Pub Date : 2024-04-10DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1370243
Florent Nkouaga
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted society and politics, particularly in the context of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Public officials' unpreparedness resulted in skepticism regarding government responses. Additionally, health inequities and political polarization profoundly influenced voter attitudes and behaviors.This study employs statistical techniques to examine voting patterns, leveraging data from the 2021 African American COVID-19 Vaccine Polls (AACVP) alongside the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS). Specifically, it utilizes logistic regression and t-tests to dissect and understand the dichotomous electoral decisions made by voters between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the U.S. presidential election. The research analyzes the nuances of the electorate's behavior by considering many factors that may influence the binary vote decision.T-tests revealed significant mean differences in voting patterns based on public health compliance, with less compliant individuals more likely to vote for Trump and more compliant individuals favoring Biden. Logistic regression analysis showed a substantial statistical correlation between public health compliance and voting preferences, independent of confounding variables.The study confirmed that public health compliance during the pandemic impacted voting behavior, with a divide based on attitudes toward health measures. This reflected broader societal divisions, suggesting that public health behaviors are linked with political identities. Additionally, media sources and racial identity significantly influenced voting decisions.
{"title":"Exploring the link between public health compliance and voting patterns in the 2020 U.S. presidential election","authors":"Florent Nkouaga","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1370243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1370243","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted society and politics, particularly in the context of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Public officials' unpreparedness resulted in skepticism regarding government responses. Additionally, health inequities and political polarization profoundly influenced voter attitudes and behaviors.This study employs statistical techniques to examine voting patterns, leveraging data from the 2021 African American COVID-19 Vaccine Polls (AACVP) alongside the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS). Specifically, it utilizes logistic regression and t-tests to dissect and understand the dichotomous electoral decisions made by voters between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the U.S. presidential election. The research analyzes the nuances of the electorate's behavior by considering many factors that may influence the binary vote decision.T-tests revealed significant mean differences in voting patterns based on public health compliance, with less compliant individuals more likely to vote for Trump and more compliant individuals favoring Biden. Logistic regression analysis showed a substantial statistical correlation between public health compliance and voting preferences, independent of confounding variables.The study confirmed that public health compliance during the pandemic impacted voting behavior, with a divide based on attitudes toward health measures. This reflected broader societal divisions, suggesting that public health behaviors are linked with political identities. Additionally, media sources and racial identity significantly influenced voting decisions.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140718832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-05DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1314217
Wouter van der Brug, Joost Berkhout
Changes in party systems do not always occur gradually. While structural changes in societies lead to new tensions and potential conflicts, these conflicts often become politicized in the wake of ‘triggering events’. However, such events do not always lead to the politicization of an issue. This study addresses the question why potentially triggering events sometimes produce extensive political attention and conflict around an associated issue, whereas in other circumstances very similar events do not generate much political attention or contestation. Some scholars highlight the strategic incentives of party political elites (the top-down perspective) whereas others focus on the key role of political challengers in politicizing issues (‘the bottom-up perspective)’. We focus on three events that potentially trigger the politicization of immigration (9–11, Banlieus riots and the Cartoon crisis) and identify anti-immigration parties as challengers of government parties. Based on political claims analysis of newspapers in seven European countries, we find that government parties exert strong control over the political agenda, both in terms of salience as in positional terms. However, when anti-immigration parties are large and in opposition, they do play an important role in politicizing the issue of immigration. Since anti-immigration parties have increased their vote share over the past decade and typically remain in the opposition nevertheless, it is likely that future events will lead to further politicization of the issue of immigration.
