Issues In Political Science Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of Political Participation in Chinese and Western Democratic Theories

Political participation is the core of modern democratic politics and the standard and measure of political development, an enduring classic issue in political science, and plays an important role in national governance. On the basis of reviewing the views on political participation in Chinese and western democratic theories, this paper will make a comparative analysis of the connotation of political participation in Chinese and western democratic theories by using literature research and comparative analysis, and explore the essential characteristics and similarities and differences of political participation in Chinese and western democratic theories. Finally, future trends of political participation theory research in China and the West is prospected, with a view to providing reference for further study of political participation theory.

The Maltese single transferable vote experience: a case study of gerrymandering?

AbstractRe-drawing the electoral boundaries to provide benefit to one particular political party and thereby damaging the principle of representation in democracy has been a core issue in political science in the recent years. For years social scientists have been advocating the idea of measuring or preventing the potential for damage that may arise from the existence of the above-mentioned redistricting process. Following this discussion, we investigate the possible gerrymandering phenomenon that might have arisen, or whether there are any asymmetries or partisan biases due to boundary delimitation of the electoral constituencies in the case of the Maltese general elections. From the evidence of various statistical tests and simulations, our conclusion is that we find no evidence of gerrymandering in the 2013 and 2017 Maltese general elections.

Устойчивость политической системы Республики Казахстан (Индексный анализ)

The problem of the sustainability of the political system is one of the most pressing issues in Political Science. The wave of social and political upheavals that took place in the 21st century in various countries requires studying the factors that determine the ability of modern political systems to maintain their essential features in case of undesirable conditions. Today it is already obvious that the sustainability of the political system, mechanisms and principles of its functioning depends not only and, perhaps, not as much on the socio-economic sphere, the development of democratic institutions or the presence/absence of a destructive external influence, as it is often assumed. Rather, intra-systemic characteristics play a key role. The multidimensionality of the manifestation and the multifactorial nature of the formation of stable political systems not only determine the possibility of a huge number of definitions of sustainability, but also give rise to considerable difficulties in measuring it. The authors analyze the political system of Kazakhstan using the sustainability index that they developed earlier. The study shows that throughout most of the post-Soviet history of the country, the level of the sustainability of its political system was above average, and now Kazakhstan already surpasses Russia and Ukraine in this parameter and is approaching Belarus. Moreover, if the existing trends continue, the sustainability of the political system of Kazakhstan in the short term will only increase. According to the authors’ conclusion, this trend is hard to reverse unless there is a force majeure in the global economy or new military and political threats emerge, which the republic will not be able to tackle without resorting to the help of allies.

Contemporary issues in political science

Political science is the study of politics and power from domestic, international, and comparative perspectives. The modern view of government, state and politics in the study of political science is a product of extensive research and phenomenological analysis of the political economic and cultural events that gradually changing in the 21st century. But now day’s political science suffering some contemporary issues related to world and domestic politics its issues are related to Terrorism, Naxalism, corruption, Communalism, Political Civilization Election malpractice so many issues are related to human social, political, cultural and economical life.

Rethinking the incumbency effect. Radicalization of governing populist parties in East-Central-Europe. A case study of Hungary

ABSTRACTThe paper focuses on the issue of populist parties’ ‘incumbency challenge’ in government position. While populism became a key issue in political science during the past years, research projects focusing on the adaptation of populist parties to government positions are comparatively rare. Based on the research of West-European right-wing populist parties, scholars of the topic often argue that incumbency results in adaptation and mainstreaming processes for populist parties and in the weakening of their populist discourse and claims. The paper conducts a case study analysis of the Hungarian populist radical right party Fidesz, one of the most successful populist parties in East-Central-Europe. The research operationalizes the performative and discursive theory of populism, and analyses the discourse maintained by Fidesz during its two consecutive government period between 2010 and 2018. Based on the research results, the paper ultimately argues that the externalization of the populist ‘them and us’ dichotomy allowed a strategy to maintain, or even radicalize, populist discourse in government position. These findings challenge the dominant stream of populism literature stating that long-term incumbency of populist parties either results in electoral losses, or in adaptation and mainstreaming processes weakening the populist rhetoric. Even if this ‘externalization strategy’ might not be exclusively used by populist parties, it can be identified as a viable strategy for populists in government to overcome the incumbency challenge.

