Political Forces Research Articles

Desain Kebijakan Daerah Pemilihan Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia pada Pemilu Tahun 2024

This study aims to analyze how the policy design of the Determination of Electoral Areas of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia with the Policy Design Theory initiated by Anne Larasson and Helen Ingram. This study seeks to analyze how the Regional Policy Design of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia in the 2024 Election affects democracy in Indonesia. The research method used in this study is qualitative research that is descriptive and interpretive to explain how the policy-making system of the Electoral Region of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia affects democracy by using a critical approach. The findings of this study are that the policy design of the constituency of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia in the 2024 election is a design that contains Social Construction. This can be seen from a series of processes contained in the policy-making system said by Helen Ingram and Anne Larasson which consists of the context of society that occurred before the 2024 general election, the dynamics of framing carried out by the group through the events that occurred, the context of the problem influenced by political forces and institutional culture, and finally the dynamics of design influenced by the calculation of opportunities and risks. From a series of processes that occurred, it was obtained that the design of the constituency policy of the House of Representatives itself was a design that damaged democracy.

The rise of populist radical right parties in Europe

After World War II, radical right parties in Europe experienced a decline, but over the last three decades, they have regained strength, becoming significant players in European politics. Since the early twenty-first century, they have secured representation at various levels, from local governments to national parliaments and the European Parliament. Nowadays, populist radical right parties rank among the top three most powerful political forces in one-third of European countries. In Austria, the FPÖ ( Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs) emerged as the leading party in the 2024 elections, winning 28.9% of the vote. In Italy, the Fratelli d’Italia coalition came to power with 25.99% of the vote in 2022. In Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party won its fourth consecutive election. In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN – Rassemblement National) achieved major victories in both the European Parliament and national elections, becoming the country’s largest party. Though initially considered marginal, populist radical right parties have become a lasting and serious force in European politics. This special issue features six carefully selected articles, each offering empirical and theoretical insights into different aspects of the rise of radical right and right-wing populist parties in Europe, contributing to a broader understanding of this phenomenon.

People's Socialists and Labor Group in 1917: Unity or Association? Bulletin of Science and Practice

The relevance of the problems of this study is due to the enduring importance of finding opportunities for compromise and unity of the progressive political forces of the country in critical, crisis periods of its history. The article examines aspects of cooperation, commonality and differences in the ideological views of two prominent political organizations of 1906-1917: the People's Socialist Party (PNS) and the Trudoviks, which united during the Great Russian Revolution in the summer of 1917 to form the People's Socialist Party of Labor. It is shown that, despite very productive cooperation in preparing a number of key programmatic issues (for example, agrarian), submitted for discussion in the State Duma and supposed to be consistently resolved in the course of the struggle for social justice, absolute political agreement between the People's Socialists and the Trudoviks did not occur. The factors that prevented this are analyzed: first, the desire of the Trudoviks to maintain the image of a non-partisan, non-ideological peasant faction, then the extremely difficult conditions for open opposition activity and the actual departure of the PNS from the political arena (1908-1916); Finally, the unwillingness of the Trudoviks to interact with the liberal parties during the revolutionary transformations of 1917 and disagreements with the Popular Socialists during the development of a project to resolve the national question. It is concluded that at the time of the creation of the united TNSP, the opportunity for organic unity was missed, and the party became more of an association than a team of genuine like-minded people.

A Critique of Deep Engagement, the Social Narrative of US Foreign Policy

Abstract This article offers a critical perspective of the discourse of deep engagement that portrays the United States as the world’s necessary or indispensable power. It describes deep engagement as a social narrative that, like literary narratives, has a story, a plot and an argument. This narrative has persisted in a time of waning hegemony because it makes an apparently appealing moral case for American global leadership. Yet deep engagement remains flawed from a strategic perspective and disregards the history of great-power rise and decline. From a strategic perspective, while hegemons describe their leadership in moral terms, their rhetoric is often betrayed by their actions. From a historical perspective, while hegemons regard their own efforts and values as instrumental to their status, their rise can be credited to a wave of economic and political forces the state cannot control.

