Party Program Research Articles

Левые партии в современном политическом процессе Европы

The article examines the role of European left parties in the politics of their countries and the European Union. The author of the article examines the main types of European left parties, their program goals and the electorate. Modern left-wing European parties in terms of ideological orientation are mostly representatives of social democrats, the Greens, democratic socialists and communists, which roughly corresponds to the left-wing party coalitions existing in the European Parliament, with the exception of communists of the Marxist-Leninist type popular mainly outside the EU. Based on the analysis of successes and defeats in elections in different countries, the author examines the reasons for the popularity or unpopularity of left-wing parties and their specific types among certain categories of the electorate, taking into account their age or membership in a particular social group, as well as their regional affiliation. It is noted that the Social Democrats are most popular in Western Europe, the Greens in Northern and Central Europe, and the Democratic Socialists in Southern Europe. In turn, in Eastern Europe, left-wing parties continue to be associated with communist ones. These regional political preferences of the leftist electorate largely reflect the differences in the perception of leftist ideas among residents of different regions of Europe. In this regard, the author also emphasizes different role of the left parties in the political process of different regions, whether it is the promotion of globalist ideas by the Greens in Western and Central Europe, or the reaction to economic crises in Southern Europe by democratic socialists. The author also notes the borrowing of elements of the programs of the left parties from each other in order to preserve the electorate. The impetus for this process, as a rule, is various political and economic crises, when the inability of the left parties in the ruling position to cope with the situation forces them to move to qualitatively new ideological positions, which the author of the article shows by the example of the radicalization of the Social Democrats in Western Europe or the socialist democratization of communists in Eastern Europe after the defeat in the Cold War.

Political Organizations of Russian Turkestan at the Beginning of the 20th Century

Abstract The article highlights the most important aspects of the political history of Russian Turkestan at the beginning of the 20th century. It deals with the formation of a multi-party system in the Russian Empire and the activities of the first national political organizations in the Central Asian region. The author reveals the underpinnings of a national movement taking place under the colonial regime. The article analyzes the main provisions of the political programs of all-Russian parties and national organizations, such as Shuroi-Islomiya, Alash, Shuroi-Ulamo, Turk Adami Markaziyat Firkasi (Party of Turkic Federalists), and others. Sections examine the origins of the ideological confrontation between progressive Jadids and Muslim traditionalists, and provide a brief history of the formation, and ensuing liquidation, of Turkestan as an autonomous entity. Despite the existence of ideological differences in the national movement, the author uncovers how many representatives of national political organizations were devoted to the idea of independence and sought a way out of cultural isolationism.

Why programmatic parties reduce criminal violence: Theory and evidence from Brazil

Extensive research suggests that electoral competition and power alternations increase violence in weakly institutionalized democracies. Yet, little is known about how political parties affect violence and security. We theorize that the type of party strengthened in elections shapes security outcomes and argue that the rise of programmatic parties, at the expense of clientelistic parties, can significantly reduce violence. In contexts of large-scale criminal violence, programmatic parties are less likely to establish alliances with coercive actors because they possess fewer incentives and greater coordination capacity. Focusing on Brazil, we use a regression discontinuity design that leverages the as-if random assignment of election winners across three rounds of mayoral races. We find that violent crime decreased in municipalities where programmatic parties won coin-flip elections, while it increased in those where clientelistic parties triumphed. Our findings suggest that whether electoral competition increases violence depends on the type of party that wins elections.

