Party Ideology Research Articles

Fox Fake Tiger: The Chinese Middle-class Mentality toward Community-based Deliberative Democracy Led by Social Organisations

ABSTRACT This study, based on three years of interviews, archival work, and ethnographic fieldwork, explores how social organisations integrate governmental and Party ideologies into the grassroots of urban society, and evaluates the effects of these efforts. Contrary to the widespread belief among the middle class that social organisations simply act as conduits for the will of the government and the Party, this study uncovers a notable absence of official backing for their activities by the state. This apparent contradiction, which might seem baffling at the grassroots level, becomes more comprehensible when examining the function of social organisations. They not only articulate the aims of the government and the Party, thereby addressing a critical void in the existing literature on co-governance, but also shield the state from direct criticism by the middle class. Employing the Chinese proverb ‘Fox Fake Tiger’—which typically denotes a scenario where the fox leverages the tiger’s perceived strength to enhance its influence in a manner it could not achieve on its own, thus critiquing those who depend on the authority of others to garner respect or induce fear—this study illustrates how social organisations, much like the fox that announces the tiger, subtly reinforce the state’s control and credibility within these communities, in line with the ‘whole-process democracy’ campaign. This analogy emphasises the complex role of social organisations in magnifying state authority and legitimacy through delegated power, a dynamic that merits further investigation concerning governmentality and the mentalities of the middle class.

Birds of a feather flock together: influence of ideology in the implementation of participation

ABSTRACT The global spread of participatory budgeting (PB) has facilitated its adoption by ideologically diverse political parties. Nowadays, we can easily find conservative, social democratic and leftist parties as promoters of PB. Hence the question arises: how does party ideology influence the implementation of citizen participation mechanisms? In this article, we study PB processes in nine different Spanish municipalities. Our aim is to analyse three dimensions that can be influenced by ideology: PB’s participatory design, the reasons different parties have to launch and maintain PB, and the possible instrumental reasons politicians refer to when speaking in favour of or against PB. According to our findings PB initiatives implemented by conservative, social democratic and radical left parties are quite different from one another: from a managerial way of understanding participation (conservative), which views participants as consumers to understanding PB as an educational process aimed to empower citizens (radical left). Nevertheless, arguments vary depending on whether politicians are in office or in the opposition, the former being more inclined to support citizen participation.

Ideological linkages and party competition in the 2023 Turkish general elections

ABSTRACT This article explores the dynamics of ideological party competition within the context of the 2023 Turkish elections. Focusing on the role and appeal of ideology, it provides insights into the changing landscape of ideological competition during this pivotal electoral period. The study examines whether ideology operates as a guiding principle for Turkish voters grappling with intricate economic and social issues. Despite acknowledging that economic concerns may not singularly determine ideological positions, the paper highlights the enduring significance of ideology in shaping perceptions. The transformative nature of the 2023 elections, marked by the emergence of new parties and electoral alliances, further underscores the relevance of ideology. Additionally, the article assesses the appeal of ideological competition by investigating voters who cannot position parties or themselves on the ideology scale. This analysis reveals that factors such as media consumption, education, gender, and political efficacy significantly influence the ideological appeal in the 2023 elections.

Mekanisme Pembubaran Partai Politik: Perbandingan Indonesia dan Turki

Political parties are not sacred, so they can be dissolved according to the provisions of the applicable laws. The mechanism for dissolving political parties in each country is certainly different. So this research aims to examine the differences in mechanisms for the dissolution of political parties in Indonesia and Turkey. This research is legal research with a statutory and conceptual approach. The results of this research show that the mechanism for dissolving political parties in Indonesia and Turkey is both submitted to the Constitutional Court. Still, specifically for Turkey, it must go through the Court of Cassation first. The applicant who can apply for the dissolution of a political party in Indonesia is the Government which can be represented by the Attorney General and/or the Minister assigned by the President while in Turkey the person who can apply is the Chief Public Prosecutor. The reasons for the dissolution of political parties in Indonesia are because (i) the ideology, principles, objectives, and programs of political parties conflict with the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia; (ii) carrying out activities that endanger the integrity and safety of the Republic of Indonesia; and (iii) adhere to, develop and spread the teachings or understanding of communism/Marxism-Leninism. Meanwhile, the reasons for the dissolution of political parties in Turkey are: (i) the statutes and programs, as well as the activities of political parties be contrary to the independence of the State, its indivisible integrity with its territory and nation, human rights, the principles of equality and rule of law, sovereignty of the nation, the principles of the democratic and secular republic; (ii) aim to promote or establish class or group dictatorship or dictatorship of any kind, nor shall they incite citizens to crime; and (iii) receive financial assistance from abroad.

