Political Literature Research Articles

Politicised Time in Environmental Regulatory Procedure: The Struggles Against the Thabametsi Coal Plant in South Africa

This study revisits the enduring question of temporality in environmental politics, drawing on prognostic politics literature to identify temporality as the practice of making and enacting time claims within institutions at various scales. The research highlights the intersection of time, environmental governance and politicisation within the procedural aspects of environmental impact assessments (EIA) during infrastructure development. The case of South Africa’s Thabametsi coal plant (2014–2017) is examined to understand how disputes over the duration of the Thabametsi EIA shaped interpretations and responses to potential environmental impacts. This case highlights a distinct politicisation of time marked by the strategic deployment of scale. While developers and regulators leveraged national-level legislation to expedite the EIA for uninterrupted project development, environmental activists, influenced by post-apartheid legal norms, enforced a more comprehensive and slow-paced EIA. By scaling down their legal arguments and focusing on project-specific regulations, the activists managed to induce significant delays in the coal plant’s realisation.

The uncertainty‐handling function of project leaders' political behavior in breakthrough innovation

AbstractInnovation management research demonstrates that political behavior is necessary for project leaders to conduct breakthrough innovation (BI) projects successfully. Although it is known that project leaders' political behavior contributes to BI project success by maintaining continued support for the projects, this study focuses on another function of organizational politics: the uncertainty‐handling function. Project leaders encounter uncertainties during their BI projects and are tormented by unintended project stagnation. While scholars and practitioners have developed several logic‐based responsive approaches to address uncertainty problems, project leaders also employ political behavior. The realization provokes questions such as, what type of uncertainty in particular triggers a project manager's political behavior in the context of BI development? Is there any specific linkage between a particular type of uncertainty and particular political behavior? What mechanisms underpin those relationships? To answer these questions, we investigate six BI projects in five mature Japanese companies through the lens of the meaning management perspective. The analysis reveals that (1) project leaders use political behavior to address a specific situation in which two uncertainties are intertwined; (2) project leaders use different political behavior depending on the type of intertwined uncertainties; and (3) project leaders resolve intertwined uncertainties with political behavior and then address each uncertainty in their BI projects. This study contributes to the innovation politics literature and innovation management practices by identifying specific conditions under which BI project leaders use political behavior and suggesting the fit between particular political behaviors and uncertainty conditions.

A Review of Chinese Political Literature Translation Studies since the New Era

In this paper, we analyze the core journals of the past ten years with the subject terms "political literature" plus "translation","political literature" ,"English translation" on China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). "I have analyzed the characteristics on translation of political literature during 2012-2022 from the aspects of practical experience, multi-perspective research and national image construction, and look forward to the development of English translation of political literature, hoping to provide various types of reference information for it.

Genesis of Azerbaijan-Artsakh Conflict

The purpose of the article, based on domestic and foreign sources, is to show when, for what reason and under what circumstances the Azerbaijani Artsakh conflict arose. In order to achieve the set goal, the following problems were put forward: when was the state called Azerbaijan created, when and under what circumstances did the Azerbaijani-Artsakh conflict arise, what was the status of Artsakh at the time of the conflict arise? The article is written through a comparison and comparative study of the original sources related to the issue, as well as an examination analysis of the scientific works related to it. As a result of the joint examination of facts and documents related to the issue, as well as historical and political literature, we came to the conclusion that the Azerbaijani-Artsakh conflict arose in 1918, when the Ottoman Turkish government created a fake "state" called the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus region through the invasion of Transcaucasia by the Turkish army. 103 years ago, Soviet Azerbaijan recognized Nagorno Karabagh as part of Soviet Armenia. Besides that, 103 years ago, Soviet Azerbaijan recognized the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to self-determination. Despite that, by an illegal decision of the Caucasus Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Russia a political body of a third country of July 5, 1921 the territory of Artsakh was forcibly included into Soviet Azerbaijan, without taking into account the will of the people of Artsakh.