Social policy in the programs of the political parties of Chile: the experience of content analysis

The presidential, parliamentary and regional elections were held at the same time, on November 21, 2021 in Chile. Earlier in the same period, elections were held throughout the Latin American region. Extreme political fragmentation was recorded during these elections. Also, a feature of electronic processes can be called socio-political instability and the associated high degree of protest potential of citizens. The article attempts to conduct a comparative analysis of the text of the programs of the political parties of Chile. The key areas of the studied documents were identified, while the political, economic, and social components were substantiated. The content analysis of the texts of the programs of the political parties of Chile was carried out, the share of content units analyzed by spheres was revealed. The conclusions about the increasing importance of the topics of social policy, social protection and social security in the era of a new, pandemic, world order were verified. Visualization and statistical analysis of the results were made using the SigmaPlot program, version 12.5. The author's conclusions about the importance of the social sphere are also confirmed by electoral practice. An extremely interesting election took place in Chile, dividing the electoral field almost in half on ideological grounds. At the same time, all participants in the electoral process used the “social theme”. Reconciliation and the development of a national consensus will be the task of the young (at the time of the election, only 35 years old) President Gabriel Boric, he successfully integrated accents of left-liberal and social orientation in his election program. Recent events in Chile add relevance to the study: a referendum on the adoption of a new, socially oriented constitution of the country is scheduled for September 4, 2022. Also, another wave of protests, also recorded in September 2022, is directly related to such a social segment as education.

ЄВРОСКЕПТИЦИЗМ У ПРОГРАМНИХ ЗАСАДАХ ІСПАНСЬКОЇ ПРАВОРАДИКАЛЬНОЇ ПАРТІЇ VOX («ГОЛОС»)

The article examines the programme principles of the right-wing radical party «Vox» in Spain. The factors that influenced its emergence and further development are studied, the factors that led to the growth of the popularity of this political force are identified. The specific features of Spanish nationalism, the role of the historical past and Catholicism in its formation are analysed. A special role in the study is given to the analysis of manifestations of Euroscepticism in the activities of the Voice. It is noted that it is moderate in nature and focuses primarily on the desire to strengthen the role of national governments, rejecting any supranational governance bodies whose decisions would be binding on EU member states. An analysis of the party's programme documents and speeches by its leaders shows that nationalism is the key dominant cluster, and the issue of European integration is not a priority in them. In these documents, «Vox» acts as an opponent of the EU on a number of issues related to the country's participation in the EU and its activities. While criticising the EU and revealing the negative consequences of Spain's participation in this structure, «Vox» and its leaders have never raised the issue of the country's withdrawal from the EU. Its criticism is primarily related to the rejection of the model in which the integration process is implemented. The party does not accept the EU's course towards federalisation and further expansion of its functions at the expense of the sovereignty of national states. «Vox» presents its voters with its vision of the model for the implementation of European integration. The European Union should become a community of free nations that cooperate with each other and join forces in areas where they can definitely achieve much faster and more efficiently together than separately. The peculiarity of the Voice is that a significant place in its programme documents is occupied by foreign policy issues, in particular, EU foreign policy. The party and its leaders fully support the EU's policy towards Russia in the Ukrainian crisis. They are in favour of developing EU-Spain relations with the US and NATO. The analysis of the party documents of «Vox» allows us to conclude that the issue of European integration is not central to the party. Criticism of the EU and the inclusion of this topic in the party's ideological postulates stem from its ideological basis, formed on the basis of key concepts of Spanish nationalism, adapted to the realities of Spain's modern development and the challenges it faces in the context of globalisation. Keywords: Spain, political party, Euroscepticism, «Vox», right-wing radicalism.

Doctrinal approaches and methods of research on the activities of political parties