Ideological ambiguity and political spectrum

This study examines the relationship between ambiguity and the ideological positioning of political parties across the political spectrum. We identify a strong non-monotonic (inverted U-shaped) relationship between party ideology and ambiguity within a sample of 202 European political parties. This pattern is observed across all ideological dimensions covered in the data. To explain this pattern, we argue that centrist parties are perceived as less risky by voters compared to extremist parties, giving them an advantage in employing ambiguity to attract more voters at a lower cost. We support our explanation with additional evidence from electoral outcomes and economic indicators in the respective party countries.

Religious Ideology and Clientelist Linkage in the Middle East and North Africa

The literature on clientelism, the informal exchange of benefits for political support, has proliferated over the last three decades. However, the existing literature largely ignores the role of religion in shaping clientelism in contemporary politics. In particular, few attempts have been made to explore the relationship between religious ideology and clientelism at the party level: How does political parties’ religious ideology impact their clientelist linkages with citizens? This study uses cross-national data of parties in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from the V-Party database (1970–2019) to answer this question. Our findings reveal that religious parties are more clientelist than secular parties in the MENA. Particularly, parties’ ties with social organizations mediate the relationship between religious ideology and clientelism. This study extends the literature on the impact of religion on informal political institutions by focusing on the ideology and linkage strategy of political parties in the MENA.

Party ideology in Nigeria's Four Republics: a case of right-wing convergence

Party ideology in Nigeria's Four Republics: a case of right-wing convergence

Party-Based Sovereignism in EU Countries: Main Patterns and Their Justification

Abstract In this article, we examine party positions on sovereignty issues in European countries based on an analysis of party supply. First, we develop an index of sovereignism reflecting the multidimensional articulation and differentiated emphasis put by parties on sovereignist issues. By applying the index to Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) data, the analysis maps all EU member states. Second, we integrate in the analysis party- and country-level data (including the orientations of domestic public opinion). Through multivariate regression analysis we show how party ideology, contextual factors and public mood favoured the spread of party-based sovereignism in European countries.

Feminist foreign policy in Israel and Germany? The Women, Peace, and Security agenda, development policy, and female representation

AbstractThis paper explores the relationship between feminist foreign policy (FFP) and a country’s national role conception (NRC). Specifically, it asks whether countries with ‘masculine’ NRCs are opposed to the pursuit of FFP while countries with a more ‘feminine’ national role conception are advocates of FFP. To this end, the paper conducts a comparative analysis of ‘masculine’ Israel and ‘feminine’ Germany along three domains: normative (with a focus on the Women, Peace, and Security [WPS] agenda), material (in relation to development policy), and institutional (with reference to female representation). Generally speaking, Germany has indeed undertaken broader and more substantive activities in pursuit of FFP goals than Israel. At the same time, Israel has clearly been more active than its ‘masculine’ role would suggest, and Germany less active and vocal than its ‘civilian power’ role would imply. Overall, the discussion suggests that whether countries pursue FFP goals is strongly influenced by the latter’s compatibility with the countries’ overarching NRCs, with party ideology, institutional autonomy, and intersection between gender policy and state interests playing a greater role regarding the specific levels of commitment and intensity shown in the pursuit of those goals.

Agency, institutions, and welfare chauvinism: Tracing the exclusion of European Union migrant citizens from social assistance in Germany

What explains welfare chauvinistic policy reform, that is, targeted exclusion of non-citizens from welfare? Existing research suggest that contextual factors like far-right party success, perceived immigration pressures, party ideologies and institutions could spur such reform, but the processes behind reforms remain understudied. This article draws on public policy literature to call attention the critical role of agency and institutions in welfare chauvinist reform. It focuses on a law excluding migrant EU citizens from social assistance in Germany. Through process tracing and inductive reconstruction of the policy process, based on political documents, interviews, media reporting and descriptive statistics, we show that the policy proposal originated from German city administrations; that the city of Hamburg was key in pushing for exclusions; and that Hamburg’s success in doing so crucially depended on the city’s mayor. Several comparable German cities (in terms of party politics and levels of immigration) were equally concerned with ‘welfare immigration’ and complained about problem pressure, but only Hamburg had a committed mayor with the right political networks and institutional resources to lobby for welfare exclusions at the federal level.

