Centre-right Government Research Articles

The Balkan vector of Italy's current foreign policy

The article analyses Italy's theoretical and practical approach to the Adriatic-Ionian region, viewed as part of the concept of the "enlarged Mediterranean" (Mediterraneo Allargato), a geopolitical space that extends far beyond the Mediterranean basin. The aim of the research is to determine the place of the Balkans in Italy's modern foreign policy strategy, analysing available policy documents as well as the practical actions of the current government under the leadership of Giorgia Meloni. Italian involvement in the Balkans in the 1990s gave way to a passive EU policy in the 2000s. However, at the beginning of this decade, in the absence of a visible EU interest in the region, Italy sought to restore a bilateral format of its relations with the Western Balkans, as shown by a new reflection on Rome's soft power potential to promote the so-called System Italy (Sistema Paese) undertaken by Italian research centres. Against the backdrop of Russia-Ukraine crisis, the EU interest in the Mediterranean has also flared up, which resulted in the adoption of the New Agenda for the Mediterranean as well as the EU Strategic Compass. Italy seeks to become a new protagonist in the Balkans, by acting together with EU partners (e.g. within the Andriatic-Ionian initiative) and by taking independent political and economic initiatives (e.g. by intensifying bilateral meetings and organising business forums). The recent exacerbation of the Balkan agenda, coupled with the centre-right government's desire for a general intensification of foreign policy and the search for additional markets and business partners among its closest neighbours, offer new opportunities for Italian diplomacy.

How media pluralism navigates ideological orientations: the case of Slovenia

IntroductionMedia and its reporting shape public opinion, and doing this can obtain an indirect and significant influence on the course and results of the political process. In this context, media operates as an active element of the political process.MethodsThe authors use the Janis-Fadner coefficient of imbalance to analyze a total of 1434 media texts published in 10 different Slovenian media outlets. The texts were published between March and September 2020.ResultsThe authors discover weak media plurality as the main characteristic of the Slovenian media space. The results show the majority of media reporting is strongly anti-right-wing-governmental and left-wing oriented with little pluralism. Most news coverage of web portals demonstrates a distinct ideological note, resulting in predominant expressions of centre-left and anti-center-right government views.DiscussionMost analyzed media is significantly more unfavorable to the center-right government than the center-left opposition, taking a notable left-wing stance. Confirmed by previous conducted studies, the Slovenia's political left seems to have much stronger media support than its right-wing counterpart. For the purpose, would be important to observe whether demonstrated harsh anti-government and pro-opposition orientation changed following the establishment of a new left-wing government after April 2020 elections.

The genesis ofthe PM-JAY health insurance scheme inIndia: technical andpolitical elements influencing a national reform towards universal health coverage.

Many countries are using health insurance to advance progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). India launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) health insurance scheme in 2018. We examine the political economy context around PM-JAY policy formulation, by examining the perspectives of policy stakeholders shaping decisions around the reform. More specifically, we focus on early policy design at the central (national) level. We use a framework on the politics of UHC reform proposed by Fox and Reich (The politics of universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries: A framework for evaluation and action. J. Health Polit. Policy Law 2015;40:1023-1060), to categorize the reform into phases and examine the interactions between actors, institutions, interests, ideas and ideology which shaped reform decisions. We interviewed 15 respondents in Delhi between February and April 2019, who were either closely associated with the reform process or subject experts. The ruling centre-right government introduced PM-JAY shortly before national elections, drawing upon policy legacies from prior and state insurance schemes. Empowered policy entrepreneurs within the government focused discourse around ideas of UHC and strategic purchasing, and engaged in institution building leading to the creation of the National Health Authority and State Health Agencies through policy directives, thereby expanding state infrastructural and institutional power for insurance implementation. Indian state inputs were incorporated in scheme design features like mode of implementation, benefit package and provider network, while features like the coverage amount, portability of benefits and branding strategy were more centrally driven. These balanced negotiations opened up political space for a cohesive, central narrative of the reform and facilitated adoption. Our analysis shows that the PM-JAY reform focused on bureaucratic rather than ideological elements and that technical compromises and adjustments accommodating the interests of states enabled the political success of policy formulation. Appreciating these politics, power and structural issues shaping PM-JAY institutional design will be important to understand how PM-JAY is implemented and how it advances UHC in India.

