Adieu intellectual autonomy: how mainstream political party think tanks in Flanders evolved

Why are Roma (not) represented on the electoral lists of the mainstream political parties? Whereas the political representation of the Roma minority has primarily been approached through ethnic lenses, focusing either on Roma ethnic parties or on other types of organizations, the role of mainstream political parties is typically considered marginal in the process. This might seem counter-intuitive, considering that previous studies have provided ample confirmation that political parties are the main gate-keepers to representation, not only when it comes to the majority population, but also to minority groups. An additional aspect that is extremely important for understanding the phenomenon of under-representation is the process of selection of candidates, as the focal point that shapes how inclusive representative bodies and their members will be with regard to the ethnic element. In order to cover this gap, this PhD study unpacks the nomination of Roma candidates by mainstream political parties in the context of the 2016 local elections in Romania. Combining theories of political representation from the literature on political parties and ethnic studies, it argues that minority nomination is dependent on the electoral resources of political parties. Electoral resources – defined here as the size of the party, change of party leadership, party competition, presence/absence of Roma political parties, and the size of the Roma groups – are tested for their relative impact on Roma nomination, following two different and supplementary methods. First, a quantitative study is conducted based on 289 party lists in 77 localities with a minimum of 1% of Roma population from three counties: Galati, Iasi and Salaj. The quantitative study is supplemented by a qualitative analysis based on 39 semi-structured interviews with local party leaders belonging to five mainstream political parties: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Popular Movement Party, National Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party, and National Union for the Progress of Romania. The statistical results show that mainstream political parties are only motivated to include Roma candidates on their party lists once the size of the Roma community is large, with all the other tested variables receiving either weak or no statistical support. However, explanations based strictly on cost-benefit calculations should be interpreted with caution, as without taking into consideration the contextual aspects such explanations can lead to inaccurate conclusions. The size of the minority groups does not always outweigh other losses, as long as the discriminatory and biased attitudes of the mainstream party leaders govern the nomination process. Additionally, the manipulation and control of the Roma voters by incumbent local political parties interfere in the process. Abusing their powers to distribute social benefits and taking advantage of the precarious socio-economic situation of most of the Roma, local incumbent political parties reserve Roma votes for themselves and directly exclude the option of having Roma candidates on their party lists. Consequently, the representative chain whereby Roma voters would choose their representatives in accordance with their free will to voice their issues and interests is broken as long as voters are forced to vote for a political representative that not only is not interested in acting for them, but defies and disrespects democratic principles.

How do male-dominated populist radical right (PRR) parties relate to and influence norms around women’s political inclusion and leadership in mainstream political parties? While research has focused on describing the male dominance of PRR parties or its influence on mainstream political parties’ policies, particularly immigration, we know less about how PRR parties relate to norms on women’s inclusion or gender-balanced representation in mainstream parties. In a theory-building effort, we posit that PRR parties may seek to (a) adapt to mainstream parties’ norms and include more women in leading positions (positive contagion) or (b) negatively affect or even challenge norms around women’s inclusion in mainstream parties (adverse contagion). Seeking to theorize this relationship further, we explore leadership selection in the Swedish Parliament, where gender balance constitutes a strong norm. Yet, following the 2022 elections, the proportion of women parliamentary leaders dipped below 30% for the first time in decades. At the same time, the Sweden Democrats, a male-dominated PRR party, emerged as the second-largest party in Parliament. Drawing on interviews with nomination committees, party documents, and data on leadership, we empirically investigate continuity and change in committee leadership appointments in the Swedish Parliament and the role of the radical right in this process. We do not find signs of adverse contagion in the short run: as of 2023, norms promoting gender balance appear to remain robust and enjoy widespread support among mainstream parties. Yet, neither do we find signs of positive contagion where the radical right adapts to mainstream norms around gender balance.

Pakistan, being developing, mostly dependent on its agriculture sector by engaging 65 percent of its population in this sector either direct or indirect. The sector has a significant contribution to the GDP of the economy (i.e. 21.40 percent of the total GDP). However, little has been researched in the context of the stock returns during different government power regimes to understand the power influences as evidenced in the developed world markets. The study applies exploratory data analysis to the daily stocks, and their benchmark returns data for the period 23 November 2002 to 31 May 2019. The dataset further divided into seven datasets based on each power regimes to understand behaviours in isolations. As PTI still has left with its remaining four years to be in power, therefore, comparing stocks return performance to the other parties’ power regimes seems to be biased. However, the stock return performances during the PTI power regime show more resemblance to the CTGs than the mainstream political parties. If ranked, the PML-Q could be placed on the high returns’ volatility side and PML-N on the low-volatility, whereas PPP in the mid. However, the stock return performances during the PTI power regime show more resemblance to the CTGs than the mainstream political parties. If ranked, the PML-Q could be placed on the high returns’ volatility side and PML-N on the low-volatility, whereas PPP in the mid. However, the variations are minor among the regimes in the context of stock return fluctuations. Overall, the stocks showed extreme fluctuation during all major political parties' power regimes except PTI.

