Institutions Of Representative Democracy Research Articles

Does inequality erode political trust?

A long-standing argument in the political sciences holds that high levels of inequality are incompatible with democracy. Although a number of studies have by now investigated whether income inequality endangers democratic consolidation and stability through corroding popular support, the findings remain inconclusive. This study provides new evidence for a sociotropic effect of macroeconomic income inequality on trust in the institutions of representative democracy by making use of therandom effects within betweenspecification in multilevel models for data from 28 European democracies over a period of 16 years. The findings show that both long-standing differences in income inequality between countries and changes in inequality within countries over time are negatively related to trust in institutions. While the spirit-level thesis states that this effect should be more pronounced among rich democracies, the findings show that the effect of inequality is stronger in countries that are less affluent. Further analyses on whether the social-psychological mechanism proposed by the spirit-level thesis mediates the effect of inequality on trust document a partial transmission via status concerns and social trust. However, the study suggests that income inequality primarily influences trust in institutions through evaluation-based processes as captured by economic evaluations.

Towards eco-social politics: a case study of transformative strategies to overcome forms-of-life crises

ABSTRACT This article explores the structural conservatism of mainstream environmental politics, which systematically avoids problematising ‘forms-of-life’ (normative practices and routines), and develops a conceptual alternative: eco-social politics. This concept positions itself in a quest to change the grammar of environmental politics by embedding it in the lived materiality of everyday life, but differs from prefigurative movement-oriented strategies by prioritising the integration of majority populations and by acknowledging the role of political rule-setting, i.e. coercion. Building on a multi-level integral state project, eco-social politics resides in particular strategies, procedures, and institutions to collectively (re)negotiate common sense, with the aim to partially and pragmatically suture social relations to find transformative answers to contemporary eco-social crises. Here, I explore potentials for stronger dialectical links between deliberative and representative democratic institutions.

Individual vulnerability to industrial robot adoption increases support for the radical right.

The increasing success of populist and radical-right parties is one of the most remarkable developments in the politics of advanced democracies. We investigate the impact of industrial robot adoption on individual voting behavior in 13 western European countries between 1999 and 2015. We argue for the importance of the distributional consequences triggered by automation, which generates winners and losers also within a given geographic area. Analysis that exploits only cross-regional variation in the incidence of robot adoption might miss important facets of this process. In fact, patterns in individual indicators of economic distress and political dissatisfaction are masked in regional-level analysis, but can be clearly detected by exploiting individual-level variation. We argue that traditional measures of individual exposure to automation based on the current occupation of respondents are potentially contaminated by the consequences of automation itself, due to direct and indirect occupational displacement. We introduce a measure of individual exposure to automation that combines three elements: 1) estimates of occupational probabilities based on employment patterns prevailing in the preautomation historical labor market, 2) occupation-specific automatability scores, and 3) the pace of robot adoption in a given country and year. We find that individuals more exposed to automation tend to display higher support for the radical right. This result is robust to controlling for several other drivers of radical-right support identified by earlier literature: nativism, status threat, cultural traditionalism, and globalization. We also find evidence of significant interplay between automation and these other drivers.

Participatory budgeting and its features: from Porto Alegre to modern Europe

The article deals with the features of participative budgeting as a relatively new experiment in the sphere of participative democracy. It's pointed out that this democratic form was initiated in 1989 in а Brazilian city Porto Alegre and then it was spread not only over Latin America but also over other continents. Special attention is paid to the countries of Europe where participative budgeting was implemented most actively. Positive features of participative budgeting as well as its possible disadvantages are analyzed.The author argues that participative budgeting being one of the forms of participative democracy remains at the same time closely tied to the institutions of representative democracy. The initiator of its implementation remains most often municipal executive power as a whole or its individual representatives and first of all heads of local administration.

A formação dos ministros da educação no Brasil e o recorte de gênero - 1930 a 2020: políticas públicas de gestão

The problems that come from the current crisis of representation go back to the process of creating the notions and institutions of representative democracy. Through historical analysis we can better comprehend this complexity. This article aims to analyze the link between representation, participation and decentralization by focusing on the 1789 debates on the Municipality of Paris and Condorcet’s constitutional model, which still stands as a theoretical point of reference. The continuity in practical and theoretical issues concerning representation is also explored with regard to Condorcet’s claims in favor of women’s political rights intrinsically linked to his concept of representation. They are compared to the current gender parity arguments, which led in 1999 to the revision of art. IIII of the French Constitution encouraging the equal access to representative institutions. Stemmed from different contexts both these sets of arguments maintain that only parity between men and women renders the representation of national sovereignty effective.