The correct definition of the methodological basis of the study is a prerequisite for its success. The methods of cognition are determined by the object that is selected in the framework of the study. The article pays attention to the issues of determining the method of studying the activities of political parties, which should be understood as a process in which the result is the achievement of goals. In turn, the activities of political parties are realized through the performance of certain functions. The list of functions of political parties can be formulated on the basis of an analysis of the current legislation regulating relations in this area, as well as by identifying the features of the activities of political parties through the prism of political science. The following functions of political parties should be recognized as the most important: ideological, which is expressed in the formation of the political will of the population; articulatory, associated with the expression of the formed political will by fixing it in the party program, sending appeals to state bodies, public organizations, etc.; political, aimed at participating in elections, referendums, etc.; representative, which they are implemented by representing and ensuring compliance with the interests of the electorate in interaction with various institutions of the state. The methodology of scientific research on the activities of political parties should be based on the integrated application of methods of various branches of science. First of all, the methods of political science and legal sciences should be noted. The study of political parties from the point of view of the approaches of political sciences will allow analyzing the concepts of the emergence of political parties, the peculiarities of their functioning in the social and political conditions of various states, as well as other aspects of the activity of this phenomenon of socio-political life. However, the analysis of the functioning of political parties cannot be carried out only within the framework of political sciences, the legal aspects of their activities are also essential. Within the framework of research on the activities of political parties, the political and legal method is one of the basic ones that allows analyzing not only the evaluation criteria of the activities of political parties, but also determining the impact of existing legal norms on the activities of a political party and its practical implementation. Among the legal methods of research, first of all, we apply the comparative legal method, which allows us to analyze the features of the activities of political parties in various historical periods. The application of the comparative legal method is of particular relevance, taking into account the experience of our state in regulating the interaction of the state with political parties, primarily during the existence of the USSR. For the completeness of the analysis of the activities of political parties, it is also necessary to use psychological methods that will reveal the characteristics of the behavior of leaders and their influence on the popularity of a political party, the level of public confidence. Evaluation of the effectiveness of a political party's activities should also be carried out through an analysis of its goals and objectives, their compliance with the objective needs of society, as well as by identifying the level of trust of the electorate in a particular political force.Achieving these tasks is possible through the use of sociological methods, such as statistical method, method of collecting and analyzing information, interviewing. These methods will reveal the attitude of the public towards a political party, its program, put forward tactical installations, etc. Сonclusion, it is concluded that there is a fairly wide list of methods for studying the detail of political parties, while methods of various levels and industry affiliation are applicable. However, it is noted that the application, first of all, of the political and legal method is justified.

Институционализация партийной системы в де-факто государствах постсоветского пространства (на примере Республики Абхазия)

To ensure the democratic functioning of the state, the party system must be competitive and institutionalized, in connection with which it is relevant to study the process of institutionalization of the party system in the Republic of Abkhazia, which allows us to determine not only the stages of this process, but also a number of its features, including the degree of institutionalization . The novelty of the work: the reasons for the low level of institutionalization of parties and party systems in Abkhazia are identified. Object of study: the party system of the de facto states of the post-Soviet space. Subject: institutionalization of the party system in Abkhazia. The purpose of the work is to determine the features and main stages of the institutionalization of the party system in Abkhazia. Methodology and research methods: to analyze the process of institutionalization of the party system of Abkhazia, the organizational approach proposed in the works of M. Duverger and M. Ya. Ostrogorsky, which makes it possible to analyze the process of institutionalization of parties from the point of view of their organizational structure. The results of the research contribute to the scientific discussion about the role of political parties and the level of institutionalization of the party systems of Abkhazia and can serve as a basis for further study of the role of public associations and political parties in political processes, including in other de facto republics of the post-Soviet space. Conclusions: the programs of all parties are united in matters of the status of Abkhazia in the global political space, socio-economic development priorities and the preservation of the institution of the president; high informational activity of pro-government parties; The choice of the Abkhazian electorate is focused primarily on individuals, and not on ideology and the party program.

Вовлеченность молодежных крыльев парламентских политических партий Российской Федерации в современную экологическую повестку

The article considers the degree of participation of young people consisting in the youth departments of the parliamentary political parties of the Russian Federation in the development of environmental problems in Russia. As part of the study, the following youth departments are analyzed: the Young Guard of United Russia, the Lenin Communist Youth Union of the Russian Federation, the Youth of Fair Russia, the Young organization of the Liberal Democratic Party. Features and forms of participation of young people in environmental activities within the framework of programs of political parties are revealed. Determine the degree of participation in environmental protection, the number and variety of events held. The authors conclude that the youth branches of parliamentary political parties are weakly interested in solving environmental problems and half duplicate the activities of their political parties.

