Political Interests Research Articles

Contemporary Bangladesh: An Econometric Descriptive Analysis of Social Media Shaping Narratives, Gen-Z Identity, and Political Engagement

This research discusses how social media is drastically changing the face of identity and political involvement for Gen-Z in Bangladesh, drawing on different social theories. It focuses on the shift from dominant meta-narratives to the shift to personalized micro-narratives driven by digital platforms. Drawing on the theory of Francois Lyotard, reporting the decline of meta-narratives, and from Anthony Giddens' Structuration theory, the paper explores how such theoretical positions have accounted for the dynamics within the lives of young people residing in the digital age. Data collection was a mixed-methods process wherein questionnaires were distributed to 115 Bangladeshi university students over an online modality. As a result, from the analysis that social media in Bangladesh shapes individual identities while developing political engagement among the youth thereby contributing to the evolution of the socio-political environment. The study reveals that frequent social media use contributes significantly to individual identity formation and moderate political engagement among Bangladeshi youth.

Longitudinal co‐occurrence of adolescent mental health difficulties and democratic citizenship in early adulthood

AbstractLittle is known about the link between childhood and adolescent mental health (MH) difficulties and political outcomes in adulthood. This represents an important knowledge gap in understanding early individual‐level factors for future political outcomes. Using the Growing up in Ireland cohort, which follows 8568 children from 9 to 20 years, we examine how different MH difficulties, and their co‐occurrence, are associated with various political outcomes. The results show childhood/adolescent MH difficulties are important predictors of political outcomes at age 20. Adolescents with chronic co‐occurring MH difficulties starting in childhood report a lower interest in politics, lower trust in politicians, are less likely to register to vote, but if voting, are more likely to vote for an antiestablishment party. Adolescents with chronic emotional MH difficulties starting in childhood also report lower trust in politicians, are less likely to register to vote, and report a higher likelihood of voting for an antiestablishment party when voting. Additionally, they evidence lower levels of external political efficacy.

Shifts in Religious Instrumentalization: Friday Sermons and Ethnic Conflict in Turkey

Existing research shows that states and non-state actors often instrumentalize religion to serve political interests. However, how and when religious narratives shift in response to changing political needs is less understood. This study addresses this gap by examining Turkey’s strategic use of religion in its conflict with Kurdish insurgents. I argue that nationalized and institutionalized Islam in Turkey facilitates the instrumentalization of religion, allowing the state to switch between religious narratives based on political context. To show how these religious narratives shift, I compare Friday sermons during peace talks (2012–2015) and those delivered during cross-border military operations against the PKK/YPG. Using a text-as-data approach and topic modeling, I find that during peace talks, the state emphasizes Islamic brotherhood, encouraging Muslim Turks and Kurds to prioritize their Muslim identity over ethnic identity and seeking broader support for the government’s peace initiatives. In contrast, during military escalations following the peace process, the religious narrative shifts sharply toward nationalism, mobilizing support against the PKK/YPG and framing military actions as a defense of national and Islamic values. These findings contribute to the literature by showing how nationalized religion allows states to adapt contrasting narratives in co-religious ethnic conflicts to suit shifting political needs.

Working the Crowd: Citizen Forecasting, Sophistication and Diversity in Canadian Federal and Provincial Elections

Abstract According to the “miracle of aggregation” principle, in the absence of systematic biases, errors in individual judgments within a population should cancel each other out and lead to a correct decision at the aggregate level. This article explores potential individual- and group-level correlates of the accuracy of citizens’ electoral expectations and investigates how potential markers of political sophistication—namely, educational attainment and political interest—could be used to improve upon the raw aggregation of citizens’ forecasts using massive survey datasets collected during six Canadian national and provincial election campaigns between 2011 and 2022 (n = 279,003). We find that while educational attainment and interest increase the probability of a correct forecast at the individual level, delegating the forecasting task based on these variables does not necessarily lead to improvements in the accuracy of aggregate-level predictions. At the group level, we fail to uncover any evidence that sociological or informational diversity increases forecasting accuracy.

Women Political Empowerment in Pakistan: A Study of Post-Musharraf Era (2008-2024)

Women constitute 49.6% of Pakistan's total population, yet their representation in local, provincial, and federal governments remains disproportionately low. This study examines the factors contributing to this underrepresentation, focusing on cultural, social, economic, and religious barriers. As an Islamic state, Pakistan often perpetuates the notion that women should not actively participate in governance, further restricting their political involvement. Using a mixed-methods research approach that combines qualitative and quantitative techniques, this study explores these hindrances in detail and provides actionable solutions to address them. The research is based on both primary and secondary data sources, offering a comprehensive analysis of the issue. By identifying the root causes and proposing practical strategies, this study contributes to understanding and promoting women’s political empowerment in Pakistan during the post-Musharraf era (2008–2024).