Place-based regional planning: shaping governance, planning policy and practices in a South African region, 1994–2022

ABSTRACT The governance of regions is activated through actors and institutions representing diverse interests. Using place-based planning, this paper reviews local planning in South Africa drawing upon a case study of the iLembe District. We argue that region building is constructed through economic and political forces, currently blocked by poor relationships between the state, civil society, business, and inter-governmental complexities. The study uses empirical evidence on the regional conditions of the iLembe District and associated municipalities, reviews of planning documents and legislation, and interviews with key stakeholders. The authors argue that the local planning framework is ineffectual, lacking strategic direction, and primarily servicing provincial and nationally derived compliance requirements, rather than meeting strategic developmental objectives. Most recently, the global pandemic emphasized interlinked vulnerabilities and weak linkages associated with globalisation and sustainable development, particularly with global supply and value chains, health systems, settlement patterns, energy production and food security. We argue for a new form of collaborative regional planning and governance framework which could be laid through a “learning region” approach as identified in the place-based literature. An example is unlocking green energy production as a value addition to the established but crisis-laden sugar industry in the case study.

The Rise of Populism in America and Its Impact on Foreign Policy

Populism is a social trend sweeping across developed countries in Europe and America. Its emergence has divided society into two hostile groups. Trump marked the second stage of populism, which also became a mainstream political force. Whether it is the domestic economy, class policies, immigration policies, or foreign relations policies, extreme changes have been proposed. This paper explores the origins of populism from the 19th century. The purpose of writing is to analyze the starting point, outbreak process, and outbreak of left-wing and right-wing populism. The situation of American populism and its impact on foreign policy from different aspects are sorted out. This paper analyzes and presents that populism is divided into two basic forms of action: ideology and political discourse. Through the analysis of cases and research objects, it is found that the two have jointly promoted the transformation of diplomatic constitution. Based on the understanding of the nature of populism, three strong preferences of populism are analyzed.

The Political Economy of Industrial Policy

We examine the ways in which political realities shape industrial policy through the lens of modern political economy. We consider two broad “governance constraints”: (1) the political forces that shape how industrial policy is chosen and (2) the ways in which state capacity affects implementation. The framework of modern political economy suggests that government failure is not a necessary feature of industrial policy; rather, it is more likely to fail when countries pursue industrial policies beyond their governance capacity constraints. As such, our political economy of industrial policy is not fatalist. Instead, it enables policymakers to constructively confront challenges.

Addressing Social and Structural Determinants of Health in the Delivery of Reproductive Health Care: ACOG Committee Statement No. 11.

Social and structural determinants of health include historical, social, political, and economic forces, many of which are rooted in racism and inequality, that shape the relationship between environmental conditions and individual health. Unmet social needs can increase the risk of many conditions treated by obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns), including, but not limited to, preterm birth, unintended pregnancy, infertility, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and maternal mortality. An individual health care professional's biases (whether overt or unconscious) affect delivery of care and may exacerbate and reinforce health disparities through inequitable treatment. Obstetrician-gynecologists and other health care professionals should seek to understand patients' health care decision making not simply as patients' individual-level behavior, but rather as the result of intersecting sociopolitical conditions, structural inequities, and social needs that create and maintain inequalities in health and health care. Recognizing the importance of social and structural determinants of health can help ob-gyns and other health care professionals to better understand patients, effectively communicate about health-related conditions and behavior, and contribute to improved health outcomes, including patients' experience of care and their trust in the health care system.

