Political Science Research Articles

The Netherlands: Political Developments and Data in 2023

AbstractThe Dutch political landscape is notoriously unpredictable; yet, 2023 was the most turbulent year in Dutch politics in at least two decades. The year featured two elections—provincial and national—within nine months, each dominated by two distinct issues: agriculture and migration. These elections saw two different populist parties triumph with significant margins: the FarmerCitizenMovement/BoerBurgerBeweging won the provincial elections, while the radical right‐wing populist Party for Freedom/Partij voor de Vrijheid secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. Moreover, the year witnessed the collapse of the centre‐right cabinet and leadership changes in more than half of the parties represented in parliament.

Political Power, Elite Control, and Long-Run Development: Evidence from Brazil

Abstract This paper analyzes how changes in the concentration of political power affect long-run development. We study Brazil’s military dictatorship whose rise to power dramatically altered the distribution of power of local political elites. We document that municipalities that were more politically concentrated prior to the dictatorship in the 1960s are relatively richer in 2000, despite being poorer initially. Our evidence suggests that this reversal of fortune was the result of the military’s policies aimed at undermining the power of traditional elites. These policies increased political competition among traditional elites, leading to better governance, more public goods, and higher income levels.

The sustainability of university education toward national development: The Nigerian perspective

In regard to national development (ND), this review article (which is basically a perspective approach) presents retroactive and forward-looking perspectives on university education in Nigeria. In the past, particularly during the 1970s, the Nigerian university (NU) sector was among the most outstanding in Africa as well as globally. The best institutions drew students from around Africa, who flocked to Nigeria to study. The NU structure evidently contained four essential components for an international and effective university system, viz., world-class instructors, world-class students, a conducive learning environment, and global competitiveness. The NU structure, nevertheless, has undergone some neglect over the past thirty years and lost its distinctive identity, which raises questions about its function and applicability at the current stage of ND. Hence, some retrospective and forward-looking observations on university education in Nigeria in connection to ND are conveyed in this perspective article uses basically published articles and other relevant literature, as well as other sources and data from available literature. Hitherto, there is an urgent need for reinforcement of the university system in order to give it the desired and comparable international quality and functionality needed to meet the demands of current issues and the near future. However, this article conveys an intense belief and conviction that the NU system is still important for both the political and socioeconomic development (growth) of the nation. The article concludes by recommending the way forward in this regard.

Philosophy and Sociology of Law by Bogdan Kistyakovski

The article tries to explore the importance of the work «Philosophy and sociology of the law» by Bogdan Kistyakovsky for the political science and theory. The article shows the positioning of the intelligentsia in Kyiv as part of Russian Empire, its critical attitude to the ideas of Ukrainophilism. The author stresses the political proximity of Bogdan Kistyakovsky to the political party of constitutional democrats (cadets). In his work Kistyakovsky tried to show the advantages of the rule of law, the possibility of its establishment in the Russia of that time. The article considers the contribution of the «Philosophy and sociology of the law» to the evolution of generalized scientific knowledge, the methods he proposed for improving the humanities and social sciences.

Effects of Globalization on Third World Development: The Nigerian Experience

The study examines globalization and its effects on third world development with emphasis on the Nigerian state. The growing global economy was fastened mostly by information technology, international trade, culture, political, and social activities across the globe. It has no doubt created a global dual phenomenon where third world countries continued to experience economic and political development at the expense of western world. Thus, third world countries are fully incorporated into the global capitalist economy but the accrued benefits are not evenly distributed. Globalization is another form of colonization of third world countries achieved through the use of exploitative instruments like World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, multinational corporations and other international financial institutions in order to capture the world in the name of globalization. These aforementioned instruments in the name of globalization are diversionary and plausible because there is no country in the world that is in the process of development as a result of globalization or that has developed as a product of globalization. The pro-globalizers deceive third world countries, that globalization is a path to development in which all third world countries are supposed to follow in order to become developed. Nigeria, in the current wind of globalization remains a clientele economy in the competitive global market. The study adopts documentary research methods and relied majorly on secondary data and modernisation theory was adopted as the theoretical foundation of the study. The study revealed that underdevelopment in Nigeria resulted from the negative effects of globalization are to explore the political impacts of globalization and imposition of foreign rule in Nigeria, to explore the economic impacts of globalization and unequal terms of trade in Nigeria and to identify the role of Nigeria as giant of Africa in global markets. The study, however suggest economic diversification and exportable capacity of the third world economy in the global market, regulation of international capitalist structure through applicability of market friendly policies devoid of stringent market policies placed on third world countries by the developed countries and Improving bank regulations of the third world countries nations banks are well regulated to their boost economic growth. The study concludes that there is interconnectedness between globalization and development in Nigeria, which in turn increases the rate of unemployment of masses and hinders political and economic development in Nigeria.