Ideology, statecraft and the ‘double shuffle’ of Conservative planning reform in England

This article explores the political implications of conflicts over new housebuilding for Conservative-led governments in England since 2010. Revisiting debates about the tensions between neoliberal and more collectivist traditions within the political ideology of the Conservative Party, we argue that rather than blocking change this internal conflict should be seen as a dynamic part of the politics of planning. This leads us to propose that Conservative planning reforms have been characterised by a distinctive ‘double shuffle’ through which the party has sought to progress neoliberalising reforms whilst managing these tensions and seeking to maintain their hold on power through statecraft. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/

The Ideology of Brazilian Parties and Presidents: A Research Note on Coalitional Presidentialism Under Stress

ABSTRACTThis research note contributes updated and extended point estimates of the ideological positions of Brazilian political parties and novel estimates of the positions of all presidents since redemocratization in 1985. Presidents and parties are jointly responsible for the operability of Brazil’s version of coalitional presidentialism. Locating these key political actors in a unidimensional left–right space over time reveals rising challenges to the institutional matrix, particularly since 2013. Ideological polarization among parties has sharply increased, presidents have become more distant from Congress, and the political center has become increasingly vacated. Coalitional presidentialism is being subjected to unprecedented ideological stress as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva begins his third term in office.

No school of hard knocks: education policies and ideologies of Slovak far-right parties

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to examine the unexplored intersection between the ideologies and education policies of the Slovak far-right party family. From a theoretical perspective, the article draws on the morphological approach to the study of ideology. By using this approach, the main goal of this article is to analyse, map, and compare education policies in the context of the ideologies of three successful yet ideologically distinct examples of far-right parties in Slovakia. The analysis aims to identify the education policies of Slovakia’s far-right parties and define their positions and roles both within and outside of their respective ideologies. On a more general level, by examining the Slovak case, the article addresses the question of whether, and if so, to what extent the far-right’s education policies are also far-rightist education policies.

The Party System in Ethiopia

Abstract Political parties and their internal working policy and pattern of interactions have a profound impact on the operation of federations and the character of intergovernmental relations (IGR). By using the Ethiopian party system as a case study, this article aims to explore the impacts of party ideology, structure and style of functioning on the overall operation of a federation and the (de)institutionalisation of intergovernmental relations. It shows that the party structure, internal practices and ideological conviction of two parties—the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the Prosperity Party (PP)—have shaped and reshaped the functioning of the Ethiopian federation and the dynamics of vertical and horizontal relations. At the same time, constitutional and IGR principles have been sidelined. There is a need to entrench stable and formal IGR frameworks for negotiation, the exchange of information and co-operation between federal and sub-state institutions. Reducing excessive reliance on the party line is essential to optimise the regularity, continuity and effectiveness of the interactions.

Party-System Polarization and Individual Perceptions of Party Differences: Two Divergent Effects on Turnout

AbstractIn this article, we argue that party-system polarization and subjective perceptions of ideological party differences are conceptually and empirically distinct phenomena that affect electoral participation differently. Looking at 84 elections worldwide, we show that party-system polarization, and the sharp conflicts associated with it, depresses turnout because many citizens are put off by extreme party positions and unrewarding polemics. By contrast, the individual perception of differences between parties increases turnout because more citizens can find a party that is close to their own position and identify others as being further away. These opposite effects are possible because party-system polarization leads only some individuals to perceive differences between parties but leads others to avoid the emotionalized political arena. Moreover, individuals' ability to recognize differences between parties is not necessarily a consequence of party-system polarization. The contradictory findings in previous research are due to a conceptual and empirical blurring of these two essentially different aspects.

The Young Pioneers of Cuba: The Formation of Cuban Citizens through Civic Education

In this article, we contend that Cuba's civic education system is highly ideological, and the Cuban Communist Party's ideology strongly permeates citizens' social obligations towards the state, as imparted through civic education. The research demonstrates that the Cuban education system embodies a form of inclusive nationalism that offers a clear definition of membership within the collective society. As evidenced by our findings, Cuba has, through its Constitution, textbooks, and curriculum, played a crucial role in institutionalizing a particular concept of Cubanness, delineating what it means to be a Cuban citizen. However, the imposition of specific values through socialist ideology faces threats from the economic crisis and the influence of the internet, tourism, and social media on Cuban society. Interviews with informants have unveiled the challenges posed by the rigid and one-dimensional imposition of this particular ideology in schools, revealing tensions, discontent, and fractures in the politicized teaching. The article also compares civic education in Cuba with the progressive Critical Global Citizenship Education. This article is based on 6 weeks of fieldwork (September to November 2019) in Cuba, where civic education was explored in a 5th grade and a 9th grade school in Havana. The qualitative study was based on interviews with important stakeholders, observation of classes, and document analysis of the Constitution, the curriculum, as well as textbooks.

