Contemporary Political Science Research Articles

Социум и субъектность: вызовы политической концептологии (от советского опыта к цифровым форматам)

The work contains an attempt to consider the challenges for contemporary political science, which are associated with the large-scale digitalization of socio-cultural practices, including political ones. The key point of these challenges is the anthropological challenge caused by the temptation of power for power in taming subjectivity. The ideas of V.P. Makarenko, A.A. Zinoviev, as well as the pragmasemantic approach are involved.

Techno-Realism: Navigating New Challenges in the Contemporary Role of Technology in Politics

This paper aims to introduce a new theory, techno-realism, which is derived from political realism, to help comprehend the complex connections between technology and politics. According to techno-realism, technology serves as a means of power, with the innate drive for survival in human nature shaping the formation of identity. The research question at the core of this study revolves around the extent to which technology influences contemporary political science and whether it truly serves as a means of power. Three concepts are introduced: identity establishment, technology as the central source of power, and non-state actors in politics. The primary case study focuses on the complexity of the issue in Xinjiang, examining the application of cyberpolitics in the region. The second case study explores technology’s role in Indonesia’s political power struggle, as evidenced by its 2024 elections and the abuse of information and electronic transaction law effectiveness to control freedom of speech. Additionally, this paper introduces a case study on the Indo-Pacific regional power dynamics in confronting “digital authoritarianism”. This paper underscores the imperative for a new theoretical framework, adapted from political realism, which despite being subject to considerable criticism, has the potential for further development, placing technology at the core of analysis. Recognising the central roles of technology, identity formation, and non-state actors, techno-realism offers valuable insights for navigating complex political landscapes and informing strategic responses to emerging challenges. However, further research is needed to understand completely its applicability and limitations across different contexts, as demonstrated by the case studies presented in this paper.

Localization of unprofessionalism – a necessary condition for the contemporary political science

Localization of unprofessionalism – a necessary condition for the contemporary political science

Introduction to the Symposium Conspiracism and Democracy: New Perspectives and Challenges

This Introduction outlines the rationale for the symposium by providing an overview of the main information pathologies that are increasingly affecting liberal democratic polities, including misinformation, disinformation, fake news, rumours, and conspiracism. It then zooms in on Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum’s (2019) book A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy, from which this symposium takes inspiration and outlines its key argument. Finally, the Introduction provides a brief summary of the articles in the symposium, explaining their contribution to debates on conspiracism and on other key areas of research in contemporary political theory and political science.

Polarização e ideologia: explorando a natureza contextual do compromisso democrático

ABSTRACT Introduction: Political polarization stands as a pivotal topic in contemporary Political Science. Existing literature indicates that ideological extremism, prevalent in polarized environments, fosters the erosion of democratic norms by political elites. This phenomenon has primarily been explored through the examination of isolated cases or limited comparisons among a handful of highly polarized countries. This article investigates the role of “guardians of democracy”, questioning whether specific ideological groups maintain their commitment to democratic principles even amidst profound polarization. Materials and methods: Our analysis draws on public opinion data from 57 countries, encompassing over 77,000 respondents, sourced from the most recent wave of the World Values Survey (2017-2020). We explore the interaction between contextual and individual factors, investigating the impact of national-level polarization on individuals with varying ideological orientations and how the government's dominant ideology shapes individual responses to political polarization. Results: There is a negative relationship between polarization and democratic legitimacy. However, the impact varies depending on the ideology of the voters and their alignment with the ideology of the ruling party. Discussion: Our analysis suggests that the interaction between contextual factors (polarization and government ideology) and individual factors (voter ideology) creates scenarios that foster different profiles of guardians of democracy. However, none of these scenarios involved right-wing individuals presenting themselves as such.