Стратегическое партнерство политических партий Румынии и Молдовы в новых политических реалиях

The article examines the features and main directions of interaction between political parties of the Republic of Romania and the Republic of Moldova from the early 1990s to the present day. Analyzing the historical prerequisites for stable ties between political parties of the two countries, the authors draw attention to the fact that they are based on the shared ideas of unionism and formation of a single political and cultural space between Romania and Moldova. The authors also examine conditions for close cooperation between the parties such as Moldova’s choice of the European path of development, strengthening strategic partnership with Romania and the EU countries and ensuring security in the region. This research demonstrates that the high degree of Romania’s involvement in the Moldovan political processes creates special conditions for inter-party interaction, which covers different spheres of real politics. Considering political parties as important actors in the communication process that can influence political decisionmaking, the authors identify several areas of cooperation, including educational projects, youth initiatives, inter-party dialogue at various levels, activities of representative offices of Romanian parties on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, inclusion of Moldovan politicians in the electoral process in Romania. As a result, the research categorizes political parties of Moldova and Romania on the basis of their attitude to the ideas of unionism and main ideological priorities, into three groups. The authors emphasize that in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the agenda of cooperation between Chisinau and Bucharest is reduced to the points of Romania supporting Moldova’s European path and the latter ensuring its own security and sovereignty. Under these circumstances, cooperation between political stakeholders of the two states is intensifying. This kind of interaction mainly covers the right flank of Moldovan parties. The multidimensional nature of political interdependence between the two sides of the Prut demonstrates the high degree of mutual involvement of parties of the two states in each other’s internal affairs. The basic principle in political programs of Romanian and Moldovan parties is the idea of Uniri. This idea of building a single state has become the leitmotif of establishing communication channels between the main actors of the political process in Romania and Moldova, who are committed to a common European future.

Interpretation of the Historical Component of the Polish Question by Constitutional Democrats at the Beginning of the First World War

The outbreak of the First World War actualized the Polish issue, difficult for the Russian Empire, the discussion of which involved the government, the public, and political parties. The need to adapt the party program to the political situation, which was regularly updated under the extremely unstable conditions of wartime, forced the representatives of the Constitutional Democratic Party to turn to the joint historical past of Poland and Russia to substantiate the political present. During the first six months of the war, the Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party carried out intensive work to prepare materials for correcting its program on the national question. There was a gradual integration of the Polish question into the general concept of the state and foreign policies of the Cadets. The Central Committee of the Cadet Party continued to think within imperial categories in relation to space. In the course of lengthy discussions during the meetings of the Central Committee, different points of view within the party were revealed; however, the Central Committee was forced to come to a relatively common opinion, preparing for public presentation a project for the organization of Poland not only to members of the party and the Russian public, but also to the Poles themselves. The analysis of the material accumulated in 1914 shows the clarity of the historical component of the positions of the Cadets and the abstract nature of their political and legal positions.

Where Did the Black Hundreds Disappear? Electoral Statistics as a Source for the Study of the National Identity of Ukrainian Peasantry at the Beginning of the 20th Century