Direct Democracy in the Hands of the Opposition Under Alternating Ideological Coalitions in Uruguay (1985–2022)

Uruguay stands out as an exceptional case for having a vibrant party system, stable democracy, and frequent use of direct democracy mechanisms (MDDs). Previous research has explained the use of MDDs as a means of opposing centre-right governments, but it has failed to explain the subsequent use of these mechanisms during the period of alternation between the major ideological blocs in government after 2005. We make an empirical contribution by describing the practice of direct democracy actions and explaining their fate through a qualitative comparative analysis that assesses how well the theoretical expectations proposed by Altman are borne out in the Uruguayan case in the latest period. We conclude that the politics of direct democracy change when ideological blocs alternate in government and that direct democracy initiatives fail due to the lack of lobbying power, high government approval rates, or non-concurrency of the vote with the presidential election in the context of a positive economic environment.

The Paradigm Shift of Danish Development Policy (1990–2020)

For decades, Danish Development Policy was characterized by continuity, backed, as it was, by a relatively stable consensus across the political spectrum. However, this changed in the new Millennium where a paradigm shift in Danish development policy took place. This article characterizes and explains the paradigm shift and identifies its main driving forces. Drawing on Peter Hall’s policy paradigm framework, I identify development policy changes as a first, second, as well as a third order change, which constitutes a fundamental paradigm shift. Aid has been cut by almost a third, and the composition of instruments has changed with reduced allocations to bilateral country programmes, reduced allocations to the poorest and most stable countries, and increased allocations to humanitarian aid and areas of origin of migrants. Other purposes such as e.g. security concerns, global climate mitigation, or reducing migration flows, have to a large extent substituted the longstanding main objective of poverty reduction. International events and tendencies are of course important factors in explaining these significant development policy shifts, but domestic driving forces are equally important and consist mainly in a politicization of development aid enabled by a prior shift in policy-arena, both driven by domestic coalition politics. The politicization happened when a centre-right government was elected in 2001 and enabled a paradigm shift that happened over the 00s and which has been consolidated by the Social democratic minority government since 2019.

From Marxist Venture to Venture Capitalists: The Swedish Wage-Earner Funds and the Market Turn, 1983–1994

A renewed political interest in profit sharing and employee codetermination prompts an analysis of the Swedish wage-earner funds, implemented by a Social Democratic government in 1983 and dismantled by a center-right government in 1991. This article explains the funds’ financial performance and the political decisions surrounding their dismantlement. It finds that the funds underperformed slightly in relation to financial targets. Reasons include inexperienced boards, limited investment opportunities, and a hostile attitude from the business community. For the center-right parties, getting rid of the funds was an ideological decision. Transferring the assets to research foundations and public venture capital funds would improve the business climate, compensate firms for taxes paid to finance the wage-earner funds, and ensure that the Social Democrats would not be able to reinstate the funds. The intense debate surrounding the wage-earner funds, their implementation, how they functioned in practice, and their dismantlement clearly contributed to Sweden’s sharp market turn in the 1980s and 1990s.

Faithful Participation: The ‘Ulama in Bangladeshi Politics

ABSTRACT The ‘ulama have an important position in Muslim society. They hold influence not only in the socio-religious domain but also in the political domain. This article aims to examine the religio-political roles of the ‘ulama in Bangladesh. The examination has been done through an exhaustive and critical content analysis of published secondary literature about the ‘ulama and politics. The article argues that the Bangladeshi ‘ulama are diverse and have shown their religio-political flexibility throughout recent history. The ‘ulama have also played effective religio-political roles in times of sociopolitical change. Their roles have also varied from time to time in accordance with the sociopolitical conditions. The article also shows that the ‘ulama have gained influence under center-right Governments and lost it under center-left Governments in post-independent Bangladesh.