Isaac Breuer's Antiliberal Neo-Kantianism and the Politicization of Jewish Ultra-Orthodoxy

This article centers on the early writings of Isaac Breuer (1910–17), arguing that Breuer's radicalization of neo-Kantianism anchors his revolutionary call to politicize Jewish Orthodoxy. Moreover, it contends that neo-Kantianism, which is normally associated with liberal or social-democratic politics, was given a thoroughly antiliberal reading by Breuer that led to an antiliberal Orthodox politics. While the rise of non-Zionist political Orthodoxy is often regarded as an obsolete traditionalism unattuned to the nature of mass politics, Breuer's politicization of Orthodoxy reveals a coherent antiliberal political theory that addresses the aporias of the democratic age. Breuer uses neo-Kantianism to develop an anti-Weberian “science of politics” which attempts to overcome the modern plurality of values by positing Judaism as coercive public morality. Reading Breuer's Jewish writings through the lens of his quarrels with Weber, Stammler, and Cohen, this article explores Breuer's attempt to overcome the association of Kantian morality with liberalism, by legitimizing coercion politically, philosophically, and theologically. This enabled Breuer to criticize apolitical forms of Jewish Orthodoxy, Zionist programs to politicize Judaism, and democratic politics more generally.

A mathematical analysis of the corruption dynamics model with optimal control strategy

Corruption is a global problem that affects many countries by destroying economic, social, and political development. Therefore, we have formulated and analyzed a mathematical model to understand better control measures that reduce corruption transmission with optimal control strategies. To verify the validity of this model, we examined a model analysis showing that the solution of the model is positive and bounded. The basic reproduction number R0 was computed by using the next-generation matrix. The formulated model was studied analytically and numerically in the context of corruption dynamics. The stability analysis of the formulated model showed that the corruption-free equilibrium is locally and globally asymptotically stable for R0 < 1, but the corruption-endemic equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable for R0 > 1. Furthermore, the optimal control strategy was expressed through the Pontryagin Maximum Principle by incorporating two control variables. Finally, numerical simulations for the optimal control model were performed using the Runge-Kutta fourth order forward and backward methods. This study showed that applying both mass education and law enforcement is the most efficient strategy to reduce the spread of corruption.

Embarking on Friendship: Exploring Early Soviet-Indian Relations

By the onset of the Second World War, the USSR had virtually no experience or established traditions of interaction with South Asian countries. Initially, Soviet-Indian relations could be characterized as tepid, largely due to a lack of accurate information about each other. During the wartime, the USSR underestimated the advantages of forging close ties with Indian left-wing centrists, favoring instead communists who provided the Kremlin with falsified data on the national liberation movement in the country.The article examines how bilateral relations evolved and strengthened as mutual knowledge grew. The second stage of Soviet-Indian relations (1955-1971) can be termed as a period of "birth of friendship," as the image of partnership is consolidated in the eyes of Soviet and Indian politicians and the public. Soviet diplomacy played a pivotal role in shaping policy changes: diplomats sought to gather crucial information about events in the country, transmit it to the USSR, and promote bilateral rapprochement, sometimes even acting in violation of instructions.The article pays particular attention to the activities of Subhas Chandra Bose, the leader of the left wing of the Indian National Congress, who according to Indian sociological surveys on the most prominent politicians of the 20th century, ranks second only to Mahatma Gandhi. During the Second World War, he was an uncompromising fighter against British colonialists. The Soviet Union did not pay sufficient attention to S.C. Bose, although he potentially could have been a valuable partner for Moscow.At present, the problem of mutual lack of awareness has resurfaced, hindering the development of closer political, economic, and cultural-humanitarian ties between Russia and India.

Civility and Environmental Politics

In this article, we offer a normative analysis of environmental politics through the lens of civility. First, we explain what civility is by identifying its three key dimensions: civility as politeness, moral civility and justificatory civility. We then examine various instances of environmental politics and activism through the lens of civility, by focusing on the complex intersections between its three dimensions as well as the hierarchical relationship that exists between them, with moral civility taking precedence over justificatory civility and the latter over civility as politeness. This analysis, we argue, can help us to formulate more nuanced judgements about the desirability of different instances of civil and uncivil environmental politics and activism, and to develop educational strategies for preparing policymakers, environmental activists and citizens more generally to be civil participants in environmental politics.

