Political Party Leaders Research Articles

Leading change by protecting group identity in the 2019 Canadian general election

AbstractOften leaders who attempt to enact large‐scale changes face resistance from group members who perceive the change as a drastic alteration of the core identity features of their group. Core changes to a group's identity can create a sense of collective identity discontinuity, indicating the group's sense of “who we are” is fundamentally altered. Leaders can circumvent this by emphasizing how the proposed change is consistent with the group's identity, although this may be influenced by whether group members are uncertain and perceive the leader as group prototypical. Two preregistered studies measured the degree to which participants felt self‐uncertain and perceived their in‐group political party leaders (Study 1) and newly reelected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Study 2) as group prototypical and as promoting collective identity continuity before (N = 408) and after (N = 209) the 2019 Canadian General Election. Study 1 results supported the preregistered hypotheses, and Study 2 extended these findings by exploring the hypothesized interaction from Study 1 in the postelection context. We discuss these results in the social identity framework, implicating the importance of a leader's promotion of collective identity continuity in promoting change during uncertain times.

‘To the surprise of absolutely no one’: Gendered political leadership change in Northern Ireland

The office of political party leader remains one that women rarely occupy. In the largest comparative study of party leadership to date, only 10.8% were women. One region which has made significant advances in this area is Northern Ireland. Since 2015, the two largest parties, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party, have experienced a rapid feminisation of their leadership. Such a development is particularly remarkable given Northern Ireland’s historically poor record on gender equality. This article explores the puzzle of gendered leadership change in Northern Ireland to reveal that the transition was primarily facilitated through the parties’ informal practices rather than embedded structural change. In doing so, it demonstrates the relative importance of party- and system-level factors on women’s political presence. As a power-sharing democracy, this case also provides comparative insights for those interested in addressing persistently low levels of female representation in post-conflict settings.

Women role in soft power of international relations: Turkey case

Worldwide, women are still under-represented in leadership positions. Female heads of state or government are still a minority,although the number has increased over the past 20 years. Currently, only approximately one in four members of lower or single housesof parliament worldwide is a woman. In 2018, the number of women presiding over houses of national parliaments was 55. Women arestill largely excluded from the executive branches of government. They are also under-represented among senior-level civil servantsand seldom represent their governments at international level. A number of factors appear to contribute to this under-representation:women are seldom leaders of major political parties, which are instrumental in forming future political leaders. Gender norms andexpectations also reduce the pool of women putting themselves forward for selection as electoral candidates. Women s representationin world politics and decision-making processes indicate main problems based on different spheres in international relations. In thisarticle, while analyzing the role of women in the society first of all, some of the concepts, processes will be overviewed. The articlesexplores that gender discrimination lead underrepresentation of women in international relations. Women s role and place in decisionmakingmechanisms will be evaluated in the gender indicators.Women in government, including prominent examples such as Hillary Clinton, Christine Lagarde, Angela Merkel and MichelleBachelet of Chile, accelerate the modern women’s movement. In 2010, the United Nations took the historic step of championingwomen’s rights when the General Assembly created the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women,better known as UN Women.

An Experiment in Candidate Selection

Are ordinary citizens or political party leaders better positioned to select candidates? While the American primary system lets citizens choose, most democracies rely instead on party officials to appoint or nominate candidates. The consequences of these distinct design choices are unclear: while officials are often better informed about candidate qualifications, they may value traits, like party loyalty or willingness to pay for the nomination, at odds with identifying the best performer. We partnered with both major political parties in Sierra Leone to experimentally vary how much say voters have in selecting Parliamentary candidates. Estimates suggest that more democratic procedures increase the likelihood that parties select voters’ most preferred candidates and favor candidates with stronger records of public goods provision. (JEL D72, H41, O17)

The Culture of Transactional Politics in Indonesia's Gubernatorial Elections Since Reformation

Since initiating political reform in 1998, Indonesia has sought to restructure its political institutions and processes as a means of reinforcing public autonomy. This article explores the three direct gubernatorial elections that have occurred in North Sumatra since the process was first implemented, namely in 2008, 2013, and 2018. We interviewed key actors, including gubernatorial candidates, political party leaders, and electoral agents, and analyzed the cultural practices of corruption and bribery. The first three local elections’ examinations of North Sumatra reveal that transactional politics occurred through the practice of corruption and exchange of public offices, thereby having a deleterious effect on public services of the North Sumatra Provincial Government. Moreover, local culture tends to accept to provision and receipt of bribes and gratuities during local elections. This study contributes to the discourse on the beliefs and practices that go against the values of democracy and threaten established political systems.