The 2021 Norwegian election

The Storting election of September 2021 signalled the end of eight years in office for of the centre-right government led by Premier Erna Solberg. During this period, different constellations of parties had been in power: first the Conservatives and the Progress Party, later the Liberal Party and finally the Christian Democrats joined the coalition. However, due to policy disagreements, particularly with the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, the Progress Party left the coalition in 2020, just a year ahead of the election. Climate and immigration policies were at the core of the disagreements. At the 2021 election, the five centre-left (or red-green) parties won the majority of seats and votes, but did not succeed in establishing a majority government. Instead, the Labour Party and the Centre Party formed a minority government, supported by the Socialist Left Party. The overriding issue at the election was climate and environmental concerns. Somewhat unexpectedly, the Green Party did not fare particularly well at the election, and fell short of the four percent threshold for adjustment seats by the tiniest margin. Data from the Norwegian National Election Study shows that the Greens only received 11 per cent of the climate vote, while more than 60 per cent voted for other red-green parties. Social inequality was also high on the agenda, in particular by left of centre voters. The number of effective parties rose from 5.5 to 6.4, increasing the fractionalisation of the party system, which may be worrying if it continues.

EU minimum wages: To what extent does ideology matter?

This paper estimates the importance of the political and ideological position of the ruling party in determining the minimum wage in the European Union Member States. To this end, a database that establishes the position of each government in each country and year is built. Using the panel data methodology, we conclude that the center-right governments tend to have lower relative minimum wages. The same result is found when the Chapel Hill Expert Survey policy indexes the are used. Ideology does not discriminate between conservative or liberal governments due to both of them setting minimum wages at similar levels, though lower than governments of social ideology.

Legitimizing private school policy within a political divide: the role of international references

ABSTRACT Researchers are increasingly emphasizing the importance of international actors’ influence on defining education policy in different contexts. The article argues that referencing international organizations is a way of legitimizing changes to private school policy. Using Norway as an example, the article investigates how international references are used by the political divide: first, a centre-right government liberalized private school policy. This was reversed by the successive centre-left government, before the successive centre-right government again liberalized private school policy. The study draws on content analysis of policy documents from 2002 to 2018. The analysis displays the eclectic nature of how international references are used to (de)legitimize private school policies. Different governments have used similar international references either to legitimise the liberalization of private schooling policy, or to delegitimise such policy. However, the analysis also shows that concepts like free choice, diversity and competition are central in legitimising private school policy. The study of international referencing in the education field indicates several consequences for the Norwegian education welfare state ideal, such as emphasising a stronger market-orientation. This study shows that analysing how actors position political arguments is important when understanding how nation states, as proactive entities, negotiate meaning and evidence from international references.

Feminist Mobilization and the Abortion Debate in Latin America: Lessons from Argentina

AbstractWhen Argentine president Mauricio Macri announced in March 2018 that he supported a “responsible and mature” national debate regarding the decriminalization of abortion, it took many by surprise. In a Catholic country with a center-right government, where public opinion regarding abortion had hardly moved in decades—why would the abortion debate surface in Argentina when it did? Our answer is grounded in the social movements literature, as we argue that the organizational framework necessary for growing the decriminalization movement had already been built by an emergent feminist movement of unprecedented scope and influence: Ni Una Menos. By expanding the movement's social justice frame from gender violence to encompass abortion rights, feminist activists were able to change public opinion and expand the scope of debate, making salient an issue that had long been politically untouchable. We marshal evidence from multiple surveys carried out before, during, and after the abortion debate and in-depth interviews to shed light on the sources of abortion rights movements in unlikely contexts.