Entangled Sainthood: Imperial Canonisations and the Invention of Saints in Colonial Latin America

This article examines the impact of canonisation trials on the promotion of new saints across the Spanish Empire. Focusing on New Spain and Peru, it demonstrates that the physical arrival of copies and summaries of a canonisation trial or hagiographies of a saintly candidate supported by the Spanish crown in Colonial America served as a catalyst for revitalising pre-existing devotions and even inspiring the creation of new ones. By examining the start of the canonisations of Fray Sebastián de Aparicio in Puebla (Mexico) and Toribio of Mogrovejo in Lima (Peru), the work provides an introduction to an often neglected phenomenon: the entanglement between religious, political and cultural forces in the formation of Latin American sainthood, mainly in four ways: causality, opposition, dialecticism and affiliation. *

The Influence of the European Court of Justice and the Role of Social Imaginaries in EU Governance

Abstract The years following 1989 marked a significant period of transformation for the European Union (EU), supplemented with the arrival of a distinct institutional framework. Central to this evolution is the European Court of Justice (ecj), which has exerted momentous influence, reshaping the power dynamics within the EU. This paper investigates influence of the ecj in helping to set up a novel trajectory of the European project, namely the shift towards what is termed “liberal constitutionalism,” characterized by a top-down, legal-centric approach. Amidst this evolution, the concept of populism emerges not only as a significant political force challenging established norms, reflecting tensions between institutional frameworks and socio-political realities, but also as conceptual lens through which the mainstream academia and European institution explain the challenges the European project has been facing. The dichotomy between established governance systems, such as the rule of law and emergent discontent, most commonly referred to as populism gave birth to the notion of “anti-populism” as a way to counteract the populist challenges to the European project. Furthermore, it studies the role of emergencies in perpetuating the status quo within EU governance, highlighting how crises are employed to justify executive overreach. To this end, this paper delves into three intertwined social imaginaries that emerged from the discourse surrounding post-1989 transformations. The first imaginary, “Western normality,” influenced the trajectory of cee societies post-Iron Curtain. The second, termed “expertocracy,” championed a procedural approach to decision-making, prioritizing experts over mass democracy. Finally, the concept of the “politics of emergency” arose as a tool to surpass the post- political landscape within the EU. These constructs significantly impact how the rule of law (rol) is perceived, applied, and contested.

The Role of Misogyny in the 2022 Korean Presidential Election: Understanding the Backlash against Feminism in Industrialized Democracies

Abstract Despite increasing scholarly attention to backlash against feminism, little is known about anti-feminist movements in East Asia. This study examines the 2022 South Korean presidential election campaign, in which the political parties sought to capitalize on political resistance to the perceived advance of feminism. This embrace of male grievance as a political force was arguably led by former People Power Party (PPP) chairman Lee Jun-seok, leading commenters to argue that support for Lee is rooted in misogyny. We examine this claim empirically by drawing on a novel survey to estimate the association between misogynistic attitudes, measured through devaluation, perception of women as manipulative, and distrust, and support for Lee. We find that misogynistic attitudes are positively correlated with support for Lee, but not with presidential vote choice. We interpret this as suggesting that the association between misogyny and support for Lee is a manifestation of the desire for symbolic representation. We discuss the implications of how this association can further influence the gender divide, both in Korea and beyond, and conclude with recommendations for further research.

The Institutionalization of Environmental Discourse: an Analysis of the History of International Conferences

Objective: Investigate the institutionalization of environmental protection discourse through international conferences sponsored by the United Nations. Theoretical Framework: The main concepts and theories that underlie the research are in the works Archeology of Knowledge and Order of Discourse, by Michel Foucault. Method: The Foucault archaeological method and documentary research are adopted. The corpus of the survey of official, unofficial and civil society documents is situated within the framework of the Stockholm-72 and Rio-92 conferences. Results and Discussion: The critical analysis of the documents points in particular to the clash of political, economic and social forces around concepts such as eco-development and sustainable development. It concludes by pointing out that, although the environmental discourse has become institutionalized at government level, these concepts were aimed first and foremost at producing a global consensus. Research Implications: The research contributes to the understanding of contemporary environmental challenges. Originality/Value: The study proposes a Foucauldian approach to evaluating environmental discourse.