The Economic Thought in the Counter-Reformation Age: Giovanni Botero and Antonio Serra

Although the centrality of the works of Giovanni Botero in the political literature of the first half of the seventeenth century is widely recognized, the role that the former Jesuit had in the economic thought of the Catholic Counter-Reformation has not yet been sufficiently analyzed. In fact, Botero’s works reveal that the existence of a mentality favorable to the development of productive and commercial activities was present and widespread even in the post-Tridentine period. In particular the theses expressed in Antonio Serra’s Breve trattato reveals clear affinity with Botero’s thought and in the same period in Spain the literature focused on similar themes in an attempt to counteract the decadence of the Iberian society. This article shows that the analyses by Botero and Serra are complementary and fully consistent with the spirit of the Counter-Reformation, offering a different historiographical perspective on the relations between Catholicism and the genesis of capitalist economy.

Do Preliminary References Increase Public Support for European Law? Experimental Evidence from Germany

AbstractExplanations for the successful expansion and consolidation of the European Union and its legal system have long emphasized the importance of domestic courts’ sending preliminary references to the Court of Justice. Key to many of these theoretical accounts is the claim that domestic courts are better equipped than the Court of Justice to compel national governments to comply with EU law. Integrating insights from the comparative judicial politics literature into the context of the EU's preliminary references system, we provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for this claim by arguing that incorporating domestic courts into the EU legal process enhances public support for expansive judicial interpretations of EU law. We go on to argue, however, that this transfer of legitimacy depends on citizens’ views of the national and European courts. We support our argument with evidence from a preregistered survey experiment fielded in Germany.

“The Teachings of Neagoe Basarab” – a Manual of Leadership and a Model of Dynamic Embodiment of the Eternal Word

The work of the Wallachian ruler Neagoe Basarab “The Teachings to his son Theodosius” remains an essential landmark of medieval Romanian culture and spirituality. The writing synthesizes an original vision of Christian teaching with the great models of universal political thought, becoming a manual for future rulers. Its importance is reflected in its overwhelming influence on later Romanian culture, as well as in the timeliness of its perspective on leadership based on enduring values. This study highlights the author's multiple sources of inspiration, harmoniously integrating biblical, patristic and philosophical traditions in a work that goes beyond medieval political treatises. From a theological perspective, the writing reflects a unified conception of divine revelation, promoting a mystical pedagogy that proposes a model of integral human formation. And the virtues and values enunciated have universal anthropological resonances. Thus, the integral message of Neagoe Basarab's work is not only a major expression of local political literature but also a permanent invitation to rediscover the Christian ethos that was the basis of European culture. And the recovery of this spiritual paradigm remains indispensable for overcoming the contemporary crisis.

Gendered Institutions and Where to Find Them: A Critical Realist Approach

AbstractThe gender and politics literature offers diverse views on the causes of gendered practices and the best methodologies for studying them. This article advances efforts to take stock of and systematize this diversity by grounding the feminist institutionalist perspective in critical realism. The article posits that gendered institutions are real entities with independent powers, while also emphasizing the crucial role that human ideas play in upholding and contesting gendered practices. To faithfully capture gendered institutions and their relationship with human agency, the article promotes the use of the abductive-retroductive research design. This approach allows feminist institutionalist scholars to construct and test multiple competing theories about gendered institutions, drawing from various empirical manifestations of institutional power. These expressions range from observable actions to codified rules, socially shared norms, and other subtle discourses. By shedding light on the principles at the heart of realist-oriented feminist research, this work paves the way for a more standardized and transparent approach to feminist inquiries.

The Making of a Nation-state: Unification of National Identity in Post Independent Ukraine

The paper explicates the hard-won unity of Ukrainian national identity. Contrary to the concerted determination that Ukrainians displayed in the war with Russia, Ukrainians national identity was fragmented in most of its post-independent history. It reviewed a wide range of polls, surveys, and literature in history and Ukrainian politics with special focus on the different critical moments of identity change in post-independent Ukraine. The paper found that Ukrainians and Russophones living in this country used to have divergent national imaginations from Ukraines independence to the Euromaidan revolution in 2014. However, Russias assertive policy to Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea and support to the Civil War in Donbas since 2014, drove Ukrainians of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds to gradually put down their divisions and unify again as a nation-state. The identity unification finally completed in the Russo-Ukrainian war that Ukrainian became the predominant national identity of all groups in this country.