"Climate change communication" is taking the strategic position in the international and national politics around the globe. In the recent decade, different developing nations have started considering "climate change communication" as an integral part of the political campaigns and sustainable development. Specifically, the current document comprised of two sections. In the first section of the study, authors briefly compared the attributes related to "climate change communication" in the mainstream political parties' manifesto for the general election 2018 in Pakistan in a qualitative manner. In the second part, the difference of opinion among voters of mainstream political parties towards "climate change" was examined. In a bird's eye view, the perceived seriousness of "climate change" as a real challenge among voters mapped by the independent factors of "urbanization," "industrialization," "transportation," and "waste management" for sustainable development through the primary quantitative survey of 732 voters in the country. The finding highlights (1) public understanding of "socio-scientific issues," i.e., climate change is easy to communicate, and (2) how political parties are framing and communicating about "climate change" plays a significant role in climate change communication. The study concludes that "climate change communication" holds a critical role in developing regions' future political discourse to shape sustainable development policies.

Growing alarm has been expressed about populism in mainstream political parties, yet the vast majority of scholarship investigating populism has documented the role of radical right populist parties rather than that of mainstream parties. This article draws on non-essentialist understandings of populism—the idea that populism is a central aspect of democracy and not restricted to the realm of radical political parties and “populist” leaders—to examine how mainstream political leaders discursively articulate the antagonism between “the people” and the institutional order. We also examine how mainstream party leaders, who are likely to be deeply embedded in the institutional order, negotiate tensions between the institutionalized system and populist articulation. We study this in the Australian context, which is appropriate for examining populism in mainstream political parties given that far-right and far-left parties have gained much smaller shares of electoral support in Australia than elsewhere. Our findings indicate that mainstream party leaders discursively construct the idea of “the people” by homogenizing disparate social demands and claiming their right to represent the community as a whole. In doing so, these leaders must negotiate pressures from the institutionalized order in the form of clientelism and accountability. This article contributes insights on the reconciliation of contemporary populism with institutionalized settings and processes.

This concluding paper sets the special issue in the broader context of literature on Europeanization. I consider what sort of empirical picture emerges from the issue and other literature, and highlight some puzzles in domestic politics to which that portrayal directs our attention. We see disjunctures between the EU's policy importance and low political mobilization around it, between general demobilization and bursts of activity around referenda, and between variation in citizens' views of the EU and little variation in mainstream political parties' programs. Then I consider the main ways in which Europeanization scholars explain these puzzles. I argue very briefly for an analysis that stresses the cross-cutting nature of pro- and anti-EU views in French (and other countries’) politics, which leads to reactions from political parties to muffle internal dissent. To conclude I modestly extend this analysis to hypothesize a little-noticed mechanism of indirect EU effects on national politics.

This article examines the behaviour of ethnic parties and their electorates in four new EU member states at the 2009 European Parliament (EP) elections. Building on earlier arguments from within the literature on Europeanisation, the propositions of this article are that the ethnic minority parties are more EU-enthusiastic than the mainstream political parties; that they treat the EP elections both as a more important arena of political contestation than do the mainstream political parties and as equally important to national elections; and that they will use the elections as an opportunity to further their minority-specific agendas. Using the EuroManifesto and the Voter Studies of the 2009 European Elections Study this article tests these propositions and finds support for the first two, but only limited support for the third one.

