Abstract In our study, we wish to give an overview of integration mechanisms in Hungarian society. We focus on system integration, that is, on the political processes and interactions that re-establish social mechanisms of co-existence in society. We approach system integration from the dimension of action. Three hypotheses are tested on the database of Integration and Disintegration Processes within the Hungarian Society project. We present what explanatory factors influence the electoral, traditional and direct forms of political activity. We also discuss the relationship between cohorts, life events and participation, as well as the link between clients and participation.
{"title":"Cohort-generations and the cumulative effects of life-events on political integration in Hungary","authors":"Andrea Szabó, D. Oross","doi":"10.1515/wps-2017-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2017-0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In our study, we wish to give an overview of integration mechanisms in Hungarian society. We focus on system integration, that is, on the political processes and interactions that re-establish social mechanisms of co-existence in society. We approach system integration from the dimension of action. Three hypotheses are tested on the database of Integration and Disintegration Processes within the Hungarian Society project. We present what explanatory factors influence the electoral, traditional and direct forms of political activity. We also discuss the relationship between cohorts, life events and participation, as well as the link between clients and participation.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"26 1","pages":"221 - 245"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89841325","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}
Abstract It seems that the current relationship between the European Union (EU) and Asia is at a turning point. During the Cold War era, the status gap between the European Community [(EC), formerly European Economic Community (EEC)] and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was quite large. In fact, the EC was considered a highly institutionalised and developed region, while ASEAN was considered an association of developing countries; however, in the post-Cold War era, the status of Asia compared to that of Europe has significantly risen. The establishment of the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) in 1996 among heads of states as “equal partners” is a striking example. In addition, ASEAN will have a community in place by the end of 2015, while Europe has struggled from its sovereign debt crisis to such an extent that it has shown its eagerness to learn even from Asian countries. Finally, the EU is now expected to play a role as a “soft power” ally with ASEAN. Based on multiple archives (French, German, and EC archives), this article retraces the course of EC/EU-ASEAN relations from the origins of ASEAN until the establishment of the Joint Study Group (JSG) of 1975, considered as a formal institutionalisation of EC–ASEAN relations, although informal dialogue between the EC and ASEAN began in 1972. This article aims to clarify why and how this formal institutionalisation occurred. In June 1975, the regional organisations established the JSG between the European Commission and the ASEAN member states. The JSG can be interpreted as a precursor to the EEC-ASEAN co-operation agreement signed in 1980, in that this event is in certain times considered as a “turning point.” EC/EU-ASEAN relations have been widely discussed. The existing research derives mainly from political scientists. Most early research has stressed ASEAN as a “stepping stone” to the “Asia-Pacific” region; in other words, an economic valuation of ASEAN is offered as the reason why the EC deepened its relationship with ASEAN. Later studies have underlined ASEAN’s value as a reliable partner to break an impasse in the North-South negotiations; however, existing literature ignores a strategic aspect. This article establishes the decisive strategic reason for the EC to have chosen a formal relation with ASEAN: to establish a substantial presence in a region where US presence declined after the Vietnam War. This viewpoint is especially supported by Sir Christopher Soames, British Vice-President of the European Commission and commissioner for external relations. Focusing on this strategic aspect and based on the method of diplomatic history, this article also tries to analyse the impact of international contexts such as the Asian Cold War and North-South affairs on the EC’s decision-making process.
