Search results for "Sociology and Political Science"

Preferences for Referenda: Intrinsic or Instrumental? Evidence from a Survey Experiment

2019

The call for more direct democracy, and referenda in particular, is often heard and met with support from large numbers of citizens in many countries. This article explores the motives for supporting referenda: Do citizens support them for intrinsic reasons, because referenda allow them to exercise their democratic rights more directly? Or are preferences for referenda predominantly based on the expectation that they will produce desired policy outcomes and thus instrumentally motivated? Our survey experiment explores such instrumental preferences by assessing how substantial policy preferences affect individuals’ choice of referenda over alternative decision-making procedures. We show tha…

La confrontación de derechos en los escraches

2015

espanolLa reciente practica de los escraches en Espana, en el contexto de la crisis economica, ha planteado un complejo debate en torno a la confrontacion entre derechos fundamentales. En efecto, de un lado, debe tenerse en cuenta el derecho al libre ejercicio de un cargo publico y los derechos de la personalidad (integridad, vida privada y familiar o disfrute pacifico del domicilio) cuando no se actua en calidad de representante publico. De otro lado, debe tomarse en consideracion el ejercicio de otros derechos fundamentales (expresion, manifestacion) por parte de quienes llevan a cabo los escraches. El presente trabajo pretende analizar los conflictos entre esos derechos fundamentales con…

An Unlikely Refuge: Latvia’s Women Volunteers in the Red Army in World War II

2020

This article examines women’s wartime experiences with a focus on Latvia’s women volunteers in the Red Army in World War II. An estimated 8 percent of the Red Army was composed of women, who played a wide array of roles, including as snipers, combat engineers, medics, and frontline journalists. This level of female participation was unique in World War II, but a close examination of the phenomenon shows that motives and means for entry into the Red Army at the beginning of the war were not uniform. Our examination of the case of women volunteers from the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic reveals key factors that fed women’s fervent desire to “get to the front.” It shows particular ways in …

Integrating Governmentality: Administrative Expectations for Immigrant Associations in Finland

2007

From the first half of the 1990s, and especially after the accession to European Union in 1995, immigrant authorities and administration have emphasized the significance of immigrant associations in integration of immigrants in Finland. The purpose of the associations from the administrative perspective is to socialize and activate immigrant communities and individuals according to basic political rationalities, such as security of the society, happiness of the population and individuals, and cultural pluralism. On the one hand immigrant associations are technology through which integrative government of individuals and communities is implemented. On the other hand, associations themselves…

Reflexiones sobre una eventual reforma constitucional de los institutos de democracia directa y semidirecta

2017

Resumen:Pese a la teórica vinculación de la participación directa a la idea de democracia, la constituyente española fue extraordinariamente prudente en la regulación de los institutos de democracia semidirecta por temor de la izquierda a la repetición de las negativas experiencias históricas en el uso del referéndum; su decidida opción por la democracia representativa quedo fuera de toda duda en los debates parlamentarios. Por ello el texto de 1978 es extraordinariamente sobrio en la aceptación tanto de la iniciativa popular como del referéndum. Y no lo ha sido menos la práctica durante 40 años de estos instrumentos.Sin embargo, las más recientes formaciones políticas presentes en el Parla…

¿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…

Lone mothers and the puzzles of daily life: do care regimes really matter?

2010

Kroger T. Lone mothers and the puzzles of daily life: do care regimes really matter? Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 390–401 © 2009 The Author, Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article studies childcare patterns and day-to-day strategies of 111 working lone mothers from Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK, and asks whether their arrangements are prescribed by care regimes. Lone mothers' arrangements are grouped into five based on the availability and use of different formal and informal childcare resources. The article argues that, even though lone mothers have a more favourable starting point in Finland and France…

SPATIAL PATTERNS OF VOTING IN BUCHAREST AT THE EUROPEAN AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 2019

2021

Professionals' Views on the Comparatively Low Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Spain.

2021

The aim of this study was to understand the reasons why Spain has one of the lowest prevalence rates of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in the European Union. Using a qualitative and inductive research approach, a total of five focus groups ( n = 19) and 10 unstructured interviews with key informants were conducted. Three main categories were identified as possible explanations of the relatively low prevalence of IPVAW in Spain: law and policy, social awareness, and cultural patterns. Lessons learned and implications to improve future macrolevel intervention and prevention strategies are discussed.

Shifting to climate change aware cities to facilitate the city resilience implementation

2020

Abstract Climate change (CC) is one of the most urgent threats to modern societies, having direct and indirect consequences on the rapid growth of urban areas. Cities are attempting to both reduce their impact on the environment and build resilience to be able to face the irreversible effects of CC through plans and strategies. However, barriers, such as the fact that cities are complex systems and the uncertainty posed by CC have led to less engaged and committed city stakeholders, which have hampered the operationalisation of city resilience. In this context, developing city stakeholders awareness has been demonstrated to be an effective way to put an end to passive behaviour and help tra…