Reasserting hegemonic masculinity: women's leadership within the far right

Abstract The emergence of a global far right has been seen as a significant development in recent years and as a challenge to wider forms of neo-liberal globalization. While much has been written about its significance and representation, little has been written on either the gendered nature of the far right and the role that women have played as actors within it. Though there still remains a gender gap in terms of the support and participation of the far right, there has been an increasing rise of leaders and figureheads within the respective movements themselves. This article argues that despite the emergence of these women, the far right looks to construct an extreme form of masculinity in which anti-feminism appears as a significant part of its overall strategy. By engaging with both the Gramscian understandings of hegemonic construction and subsequent notions of masculinist hegemony, it argues that the appearance of women both as leaders and ‘organic intellectuals’ within respective national movements allows them to gain greater legitimacy. Rather than ‘feminizing’ or indeed moderating the form of far-right narratives, women had looked to re-inforce such extreme masculinity by adding to existing understandings of anti-immigration, nationalism and in particular of the meaning of ‘anti-feminism’. Thus, recent leaders of far-right political parties appear alongside media columnists and ‘celebrities’ in contributing to the construction of extreme masculinity with the far right.

Политический кризис в Грузии

The Parliament of Georgia operates in a one-party mode. Opposition parties boycott its work demanding annulment of the results of the parliamentary elections due to mass fraud. The ruling “Georgian Dream” is trying to return the opposition to the parliament, offering to discuss and adopt a new election law. On the other hand, the Georgian government threatens to deprive the parties that refuse to work in the parliament of financial support. In the post-election period the top leadership of several major political parties has changed. The founder of the “Georgian Dream” B. Ivanishvili has left politics. N.Melia became the new leader of the United National Movement. After his arrest the internal political situation in Georgia has deteriorated.

Why Political Parties don’t and do Matter in Local Government Elections in Indonesia: A Manado Case

ABSTRACT Introduction: Despite decentralization devolving increasing decision-making powers to subnational governments across Asia, the subject of local-level elections has not received anywhere near the academic attention afforded to national elections. This article aims to make a contribution to filling this gap in the literature on the dynamics of local election by examining the political parties’ activities in the 2010 local executive election in Indonesia through the detailed case study of Manado City. Materials and Methods: This article used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies for a case study of the Manado local government election in 2010. These methods include direct observation which had been done during the election in 2010, review of relevant media articles and books, collection of statistics from relevant government organizations and interviews. The latter comprised the most important and novel aspect of the research. The interviews were of two types: First, there was a quantitative survey of 100 selected voter respondents using questionnaire with 22 closed-ended questions. Second, there were semi-structured interviews with the local leaders of political parties, the heads of campaign teams, the candidates, the members of the local electoral organization, the representatives of NGOs, mass media personnel and the survey organisations who monitored the election. The quantitative data was explored with the aid of a computer application program (SPSS) while the qualitative data was analysed through a thematic approach. Although the qualitative data collection and analysis was dominant, the quantitative methodology was still important in this article. Results: This article found a paradoxical situation in that political parties did not and did matter. They did not matter case was supported by evidence showing that voters chose candidates based on their personalities, behaviours and programs rather than on party loyalty. On the contrary, they did matter case derived from the superior organisational abilities of parties in running successful election campaigns and in aligning themselves with the candidates most likely to win. Discussion: This article had made a valuable addition to explaining the activities of political parties at local level in the context of decentralization. The implication of this research is that although voters did not choose political parties, the latter were nonetheless highly significant in determining the outcome of the local government election in Manado City. So, it is useful for future research to consider more closely the role of parties in local elections.