The Green Party of the United States: Establishment and Entry into Big Politics

The article considers the long and complicated history of the Green Party in the United States (from 1984 to 2001), as well as its further political role as a «third party» – up to the establishment of the Green New Deal as its main ideological and election platform for the 2012 presidential elections. This topic is of interest due to the fact that, amid the global relevance of «green» political and economic agenda in the 21st century, the environmental parties are meant to play a special role – let alone in the country that claims leadership in the field of environmental (primarily, climate) policy. In this context, the situation that the Green Party in the United States is in a secondary position and does not have a decisive influence on real politics, looks all the more illogical. The specifics of the American Greens’ political strategy and tactics are analyzed, which allowed to reach a new level of political struggle as an alternative and oppositional political force towards both establishment parties – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Nevertheless, the Democrats led by President J. Biden have intercepted the Green Party’s preelection program and won the 2020 elections with it. This testifies to strategic mistakes made by the American Greens and casts doubt on their future political fate.

Coordinating the energy transition: Electrifying transportation in California and Germany

California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in California and Germany explains the different outcomes. Transforming energy systems requires coordination across various complementary technologies and infrastructures—here between the supply of electric vehicles and the buildout of charging stations. In California, a strong electrification coalition emerged across automakers selling electric vehicles as well as utilities and third-party firms providing charging infrastructure. Power market rules made capital investments for charging infrastructure instantly profitable for California monopoly utilities. By contrast, in Germany's liberalized power market, investing in capital-intensive charging infrastructure was not profitable for electric utilities. As a result, utilities did not emerge as a political force in the electrification coalition. Instead, utilities and automakers were in gridlock, failing to coordinate electric vehicle rollout and public charging station buildout. Our findings highlight the limits of business-led coordination, raising the question which institutions help address coordination failures in clean energy transitions.

Tradition and innovation: The dual nature of institutional thinking and its implications for modern governance

Institutional thinking, a concept that underscores the importance of internal perspectives and the enduring purposes of institutions, plays a critical role in maintaining societal stability and ethical governance. This paper explores the dual nature of institutional thinking, highlighting its positive aspects and inherent dangers. Through an examination of economic, political, and philosophical forces, the paper identifies modern challenges that undermine long-term commitments and ethical values within institutions. By drawing on historical and contemporary examples, including slavery, Nazism, and discriminatory practices, the discussion provides a comprehensive understanding of how institutional thinking can both promote human well-being and perpetuate systemic issues. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need to reaffirm institutional values, promote long-term thinking, and balance individual rights with collective responsibilities to harness the positive aspects of institutional thinking while mitigating its risks.

Music, Sound, Politics

This article reviews literature that followed from a political turn, starting in the 1980s, when new epistemological and disciplinary norms were established for articulating music and sound with politics. In an age of impotence, when neoliberal expansion led to pervasive political exhaustion, music and sound took on added potency as political forces in and of themselves. This wager rests on the presumption of music's capacity for politicization (its entry into and effect on the sphere of normative politics) under conditions of increasing depoliticization (the constraints placed on political participation). I have organized research on the politicization of music and sound into four primary categories: resistance and dissent, identity and recognition, affect and belonging, and power and dominance. The article concludes with recent wagers on music and sound to mitigate life's perils in the present and model “otherwise” possibilities for the future.