Government ideology and the implementation of civil war peace agreements

ABSTRACT How does government ideology, measured by the ideology of the chief executive and the ideology of the largest government party, influence the implementation of civil war peace agreements? In this study, I address this research question by analysing the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) dataset that covers 34 comprehensive peace agreements of 31 countries from 1989 to 2015. The results of feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) regressions demonstrate that the likelihood of implementing peace agreements increases when chief executives and the largest government parties of the left-wing are in office. In contrast, the likelihood of implementing peace agreements decreases when chief executives and the largest government parties of the right-wing stay in power. Consistent with the party-policy literature and the hawkish-dovish assumptions, I find that left-wing governments positively impact the implementation of peace agreements more than right-wing governments, indicating the statistically significant relationship between the government ideology and the implementation of peace agreements.

Влияние педагогических взглядов С.Т. Шацкого на организацию детской жизни в период становления пионерской организации (1922—1929)

The article studies the organization of the pioneer movement from the perspective of the educational process, allowing for the identification of valuable experience for further use in modern conditions, when a new stage of development of children’s organizations is observed in the Russian Federation. Despite the primary goal of ideological education in the pioneer organization, its activities reflected comprehensive elements such as play, labor education, art, and social education. According to S. T. Shatsky, these are fundamental elements in organiz­ing children’s life. The connection between the theoretical views of S. T. Shatsky and practical work with children in the pioneer organization, created within the framework of the Com­munist Party ideology with the goal of educating a socialist individual, has been studied.

КВЕБЕКСКАЯ ПРОБЛЕМА В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ КАНАДЕ: ПРОШЛОЕ ИЛИ НАСТОЯЩЕЕ?

This article deals with an analysis of the Quebec issue in Modern Canada. Based on the necessary corpus of sources and the corresponding historiography, the author tries to answer the question whether the Quebec issue is relevant for Canada in the present or it has remained in the past forever. In his article, the author not only summarizes and systematizes the history of the French-Canadian issue itself, but also analyzes the activities of the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois, which have been fighting for Quebec sovereignty for many years. He emphasizes that it was with these two associations that the idea of Quebec sovereignty was connected, and focuses on the activities of René Lévesque and Jacques Parizeau, who prepared two referendums on the sovereignty of Quebec. The study results in the conclusion that at the party-political level (due to the change in the party ideology of the Bloc Québécois and the failure of the Parti Québécois in the 2018 provincial elections), of course, the idea of sovereignty has become a thing of the past. While at the mental level (the memory of the historical trauma of the 60s in the 18th century, when new France was conquered by England), the idea of sovereignty meets the interests of part of the French-Canadian community.

Ennahda’s Muslim democracy in post-Arab spring Tunisia: Synthesizing political thought and practice

This article explores the interplay between political thought and practice within Tunisia?s Ennahda party, first during its period in opposition, then after it took power in 2011, and finally in the aftermath of the 2021 coup. We trace the genealogy of political thought within the party from the point of its foundation. In doing so, we explore the gradual evolution of party ideology, from a da?wa-based belief system between 1969 and 1981, to Islamic democracy between 1981 and 2011, to ?Muslim democracy? after the 2011 uprising. We examine this ideological evolution through the framework of three key elements: (i) Islam, (ii) Tunisia?s changing socio-political context, and (iii) the broader universal episteme. As we show, a significant turning point came in 2016, with the separation of the da?wa from party politics, which revealed a burgeoning state/party conceptualization of politics. However, the 2021 coup challenged Ennahda?s concept of Muslim democracy, as well as all aspects of the party?s own sense of continuity as a significant socio-political actor, such as its institutional structure, leadership, membership, social base, political strategy, and ideology. Ennahda is now confronted by an authoritarian resurgence, which aims at containing the party, and at delegitimizing its participation within nation-state structures. Empirical evidence, based on content-analytical evaluations of personal interviews as well as the media?s coverage of Ennahda, shows that the party?s representatives are increasingly focusing on organizational reform in order to deal with the ramifications of the 2021 coup. Their aim seems to be to democratize both Ennahda and the Tunisian state itself.