Central Political Actors Research Articles

Systemic political risk

Political risk impacts firm-level risk, influencing funding costs, cash holdings, and capital structure choices. Traditional approaches to political risk rely on aggregate indicators, like economic policy uncertainty proxies. In contrast, our study examines how political risk spreads among individual US firms and sectors using network analysis and systemic risk indicators. This approach identifies crucial and vulnerable actors, not possible with aggregate proxies. We demonstrate the spread of political risk among firms and establish the utility of monitoring neighboring firms to predict potential political risk for a specific firm. Thus, firm-level political risk is not just an idiosyncratic concern but also a systemic one. Additionally, we find that the most central political risk actors are the most sensitive to economic cycles.

Відносини по лінії центр-периферія в Україні: ресурси підвищення стійкості держави

This article identifies key factors that helped reducing the conflict potential in centre-periphery relations in Ukraine and enabled their contribution to state resilience in 2022–2023. The analytical framework is based on rational choice institutionalism and cleavage theory. The article argues that the conflict potential of center-periphery relations in the past was triggered by political competition between key central political actors for a subordination of subnational political actors, in order to strengthen their own positions in the Center. The article specifies two factors that helped reducing the conflict potential of centre-periphery relations and enabled a positive input from them into Ukraine’s state resilience in 2022–2023. The first factor is an institutional one, i. e. the decentralization reform (2014–2020), which strengthened duties and resources of local self-government rather than regional administrations. The second factor is a non-institutional one; it is a „nationalization” of electoral behaviour in democratic contests that led to the emergence of a dominant central political actor and turn away from competitive struggles between central political actors with the help of subnational actors. A shift in the pattern of center-periphery relations was visible in changing interaction of the dominant central political actor with subnational actors during the 2020 regional elections. Still, the article acknowledges that such institutionalized and non-institutionalized changes cannot automatically neutralize clan or oligarchic structures at the local level. Finally, the article identified three types of concrete contributions of Ukraine's new center-periphery relations to increasing state resilience in 2022–2023. They happened via enabling the input of local self-government into territorial defense, the support of internally displaced persons, and Ukraine’s recovery from the Russia’s war.

Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side? Norwegians’ Assessments of Brexit

To what extent has Brexit affected Norwegians’ perceptions of their current relationship with the EU? What are the considerations that central political and societal actors bring up to explain their stances? What are the broader lessons for the EU’s relations with non-members? We argue that Norway’s EU affiliation is so close that we can draw on Catherine De Vries’ benchmark theory to assess whether Brexit affects Norwegians’ assessments of Norway’s relationship with the EU. We focus on the Norwegian government’s stance. Further, we consider opinion polls to understand the strength of domestic support for the EEA Agreement, and whether that support has changed as a consequence of Brexit. We thereafter look for political entrepreneurs or political change agents, in political parties, in interest groups, and among civil society activists. We find that Brexit has not served as a benchmark. It has not set in motion efforts to change Norway’s EU affiliation. Opponents diverge on alternatives, although share concerns about what they see as the EU’s neoliberal orientation. The analysis shows that we cannot assess Brexit as a benchmark without paying attention to the sheer size and magnitude of the EU–Norway power asymmetry.

Activismo feminista en las universidades mexicanas: la impronta política de las colectivas de estudiantes ante la violencia contra las mujeres

espanolEste documento presenta resultados de la investigacion sobre la con-formacion de colectivas feministas de estudiantes universitarias en Mexico, surgidas desde 2014 con el fin de denunciar y exigir a las autoridades universitarias la atencion a casos de violencia y acoso en sus centros de estudio. La hipotesis que guia este trabajo sostiene que estas organizaciones de feministas jovenes forman parte de los nuevos activismos surgidos en America Latina que confrontan la violencia estructural contra las mujeres, pero a la vez presentan caracteristicas particulares producto de los procesos de transformacion en el ambito de la educacion superior, en lo que denomino el doble anclaje de los procesos de institucionalizacion de la perspectiva de genero en las uni-versidades. Como agrupaciones contenciosas, son susceptibles de ser analizadas desde el enfoque de los movimientos sociales, con especial enfasis en la relacion que construyen con actores sociales e institucio-nes, lo novedoso de sus procesos de organizacion interna y su posi-cionamiento como actores politicos centrales en el escenario actual de protesta feminista a nivel global. EnglishThis document presents results of the research on the conformation of feminist collectives of university students in Mexico that emerged since 2014 in order to denounce and demand attention to the uni-versity authorities to cases of violence and harassment in their study centers. The hypothesis that guides this work holds that these organi-zations of young feminists are part of the new activisms that emerged in Latin America confronting structural violence against women, but at the same time, they present particular characteristics as a result of the transformation processes in the field of university education, in what I call the double anchoring of the processes of institutionalization of gender perspective in universities. As adversary groups, they are likely to be analyzed from the perspective of social movements, with special emphasis on the relationship they build with social actors and insti-tutions, the novelty of their processes of internal organization and their positioning as central political actors in the current scenario of feminist protest at a global level.