Construction of identity among the Nats of Bihar: a narrative analysis

ABSTRACT Tribes have a distinct ethnic identity, which has been threatened by various social, economic, technological, and political forces after 1970s and 1980s. In such scenarios, the legislature has the obligation to provide tribes with certain safeguards to ensure their ability to endure the transformation. However, research suggests that even in situations where the nomadic tribes do not get much support from other groups or institutions, they explore and continue to maintain their identities to a great extent with strategically. Based on this premise, this study explored a similar situation in which the Nat, a peripatetic nomadic tribe in India, has been negotiating its distinctiveness in order to cope with societal pressures. To understand this process, the narratives of 26 Nat, both men and women, were analyzed using the social constructionism model and narrative thematic analysis. The findings of the study establish that Nat is a motivated community for livelihood generation that has adopted strategies across various social domains and diverse socio-economic contexts. These include shifting identities that are ‘dynamic’ in nature. It is through these strategies that the Nat continues to exist as a community.

(A Journey) towards an Affirmative Politics for Environmental Education

Abstract Environmental education (EE) can never be separated from politics and the relationship between the two is complex, has changed over time, and is understood and experienced differently. The field’s relationship with politics is both internal (its own politics) and external (political forces outside the field) to it. In this article, I narrate my story of engaging with EE, politics and the relationship between the two. I refer to my story as an autocartophilosography because it has been significantly influenced by my engagement with philosophy and by my movement in space and over time. My most recent engagement has been with scholars’ theorising in the posthuman condition, and I suggest that this present condition requires a different politics, an affirmative politics. I generate seven propositions towards an affirmative politics for EE: making kin, transversal subjectivity, new alliances, dis/identification, embracing slowness, ethical and intellectual stamina; experimental energy.

RUSSIA’S HYBRID WARFARE IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: GEOPOLITICAL STRATEGIES AND PROXY ACTORS

This paper examines Russia’s hybrid warfare tactics against the Western Balkans, focusing on using direct and indirect methods to exert influence in the region. The study delves into Russia’s strategic use of media manipulation, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns, alongside its employment of proxy state and non-state actors such as Serbia, Republika Srpska, and the Serbian Orthodox Church. Leveraging historical, cultural, and religious ties, Russia seeks to destabilize the Western Balkans and prevent closer integration with NATO and the European Union. Special attention is given to the geopolitics of elections, where Russia manipulates electoral processes in countries like Montenegro and North Macedonia to favour pro-Russian or anti-Western political forces. By analyzing key case studies, this paper explores how Russian hybrid warfare exploits regional vulnerabilities—such as ethnic divisions and weak political institutions—while employing tactics of soft power and military cooperation. The findings indicate that Russia’s hybrid warfare, including electoral manipulation, poses a significant threat to regional stability and international security, underscoring the need for strengthened Western engagement to counter Russian influence. This study offers critical insights into the evolving nature of hybrid warfare and its implications for the geopolitical landscape of Southeast Europe.

‘Grand designs?’ Investigating the cultural and spatial logics of Channel 4’s media hub workspaces in Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow

This article explores the evolving spatiality of media production through an analysis of recent developments in UK broadcaster Channel 4’s move to a multi-site operating model. Historically, media buildings have served as landmarks of power and influence, embodying the aspirations and identities of media organisations and, as such, offer a fruitful lens for the specific exploration of the spaces of contemporary media production. Through a detailed analysis of Channel 4’s decision-making process, site selections and the significance of the chosen buildings within areas with an urban regeneration focus, the study investigates the complex interplay between media industry dynamics, regional development policies, and wider political and economic forces. Drawing on a range of academic literature and evidence from media, industry and policy reporting, the article highlights the strategic motivations behind Channel 4’s decentralisation efforts, positioned by the organisation as an effort to address diversity in terms of nations and regions representation but significantly shaped by political factors. However, it also raises critical questions about the long-term sustainability, economic viability and cultural impact of these relocation decisions. The article discusses how Channel 4’s regional media spaces and decentralisation reflect the impermanence and crisis facing Public Service Media, emphasising the shifting power dynamics within the media landscape and the need for adaptive strategies in an increasingly volatile industry environment. By examining the evolving investment in media buildings, this research contributes to a growing body of research seeking to understand the complex dynamics shaping contemporary media landscapes and urban environments.