Political Inclusion Research Articles

Social Assistance Expansion and Political Inclusion in Latin America

Has social assistance expansion contributed to political inclusion in Latin America? The current literature favours a “policy exchange” approach, hypothesising that social assistance is an electoral asset exploited by governing coalitions. The findings from this literature are mixed. The article proposes an alternative approach emphasising political inclusion. In unequal societies where economic cooperation is regulated by institutions generating inequality and disadvantage, social assistance contributes to the political inclusion of disadvantaged groups. Analysis of Latin American Public Opinion Project data for 2010 to 2019 data finds support for this hypothesis.

“Lucky Enough”: The Music and Stories That Make Vaughan's Lounge, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

“Lucky Enough”: The Music and Stories That Make Vaughan's Lounge, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

The Political Inclusion of Pakistanis in British and French municipalities: A comparison of Oldham, Villiers le-Bel and Creil

This article shall aim to probe the political inclusion of the Pakistani diasporas in France and in Great Britain. Over the recent years, diminishing voter turnouts in both countries have drawn renewed attention to the issues of the political participation and representation of minorities in mainstream political institutions, thus fuelling debates around the position occupied by women and other minorities in these same institutions. The Franco-British comparison serves to put these debates into perspective, and the study of Pakistanis on both sides of the English Channel reveals that British Pakistanis are well represented in the British political arena, notably at the local level, however their Pakistani counterparts in France are much less visible in French politics, even at the local level. While this differential presence in the respective political arenas appears to be correlated to contrasting migration histories and context-specific demographics (for instance, the British Pakistani population is much larger in size compared to Pakistanis in France), it is also embedded in the prevailing local political contexts. The study of one British city, Oldham, and two French suburban cities, Villiers-le-bel and Creil, serves to illustrate this perspective. Furthermore, it is already well established in the field of migration studies that in Western European countries and cities, candidates from minority backgrounds tend to face more obstacles – compared to traditional, ‘white’ candidates – whenever they stand elections. Looking closely at the political trajectories of various candidates in the cities under study, we set out to identify the impediments that they face first as candidates, then as elected representatives, or councillors. Hence, the aim of this research article is to demonstrate that some inherently discriminatory processes and exclusionary practices enable local political institutions to decelerate and hinder the political inclusion of minority candidates at the local level, blocking their path in a way that they can be kept off these same local bodies. Nonetheless, our research seems to suggest that the British political arena is far more receptive and inclusive for minorities, compared to the French political arena

Being a patient among other patients: Refugees' political inclusion through the Austrian solidarity-based healthcare system.

This paper is an empirical study of what solidarity in a Western European healthcare system means today. Drawing upon empirical research on the 2015 refugee cohort's health needs and their health-seeking behaviour, it unites claims from the literature on solidarity in the fields of migration and healthcare. I argue that the Austrian healthcare system not only is an example of 'civic solidarity' in the form of institutionalised obligations to citizens but that it also enacts political forms of solidarity and produces political inclusion for marginalised groups such as refugees. My findings show that being entitled to and accessing services in the healthcare system holds meaning beyond the provision of care: It enables to act autonomously, to build familiar relationships with Austrian institutions, inclusion via the personal electronic health card and to support others in the same solidaristic system. These insights can be used to raise awareness about the inclusional function of healthcare services among practitioners. They also show how solidarity-based healthcare systems can be a motor for shaping positive relationships between immigrants and the host country, and point to additional modes of solidarity in the context of forced migration next to civil society and nonstate support structures. This paper builds upon ethnographic data that were collected between 2018 and 2020 in Vienna, Austria (observational notes before, during and after medical consultations with refugees; interviews with them; interviews with healthcare practitioners and other care providers).

What shapes voter expectations of Muslim politicians’ views on homosexuality: stereotyping or projection?