Intermediary Political Analysis: The Role of Political Parties in Single-Candidate Elections

Political parties play a central role in nominating regional head candidates to ensure voter representation in elections. The broader the representation in the electoral process, the higher the level of democracy and legitimacy achieved. However, in the 2024 Regional Elections (Pilkada), despite the relaxation of nomination requirements, the number of competing candidate pairs remains limited. According to the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling, each region should ideally have at least five candidate pairs, yet in reality, more than half of the regions were contested by only two or three pairs, with 37 regions having a single candidate running unopposed. This study aims to map the coalition of political parties in regions with single candidates and analyze the extent of political party involvement in the nomination process. The research employs representation analysis, examining the number of political parties supporting candidate pairs, the origin of candidate pairs' parties, and the nomination threshold. The findings indicate that, in many cases, political parties tend to form broad coalitions supporting a single candidate rather than fostering greater competition. This phenomenon reduces voter choices and weakens electoral competition at the regional level. As an implication, this study provides insights for policymakers to reevaluate nomination regulations to encourage healthier and more democratic political competition in regional elections.

The Militaristic Pandemic Response of Duterte: How Did It Affect Social Movements?

This article is based on extensive original research that aims to examine how the oppositionmovement against Duterte employed various mechanisms of political engagement, shaped by theadministration’s lockdown-centric response amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the pandemicimpacted individual social mobility, motivations and forms of political participation were stillobserved both physically and in the digital world. The study employs a qualitative approach, drawingon data from secondary sources to analyze the interplay between the administration’s governancestrategies and the actions of political interest groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. By usingrational choice theory, we gain a clearer understanding of Duterte's perceived interests and goals,as well as the costs and benefits of resistance during the pandemic lockdown. The findings showthat the Duterte administration's policies curtailed physical forms of political engagement, oftendescribed as “militarized” and “police-centric,” thus shaping opposition dynamics and forms ofdissent. Despite this, the civil society fostered alternative spaces for resistance, such as communitypantries and digital activism. While existing literature has largely focused on democratic backslidingin the context of combating COVID-19, the novelty of this study is its nuanced exploration of thepracticality of militaristic measures. Although the Duterte administration’s militarized response didnot achieve the expected outcomes in terms of managing the health crisis and suppressingopposition, it still represented the most practical strategy for controlling pandemic dissent. Theseinsights contribute to understanding how government responses to the COVID-19 crisis influencethe behavior of both the state and civil society.

Kebijakan Nota Kesepahaman Pengawasan Partisipatif BAWASLU dan JPS Sumatera Barat pada Pemilihan Umum Tahun 2024

The General Election Supervisory Agency (BAWASLU) has several limitations in achieving electoral justice technically, namely personnel limitations and the vast geographical scope of the supervisory area. Then the challenge becomes even more complicated in the simultaneous 2024 elections, which place digital media as the primary space for political campaigns. Also, in the policy of the Memorandum of Understanding for participatory oversight with the West Sumatra Editors' Network (JPS), 10 out of 16 JPS media outlets placed political advertisements on their respective websites or news portals, indicating that the media have political tendencies. The goal of this research is to examine the implementation of the policy and the news coverage it generates. The research method used is quasi-qualitative with a policy analysis framework. Data collection was conducted through observation, interviews, and document studies with key informants from BAWASLU West Sumatra and JPS. In addition, this research is supported by the framing analysis method to see how the news in participatory oversight policies is framed and constructed to encourage active public participation in election oversight. The results of this study show the role of each institution, with BAWASLU West Sumatra playing the role of agenda-setting in news coverage by determining and providing information, while JPS constructs and publishes the news. Then, the results of the framing analysis show that the JPS media predominantly uses event frames (43%) and idea frames (43%), while the low figurative frame (14%) indicates the media's independence from political interests. However, the tone or mood of the news coverage is dominated by a hopeful tone (73.5%) compared to an advisory tone (21.8%), thus tending to build optimism rather than encouraging direct public participation. In general, this news pattern directs JPS more towards the public relations function of BAWASLU rather than the educational function to encourage active public participation in election supervision.