In defense of a multilingual political science

Linguistic diversity and multilingualism have implications for our understanding of politics that should be debated more thoroughly in connection with key epistemological and methodological issues in political science. Finding an appropriate approach to the linguistic frame of all political activities, and of the analysis of these activities, remains a crucial concern for those scholars in our discipline who are convinced that understanding politics requires understanding political culture, and that political cultures tend to overlap to a significant extent with linguistic cultures. From this perspective, the dominance of English in scholarly communication at the global level must be counterbalanced by a strong commitment to fostering and sustaining a multilingual ethos in our immediate academic environment.

Introduction to subnational policy: from warnings to approval

Today a comprehensive analysis of political processes is impossible without use of a subnational comparative method. Subnational issue in political science passes three stages of development and now appears to be as an independent subject of scientific analysis. During a long period of time researchers analyze political processes in state exclusively at national level. There is idea that any manifestation of political life in a diminished spatial scale is only a projection of a national political life. It symbolizes phenomenon of the main in theory of politi- cal science. The main array of works in second half of XX century, which relating to democratization, are from a national point of view. Subnational issues have obliquely arisen in studies, which characterized by fragmentary comprehension, remarks or mentioning. This conceptual content characterizes devel- opment of subnational issue at first stage in 70's and 80's of XX century, a representation stage, that symbolizes first meeting of paradigm of that time and phenomenon that did not adapt, but existentially is always alongside with it. This whole-national in comparative political science changes in last decade of XX cen- tury, when it begins to explore various aspects of subnational politics, namely: territorial extension of processes of democratization. The first decade of XXI century is characterized by presence of research that representes an increased scientific and theoretical interest in subnational politics, supported by its own methods for measuring and classifying cases within subnational units of analysis. In 90's of XX century by middle of second decade of XXI century, which is chronologically second interval, stage of contact, is outlined in developing a subnational issue in comparative political science. It is a moment of communication between political practice and conceptual embryo (subna- tional comparative method), which is trying to understand it. In addition to approval of methodological issues and a large number of studies on subnational politics, transformation of paradigm bias from whole-national to monism becomes an important change. The monism is embodied in thesis that only unit of subnational analysis is subject of federative states that have a certain legally defined political independence, as opposed to administrative-territorial parts of unitary countries. The research trend of last four years (2014-2018) reflectes new practical implications for using comparative methodology in subnational politics. Studies show that monism overcomes today because work concerns unitary states in one or another way. The assertion of a subnational issue crystallizes in comparative science today and enteres into a stage, stage of collaboration, which, firstly, is based on dynamism of methodological principles of a problem, and, secondly, on autonomy of studying one's own subject.

К вопросу о теоретических аспектах изучения политических элит малых государств

The article provides a theoretical analysis of political elites in small states. The author uses comparative analysis and descriptive approach to demonstrate main challenges that small countries ruling class is facing. The article states that regardless of widespread use of small state concept in political science and international relations theory its definition is still essentially contested. The author elaborates on the quantitative and qualitative approached to the given notion. The conclusion is that small states are not a “small copy” of great powers, and their foreign policy actions are driven by a specific and unique logic. The main feature of this logic is dependency, and asymmetrical relationship with major powers. This shapes the specifics of small state elites’ political preferences and interests. The article highlights the relevancy of theoretical scrutiny of activity and behavior of political elites of small states. Presented analysis of various cases of political elites’ actions and strategies can to contribute to elite theory. Mainly, contribution is possible in the study of interconnection between internal and external (international) political factors that are influencing actions of elite. This area of research is especially relevant at the current stage of elite theory development. Globally, increase in number of small states, expansion of their toolkit of influence in international system, and erosion of boundary between domestic and foreign policy of states can be considered as a burning issue in Political Science. Also “factor of size” in the field of elite studies in different individual states and interstate associations can further contribute to the discussion.

The Dynamics of State Policy Liberalism, 1936–2014

AbstractApplying a dynamic latent‐variable model to data on 148 policies collected over eight decades (1936–2014), we produce the first yearly measure of the policy liberalism of U.S. states. Our dynamic measure of state policy liberalism marks an important advance over existing measures, almost all of which are purely cross‐sectional and thus cannot be used to study policy change. We find that, in the aggregate, the policy liberalism of U.S. states steadily increased between the 1930s and 1970s and then largely plateaued. The policy liberalism of most states has remained stable in relative terms, though several states have shifted considerably over time. We also find surprisingly little evidence of multidimensionality in state policy outputs. Our new estimates of state policy liberalism have broad application to the study of political development, representation, accountability, and other important issues in political science.