{"title":"Institutionalisation of the Relations between the EC and the ASEAN: Analysing an Origin of the EU-Asia Relationship, 1967–1975","authors":"T. Kuroda","doi":"10.1515/wps-2017-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2017-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract It seems that the current relationship between the European Union (EU) and Asia is at a turning point. During the Cold War era, the status gap between the European Community [(EC), formerly European Economic Community (EEC)] and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was quite large. In fact, the EC was considered a highly institutionalised and developed region, while ASEAN was considered an association of developing countries; however, in the post-Cold War era, the status of Asia compared to that of Europe has significantly risen. The establishment of the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) in 1996 among heads of states as “equal partners” is a striking example. In addition, ASEAN will have a community in place by the end of 2015, while Europe has struggled from its sovereign debt crisis to such an extent that it has shown its eagerness to learn even from Asian countries. Finally, the EU is now expected to play a role as a “soft power” ally with ASEAN. Based on multiple archives (French, German, and EC archives), this article retraces the course of EC/EU-ASEAN relations from the origins of ASEAN until the establishment of the Joint Study Group (JSG) of 1975, considered as a formal institutionalisation of EC–ASEAN relations, although informal dialogue between the EC and ASEAN began in 1972. This article aims to clarify why and how this formal institutionalisation occurred. In June 1975, the regional organisations established the JSG between the European Commission and the ASEAN member states. The JSG can be interpreted as a precursor to the EEC-ASEAN co-operation agreement signed in 1980, in that this event is in certain times considered as a “turning point.” EC/EU-ASEAN relations have been widely discussed. The existing research derives mainly from political scientists. Most early research has stressed ASEAN as a “stepping stone” to the “Asia-Pacific” region; in other words, an economic valuation of ASEAN is offered as the reason why the EC deepened its relationship with ASEAN. Later studies have underlined ASEAN’s value as a reliable partner to break an impasse in the North-South negotiations; however, existing literature ignores a strategic aspect. This article establishes the decisive strategic reason for the EC to have chosen a formal relation with ASEAN: to establish a substantial presence in a region where US presence declined after the Vietnam War. This viewpoint is especially supported by Sir Christopher Soames, British Vice-President of the European Commission and commissioner for external relations. Focusing on this strategic aspect and based on the method of diplomatic history, this article also tries to analyse the impact of international contexts such as the Asian Cold War and North-South affairs on the EC’s decision-making process.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"43 1","pages":"57 - 76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81787826","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}
Abstract The paper explores the legislative unity of government and opposition blocs in the Czech Chamber of Deputies over a period of 20 years. As voting unity is usually rather low in the Czech Republic, temporarily high concentrations of votes by these blocs are linked to higher rates of conflict between the government and opposition. I use the Rice and UNITY indices to compare average unity scores of individual cabinets and also explorative time series of unity vectors in order to analyse bloc concentration, success rate, and increased conflict. The outcomes are relevant both as comprising a case study and methodological observations: (1) Broad differences in the logic of interaction are confirmed (e.g. caretaker cabinets show less conflict than standard cabinets). Although no universal trend (e.g. no transition from consensual to conflictual practice) is found, the Czech opposition became more concentrated and resorted to serial blocking tactics in the second decade; thus, a major change of behavior occurred after all. (2) The Rice and UNITY indices correlate considerably; UNITY’s discrimination capacity is not distorted significantly despite the nature of equilibria in the Chamber. Moreover; the UNITY index is able to easily distinguish contested votes not detectable by the Rice index alone.
{"title":"Adversary Voting in the Czech Chamber of Deputies (1993–2013)","authors":"P. Dvořák","doi":"10.1515/wps-2016-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2016-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The paper explores the legislative unity of government and opposition blocs in the Czech Chamber of Deputies over a period of 20 years. As voting unity is usually rather low in the Czech Republic, temporarily high concentrations of votes by these blocs are linked to higher rates of conflict between the government and opposition. I use the Rice and UNITY indices to compare average unity scores of individual cabinets and also explorative time series of unity vectors in order to analyse bloc concentration, success rate, and increased conflict. The outcomes are relevant both as comprising a case study and methodological observations: (1) Broad differences in the logic of interaction are confirmed (e.g. caretaker cabinets show less conflict than standard cabinets). Although no universal trend (e.g. no transition from consensual to conflictual practice) is found, the Czech opposition became more concentrated and resorted to serial blocking tactics in the second decade; thus, a major change of behavior occurred after all. (2) The Rice and UNITY indices correlate considerably; UNITY’s discrimination capacity is not distorted significantly despite the nature of equilibria in the Chamber. Moreover; the UNITY index is able to easily distinguish contested votes not detectable by the Rice index alone.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"132 1","pages":"122 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79149447","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}
Abstract Ever since the revelations by Edward Snowden, there has been a political debate about the appropriateness of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies. At the same time, surveillance practices based on complex technologies, which are almost invisible in everyday life and interlinked across national borders, have run into scarcely any widespread social protest. That is why this article poses the question: are the powers of depoliticized governance – which can rely on sustained diffuse acceptance based on an ever-widening discourse about dangers and technocratic risk management – making themselves evident here? Or is the post-Snowden debate showing signs of shifting toward (re)politicization of security policy, which is making appropriate measures and actors the subjects of public discourse and politically responsible decision making? By asking these questions, this article questions the widespread thesis of an across-the-board depoliticization of security governance, develops a conceptual framework for a differentiated analysis of politicization processes, with a special focus on the security field, and applies this framework to the specific case of the debate in Germany about the disclosures by Edward Snowden. By following this approach, the article strives to contribute to improved understanding of the dynamics, conditions and limitations of politicization in the purportedly special area of security.