Anti-Politics Behaviour among Young Malaysian Chinese

Objective: The study investigated the anti-politics behaviour of Chinese youth in Malaysia. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 Chinese participants aged 18 to 40 in Malaysia. They were from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The interview questions included frequency of reading newspapers, and having political conversations with friends, parents and educators. They were also asked about their interest in political speeches, and political involvement. Thematic analysis was conducted for the 85,000-word interview transcript. Results: The interview results revealed that the participants read newspaper articles and social media postings to confirm their pre-existing opinions on political issues. All the participants read Chinese newspapers because they were Chinese-educated, but only three participants were politically informed. The agents of political socialisation were their parents rather than peers and educators. Only one-third of the young Chinese participants read political news, and engaged in political conversations. They were likely to vote, hope for change, and believe that politics is a force for food. On the other hand, two-thirds of the participants were not interested in politics. The anti-politics behaviour was due to the politicians’ negative behaviour and observations of dirty tactics in politics. Most of the participants exhibited non-participation without democracy, and there were few participants in the political participation category, whether negative evaluation or positive evaluation. Conclusion: The study indicates that information black-out contributed to apathy of Chinese youth towards political participation and the disengagement may limit Chinese representation in the political structures of Malaysia in the future.

The results of the 2024 parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan and the modernization of electoral processes

The purpose of this study is to analyze the specifics of the parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan in 2024 in the context of ongoing political reforms and democratization of the country, with an emphasis on assessing the effectiveness of the new mixed electoral system, the level of political competition, civic participation, and transparency of the electoral process. Special attention is given to the introduction of a mixed electoral system that combines proportional and majoritarian representation, reflecting a significant shift from previous electoral frameworks. This mixed system aims to balance the representation of diverse political interests while maintaining stability within the government. Furthermore, the adoption of technological innovations like electronic voting and optimized ballot designs is discussed. Positive changes aimed at increasing transparency in the electoral process are also highlighted, particularly the enhanced involvement of women and ethnic minorities in politics. The efforts to ensure that various societal groups are represented in the parliament are a crucial aspect of these elections, as they signify a move towards a more inclusive political culture. Initiatives designed to encourage civic participation, such as public forums and awareness campaigns about the electoral process, demonstrate a commitment to engaging citizens in governance. At the same time, key challenges are identified, including limited political competition, deficiencies in civic election monitoring, and strict restrictions on campaign activities. The study concludes with the necessity for further improvements to the electoral system to strengthen democratic institutions, foster political pluralism in electoral processes. It is imperative that the government addresses these challenges by promoting a freer political landscape, ensuring the integrity of election monitoring, and protecting the rights of candidates to campaign effectively. Only through these measures can Uzbekistan move towards a truly democratic society where the voices of all citizens are heard and valued in the political arena.

Immigration Policy Solutions Are Achieved Through US Political Interests, Economic Market Manipulation, And Legal Rulings

Immigration Policy Solutions Are Achieved Through US Political Interests, Economic Market Manipulation, And Legal Rulings

The U.S. Withdrawal from UNESCO under the Reagan Administration: A Multilevel Analysis

The United States positions itself as a global leader and upholder of the world order whose pivotal role in the system of international relations is legitimized through its active participation in multilateral institutions. At the same time, it was the United States which resorted to unilateral actions more often than any other state, exerted significant diplomatic and financial leverage on international organizations to achieve its national interests, undermining the very principle of multilateral cooperation. This inconsistency has been most clearly manifested in the U.S. conflict behavior towards UNESCO — an integral part of the UN system, which focuses on addressing the global issues of the present. In terms of providing a better understanding of the logic behind the formation of the U.S. policy towards this organization and to the UN in general, the case of the first U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO in 1984 under the Reagan administration is of particular interest. On the basis of K. Waltz’s methodology of multilevel analysis the article reconstructs the chronology of the decision-making process, identifies its internal and external determinants, and outlines its key actors. The first section focuses on the systemic constraints that forced the Reagan administration to reconsider its attitude towards the UN system in general and UNESCO in particular. The second section examines the domestic political determinants of the withdrawal decision, centered around the results of complex bargaining between the key players in the American political system, government agencies and interest groups. The third section outlines the motivation and politicalpsychological portraits of individual politicians who were personally interested in pulling USA out of UNESCO. In this regard, the emphasis is given to the figure of the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs G. Newell. In conclusion, the author argues that the withdrawal decision was deliberately made by ideologically motivated politicians in the Reagan administration, despite the alternative voices from Congress, a number of government agencies and civil society. It became a sort of response of the conservative-minded American establishment to changing international status quo, including the realignment of power in the UN specialized agencies.