“Reviewer 2 must be stopped”; Indigenous Contributions and Epistemic Domination in Political Science

In 2016, Kennan Ferguson published “Why Does Political Science Hate American Indians?” Ferguson described structural features of contemporary political science to explain the exclusion of Indigenous peoples and knowledges from the discipline. Today, there is a different context. In universities, Indigenous knowledges are no longer ignored or disqualified, rather there are aims to diversify and deparochialize the curriculum, while opening space for Indigenous scholarship. Despite good intentions, however, there are still structural obstacles to taking up Indigenous knowledges in the university generally and political science specifically. We evoke a stylized Reviewer 2 to describe dynamics within the peer review process that tend to limit or exclude interventions that engage with Indigenous knowledges: 1) the disciplining effects of disciplines; (2) the reproduction of eurocentrism; (3) the demand for essentialism or romanticization – or the challenge to both; and (4) the unfair politicization of the “good” argument. We identify a fifth (5) dynamic related to the continued underrepresentation of Indigenous scholars. We conclude by indicating ways that reviewers and editors committed to pluralism can rigorously carry out peer review while opening up political science to Indigenous knowledges.

DESIGNING ETHNOCULTURAL IDENTITIES IN DIVIDED SOCIETIES AND CONSOCIATIONAL DEMOCRACY AS A POSSIBILITY

The management of ethnocultural diversity and design of related identities constitute one of the most fundamental questions of contemporary political science and constitutional law. Many countries in today’s world, albeit in different versions and degrees, are faced with challenges caused by ethnocultural identities that have transformed into political identities. Demands and problems arising in the line of ethnocultural identities occupy the agenda of many developed and developing countries. This article aims to highlight the most realistic and democratic method and strategy for such management and design through researching approaches and methods employed for ethnocultural identities in ethnoculturally deeply divided societies. In this context, following a brief explanation of the concept of a divided society, a macro-political analysis will be used to determine the main approaches and methods. Methods and strategies used by democratic states for ethnocultural diversity will be discussed under two general approaches: Integration, which advocates the policy of single identity in the public sphere, and accommodation, which protects diversity and advocates multiple identity in the public sphere. Following will be an examination as to whether the consociational power-sharing method is best suited as a design for ethnocultural identities in divided societies.

Anniversary Resolutions of the Polish Sejm and Senate as the Subject of Political Science Research

Undoubtedly, memory studies can be included in the mainstream of contemporary political science. They encompass reflections on the politics of memory, and historical or collective memory. The political science literature has designated little space to examine anniversary resolutions of the Polish Sejm and Senate after 1989. Therefore, it has become the main focus of this article based on research conducted and funded by the National Science Centre. The research examined the place and role of anniversary resolutions of the Polish Sejm and Senate in the Polish politics of memory. It has been assumed that such resolutions express the will of the two chambers of the Polish Parliament to commemorate historical anniversaries related to events and people who, in the opinion of resolution promoters, play an important role in the history of the state and nation. Furthermore, it is understood that the anniversary resolutions, among other things, are an important tool of the authorities to implement the politics of memory. The aim of the publication is to present the main research findings. The findings are based on the analysis of 589 anniversary resolutions adopted by the Sejm and the Senate in 1989–2019. The article also draws attention to the significance and usefulness of the resolutions for political science research, not only those referring to memory studies.

The Undoing of Culture

The article Undoing Culture: Witkacy’s Tragedy of the End of the West looks at Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz’s historiosophical conception of the condition of Western culture in the first half of the 20th century. The reading of the Polish artist’s literary works – dramas, novels as well as his philosophical and aesthetic treatises and journalistic writings – runs parallel to the reading of works by contemporary thinkers, economists, political scientists and sociologists. This juxtaposition makes Witkacy’s observations, diagnoses and visions more relevant. They thus become an important tool for understanding the phenomena occurring in the world around us. They are also extremely helpful in studying modernity as such. One of them is the concept of the undoing of culture that is repeatedly considered by the characters in Witkiewicz’s works. As a caricatured embodiment of totalitarian ideas, it is an important point of reference for reflecting on the events of the past century, the effects of which are still being felt today. Witkacy took a keen interest in the condition of the West as a civilizational formation. He was convinced of its decline. The undoing of culture is supposed to delay it, while being one of the signs of the impending and ultimate catastrophe. It will be a strange tragedy. For as a result of it, people will achieve the happiness they have dreamed of since the dawn of time. They will, however, cease to be human. And this is what Witkiewicz feared most.