Uruguay 2020: El despliegue de la agenda de centro derecha en contexto de pandemia

The year 2020 in Uruguay was characterized by the unfolding of the agenda of the new center-right government in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper analyzes this process, paying special attention to the political dynamics between the new multi party coalition government and the opposition, under the regional context of the rise of conservative parties. The paper shows that the new government managed to take advantage of the pandemic to successfully implement its agenda of reforms both in terms of effectiveness, the cohesion of the ruling coalition and the evaluation of public opinion. At the beginning of 2021, the deterioration of health, social and economic indicators poses a more complex scenario for the government.

German Foreign Policy Rules for Action during the 2011 Libya Crisis

This article presents the conceptualization of fundamental foreign policy beliefs of 62 German decision-makers and experts from the executive branch, parliament, think tanks, media, and academia concerning the March 2011 un Security Council resolution on Libya. The actors’ perceptions were abductively inferred from qualitative interviews using the reconstructivist theoretical framework. Four types of respondents were identified: Realists, Normalizers, Traditionalists, and Pacifists. While they shared the general imperatives of military restraint, alliance solidarity, multilateralism, and upholding values, their specific partisan-ideological interpretation of the application of those rules for action in the case of Libya differed. Both Normalizers and Traditionalists perceived Germany’s UN vote abstention and non-participation in the NATO-led intervention as a break with German foreign policy and a costly mistake, whereas the Realists and Pacifists were in support of the German center-right coalition government’s policy of military restraint, although for very different reasons.

The Chilean Model Confronting Expectations of Social Justice

The Chilean development model by objective parameters is a combination of a developed democracy, a targeted social policy, and an effective, competitive economy. However, the protest movement that began in October 2019, which included both peaceful and violent actions, was directed not only against the center-right government of Sebastian Pinera (2018–2022), but also against the entire system as a whole. This movement demonstrated the disillusionment and dissatisfaction of the broad social strata with the results of political and social development and indicated the beginning of a protracted, intractable crisis.The fundamental reason for the protests was a deep contradiction between economic efficiency and social justice, laid down during the neoliberal modernization of Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990), and not overcome during the 30 years of democratic development, despite a large-scale social policy. The system of ‘elite compromises’, which provided a political basis for the transition from authoritarianism to democracy, also became an object of harsh criticism.The paper shows the specifics of the Chilean model in historical retrospect, identifies contradictions and issues that have triggered a socio-political conflict, particularly the rise of mass social expectations, strengthened by the reforms of the second government of M. Bachelet (2014–2018), and considers the features of the current crisis.

Congratulations to the Danish People’s Party!

The Danish People’s Party is the successful splinter party of the Progress Party created by Pia Kjærsgaard and collaborators in 1996. Traditional party membership, public financing, and a high degree of centralization and party discipline characterize the party organization, while their political program emphasizes less immigration and integration, more law and order, and welfare chauvinism. Their first 25 years have been successful. Their electoral success has affected government formation and policies. They have provided the parliamentary base for center-right governments and gained political concessions, particularly in the immigration and integration field. While aiming to become an influential party, they did not enter into government when they became the largest party right of centre in 2015. Since then their electoral support has waned.