Представительная функция институтов представительной демократии: проблемы реализации на современном этапе

Представительная функция институтов представительной демократии: проблемы реализации на современном этапе

Autonomização do campo judicial e redefinição das elites judiciais locais

O que o presente trabalho buscou identificar foi o tipo de processo de transformação do campo político da administração judicial brasileira e seus efeitos a partir da institucionalização da Carta de 1988 e da EC n. 45/2004 que produziram incentivos seletivos para a formação de um novo campo político da administração judicial no Brasil. A partir da investigação pode-se constatar: 1. O acentuado e significativo grau da autonomia do campo judicial brasileiro em relação às demais instituições democrático-representativas; 2. O insulamento burocrático do campo judicial e a nova articulação desse campo com os executivos estaduais; 3. Como esse processo de autonomização se fundou em uma retórica autoritária de profissionalização do campo que legitima o próprio insulamento burocrático e se expressa em um novo tipo de elite judicial dentro do campo de administração política nas Justiças estaduais; 4. O surgimento de uma nova elite judicial que se auto representa como portadora da modernização e da profissionalização do campo judicial e incorpora o habitus dessa auto representação e 5. A nova articulação do Executivo e do Judiciário locais que estabelecem um modo de articulação com vistas a garantir o insulamento dessa elite judicial em relação aos outros partícipes do campo político-burocrático.

Towards parliamentary full cycle engagement in the legislative process: innovations and challenges

ABSTRACT As representative democracy has come under criticism from populists and advocates of ‘participatory democracy’, parliaments have responded by expanding their engagements throughout the governance process. Parliaments around the world are participating in the development of policy proposals including in dialogue with citizens, the shaping of draft legislation, debate and adoption of legislative proposals, in post-legislative scrutiny, and in government oversight and audit. The article explores the motivators for these enhanced roles, the opportunities and challenges entailed in a parliamentary full-cycle approach, and makes recommendations for parliaments and parliamentary development actors to enable successful implementation of an expanded and deepened role for parliaments as core institutions of representative democracy.

Civic Participation in Russia Today: Interaction of Social and Political Practices

The author argues that the rise of civic activism and formation of the public demand for social change convert the problem of the prospects of the Russia’s democracy into another context, than it had been a few years ago. The change of vector of public moods and expectations as it is stated in the article coincides with the emergence of multiple social groups and strata that do not need any goverment care and are interested to expand the borders of freedom and individual selfrealization. These both factors open a «window of opportunity» for the development of diverse forms and practices of «civic participation». The author interprets the above concept as a way that citizens and either formalized or not formalized social associations are expressing self-manifestation in different social spheres. The problem of interaction and co-influence between such two key components of civic participation as the «political» and «social» ones is the central problem of the article. The author argues that the convergence between the «political» and «social» components of civic participation should occur (and to some extent it is already going on) through both the «politicization» of socially oriented public associations and the «socialization» of political parties and movements. The author applies sociological data collected by Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of Russian Academy of Sciences that demonstrate that the level of direct involvement of Russia’s citizens into various forms of political and social participation is low. Wherein there is a rather significant segment of the «activist periphery» that under certain circumstances is promising for more intense involvement. It is emphasized that the increased importance of civic participation in contemporary Russia is determined not so much by its «mass character» as by ability of the active part of society to form institutional matrix of new forms and practices for political representation and public participation. This process is intensifying under the influence of confidence crisis both to existing power and government system and to most institutions of representative democracy.