‘The more populism types you know, the better political scientist you are?’ Machine-learning based meta-analysis of populism types in the political science literature

ABSTRACT This text builds on existing debates on types of populism in contemporary political science literature. Our premise is that with new types of populism emerging in the debate, and with the significantly increasing number of texts dealing with populism, the types are being hollowed out. Using a dataset consisting of a total of 539 texts published between 2011 and 2020 containing the keyword populism and using a machine-learning based classification model of concordance data, we show that (1.) ambiguities and confusions among the different types of populism become more prominent over the study period, categories become emptier and their usefulness for classification decreases, and (2.) the only stable and consensually defined type in the long run is right-wing populism. We conclude by recommending to depart from creating classifications of types of populism based on specific ideological or non-ideological features and to keep these levels (populism and other features) – within analysis – separate.

"Soft Power" in the Roman Empire? A Reassessment of Cicero's "Vis Benevolentiae" Through Contemporary Political Science

The aim of this paper is to show that the concepts of soft power in contemporary political science are very similar to those expressed by the Roman politician and orator Cicero in the late 1st century BCE. I will then show how these concepts can be used to analyse ancient international relations and contemporary politics. This paper will be divided into two sections: the first will show the modern definition of soft power; the second will explain Cicero's concepts and analyse a case study in ancient Greece in the 2nd century BCE concerning Roman foreign relations. It is my essential contention in this paper that no history of Roman imperialism — a momentous period in Mediterranean history spanning over a millennium, which changed fundamentally the course of European, North African and Near-Eastern history — can be complete without discussion of ‘soft power’, an important concept too often (wrongly) ignored in the study of Roman history in general.

Importance of Psychology of Different Groups in Economics from A Religious Perspective

Despite all the recent discoveries in behavioral psychology, ethics, religion, and finance, the spirit of homo- Despite all the recent discoveries in behavioral psychology, ethics, religion, and finance, the spirit of homo-economicus still dominates contemporary economics, political science, and sociology. The old parts of the political economy reveal that leading figures such as Ibn Khaldun, Weber, Bacon, Hobbes, and Smith were not apostles of pure economic rationality and a materialistic mindset. While most of these thinkers plausibly endorsed "rationality" in the context of social and cultural realities, they were also aware of the systematic irrationality of cognitive biases that were later "discovered" by contemporary behavioral economists. We are trying to answer the question, "are there a discrepancy or non-complacency in rationality understanding of economic decisions based on differing needs of economic agencts from a religious perspective?". So, based on assumptions that religion, economis and psychology are effecting each other, it is argued that a well-defined hypothesis and assumptions on the relationship between psychology and economic behaviors need to be cleared at least three aspects: first, "identifying key factors that influence mood"; second "exploring the relationship between behavior, faith, and psychology"; and third "considering the possible effects of psychology, faith, and behaviors of different groups of people on economic decisions”. A set of reasonable suggestions for policy makers is going to be produced in this direction.

The Senate: From White Supremacy to Governmental Gridlock

It is no exaggeration to say that American politics has become characterized by excessive partisanship and policy gridlock, leading many to question if the political institutions that were created in the eighteenth century are up to the task of governing in the modern era. In his provocative new book, The Senate: From White Supremacy to Governmental Gridlock, Daniel Wirls argues that the U.S. Senate is at the heart of much of this conflict and dysfunction. He marshals considerable historical evidence to dispel a wide variety of myths about the Senate while also highlighting many of the most serious problems and limitations of the “greatest deliberative body in the world” (3). Unlike the vast majority of contemporary political science scholarship, Wirls presents a unique approach in discussing the Senate. “Distinct from the volumes of work that analyze various aspects of the Senate from a purely historical or empirical perspective—that is to say, from an explicitly or implicitly value-neutral perspective—this book is a normative evaluation of the Senate” (5). As such, this is less a book about the role that the Senate has played in history and more of a discussion about how the institution and the senators who have been elected to that body have contributed to the current crises we face in this country.