Political party gatekeepers of candidate lists fear that voters stereotype Muslim politicians as homophobic. But do voters really do this? Building on the literatures on political psychology, political inclusion, homonationalism and populism, I juxtapose stereotyping and projection as two distinct mechanisms that shape voter expectations. I asked 3056 respondents in France, Germany, and the Netherlands what they expect of Muslim and non-religious politicians through conjoint experiments. I found that voters with lukewarm attitudes towards homosexuality tend to stereotype Muslim politicians as homophobic, while voters with strong positive or negative attitudes towards homosexuality tend to project their own opinions onto politicians, be they Muslim or non-religious. Voters who are the most in favor of same-sex adoption also feel the most similar to Muslims and their perceived similarity predicts expectations of Muslim politicians. These findings cast doubt on the dilemmas party gatekeepers struggle with to include Muslim politicians on electoral lists.

Women's political representation, good governance and human development

AbstractAs women's political inclusion has become the international norm, many countries have implemented gender quotas or actively tried to increase women's political representation. Women's inclusion is also expected to bring positive development outcomes, as women, both as voters and politicians, may prioritize policies conducive to development. Yet, previous research has shown that descriptive representation does not automatically improve governance, and that various contextual factors influence (female) politicians' ability to shape policy outcomes. In this article, we examine how political corruption affects the dynamics of women's representation. We argue that while the presence of women in politics has the potential to increase development, it can also be used as “window‐dressing” to legitimize rule where in reality male patrons continue to dominate policy decisions. Thus, women representatives recruited from the same corrupt networks as these male patrons may be used to perpetuate the status‐quo or even decrease development outcomes. Building on previous research, we argue that patriarchal gender norms and relatively weaker standing of women in corrupt environments can explain why women in these societies may support policy decisions that go against their preferences and interests as a group. We conduct a quantitative analysis drawing on time‐series cross‐sectional data on 182 countries from 1900 to 2014 to shed light on the linkage between women empowerment, corruption, and development. We find that women's representation only promotes human development if corruption is at low levels, while under high level of corruption women's inclusion is associated with worsened development outcomes. This finding suggests that women political empowerment might not always be a silver bullet to increasing substantive representation, and especially not under very poor levels of governance and prevalent corruption.

The Wall and the Politics of Exclusion and Inclusion at Baja California Borderlands: A Pictorial Journey

The essay considers the border wall between Mexico and the United States as its primary visual, symbolic, and material reference to reflect on the politics of exclusion and inclusion entangled in everyday discourses and practices in Baja California’s borderlands. Everyday bordering applies not only to governmental technologies of control but also to these sorts of politics. The essay proposes that the wall represents an exclusionary symbol that is nonetheless challenged by those who attempt to embed inclusion in this context. The pictorial journey shows aspects of common situations next to the wall between the Mexican cities of Mexicali and Tijuana.

Getting lost with dementia: Encounters with the time-space of not knowing.

In this paper we explore the experience and implications of getting lost with dementia. While getting lost has become culturally emblematic of dementia, speaking as it does to a widespread fear of losing our place in the world, it is marked by an overall absence of critical attention. We argue that this critical hesitancy is part of a broader unease with 'dementing' that reveals a paradox in dementia scholarship as growing emphasis on strengths-based and capacity-oriented approaches to the condition shift attention away from episodes of disorientation, forgetting and unknowing that commonly arise after onset. We therefore explore getting lost with dementia, not only as a route to better understanding what happens during such events and the meaning it holds but also to consider the implications for a broader politics of the social inclusion of people living with dementia. Reporting findings from a five-year international study of the neighbourhood experiences of people with dementia, we suggest that through such experiences as getting lost, people with dementia have a unique and distinctive contribution to make to the ever-evolving character of public space and civic culture. In particular, we argue that getting lost and the subsequent recovery or reconstitution that ensues can help inform efforts to reimagine public space. This includes looking beyond risk reduction in responses to dementia and public and outdoor settings to consider how freedom of movement for people with dementia might be enhanced rather than curtailed. Our learning points to the value of making the process of dementing more visible and central to the politics and practices of social inclusion.

