Political Interactions Research Articles

Socio-economic Status, Territory and Political Participation in Twenty-First- Century Mexico

This article is built on the reflections that the authors have had during their latest research on political participation in several municipalities of Mexico. Thus, based on the ethnographies conducted between 2006 and 2016, mainly in the town of Xico (Veracruz state), we set up as analyzing unities specific political interactions (including patronizing) among Mexican citizens within the five types recognized by Social Sciences: voting, campaigning, contacting political officials, working on public affairs and talking about politics. On this basis, we explore the articulation of the aforementioned interactions and, more specifically, of the roles adopted by the interacting citizens as identity markers linking these people in a highlighted way with a series of socio‑economic and socio‑territorial features, dimensions that, ultimately, turn out inseparable from the existing power relations in the local societies. In conclusion, we are of the opinion that, together with indicators of income, education, professional category or living nearby territory, it can be affirmed that the political behavior in Mexico is shown as both socio‑economic indicator and socio‑territorial belonging not because parties represent interests of class, but because there are well defined spheres of political behavior depending on the socio‑economic stratum and the socio‑territorial belonging of the individual.

Between Ideological Loyalty and Political Adaptation: The “Agrarian Question” in the Development of Bulgarian Social Democracy, 1891–1912

At the end of the nineteenth century, European social democracy found acceptance among some circles of the Bulgarian intelligentsia. However, the social base of this new ideology, including industrialization and urbanization, was almost missing. This contradiction confronted the young party with the challenge of adapting to local social reality, not only leading it to a chain of internal ideological dilemmas questioning its social democratic identity, but also stimulating various political interactions with the public environment, culminating in a change of national politics. The present article lays out the problem of social democracy’s political adaptation by focusing first on the “Agrarian Question” debates among the party elite through investigation of the public discussions in the congresses, newspapers, and letters, and second, on political practice in the field of electoral politics through analyses of electoral statistics and mobilization discourses. The article’s main conclusions are that (1) dialectics between the intensive transfer of modern ideas and the complex process of their adaptation to national conditions is one of the “moving contradictions” of Bulgarian social democracy’s development in the Balkan peripheral context, (2) the Bulgarian Workers’ Social Democratic Party’s (BWSDP) experience confirms the more general tendency in Second International social democracy of a strong interdependence between electoral politics and ideological debates, and (3) the efforts for political mobilization of the petty peasants and artisans through Marxist language led to its evolution into a socialist-populist discourse that stimulated massification of political participation and encouraged but also opposed the early Agrarian movement.

Are Geopolitical, Economy, and Social Affecting Unemployments? Evidence From ASEAN-5

East and Southeast Asia gain tremendous economic and political advantages in terms of economic geopolitics (GPE). However, the impact that emerged in the GPE was further exacerbated by the emergence of the covid pandemic, "one belt, one road" in the global economic and geopolitical recession, which caused figures to soar in several ASEAN countries which is one of the challenges related to economic development. This study used the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) based on de jure an d de facto KOFGI panel data in ASEAN-5 from 1991-2019 to explore the short and long-term relationship between geopolitical, economic, and social factors on the unemployment rate. The results of this study reveal that the four variables have two co-integration relationships: especially in the long term, economic factors harm the unemployment, meanwhile, social and political factors have not provided a conducive influence to maintain the unemployment impact, and they promote no mutual mechanism benefit. The findings also show a negative correlation between political factors and an increase in de facto unemployment. It indicates that the political environment impacts a decrease in social and economic variables. Furthermore, the shock of the loss of de jure economic stability has adverse social and political interactions, thereby increasing the unemployment rate. This due to the critical role of economic stability to reduce the unemployment in ASEAN-5 countries.

Trends in financing of basic education in Ghana – a political economy analysis

PurposeUsing a political economy framework, this paper examines the financing trend, by investigating three systematic spikes occurring between 2004 and 2016. The study aims to provide a useful review of the interaction of politics, financial decisions and educational outcomes. Additionally it provides a useful guide, especially to academics, to identify political and economic conceptualizations that will predict expenditure decision-making of political actors and to be able to provide policy advice on the future effect of such decisions on availability and accessibility of public goods.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a secondary data analysis approach, drawing upon secondary data sources such as from the Ministry of Education, budget statements from the Ministry of Finance, as well as relevant policy documents. Additional information for the study was also extracted from the manifestos of the two leading political parties in Ghana – the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress and their viewpoints on financing of education in Ghana.FindingsUsing two epochal years when financing of education peaked (2008 and 2012), which coincided with election years, the trend lends itself to being interpreted as opportunistic spending. It appears to give credence to a conclusion that the increases in spending are more politically directed and nonneutral.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to study the trend of basic education financing in Ghana, which will help policy actors make better-informed decisions with the introduction of the novel “adaptive opportunism” framework analysis tool.