Global resurgence of the right: conceptual and regional perspectives

In the past decades, right-wing (populist) governments have emerged all over the world; the influence of right-wing political actors is growing in practically all western democracies and in many countries of the global South. It is therefore no wonder that the (populist) right has become one of the most studied subjects in contemporary political science. This edited volume contributes to this ever-growing strand of literature, but stands out because it is edited by two emerging scholars based in Argentina. Gisela Pereyra Doval and Gastón Souroujon have brought together a remarkably diverse set of contributors, including junior scholars from Latin America and established scholars from the global North. Such diversity of voice is refreshing, and I wish we had more publications of this kind. In terms of content, the book is structured into three broad sets of chapters. Each of those sets is rather eclectic, as the editors deliberately choose not to impose any unifying theoretical or conceptual frameworks on the contributors. Obviously, this decision affects the balance between conceptual coherence and empirical richness. Here, the latter prevails: we have a collection of chapters that offers multifaceted insights into right-wing politics and its manifold manifestations in Europe and the Americas. This approach is perfectly suitable for an edited volume of this kind, which provides useful introductions to theoretical debates as well as empirical developments. The broad spectrum of concepts and labels that the contributors use to grasp the various facets of right-wing politics, however, might also appear confusing to readers who are less familiar with the existing definitions and debates.

The principles studied in islamic political thought: revisiting modern political discourse

Islam as the way of life covers all aspects of human life. As political science; mainly the study of politics, state, and government, is part of life, Islam encompasses all these issues of this discipline. Islam rightly mentioned modern thought humanitarianism, universalism, equity, and justice in quranic verse and prophetic ideals more than a thousand years ago. Tawhid, Adalah, Hurriyah, Shura, and Khilafah the core tenets of Islamic Political thought are enshrined into the contemporary discourse of political science. The study is an attempt to quest for the principles of political science as prescribed in the Holy Qur’an (the revelation from Almighty Allah) and the Hadith (the words, actions, and approvals of Prophet Muhammad), the practices and governance system of four rightly guided Caliphs. All these sources state that man is the representative (Caliph) of Allah and his responsibility is to convey the messages of Allah and undertake these into practice. The study explores that in Islam, there is the existence of political principles and practices as studied in contemporary political science. Besides, human beings as a representative of Allah should practice the Islamic political principles to exercise power in a state following Al-Qur’anic guidance and the ideals and practices of Prophet Muhammad (sm.) and the Caliphs of Khulafa-e-Rashidun as well.

Searching for coherence in a fragmented field: Temporal and keywords network analysis in political science

AbstractIn this paper, we answer the multiple calls for systematic analysis of paradigms and subdisciplines in political science—the search for coherence within a fragmented field. We collected a large dataset of over seven hundred thousand writings in political science from Web of Science since 1946. We found at least two waves of political science development, from behaviorism to new institutionalism. Political science appeared to be more fragmented than literature suggests—instead of ten subdisciplines, we found 66 islands. However, despite fragmentation, there is also a tendency for integration in contemporary political science, as revealed by co-existence of several paradigms and coherent and interconnected topics of the “canon of political science,” as revealed by the core-periphery structure of topic networks. This was the first large-scale investigation of the entire political science field, possibly due to newly developed methods of bibliometric network analysis: temporal bibliometric analysis and island methods of clustering. Methodological contribution of this work to network science is evaluation of islands method of network clustering against a hierarchical cluster analysis for its ability to remove misleading information, allowing for a more meaningful clustering of large weighted networks.