Impact of organizational politics on employee outcomes: a systematic literature review

Workplace politics is a growing area of business research. The present study aggregates the extant literature on workplace politics and identifies themes to develop a comprehensive understanding of the field. Based on a portfolio of 68 studies collected from different electronic databases, an extensive systematic literature review was undertaken following Rowley & Slack’s methodology. The study segregates the organizational politics literature into antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions. Furthermore, antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions are discussed from the individual, job, and organizational levels. Based on the identified themes, the study proposes a conceptual model and future research directions that scholars could use to guide practitioners in making organizations a better place to work.

Bruno Latour’s Political Ecology and the (Ecological) Politics of Literature

Bruno Latour’s Political Ecology and the (Ecological) Politics of Literature

Literature as a Global Theory

This essay discusses the globalization of literature and its political implications, arguing that literature is not timeless or ahistorical but a modern invention deeply rooted in its historical, linguistic, and cultural context.I begin my arguments by pointing out that “literature” is not universal but a specifically European concept. In Japan, for example, the word “bungaku” (文学), which is translated as “literature”, had a different meaning before Soseki encountered English literature. Soseki confessed that he found it challenging to subsume Chinese classics and English literary works under a single definition of literature. This discrepancy between Chinese and English literature, Soseki argued, is because literature is not simply a collection of writings but a specific style of writing associated with modernity. Literature is not self-explanatory but requires a certain level of cultural literacy to understand. Therefore, the globalisation of literature is not simply a process of spreading European literary culture to other parts of the world. Instead, it adapts European literary forms and concepts to different cultural contexts. This process is often fraught with political implications, as it can involve imposing hegemonic cultural values on marginalized cultures. I conclude by arguing that there is no such thing as political literature, but only literary politics. The style of writing as such is the ambiguous process of modernisation. This means that literature is not simply a tool for political propaganda but rather a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that can be used to explore and challenge a wide range of political issues.

International Order as a Category of International Studies: Theoretical Foundations

This article is devoted to the study of world order in modern political theory. The author shows that modern Anglo-American and Russian political science share common problems related to its study. First, modern internationalists often unjustifiably take the modern world order out of the context of historical development, contrasting it with the entire world history. Second, modern theories of world order are characterized by a high degree of normativity: political processes are assessed from moral and ethical or openly ideological (usually liberal) positions. Third, researchers today often exaggerate the originality, or uniqueness, of the modern world order, although many of its problems existed in the past. Also, in modern political literature the concepts of "order" and "system" are often confused. Moreover, the mechanism of change of world orders, their qualitative difference from each other, even their number and names have not been revealed. In this regard, the author focuses on two interrelated tasks: 1) to define the relationship between the terms "system" and "order of international relations"; 2) to designate the systemic characteristics of world orders, which will make it possible to identify their number, the mechanism of their change and their qualitative difference. The article aims at clarifying the terminology on the subject of world orders and suggests considering them as completed political systems, which have covered their development cycle – from inception to disintegration. The basic concept of the order is that of balance of power between the great powers and the values and rules of interaction established on its basis. The world order emerges as the result of a total war and is terminated by a total war. Some limited wars regulate relations within the world order. The two types of world orders, namely, the hegemonic order and the balance of power order, acted as two equal types of order. Their disintegration is due to objective reasons, namely, the change in the balance of power and degradation of legal norms, which leads to the emergence of extra-systemic revisionists. The author believes that today’s Yalta-Potsdam order is likely to follow the entire cycle of the development of its predecessors.