Islamist Terrorism in Poland—A Threat or Securitization for Political Interests?

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article was to present the research findings on the actual threat posed by Islamist terrorism and provide a summary of the results. The necessity for such research stems from the decision of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) to discontinue the publication of annual reports on its activities. Consequently, information regarding the undertaken activities and, more crucially, their outcomes are dispersed across various sources, posing a significant challenge for comprehensive understanding and synthesis. The second objective was to scrutinize Poland’s key strategic documents to ascertain the extent to which Islamist terrorism and associated migration from Middle Eastern and North African countries are identified as substantial threats to state security. A comparative analysis of these results with the situation in regional countries is also conducted to discern whether this is an anomaly or a phenomenon of similar contexts. Ultimately, this article provides a form of voice on the necessity of research on terrorism, particularly from a critical perspective.

Sikap Skeptik Rasul Thomas Sebagai Model Dealektika Kritis Di Era Post-Truth

Members of modern society receive a lot of news that is not true or even lies, but strangely, society easily accepts the news. This phenomenon occurs in a modern era that experts call post-truth. Initially, this phenomenon was used more for political interests but then spread to various areas of society's life. There are similarities between post-truth and hoax news (fake news) because both are wrapped in shocking headlines and are able to attract public attention, even though they are not balanced with data and facts, maybe even using fake data whose truth is unclear. This paper is a literature study with a descriptive-critical approach to the sceptical attitude of the Apostle Thomas and its implications for society in the post-truth era. The main question of this research is “how does Thomas’s perspective become a dialectical-critical paradigm in dealing with the problem of hoaxes in modern times?” The main objective of this paper is to explain Thomas’ sceptical attitude as a model of critical reasoning dialectics as an inspiration for assessing the problem of hoaxes in the post-truth era.

Beyond Gender: Exploring the Intersectional Dynamics in Political Interest Among Youth

One of the most persistent and puzzling inequalities across Western democracies is that women are less interested in politics than men. We know that political interest is developed—or not—at an early age, and that it becomes a key determinant of political involvement during adulthood. Due to its early development, recent research suggests focusing on gendered political socialization patterns to understand why women display lower levels of political interest than men. A recent systematic literature review on political interest confirms that the gap is already present at an early age. In addition, the review shows that research and evidence on the potential intersectionality of inequalities on young people’s political interest is surprisingly scarce. In this article we present novel evidence on the interaction of gender with an additional source of political inequality: immigration background. In doing so we use the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) dataset, a longitudinal survey that follows a sample of adolescents with foreign-born parents that can be compared to natives in four countries. The analyses follow the latest recommendations regarding the use of interactions to evaluate claims of intersectionality. The results of our preliminary tests indicate that girls with an immigrant background are more interested in politics than girls without personal or family immigration background. Furthermore, the results are compatible with an intersectional approach by which being both a girl and having an immigration background has an independent positive relationship with political interest. Finally, we do not find significant differences between first- and second-generation immigrant girls.

Churches Political Participation in Indonesia: The Case Study of GKII

Indonesian churches face challenges and opportunities to engage in politics in certain situations. Responding to those, GKII through its teaching and discipleship demonstrates the political attitudes, beliefs and ethics regarding its political involvement in Indonesia. This research was conducted using a qualitative research approach to achieve the research objectives. The results show that GKII, as a church institution, is starting to be involved in nation-building after being inactive decades before. Practically, politics is the formation and distribution of power in society, which includes, among other things, the decision-making process, especially in state life. Therefore, GKII acknowledges and realises that its people, as church members and Indonesian citizens, have political rights, responsibilities and obligations towards the state. Every aspect of social, national, and state life is regulated by the political process in which the results are implemented accordingly. Politics is an integral part of humans as moral and social creatures with a divine mandate to rule. This implies that humans are both political and spiritual creatures. Religious institutions, such as churches, can mobilise people politically and act as intermediaries between individuals and the state. GKII also believes that the involvement of the past biblical figures in their world of politics can be a strong example for church members today. Those biblical figures and teachings have been deemed models by some Christians for their political involvement.