The article traces the fates of the members of the Black Hundred organizations of Right-Bank Ukraine after the revolution of 1917. In 1905–1917, this region was one of the centers of the monarchist movement, and the Pochaev department of the Union of the Russian People was the most numerous black hundred organization in the Russian Empire. There is a lot of indirect evidence that after the overthrow of the monarchy, many Black Hundreds of the Right Bank found themselves in the ranks of Ukrainians and Bolsheviks, actively participating in various rebel detachments and gangs, but it is impossible to draw far-reaching conclusions based on such sources, most often of a memoir nature. To understand what happened to the former black-hundredists and in which political camp they found themselves, the author turns to electoral statistics. Comparing the data about the size of organizations of the Union of the Russian People in different settlements of the Kiev province in the 1910s with the results of the elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly in 1917–1918 in the same localities, the author comes to the conclusion that the former black-hundredists did not vote for Russian nationalists and monarchists, but for the Ukrainian Social revolutionaries and occasionally for the Bolsheviks, that is, for the parties that promised a radical solution to the agrarian question. At the same time, the peasants who voted for the socialists because of the desire to divide the landowners’ land, did not support the party programs of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks on other issues, retaining elements of the black-hundred worldview. This is why during the Civil War “black-hundred sentiments” could be found both in the army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and in the Red Army.

Взгляд на партийные идеологии через призму административных парадигм

The article is devoted to the analysis of proposals for the reform of public administration in the programs of the Russian political parties that participated in the 2021 Duma elections, the assessment of their coherency and realism as an indicator of the party’s political maturity, its willingness to implement its slogans in practice. Using classification methods, as well as content and thesaurus analysis, the author documents similarities and differences between these proposals and considers them through the prism of party ideologies and basic administrative paradigms. The study does not reveal a clear correlation between party ideology and proposals for improving public administration: party programs with polar ideologies have similar proposals. At the same time, the author discovers a connection between party ideologies and administrative paradigms presented in the programs. Left-wing parties are oriented towards Good Governance i.e., the openness of the authorities and the involvement of citizens in the administration. New Public Management associated with economic efficiency and client-centric state is typical to right-wing and (to some degree) centrist parties. The Weberian paradigm with its emphasis on the legality and procedural aspects is scarcely presented in the programs of Russian parties. In general, the paradigm of Good Governance is most popular in the programs. The author explains the dominance of this paradigm in party programs both with the populist trend gaining strength all over the world and with a request for social justice inherent in the Russian society. However, according to his conclusion, although parties and society are ready for cooperation, which is reflected in discursive practices, such readiness conflicts with the underdevelopment of the mechanisms of the implementation of Good Governance, which have not yet been developed even at the level of theory. He sees a possible solution to this problem in the unification of the efforts of political scientists and specialists in public administration and overcoming the mismatch between these disciplines.

A Postcolonial Analysis of Austria’s Political Approach to Islam

This essay examines Austria’s political approaches to Islam between 2011 and 2022 at the interface of political science and religious policy as informed by postcolonial studies. Austrian political approaches to Islam are analyzed through the study of publications, press releases, government and party programmes, as well as laws, all conceptualized as an Islam dispositif. Against the backdrop of a restrictive policy on integration, it is considered that a similar situation exists for political approaches to Islam. In addition to an ambivalence of ideas of openness and restriction, the co-option of right-wing positions taken from the racist far right can be observed, which goes hand in hand with seemingly tolerant speech. The essay shows how on a discoursive level, the civilization and modernization theorem of the Habsburg Monarchy can today be found in the discourse of an Austrian/European form of Islam that stands for progress, enlightenment, and modernity in contrast to adherents of an alleged “political Islam” that represents independent Muslim agency. This idea of “political Islam” is then used to legitimize legal discrimination of Muslims. In all these discourses, Said’s concept of othering acts as a central formation for those in dominant positions to legitimate their position of power.

‘Alcohol Helps to Stimulate and Violate the Air’: Drinking Games and Transgressive Drinking Practices among Nigerian Youth