An eco-social solution to energy poverty? Substance and symbolism in the England's use of domestic energy efficiency policy to achieve social and environmental synergies, 1997–2023

Domestic energy efficiency policy is potentially a means for reducing residential energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and expenses for households in energy poverty. It has often been presented as an eco-social exemplar, for example in the European Union's Green Deal. The European Commission regards domestic energy efficiency improvements as the primary means for addressing energy poverty notwithstanding the 2022/23 energy crisis. However, the case for domestic energy efficiency improvement as a tool for achieving simultaneously social and environmental goals is often assumed rather than demonstrated. This article uses Mandelli's eco-social trilemma heuristic and the symbolic politics literature to surface the tensions involved in such processes, focusing on policy efforts in the England between 1997 and 2023 as a case study. England is a good case to consider because it has been regarded as a leader of energy poverty mitigation and its policy approach is similar to the European Commission's. The article details the main policy instruments used in England, assesses outputs and outcomes using official statistics, government and independent policy evaluations and the secondary literature, and details the main problems encountered in achieving environmental/social synergies. Based on this analysis, the article argues that English domestic energy efficiency policy has generally constituted a symbolic eco-social policy, particularly on the social side and since 2010. Highlighted by the 2022/23 energy crisis, domestic energy efficiency policy is best regarded as one component of a policy toolkit for reducing energy poverty, which at the least should also include targeted social protection.

外宣翻译视域下中国特色词汇“动态清零”的韩译研究

As exchanges between nations become increasingly frequent, the importance of external promotion becomes apparent. In order to conduct effective external promotion, the role of translation is crucial. Translation plays an indispensable part in enhancing a country's cultural soft power and establishing an accurate image of China in external promotion. This study focuses on the policy of “动态清零” implemented by China to combat and control COVID-19, investigating how it has been translated and reported in both Chinese and Korean current affairs news. The study also examines the corresponding translation methods and analyzes how Korean readers understand and accept the translated content. “动态清零” is a new Chinese term with distinct characteristics that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it challenging to find an appropriate expression in Korean. Consequently, various translation variations are expected to appear in both Chinese and Korean current affairs news. Nineteen translations were found in Chinese current affairs news, while twenty-six translations were found in Korean current affairs news. Detailed analysis was conducted through case studies to determine the most suitable translation. Considering the multitude of translations for “动态清零” in both China and Korea, it becomes evident that translators from both countries require a new perspective in their translation practices to accurately convey China's development status, trends, policies, and strategies. Only then can the actual situation in China be effectively communicated to readers. Furthermore, it is hoped that this research will provide some assistance in future political literature or external promotional translations.

Differential public support and the independence of anti-corruption agencies

AbstractSpecialized anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) aim to address corruption problems when conventional institutional mechanisms are dysfunctional. Yet, we still lack thorough understanding of the conditions that enable ACAs to withstand undue influences of the overarching political regime. Informed by the judicial politics literature, we examine the value of public opinion in empowering ACAs. Leveraging the evolving political conditions of Hong Kong, we argue that a lack of public support for other government organs offers opportunities for an ACA to distinguish itself from the rest of the regime and establish operational independence. We find that a signature ACA of Hong Kong, created by the British colonial government, has been uniquely sensitive to public complaints of corruption. The agency is the most responsive when other government branches are perceived to be lacking integrity. Also, negative appraisals of the political regime encourage the ACA’s institutional functions and increase the degree of enforcement discretion entrusted to it. Our findings suggest a mechanism of ACA empowerment whereby the public is committed to sustaining agency independence because of their distrust and the unpopularity of other government organs. Therefore, potential institutional threats posed by an unpopular regime to the ACA may actually strengthen the latter’s power and autonomy.