The role of labour power in sustainability transitions: Insights from comparative political economy on Germany’s electricity transition

Greenhouse-gas-emission-reductions to prevent dangerous levels of climate change require a global transition away from fossil-fuel energies. Sustainability transitions of such scale present a major redistribution process, and pose severe challenges to national policy-making. While power and politics have recently been addressed by scholars of sustainability transition, the role of labour as a central political actor is still underexplored. This article aims to close this gap by engaging theories from Comparative Political Economy, asking: How does labour power influence energy transitions? Specifically, we introduce power resources theory to Kuzemko et al.’s (2016) “forces for continuity” of fossil-fuel regimes and “forces for sustainable change”. We illustrate the resulting framework with the case of the German electricity transition. Our findings include a) the potential of organised labour to tip the scales in energy transition politics towards continuity or change, b) the relevance of unions’ political access and their internal homogeneity of interests as power resources, c) the aspect of potential changes in unions’ positions over time, and d) avenues for labour in green sectors to gain power resources by organising in small but homogeneous organisations, and/or by prevailing in the internal power struggles of larger but heterogeneous organisations.

POR UMA INDIGNAÇÃO ANTIRRACISTA E DIASPÓRICA: NEGRITUDE E AFROBRASILIDADE EM TEMPOS DE INCERTEZAS

The article presents the discussion made by the author during the opening conference of the II Brazilian Congress of Black Researchers - II Copene - with the theme Negritude e Afrobrasilidades in times of uncertainty, held between February 27 and March 2, 2018 , at the Pampulha Campus of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Its central objective is the following reflection: for those who struggle against racism on a daily basis, times have always been uncertain given the capacity of Brazilian society to review itself and to throw away its racism. A society that conceals and keeps racism behind the discourse of racial democracy, miscegenation, and diversity, but which always reveals it publicly the more they intensify the times of recrudescence of the right and neoconservative wave. In this context, there is a central political actor in the process of antiracist struggle and re-education of society, state and university: the black movement. He is the protagonist of the struggles for emancipation in the course of Brazilian political history, from the twentieth century.

Congresses versus caudillos: the untold history of democracy in Latin America, with special emphasis on New Granada (Colombia), 1830–60. A new research agenda

SUMMARYSince their origins, congresses played significant roles in the emerging states of Latin America following independence from Spain. Yet their protagonism has been overshadowed by the so-called caudillos, the strongmen who seem to have dominated the politics of the region during most of the nineteenth century. This article argues that congresses were central political actors in Latin America during the century and it does so by examining their various functions. Congresses served to form governments, to define the legislative agenda and to limit the power of the executive. Congress was the institution around which political parties and their leaders were formed, while the practices of representative government developed.

Blowing policy bubbles: rethinking emissions targets and low-carbon energy policies in the U.K.

ABSTRACTThe issue of proportionality is central to climate policy debates about setting targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the development of low-carbon energy. In effect, these debates centre on whether the perceived social costs outweigh the benefits of policies and, if not, whether this may lead to over-investment or ‘policy bubbles’. Political attention, agenda setting and policy image are all crucial drivers of ambitious policy formation, as seen in the case of the United Kingdom's (U.K.) Climate Change Act (2008). However, as political salience waned and economic depression dragged on, the cost of long-term climate targets has been reconsidered. Based on documentary analysis and 33 interviews with central political actors, this article presents a detailed account of how economic arguments have been used to reinterpret and challenge policies, using the heuristics of ‘over-investment’ and ‘policy bubbles’. Ultimately, arguments about proportionality hinge on which costs and benefits are considered. In the U.K., economic and technical framings are typically prioritised, but they do not explain contradictory and politically motivated policy decisions. We discuss these dynamics within the context of maturing renewable energy technologies, high energy prices and the U.K.’s cross-party consensus approach to climate politics.