{"title":"(Re)Politicizing Security? The Legitimation and Contestation of Mass Surveillance after Snowden","authors":"Hendrik Hegemann, Martin Kahl","doi":"10.1515/wps-2017-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2017-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Ever since the revelations by Edward Snowden, there has been a political debate about the appropriateness of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies. At the same time, surveillance practices based on complex technologies, which are almost invisible in everyday life and interlinked across national borders, have run into scarcely any widespread social protest. That is why this article poses the question: are the powers of depoliticized governance – which can rely on sustained diffuse acceptance based on an ever-widening discourse about dangers and technocratic risk management – making themselves evident here? Or is the post-Snowden debate showing signs of shifting toward (re)politicization of security policy, which is making appropriate measures and actors the subjects of public discourse and politically responsible decision making? By asking these questions, this article questions the widespread thesis of an across-the-board depoliticization of security governance, develops a conceptual framework for a differentiated analysis of politicization processes, with a special focus on the security field, and applies this framework to the specific case of the debate in Germany about the disclosures by Edward Snowden. By following this approach, the article strives to contribute to improved understanding of the dynamics, conditions and limitations of politicization in the purportedly special area of security.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"1 1","pages":"21 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75551875","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}
Abstract The article offers a reflection on the processes of democratisation in Slovenia, arguing that the new social movements were a key player in initiating and directing democratic transformation, but later came to be gradually marginalised with the consolidation of the “new” or “bourgeois” civil society. Furthermore, a new chronotope of analysis shows that the role of social movements was a necessary but not a sufficient condition for political, economic and social changes, since during the second phase of the democratisation a political detachment is already underway. The key point of contestation and discordance can be identified in their completely opposite understanding of democracy and the process of democratisation itself.
{"title":"Democratisation and New Social Movements","authors":"Žiga Vodovnik","doi":"10.1515/wps-2016-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2016-0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The article offers a reflection on the processes of democratisation in Slovenia, arguing that the new social movements were a key player in initiating and directing democratic transformation, but later came to be gradually marginalised with the consolidation of the “new” or “bourgeois” civil society. Furthermore, a new chronotope of analysis shows that the role of social movements was a necessary but not a sufficient condition for political, economic and social changes, since during the second phase of the democratisation a political detachment is already underway. The key point of contestation and discordance can be identified in their completely opposite understanding of democracy and the process of democratisation itself.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"32 1","pages":"1 - 19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91378942","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}
Abstract The social sciences have often claimed the end of religiosity as one explanation for electoral behaviour in Europe. Nevertheless, left and right parties still incorporate religious and moral issues on the agenda in order to distance themselves from their opponents. This article undertakes a comparative study of 34 European democracies and examines the extent to which religious voting has diminished since the eighties. Results point to a sharp decline in the levels of religious vote until the nineties, followed by a revitalization since that time in a third of the countries included in the sample. The analysis also highlights the important role played by the political elite in activating the religious vote.