Poland

Abstract Background Research into the politics of health reforms usually looks at parties in a unidimensional way, in the classical left-right axis, where right parties are expected to marketize healthcare while left parties are expected to do the opposite. Populist Radical Right (PRR) parties do not neatly fit this unidimensional approach. The case of the Law and Justice party (PiS) in Poland is illustrative of the tenuous link between traditional neoliberal right-wing health policies and the PPR agenda. Methods We conducted a review of available primary sources (legal and policy documents) and secondary literature (academic, press, and think-tank publications). Resulting data was analysed thematically. Results Since its rise to power in 2015, PiS has departed from the previous center-right government's market-oriented healthcare policies. It retracted regulations aimed at commercialisation of public healthcare providers, introduced networks of hospitals to reduce internal market of providers and proposed the establishment of National Health Service (later abandoned). It continued the previous government's expansion of health coverage to universal by principle. In the 2019 election manifesto entitled “Polish Model of Welfare State” PiS explicitly states they “reject principles of neoliberalism”. Its most overtly right-wing stances were limited to strictly “cultural wars” context: reproductive health, sexual education, IVF reimbursement etc. Yet even in this instance the harshest proposals (such as stricter abortion laws) were not implemented. Conclusions PiS' health policies show that some PRR parties do not conform to a unidimensional left-right divide but rather combine left-wing redistributive policies with right-wing socially conservative stances. In many respects, the current government has enacted health policies that can be described as neo-Weberian and traditionally social-democratic.

Political unrest in Chile

A protest movement that began in October 2019 has spurred millions of Chileans to demonstrate against cost-of-living increases imposed by the centre-right government, but also against social and economic inequality more broadly. The government has come under fire for its heavy-handed repression of the protests, and now faces a referendum in which the public will have the choice to preserve the country’s dictatorship-era constitution, or replace it and potentially upend the status quo.

Comments on Macri’s Macro by Federico Sturzenegger

Sturzenegger’s paper details Argentina’s transition to an orthodox, center-right government that employed experts like himself to stabilize the economy following 12 years of populist administrations. Four years later, and with inflation twice the level inherited from the populists, there is widespread disappointment with Macri’s handling of the economy. What went wrong? According to Sturzenegger, the key mistake was the change in the inflation target in the middle of a “successful disinflation program.” While this is an intriguing claim, the paper does not explain why Macri and other members of the government failed to appreciate his progress and fired him. It would be ironic if all we could conclude from this episode is that Macri’s Achilles heel was, in the end, just old-style populist short-sightedness.

New phenomena and trends in Chilean politics

The article analyzes new phenomena and trends in Chilean politics, the results of the first period of activity of the center-right government ofS. Pinera, who came to power in 2018. The main attention is paid to the analysis of contradictory initiatives of the government aimed at increasing economic efficiency at the expense of social expectations. It is noted that the greatest risks are associated with the deepening crisis in relations between the government and society, the activation of the radical protest movement caused by the unsuccessful attempt to raise prices for the subway. This measure led to mass youth protests in October 2019, clashes with police and the imposition of a state of emergency, which was accompanied by an appeal of the government to help of the army. The result of the severe political crisis was the resignation of the Cabinet and the announcement of a new package of social reforms. Among the new political phenomena, the author also highlights the decline of traditional center-left, the collapse of the coalition New majority, the beginning of the institutionalization of leftist party alternative to the official center-left, and strengthening the ultra-conservative wing on the right flank.

PARADOXES OF REGRESSIVE MODERNIZATION AND EXPORT OF RUSSIAN INSTITUTIONS

In Russia, the topic of modernization continues to be relevant. The government, the parliament, the opposition, and the scientific community regard it as an urgent task. The process of economic growth, which began in the 00s, is viewed as recovery after the USSR catastrophe, and the modernization project is associated with the construction of the Russian analogue of the Western “welfare society”, in many ways resembling old dreams of “socialism with a human face”. But there are various options for modernization. In the 1980-s S. Hall proposed the concept of regressive modernization for characterize the policy of the government of M. Thatcher. This concept allows a much better understanding of the history of the 1990s and the current economic policy in Russia. The specific paradox of regressive modernization is that the Russian center-right government conducts elements of neoliberal politics in combination with state paternalism and even populism. Elements of social archaics, such as clericalism and national autonomy, which enjoy separate legal regimes within the Federation, remind us of a flexible imperial political system. The export of traditionalism and paternalism, which at the same time look like a modern institutional design, is the basis of Russian “soft power”. This creates opportunities for increasing profitable trade and economic cooperation with countries of both left orientation and preserving autocratic, right-wing conservative political regimes.