Owners of the Map: Mobility and Mobilization among Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Bangkok

AbstractIn this article, I discuss the connection between spatial mobility and political mobilization among motorcycle taxi drivers during the 2010 protests in Bangkok. Through the study of their multiple roles, both as transport operators and as political mobilizers, I explore the nexus of mobility and mobilization and analyze motorcycle taxi drivers as central political actors in contemporary Thailand. In this sense, the article focuses on investigating the historical emergence of “technique of mobilization” based on modulation and control over mobility. I analyze acts of disruption of movement along major infrastructures as moments of time‐space modulation as well as transformative strategies that set in motion alternative messages and configure new modalities of political mobilization. Focusing on such techniques, both in the 2010 Red Shirts protest and in other Thai political mobilizations, I explore the solidification of spaces of mobility as major political arenas for political struggles in contemporary Thailand.

“ADULTS SEE POLITICS AS A GAME”: POLITICS OF KURDISH CHILDREN IN URBAN TURKEY

AbstractThis article explores the political subjectivity of Kurdish children in urban Turkey. Often referred to as “stone-throwing children,” since the early 2000s Kurdish children have entered Turkish public discourse as central political actors of the urban Kurdish movement. I suggest that the politicization of children can be understood in the context of transformations in age and kinship systems within the Kurdish community that were shaped by the forced migration of Kurds in the early 1990s. Focusing on the experiences of Kurdish children in the city of Adana, I argue that memories of violence transmitted by displaced parents, combined with the children's experiences of urban life, including exclusion, discrimination, poverty, and state violence, necessitate a reevaluation of how childhood is conceived and experienced within the Kurdish community. In a context where Kurdish adults often have trouble integrating into the urban context, their children frequently challenge conventional power relations within their families as well as within the Kurdish movement. In contrast to a dominant Turkish public discourse positing that these children are being abused by politicized adults, I contend that Kurdish children are active agents who subvert the agendas and norms of not only Turkish but also Kurdish politics. The article analyzes the ways Kurdish children are represented in the public discourse, how they narrate and make sense of their own politicization, and the relationship between the memory and the postmemory of violence in the context of their mobilization.

<em>Tribes in Libya:</em> From Social Organization to Political Power

The war in Libya is currently one of the major issues in news and political analyses. A main topic arises when considering the Libyan revolution against Muammar Qaddafi’s regime is the role of tribes in this revolution. Many analysts consider the tribes to be central actors in either activating the revolution or suppressing it. In this context, some questions could be raised about the real weight of tribes in Libya, and how and why the tribes transformed from being traditional social organizations to becoming central political actors? Will the tribal system have a political role in Libya after Qaddafi? This paper seeks to examine the position of tribes in the social and political structures of the Libyan State and thereby shed light on some aspects of the current Libyan war.

The Role of Centre–Periphery Relations in the 2004 Constitutional Reform in Ukraine

The constitutional changes in Ukraine, which are aimed at making the political regime more democratic, can be successful only if they consider centre–periphery relations. The constitutional reform of 2004 was focused on dispersing power more equally between the central political actors in Kyiv. It completely overlooked the division of power between central and sub-state levels. As a result, centre–periphery relations were quickly unbalanced, which became one of the crucial challenges for the state-wide political regime. Contrary to the constitutional reform of 2004, more recent constitutional initiatives of central political actors have paid attention to centre–periphery relations and suggested dispersing more power to sub-state levels, thereby seeking to restabilize the Ukrainian polity as a whole.