In traditional Nigeria, moderate drinking was normative among adult men who occupied drinking spaces. Heavy drinking and intoxication were transgressive behaviours that attracted sanctions. Alcohol consumption among youth was taboo in most communities. Nowadays, young people drink, and many construct identities with heavy drinking and intoxication. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with students and nonstudents in Benin City, I explore how young people’s participation in drinking games (DGs) facilitates heavy drinking, intoxication, and transgression of the local consumption norms. ‘Mere arguments’, betting, and assertions of masculinity initiate DGs, while fun, economic gain, and the construction of social identities motivate gameplaying. Aside from other DG categories, participants played a localized version of Truth-or-Dare, where losers are mandated to undress in public- or drink-specified quantities of alcohol. DGs were mostly played at bars and parties, which encouraged heavy drinking and drunkenness. DGs generate fun for players and partygoers; thus, party hosts often include gameplaying in party programmes. Winning a DG attracts titles like ‘boss’, ‘champion’, or ‘guru’ and a reputation among men. Therefore, they played DGs to reproduce/authenticate their masculinity and achieve such titles and prestige, while women mostly played DGs to win money, phones, and bags. Many participants’ gameplaying resulted in heavy drinking, intoxication, and loss of control that subverted the local consumption culture, which prohibits heavy drinking and promotes moderation. The findings demonstrate how transgressive behaviours can be enjoyable to transgressors and also function as resistance to social norms/structures that encourage dominance/inequalities.

Daoist Political Ecology as Green Party Ideology

Green parties were once hailed as offering a “new politics” vis-à-vis the political establishment by proposing radical political, economic, and environmental reforms, but they have since transformed in many countries to become more moderate and pragmatic. While some doubt whether their ideology still contains any essential core, I contend that a unifying link can be found in the philosophy of the Daoist sage Laozi. I illustrate this by analyzing the party program of Miljöpartiet de Gröna (Sweden’s Environmental Green Party), one of the world’s most electorally successful green parties. As demonstrated here, this green party’s current ideology strongly reflects key imperatives of Daoist political ecology revealing the philosophy’s durability and attractiveness over time and its perceived relevance to pressing issues of sustainability and climate change.

EVALUATION OF STUDENTS’ OPINION ON THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IN KOSOVO

The study explores the possibilities of increasing the involvement of young voters in the electoral process. It assesses the involvement of youth in the electoral process based on the responses of students majoring in Political Science and Jurisprudence in Kosovo. In-depth interviews were conducted as it is believed that the students in these areas are novice experts in the field of political science and jurisprudence. The research was conducted at UBT College is based in Prishtina, where students from different municipalities attain their higher education. It helps in identifying general trends in the country. The total number of students in each course is 80, every second student took part in the in-depth interview. As a part of the study, it is required to confirm whether the demographic characteristics of respondents influence their participation in elections. The results of the study showed that majority of the respondents were females, in the age group of 18-24 years, currently living in Pristina and are studying at the university. In Kosovo there is a high involvement of youth in the elections (57.5%), students participating in elections strive to change the future of their country (34.8%). However, it is possible to increase voters’ turnout among youth by increasing their interest in elections (23.6%), aligning party programs and candidates with the political interests of the voters (17.5%), and by considering the reasons why the voter cannot come to the polling station on the election day (11.8%). Conclusions: The results indicate high electoral activity among youth. In view of the findings, there is an opportunity to increase the involvement of young voters in the electoral process, and to increase voters’ turnout rate among young people in Kosovo. The results of the study in Kosovo are compared with the results of a similar research in Russia. It is believed that in Kosovo youth participation in elections is seen as an opportunity to influence political decisions, bring changes in the political course of the country. The study also concludes that participation in elections is influenced by demographic characteristics of the respondents. It is identified that in future, no successful party can afford to neglect the category of young and female voters.