Public Opinion Leaders as a Means Of Representing the Image of the Republic of Mordovia

Introduction. The social function of a public opinion leader is to draw public attention to the most important issues of public life, participate in public discussions, explain and influence public opinion. Political communication is implemented in two dimensions – pragmatic and symbolic, which have very close relationships. The symbolic dimension develops and promotes ideas about society that create, maintain, or destroy political identity. For external target groups of image-making (political and business elites, decision-makers at the federal level, investors, highly qualified migrants, partially residents of other regions), significant repeaters of information about the region are representatives of state authorities and management, leaders of political parties and socio-political movements, bright representatives of the political opposition, etc. Materials and Methods. The research methodology was based on the method of cognitive mapping, which allowed analyzing and visualizing information transmitted by public opinion leaders about the regional space, determining the specifics of the perception of the Republic in the external power environment, and a historical and evolutionary approach that made it possible to trace the evolution of content. Time period of the study: 2012–2019. The study traced a series of judgments, stable expressions used by political and public figures about Mordovia, its potential, development prospects, and its leadership. Results and Discussion. Public opinion leaders (political and business elite, party figures, opposition, etc.) are significant repeaters of information about the region. Political communication is implemented in two main dimensions – pragmatic and symbolic, where the latter involves not rational understanding, but the suggestion of stable meanings. Symbolic politics has always been used by the authorities, especially in times of crisis, so the opinions conveyed by person-images become the basis of symbolic capital that promotes ideas about society (territory), creates, supports or destroys political identity. The external image of the Republic of Mordovia, which is formed on the basis of broadcast opinions, is contradictory. During the study period, we can note some evolution of the image of the Republic, broadcast by the leaders of public opinion. Attention to the region is noticeably increasing due to significant events of various scales. The high authority of the former leadership and loyal “electoral behavior” of the region contributed to the creation and broadcast of a positive image from the federal government and was a reason for criticism from opposition leaders. The celebration of the Millennium of unity of the Mordovian people with the peoples of the Russian state in 2012 was perceived positively by the majority of public opinion leaders and was actively broadcast in the media. The inclusion of Saransk among the host cities of the world football championship was received ambiguously: from a positive assessment to skeptical doubts about the correctness of such a choice. The legacy of the championship was not only the modernized infrastructure, but also the aggravated socio-economic problems of the region, which could not but affect its external image. Discussion and Conclusions. Thus, the positive image of the “territory of innovation”, “dynamically developing region with high-quality agricultural products” and “region of spiritual revival” coexists with the image of the territory of “total falsification”. The nature of the broadcast opinions is closely related to the peculiarities of the political situation and the official/oppositional position of the leader of public opinion in the discourse space.

Political Disaffection, Sociodemographic, and Psychographic Variables as State Legitimacy Determinants in the European Union

According to political science, modern societies can separate the state function and the politicians’ mission. However, the existing relationship between political disaffection and state legitimacy indicates the contrary. The interest held by the European Union inhabitants in their politicians has been decreasing, and the closeness to a specific political party or political leader has been weakening. Many European countries have a great degree of polarity in their political parties’ system, which augments the complexity of forming governments or even makes it impossible. Citizens have been affected by corruption, the economic situation, migratory crisis, or the European project weakness. They feel that politicians have forgotten their role as the people’s representatives and their responsibility to behave according to society’s general interest. Through its institutions, the state must ensure the country’s performance and maintain it despite the change in the political leaders. Moreover, its legitimacy will depend on the level of social support received by these institutions. This research aims to quantify if the current political disaffection influences the European Union states’ social support level or state legitimacy. It also expects to demonstrate which sociodemographic and psychographic variables influence on governments’ fragility and the dilution of state legitimacy, which is critical for countries’ stability. For this purpose, we used the available data from the European Social Survey for 2016, and we developed a statistical analysis through variation and regression analysis. The results highlight the strong effect that political disaffection, as well as variables such as religion, immigration perception, citizenship, or emotional state have on state legitimacy and reveal the need for changes in the political parties’ performance and behavior to maintain the countries’ stability.