Scientific Literacy in Undergraduate Political Science Education: The Current State of Affairs, an Agenda for Action, and Proposed Fundamental Benchmarks

ABSTRACTPolitical science is falling behind a broad movement in the United States that seeks to reform the teaching of scientific literacy in undergraduate education. Indeed, political science is far behind that movement because the discipline does not have a collective commitment to science education at the undergraduate level. This article discusses prominent efforts in this reform movement and assesses the state of science education in our discipline. The authors propose an agenda for action on this issue in political science as well as fundamental educational benchmarks for undergraduate political science literacy.

Noxious or democratizing help? Foreign aid and the Arab awakening

Foreign aid is a hotly debated issue in political science. Its normative evaluations range from very positive to strictly negative. Recent studies have shed light on the difference between effects of foreign aid in Cold War and post-Cold War periods, as well as a crucial distinction between democratic and authoritarian aid. This article examines the relationship between foreign aid and democratization in countries affected by the Arab Awakening. Democratic and authoritarian aid flows of 1990-2009 are compared and cluster analysis is performed to group countries according to received aid. Results obtained show that such statistical computation groups countries more or less in accord with the processes of regime change that they have undergone during the Arab Awakening. These findings further support the thesis that effects of foreign aid depend on the type of donor states. If more aid came from democratic sources the country is more likely to experience regime change and if its funding came from authoritarian sources, the regime becomes more entrenched. This research, however, does not fully answer the question, whether aid itself influences the likelihood of transition or democratic countries are more likely to support those countries that already are on the edge of transition. It seems that the former theory is better supported, but further research is needed to solve this problem.

A NEW MEASURE FOR PARTY COHERENCE: APPLYING A PHYSICS-BASED CONCEPT TO THE SWISS PARTY SYSTEM

The paper revives a theoretical definition of party coherence as being composed of two basic elements, cohesion and factionalism, to propose and apply a novel empirical measure based on spin physics. The simultaneous analysis of both components using a single measurement concept is applied to data representing the political beliefs of candidates in the Swiss general elections of 2003 and 2007, proposing a connection between the coherence of the beliefs party members hold and the assessment of parties being at risk of splitting. We also compare our measure with established polarization measures and demonstrate its advantage with respect to multi-dimensional data that lack clear structure. Furthermore, we outline how our analysis supports the distinction between bottom-up and top-down mechanisms of party splitting. In this way, we are able to turn the intuition of coherence into a defined quantitative concept that, additionally, offers a methodological basis for comparative research of party coherence. Our work serves as an example of how a complex systems approach allows to get a new perspective on a long-standing issue in political science.

Measuring institutions

This article presents a new dataset of indicators of political freedom, property rights and political instability for Zimbabwe for the period 1946 to 2005. The dataset is constructed by systematically coding the three concepts of political freedom, property rights and political instability along a multitude of dimensions. The lengthy time coverage of the dataset allows country-specific econometric analysis to evaluate generalizing propositions about the effects of political institutions on economic outcomes. The dataset also contributes to the dynamic analysis of the effects of political institutions on conflict, a contentious issue in political science. Correlations between the new measures reveal that while political instability has a strong and negative relationship with property rights, it has no significant relationship with political freedom. The finding supports the notion that political conflict is significantly higher in the in-between category of semi-democracy than at either end of the democracy scale. The validity of the dataset is supported by its strong correlations with other conceptually and operationally different measures of political institutions. The new dataset has begun to be employed in country-specific time-series studies of the link between institutions and economic outcomes. Two core results are that property rights influence the volumes of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Zimbabwe and that negative spillover effects of poor institutional environments can occur between neighbouring countries. It is feasible to extend the geographical coverage of the dataset by applying our methodological framework to other countries.

The Economic Origins of Democracy Reconsidered

The effects of inequality and financial globalization on democratization are central issues in political science. The relationships among economic inequality, capital mobility, and democracy differ in the late twentieth century for financially integrated autocracies vs. closed autocracies. Financial integration enables native elites to create diversified international asset portfolios. Asset diversification decreases both elite stakes in and collective action capacity for opposing democracy. Financial integration also changes the character of capital assets—including land—by altering the uses of capital assets and the nationality of owners. It follows that financially integrated autocracies, especially those with high levels of inequality, are more likely to democratize than unequal financially closed autocracies. We test our argument for a panel of countries in the post–World War II period. We find a quadratic hump relationship between inequality and democracy for financially closed autocracies, but an upward sloping relationship between inequality and democratization for financially integrated autocracies.

