Elite Actors Research Articles

What are the photos talking and silent about? (1926 in the history of the Soviet ethnopolitical elite)

In the mid-1920s, important events took place in the development of Soviet ethnonational politics. They were associated with the active actions of ethnopolitical elites in the center and autonomies of the RSFSR. Following the IV meeting of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) with responsible workers of the national republics and regions in 1923, the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR in 1924, the constitutions of the autonomies were developed and legal, organizational and other management mechanisms were clarified. An important role was played by the so-called "Ryskulov meeting" held in Moscow at the end of 1926. It took place during the III session of the Central Executive Committee of the 12th convocation, the participants of which are depicted in two photographs. Having a typical character, the photographs nevertheless capture not only the international composition of the Soviet elite. Despite considerable attention to the publication of visual sources and their involvement in the relevant historical context, much remains "behind the scenes". All the characters in the photographs have not been identified, the event series and the problem field associated with them have not been reconstructed. In combination with the available published and archival sources, their analysis makes it possible to present in more detail the specifics and conflicts of the relationship between the center and the ethnopolitical leaders of the autonomous regions of the RSFSR, as well as the essence of the problems of nation-building, social and economic development that were solved jointly by all parties. Important details of the history of federal construction in the USSR and the contribution of national figures to the development of Soviet statehood are clarified. A large place is devoted to the political consequences of this meeting in the autonomous regions of the RSFSR, including in Kazakhstan.

Țigăncușa și idealul național: reflecții pornind de la o expoziție de pictură

This essay examines the representational trope of the Gypsy Girl in the 2017 classical paintings exhibition: Images of Gypsies in the collection of the Art Museum of Cluj Napoca. Through cultural studies lens, I look into some of the most well-known classical Romanian paintings within their genealogy in the Western ones. Then, I argue that the Gypsy Girl figure is a particular recurent trope, shared by painters and curators from a typical modern position. The essay draws a line between the 19th century Orientalist modern European painters, then the views of the Romanian classical funding fathers of the classical painting and finally the very present Romanian gypsylorist curatorial ideas. Its concludes that the colonial and national ideology shared by all these elite actors alows the expression of an asymetrical relation between some imagined Us and Them, taking a well-known sexist male gaze form, as much as an priviledged position who looks at an exotic „object”.

Infrastructural gaslighting and the crisis of participatory planning

This paper traces and critiques gaslighting – the manipulation of circumstances by elite actors to sow doubt or confusion in residents over what is ‘real’ – as an affective experience of infrastructure planning. Predominantly observed within intimate relationships, scholars now identify gaslighting as a structural condition that manipulates whole communities and reproduces systemic oppression. We concur, extending analysis to the realm of urban infrastructure planning, and drawing connections with Rancièrian critiques of elite orders of governance. In infrastructural worlds, regulatory arrangements have been harmonised to suit coalitions of elite government and private actors whilst extolling the virtues of participatory governance. Megaprojects are legitimised by planning processes that cement monopolies and shroud elite public-private deal-making, while detractors are delegitimised discursively in political and media discourse. Yet, dissent is also pacified via participatory planning processes that invite publics to give testimony but undermine their epistemic and moral validity. This, we contend, is an example of infrastructural gaslighting. The case of Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel Project (WGTP) is instructive – a ‘Market-Led Proposal’ from corporate infrastructure giant Transurban, backed by the Victorian government – where participatory planning was not simply tokenistic, but rather a discombobulating experience, concealing and ‘breadcrumbing’ information to publics, while undermining deliberative capacities. Exposing grounded experiences of infrastructural gaslighting, we join other critical urban scholars seeking conditions for just planning practices. Infrastructural planning regimes are consequential, but the realities they police are illusions that are as tenuous as they are politically constituted and, like other forms of gaslighting, are ready for challenge.