Kesetaraan Gender dan Representasi Politik: Perjuangan Partisipasi Perempuan dalam Politik di Kabupaten Nagan Raya, Aceh

Article 2 of Law Number 7 of 2008 concerning Political Parties jo. Article 173 Paragraph 2 of Law Number 7 of 2018 concerning General Elections mandates that political parties must include at least 30% women in their management and establishment; however, the practice of this target is not being met. The problem of this research focuses on the low participation of women in politics, both according to positive law and Islamic law, as well as the involvement of women in politics in the Nagan Raya DPRK through a fiqh siyasah analysis. This study aims to identify the level of women's political participation from the perspective of law and Islamic law and to explore the factors influencing women's political involvement in Nagan Raya. The research uses a qualitative descriptive method with a statutory approach and descriptive analysis. The research findings indicate that women's participation and position in politics are critical to the effectiveness of their role in policy formulation and decision-making within public institutions. The lack of women's participation in politics is due to the deeply ingrained patriarchal culture in society, which results in gender inequality between men and women. Women's representation in parliament to advocate for their rights and interests in decision-making or policy formulation remains very low. The contribution of this research is to provide insights into the importance of women's involvement in politics and its impact on creating more inclusive policies. This study also highlights the need to address social and cultural barriers to increasing women's political participation in Indonesia. .

The Regulation of ASN Neutrality and Political Rights in Regional Head Elections: Legal Challenges and Solutions

The issue of violations of neutrality among State Civil Apparatus (ASN) has sparked public discourse about revoking ASN's political rights. A 2020 survey by the Election and Democracy Syndicate (SPD) revealed that 28% of respondents supported revoking ASN’s political rights, similar to the restrictions applied to the military and police (TNI/Polri). This proposal is seen as a solution to address persistent violations of ASN neutrality, as ASN are currently allowed to vote in regional head elections but prohibited from expressing political preferences publicly. This study aims to analyze the regulation of ASN voting rights in regional head elections, using normative legal research with a statute and case approach. It examines laws and regulations relevant to ASN neutrality and reviews cases of neutrality violations in regional elections. The findings reveal that ASN neutrality is regulated under Article 2 letter f of the Regional Election Law, emphasizing that ASN must remain impartial and avoid influence. Articles 119, 123, and 70 reinforce restrictions on political involvement by requiring resignation for those running for office. These regulations ensure legal certainty, efficiency, and justice by preventing power abuses stemming from personal interests. Strengthening these provisions is critical to uphold democratic integrity in regional elections.

Putting ‘filter bubble’ effects to the test: evidence on the polarizing impact of ideology-based news recommendation from two experiments in Germany and the U.S.

ABSTRACT Algorithmic news recommender systems (NRS) are present in many digital platforms. A decade after Eli Pariser introduced the infamous ‘filter bubble’ hypothesis, empirical evidence challenges the assumption that recommendation algorithms predominantly create homogeneous opinion environments. Studies indicate that algorithmic platform use may amplify users’ political polarization. Whether the link between platform use and polarization can be causally explained by ideological news filtering, however, is still an unanswered question as rigid causal designs to test the notion of ‘filter bubble’ effects are still largely lacking. To fill this gap, we conducted two experimental studies in Germany (n = 1,786) and the U.S. (n = 1,306) with running NRS selecting news items based on the political orientation and political interest of its users. For both national contexts, results indicate that an NRS with a bias towards users’ political preferences increases ideological polarization among politically moderate individuals, supporting the notion of ‘filter bubble’ effects for this group. No such pattern could be found for affective polarization. Yet, in the German data, affective polarization among moderate users was reduced by a politically balanced NRS (as compared to a randomized news diet), while the same NRS increased affective polarization of politically extreme participants. We discuss the democratic implications of these findings against the backdrop of increasing digital news consumption.

Young Voters, Abstainers and Unregistered: Generation Z Turnout in a Compulsory System

While young people’s electoral behaviour in voluntary voting systems has been extensively studied, we know little about this in compulsory systems. To investigate, we examine the drivers of voting, not voting and not registering of Generation Z youths in Australia, which has long had compulsory registration and voting. We argue that Gen-Z voters, abstainers (registered, but who do not vote) and unregistered will differ according to their socio-demographics, socio-political engagement and political attitudes, following a ‘hierarchy of disengagement’. Drawing on original survey data from around 1500 Gen-Z Australians, we find that non-voters are distinguished by their unemployment status, lower political interest and weaker faith in democracy. Among non-voters, the differences between abstainers and unregistered mostly relate to their socio-economic backgrounds. Finally, we show that the most common reason for voting is not to get fined, while almost a third of unregistered Gen-Z citizens attribute their behaviour to lack of knowledge.