Extra-parliamentary Activities Research Articles

The Armenian Issue in 1912-1914 and the Extra-Parliamentary Activities of the Armenian Deputies of the Ottoman Parliament

Armenian MPs of the Ottoman Parliament made a contribution to the discussion of the Armenian Question by the Great Powers in 1912-1914. The Armenian MPs, on the one hand, undertook, in the structure of the commission, to develop a plan for reforms in Western Armenia and duly present it to the Great Powers, and on the other hand, undertook such a difficult and dangerous task as the negotiations with the authorities of Young Turks. Young Turks, on the contrary, did everything to obstruct the negotiation process and thereby prevent reforms. Armenian MPs since 1913 stopped meetings with Young Turks so as not to interfere with the negotiation process. Soon, on January 26, 1914 there was signed an agreement between Russia and the Ottoman Empire on the implementation of reforms in Western Armenia. On the initiative of the Armenian MPs, contacts with the European inspectors Hoff and Vestenenk were established. In May of 1914, Talaat Pasha signed an agreement with the European inspectors, according to which real power in Western Armenia passed from inspectors to the hands of the Young Turks. The Young Turks, dissatisfied with even this modest agreement, in June of 1914, demanded from the inspectors to leave the Ottoman Empire.

How do crises paralyze and activate? The impact of dissatisfaction on European patterns of participation

ABSTRACT This study examines recent developments and variations in extra-parliamentary activities – such as signing petitions, displaying political support, demonstrating, and boycotting products across 15 European countries. Using fixed effects regression analysis to investigate data from the European Social Survey, rounds 1–8 (2002–2016), we find that patterns of participation have significantly changed over time. We draw on theories on how participation is fundamentally motivated by feelings of dissatisfaction, including grievance theory and the civic voluntary model. Our study’s results include two findings of particular significance. First, in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2008, there was a perceptible increase in protest participation, but with a striking delay effect. Second, we identified an engagement gap as we show that in times of crisis the gap between satisfied and dissatisfied citizens widens, in terms of who actively participates. Further to these findings, we conclude that James C. Davies’ J-curve hypothesis concerning collective revolutionary response, needs revision, and we posit a synthesis of critical and more optimistic perspectives regarding the democratic impact that crises can have on our democratic participation.

Jacques Rancière in parliament: practising democracy in plenary debates

SUMMARYCurrent democratic theories tend to disregard parliamentarism in defining democracy, focusing instead on extra-parliamentary activities. However, parliamentary studies in recent decades have inter alia rediscovered parliamentarism as a culture of debate, emphasizing the importance of rhetoric in parliamentary politics and scrutinizing the emergence of a specific parliamentary culture within democracy. When analysing plenary debates, this institutional context is important; however, parliamentary procedures do not guarantee the democratic character of plenary debates. Starting from the conceptual difference between parliamentary and democratic practice, this article poses the question of whether plenary debate in parliament holds the potential to serve as a mechanism for the practice of democracy according to definitions of democracy in theories of radical democracy. This article suggests a radical democratic perspective on plenary debates, applying Jacques Rancière's conception of democracy as an analytical tool.

Looks Good, You’re Hired? Evidence from Extra-Parliamentary Activities of German Parliamentarians

AbstractPoliticians have been shown to benefit electorally from an attractive physical appearance. Employing data on 614 German MPs, this note explores whether it also affects their success/failure in the market for extra-parliamentary activities. An attractive physical appearance is found to mainly benefit female MPs, especially for private-sector jobs. This is particularly driven by MPs’ perceived likability. While MP’s perceived beauty is shown to have no direct effects for extra-parliamentary activities, our findings suggest important indirect effects.

European patterns of participation – How dissatisfaction motivates extra-parliamentary activities given the right institutional conditions

This article focuses on explaining the variation in extra-parliamentary activities, such as signing petitions, demonstrating, displaying badge stickers and boycotting products in 20 European Union (EU) countries. The main questions this article will deal with are: first, how feelings of dissatisfaction with the government and feelings of being member of a discriminated group affect the level of extra-parliamentary participation, and second, how different welfare regimes condition the extend to which these groups chose to act. In a comparative multilevel design, using data from the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 (2008), the article finds that satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the government is an important predictor alongside the institutional macro-level variable. The article combines a critical tradition, which suggests that political participation is motivated by a feeling of dissatisfaction with an institutional perspective in which certain institutional conditions are seen as enablers for citizens to actively participate in political life. Our results show that the overall level of extra-parliamentary activity in the Scandinavian countries is higher than in the other European welfare regimes and that the connection between dissatisfaction with the government and extra-parliamentary activity is stronger. The article concludes that the welfare state and the political system in the Scandinavian countries enable dissatisfied and discriminated groups of people to get engaged in extra-parliamentary activities to a greater extent than other EU countries.