Specyfika rosyjskiego autorytaryzmu

One of the significant theoretical issues in political science involves the accurate definition of the political regime in modern Russia, the description of its mechanisms, and outlining its specific nature and developmental perspectives. At present, these matters are somewhat chaotic for two reasons. Firstly, researchers are cautious in applying equivocal notions to a system which is both ambiguous and highly dynamic, and consequently changeable. Secondly, there is a multitude of research constructs seeking a new definition, or at least a new conception, in order to describe the reality of transforming Russia.

Size and Equal Opportunity in the Democratic Process: The Effect of the Danish Local Government Reform on Inequality in Internal Political Efficacy

A classic issue in political science is how the size of political entities affects democracy. We argue that municipal size may affect local internal political efficacy negatively in two ways: first, as existing studies show, greater distance between citizens and politicians in large municipalities may diminish citizens’ belief in their ability to influence politics. Second, it may cause greater inequality in internal political efficacy for different social groups. We use the comprehensive Danish structural reform of 2007 to examine the latter issue in a way that solves various methodological problems associated with cross sectional analysis of size effects. It turns out that there is no unequivocal development in the inequality of different social groups’ sense of efficacy. Hence, although increased size leads to decreased internal political efficacy generally, it does not systematically increase inequality.

Constraining the state's ability to employ force: the standing army debates, 1697–99

Abstract:Britain's Glorious Revolution of 1688 is one of the most widely studied cases of institutional change. Recent institutional analyses of the Glorious Revolution, however, have failed to address one of the central issues in political science: control of the state's comparative advantage in violence. This paper examines this issue through analysis of the standing army debates of the late 1690s. Participants in the debates disputed whether a standing army or a militia would be the most effective institutional arrangement to guard against threats from abroad and tyranny at home. Both sides of the debate analyzed the effects of a standing army in terms of the incentives that it created for soldiers, citizens, the monarch, and foreign governments.

Política externa chilena e espectro ideológico político-partidário: um estudo sobre a Câmara dos Deputados (2002-2006)

The influence of political parties on decisions made by members of Congress is a hotly debated issue in political science. In foreign policy, which is usually considered nonpartisan, the matter is even more inconclusive. The current study analyzes all the roll-call votes taken on foreign policy issues in the 2002-2006 legislature of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies. After tracing a spatial map of foreign policy preferences among Chilean Deputies using the Nominate statistical package, we concluded that the ideology of the legislator's political party is a predictive factor for his or her foreign policy behavior. Our findings indicate that the way Chilean legislators structure their preferences on foreign policy issues does not differ significantly from the way they shape their domestic policy preferences.

Pluralism and the Pathos of Distance (or How to Relax with Style): Connolly, Agonistic Respect and the Limits of Political Theory

This article addresses Connolly's project in democratic theory against the background of Aristotle's reflection on the nature and limits of ethical and political theory and, within this context, focuses specifically on Connolly's appropriation of Nietzsche's ethos of agonistic respect as integral to a pluralist ethics of democracy. The Aristotelian framing makes clear the general difficulties that Connolly confronts and the pressures that this places on the rhetorical character of his project, while the issue of Connolly's appropriation of Nietzsche allows a focus on a particular lacuna or gap in Connolly's project concerning the relation between pluralism and the pathos of distance. It is argued not only that the diagnosed problem in Connolly's use of Nietzsche can be overcome through resources that Nietzsche makes available, but also that overcoming this problem provides criteria on the basis of which Connolly's project can be more closely aligned to issues in political science concerning institutional design and political policy.

Making Political Science Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research, and Method

Making Political Science Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research, and Method, Sanford F. Schram and Brian Caterino, New York: New York University Press, 2006, pp. 304.Making Political Science Matter is a response to Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How It Can Succeed Again by Bent Flyvbjerg, Professor of Planning at Aalborg University, Denmark (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). Making Political Science Matter is a collection of fourteen essays on methodological issues in political science. Its overarching aim is “to move the conversation forward in the hopes of seeing the possibility of a rejuvenated political science” (11).