{"title":"Patterns of politicization following triggering events: the indirect effect of issue-owning challengers","authors":"Wouter van der Brug, Joost Berkhout","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1314217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1314217","url":null,"abstract":"Changes in party systems do not always occur gradually. While structural changes in societies lead to new tensions and potential conflicts, these conflicts often become politicized in the wake of ‘triggering events’. However, such events do not always lead to the politicization of an issue. This study addresses the question why potentially triggering events sometimes produce extensive political attention and conflict around an associated issue, whereas in other circumstances very similar events do not generate much political attention or contestation. Some scholars highlight the strategic incentives of party political elites (the top-down perspective) whereas others focus on the key role of political challengers in politicizing issues (‘the bottom-up perspective)’. We focus on three events that potentially trigger the politicization of immigration (9–11, Banlieus riots and the Cartoon crisis) and identify anti-immigration parties as challengers of government parties. Based on political claims analysis of newspapers in seven European countries, we find that government parties exert strong control over the political agenda, both in terms of salience as in positional terms. However, when anti-immigration parties are large and in opposition, they do play an important role in politicizing the issue of immigration. Since anti-immigration parties have increased their vote share over the past decade and typically remain in the opposition nevertheless, it is likely that future events will lead to further politicization of the issue of immigration.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140739290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-03DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1375224
H. Butković
The article analyses the development of representative democracy in Croatia from its independence to today. During the 1990s, Croatia changed its electoral system several times and had a bicameral parliament. With the constitutional changes implemented in 2001, the legislative power was organized on a unicameral principle. At the same time, the previous semi-presidential system was replaced by a parliamentary one. These changes represent only the basic framework within which representative democracy in Croatia developed over time. An important milestone in this development was the introduction of preferential voting at the national elections in 2015, which allowed the voters to vote for a particular list and a specific candidate on that list. According to some, this improved the problematic state of inner-party democracy, although, for others, the reform was not far-reaching enough. Given that representative democracy does not function in a vacuum, the article also considers the impact of direct democracy on the functioning of representative democracy in Croatia. Referring to the Croatian experience, it argues that this complementary form of democracy had a positive impact on the quality of representative democracy in the country. Nevertheless, in the face of representative democracy in Croatia, many open questions still need to be addressed. The most important one is how to increase the turnout in the elections, which is still comparatively low and arguably related to the low trust in politics.
{"title":"Rethinking representative democracy in Croatia","authors":"H. Butković","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1375224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1375224","url":null,"abstract":"The article analyses the development of representative democracy in Croatia from its independence to today. During the 1990s, Croatia changed its electoral system several times and had a bicameral parliament. With the constitutional changes implemented in 2001, the legislative power was organized on a unicameral principle. At the same time, the previous semi-presidential system was replaced by a parliamentary one. These changes represent only the basic framework within which representative democracy in Croatia developed over time. An important milestone in this development was the introduction of preferential voting at the national elections in 2015, which allowed the voters to vote for a particular list and a specific candidate on that list. According to some, this improved the problematic state of inner-party democracy, although, for others, the reform was not far-reaching enough. Given that representative democracy does not function in a vacuum, the article also considers the impact of direct democracy on the functioning of representative democracy in Croatia. Referring to the Croatian experience, it argues that this complementary form of democracy had a positive impact on the quality of representative democracy in the country. Nevertheless, in the face of representative democracy in Croatia, many open questions still need to be addressed. The most important one is how to increase the turnout in the elections, which is still comparatively low and arguably related to the low trust in politics.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140747930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-05DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1324386
Leonie Reuter, Vivian Frick
This paper examines the prevailing interpretation patterns and action orientations regarding climate change and climate protection among the young generation (14–22 years) in Germany. Based on a representative survey, we investigate which climate action options are currently favored and widespread among young individuals in Germany, encompassing both private sphere behavior—sustainable consumption—and public sphere behavior—collective climate action and civic engagement. Subsequently, through qualitative interviews, we delve into the shared interpretation patterns that young individuals draw upon to comprehend, evaluate, and guide their actions in climate protection. In this process, an individualizing and a politicizing interpretation pattern are identified and juxtaposed. As a result, both the representative survey and the qualitative analysis underscore a deep-rooted and widespread adoption of the individualizing rationale among young people in interpreting and acting on climate change. We discuss this finding by exploring the discursive origins of the dominant interpretation pattern and by questioning the respective transformative potential of both the individualizing and the politicizing action orientation.