Election Cycles in MPs' outside Interests? The UK House of Commons, 2005–2010

Politicians often implement popular changes in public policies prior to elections, with the aim of improving their Election Day outcome. This research note evaluates whether such ‘electioneering’ carries over also into politicians' extra-parliamentary activities. Evidence from the UK House of Commons over the period 2005–10 suggests that adjustments do occur in MPs' outside activities over the election cycle. The safety of the politician's seat and his or her decision to stand for re-election play an important mediating role.

Engaging with Stakeholders or Constructing Them

New activists are engaging in a range of extra-parliamentary activities, including extensive use of the internet, to create political change at local, national and international levels. As new activists become more effective, more sophisticated and, above all, more organised, traditional public relations or ‘PR spin’ is increasingly exposed as not just ineffective, but also an unethical way to respond to criticisms. But growing numbers of state and business organisations are trying to create new relationships with stakeholders that are inclusive, sustainable and aligned with the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR). A range of stakeholder communication software packages claim to guide and support organisations wishing to create such relationships. However, these software packages can do more than merely offer guidance and support. They can actively influence how an organisation engages with stakeholders by embodying particular discourses that construct stakeholders as adversaries. This article examines two stakeholder software packages, showing how each one’s rhetoric of inclusion accompanies discourses that recreate adversarial relationships between organisation and stakeholders. The article sets such developments against the broad backdrop of developing notions of CSR, arguing that the uncritical use of stakeholder communication packages can reduce CSR to ‘more PR spin’. l Stakeholder software

Radicals: politics and republicanism in the French Revolution

A comprehensive study of political allegiances and the break-up of revolutionary politics. The group of politician studies includes Marat, Robespierre, Saint-Just, Danton and Desmoulins - all key figures in revolutionary France. They played an important role in variou legislative assemblies and contributed to extra-parliamentary activities such as journalism and recruiting for Jacobin clubs. In Leigh Whaley's text, they form the core group behind developments which divided the Republican movement - which had successfully overthrown the monarchy in 1792 - into two bitterly hostile groups whose rivalry diverted revolution into populist extremism. These opposed groups emerged from a previously homogenous movement which dated from the Paris of the late 1780s and the initial motives for the cleavage were personal and tactical. As the groups began to solidify, their search for support forced them into the kind of positions which have been wrongly assumed to have been there in the beginning. Of specific importance is the author's interpretation of revolutionary movements and the human interest focus on the personalities involved.

Parliamentary Participation in the Indian Lok Sabha, 1957-1974

This study of the Second through the Fifth Lok Sabhas measures several aspects of parliamentary participation-attendance, participation in debate and question period, and committee activity-and relates them to various extra-parliamentary activities. Both kinds of activity are correlated with the background characteristics of individual MPs. The longitudinal design permits analysis of change over the four time periods and also change during the term of the Fifth Lok Sabha. The broad goals of the study include the analysis of the capacity of a representative body to accommodate the diverse claims and demands that are made on it and the study of the Lok Sabha's autonomy from its environment.

Extraparliamentary Activities and Political Unrest in Japan

The twenty-first of October 1968 will be remembered by the Japanese as a day of major rioting in the streets of Tokyo and other large cities. Public fears, which had been building up for months, were justified when it was learned that the radical student organization, the Zengakuren (All-Japan Student Federation), would participate, with or without a police permit, in the nation-wide mass demonstrations planned by the sohyo (General Council of Trade Unions of Japan). This was to be labour's protest against the Vietnam war which the Japanese government has been supporting, and it was designed as an occasion to unify the forces of opposition to the government's position. Labour, in the spirit of a united front, had no choice but to accept the Zengakuren request to participate but it did so reluctantly. From then on, a clash between the police and the radical students became accepted as inevitable, the only remaining question being how much damage would be caused. As expected, clashes between the police and student protesters occurred at three places. One was at Shinjuku station, a major railroad terminal through which military equipment and fuel are daily transported to Vietnam; the second was at the SelfDefence Bureau, a government agency symbolically representing the continued military reliance of Japan upon the United States; and the third was at the United States embassy. The points of student attacks reflected the basic issues involved. The immediate result of the 21 October demonstration was extensive arrests among the students who had caused destruction of public property and incited the mass disorder. Yet, nightmarish predictions persist in Japan that many more incidents will occur in

Extraparliamentary Activities and Political Unrest in Japan

Extraparliamentary Activities and Political Unrest in Japan