To Marry or Not to Marry? Gender and Interethnic Group Trust

AbstractWhile there has been work on whether women are more tolerant of outgroups, the ethnic politics literature has generally overlooked the role of gender in explaining interethnic trust. Whatever attention exists often focuses on the gender of the subject—that is, who is doing the trusting—with mixed results. One reason is that the object being entrusted is either not specified or assumed genderless. In this paper, we call attention to the gender of an important entrusted object in interethnic relations: children. We argue people are less willing to have their daughters—compared to their sons—marry an ethnic outgroup. Additionally, this willingness declines as the cultural distance widens. We test this using a survey experiment in Romania where we leverage the diversity in ethnicity and a gendered language structure. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for gender-based differences in studying interethnic trust.

Review: Animal husbandry and sustainable agriculture: is animal welfare (only) an issue of sustainability of agricultural production or a separate issue on its own?

The terms "animal welfare" and "sustainability" have become major keywords in agricultural politics due to increased public concern about our treatment of animals (particularly in the context of food production) and our treatment of the environment, for example regarding our use of natural resources in farming. Agricultural agendas must therefore address both aspects (among others). What is striking is a problematic tendency within the literature of agricultural science and politics to closely link these issues by declaring animal welfare a part of the concept of sustainability. This joining of both concepts is usually defended on one hand by referring to empirical reciprocal influences between the promotion of animal welfare and the development of more sustainable husbandry systems. On the other hand, the linking of both concepts is promoted by its advocates as a promising strategy to protect current animal welfare standards from being rolled back in favour of economic or ecologic human interests. I will argue that the notions of animal welfare and sustainability need to be understood as independent and at times even competing issues. I will closely analyse both notions and illustrate that they are based on different value assumptions and that conceptually joining them means to blur their differences. Such mixing makes it harder to understand the ethical implications entailed in animal welfare and sustainability which will lead to misguided agricultural political decision-making.

PHOTOESSAY: Refugee migration: Turning the lens on middle Australia.

This non-traditional research paper explores the role of photojournalism and documentary photography in shifting the power dynamic inherent in photographing refugee migrants in Australia—the refugee as an object of photographic scrutiny. It draws on visual politics literature which argues refugees have been subjected to a particular ‘gaze’, where their migration narratives are mediated, mediatised, dissected and weaponised against them in the name of journalistic public accountability in and for the Global North. This photo-documentary praxis project subverts this ‘gaze’ of the Global North and decolonises the power dynamics of the visual politics of refugee migration by turning the lens on middle Australia. Instead of questioning refugees, this project asks what is our moral responsibility to support them? These images are drawn from three years of photographically documenting the Meanjin (Brisbane) community that rallied around and eventually triggered the release of about 120 medevaced refugee men locked up in an urban motel in Brisbane for more than a year in 2020-21. In these images taken outside the detention centre, community members go ‘on the record’ to articulate their motivations for taking a stand—an enduring Fourth Estate record of their social and political stance as active participants within the mediated democratic process of holding power accountable in the refugee migration space. The refugees central to this project have now been released into the community but as they continue to languish in an immigration purgatory, the project is ongoing and continues to manifest through an activist journalism framework, drawing on human rights-based photojournalism practice.

An untapped coalition: partisanship and political participation among people with disabilities

ABSTRACT The disability politics literature has found that having a disability significantly decreases an individual’s voting propensity. Using data from the 2020 American National Election Study, the present paper explores several mechanisms driving such depressed levels of voter turnout. Considering the central role of partisanship in American political behavior, we investigate the partisan ties, ideological preferences, and vote choice of individuals reporting a disability. We also consider their overall experiences with the political system, with particular emphasis on political knowledge, political interest, and attitudes towards voting. Data suggest that those reporting a disability do not differ significantly from those not reporting a disability in terms of party affiliation, ideological orientation, and vote choice. Although individuals with disabilities exhibited high levels of political interest in 2020, they were no more or less likely to participate in alternative forms of political engagement, such as activism online. One noteworthy finding demonstrated in our analyses is that those with disabilities largely tend to view voting as a choice, rather than a duty. Our conclusion places these findings into the context of partisan coalition building and voter mobilization, providing several suggestions for how disability scholars might continue to advance understanding of this large, growing voting bloc.