The puzzle of non-party actors in party democracy: Independents in Ireland

It is an accepted truth that parties are the central political actors in all liberal democracies. This dominance of parties is often considered the logical outcome of rational politicians’ attempts to maximize their utility in terms of votes and policy influence. However, the last 20 years have seen a number of significant Independent (that is, non-party) actors emerge in more than a few political systems. From an actor-centred point of view, party affiliation can, depending on the particular environment, be rather a liability than an advantage, which has significant implications for the role of non-party actors in face of weakening party democracies. To show this point, we deliver an account of the rise of Independents in the Irish political system, opposed to the dominant scholarly perspective that tends to consider Independents as an idiosyncrasy. We show that the choice of organizational independence over party affiliation represents a reaction to incentives inherent in the electoral, parliamentary and governmental stages that can disfavour party as the most efficient vehicle for individual goal attainment. This becomes evident when avoiding the misleading comparison between parties as collective bodies with that of Independents as individuals, instead focusing on the respective strategic positions of the individual MPs.

Does Social Democracy Matter? Corporate Governance Reforms in Switzerland and Sweden (1980-2005)

This paper tests the accuracy of Roe's (2003) claim that 'social democracies' tend to have insider-orientated corporate governance systems, for two extreme cases concerning Roe's independent variable: Switzerland and Sweden. Starting from a position in which both were clearly insider-orientated systems, there was a significant weakening of insider control in Switzerland during the 1990s, but no comparable change in Sweden up until the early 2000s. These developments occurred against the background of contrasting political contexts in the two countries: in Switzerland, change took place in a context of stable dominance over the political arena by centre-right parties; in Sweden, no change took place despite the fact that centre-right parties managed several times to break the traditional social-democratic dominance over government. Thus it would seem that political power relations as such do not explain the observed trajectories of these two corporate governance systems. Instead, the different trajectories are explained by the different preferences of central political and economic actors. The Swiss labour movement, which was traditionally under the dominance of a strong employer side, had important incentives to favour increasing external shareholder control over firms. Conversely, the Swedish labour movement, which had played a considerable part in the shaping of the Swedish corporate governance system, had no such incentives. Also, as Swiss banks started to reorientate their strategies towards financial market-related activities, they became a very important pro-shareholder reform force in Switzerland. Swedish banks, which were part of business groups in which financial interests did not necessarily prevail over industrial interests, did not play any comparable role.

Between Conflict and Cooperation - Global-National Interfaces and the Fight Against Hiv/Aids in Brazil and South Africa

This paper endeavours to analyse the relationship between Global Health Governance and national health politics in the case of HIV/AIDS. The paper compares Brazil and South Africa as two cases in which the relationship between national politics and GHG has been structured in contrasting ways, ranging from conflict to cooperation. Different reciprocal influences are analysed through the interface concept. A differentiation is made between four kinds of interfaces: resource-transfer, organisational, legal, and discursive. The main finding is that despite a huge variety of global actors operating in the field of HIV/AIDS, national politics and actor constellations account for most of the contrasts between Brazil and South Africa in respect to their fight against HIV/AIDS. In contrast to Brazil, South Africa's HIV/AIDS policy has for a long time been dominated by one central political actor. Until 2003, the central ANC-government was able to push through its strict refusal to provide antiretroviral drugs in the public health system.

A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration

This is the epic story of how African-Americans, in the six decades following slavery, transformed themselves into a political people - an embryonic black nation. As Steven Hahn demonstrates, rural African-Americans were central political actors in the great events of disunion, emancipation and nation-building. At the same time, Hahn asks us to think in more expansive ways about the nature and boundaries of politics and political practice. Emphasizing the importance of kinship, labour and networks of communication, this book explores the political relations and sensibilities that developed under slavery and shows how they set the stage for grassroots mobilization. Hahn introduces us to local leaders, and shows how politcal communities were built, defended and rebuilt. He also identifies the quest for self-governance as an esential goal of black politics across the rural South, from contests for local power during reconstruction, to emigrationism, biracial electoral alliances, social separatism and, eventually, migration. Hahn suggests that Garveyism and other popular forms of black nationalism absorbed and elaborated these earlier struggles, thus linking the first generation of migrants to the urban North with those who remained in the South. He offers a new framework - looking out from slavery - to understand twentieth-century forms of black political consciousness as well as emerging battles for civil rights. It is a powerful story and one that presents an inspiring and troubling perspective on American democracy.