The Sociopolitical History of Sun-and-Sand Tourism in Mexico: Tourist Imaginaries and Resort Development from Acapulco to Cancún

Abstract Histories of Mexico’s lucrative sun-and-sand tourism development have focused overwhelmingly on economic motivations and impacts, neglecting the political dimensions of how resorts were planned and how they were experienced by working-class residents. “The Sociopolitical History of Sun-and-Sand Tourism in Mexico” argues that the spatial planning of, and mid-century political contests over, Acapulco’s tourism economy, as well as rural political discontent in Guerrero and beyond, set the political and technical parameters within which Mexican officials planned resort destinations in the 1960s and 1970s. This article builds on recent scholarship that fuses political-economic and cultural approaches to examine the political culture of resort centers, wherein the actions of both elite and popular groups explain how resort development took place in Mexico. It tells the neglected political history of resort development in Mexico, beginning with the 1940s planning of Acapulco through the populist reforms of President Luis Echeverría (1970–1976).

Understanding the use of information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Kuwait

This article explores the uses of sources in the news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait between 1 January and 31 December 2020. Our study analyses the sources and actors that were presented in 673 news stories on COVID-19 that were published in nine outlets, comparing media platforms and across time as the pandemic evolved. Our results show that political sources dominated these stories, which demonstrates the strong influence of the government in constructing the news. It also suggests that the media could not find the right balance between elite and other voices, including those of health professionals. Contrary to the previous literature, citizen and civic society sources did not play an important role in the pandemic coverage. This confirms the difficulty of non-elite voices to be heard in the media in Kuwait. Surprisingly, the state-owned and larger media outlets used fewer and a narrower range of information sources. The extreme dependence on elite actors, especially political figures, health and business representatives, and the abuse of anonymous and media sources, prove that the health crisis that impacted the world in 2020 affected all aspects of society, including journalism. This led political authorities to take responsibility for responding to the coronavirus outbreak. Overall, the media discourse during the first year of the pandemic was characterized by the political control of the narrative.

Collective action improves elite-driven governance in rural development within China

Rural areas are at the forefront of achieving sustainable development goals, and elite actors tend to be the most influential local decision-makers in rural development. Nevertheless, improving the effectiveness of governance by elites and avoiding or redressing “elite capture” remain key challenges for sustainable rural development globally. This research integrates a large-scale quantitative dataset consisting of 604 villages in seven counties of Jiangsu province in China with qualitative data from eight villages in three out of the seven counties to examine whether and how collective action mediates the correlation between rural elites and rural development. Our quantitative analysis using multiple regression and path analysis indicates that collective action is a mediator, but it is more influential in linking governing elites than in linking economic elites with rural development. Our case studies with interviews further illuminate that collective action fuels rural development by improving resource reallocation and resource-use efficiency with the participation of both elites and non-elites. Innovative collective action designs that leverage a reputation effect to foster reciprocity norms promote the participation of elites while discouraging elite capture. Additionally, this research contributes to longstanding debates in commons governance about the role of authority interventions: we find evidence justifying the benefits of authority in catalyzing and sustaining collective action while also corroborating the critical role of democratization in improving rural governance by elites.

The art of (self)legitimization: how private museums help their founders claim legitimacy as elite actors

This article explores private art museums’ role for elite legitimization processes. Based on interviews with founders, directors, and curators of Germany-based private museums, I explore the discourses participants invoke to legitimize museum founders as actors in the artworld and as elites generally. I draw out a two-pronged legitimation strategy. First, respondents posit private museums’ increasingly important role for today’s art ecosystem, implying logics of discursive innovation and organizational flexibility vis-à-vis public museums. Second, interviewees construct intra-group status hierarchies via notions of the autonomous and ethical collector-founder versus other ostentatious private collectors and unethical wealth elites more widely. Together, these narratives effectively conflate seemingly opposite discourses of private entrepreneurialism and authenticity, allowing interviewees to signal legitimacy for founders over both public and other private actors. This elite legitimation work is performed by both founders and those institutionally connected to them, showing how legitimization can be a complex and institutionally mediated process.