{"title":"Three Decades of Religious Vote in Europe","authors":"Guillermo Cordero","doi":"10.1515/wps-2017-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2017-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The social sciences have often claimed the end of religiosity as one explanation for electoral behaviour in Europe. Nevertheless, left and right parties still incorporate religious and moral issues on the agenda in order to distance themselves from their opponents. This article undertakes a comparative study of 34 European democracies and examines the extent to which religious voting has diminished since the eighties. Results point to a sharp decline in the levels of religious vote until the nineties, followed by a revitalization since that time in a third of the countries included in the sample. The analysis also highlights the important role played by the political elite in activating the religious vote.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"55 1","pages":"77 - 98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84532474","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}
Abstract The international debate on ecological modernisation goes into the core problem in climate policies: (how) can we combine the economic growth that is part and parcel of the market economy and reduce climate gas emissions by technological innovations? This article enters this debate by distinguishing between (i) ecological modernisation as a theory for political change, i.e. a policy strategy, (ii) ecological modernisation as an ambitious general social theory addressing the relation between core societal institutions such as the democracy, the state and the market, and (iii) political science analyses of this policy strategy. Such analyses can examine the results and therefore the validity of the policy strategy as well as contribute to ecological modernisation as a social theory by setting the state and political autonomy at the centre of the analyses. This article aims to give such a contribution by focussing on a limited but important area, the transport sector and more specific passenger transport. The empirical analysis shows that in climate policies in general and in relation to the transport sector in particular, the state has taken a role as a knowledge producing, calculative state, integrating climate consequences in decision-making processes and using pricing/taxes and technical demands as key instruments to reduce climate emissions. In aviation deregulation and competition have led to better services and lower prices, and concomitantly to an increased demand, with strong increase in aviation travels. Reduced emissions per passenger kilometre in car travel have been outweighed by increased transport volume.
{"title":"Ecological Modernisation Revisited. In Norway","authors":"O. Osland","doi":"10.1515/wps-2016-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2016-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The international debate on ecological modernisation goes into the core problem in climate policies: (how) can we combine the economic growth that is part and parcel of the market economy and reduce climate gas emissions by technological innovations? This article enters this debate by distinguishing between (i) ecological modernisation as a theory for political change, i.e. a policy strategy, (ii) ecological modernisation as an ambitious general social theory addressing the relation between core societal institutions such as the democracy, the state and the market, and (iii) political science analyses of this policy strategy. Such analyses can examine the results and therefore the validity of the policy strategy as well as contribute to ecological modernisation as a social theory by setting the state and political autonomy at the centre of the analyses. This article aims to give such a contribution by focussing on a limited but important area, the transport sector and more specific passenger transport. The empirical analysis shows that in climate policies in general and in relation to the transport sector in particular, the state has taken a role as a knowledge producing, calculative state, integrating climate consequences in decision-making processes and using pricing/taxes and technical demands as key instruments to reduce climate emissions. In aviation deregulation and competition have led to better services and lower prices, and concomitantly to an increased demand, with strong increase in aviation travels. Reduced emissions per passenger kilometre in car travel have been outweighed by increased transport volume.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"1 1","pages":"347 - 371"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73596672","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}
Peter van Aelst, Rosa van Santen, Lotte Melenhorst, Luzia Helfer
Abstract This study on the role of media attention for the Dutch question hour answers three questions: to what extent is media attention a source of inspiration for oral parliamentary questions? What explains the newsworthiness of these questions? And what explains the extent of media coverage for the questions posed during the question hour? To address this, we present a content analysis of oral parliamentary questions and related press coverage in five recent years. The results show first that oral questions are usually based on media attention for a topic. Concerns about media influence should however be nuanced: it is not necessarily the coverage itself, but also regularly a political statement that is the actual source of a parliamentary question. The media are thus an important “channel” for the interaction between politicians. Second, our analysis shows that oral questions do not receive media attention naturally. Several news values help to explain the amount of news coverage that questions receive. “Surfing the wave” of news attention for a topic in the days previous to the question hour seems to be the best way to generate media attention.