Gender, political inclusion, and democracy in Africa: Some empirical evidence

AbstractThe objective of this study is to examine the effect of political inclusion on democracy in Africa. The results of the analyses through ordinary least squares, system generalized method of moments, IV Tobit and instrumental variables two stage least squares show that gender political inclusion enhances democracy in Africa. This result is robust across alternative specifications of political inclusion and democracy. The results equally stood when controlled for colonization and internal conflicts. In terms of policy implications, policy makers in Africa should enhance their fight for political inclusion as one of the gateways to promoting democracy. In this respect, national laws could be put in place which impose gender quotas in political positions in every country. Equally, the African Union could sign a convention on these quotas for respective countries to ratify.Related ArticlesBingham, Natasha. 2016. “Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155.Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 629–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12037.Herrick, Rebekah. 2008. “Gender Gap in Early Congressional Retirement.” Politics & Policy 32(3): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2004.tb00189.x.

Putas y Discas: Sex Work Activism and Disability Justice in Argentina

This article examines how mutual aid efforts between sex work activists and disability activists straddled the tension between respectability politics and subversive work to invigorate feminist disability justice in Argentina. I specifically focus on a 2021 Instagram Live conversation titled "Putas y Discas" to elucidate how public debates during a pandemic and in the digital age contribute to the conceptualization of 'access intimacy,' a term introduced by disability activist Mia Mingus. I attended the event as a user taking notes and paying attention to how labor rights, disability justice, and online censorship converge in the Global South to strengthen the solidarity between sex work and disability activists, featuring digital platforms as a potential arena to uphold access intimacy. The juncture of sex work and disability activisms in Argentina informs notions of interdependency more broadly and reconfigures the relationships between vulnerability and resistance, especially in the pandemic context. "Putas y Discas" invites us to include sex as integral to health demands and recognize sexual assistance as part of a bundle of disability policies covered by healthcare. A more inclusive politics of desire can also identify the labor of sex workers as communal care and consider how the more revolutionary aspects of sex work can inform the broader politics of labor. In the form of access intimacy, sex work activism and disability activists contest the malfunctioning healthcare system that bypasses sexuality as integral health, displaying the vitality of collectives and the possibilities for digital activism.

Electing More Women to National Legislatures: An Interplay between Global Normative Pressure and Domestic Political Regimes

Abstract Existing studies show that democracies are no better than autocracies in terms of women's legislative representation. This finding seems counterintuitive because democracies are more politically inclusive and foster greater respect for civil and political rights, compared to autocracies. We revisit the relationship between democracy and women's legislative representation by considering the interaction between democracy and global norms of gender equality in politics. We argue that democracies are better able than autocracies to translate a global norm of gender-balanced political representation into actual domestic practices. Further, we contend that the effect of democracies also depends on the external normative pressure. Using a time-series cross-sectional dataset covering 147 countries from 1951 to 2013, our analysis shows that the more democratic a country is, the more responsive it is to global norms promoting gender equality in politics. It also demonstrates that the effect of democracy on women's representation strengthens, as global normative pressure for women's inclusion in politics grows.

Citizenship as spiritual practice: the role of spiritualty in youth activism

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to explore citizenship practices among racialized youth in a ‘priority’ neighborhood in Toronto. Based on 16 months of ethnographic research, this paper examines an under-researched element of youth citizenship and belonging; the role of spirituality. Informed by the works of anti-racist feminists and Indigenous scholars, this paper examines how youth draw on spirituality in their daily lives to cope with everyday oppressions. For these youth, spirituality intersects with their art and informs their sense of activism or what they refer to as ‘artivism’. This paper argues that spirituality can inform a type of citizenship that questions systemic injustices while simultaneously acknowledging the importance of self-care. It produces a form of inclusionary politics steeped in spiritual practices.

Making‐Home From Below: Domesticating Footpath and Resisting “Homelessness” in Mumbai

AbstractDrawing upon ethnography among footpath dwellers in Mumbai this paper argues that hegemonic ideas and practices of urban inhabitation constrain subaltern visions of home as well as public space. In doing so, it warrants an ontology of urban inhabitation that transcends occupancy politics. It is not just the neoliberal state and property‐entrenching capital but also the politics of inclusion that fragments subaltern subjectivities of belonging and dispossession. By highlighting everyday practices, particularly the use of footwear, food preparation and consumption, performance of modesty, and rearing of pets, I articulate two ways in which home is experienced and homelessness is resisted through claims where interlocutors have no spatial legitimacy: by (re)producing spatial and moral boundaries and practising multiple mobilities that enable transient domesticities. This paper thus provides an expanded sense of home that moves beyond the materialities of home making, and binaries of the “private” interior and “public” exterior.