Dirty Thinking about Law & Democracy in Rucho v. Common Cause

This Essay, a precursor to a larger project, uses Rucho v. Common Cause, to argue that there are two different normative conception of politics in the Court's law and politics jurisprudence. For the conservative Justices on the Court, politics is sordid, partisan, and unfair. Law and politics cases, specifically political-gerrymandering claims, ask the Court to perform a task that courts are ill-equipped to perform, which is to clean up a process that is inherently dirty and to make fair a process that is inherently partial. Rucho, representing the Court's law and politics cases more broadly, is both an affirmation of a traditional conception of politics and also a rejection of a more modern conception that is beginning to find a foothold in American politics — with roots in the Court’s malapportionment jurisprudence — about how representative democratic institutions ought to operate. This more modern approach reflects the beliefs that representative electoral structures and American politics more generally ought to include some basic notion of fairness; a commitment to the public good without the hindrance of partisanship; and a conception of fair play that constrains the behavior of those who design electoral structures. In contrast to the majority in Rucho, proponents of the modern conception envision a role for the Court in enforcing basic rules of fairness and fair play while at the same time indirectly promoting a particular vision of the public good that is not filtered through partisan identity in the design of structures of representation. In order to understand the division in Rucho, why the plaintiffs in Rucho failed to win over the conservatives on the Court, and the Court's law and politics cases more broadly, we have to come to terms with these different worldviews on the Court. Is sordid politics an inherently necessary and arguably normatively good part of the political process, and thus a necessary part of our representative institutions? Relatedly, do substantive fairness principles exist — outside of race and the equal-population principle — that constrain political actors when they design electoral structures to favor themselves at the expense of their opponents? This essay explores those issues.

Judicial Activism – The Last Refuge? How the European Court of Human Rights Have Addressed Challenges of Democracy and the Lack of the Separation of Powers

Central European states are posing a considerable challenge to transnational constitutionalism as they are gradually evolving into rival autocracies. What is peculiar about these states is that they are transforming the institutions of representative democracy and jurisdiction in order to serve the interests of the raw power of the majority. Furthermore, it might prove to be extremely complicated to articulate the lack of legitimation by means of public institutions since these states have undermined the principle of the separation of powers. These competitive autocracies (Hungary and Poland) are related to European and international institutions in a particular way therefore the raw power of the majority is counterbalanced by these European and international institutions. However, neither their legitimation is strong enough, nor do these institutions have the necessary legal means to safeguard the basic rights of suppressed minorities in these nation states and to act as a counterbalance to the majority. Consequently, it might be an appropriate response to this major challenge if international institutions begin to redefine their scope of action. In my talk I would like to discuss selected decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights in cases such as Baka v. Hungary and Karacsony and Others v. Hungary. In this context I will argue that in cases related to judicial independency or the rights and grievances of the Hungarian opposition MPs the Court of Human Rights tried to respond to serious violations of the separation of powers by speaking out for a wide concept of the freedom of expression. What are the arguments for and against such judicial practices? Can judicial activism be a response to the democratic challenges of nation states?

Size and Democracy Revisited A Critical Discussion of the Claimed Trade-off between Problem-Solving Capacity and Citizen Participation

Classic literature on size and democracy argues that there is a trade-off between opportunities for broad citizen participation and communities’ ability to deal effectively with the challenges faced by their locality. Consequently, smaller political units enrich democracy, while larger units strengthen the capacity to govern. We argue that although the trade-off may be relevant within a framework concentrating on representative democratic institutions, the trade-off is questionable in the light of more recent contributions on democratic, network-based governance. The article develops this argument, and suggests elements that should be included in a revised theory of municipal size.

Diffuse Institutional Trust and Specific Institutional Mistrust in Nordic Participatory Planning: Experience from Contested Urban Projects

ABSTRACTTrust is vital in participatory planning. To explore the complex relationships between participation and various dimensions of trust and mistrust, this article develops a framework of analysis distinguishing between specific and diffuse forms of institutional trust and mistrust, and illustrates its relevance via two case studies of urban and transport planning in Finland and Sweden. We explore the dynamic coexistence of mistrust towards the specific planning organisations in charge of the projects with the strong ‘diffuse’ trust in the generic institutions of representative democracy and Nordic planning. The proposed approach can help harness mistrustful civic vigilance for deliberative purposes.

Complementing and correcting representative institutions: When and how to use mini‐publics

AbstractIn democratic theory and practice, it has become a popular view that designed deliberative mini‐publics can effectively counteract failures of representative democratic institutions. But when should mini‐publics be deployed, and how should they be designed? This article develops a framework for thinking about these questions. It argues that when representative democratic institutions ensure the empowerment of inclusions, enable the formation of collective agendas and wills, and are capable of translating those agendas into binding decisions, mini‐publics should be used sparingly and as complementary initiatives; the less representative institutions are able to serve these functions, the more mini‐publics should gain independence and standing to correct these problems. The article shows how this can be operationalised in light of two key institutional design issues – coupling and authority – and discusses some empirical examples that foreground the empirical leverage offered by the suggested framework.

