Search results for "political economy"
showing 10 items of 637 documents
Corporealising a Healthy Democracy? Inequality, Bodies and Participation
2019
Socio-economic inequality is associated with differentiated levels of health and poor health affects political participation; inequalities are embodied in political life. This contribution, focusin...
2018
This article presents the experiences and problems of the Indonesian parliament, or DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat), during the transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one, in 1999–20...
“Save Romania” Union and the Persistent Populism in Romania
2020
The electoral success of the “Save Romania” Union (USR) in the 2016 parliamentary elections sheds new light on the rising populist parties in Romania and offers a new perspective on the Romanian po...
Where Democrats Disagree: Citizens’ Normative Conceptions of Democracy
2017
While support for the essential norms of liberal electoral democracy is high in almost all developed democracies, there is arguably also a gap between democratic aspirations and democratic practice, leading to dissatisfaction among citizens. We argue that citizens may hold very different normative conceptions of democracy which are equally compatible with support for liberal democracy, but lead to different expectations where institutional design and democratic practice are concerned. Satisfaction with democracy may thus depend on congruence between such normative conceptions and institutionally entrenched norms. Drawing on survey data from Germany with a comprehensive item battery on attit…
The consequences of supply gaps in two‐dimensional policy spaces for voter turnout and political support: The case of economically left‐wing and cult…
2019
Parties with left-wing positions on economic issues and right-wing (i.e., authoritarian) positions on cultural issues have been historically largely absent from the supply side of the policy space of Western European democracies. Yet, many citizens hold such left-authoritarian issue attitudes. This article addresses the hypotheses that left-authoritarian citizens are less likely to vote, less satisfied with the democratic process and have lower levels of political trust when there is a left-authoritarian supply gap. Using data for 14 Western European countries from the European Social Survey 2008 in the main analysis, it is shown that left-authoritarians are less likely to vote and exhibit …
Backlash against the procedural consensus
2020
While the politics of backlash is typically described as a reaction to policy decisions in favour of minority rights, immigration or globalisation, this essay focuses on the fact that backlash typically also involves a reaction against the procedural consensus liberal democracy is based upon. This challenge to democratic procedures and institutions may be even more dangerous in its effects than the substantial objectives of backlash. I use the composite definition of backlash suggested by Alter and Zürn to assess in how far the attacks on the institutions of liberal democracy have retrograde objectives in themselves or in how far they are merely instrumental to the pursuit of other retrogr…
The “Refugee Crisis,” Immigration Attitudes, and Euroscepticism
2019
Between 2015 and 2017, the European Union (EU) was confronted with a major crisis in its history, the so-called “European refugee crisis.” Since the multifaceted crisis has provoked many different responses, it is also likely to have influenced individuals’ assessments of immigrants and European integration. Using data from three waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) — the wave before the crisis in 2012, the wave at the beginning of the crisis in 2014, and the wave right after the (perceived) height of the crisis in 2016 — we test the degree to which the European refugee crisis increased Europeans’ anti-immigrant sentiment and Euroscepticism, as well as the influence of Europeans’ anti-…
An Easy Game? Experiences of ‘Homecoming’ in the Post-Socialist Context of Croatia and the Czech Republic
2016
The obstacles that often accompany remigration, planned and imagined as a ‘homecoming’, are seldom the topic of investigation in migration studies. Returning is not always an ‘easy game’. To explore this aspect of remigration, this chapter intends to focus on narratives of return produced mainly by so-called co-ethnic migrants who moved back to Croatia and the Czech Republic during the past two decades of post-socialist transformation. The empirical base of the chapter draws on the experiences and struggles accompanying remigration, and of arrival and acceptance in the respective society as described by returnees in biographical interviews. Attention is given to everyday social interaction …
Great Britain and Differentiated Integration in Europe
2018
The United Kingdom has always been a special case in the European integration project. The British exceptionalism manifested in various forms and ways over the history. June 23rd 2016 delivered another culmination point in the story of the stubborn European’s relations with its continental partners. The so-called Brexit referendum, which brought about victory for the supporters of the UK leaving the European Union, marks an important milestone in these relations. It has never been an easy marriage and many times threatened by the divorce. Instead of becoming ever closer, the European Union becomes ever loser and the UK is ever closer to leaving. Brexit is not only vital for the British, it …
COVID-19 Crisis - A Test for European Union’s Solidarity
2020
Abstract The crises the European Union has gone through over time have called into question the Union’s legitimacy and efficiency. The 2008-2009 financial crisis, the European debt crisis, the migration crisis and Brexit, have all tested the solidarity between member states. The COVID-19 pandemic is without a doubt the most drastic crisis in the EU’s history, with very severe socioeconomic consequences. The EU leaders were strongly criticized for not reacting quickly and efficiently enough to mitigate the impact of the virus, reduce suffering, and ward off the economic crisis. In this context, the questions that arise are: Is the Union a modern-day Titanic? Will it sink or it will sustain i…