Still “the Domain of Men?” Gender Quotas and Women's Inclusion in Local Politics in Italy

Gender quota laws, which require political parties to include women among candidate lists, now exist at the subnational level in 15 European countries. Do they increase the inclusion of women in local legislative processes and facilitate the representation of women's interests? To make progress on these questions, we leverage data from the “most similar” Italian region of Campania, which implemented a quota law in 2010, and Calabria, which had no quota law. Using a mixed‐method approach, we pair quantitative analysis of all legislative bills proposed and passed in both regional councils from 2007 to 2017 with qualitative interviews with regional councillors. We find that Campania's gender quota law increased women's inclusion in the legislative process, but little evidence that this translated into substantive policy gains for women. Our qualitative evidence suggests that arcane legislative processes, male‐dominated leadership roles, and a masculinist culture prevent women's policy interests from being prioritized.

The Coloniality of Law in Peru:Legal Positivism, Rape & Racialized Morality in Early Twentieth-Century Courts

Objective/context: In the early twentieth century, Peru rejected legal pluralism and, once again, selected a highly European-inflected penal code, undergirded by the prevailing tenets of legal positivism. In doing so, criminal courts became a particularly contested site, where indigenous and mestizas (mixed-race) women shaped and negotiated racial sentiments constructed around their sexuality. In also shaping the meaning of the law itself, I contend that virginity—or lack thereof—patterned legal positivism in Peru. I first detail the historical impact of legal positivism on Peru’s judiciary. I then showcase women’s courtroom narratives (alongside other juridical testimonies) that reveal their struggle for political inclusion. Methodology: This article is built from an analysis of primary and original archival data and is the synthesis of 55 cases of alleged sexual transgressions occurring in the region of Cuzco from 1924 to 1949. Originality: This paper is significant because it is one of only a few that examine the history of legal positivism and rape prosecution in the early twentieth century by incorporating primary archival data to show how women were protagonists in shaping Peru’s unique legal, political and cultural history. Conclusions: Expanding the arguments of imminent Andean scholars of postcolonialism, I argue that the ‘coloniality of law’ in Peru is illuminated by the collusion of legal positivism and fin de siècle racial ideologies that created a new subjectivity for women. In addition to refashioning repressive honor codes (literally embodied in ideas about morality and chastity), the new penal code also broadened a gap where indigenous and mestizo women argued their juridical humanity in criminal courts.

Pathways of post-conflict violence in Colombia

ABSTRACT Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a post-war boom in organized crime, facilitated by the demobilization of armed groups and the persisting weakness of the state. The article argues that this is only one pathway of post-conflict violence. A second causal pathway emerges from the challenges that peace processes can constitute for entrenched local political orders. By fostering political inclusion, the implementation of peace agreements may threaten subnational political elites that have used the context of armed conflict to ally with armed non-state actors. Violence is then used as a means to preserve such de facto authoritarian local orders. We start from the assumption that these two explanations are not exclusive or competing, but grasp different causal processes that may well both be at work behind the assassination of social leaders (líderes sociales) in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla. We argue that this specific type of targeted violence can, in fact, be attributed to different, locally specific configurations that resemble the two pathways. The article combines fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the case studies of the municipalities of Sardinata and Suárez to empirically establish and illustrate the two pathways.

Women’s Political Participation through Social Movements and Nongovernmental Organizations: The Case of Compromiso Ciudadano in Medellín, Colombia

Abstract This article demonstrates how female participation in social movements and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) influences the political participation of women activists. It highlights how women from the social movement Compromiso Ciudadano successfully led progressive bottom-up programs for the democratic transformation of Medellín, Colombia. This study draws upon the first-hand experiences of women who participated in a focus group and in interviews. The findings reveal that engaging in social movements and NGO activities strengthens women’s agency in political participation, individually and collectively. This kind of grassroots participation increases women’s inclusion in formal politics, and it creates bridges between local governments and female grassroots leaders and movements.