Women Participation in Sub-National Level Politics in Ghana's Fourth Republic

Debate over the factors that perpetuate male dominance in political representation all over the world continues. Several factors have been cited, including the fact that women have a weak foundation in political party leadership which forms the basis for subsequent progression in leadership. In spite of the fact that women have the capacity to compete favorably in national politics if they have a say in choosing who stands for elections at political party level, several studies tend to pay less attention on women’s leadership in political parties at the subnational level. Using qualitative methods, the paper makes a contribution to women’s participation in political leadership using the two dominant political parties, the National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party, that have alternated political power in Ghana since the return to constitutional rule in 1993. Findings showed that women’s representation in political party leadership at the subnational level mirrors national trends, albeit some local particularities including unfavorable meeting time where such decisions are taken. The paper concludes that the creation of the women’s wings in Ghanaian political parties and the institutionalization of financial waivers for women are necessary but not sufficient conditions to boost women activism in subnational party politics.

The Roadmap of Chavism to Power. Elections and Propaganda During the First Phase of the Bolivarian Revolution (1999–2006)

<p>La investigación desarrollará un estudio sobre el proceso político ocurrido en Venezuela luego del triunfo electoral de Hugo Chávez Frías en 1998 y su segunda reelección llevada a cabo en 2006. La hipótesis de este trabajo considera que Venezuela transitó desde 1958 una fase acelerada de su transformación socioeconómica y política, que superó la capacidad de adecuación de la dirigencia de los partidos políticos para establecer nuevos escenarios de representatividad y participación del sistema democrático venezolano. Esta situación favoreció el tránsito hacia un régimen populista-autocrático instaurado a partir de 1999, bajo la denominación inicial de la Revolución Bolivariana. Uno de los aspectos resaltantes de la primera fase de la Revolución Bolivariana fue el auge del gasto público entre 2003 y 2005, orientado en su mayor parte a cubrir el costo de las misiones sociales, cuestión que desestimó la importancia de invertir en infraestructura y ampliar la capacidad de producción del país. Ello obligó al gobierno de Chávez a acelerar la construcción de obras de infraestructura pendientes desde hacía años, para disminuir las críticas de sus opositores políticos. La estrategia electoral en los últimos meses de la campaña electoral de 2006 se orientó a vincular la imagen de Chávez con obras públicas emblemáticas ya terminadas o medianamente concluidas. Los resultados de esta investigación arrojaron que la estrategia de vender la Revolución Bolivariana como un gobierno con hechos materiales permitió estimular en el imaginario colectivo la idea de la supuesta eficiencia de Chávez como gobernante y en consecuencia la conveniencia de apoyar su permanencia en el poder.</p>

Political Contagion and Electoral Populism: Content Analysis of Campaign speeches in United Kingdom and United States

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the definition of populism as a political communication style and to the identification of the populist’s stylistic features and elements as a mode of persuasive communication that has been recently adopted by leaders of mainstream political parties. This research intends to explore how to measure the employment of the populist style of political communication. This research investigated to what extent this style was adopted by Hilary Clinton and David Cameron in their latest campaign discourses in 2016; comparing their speeches before and after the rise of the populist zeitgeist. Two main theories were applied the rational choice theory which describes how political actors apply a behavioral rule in by deciding what tools or techniques are used to reach to specific goals and purposes such as winning votes in elections and the theory of behavioral contagion explains why politicians would act in a populistic style consciously or even unconsciously.Quantitative content analysis was carried out to measure the intensity of populist communication. A purposive sampling was conducted in which speeches were selected five months before the voting day; one speech per month and speeches that contained controversial themes were selected for the sake of covering a diversity of issues and topics that are of people’s concerns. In total twenty speeches were analyzed, ten for Clinton (five from USPE in 2008 and another five from 2016). As for Cameron’s speeches five were selected from GE in 2010 and five other speeches from 2016 Brexit referendum elections. Both candidates have been influenced into adopting the populist communication style. The thesis proved that there is a positive correlation between the successful electoral performance of populist actors and the adoption of the populist style of communication by mainstream politicians in their campaign discourses.