6 | International Union Rights | 24/1 FOCUS | WORLD BANK AND IMF International Financial Institutions and Labour Rights: Rhetoric versus Reality Labour organisations have long been critical of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. In particular, groups argue that policy prescriptions attached to international financial institution (IFI) loans, which emphasise labour flexibility, wage cuts, and reduced public sector jobs, amount to ‘cookiecutter policies that harm the interests of working people’ (Lloyd and Weissman 2007: 7). Politically, these policies are seen as undercutting the power of labour groups, decreasing both their ability to protect members as well as their relative political power. A large body of academic scholarship has studied the ways in which IFI programmes affect recipient countries. While earlier studies primarily focused on macroeconomic implications, more recent systematic research has also begun to examine the socio-political impacts. Thus far, results have been decidedly negative. For instance, Abouharb and Cingranelli (2007) found that structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) are significantly related to political repression– the programmes created a pernicious dynamic in which loan conditions encouraged anti-government protests that were often violently repressed. Subsequent work has found these programmes to be negatively associated with women’s economic rights, particularly freedoms from work and pay discrimination as well as workplace harassment (Detraz and Peksen, 2015). There is some evidence, however, that these programmes may ultimately serve to support some democratic reforms (Abouharb and Cingranelli 2007; Birchler et al. 2016). Somewhat surprisingly, less attention has been devoted to the labour rights implications of IFI policies. For its part, until recently the IMF has overlooked the possible effects of their programmes on labour conditions. In a welcome break, a recent IMF report (Jaumotte and Buitron 2015) noted the importance of a strong collective bargaining regime to reduce income inequality and secure better wages for low and middle-income earners. The report specifically finds that ‘the decline in unionisation appears to be a key contributor to the rise of top income shares’ (p. 31) to the detriment of those in other groups. Given the dearth of IMF research in the area of labour rights, the significance of this release was noted by labour scholars. For example, Manborde (2015: 7) observed in an earlier edition of this journal that the report finally attested to the importance of trade unions as necessary ‘economic and political correctives’ in the ‘kind of free market economy created by the mainstream political parties’. Somewhat sardonically, Cross (2015: 10) welcomed the IMF’s ‘foray into the realm of union rights’, though noting that it ultimately did little beyond refuting ‘some of the lazier assumptions on the effects of stronger trade unions’. Paucity of labour research aside, the IMF and World Bank have long noted the potential social and economic harm that their policies can cause, and have at the least expressed rhetorical support for labour rights. For example, over twenty years ago then IMF Director Michel Camdessus (1996) noted that IMF programmes should ‘contribute to improving human living standards’, States should take measures to assist with the ‘human costs of adjustment’ and labour organisations can play a key role in helping countries deal with the possible adverse impact of globalisation. Subsequent efforts on the part of these institutions have gone somewhat beyond rhetoric. By the late 1990s, the IMF began to incorporate promises to improve labour rights, specifically compliance with ILO core labour standards, into its loan conditions (Anner and Carraway 2010). One scholar argued that both IFIs have helped to increase the influence of the ILO and that ‘contrary to widespread opinion, the IMF and World Bank have become quasi-partners (with the ILO) in promoting labour rights’ (Stallings 2010: 13). For example, representatives from each organisation make it a practice to attend the others’ meetings and the World Bank’s procurement standards for contractors include core labour standards (Stallings 2010). At the least, this marks an encouraging break from their traditional view that, famously noted by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn (Lloyd and Weissman 2001, 11), that such organisations do ‘not get involved in national politics’. Thus while it has long been argued that IFI policies bode poorly for labour rights, there is some evidence that these...

This paper considers the rise of UKIP and the mainstream parties' reactions to its stance on immigration. This paper accordingly seeks to examine the specific themes contained within the rhetoric of the mainstream political party leader speeches conveyed between September 2013 and December 2014 in order to ascertain the underlying messages being employed regarding immigration - a key UK 2015 election campaigning topic. This examination will entail a comparative analysis of speeches conveyed by the leaders of the Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour Parties, and UKIP. Combining two forms of discourse - Benoit's (2007) functional theory and Wodak and Meyer's (2015) analysis of ideology and political discourse - this study addresses the following research question: How have the mainstream political parties responded to UKIP's challenge on immigration as part of their political communication? The results of the analysis provide fresh insights regarding the use of message themes, namely, acclaims, attacks, defences, policy and character, in the treatment of the question of immigration by mainstream political parties, including UKIP.

Scholars have unpacked the conditions out of which electorally successful ethnic parties in Europe emerge and the important roles they play in diverse contexts. But the existing research overlooks important political actors, whose influence explains some of the behaviors of these ethnic parties. In this analysis, we explore the different roles of co-ethnic core intermediaries (CCIs) – that is, officials who come from the same ethnic groups as those whose interests ethnic parties champion but represent other mainstream political parties. Based on an illustrative case study of the Swedish-speaking Finns, this article demonstrates that CCIs both benefit and threaten ethnic parties: they generate support among and facilitate collaboration with other mainstream political parties; however, they also cause voter attrition and pursue ethnic causes in ways that differ from the ethnic party.

This article examines processes of ethnic and regional differentiation through a study of the 1977 local elections in Turkey's Kurdish-majority provinces. An analysis of electoral data shows a high level of support there for independent candidates, a result sharply at odds with voting in the rest of the country that indicates a new correlation between ethnicity and political behavior. We argue that independents benefitted from mainstream political parties' inability to mobilize voters in the southeast because of the declining power of local notables, the emergence of new social movements, and alternative frames that the parties were unable to integrate. This context allowed social and political outsiders to build social coalitions outside the mainstream parties, as we demonstrate through a case study of the election of independent candidate Mehdi Zana, a working-class Kurdish activist who won the 1977 Diyarbakır mayoral race.

