Political Parties Transition into the Digital Era
This chapter outlines the main dimensions of analysis for assessing how mainstream and new parties are building their digital platforms and transitioning from traditional (offline) organisations into the digital world. So far, most of the academic attention has been focused on the impact of the use of digital technologies on party competition and campaigning, while the intra-organisational dimensions have been significantly under-researched. However, several parties in Europe and around the world, both traditional and digital native, have increasingly used digital technologies such as online platforms for internal decision-making, funding, communication and membership mobilisation. We provi…
The switch from conventional to atypical antipsychotic treatment should not be based exclusively on the presence of cognitive deficits. A pilot study in individuals with schizophrenia
Abstract Background Atypical antipsychotics provide better control of the negative and affective symptoms of schizophrenia when compared with conventional neuroleptics; nevertheless, their heightened ability to improve cognitive dysfunction remains a matter of debate. This study aimed to examine the changes in cognition associated with long-term antipsychotic treatment and to evaluate the effect of the type of antipsychotic (conventional versus novel antipsychotic drugs) on cognitive performance over time. Methods In this naturalistic study, we used a comprehensive neuropsychological battery of tests to assess a sample of schizophrenia patients taking either conventional (n = 13) or novel a…
Smoking and neurocognition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
IntroductionSeveral studies have suggested that nicotine could have beneficial effects on cognitive functioning.ObjectiveTo explore the association between smoking and cognitive functioning in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.MethodsObservational study. We analyzed data from 184 participants in 3 groups (61 healthy controls, 47 euthymic patients with bipolar-I disorder, 76 patients with clinically stable schizophrenia) assessed by a neuropsychological battery. Statistical analysis was performed comparing subgroups of smokers and non-smokers data. Both groups were demographic and clinically comparable.ResultsSmoking rate was higher in participants with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia (X…
The 2015 Spanish election: the times they are a’ changing
ABSTRACTThe Spanish legislative election of 2015 speaks of change. This is the end of the traditional two-party system and the beginning of a new political era marked by institutional renewal. The Socialist Party and the Partido Popular have both lost significant parliamentary force, whereas two new parties (Podemos, and Ciudadanos) are now crucial to ensure stable government majorities. This new parliamentary scenario seems to better mirror the political pluralism of a changing society which has already demonstrated for change in striking events such as the 15-M Movement. However, political parties are far from showing conciliatory aspirations, possibly because a new election is suddenly a…
The Digitalisation of Political Parties in Comparative Perspective
This chapter outlines the main findings of the edited book. Through the study of a wide range of political parties from Europe and beyond, this book has explored the different degrees of digitalisation that political parties present, and, at the same time, discussed the main technological, democratic issues and trade-offs that political parties have faced in their digital transition. The most relevant finding is that all political parties operating in the democracies analysed have digitalised their organisations to some extent. Our main finding across several cases shows that the digitalisation of parties does not entail a homogenous process of convergence towards a new mode of managing par…