Položaj Rusije u multipolarnom svetu i strateške opcije Srbije

By relying on realistic theories of international relations, using the methods of content analysis, synthesis and comparison, it is possible to monitor and prove the phenomenon of establishing a balance of power in contemporary international relations. One of the key factors in that process is certainly the Russian Federation. The aspiration to redefine the post-Cold War international order and to shape a new one - multipolar and polycentric, is noticeable in Russia's strategies, as well as in the appearances of officials and concrete actions. Undoubtedly, Russia is positioning itself as one of the independent poles in the changing structure of the world political system, which is why it is necessary to consider the strategic options of the Republic of Serbia in that context. The paper consists of five parts. The introductory part is dedicated to the presentation of the framework - methodological and theoretical, as well as key concepts. The second part explains the structure of the world political system and the phenomenon of balance of power, while the third part specifically shows this through the current (foreign policy) positioning of Russia (influence on the transformation of the world political system and balance of power). The fourth part analyzes Russian - Serbian relations, their quality and content, while the fifth part discusses the strategic options of the Republic of Serbia. The time frame of the research is limited to the period from 2008 and the beginning of the global financial-economic crisis until today. For the purposes of the research, contemporary political science, security, economic, legal and historiographical literature was used, as well as primary sources related to decisions of international organizations, institutions of Russia and Serbia, as well as statements of officials relevant to this paper.

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT AND ETHNIC CONFLICTS: THE PROBLEM OF INTERCONNECTION AND ITS SOLUTION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Prevention and ethnic conflicts resolution is an urgent task both at the level of theory and political practice. To solve it, institutional measures are used, including the design of a form of government. The purpose of the article is to determine the state of study of the problem of the relationship between forms of government and ethnic conflicts, mainly in contemporary foreign political science. The author proceeds from the idea that the form of government as an institutional structure affects the emergence, flow, and termination of ethnic conflicts, but at the same time it should be considered as one of the variables along with the electoral system and form of government. The article notes the contradictory nature of the theoretical positions of supporters of different approaches - consociationalism centripetalism and power-dividing approach. The most common point of view that a parliamentary system is more suitable for a multi-ethnic society is criticized. The author emphasizes the importance of conscious design of forms of government, aimed at abandoning the "pure" presidential and parliamentary systems and the creation of atypical institutions, which are given some attention in the article. Empirical studies using statistical methods have been carried out in recent years to identify the relationship between forms of government and ethnic conflicts. The author evaluates them and introduces the reader to the results of his own research using correlation and regression analysis. He concludes that the hypothesis about the influence of the form of government on ethnic conflicts requires further empirical testing on a large array of cases over a long period of time. At the end of the article, an analysis is given of the main methodological problems that researchers face when conducting a comparative study of ethnic conflicts and their relationship with political institutions. The author concludes that the problem of the relationship between forms of government and ethnic conflicts has not yet been resolved in political science.

Agency and Political Action. The Main Theoretical Trends in Polish Political Sciences

In this article I discuss the views of contemporary Polish political scientists concerning the subject of political agency. I stress the diversity of research perspectives adopted in the Polish literature on the subject and no less diverse conceptions of agency. I also emphasise differences in the understanding of the qualities of agency, especially the capacity for political action and participation in political processes. The analysis demonstrates the pluralism of the accepted concepts of political ontology. I also argue that it is important for Polish political scientists to preserve the autonomy and specificity of the political science research on agency, in particular the independence of this discipline from philosophical perspectives.

Probleme politischer Repräsentation. Carlo Mongardini und der Beitrag der italienischen Politikwissenschaft

To what extent does contemporary political science successfully approach political representation with regard to power – that is, in terms of a relationship of domination? The Italian sociologist and political scientist Carlo Mongardini (1938 – 2021) can be considered one of the last adherents of a “classical mindset” in Italian political science focusing on power, its configuration and allocation . For Mongardini political representation is “the highest political formula” that has emerged in modern history . It is, namely, the instrument par excellence by which the relationship of domination between the rulers and the ruled that emerged out of the end of the Ancien Régime takes place . Only a detailed analysis of such relationship’s transformations makes it possible to understand the contemporary challenges to political representation . Along with Mongardini, this paper aims to draw an analytical thread for the study of political representation as it summarizes its basic configuration and the central features of its transformation up to the present .