Changes In Political Participation Research Articles

COVID-кризис как фактор изменений в политическом участии

In this article, the author summarizes the results of the study on the COVID-19 impact of the pandemic on politi-cal participation, namely its mechanics and consequences. Due to the importance of this phenomenon for po-litical development and the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, this study is relevant and has novelty fea-tures. It is emphasized that the spread of coronavirus infection caused a large-scale COVID-crisis in many countries worldwide, distinguished by such characteristics as complexity, atemporality, non-linearity and disin-tegration. Simultaneously, it has become a crisis of public-power relations and a factor of changes in political participation. As the author argues, the COVID-crisis affected both electoral and protest participation of citizens in the countries studied by the author: in some cases it increased the level of public support for the ultra-right parties, in others – intensified direct civic actions.

Motivated to vote? The effect of flooding on political participation.

This paper investigates changes in political participation following a disaster. Drawing on the electoral results and flood declarations after the 2010 flood in Slovakia, a dataset was constructed that illustrates when and how often each municipality was affected by disastrous conditions before the elections. The analysis revealed that experiencing a flood significantly increased the level of political participation in a municipality. However, the effect of flooding on elections is conditional. First, significantly higher turnout occurs only when a flood affects the municipality on election day. Second, repeated flooding before the elections does not change the overall participation rate. In contrast, it is the one-time, continuous extreme weather event that most mobilises voters. Third, only severely affected municipalities demonstrated a significant turnout effect. Lastly, the timing variable is crucial in determining the impact of repetition and severity. This paper distinguishes between different kinds of flood events that can influence disaster behaviour.

2021 regional elections in Catalonia: new trends in political participation

In this article, the author identifies new trends in political participation in the elections of deputies to the Parliament of Catalonia (February 2021). Political participation in Catalonia is of interest from the perspective of changes in the identity and party orientations of voters, transformations of the Spanish and Catalan party systems. The analysis of territorial differences in political participation is promising in terms of clarifying their factors and dynamics. System analysis, synchronous comparative analysis, secondary analysis of the results of questionnaires are applied hereinunder. Political participation in the Catalan community is autonomous, it corresponds to the civic type of political culture, due to informatization of society and the pandemic, forms of online involvement in political activity prevail. The community is segmented along linguistic, ethnic and ideological lines, which increases the volatility and pluralization of the party system. New trends in political participation in the elections in Catalonia (2021) have manifested themselves in a significant decrease in voter turnout, preference for online forms of voting and political discussion, which is caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It has been proven that the public opinion of Catalan voters maintains a low level of trust in state institutions, despite improvements in economic situation. The paradox is explained by the long-term orientations and attitudes of political culture. The degree of awareness of electoral orientations (according to the self-esteem of the respondents) is high, the sources of formation of their orientations are, first of all, television and the Internet. The electorate is divided into supporters of state unity and secession, republic and monarchy. Increased support for secessionism is evident among the voters with a high level of income and education, among the inhabitants of the foothill and mountain areas. The Catalan elections in 2021 confirmed a moderate rise in secessionist sentiment. The left trend of changes in political participation in Catalonia is opposite to that of Spain as a whole, the results of regional elections in Madrid and the Basque Country.

The 2020 regional elections in Italy: sub-national politics in the year of the pandemic

ABSTRACT This article focuses on eight regional elections held in Italy in 2020, the year of the Coronavirus pandemic. It looks at both the January and September rounds. Even though these two sets of elections took place, respectively, at the end and at the beginning of two distinctive ‘phases’, separated by the Covid-19 outbreak, they share some important characteristics. The discussion starts from a short overview of the events leading to the polling days, looking in particular at pre-election coalition building, the electoral campaigns and the positioning of key leaders. It then moves onto the analysis of the election results. It considers changes in political participation, support for the major parties, the strengthening of local and non-partisan lists, volatility and shifts in political representation. The overall pattern is one of increasing territorial complexity and fragmentation: regional elections now clearly follow a logic of their own, dominated more by local leaders than by national parties.

Как информационно-коммуникационные технологии меняют тренды в моделировании политических процессов: к агентному подходу

The development of information and communication technologies and computing power leads to the emergence of additional opportunities for modeling political processes. In the past decades, mathematical models have been developed mainly in a game-theoretic setting; today we witness an expanding stream of research applying agent-based (multi-agent) approach. This trend is quite natural. There have been changes in political participation and in the forms of collective interaction of individuals and groups, induced by digital technologies. Researchers have developed theoretical approaches to political participation, focusing on the network interaction and implementing the “bottom-up” logic that infers the macro-properties of the system from the characteristics and interactions of individual agents. Thus, the theoretical foundations for an agent-based modeling, most promising in its network version, have been developed. This approach, however, required a more complex description of the individual motivation and decision making in comparison to the dominant game-theoretic paradigm. One of the key points is that motivation is considered to be linked to the network position of agents, since the individual is guided by the actions of her neighbors. Thus, the course of the political process is determined not only by the properties and decisions of its participants, but also by the type of network architecture that connects them. Within this research framework, a computational experiment, assuming a controlled variation of parameters, plays a special role. Two main strategies of such an experiment are considered: the grid search and the Monte Carlo method. The prospects of agentbased modeling in its network form are related to the study of the dynamical political processes, taking into account the structures of trust and social capital, as well as the resources and mechanisms of collective action.