Social Services and Twitter: Analysis of Socio-Political Discourse in Spain from 2015 to 2019

The fundamental role of social networks in all areas of our lives and of social and political interactions is also very important in this new digital environment. The study focused on the analysis of tweets related to social-service issues published on Twitter during the different electoral campaigns in Spain from 2015 to 2019. The sample is 6728 tweets generated between 2015 and 2019 on the topic “social services” for quantitative analysis. In this analysis, we use the Gephi tool to observe how these messages flow on Twitter. The aim was to understand the socio-political discourse of different actors on social services in order to identify priority topics and networks for active Twitter profiles. The results show that users use Twitter for informal communication during the election period, focusing on messages, condemnation and positive evaluation to increase their visibility and influence.

РЕЛИГИОЗНЫЙ АСПЕКТ В ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ КОНФЛИКТАХ

Relevance of the political conflict topic on the background of religious component is related to religious revival that started in Russia in the first half of the 90-ties of the last century, which has been caused by deep social, political, economic, and cultural changes in our society. During those years, religiosity level of the country increased, this enriched the spiritual life but at the same time gave rise to multiple problems. They are expressed in the conflicts among different religionists aggravated by the actively pursued migration policy, development of the global Islam politicization tendency, intensive spread of the new extremist religious movements in the Russian confessional community. Religious disputes, frequently coming with manifestation of aggression, violence and intolerance, often aggravate the social and political tension in the modern society. In such an environment, exploration of the integrating and disintegrating effect of the religion is of high practical importance. Interaction of politics and religion, their priority in shaping public opinion, mutual penetration and confrontation expressed in various life aspects, including personal self-identification, extent of integration into society, civil position and world perception as a whole — all these problems become ever more topical in the context of ever-greater importance of the world religions influence on the present-day inter-ethnic, international, and inter-state relations. The necessity to explore the religious component of the political conflict is explained by the complexity and variety of this phenomenon, availability of multiple internal and external factors affecting intra-confessional and inter-confessional relations. To this end, it is extremely important to analyze consistently the reasons, manifestation forms and ways for prevention of conflicts with religious component, especially in geopolitical context. In view of the foregoing, the articles dwells upon the issues of interaction between politics and religion in the environment of globalization of the modern society with due consideration for the conflict potential in the political sphere related to religious factors.

European Federation of Neurological Societies: parent to the European Academy of Neurology.

The European Academy of Neurology (EAN) is a vigorous organization of great importance for all neurologists and for our patients. But how did neurology get organized at the European level? That is the topic of this article. Most important sources are memories and documents of the author, who was a moving force in developing the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS), one of the two parents of the EAN. All European national neurological societies and the World Federation of Neurology were involved in a difficult political interaction resulting in the EFNS. Organizational and administrative development was the initial task. Scientific panels led by a scientific committee, teaching courses for young neurologists, teaching courses in middle and eastern Europe and successful congresses were developed. The purchase of headquarters as well as the creation of a fully owned scientific journal (European Journal of Neurology) were important and financially beneficial. The EFNS also promoted the formation of the European Brain Council and of the patient organization European Federation of Neurological Associations. All these elements have continued after fusion with the European Neurological Society to form the EAN. The very successful development of the EFNS has largely been carried on into the EAN.

Patriotism as a Political Religion: Its History, Its Ambiguities, and the Case of Hungary

The article discusses patriotism as a “political religion”, an ambiguous phenomenon that is both a substitute for former religious traditions and something that remains profoundly analogous with them. Special emphasis is laid on the origins of such political religions in the modern era and the role of the state in their emergence, which somewhat relativizes Böckenförde’s famous thesis on the rise of the state as a “process of secularization”. The article also follows the spread of religious patriotism in nineteenth-century Europe and how it contributed to the project of nation-building in different environments. This larger context helps to better explain such cases as that of Hungary, which has produced a variety of patriotic narratives, symbols, and rituals from its beginnings to the present day, raising doubts about the overarching validity of the secularization thesis. Methodologically, this approach involves the analysis of historical and contemporary texts, visual representations, and liturgical practices, while the conclusion suggests that, although the concept of “political religion” remains controversial, the enduring force of patriotism is better explained by the interaction of politics and religion than by a purely secular outlook.

