Search results for "Politics"

Monopolizing Asia: The politics of a metaphor

1997

Abstract The metaphor of Asia is frequently used nowadays as a concept for regional identity, but it is very problematical because geographic Asia contains such a large piece of humanity in all cultural, political and economic forms. Historically Asia also has negative connotations, and at times other regional concepts have been preferred over it. Pan‐Asianism, Greater East Asia, Asian‐African cooperation, Asian Socialism, Southeast Asia, Western Pacific, Asia Pacific, and East Asia are some of the regionalist permutations of the metaphor of Asia during this century, but thus far no strong institutional structures have emerged to fill the concepts with lasting and effective political power.

2018

Ever since the beginning of international climate conservation politics there has been variation across nations in political traditions in debating the climate issue. Political decision-makers have interpreted the scientific findings on global warming with different emphases, thereby giving rise to variation in views on preferred national or international solutions. These tensions first became evident before and during the Earth Summit of the United Nations in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, when the United Nations Climate Change Convention was prepared and eventually signed. This article discusses the historical background of international climate conservation politics and illustrates the tensions…

The micro-politics of parliamentary powers : European parliament strategies for expanding its influence in the EU institutional system

2018

The European Parliament (EP) has gained considerable new powers since it was first established in 1952. Why has this happened, and how should the powers the EP possesses be assessed? This article suggests a novel approach that focuses on inter-institutional micropolitics and the processes in which the EP obtained its powers rather than treaty changes at IGCs. Interinstitutional micropolitics are carried out by institutions and their members who act politically and shape the EU’s system from within. The EP’s successes in interinstitutional micropolitics are shaped by (1) its existing powers that need to be assessed in their differentiation; (2) the interparliamentary setting and the power co…

Catholics in the Irish Parliament: Daniel O'Connell and his influence in Italy

2014

Daniel O'Connell (Cahersiveen 1775 - Genoa 1847), an Irish politician and patriot, fought for Catholic Emancipation, to repeal the penal laws discriminating Irish Catholics and the Act of Union. Believing firmly in non-violence, he defended the representation of Irish Catholics in Parliament as the most appropriate instrument to support their rights. His thoughts and actions were spread and known in Italy and Europe while some Catholics were arguing on a possible reconciliation between religion and freedom and on the resulting openness to the principles of democracy and to the problem of representation. The Theatine Gioacchino Ventura from Palermo, one of the leaders of the Sicilian 1848 re…

Legislative agenda-setting in parliamentary democracies

2009

Various strands of literature in comparative politics regard governments as the only noteworthy initiators and mainsprings of legislative policy making in parliamentary democracies. Opposition activity in policy making is more often associated with the intention to prevent, rather than to shape, policy. Does this perception reflect real-life politics? To answer this question, this article discusses different arguments that link institutional and policy-related characteristics to the incentives and constraints of different government and parliamentary actors to initiate or co-sponsor legislative bills. More specifically, it relates policy-, office- and vote-related incentives, as well as ins…

Les institutions italiennes à travers les analyses de Luigi Sturzo (1871-1959)

2013

From the 1950s Luigi Sturzo captured the dysfunctions of the democratic system instituted in Italy. He courageously denounced the evils that afflicted the newborn democracy. The strange relationship between government and opposition, the growing importance of the parties, the proliferation of legislation, the reversal of functions between parliament and government, the reform of the Senate, are just some of the problems identified by Sturzo. His criticism, however, was not pointless but proactive in the meaning that he diagnosed in weaknesses and indicated the means for a better and more efficient working of institutions in a democratic country without making it necessary to undermine the c…

Four Times of Politics: Policy, Polity, Politicking, and Politicization

2003

There is just one noun corresponding to the adjective political in French, German, Swedish, Finnish and so on, while the English language has three: policy, polity, and politics. Here, I shall take the tripartite division of the English polit-vocabulary as a point of departure for rethinking politics in a "de-centering" mode. The English vocabulary provides us with a glimpse into the linguistic possibilities for the formation of different perspectives from which to conceptualize politics. I have modified the tripartite division by taking into account two linguistic novelties, politicking and politicization.1 My intention is to take each of these nouns as an allusion to four aspects of conce…

¿Se han hecho más democráticos los partidos en España? La evolución en las reglas de elección del líder (1977-2008)

2011

En este trabajo, los autores verifican si, entre 1977 y 2008, ha habido un aumento de la democracia interna en los principales partidos políticos españoles. Para ello, analizan el proceso de selección del líder, al tiempo que cuestionan si ha habido un incremento de la igualdad en la participación para elegirlo, favoreciendo sistemas representativos o de elección directa. El artículo plantea también la hipótesis de si el grado de igualdad en las reglas de la elección influye en el grado de competencia en la lucha por el liderazgo del partido. Para comprobar tal supuesto, los autores examinan las condiciones de elegibilidad así como la representatividad del cuerpo electoral que escoge al líd…

Objective and Subjective Party Leadership Selection: Regulations, Activists and Voters in Poland

2015

Over the last two decades, an increasing number of political parties have gradually formalized the influence of members in the process of leadership selection. This evolution has determined two partly contrasting behaviors in the new democracies of Eastern Europe: inclusive decision-making was formally mentioned but empirical evidence indicates implementation problems. Consequently, it remains an empirical question to what extent the East European political parties apply the formal provisions of inclusiveness when selecting their leaders. In order to provide an answer, this article compares the statutes and election regulations of four Polish parties with opinions of party members and voter…

Friends or lovers? Person- and variable-oriented perspectives on dyadic similarity in adolescent romantic relationships

2012

Item does not contain fulltext Variable- and person-oriented approaches were used to examine the affiliative and romantic experiences of adolescents in heterosexual romantic relationships and its associations with relationship conflict and jealousy on a sample of 194 romantic partner dyads. Variable-oriented findings indicated that affiliative experiences were associated with fewer and more constructively resolved conflicts, whereas romantic experiences were associated with more jealousy. Person-oriented analyses identified six distinct types of romantic relationships: four characterized by congruent perceptions and two characterized by incongruent perceptions. Adolescents in the consummate…