Policy conflict between political elites shapes mass environmental beliefs

A substantial literature in political science suggests that individuals’ policy preferences can be shaped by the actions of elite actors and the policies they emphasize and implement. Yet can these actions and interactions have second order effects and actually affect individuals’ beliefs about the causes of the problems that policy seeks to address in the first place? This research note identifies the effect of policy conflict upon individuals’ beliefs about the societal problems, using original survey data from New Delhi. This effect is estimated by comparing beliefs about the causes of air pollution just before and after an unexpected policy conflict between the government and a judicial body over policy to limit vehicle usage. The results find that the policy conflict caused mass beliefs about the causes of pollution to change. In line with the theory of inferred justification, belief updating led individuals who generally approve (disapprove) of the government to believe vehicle usage was more (less) responsible for air pollution respectively. This is in spite of the fact that the spike in air pollution was caused by agricultural burning. The results suggest that policy conflict between political elites can not only affect mass policy preferences, but also alter beliefs about the cause of such societal problems policy seeks to address.

Legitimizing Corporate Social Responsibility Through "Huyula" Culture

The study aims to capture the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the perspectives of Lyotard and Huyula culture. CSR practices serve as a grand narrative used to obtain legitimacy for corporate practices and to mitigate negative impacts. This research adopts a qualitative approach within the framework of Postmodernism. The HUYULA culture is employed to dissect the reality of CSR. The findings of the study reveal that (1) the grand narrative in CSR practices is evident in CSR disclosures that primarily focus on fulfilling CSR item requirements according to GRI guidelines, without considering the actual facts and practices within the company. Moral values are disregarded when cases of environmental exploitation and human exploitation occur. CSR disclosures can serve as a tool for legitimizing the actions of corporate elites in serving their own interests. (2) CSR disclosures that accommodate Indonesian culture and noble values can liberate CSR disclosures from the grand narrative. The values of the Huyula culture can be integrated into CSR practices, making CSR implementation and disclosure tangible expressions of corporate care for stakeholders through a culture of mutual assistance. These values can foster the company's love for its stakeholders. Thus, CSR activities and disclosures go beyond being mere grand narratives. They become acts of corporate compassion towards fellow human beings through local wisdom values. This research provides broad insights and implies that cultural values can serve as the foundation for implementing CSR practices

Local values in local political culture and democracy; A review of hermeneutics among local elites

The reforms provided space for local elites, both traditionally based (Bangsawan) and political elites (Bureaucrats-Politicians) to contest in the arena of local democracy. It is in this arena that the value of the political culture of local elites is tested whether it can strengthen democracy or on the contrary weaken democracy in the midst of the process towards its death.(Ziblatt, 2019) where democracy, which actually places the people as the main focal point, becomes "blunted" by political oligarchy and personal elite domination (Fatah & Deni, 2019).(Fatah & Deni, 2019). Using Gadamer's Phenomenological and Hermeneutic Methods, this research analyses the actions of local elites in interpreting the local values of Jou Se Ngofa Ngare in the 2020 Ternate City Regional Election Arena. This research aims to find the meaning of Jou Se Ngofa Ngare local values in strengthening the cultural values of local politics and democracy. The results of the study revealed that [1] The meaning of local values in local political culture and democratic values is interpreted by local elites through the process of history, pre-understanding (prejudice), tradition and value authority of leaders (Sultan / Kolano) and cultural symbols [2] The stronger the meaning and application of local values, the stronger the meaning and application of the relationship between leaders (Jou) and the people (Ngofa Ngare) in strengthening local political culture and democratic values.

Urbanization and political change in Africa

Abstract Urbanization is transforming the human and political geography of Africa. While a growing body of research explores the urban dimensions of clientelism, contentious action, and social mobilization, there has been less attention given to the ways in which this demographic megatrend is influencing political change more broadly. We argue that the political implications of African urbanization are contingent on local conditions and experiences; there are no deterministic associations between urbanization and political change. To better understand the mechanisms linking urbanization to politics, we argue that a place-based approach is needed. We illustrate this by reviewing and highlighting how urbanization may affect (i) the nature and balance of citizen preferences; (ii) the composition, interests, and influence of elite actors; (iii) forms of political mobilization; (iv) shifting gender roles; (v) the role of civil society in political processes; and (vi) the likelihood and manifestations of contentious collective action. We conclude with a discussion of directions for further research.