An Alternative to Representation: Explaining Preferences for Citizens as Political Decision-Makers

Extensive scholarly attention is devoted to citizens’ preferences for alternative models of political decision-making. However, few efforts were made to identify who these citizens are and why they display a certain preference. To address this void in the literature, our article analyzes the determinants of preferences for citizens as decision-makers. It uses individual-level data from a 2014 survey on a probability representative sample in Germany and tests the effects of political attitudes toward institutions of representative democracy, interest in politics, and civic involvement. It controls for consumption of political news, education, and age.

The student movement in Turkey: a case study of the relationship between (re)politicization and democratization

ABSTRACTOne particularly striking aspect of the global waves of social movements is the increasing politicization of youth, including students. Taking this as its starting point, this article discusses what the politicization of youth could mean for democracy and democratization in Turkey. This is important because, especially since 2011, Turkish politics has been dominated by debates concerning authoritarianization. Focusing on the largest student organization in Turkey, the Student Collectives (SC), this article shows that the relationship between politicization and democratization is more complicated than at first sight. Some aspects of the student movement in Turkey suggest it is an important moment of democratization in Turkey while other aspects arouse scepticism. Three crucial indicators of a movement’s democratic potential are whether it attends to deciphering the existing constellation of power relations, reflects on the possibility of installing a counter-hegemony and gives importance to collective identities. However, the SC’s potential democratic contribution is weakened by its conceptualization of democratic struggle in terms of antagonism rather than agonism through ‘moralizing’ politics. Moreover, its reluctance to engage with institutions of representative democracy further complicates the matter. The main contribution of this study is its discussion of various forms of politicization and their possible effects on democratization; and to give some clues to the activists of different social movements that can be helpful in their self-reflection.

Embedded exclusions: exploring gender equality in Peru’s participatory democratic framework

Do participatory institutions facilitate gender empowerment? As these institutions spread around the world, we still know very little about the gendered nature of participatory democratic spaces. Through the case study of state-mandated participatory budgeting in Peru, this article employs original data on participation to explore gender and inclusion. The study suggests that participatory institutions are not promoting gender equality. Instead, state actors have created new political spaces that exclude women and women's organizations and reify traditional gender norms. Like representative democratic institutions, gender inequities are embedded in these very spaces that are meant to empower all citizens.

An Alternative to Representation: Explaining Preferences for Citizens As Political Decision-Makers

Extensive scholarly attention is devoted to citizens’ preferences for alternative models of political decision-making. However, few efforts were made to identify who these citizens are and why they display a certain preference. To address this void in the literature, our article analyzes the determinants of preferences for citizens as decision-makers. It uses individual-level data from a 2014 survey on a probability representative sample in Germany and tests the effects of political attitudes towards institutions of representative democracy, interest in politics and civic involvement. It controls for consumption of political news, education and age.

Intergenerational governance: problems of legislation

It is true to say that the language of politics is the language of priorities. Whatever else the Cabinet members do or do not do, they determine the priorities. They determine the order in which issues will be addressed and the resources that will be devoted to the issue. Many policies require legislation and the ministers, with the advice of public servants and the drafting of parliamentary counsel, design the legislation. Parliament passes the bills into law after select committee scrutiny. In the New Zealand democracy these ministers are connected to the voters through triennial general elections, voters to whom they are ultimately accountable through the institutions of representative democracy. Thus, ministers will be wary of public opinion and take it into account both in determining their priorities and in designing the legislation.

Downbound Spiral? Economic Grievances, Perceived Social Protection, and Political Distrust

Momentous events in Western democracies have brought renewed attention to how various aspects of government-controlled policy outputs and outcomes affect citizens politically. Unlike most previous research this study uses individual-level panel data to test the link between government performance and political trust. Moreover, we gauge performance in more policy domains than previous research including key aspects of government-controlled social services as well as a wide range of economic risks. We find that evaluations of government performance do have implications for trust in institutions of representative democracy. The evidence, however, is stronger for evaluations of social protection than for economic risks. Crucially, our analysis suggests that the relationship between performance evaluations and distrust is not unidirectional, but reciprocal. The relationship may thus be described as a “downbound spiral” where dissatisfied and vulnerable groups develop distrust, which in turn makes for a more pessimistic interpretation of the political world.