Representation of the People: Franchise Extension and the “Sinn Féin Election” in Ireland, 1918

Do large franchise extensions bring about dramatic electoral changes? Electoral reforms in 1918 nearly tripled the number of people eligible to vote in Ireland. Following the reforms—the largest franchise extension in U.K. history—the previously obscure Sinn Féin party secured 73 of Ireland’s 105 seats, an outcome that precipitated a guerrilla war and ultimately independence from the United Kingdom. However, our analysis finds little evidence that the franchise reforms benefited Sinn Féin. New female electors appear less likely to have supported Sinn Féin while new male electors were no more likely to vote for Sinn Féin than the existing electorate. Women also appear less likely to have cast a vote at all. Economic and social factors did matter when it came to voting, however, as did public opinion in relation to armed rebellion. These results remind us that dramatic political changes, such as those that took place in Ireland 1918, do not require dramatic changes in political participation. Sinn Féin’s electoral success was more likely driven by a change of heart on behalf of the Irish electorate, rather than a change in its composition.

Revisiting the Causal Effect of Education on Political Participation and Interest

A substantial number of studies suggests a strong relationship between education and aspects of political participation and interest. Only a small body of literature, however, addresses whether these patterns represent causal effects. We add to this research and re-examine the question in the German context. For identification, we exploit an exogenous increase in lower secondary compulsory schooling between 1949 and 1969 in former West Germany, and use data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) to identify individuals' educational biographies more precisely than prior research. Our results reinforce findings from Siedler (2010): multiple regression analyses first indicate a positive, statistically significant correlation between schooling and our measures of political activities. IV estimates, however, are all trivial, for both compliers and the full sample, indicating that the reform did not stimulate long-term changes in political participation and interest.

Financial Centress Polyarchy and Competitiveness Does Political Participation Change a Financial Centre's Competitiveness?

What role does polyarchy (and thus increased democracy) play in aiding the development of an international financial centre? We find support for decades of theorising that some jurisdictions use autocracy (less polyarchy) to help grow out their financial centres. We look at the growth of these financial centres as the extent to which they attract more funds from abroad (cross-border bank liabilities). Polyarchy decreases as other international financial centres’ centrality in the global financial centre network expands. Polyarchy increases in most jurisdictions over time because some financial centres rely on increasingly polyartic governance as a way to foster financial innovation through increased participation by non-previously powerful sectors. Namely, the growth of an international financial centre’s centrality in global financial networks relies on tapping down on polyarchy. Yet, such polyarchy – when used by some very central jurisdictions to remain central – “spreads.” We model such a relationship between polyarchy and centrality in the global financial network, describing even the most complex quantitative analysis in a way a non-specialist can understand. These results could impact decisions ranging from Brexit to Hong Kong’s autonomy in its post-2047 period.

Gender Equality and Political Participation in Ukraine after the Euromaidan revolution

In Ukraine, women’s political participation is traditionally a stiff challenge. Political culture, dominant values in society and stereotypes of gender roles play an important function in limiting women’s involvement in Ukrainian politics. De jure Ukraine has established the core elements of a legal and institutional framework for promoting gender equality and women`s political participation. De facto not much was improved in Ukrainian political reality in the post-communist era. After the Euromaidan revolution, Ukraine has undertaken a series of legislative changes aimed to ensure a balanced representation of men and women in power. How did women’s political participation change in reality?Keywords: Ukraine, gender equality, women, political participation-----Bibliography: Polegkyi, Oleksii: Gender Equality and Political Participation in Ukraine after the Euromaidan revolution, PCS, 1-2-2016, pp. 82-95. https://doi.org/10.3224/pcs.v7i1-2.05

The Changes in political participation among Hungarian youth

Citizens’ political participation is a key issue of a democratic political system. The starting point of the paper is political participation of young people in democratic institutions is not merely a question of young people’s interest in politics, but also the result of institutional opportunities and mobilization channels that are available for them. The present article aims to interpret the political participation of Hungarian youth is interpreted more broadly than in former studies. On the one hand it shows how a change of attitudes occurred among Hungarian youth concerning the perception of political participation perception. On the other hand it describes the institutional and social context where participation of Hungarian young people is taking place today.