The European Parliament’s AI Regulation

The European Union (EU) has been leading the world with its influential digital regulation. However, the EU’s legislative process is sufficiently complex and careful that some national legislation clearly influenced by the EU’s AI Regulation is already in place in other countries, before the law has even been finalized in the EU. Meanwhile, other states and regions are just beginning to develop AI policy. For both the EU and such others, we here describe the outcomes of the first round of legislative action by one of the EU’s two legislative bodies, the European Parliament, in terms of modifying the Artificial Intelligence Act. The Parliament has introduced a number of changes we consider to be enormously important, some in a very good way, and some in a very bad way. At stake is whether the AI Act really brings the power and strength of product law to continuously scale improved practice on products in the EU with intelligent components, or whether the law becomes window-dressing aimed only at attacking a few elite actors post hoc. We describe here the EU process, the changes and our recommendations.
 Keywords: AI Act; digital governance; AI regulation; parliamentary processes; European Union; transnational regulation.

From genplan to master plan: the changing urban planning paradigm in Russia

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the recent introduction of master plans in the Russian system of urban planning which signals the emergence of a new urban planning paradigm. An ongoing paradigm shift is traced through the evolution of three major planning instruments: the socialist genplan, the post-socialist genplan and the contemporary masterplan. The results show that the inefficiencies of post-socialist urban planning were due to the deliberate actions of elites, whose rent-seeking goals required the possibility of direct intervention, more centralised decision-making and direct translation of government priorities into the spatial development of cities. The post-socialist genplan fails to address changing policy goals, while the spectacular and non-binding master plan better suits the authoritarian model of governance in Russia.

Grassroots accountability: the practical and symbolic aspects of performance

PurposeThe paper provides a theoretical framework for interdisciplinary accounting scholars interested in performances of accountability in front of live audiences.Design/methodology/approachThis is a processual case study of “Falkirk in crisis” that covers the period from September 2021 to September 2022. The focus of this paper is two-fan-Q&A sessions held in October 2021 and June 2022. Both are naturally occurring discussions between two groups such as are found in previous research on routine events and accountability. This is a theoretically consequential case study.FindingsA key insight of the paper is to identify the practical and symbolic dimensions of accountability. The paper demonstrates the need to align these two dimensions when responding to questions: a practical question demands a practical answer and a symbolic question requires a symbolic answer. Second, the paper argues that most fields contain conflicting logics and highlights that a complete performance of accountability needs to cover the different conflicting logics within the field. In this case, this means paying full attention to both the communitarian and results logics. A third finding is that a performance of accountability cannot succeed if the audience rejects attempts to impose an unpalatable definition of the situation. If these three conditions are not met, the performance is bound to fail.Research limitations/implicationsAn important theoretical coontribution of the study is the application of Jeffery Alexander’s work on political performance to public performances of accountability.Practical implicationsThe phenomenon explored in the paper (what the authors term “grassroots accountability”) has broad applicability to any situation in organizational or civic life where the power apex of an organization is required to engage with a group of informed and committed stakeholders – the “community”. For those who find themselves in the position of the fans in this study, the observations set out in the empirical narrative can serve as a useful practical guide. Attempts to answer a practical complaint with a symbolic answer (or vice versa) should be challenged as evasive.Social implicationsThis paper studies an engagement of elite actors with ordinary (or grassroots) actors. The study shows important rules of engagement, including the importance of respecting the power of practical questions and the need to engage with these questions appropriately.Originality/valueThis paper offers a new vista for interdisciplinary accounting by synthesizing the accountability literature with the political performance literature. Specifically, the paper employs Jeffery Alexander’s work on practical and symbolic performance to study the microprocesses underpinning successful and unsuccessful performances of accountability.