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. The issue of poll rigging in Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 is examined through discourse analysis of the related tweets. The study also aims at comprehending the extent to which cyber ethics were violated during the digital electoral campaigns.
 Methodology: Discourse Analysis of the tweets generated from the official Twitter handles of PTI and PMLN leaders was conducted to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. Violation of cyber ethics was explored through the qualitative interviews of 8 purposively selected social media managers of PMLN, PPP, and PTI.
 Main Findings: The findings indicated that party leadership/politicians used the elements of cyber hate which included abusive language, provocation, and character assassination against their opponents during the digital electoral campaign in general and regarding the poll rigging issue of Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 in specific. Resultantly the tweets using strong adjectives and metaphors on the political opponents were more frequently re-tweeted and attracted more favorites.
 Applications of this study: The study can be helpful in various cross-disciplinary areas that focus on the examination of the usage and impact of social media and cyberspace as a medium for hate speech dissemination. The study can significantly contribute to areas related to cyber ethics, digital electoral campaigning, freedom of expression, and political opinion building.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The study’s originality lies in its attempt to unfold the foundations of digital electoral campaigning in Pakistan and how cyberhate was used as a pivotal tool for advancing the political narratives in a fragile democratic society.

In the democratic form of government, political parties play a determinative and creative role. Striving for public offices is their fundamental objective which distinguishes them from other social organizations; hence, parties utilize all channels to secure maximum parliamentary slots. In a representative and inclusive democracy, political parties perform a set of different jobs ranging from nomination of electoral candidates, managing their campaigns, transforming public sentiments and demands into public policy, citizens’ integration as well as fabricating government and civil society. Giving much importance to the political parties for the development of representative democracy, concerns have been raised about the ways in which they discharge their functions. If democracy deems not to flourish without political parties, then it is also important to assess how political parties are internally democratic in their determination and decision-making, influence and significance, proceeding and practices and distribution and dissemination of authority. In developing states, majority of political parties are operating as family-enterprises lacking true internal democratic culture. Self- centric, dynastic and interrupted politics have plagued the democratic norms and values. By focusing upon the ways and means which the parties adopt to elect their office-bearers as well as the mechanism which they prefer to nominate electoral candidates, the instant study will investigate whether or not the mainstream political parties in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are democratic in their functioning?

Ethnic Minority Policies and Political Parties' Appeal to Ethnic Voters: A Case Study of Estonia's Russians Focusing on a case study of Estonia's major political parties' relations with the ethnic Russian electorate, the article examines the role of ethnic minority policies in the electoral appeal of nation-wide parties towards the ethnic minority electorate, attempting to assess whether pursuing efficient minority-related policies is a necessary precondition for a nation-wide party achieving electoral success among ethnic voters, and whether the migration of an ethnic minority electorate from ethnic parties to mainstream parties can be considered a sign of successful accommodation. Applying the theoretical concept of "informational shortcuts", the article assesses persuasion strategies employed by Estonian political parties in their appeal towards the minority electorate, exemplifying the ways in which mainstream political parties can consolidate their monopoly over ethnic voters without prioritizing special minority-related policies.

The political culture literature is afflicted with an orientational and attitudinal bias in which cultural dynamics reign supreme, while political values and beliefs are relegated as an epiphenomenon. The present article arrogates the ‘political’ as the superior analytical variable in estimating political culture in Pakistan. While political culture studies attend to the behavioural methodology focused on individual cultural attitudes and orientations towards the political system, analysis of Pakistan’s political culture is attempted at the meso-level, that is, political parties and is in this sense a top–bottom approach. A seminal focus on political parties attends to a major gap in the political culture literature: the non-attention to agency. That is, while the literature thrives on cultural attitudes and orientations that feed into the political system, it is largely silent on the much thornier question of how such attitudes and orientations are engendered in the public sphere in the first place. In this sense, the article attributes agency to political parties as shaping and influencing political culture, that is, how do people view and think about politics in the country. Finally, in conformity with the political culture literature, the fact that political culture is never uniform and homogenous rather stratified into various competing political sub-cultures is brought out with respect to three mainstream political parties in Pakistan as manifested in their 2018 election manifestoes. Because political parties are ideational agents that shape beliefs and values in the public sphere, it makes sense to deep dive into competitive political sub-cultures placing ‘politics’ at the core of political culture analysis.