The concept of modern political confrontation in cyber space

Abstract The purpose of the study is to determine the main forms of behavior of the participants of the political process in the information space of Ukraine and progressive informative countries of the world in order to achieve political goals and decisions that have a constructive or destructive function in the political system, considering social, cultural, legal, and ideological factors that affect interaction of participants during the confrontation of political processes in cyberspace. The subject of the study is the concept of modern political confrontation in cyberspace. Through the lens of a combination of international and national approaches to the development of effective ways of improvement for the further segmental possibility of use in the field of cybersecurity and cyber protection, the theoretical and practical underpinnings of political conflict in Ukraine were established. The protection of an individual’s and a citizen’s rights and freedoms was used in an approach that calls for the implementation of political conflict within the context of political interaction. The correlation of global cybersecurity in the context of the dichotomy “democratic political regime—non-democratic political regime” is revealed. It is proposed to borrow the experience of individual states regarding coordination of the increase of scientific potential and human resources in the field of the IT industry in order to achieve the highest level in the protection of the state’s critical infrastructure; improvement of the political system organization in the direction of the formation of an institutional subsystem at the modern informational level.

“Naughty,” “Nice,” or “Homo Sapiens:” Gendered Political Toolkits in a Housing Mobilization1

This article advances our understanding of how gender structures political interaction by examining the constraints and opportunities associated with gender in a housing mobilization. These constraints and opportunities are rooted in social and political hierarchies and shaped by the gendered political toolkits: the demarcation of social issues as male or female, gendered political language and gender‐appropriate emotions, and the division of activist labor along the lines of gender. Gendered political toolkits cue people when and how it is appropriate to mobilize, which tasks and roles to take on in small, even all‐female groups, how to perform and which emotions to express when interacting with outsiders. Activists can experience their gender as a limitation, especially when navigating a political field organized around traditionalist gender norms and expectations. Still, they can also strategically employ the traditionalist perceptions and behaviors. Focusing on the basic level of collective action, activist small groups and their strategies, the article shows how activists navigate the constraints and opportunities of their gender as they mobilize in response to a controversial urban renewal proposal in Moscow, the Renovation program.

Saudi Arabia. Salman bin Abdulaziz and Mohammed bin Salman

Salman bin Abdulaziz who ascended the throne of Saudi Arabia in 2015 faced the challenge of abandoning the feudal pyramid and establishing a new power vertical. Volatility in oil prices and falling budget revenues posed a threat to social stability. Additional drivers of instability were the military involvement in the civil war in Yemen, Sunni-Shiite contradictions in the Eastern Province, and tensions with Qatar. In 2016, the Vision 2030 program, which entailed profound reforms, was adopted. It suggested the IPO of Saudi ARAMCO, the development of non-oil sectors, in particular tourism, the accelerated expansion of the private sector, labor market reforms, including greater women’s participation in labor force, and weakening the conservative control of the Wahhabi corporation over society. The first stage of the implementation of Vision 2030 provided for the expansion of cooperation with the United States, especially after the administration of D.Trump came into office, and for more political interaction with Washington, but at the same time encouraged the development of mutually beneficial ties with Russia. Inside the kingdom, the course of reforms drew both the support of a part of society interested in their implementation as it understood the urgency of significant changes, and the opposition of another part that aimed at protecting its privileges and maintaining strict Wahhabi traditions. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman became the personification of the new course.

Стратегические ориентиры новой концепции регионостроительства в Центральной Азии

Conceptual approaches to the development of a new region-building strategy in Central Asia (CA) in the context of foreign policy and foreign economic tensions in today's world are revealed. The geo-economic and integration priorities of the Central Asian states are substantiated to expand strategic cooperation with world and regional powers, as well as to build vectors of effective economic and political interaction within the Central Asian region itself.