{"title":"Between individualization and politicization: young people's interpretation patterns and action orientations in the face of climate change","authors":"Leonie Reuter, Vivian Frick","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1324386","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1324386","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the prevailing interpretation patterns and action orientations regarding climate change and climate protection among the young generation (14–22 years) in Germany. Based on a representative survey, we investigate which climate action options are currently favored and widespread among young individuals in Germany, encompassing both private sphere behavior—sustainable consumption—and public sphere behavior—collective climate action and civic engagement. Subsequently, through qualitative interviews, we delve into the shared interpretation patterns that young individuals draw upon to comprehend, evaluate, and guide their actions in climate protection. In this process, an individualizing and a politicizing interpretation pattern are identified and juxtaposed. As a result, both the representative survey and the qualitative analysis underscore a deep-rooted and widespread adoption of the individualizing rationale among young people in interpreting and acting on climate change. We discuss this finding by exploring the discursive origins of the dominant interpretation pattern and by questioning the respective transformative potential of both the individualizing and the politicizing action orientation.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140079224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-01DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1280260
Rudina Lipi, I. Lipi, Evis Kumi, Etleva Leskaj
Public goods and their benefits are necessarily related to their nature. From an economic point of view, citizens are always looking for more and more public goods, judging that they should always finance them even less. Especially in a democracy, it is sufficient to remember that people who don't vote still benefit from the government's agenda. Mainly in developing countries and especially in ex-communist ones, the public does not have enough literacy and interest to understand the issues of public finance, political economy, the fiscal system, legal and political systems, social paradigms, and economics. So, it generally attributes the provision of public goods necessarily to the central and local governments without understanding or knowing any of the elements of the public goods ecosystem. So it seems that everything that the local government provides must be of high quality and be free, which proves evidence and traces of one of the main problems of public goods, which is the free-rider problem. From the research point of view, regardless of the moderation made by the civil society for the awareness of the social contract as well as the transparency of the economic activity of the municipalities, the citizens' awareness about the nature and problems of the provision of public goods still remains a concern. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address the free-rider problem as an issue that must be recognized and considered so that optimal local legal regulations can be formulated, especially in small communities like Vlora municipality, where the free-rider problem is on a smaller scale compared to larger municipalities in the world.
{"title":"Evidence from Albania: local government, public goods, and the free-rider problem","authors":"Rudina Lipi, I. Lipi, Evis Kumi, Etleva Leskaj","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1280260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1280260","url":null,"abstract":"Public goods and their benefits are necessarily related to their nature. From an economic point of view, citizens are always looking for more and more public goods, judging that they should always finance them even less. Especially in a democracy, it is sufficient to remember that people who don't vote still benefit from the government's agenda. Mainly in developing countries and especially in ex-communist ones, the public does not have enough literacy and interest to understand the issues of public finance, political economy, the fiscal system, legal and political systems, social paradigms, and economics. So, it generally attributes the provision of public goods necessarily to the central and local governments without understanding or knowing any of the elements of the public goods ecosystem. So it seems that everything that the local government provides must be of high quality and be free, which proves evidence and traces of one of the main problems of public goods, which is the free-rider problem. From the research point of view, regardless of the moderation made by the civil society for the awareness of the social contract as well as the transparency of the economic activity of the municipalities, the citizens' awareness about the nature and problems of the provision of public goods still remains a concern. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address the free-rider problem as an issue that must be recognized and considered so that optimal local legal regulations can be formulated, especially in small communities like Vlora municipality, where the free-rider problem is on a smaller scale compared to larger municipalities in the world.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140086143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-25DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1267022
Claire Breniaux
Scotland is an interesting case study when it comes to politics, nationalism and identity. The separatist movement led by the Scottish National Party (SNP) raises a wide range of questions with regard to Scottish and British politics as well as people's sense of belonging. Given that young people are the generation most likely to witness a hypothetical second independence referendum in the future, this paper focuses on them. It examines the young members of the SNP. It explores the interconnection between Scottish politics and young SNP members' nationalism as well as their understanding of Scottishness. With the analysis of empirical research conducted from 2018 to 2020, it suggests that the Young Scots for Independence (YSI) and SNP Students' nationalism should be regarded as socio-nationalism. This paper defines it as the promotion of societal values and a certain perception of society combined with the promotion and defense of a nation. Interviews and questionnaires reveal that these young people define Scotland as socially just, equal and open. Overall, their definition of Scottishness is similar. In that sense, this paper argues that their political ideology and their sense of belonging are interrelated. This is highlighted by the fact that Scottish independence is, among other factors, the most significant reason why young people choose to become SNP members. It also highlights a relationship between their sense of Scottishness and their wish for Scotland to become independent. Therefore, this paper argues that young people's membership of the SNP and national identity are interrelated.