Rhetorical citizenship and the environment

AbstractIn this paper, I discuss rhetorical studies’ contribution to the study of environmental communication. With the concept of rhetorical environmental citizenship, I emphasize rhetorical scholarship's concern with citizens’ participation in democracy – both as recipients of and actors in environmental debates. Specifically, this approach invites analyses and evaluations of the public rhetoric of elite actors, considering how it facilitates critical engagement and reflection in matters affecting the environment. Additionally, it encourages examinations of citizens’ democratic participation, attending to how citizens perform, challenge and negotiate their membership in the community also through non‐deliberative rhetorical practices.

State Attorneys General and their Challenges to Federal Policies: Insights from the Texas v. California Litigation Regarding the Affordable Care Act

Abstract This article explains a rising trend in American politics: the increasingly prominent role the state attorneys general (AGs) play in challenging federal policies. It focuses on one particularly important case—Republican efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act in Texas v. California. We consider how state AGs and solicitors general (SGs) drive policy efforts through litigation and the factors that contribute to their participation. We find, first, that although members of the out-of-power party in Washington are the ones who typically bring state lawsuits, the Texas litigation demonstrates that these lawsuits are also a vehicle by which members of the party in power try to achieve goals that are otherwise unattainable through the legislative process. Second, Republican AGs submerge partisan arguments in “constitution-talk” with the aim of achieving a policy goal that was defeated democratically. We reach these conclusions through content analysis of AG press releases and semi-structured interviews with litigators and other elite actors.

Reevaluating the Underlying Factors of 1990’s Mass Uprising against Authoritarian Regime in Bangladesh: An Analysis in the Light of Causal Model of Internal Conflict

From the early beginning of the authoritarian government of Ershad, there was widespread opposition to his autocratic authority, which persisted for eight years before the 1990 rebellion brought an end to it. Like the majority of movements in Bangladesh, this one was started by students who put in heroic effort to see it through to a victorious finish. This was an urban-centric movement. With the aid of an established academic model of internal conflict, this study aims to investigate the revolt and support its underlying causes - particularly its socioeconomic and cultural causes - as well as its political causes. This study has been conducted by qualitative method, in which the information has been collected from secondary sources. As the analytical framework, this study uses Michael E. Brown’s internal conflict causal model. According to this analysis, the major structural causes that led to the uprising were communal violence, a weakened educational system, corruption, and paramilitary activity on the part of the government. In terms of political factors, this study points to the authority’s use of torture or other oppressive measures against people’s fundamental rights, the state’s non-secular policy, the scope of political opportunity, public support and sympathy for the students, the authority’s political error, and the coordinated actions of political elites as being important causes of the uprising. Economic and social factors contributing to the rebellion include the rising cost of living, the debt crisis, regular failure to meet growth targets, and a highly divisive and bourgeois-centric economic system. Once more, this study reveals that the government’s actions against national culture through various policies, the extreme application of military culture, people’s negative memories of the Pakistani era’s authoritarian regime, and the positive perception of the student community in society are the cultural and perceptual factors that led to the uprising. The findings of the study will give relevant academicians, decision-makers, and the general public essential knowledge about Bangladeshi history as well as the fundamental causes of internal strife. They might contrast these conclusions with some important recent occurrences in Bangladesh. They may use it to address the fundamental issues in various facets of our society. As a result, the research may help them identify likely and long-lasting remedies for the advancement of our civilization.