Неравносторонний треугольник: сотрудничество Турции, Азербайджана и Пакистана

The article concentrates on historic prerequisites of Turkiye–Azerbaijan–Pakistan triangle with special emphasis on two vibrant tracks: Turkiye–Azerbaijan relations before the establishment of the USSR and Turkiye–Pakistan relations during the Cold War. Combined, these tracks shape the basis for the present triangle. The authors trace the triangle’s history back to the establishment of Azerbaijan’s independence and cover crucial spheres of cooperation between the nations: political interaction and their shared stance on security problems such as Nagorno-Karabakh, Kashmir, the Cyprus issue, as well as tensions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean; economic links in general and energy cooperation in particular; defense cooperation, assistance in military training, dynamics of arms trade and its prospects. The institutionalization of the triangle took place in 2017 after the signing of Baku Declaration and was tested during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020. Since the triangle saw success in the war, the parties have boosted their brotherly partnership with the first trilateral joint military drills launched in 2021. The authors claim that Turkiye and Azerbaijan will remain agenda-setters with Pakistan trying to correlate its national interests, which are hardly existent in the South Caucasus, with the triangle’s core. In case of Pakistani involvement in regional security issues, the authors propose two scenarios for Russia. The first one entails Russia serving as a mediator between Armenia, Iran and India. The second one calls on Armenia, India and Russia to develop trilateral defense cooperation that would benefit all the parties: Armenia would gain new sophisticated arms, India could acquire a reliable client, with Russia trying to implement a new form of defense cooperation so as to strengthen its position in global arms market.

The Evolution of the UAE Security Policy towards the Conflict in Yemen

The Evolution of the UAE Security Policy towards the Conflict in Yemen

As metáforas no discurso de/sobre André Ventura: as metáforas que constrói André Ventura e as que constroem sobre ele

Through an interdisciplinary approach between Cognitive Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis, we aim to identify and analyse conceptual and situational metaphors present in the interventions of MP André Ventura in the Portuguese Parliament and in tweets both from the MP’s official account and from other accounts that publish comments about him. For this purpose, we collected data from 15 reports of the Assembly of the Republic Diary and from 98 tweets, then proceeded to manually annotate the metaphors and to search them by target domain. The results show many conceptual metaphors in their interventions, where they function as an attack on the political opponent, and of situated metaphors in Twitter comments, discursively and cognitively constructed by network users based on cultural assumptions. It was also concluded that metaphori-cal rhetoric in populist discourse represents a powerful discursive strategy, allowing power plays in political interactions, discursive manipulations and triggering emotions.

The image of Robinson Crusoe in the aspect of the problem of “one’s own — alien”

One of the topical problems of modern literary criticism is the study of dichotomy “one’s own — alien”. This dichotomy is a representation of a different culture, language and mentality of one people in the literature of another people. The article analyzes the evolution of the Robinson Crusoe’s image in the Russian worldview within the framework of the imagological problem. The novel “The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” by the English writer Daniel Defoe belongs to the most widely read works of world literature. Interest in it does not fade, both from readers and from experts in various subject areas. Despite the formal simplicity of this text’s architectonics, Defoe’s novel discovered a new artistic paradigm. The Robinson story has long gone beyond the boundaries of the adventure genre. The number of questions about survival, exploitation of resources, social and political interaction with other human communities does not decrease, and the search for answers is becoming global and broad. Various authors around the world view these issues through the lens of Defoe’s novel and his hero. Using the method of imagological analysis proposed by modern scholars (A.A.Kozlova, L.P.Ivanova, etc.), the author analyzes the process of perceiving Robinson Crusoe’s image in Russia in 18th–21st centuries, and demonstrates that in the 18th century, when Defoe’s novel was translated into Russian, Robinson was an “alien” name. Then this proper name became nationally precedent and formed as a concept of linguistic consciousness and culture. The author explores the factors that influenced the development of Robinson’s image, through which it became “one’s own” in Russian culture. Among other factors, there are the creation and development of universal image indicators in a concentrated form (symbolization), embodiment in other forms of art (semiotization), the development of additional prototype consciousness (connotonimization), integration into the system of heroes of Russian writers (interpolation).