Not so Intimate Instagram: Images of Swedish Political Party Leaders in the 2018 National Election Campaign

The visual components of political communication are closely related to the ongoing personalization of politics. Not only do the media focus their stories on candidates and leaders, but also the parties’ own work with the electoral campaigns and political propaganda have an increasing focus on the individual candidates and leaders. This study focuses on how political party leaders chose to use visual images in their self-presentation on Instagram during the 2018 general election in Sweden. This is done through a quantitative content analysis of party leaders’ posts during the last three weeks before Election Day. The results do not confirm an increasing level of personalization of politics. Party leaders were visually exposed in an innovative way, but still mainly within rather predictable campaign contexts. General social media standards have been developed by political parties also on this platform. When applying to these standards branding and long-term party strategy considerations seem to be more important than possible short-term effects of exposing surprising personal and emotional characteristics of the party leader.

Narratives of Electoral Violence: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria

ABSTRACT This article addresses post-election violence (PEV) in Africa by drawing on the lived experiences of respondents in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. It takes an actor-centered approach steeped in interpretivism and reflexivity in analyzing Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010–2011 and Nigeria’s 2011 PEV. It examines PEV from the viewpoint of a variety of actors, including political party leaders, party activists, electoral commission officials, non-governmental organization (NGO) officials, academics, scholars, and human rights experts. With attention to methodological and personal positionality, the study draws on interviews conducted in 2014 and 2015. It also analyzes the dominant discourses that contributed to a violent reaction to a contested election outcome, and thus highlights the socially-constructed conditions that allow for the possibility of violence. Salient issues arising from these narratives include: the role of decades-long unresolved violence episodes in fueling PEV, the role of political leaders in exploiting grievances associated with these past violence episodes, and the power of electoral violence prevention strategies targeted at principal actors in curbing the progression to violence.

Language and Discourse in Contemporary South African Politics: A Critical Discourse Analysis

This study analyses written and spoken corpora of three South African political party leaders (Jacob Zuma of the African National Congress [ANC], Mmusi Maimane of the Democratic Alliance [DA], and Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF]) in different discourse contexts. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect the data, while Critical Discourse Analysis and text analysis constituted the analytical framework. Twelve political-leader speeches (four each), three senior party official interviews, and seventeen focus group interviews with the voting public were explored as data. The findings established that each political leader had his own persuasive strategies and choice of words, usually aligned with his ideological and personal agenda, and that these political leaders were not entirely responsible for their speeches. The study concludes that these political leaders used and chose words strategically in their speeches to persuade and manipulate their audiences.

Warlords to Politicians: The Transformation of Rebel Leaders in Africa (on the Example of Sierra Leone)

The paper analyzes the processes of transformation of leaders of rebel movements and tribal militias (warlords) into leaders of political parties and senior government officials after the end of the Civil War (1991‑2002) in Sierra Leone. It is argued that the opportunities for an anti‑government (or, on the contrary, pro‑government) armed group to become an officially recognized political organization, and for erstwhile field commanders to become its leaders, emerge either in the event of a rebel victory or after the signing of a peace agreement (as it happened in Sierra Leone) and the beginning of the integration of former militants into the post‑war society. It is usually the implementation of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs that allows former rebels and their leaders to escape punishment for crimes committed during conflicts. At the same time, the opportunity to “earn forgiveness” is not the only incentive for a warlord to evolve into a peacetime politician. Indeed, gaining political power in African countries entails access to various sources of enrichment, and since running armed groups requires their leaders to possess organizational and entrepreneurial skills and charisma ‑ naturally, along with less positive character traits ‑ many warlords who have not yet fulfilled their political ambitions or secured their financial situation try to “adapt” their wartime skills and experience to peaceful life. A proven way of gaining power peacefully is by participating in presidential and parliamentary elections. It is assumed that the development of a political career by former rebels in the context of peacebuilding should prevent the unfolding of another spiral of violence, but this is far from always the case: accustomed to achieving goals by military means, they often attempt to solve political issues through violence in peacetime. The paper considers the reasons for certain former rebel leaders to remain committed to peacebuilding and for other warlords to prove unable to achieve political goals by peaceful means.