{"title":"Young SNP members: socio-nationalism, identity and politics","authors":"Claire Breniaux","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1267022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1267022","url":null,"abstract":"Scotland is an interesting case study when it comes to politics, nationalism and identity. The separatist movement led by the Scottish National Party (SNP) raises a wide range of questions with regard to Scottish and British politics as well as people's sense of belonging. Given that young people are the generation most likely to witness a hypothetical second independence referendum in the future, this paper focuses on them. It examines the young members of the SNP. It explores the interconnection between Scottish politics and young SNP members' nationalism as well as their understanding of Scottishness. With the analysis of empirical research conducted from 2018 to 2020, it suggests that the Young Scots for Independence (YSI) and SNP Students' nationalism should be regarded as socio-nationalism. This paper defines it as the promotion of societal values and a certain perception of society combined with the promotion and defense of a nation. Interviews and questionnaires reveal that these young people define Scotland as socially just, equal and open. Overall, their definition of Scottishness is similar. In that sense, this paper argues that their political ideology and their sense of belonging are interrelated. This is highlighted by the fact that Scottish independence is, among other factors, the most significant reason why young people choose to become SNP members. It also highlights a relationship between their sense of Scottishness and their wish for Scotland to become independent. Therefore, this paper argues that young people's membership of the SNP and national identity are interrelated.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139597526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-24DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1063039
Vittorio Orlando, Maximilian Conrad
This article investigates the impact of Brexit on Eurosceptic parties' arguments for leaving (or remaining in) the European Union (EU). Drawing on a comparative design, the article looks at the images and narratives of the EU that Eurosceptic parties in Italy and Germany have advanced in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum and reflects on the broader implications in terms of the prospects of further states leaving the EU. This research is motivated by two assumptions grounded in the literature on Euroscepticism and EU polity contestation: firstly, that Euroscepticism is fuelled by external circumstances that are exploited by interested political actors; and secondly, that both the Brexit referendum and the UK's departure from the EU have had a profound impact on discourses on the EU within member states, most importantly because this process has highlighted the real possibility of replacing EU membership with trade agreements and other specific arrangements. By means of a comparative analysis of the development of Eurosceptic discourse in Italy and Germany after Brexit, the article reveals that on the structural level, Eurozone membership remains the main obstacle to leaving the EU. Yet on the ideological level, Eurosceptic discourse in the two countries centers on two principles that are at odds with each other. Beyond the alleged lack of democratic representation within EU institutions that is pointed out by Eurosceptic parties in both countries, the main criticism of the EU project in Germany is that the country shares the costs of states with lower economic outputs. In Italy, on the other hand, the criticism is that the EU benefits wealthier states while constraining the country's opportunities for development.
{"title":"Reinforcing or moderating? The impact of Brexit on Italian and German Euroscepticism","authors":"Vittorio Orlando, Maximilian Conrad","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1063039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1063039","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates the impact of Brexit on Eurosceptic parties' arguments for leaving (or remaining in) the European Union (EU). Drawing on a comparative design, the article looks at the images and narratives of the EU that Eurosceptic parties in Italy and Germany have advanced in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum and reflects on the broader implications in terms of the prospects of further states leaving the EU. This research is motivated by two assumptions grounded in the literature on Euroscepticism and EU polity contestation: firstly, that Euroscepticism is fuelled by external circumstances that are exploited by interested political actors; and secondly, that both the Brexit referendum and the UK's departure from the EU have had a profound impact on discourses on the EU within member states, most importantly because this process has highlighted the real possibility of replacing EU membership with trade agreements and other specific arrangements. By means of a comparative analysis of the development of Eurosceptic discourse in Italy and Germany after Brexit, the article reveals that on the structural level, Eurozone membership remains the main obstacle to leaving the EU. Yet on the ideological level, Eurosceptic discourse in the two countries centers on two principles that are at odds with each other. Beyond the alleged lack of democratic representation within EU institutions that is pointed out by Eurosceptic parties in both countries, the main criticism of the EU project in Germany is that the country shares the costs of states with lower economic outputs. In Italy, on the other hand, the criticism is that the EU benefits wealthier states while constraining the country's opportunities for development.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139600050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-22DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1306060
Agustín Espinosa, Erika Janos, Manuel Pacheco, Renzo Cisneros, Fiorella Cueva, Renato De Las Casas De La Lama, Chrystian Noe De La Cruz Bellido, Camila Grados, Carla Huapaya, Sebastián Mercado, Danika Palacios, Jackeline Elena Reyes, Eleonora Salazar, Mikel Silva, Kelly Patricia Villa, Angela Vera
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the social representations of democracy, populism and the relationship between both concepts in a sample of citizens from different regions of Peru (n = 76). To this end, a qualitative research design was proposed, using in-depth interviews, which were analyzed from a discursive approach. The results show that democracy and populism are two closely related concepts in tension. On the one hand, the social representation of democracy is semantically poor, closely related to electoral behavior and is seen as a political system that, ideally, is positively valued. Populism, on the other hand, is seen as a political strategy based on the manipulation of citizens' needs in order to reach power using the democratic process of elections. The representation of populism in general is negative, and it is mentioned that it appears and acquires strength in the face of citizen dissatisfaction with democracy, when it cannot solve problems of poverty, corruption or exclusion. The representations of populism take up the constitutive components proposed by different authors on the topic (people, elites and democracy as a product of popular will), but the participants do not necessarily structure the relationships between these components as proposed in the academic literature. Finally, the results shows that respondents' experiences with democracy and populism in Peru act as important socializing forces that will frame how citizens relate to politics and the public.