Explaining constitutional change: The case of judicial independence

This paper studies the factors driving changes in constitutionally entrenched judicial independence (JI). Our indicator of constitutionally safeguarded JI is derived by applying a factor analysis utilizing 29 variables. Variations in JI are identified based on changes in the constitutions of as many as 100 countries that occurred between 1950 and 2005. Two theoretical perspectives are developed—the democratic competition view and the commitment view—and various hypotheses are suggested for explaining changes in JI. We find strong evidence that changes in political participation and competition as well as the characteristics of individual leaders—such as how they acquired or lost power—play an important role in explaining changes in constitutionally safeguarded JI. However, we find no clear-cut evidence supporting one theoretical perspective over the other.

How News Type Matters

Abstract. Today, citizens have the possibility to use many different types of news media and participate politically in various ways. This study examines how use of different news types (hard and soft TV news as well as printed and online versions of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers) indirectly affects changes in offline and online political participation through current affairs knowledge and internal efficacy during nonelection and election time. We use a four-wave national panel survey from Denmark (N = 2,649) and show that use of hard TV news and broadsheets as well as online tabloids positively affects changes in both offline and online political participation through current affairs knowledge and internal efficacy. Use of soft TV news and printed tabloids has a negative indirect effect. These results are more pronounced for online political participation and during election time. However, use of soft TV news also has a positive direct effect on changes in political participation, which suggests a positive impact via other processes.

Economic Crisis and Levels of Political Participation in Europe (2002–2010): The Role of Resources and Grievances

This article examines the effect of the recent economic crisis on political participation levels in Europe. As the civic voluntarism model and grievances theory predict different effects of economic downturn on political participation, the crisis provides a unique context to evaluate the explanatory power of these two theories. It is found that, when investigating a period of eight years (2002–2010), economic growth is positively associated with non-institutionalised political participation, which is in line with the civic voluntarism model. However, when focusing on the changes in political participation that occurred between 2008 and 2010 it is found that rising unemployment is associated with rising levels of non-institutionalised political participation, suggesting that grievance theory is especially useful in exceptionally negative conditions as suddenly imposed grievances can lead to various forms of protest behaviour. The article argues that these shock experiences can lead to momentary peak periods of mobilisation.

The African American Vote: Impact on United States Presidential Elections

In recent years, the number of African Americans registering and actually voting in national elections has increased significantly. In some states, particularly in the South, the percentage of African Americans actually registered to vote has increased by more than 70 percent since the 1960's. In addition, the number of African Americans in the United States has increased dramatically during this time period. Clearly, these changes in political participation and demographics have an impact on local state and national elections. In the contemporary perspective, very few studies examine the specific impact of the African American vote on presidential elections. This paper is an attempt to better understand the extent to which African Americans influence the outcome of presidential elections and focuses primarily on African American voter participation in key electoral states.

Du clientélisme aux sections noires du Parti travailliste : la politique inter-raciale à Birmingham

From clientelism to Black sections of the labor party: interracial policy in birmingham This paper explores in detail recent changes in political participation by minority communities in British society, drawing on research in Birmingham. It explores the conditions which led to the emergence of new forms of political engagement and action from within minority communities, the circumstances under which black people entered the local political system in Birmingham and the reasons for the new role of black politicians as significant actors. It then looks at some key issues that have dominated the political agenda during much of the past decade and discusses the impact of the new patterns of political mobilisation on the policy agenda. It concludes by outlining some of the issues that are likely to influence the future of minority politics.

New social movements and changes in political participation in Western Europe

This article investigates to what extent the rise of the so‐called ‘new social movements’ has led to a major reorientation of patterns of extra‐parliamentary political participation in Western Europe. In a first step, recent changes in patterns of political participation in the Netherlands, both as regards the relative weights of ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements, and as regards the relation between unconventional and conventional mobilisation, are discussed. In a second step, a comparative perspective is added, comparing patterns of participation in the 1980s in the Netherlands and five other West European countries, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland. The data show that a major shift towards new issues can only be traced in some of the countries, whereas in others traditional conflicts continue to dominate the extraparliamentary arena. Contrary to what the literature on new social movements suggests, the rise of new social movements is not associated with an increasing importance...

The political mobilisation of the new middle class in Denmark during the 1970s and 1980s

This article deals with recent changes in political participation in Denmark. A distinction is made between the mobilisation and the supplementary theory of participation. Applying data from samples of younger generations from 1979 and 1988, it is shown that a strong collective mobilisation of the new middle class of well‐educated public sector employees took place through grass‐roots activities during the 1970s. This changed during the 1980s, however, when grass‐roots participation increasingly became a supplement to more conventional forms of political participation.