Artificial Intelligence as a Supporting Tool for Local Government Decision-Making in Public Safety

ObjectivesThe purpose of this article is to present artificial intelligence in the public security system at local government level of a state. This article answers the following questions: Does artificial intelligence have the potential to be used in the field of public safety by public administrations at the level of local authorities and, if so, are there successful examples of such applications? Is it advisable to expand the understanding of public safety to include such an area where AI is applied to public services?MethodsThe article falls within the theoretical publication stream. The research tools and techniques used are characteristic of the social sciences, including political and administrative sciences and security sciences. Mainly the following were used : desk research, analysis of literature , normative acts, documents and strategies. The analysis was extended with statements of practitioners from local government as representatives of public administration.ResultsThe result of the study is the confirmation of both research theses (H1 and H2) posed in the social science area of public safety and artificial intelligence systems.ConclusionsThis article states that that AI has the potential to be used in the field of public safety by public administrations at the level of local and regional authorities, despite the correlated risks arising from the use of AI by the public sector. It is advisable to expand the understanding of public safety to include such an area where AI is applied in public services.

BENEFITS OF INTERNSHIP ACCORDING TO POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS

A step has been taken in higher education towards the specialization of universities. In line with this step, a trend towards internship applications has started in the political science and public administration departments of universities. There is a gap in the literature on studies related to internships in these departments. The present study aims to fill said gap. The purpose of the study is to explore the benefits of internship through the opinions of political science and public administration students. The study was conducted descriptively employing the qualitative research method with a single case design. The participants of the study were identified using the purposive sampling method and typical case sampling. The participants were students of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Aksaray University. The internship program in the department had been recently initiated at the request of the students. Seven students out of a total of ten students who had completed their internship were the participants of the study. Observations, interviews and document analysis were used as data collection tools. Semi-structured interview questions were used in the interviews. The collected data were transferred to the Maxqda 2022 software for coding. Categories were generated based on these codes and themes were identified based on the categories. At the end of the study, the benefits of internship were grouped under two themes. The first theme is “Benefits of internship for students” and the second one is “Benefits of internship for the faculty”.

Discourse of Foreign Digital Media: Analysis of the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election Coverage

This study examines the complex dynamics of communication in the changing field of journalism influenced by the use of media. It specifically focuses on how thoughts and perceptions are expressed in this evolving landscape. Information and communication technologies significantly influence journalism by rapidly disseminating news, updates, and societal impacts. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, the study aims to reveal systematic language usages and uncover latent meanings beyond news texts. Focused on the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election, news texts from four prominent international newslets Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, and Euronews are analyzed. The comprehensive analysis of international media coverage investigates the interplay of linguistic and thematic choices in shaping narratives. With a dual focus on macro and micro levels of discourse, the study uncovers diverse approaches among foreign media outlets. Each outlet adopts a distinctive thematic approach at the macro level, emphasizing key figures and sociopolitical contexts. Al Jazeera spotlights competition, BBC underscores post-election polarization, CNN focuses on Erdogan's victory, and Euronews provides insights into national challenges. Visual elements, like photographs, contribute significantly to framing events, offering nuanced political messaging. Micro-level analysis explores linguistic choices, syntax, and rhetoric, emphasizing the active voice to underscore leaders' agency. Deliberate use of the passive voice in presenting election results maintains a neutral tone. The way sentences are structured and the cause-and-effect connections help readers understand political developments by providing context. The study underscores the importance of media literacy in decoding political event representations, emphasizing the multifaceted complexities of media discourse.

Politicisation of Science in COVID-19 Editorial Cartoons: A Comparative Study of Cartoons in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT This study explores the representation of scientists and politicians in editorial cartoons from three countries: Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Of 466 cartoons collected from six Sunday newspapers (two from each country) over an 18-month period, 226 (49%) contained some reference to COVID-19. A qualitative analysis of cartoons highlights the politicisation of science and the relative absence of scientists in the cartoon discourse. Cartoonists focus on the political aspects of the pandemic, often portraying politicians as juggling competing demands, such as health needs versus personal freedom. However, they often miss the opportunity to address the reasons for the imposition of COVID-19-related restrictions or the effectiveness of health measures, instead portraying scientists as oppositional figures. In addressing COVID-19 in this way, cartoonists subtly suggest conflicts between the values of scientists, politicians and society. Cartoonists also tie the pandemic into broader political discourses in each country, for example, states’ rights, corruption and Brexit in, respectively Australia, South Africa and the UK. This work provides insights into journalistic coverage of complex, science-related issues, with a particular focus on the ways that editorial coverage reflects public sentiment, policy responses and social attitudes.