Factors in National Self-Designation of Slavic Muslims in the Montenegrin Sandžak

National fragmentation of Slavic Muslims in the Montenegrin area of the Sandžak region into Bosniaks and national Muslims was recorded in the last two population censuses in Montenegro, with minor differences in the two sets of results. Therefore, the following question emerges: what are the social and political factors, prevalent in the Montenegrin area of the Sandžak region, that drive national self-identification of Slavic Muslims in this region either towards Bosniakism (national Bosniaks) or national Muslimhood (national Muslims). In the Montenegrin sociopolitical discourse in the relevant period, the social constructs “Bosniak” and “Muslim” have been shaped so that the first ethnonym implies stronger national ties and the tendency to complete one’s national identity through identification with Slavic Muslims outside of Montenegro, while the second ethnonym is closer to Montenegrin state patriotism and the intra-Montenegrin state framework. Empirical material from relevant censuses shows that the tendency of Slavic Muslims in Montenegro to embrace national Bosniakism is not driven by actions of political elites, the proximity and influence of Bosnia, or the ethnic/pre-Islamic origin of this part of the Montenegrin population, but rather by the homogeneity of the population at the municipal level: national Bosniakism is more pronounced in confessionally homogeneous Muslim communities than in those municipalities where Slavic Muslims and Christians live side by side. This finding is interpreted from the perspective of symbolic interactionism: in the confessionally heterogeneous Montenegrin-Sandžak municipalities, we have witnessed self-censorship of Slavic Muslims in terms of their national self-designation, as a result of the need to preserve the positive perceptions held by their Christian fellow citizens. In confessionally homogeneous Muslim municipalities, this factor did not have a major impact, resulting in a significantly large-scale acceptance of national Bosniakism than in those local administrations in the Montenegrin part of the Sandžak region where Slavic Muslims live with the Christian population.

A Theory of External Wars and European Parliaments

AbstractThe development of parliamentary constraints on the executive was critical in Western European political history. Previous scholarship identifies external wars as a key factor, but with varying effects. Sometimes, willing monarchs granted parliamentary rights in return for revenues to fight wars. Yet at other times, war threats empowered rulers over other elites or caused states to fragment. We analyze a formal model to understand how external wars can either stimulate or undermine prospects for a contractual relationship between a ruler and elite actors. We recover the standard intuition that war threats make the ruler more willing to grant parliamentary rights in return for revenue. Our key insight is that war threats also affect the bargaining position of elites. A previously unrecognized tension yields our new findings: stronger outsider threats increase pressure either on elites to fund the ruler or on the ruler to accept constraints—but not both simultaneously. Elites with immobile wealth depend on the ruler for security. War threats undercut their credibility to refuse funding for an unconstrained ruler. By contrast, war threats make elites with mobile wealth and a viable exit option unwilling to fund a hopeless war effort. Only under circumscribed conditions do war threats align three conditions needed for parliament to arise in equilibrium: ruler willingness, elite credibility, and elite willingness. We apply our theory to posit strategic foundations for waves and reversals of historical European parliaments.

No more mr. NIS guy: Investigating corrosive capital in the Serbian energy industry

This paper examines the question: what does corrosive capital mean, and what enables it in Serbia? Through the design of an analytical framework and robust literature review, this paper adds value to an understudied topic in International Political Economy by giving rigidity to a term that is generally used as an ostensive buzzword. This paper deter-mines that projects are corrosive to the extent that they benefit elites at the public's expense. Corrosive elements can exist in both a project?s preliminary phases and post-completion. This paper hypothesizes that corrosive elements are introduced to projects via both domestic and foreign elites. This paper applies its framework to an analysis of Serbia?s infamous 2008 omnibus energy agreement with Russia (the Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) deal). This paper finds the NIS deal contained a plethora of corrosive elements (political, legal, ethical, economic, ecological) that are still consequential, even today. These elements appear at different points in the NIS deal?s life-cycle. Each element generates additional corrosive elements. The positively reinforcing nature of corrosive capital suggests that upstream action can possibly avert devastating consequences, but only when critical, elite actors can be identified and controlled. This paper peels back a layer of existing knowledge surrounding corrosive capital and state capture. It demonstrates that synergistic cooperation between foreign and domestic elites infects projects with corrosive elements that generate reverberating corrosive consequences. Like a cancer, corrosiveness spreads horizontally (across social, political, and economic spaces) and vertically (overtime). Prevention is preferable to mitigation.