正THIS year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s connection with the Internet.Originally a tool for finding information,the Internet has now changed every aspect of daily life,through e-commerce,network gaming,and social media.Along with the ubiquity of Internet connections comes the problems of information security.According to the Internet Society of China,Internet crimes,including attacks on websites,identity theft and disinformation,inflicted to-     

An analysis of the changing social bases of America's political parties: 1952–2008

In this article I address two interrelated questions: have the group bases of the American political parties changed over time and what factors have lead to the observed changes? I determine social group memberships significantly influence individual partisanship with a multivariate analysis using 56 years of ANES data. I then measure how many votes each politically relevant social group contributed to the party coalitions in each presidential election from 1952 to 2008. I discuss how group contributions have changed over time and establish the demographic and behavioral causes of group contribution change. I find that the party coalitions have been restructured as a result of groups' changing voting behavior and the changing ratio of groups in the electorate.     

“63-YEAR EXPERIENCE OF PROMOTING FRIENDSHIP WITH CHINA”

正Even though the Sri Lankan envoy to the Court of Claudius Caesar in the first century A.D.mentioned about trade between Sri Lanka and China,it took 19 more centuries for the two peoples to develop an uninterrupted mutual awareness and friendship.Linkages of diplomatic,cultural and trade which occurred during that long historical episode could not register a lasting     

Can We Feel Their Presence? A New Framework for Investigating Minor Parties in English Local Government

Minor parties in English local government have largely been neglected by the research literature because of their lack of electoral success at the aggregate level. However, over the past decade minor party candidates have contested an increasing number of wards and this rise is disproportionate to their share of the vote. Developing the concept of ‘presence’ and a focus on wards rather than seats we use newly reworked data from the Elections Centre Database (University of Plymouth) to plot the proportion of wards contested by minor party candidates from 1973–2008. We argue that whilst changes in vote share are minimal throughout the period, the magnitude of the recent increase in minor party activity at the ward level is unprecedented and justifies further study. We also explore the variation in minor party activity between authority types, concluding that the explanation for the recent rise in contestation is not constant across similar authorities and electoral systems. We suggest that the explanation for minor party activity is much more complex and relative.     

Are Independent Councillors Really Conservatives in Disguise?

Abstract?A feature of English local political folklore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this article we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The article answers the question by reporting the findings of research conducted among Independent and Conservative councillors in England to explore the complex, multidimensional and fluid world that is Independent politics.     

Millenarian groups and law enforcement agencies: The lessons of Waco

Why do violent movements participate in elections? To answer this question, we examine Hamas's formation of the Reform and Change Party and its iconic victory in the 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council. We argue that Hamas's formation of this party was a logical step, following nearly two decades of participation in local and municipal elections. Hamas's need to attract resources from external donors, who make funding decisions based on civilian support for the movement, best explains why Hamas decided to participate in local elections in the early 1990s, taking Hamas on a path that eventually led to its 2006 legislative victory. Hamas's foray into elections was consistent with its dual strategy of directing violence against Israel and building Palestinian support through welfare services. We demonstrate that changes in political opportunities (Fatah's decline and the increase in Hamas's popularity), institutional incentives (lax electoral laws and the holding of municipal elections), and the rise of moderate voices within Hamas explain the timing of its entry into legislative elections. Finally, we discuss Hamas's electoral victory, the need for cooperation between Fatah and Hamas, and the role played by international actors as significant factors influencing prospects for peace and democratization in the region.     

Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation in EU Affairs and the Austrian Parliament: Empowering the Opposition?

This article takes up recent arguments to strengthen national parliamentary powers in EU decision-making through inter-parliamentary cooperation. By widening the analytical focus from parliaments to the cooperation amongst the parties within parliaments, it seeks to advance the debate in two respects. First, the article aims at providing a more accurate picture about the cooperation going on today. Second, it discusses why the amount of, and the benefits gained from inter-parliamentary cooperation may vary between parties and therefore cooperation may not only affect the power relations between national parliaments and non-parliamentarian actors, but also those within parliaments. Based on the results of a study of the Austrian parliament it is argued that inter-parliamentary cooperation (a) is more important for opposition parties than for governing parties but that (b) parties can make use of its full potential only when their ideology allows them to integrate into a European party network.