Gender and parliamentary representation in India: The case of violence against women and children

To better understand how gender impacts parliamentary representation, we analysed representative claims made by parliamentarians in India, the world's largest democracy. Applying critical frame analysis to plenary debates in the Indian Rajya Sabha, we examined four parliamentary bills addressing violence against women and children under four successive governments between 1999 and 2019. Testing six hypotheses concerning who represents and how, our study found women legislators more active in speaking on behalf of women and children than male legislators. Women parliamentarians focused more on rehabilitating victims and expanding the scope of rights and rights-holders. Women were also more vocal in contesting harassment in the workplace than condemning violence against children. Meanwhile leftist party representatives expressed greater condemnation of violence than most other legislators. Our findings reveal the need to modify parliamentary rules, have more women as political party leaders and parliamentarians, and to adopt a more proportional electoral system.

Power of Purse and Budget Act under the Presidential Government System

Türkiye, 24 Haziran 2018 Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimi ile fiilen ve resmen Cumhurbaşkanlığı Hükûmet Sistemine geçmiştir. Yeni sistemde Merkezi Yönetim Bütçe Kanunu ve Kesinhesap Kanunu ancak Cumhurbaşkanınca Parlamentoya “teklif” edilebilmekte; lâkin ilginç biçimde yine Cumhurbaşkanının nihai onayına gitmektedir. Bu sistemde Cumhurbaşkanının siyasi parti genel başkanı olmasının önünde bir engel de bulunmadığından; sistem, Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi’nin bütçe hakkına ve ayrıca Cumhurbaşkanının da maliye politikası hakkına, olumsuz etkide bulunabilme potansiyeli taşımaktadır. Bütçede hükûmetin bölümler arası aktarma yetkisinin genişletilmesi, hatta bu süreçte Meclis’in sahip olduğu yetkinin Anayasal dayanağının ortadan kaldırılması ciddi bir risk teşkil etmektedir. Yine Meclis adına Cumhurbaşkanlığını denetleyen Sayıştay Başsavcısının Cumhurbaşkanınca atanması ve görev süresinin Cumhurbaşkanının süresi ile aynı olması, bütçe denetiminin “siyasallaşma” riskini beraberinde getirmektedir. Bu sistemde, Cumhurbaşkanı yürütmenin hem hukuki hem de fiili olarak başında bulunmaktadır. Yani maliye politikasının başarısından da Cumhurbaşkanı sorumludur. Oysa Meclis Bütçe Komisyonunun, Merkezi Yönetim Bütçesi üzerinde neredeyse sınırsız değişiklik yetkisine sahip olması ve yeni sistemde de Cumhurbaşkanının bütçe kanununu veto yetkisi olmaması, Cumhurbaşkanına ait maliye politikasının Meclis tarafından tıkanması tehlikesini de bünyesinde barındırmaktadır. Çalışmada, özellikle temsili demokrasi bağlamında Parlamentonun bütçe hakkı çerçevesinde, yeni hükûmet sisteminin bu potansiyel sorunları ele alınmış ve çözüm önerilerinde bulunulmuştur.

Influence of Leadership on Organizational Effectiveness of Commercial Banks And Political Parties

Kosovar society needs a leadership that has and brings new ideas in all spheres, starting from the family to the central level of the state. An important factor in the development of political parties and their activities is undoubtedly the development of a successful leadership, in order to achieve the objectives that contribute to improving the well-being of the population and the economic development of the country. The main purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of leadership in banking organizations in Kosovo and the study of leadership in organizations of political parties in Kosovo. Decision-making analysis, leader characteristics, development of communication with subordinates, way of clarifying the objectives of the organization, etc. will be discussed in this paper. During 2018, the loan portfolio of banks operating in Kosovo was about 2.76 billion euros. Sassipre / econometric analysis was also used in this research. Leaders of political parties in terms of decision-making turn out to be more focused on the program of political parties with about 52.1%. The linear correlation of the determination correlation is positive.471. , etc.