Lebanese Sunni Muslim Politicians’ Narratives on the Political and Religious Leadership of the Lebanese Sunnis: Reconstructing Inclusive Political Leadership in Lebanon

In this article, Sunni Muslims politicians’ narratives on the political and religious leadership of the Lebanese Sunnis are examined in an effort to reconstruct inclusive political leadership in Lebanon. The Lebanese Sunnis are primary actors in the Lebanese politics. The significant role played by Sunnis is recognised in the National Pact 1943, which paved the way for Lebanon’s independence from France together with the Taif Agreement, which ended Lebanon’s civil war. The signing of the agreements culminated into the establishment of the confessional political system in Lebanon and enabled the Sunnis to constitute an integral part of that system. However, Lebanon is still saddled with internal political problems worsened by the struggle for influence over Lebanon from external actors. The overlapping between domestic and foreign factors is critical in constructing Sunni narratives on their leadership. Sunni framing constructions suggest that the Sunni leadership is galvanising the Sunni community to serve its own interests. The disempowerment of Sunnis is mainly attributed to the failure of their political and religious leadership. This article, therefore, argues for the reconstruction of inclusive leadership in Lebanon. This will enable the Lebanese actors to delegitimise identity politics and promote national cohesion and stability. It also recommends the establishment of independent electoral commissions, prohibition of foreign funding of political groupings, and dismantling of the confessional political system in Lebanon.

Ethnic Diversity and Politics of Inclusion: Tribes in North East India

In a multi-ethnic country like India, accommodating diverse realities around different communities and regions has been engaging framers of national policy since the beginning of the Indian state. The ability to accommodate newer politico-legal and administrative structures that would minimise conflict and maximise social, political and economic justice has been an unending issue, especially for the tribes in the Northeastern region. The autonomy framework needs to be premised on the condition that people of a specific locality know best what specific autonomous spheres’ activities/powers and resources they should be endowed with and be given constitutional recognition. In this context, it is pertinent to examine whether this framework has fulfilled the aspirations of tribals and addressed their grievances, and thus yielded the desired results, or if there is a need to relook at the structure. The political instability and peoples’ resistance, especially the tribal group as well as the ethnocultural minority group that clamour against the state and dominant politics, has been a never-ending issue in the region. The article brings forth the nuances of inclusive policies and their limits for accommodating ethnically diverse communities. It also examined the framework of federal arrangement and elucidated peoples’ experiences of self-governance and its problems.

Re-Inventing the Equity Debate: Issues in Balancing Merit with Inclusion in Leadership Selection in Federal Universities in Nigeria

Abstract In the conflicting pursuit of equity, the recession of non-indigenes in leadership positions in the nation’s federal universities is a major source of campus restiveness. This opinion article, derived from empirical research, therefore aims at bringing to the fore the substance and implications of the faulty inclusion politics and the politicised merit criteria deployed towards achieving equity in leadership selection in Nigeria’s federal universities. University of Ibadan and University of Jos were purposively selected for the study being the institutions with the most recent vice-chancellors’ selection episodes riddled with identity-based conflicts in 2020/2021. In the two universities, key informant and in-depth interviews were conducted with prominent members of the respective institutions’ governing councils, staff unions, staff ethnic associations, and vice-chancellor candidates that were not appointed, all purposively selected being notable actors in the vice-chancellors’ appointments politics. With between 70% and 79% predominance of ethno-territorial indigenes in the institutions’ workforce, the original inclusion intent of Nigeria’s federal character principle was grossly handicapped in the leadership appointment politics. The merit assessment instruments deployed in vice-chancellors’ selection processes had subjective items prone to biased scoring. These unfashionably culminated in the persistent return of indigene vice-chancellors in the two institutions for forty years.