The electoral situation as a chronotope

This article explores the phenomenon of elections as a political chronotope, a spatio-temporal realm where the mechanisms of democracy unfold. Its aim is to elucidate the unique socio-political nature of elections. The author establishes that the spatial and temporal characteristics define the format and regulations governing electoral interactions. The term «chronotope» is understood as an interdisciplinary concept that captures the essential connections between temporal and spatial features within a specific order of phenomena. Although extensive research has focused on the social, technical, and psychological aspects of expressing one›s will, the ontology of elections, which encompasses the comprehension of the «unity of time and place of action» and the involvement of political actors in the electoral scenario, has been largely overlooked. Additionally, this study concentrates on the concept of the electoral situation, which delineates the synchronous and diachronic connections wherein citizens’ political choices are positioned, realized, and interpreted. The notion of the electoral situation can be correlated with the term «political landscape», which is only partially related to actual geography but predominantly pertains to the comprehensive conditions of an electoral competition (the coordinate system) and the participants involved in this process. The article’s author illustrates how the electoral situation constructs synchronous and diachronic connections at various levels of political interaction. Notably, these connections are facilitated by political mythologems, which serve as unifying and integrative factors within the electoral chronotope. By examining these mythologems, the author highlights their role in shaping the narrative and symbolism surrounding elections, ultimately influencing the dynamics and outcomes of the electoral process. Overall, this article delves into the intricate relationship between elections and the spatio-temporal framework in which they occur. By emphasizing the significance of the electoral situation and its connection to the broader political landscape, the author sheds light on the multifaceted nature of electoral processes, enriching our understanding of democracy’s fundamental mechanisms.

«Бог дружбы да накажет злодея!»: заметки к семантическому напряжению («подданство» vs. «хьэщIагъэ») в пространстве российско-черкесского политического взаимодействия в XVIII в.

«Бог дружбы да накажет злодея!»: заметки к семантическому напряжению («подданство» vs. «хьэщIагъэ») в пространстве российско-черкесского политического взаимодействия в XVIII в.

The electoral situation as a chronotope

This article explores the phenomenon of elections as a political chronotope, a spatio-temporal realm where the mechanisms of democracy unfold. Its aim is to elucidate the unique socio-political nature of elections. The author establishes that the spatial and temporal characteristics define the format and regulations governing electoral interactions. The term «chronotope» is understood as an interdisciplinary concept that captures the essential connections between temporal and spatial features within a specific order of phenomena. Although extensive research has focused on the social, technical, and psychological aspects of expressing one›s will, the ontology of elections, which encompasses the comprehension of the «unity of time and place of action» and the involvement of political actors in the electoral scenario, has been largely overlooked. Additionally, this study concentrates on the concept of the electoral situation, which delineates the synchronous and diachronic connections wherein citizens’ political choices are positioned, realized, and interpreted. The notion of the electoral situation can be correlated with the term «political landscape», which is only partially related to actual geography but predominantly pertains to the comprehensive conditions of an electoral competition (the coordinate system) and the participants involved in this process. The article’s author illustrates how the electoral situation constructs synchronous and diachronic connections at various levels of political interaction. Notably, these connections are facilitated by political mythologems, which serve as unifying and integrative factors within the electoral chronotope. By examining these mythologems, the author highlights their role in shaping the narrative and symbolism surrounding elections, ultimately influencing the dynamics and outcomes of the electoral process. Overall, this article delves into the intricate relationship between elections and the spatio-temporal framework in which they occur. By emphasizing the significance of the electoral situation and its connection to the broader political landscape, the author sheds light on the multifaceted nature of electoral processes, enriching our understanding of democracy’s fundamental mechanisms.

Влияние конституционных реформ на политическое участие граждан в Казахстане

Political participation is an important mechanism of aggregation and articulation of socio-economic interests in politics, the purpose of which is the influence of citizens on political decision-making through various channels of political interaction, activities of political parties, public organizations, and movements. Modern political processes in many CIS countries indicate a new stage of post-Soviet politics. The current war in Ukraine, mass protests after the announcement of the results of presidential elections in Belarus in the summer of 2020, protests against the preliminary results of parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan in autumn 2020, mass protests in support of the opposition in Russia in the spring of 2021 show that all post-Soviet countries to a greater or lesser degree have prerequisites for political destabilization, political change, and turmoil. Kazakhstan, unfortunately, has also undergone political destabilization and radicalization, as evidenced by the events of January 2022. The article offered for consideration examines the impact of constitutional reforms aimed at liberalizing the political system of Kazakhstan on increasing political participation of citizens and overcoming the crisis of political participation of citizens.