LOBBYING ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST GROUPS DURING THE EU MEMBERSHIP PROCESS OF TURKEY

In parallel to the devolution of authority from member nations to the EU, the lobbying actions of various entities towards EU institutions have expanded over time. A variety of organisations coordinates lobbying efforts on behalf of EU institutions. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of a candidate country's interest groups' lobbying efforts by focusing on Turkey as a case.Due to the length of the EU membership process, which has exceeded 20 years, Turkey is regarded as an exceptional case. This study examines the lobbying actions of four economic and two political bodies in Turkey between 1999 and 2021, based on a typological description of two sorts of groupings. In terms of research method, a two-stage approach was adopted by using qualitative and quantitative tools together. In the first stage, written documents were analysed to determine the institutions’ general attitudes towards the EU accession process and the topics they focus on. The documents in question includes periodic activity reports, thematic reports, press releases, statements of institution representatives for non-governmental organizations and party programs, election manifestos, statements of party leaders or representatives, and parliamentary minutes for political parties. In addition, the news in the national media about the activities of the institutions was examined through an extensive media scan. Following this, in the second stage, semi-structured questionnaires were prepared for all institutions and answers were sought in in-depth interviews with EU representatives of the institutions examined, EU decision makers who are the addressees of the lobbying activities, and relevant experts on lobbying in the EU. According to the findings of the research, the study suggests that variations in Turkey-EU relations have a detrimental impact on the lobbying actions of these entities. However, the lobbying actions of the entities listed below are less influenced by these changes. These are the groups that focus on their particular field of operations at the technical level rather than the Turkish accession process and create deeper relationships with transnational umbrella organizations. The statistics imply that non-governmental organizations are more effective than political parties in EU lobbying actions.

The Politics of Tax Justice in Democracies: Redistribution Beyond the Median Voter Theorem

Democratic states tend to raise large shares of national income through taxes, and spend the money in ways which redistribute resources from higher to lower income groups. This connection between democratic politics and taxes is a commonplace of the political economy scholarship, but there is much less clarity about the mechanisms through which this redistribution occurs, and the reasons for variations in the degree to which the objectives of social justice are achieved. Democracy can coexist with quite large differences in overall income inequality, and these differences are often driven by institutional legacies that find their roots in the past. The scope for the usual tools of democratic governance – elections and political party programmes – to alter these paths are more limited than is often understood. The contemporary politics of taxation appears to offer very constrained choices to policymakers, but the aspirations of voters for redistribution through the tax system remain a fundamental feature of political competition and conflict in the rich democracies.

Road to Polarisation. Analysis of Swiss Party Programmes 2015-2019

The polarisation in the Swiss party system increased in the last three decades. Party competition led individual parties to find instruments to strengthen party unity at the national level. Because of the unification at the national level it is important to study election party programmes. The main goal of the article was to investigate in what respect have these changes affected party election programmes. We compared contemporary programmatic positions of relevant political parties in the Swiss lower house which succeeded with more than 4 % of votes in the 2015 parliamentary elections. The findings of our detailed content analysis of the party programmes in predetermined categories (A-E) pointed to a growing level of polarisation on the right-left axis. We argued that the election programmes reflect the level of polarisation. We succeeded to set the parties on the right-left axis. There is no party we located in the exact centre of the spectrum according to their programme. The left part of the scale is more polarised than the right, the Green party (GPS) is located on the very end of the left part of the right-left axis, the Social democratic party (SP) and the Green liberals (GLP) are on the moderate left. FDP, BDP and CVP are according our study located on the right part of the spectrum. SVP was located almost on the very end of the right part of the spectrum. Our research concludes that the level of polarisation of current Swiss party system is high.

The Role of “Resources” in Regime Durability in Laos

This article argues the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or Laos, draws upon three key types of “resources” in consolidating regime durability. Intentionally broad, our conception of resources encompasses not just natural resources managed by the state on behalf of the national community, but also the ideological and institutional resources that underpin the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) program of industrial resourcification and modernization. Our argument focuses on the mutual constitution and coproduction of natural, ideological, and institutional regime resources using a triptychal model to understand their integrative contribution to regime durability in Laos. This approach illuminates an evolving and pragmatic form of “statist market socialism” that contrasts with the common view of Laos as an aspiring if imperfect market-based developing economy. After defining statist market socialism and the regime’s three key resources, the article presents a case study from Laos’ strategic hydropower sector, to demonstrate how the triptych of regime resources combine in practice to support and sustain LPRP rule.