A Multi-Method Approach to the Future of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Since the establishment of the Journal of Political Science Education (JPSE) in 2004, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning has become more rigorous and data-based, thanks in large part to the efforts of editors, peer-reviewers, and submitters to the journal. Where does the field go from here? I argue that our greatest strengths lie in multimethod approaches. To best understand how to improve teaching and learning in political science, we need to use all of our methodological tools. To illustrate these tools, I provide examples of some of the most-cited pieces in JPSE over the past 20 years, including ones using large-n statistical, experimental, case study, student self-report, qualitative evaluation, and reflective methodologies. I also provide examples of multimethod SoTL work and argue that the best way to move the field forward is to use multiple methodological tools together. Multimethod approaches help us better understand both the teaching problems that are facing the field of political science today and how best to respond to them. For instance, big data can help us understand overall trends, but may hide the individual experiences of students; experiments may reveal causal relationships, but surveys can help us understand how they function in practice. By bringing multiple methodological approaches together, we can get better answers to important questions. The widespread adoption of multimethod SoTL approaches in the future will require rethinking graduate school training, thoughtful research design, and providing intentional collaboration opportunities through conferences and infrastructure.

The Changing Nature of Policing Studies in Türkiye

The landscape of police studies in Türkiye is deeply entwined with its historical context, shaped by the presence of law enforcement organizations dating back to the Ottoman Empire. The growth of academic research in Türkiye has mirrored the expansion of universities and scholars throughout its history. Recent data from 2022-2023 indicates a remarkable surge in higher education institutions, students, and faculty members, resulting in a wide array of research areas, encompassing roughly 250 diverse subjects, including policing. Nevertheless, the evolution of police studies in Türkiye is not solely a consequence of academic growth. Political history, particularly the military coups until the early 1990s, may have restricted research and led to self-censorship. This study aims to examine the evolution of police studies in Türkiye by analyzing 381 articles published between 1943 and 2022, drawing from a Turkish-source database like Dergipark. The analysis employs a frequency analysis methodology using the SPSS program. The study's ultimate objective is to provide a foundation for future international comparative studies, addressing areas necessitating development within Turkish police studies, while also identifying deficiencies, limitations, methods, and analyses. In the contemporary context, research related to policing extends beyond the humanities and social sciences, embracing diverse fields such as health, technology, and sports. According to the results, policing studies have undergone a profound transformation, shifting from a narrow focus on security and legal concerns to comprehensive exploration of contemporary societal issues. This evolution has been fueled by academic enthusiasm, fostering interdisciplinary research in Türkiye over the past two decades. Türkiye, in particular, has witnessed a growing interest in the concept of policing, extending its influence into fields such as history, political science, sociology, psychology, sports, and medicine.

The impact of educational service quality on student academic performance in Ethiopian public universities: a mediating role of students’ satisfaction

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of educational service quality (ESQ) on student academic performance via the mediating role of student satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachTo serve the study’s purpose, the study adopted a quantitative research approach. Three public universities representing 30% of the ten public universities located in the Southern part of Ethiopia participated in the study. Questionnaires were the main tools for gathering data. The adapted questionnaire, consisting of 116 items was administered to 400 randomly selected regular undergraduate graduating class students. The quantitative data collected via questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and advanced inferential statistics.FindingsThe quantitative findings revealed that there is a statistically positive association between overall education service quality and students’ satisfaction (r = 0.712). The findings proved that the facets of education service quality accounted for 71.2% of the variations in students’ satisfaction in the universities. The quantitative findings further showed that the education service quality has a statistically indirect effect on students’ academic performance via the mediating role of students’ satisfaction (test statistic = 31.5311573, std. error = 0.00122536 and p-value = 0). The findings further confirmed that the overall education service quality accounted for 12.7% of the variations in students’ academic performance via student satisfaction in the universities.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study was conducted in public universities located in the Southern part of Ethiopia. The findings and conclusions of the study may not be generalizable to all Ethiopian public universities. Future researchers and scholars should conduct their study in all Ethiopian public universities by taking a representative sample from the Ethiopian public universities.Practical implicationsThe present finding suggests that an improvement in ESQ leads to students’ satisfaction and that could contribute to boosting their academic performance. The findings of the present may help the practitioners who measure higher education service quality by providing how the provision of ESQ indirectly influences the student’s academic performance in the universities.Social implicationsThe findings of this study confirmed that the facets of ESQ are associated with students’ satisfaction and this, in turn, indirectly influences their academic performance. Student academic performance is one of the key indicators of quality education, and it has its influences on the social, political and economic development of a country. The findings of the present research provide valuable insights to higher education management bodies, higher quality assurance agencies and the Federal Ministry of Education to learn the indirect effect of ESQ on students’ academic performance and take necessary measures to improve the Ethiopian higher education quality.Originality/valueThe contributions of ESQ in the higher education sector are enormous. However, the existing service quality literature in higher education mainly focuses on the interrelation among service quality, student satisfaction, loyalty and behavioral intentions. Little is known about the indirect influence of ESQ on student academic performance (one of the key indicators of quality education), principally in Ethiopian higher education, the place of current research. The present study showed the indirect impact of ESQ on student academic performance in Ethiopian public universities. The study, therefore, suggests that university management bodies should actively monitor the quality of their services and commit themselves to boosting students’ learning outcomes.