{"title":"A qualitative study on the social representations of populism and democracy in Peru","authors":"Agustín Espinosa, Erika Janos, Manuel Pacheco, Renzo Cisneros, Fiorella Cueva, Renato De Las Casas De La Lama, Chrystian Noe De La Cruz Bellido, Camila Grados, Carla Huapaya, Sebastián Mercado, Danika Palacios, Jackeline Elena Reyes, Eleonora Salazar, Mikel Silva, Kelly Patricia Villa, Angela Vera","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1306060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1306060","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the social representations of democracy, populism and the relationship between both concepts in a sample of citizens from different regions of Peru (n = 76). To this end, a qualitative research design was proposed, using in-depth interviews, which were analyzed from a discursive approach. The results show that democracy and populism are two closely related concepts in tension. On the one hand, the social representation of democracy is semantically poor, closely related to electoral behavior and is seen as a political system that, ideally, is positively valued. Populism, on the other hand, is seen as a political strategy based on the manipulation of citizens' needs in order to reach power using the democratic process of elections. The representation of populism in general is negative, and it is mentioned that it appears and acquires strength in the face of citizen dissatisfaction with democracy, when it cannot solve problems of poverty, corruption or exclusion. The representations of populism take up the constitutive components proposed by different authors on the topic (people, elites and democracy as a product of popular will), but the participants do not necessarily structure the relationships between these components as proposed in the academic literature. Finally, the results shows that respondents' experiences with democracy and populism in Peru act as important socializing forces that will frame how citizens relate to politics and the public.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139606988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-12DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2023.1320693
Pedro Silveira
The relationships between ministers and their junior ministers have hardly been addressed in the literature, yet they are crucial to understanding government departmental dynamics. Using a principal agent framework, this article analyses 144 minister-junior minister relationships in three Portuguese governments (2005–2015), uncovering serious divergences (agency losses). The results were obtained through a qualitative approach, using many sources, including 111 interviews with former Portuguese prime ministers, ministers and junior ministers, content analysis, and one Minister's direct observation. It concludes that sharing the decisional power (shared leadership) improves accountability (promoting preference alignment and reducing asymmetric information), preventing and dealing effectively with divergences.
{"title":"The benefits of shared leadership on minister-junior minister delegation and accountability","authors":"Pedro Silveira","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1320693","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1320693","url":null,"abstract":"The relationships between ministers and their junior ministers have hardly been addressed in the literature, yet they are crucial to understanding government departmental dynamics. Using a principal agent framework, this article analyses 144 minister-junior minister relationships in three Portuguese governments (2005–2015), uncovering serious divergences (agency losses). The results were obtained through a qualitative approach, using many sources, including 111 interviews with former Portuguese prime ministers, ministers and junior ministers, content analysis, and one Minister's direct observation. It concludes that sharing the decisional power (shared leadership) improves accountability (promoting preference alignment and reducing asymmetric information), preventing and dealing effectively with divergences.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139531980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-12DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2023.1301734
Jens Marquardt
Decarbonization efforts and sustainability transformations represent highly contested socio-political projects. Yet, they often encounter various forms of depoliticization. This article illuminates how a grand socio-ecological challenge like the energy transition gets depoliticized by an unusual suspect, namely Germany's Green Party. Based on a qualitative content analysis of Green Party programs, party conventions, and additional documents published between 1980 and 2021, this article traces how the Green Party has depoliticized the energy transition over time, emphasizing a shift from radical societal change to ecological modernization. The changing stance of the German Greens on the country's energy transition reflects more profound changes of a future society the party collectively envisions through their energy and climate change agenda. These changes result from a struggle between moderates advocating incremental political reforms and radicals aiming for more fundamental and systemic societal change. By merging sustainability transition research with science and technology studies, this article makes a twofold contribution: First, it proposes a conceptual framework to investigate social and political futures envisioned through energy and climate politics. Second, the article empirically demonstrates the long process of depoliticization for an unusual but critical case. Germany's Green Party has embraced a technocentric vision of the energy transition, thereby suppressing earlier notions of broader societal change, such as anti-capitalism and energy democracy. This article spells out implications for the wider field of energy and climate politics and concludes with suggestions for future research.
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