{"title":"From Newspaper to Parliament and Back? A Study of Media Attention as Source for and Result of the Dutch Question Hour","authors":"Peter van Aelst, Rosa van Santen, Lotte Melenhorst, Luzia Helfer","doi":"10.1515/wps-2016-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2016-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study on the role of media attention for the Dutch question hour answers three questions: to what extent is media attention a source of inspiration for oral parliamentary questions? What explains the newsworthiness of these questions? And what explains the extent of media coverage for the questions posed during the question hour? To address this, we present a content analysis of oral parliamentary questions and related press coverage in five recent years. The results show first that oral questions are usually based on media attention for a topic. Concerns about media influence should however be nuanced: it is not necessarily the coverage itself, but also regularly a political statement that is the actual source of a parliamentary question. The media are thus an important “channel” for the interaction between politicians. Second, our analysis shows that oral questions do not receive media attention naturally. Several news values help to explain the amount of news coverage that questions receive. “Surfing the wave” of news attention for a topic in the days previous to the question hour seems to be the best way to generate media attention.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"1 1","pages":"261 - 282"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89758657","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}
Abstract In the last few years, the Deliberative Framework has become the main model in the consolidation of democratic processes. Deliberative theorists argue that deliberation helps to promote the democratic level of our societies, and they have good reasons to support this view. This article, however, is critical with some of these claims, questioning the widespread assumption of an existing connection between deliberation and democracy. With this objective in mind, we will examine the following three questions: Who deliberates? Under what conditions does deliberation take place? What is the content of deliberation? Once the potential repressive components of deliberation are made clear, we try to reach some normative considerations regarding how to promote certain mechanisms of deliberation that are in fact more in line with deliberative emancipation ideas and, as such, better assertions for promoting democracy.
{"title":"Misgivings on Deliberative Democracy: Revisiting the Deliberative Framework","authors":"Máriam Martínez-Bascuñán","doi":"10.1515/wps-2016-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2016-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In the last few years, the Deliberative Framework has become the main model in the consolidation of democratic processes. Deliberative theorists argue that deliberation helps to promote the democratic level of our societies, and they have good reasons to support this view. This article, however, is critical with some of these claims, questioning the widespread assumption of an existing connection between deliberation and democracy. With this objective in mind, we will examine the following three questions: Who deliberates? Under what conditions does deliberation take place? What is the content of deliberation? Once the potential repressive components of deliberation are made clear, we try to reach some normative considerations regarding how to promote certain mechanisms of deliberation that are in fact more in line with deliberative emancipation ideas and, as such, better assertions for promoting democracy.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"16 11 1","pages":"195 - 218"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82927836","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}
Abstract In China during the Cultural Revolution (CR), physicist Albert Einstein became one of the main targets of criticism. Why did China criticise him, while it was developing nuclear weapons based on his theories? This article argues that basic research in China then was entangled in power struggle which contained a controversy over China’s handling of intellectuals and its conception of the West. Even during the CR, however, scientists’ struggle for building a high-energy accelerator continued. Zhou Enlai supported it for his own power struggle as well as China’s nuclear development. The Lin Biao incident and the Sino-US rapprochement provided Zhou and his group opportunities to undermine the CR’s logic. Thus, this article argues that rebuilding of basic research in China was intertwined with both domestic and international politics.
{"title":"Criticising Einstein: Science, Politics, and International Relations during the Chinese Cultural Revolution","authors":"Yuko Sato","doi":"10.1515/wps-2016-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2016-0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In China during the Cultural Revolution (CR), physicist Albert Einstein became one of the main targets of criticism. Why did China criticise him, while it was developing nuclear weapons based on his theories? This article argues that basic research in China then was entangled in power struggle which contained a controversy over China’s handling of intellectuals and its conception of the West. Even during the CR, however, scientists’ struggle for building a high-energy accelerator continued. Zhou Enlai supported it for his own power struggle as well as China’s nuclear development. The Lin Biao incident and the Sino-US rapprochement provided Zhou and his group opportunities to undermine the CR’s logic. Thus, this article argues that rebuilding of basic research in China was intertwined with both domestic and international politics.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"29 1","pages":"175 - 194"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73252100","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}
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