Participation and/or/versus sustainability? Tensions between procedural and substantive goals in Two Local Agenda 21 processes in Sweden and Austria

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) is committed to two types of goal: procedural goals substantiated primarily in the requirement to encourage greater participation in local decision making and substantive goals predominantly attached to the call for a sustainable development. In this article, we report on the LA21 processes of two communities, Helsingborg, Sweden, and Vienna, Austria. We analyse what kind of normative tension the two communities have experienced by concurrently striving for democracy and sustainability. We also discuss what impact the two LA21 processes have on local governance structures and what potentials for more fundamental system changes they hold. Our analysis shows that the challenge of actually reconciling possibly conflicting goals is far from easy. In Helsingborg, the apparent harmony of goals has been achieved partly by falling back on political rhetoric, partly by interpreting the two goals in a narrow way, i.e. sustainability policy has been reduced to environmental issues and citizen participation has been equated with ‘paternalistic’ consultation. The Viennese LA21 process has managed to implement the two goals in a more comprehensive way, but this has come at the cost of being marginalized by the central political actors. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Blind spots in democratization: Sub‐national politics as a constraint on Mexico's transition

This article argues that Mexico, after nearly seven decades of highly centralized, presidentialist rule, is moving toward a political system in which power is contested actively and continuously between centre and periphery. State governors and other sub‐national political actors have become more assertive in national politics, and they have greater financial resources under their control, due to fiscal decentralization. Now operating in an increasingly competitive electoral environment, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has switched to a primary system for selecting its presidential candidate that inevitably rewards the state and local PRI machines that deliver the vote for the winning candidate. Under these circumstances, the very different sub‐national political regimes that coexist inside Mexico may function more as obstacles to the completion of the democratic transition than as breeding grounds for further democratizing advances, as the ‘periphery’ is often viewed in the contemporary Mexican politics literature. Drawing on evidence from five types of centre‐periphery confrontations during the presidency of Ernesto Zedillo, it is argued that the re‐emergence in the 1990s of strong, sub‐national political regimes that are resistant to control by the President and other central political actors is likely to prolong Mexico's democratic transition and increase its unevenness.

Danish CFSP Policy in the Post-Cold War Period

The article examines the issue of whether Danish policy towards the CFSP is in line with the active internationalism that has characterized Danish foreign policy in general in the 1990s. It shows that Danish policy with regard to the CFSP has changed in the post-Cold War period. Denmark has begun to support the construction of the EU as an external political actor. This policy line can be explained by the dominance of a discourse within the Danish political system that views the EU as a central political actor with a role in the field of security. The dominance of this view has meant that the Edinburgh Decision agreement was not a watershed in Danish CFSP policy, although it has prevented Denmark from being part of the political inner circle. Against this background, Denmark has promoted its key foreign policy issues actively in the CFSP, also post 1992.

Partnerség az Európai Unió regionális politikájában

This study will only examine the principle of partnership from the four reform principles (concentration, programming, additionality and partnership) however the principles of programming and additionality will be mentioned because of the very strong interaction between them. Connecting more and more participants of regional development to decision making and activating their contribution to financing has an influence on the integration mechanism. European integration obtains the redefining of the competence and decision making between the different levels of direction (supranational, national, subnational). The system of multilevel direction — the new participants, the regions, the local communities and other groups interested in and participating in regional development — doesn't mean that national government wouldn't be the determinant institutions of European integration. Nevertheless some statements of the intergovernmental approach have to be redefined in the international relationships. The two functions of state — regulating the institutions and orientating the political participants — are separating from each other. The common formed standards and the activities of the operating of the institutions are strong limits for the political actors. G. Marks interprets the failing position of the nation-state in the international and national policy is due to the increase of central political actors. The protection of competence of the central government no longer limits the aims of the elected party leaders have more roles in decision making process. Several levels of structural decisions have been formed. The distribution of the financial supports has been preceded by a long-winded preparatory work. The system of support application has to be elaborated properly. And finally the Common Development Framework adopted by the European Commission for the implementing of operating programs has to be managed. There is a need for close co-operation between the participating levels in the whole process of structural programming. Local and regional actors have to contribute actively to the process of elaborating national development plans, which practically means regional development planing in most EU members. Local actors have to take an interest in the harmonization process of the development framework and the elements of the contract between the national governments and European Commission. They have to express their opinion regarding the forming of the operating programs and finally they have to participate in implementing and controlling of operational programs.