Localization of unprofessionalism – a necessary condition for the contemporary political science

Localization of unprofessionalism – a necessary condition for the contemporary political science

Embedding Democratic Values into Social Media AIs via Societal Objective Functions

Mounting evidence indicates that the artificial intelligence (AI) systems that rank our social media feeds bear nontrivial responsibility for amplifying partisan animosity: negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward political out-groups. Can we design these AIs to consider democratic values such as mitigating partisan animosity as part of their objective functions? We introduce a method for translating established, vetted social scientific constructs into AI objective functions, which we term societal objective functions, and demonstrate the method with application to the political science construct of anti-democratic attitudes. Traditionally, we have lacked observable outcomes to use to train such models-however, the social sciences have developed survey instruments and qualitative codebooks for these constructs, and their precision facilitates translation into detailed prompts for large language models. We apply this method to create a democratic attitude model that estimates the extent to which a social media post promotes anti-democratic attitudes, and test this democratic attitude model across three studies. In Study 1, we first test the attitudinal and behavioral effectiveness of the intervention among US partisans (N=1,380) by manually annotating (alpha=.895) social media posts with anti-democratic attitude scores and testing several feed ranking conditions based on these scores. Removal (d=.20) and downranking feeds (d=.25) reduced participants' partisan animosity without compromising their experience and engagement. In Study 2, we scale up the manual labels by creating the democratic attitude model, finding strong agreement with manual labels (rho=.75). Finally, in Study 3, we replicate Study 1 using the democratic attitude model instead of manual labels to test its attitudinal and behavioral impact (N=558), and again find that the feed downranking using the societal objective function reduced partisan animosity (d=.25). This method presents a novel strategy to draw on social science theory and methods to mitigate societal harms in social media AIs.

Political reconfiguration in the social space: data analysis and future perspective.

This paper aims to explore the complex and sometimes controversial relationship between social media and politics. The correlation between these two areas of research has always been less linear than a simplistic narrative might suggest, mainly because of the involvement of different scientific disciplines, such as sociology, political science, communication, social psychology and computer science. The decision to explore this topic is motivated by the persistent relevance of social media platforms in the current era. This growing centrality is also due to the accelerated digitization process that occurred during the pandemic phase in the digital ecosystem. In particular, the pandemic has contributed to a significant evolution of the concept of social networks. The methodology used is based on secondary data, and the work seeks to highlight the expansion of digital space resulting from the shift from a simple place of interaction to a digital space that reconfigured the mobilization and political action of Campania's governor Vincenzo De Luca. In conclusion, the study reveals important findings on the president's use of social media. For example, active citizen engagement strategies through direct interaction, timely information sharing, and mobilization of online resources are evident. Therefore, it becomes necessary to ask and understand whether the potential of new social technologies is being used to cultivate critical and massive citizen participation in democratic processes or whether it is being distorted for the sole purpose of increasing or consolidating consent.

From exclusion to establishment: Organizational birthmarks and imprinting within populist parties

AbstractThis paper bridges literature on political parties and organizational studies by providing a new theoretical lens on political party developments. There has been growing scholarly interest in populist parties and the issues that serve as the raison d'être for their political platform. While the literature has been preoccupied with the journey of the anti‐hero rising to power, less has been written about the organization of the party once it has transcended to political influence. Likewise, whereas organizational birthmarks and imprinting have been integral concepts in the study of organizations, there has been little permeation of the concepts into the study of political parties. The Danish People's Party and Norwegian Progress Party provide two illustrative cases, showing that their original formation and later transformation into the current parties brought with it challenges to their structure and ideology. Our findings show that while an increase in external support to the political party, that is, votes, imprints organizational birthmarks, it is during a decrease in the very same external support that organizational birthmarks are uncovered and challenged. Through process‐tracing and our theoretical model, we identify organizational birthmarks and causal mechanisms in which competing organizational birthmarks create an internal division within the political party.