Political Success Research Articles

Formulas for Autocratic Stability: A Review Article

Abstract Drawing on the analytical framework of Johannes Gerschewski's The Two Logics of Autocratic Rule, we explore the complexities of autocratic stability by examining the mechanisms through which autocrats preserve their regimes. We review Gerschewski's data set and arguments and provide our assessment regarding the empirical validity of Gerschewski's theory and tests. While Gerschewski's two logics of autocratic rule offer insightful understandings, the role of situational dynamics, international intervention, and political succession in influencing autocratic stability are underrated or neglected. The survival of an autocratic regime is not solely based on the prevention and preemption of challenges from political opponents, but also depends on the performance of regular governance functions along with a monopoly of political power and the resolution of leadership issues. The path-dependent nature of autocratic stability requires analysis of autocratic regime subtypes to effectively contextualize and generalize the patterns of political succession under different logics of autocratic rule. Lacking a comprehensive characterization of autocratic subtypes, the main contribution of Gerschewski's book is more theoretical than empirical.

Immigration and the Boundaries of Black Political Subjecthood in Argentina and Chile

In the last two decades, the Argentine and Chilean states have passed laws and policies targeting Afro-descendant populations. But while Argentine law has institutionalized Afro-descent through a broad notion of African ancestry and African-based culture, the Chilean state has legally defined Afro-descent in relation to a particular history, culture, and identity connected to a long-standing presence in the national territory. In this paper, I examine the role of immigration in explaining how Afro-descendant subjecthood has been legally constructed and institutionalized in each national context. Through archival and interview-based research, I analyze how classification struggles within each Afro-descendant movement and between Afro-descendant activists and the state frame claims and strategies for legal inclusion, ultimately impacting how the boundaries of Afro-descent are defined and institutionalized in each national context. Immigrants’ early participation within the Afro-Argentine movement promoted heterogenous political framings, but feelings of threat drove some Afro-Argentine activists to emphasize nativist claims. This has produced a diversity of legislation and policies that target different populations, including immigrants—what I refer to as a “transnational-racial” model. In Chile, immigrants have not participated prominently in the Afro-descendant movement, but they have been present in the imaginaries of activists and state officials debating legislative and policy measures. Afro-Chileans’ political success requires not being seen as foreigners by state officials, driving them to emphasize their national belonging. Thus, Black subjecthood has been institutionalized targeting Afro-Chileans who share a common history and culture while excluding immigrants—what I refer to as a “national-ethnic” model.

The False Appearance of the Sophist Himself in the First Six Definitions of Plato’s Sophist

The key to how the definitions in Sophist fit together is the seventh definition, the maker of false appearances. The first six definitions are a false appearance of the sophist himself, as a businessman who sells an art of disputation to rich young men. Because this is a deception, to unmask him we need to supplement the brief descriptions in Sophist from Plato’s portraits of sophists in other dialogues. This lets us see his true nature, a predatory hunter for students’ money, whose promise of political success is bait, but whose art enslaves one to the ignorance and vice of the people.

Reforms of the Financial System in the European Union –Towards a New Legal-Institutional Order

The combination of the legal documents including the 2021-2027 EU long-term budget, NextGenerationEU, andthe Own Resources Decision (3) (Decision of 14 December 2020 on the system of own resources of the EuropeanUnion, repealing Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of theEuropean Union) has been praised as a groundbreaking achievement and political success of the EU authorities,one whose importance is no lesser than that of the establishment of the EU’s common market. The package hasmarked a powerful turn in EU’s politics, in that it helps move the debts of the countries receiving funds fromNextGenerationEU as well as within National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) outside their national budgetarysystems. As is emphasised in a number of EU documents, the increases in EU Member States’ deficits anddebts have been due to the financial and health crisis. However, how or in what ways the new own resources andnew outside-Treaty financial engineering might contribute to the funding and eventual repayment of NextGenerationEUdebt, has not been explained.In parallel, the aforementioned success has given the basis for further action in view of in-EU integration, as expressedin the project to amend EU Treaties. Work on the amendment will continue during the present EuropeanParliament’s term. Analysis of the directions of change in the Treaty provisions covering EU fiscal and monetarypolicies and the gradually remoulded model of EU funding form t he core of this present paper.

Immersion and Distancing

The departure of a charismatic leader in an authoritarian system poses substantial risks for regime durability. Designated succession guarantees a smooth transfer of power and reduces the danger to regime longevity. The manner in which political successors leverage and institutionalize charismatic attachments to regime founders is crucial in determining their own and the regime’s political survival. This article presents a new theoretical framework for examining the process of post-charismatic legitimation in two personalistic autocracies: Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Authoritarian power justification can be understood through two modes of post-charismatic succession: immersion and distancing. If successfully performed, charismatic attachments and public loyalties to regime founders transfer to their appointees, reviving existing power narratives: an immersion strategy. However, if the charismatic leader loses popular support, the distancing strategy allows an anointed heir to reject patronal legacies. The comparison between post-charismatic successions in Baku and Astana demonstrates the practical implications of the immersion and distancing approaches to legitimation. This analysis is based on expert interviews, fieldwork notes, and archival data.

Politics and Politiking Registers in Nigerian Campaigns

This paper examines the register used in politics to achieve persuasion. Politics is a psychological warfare for winning peoples’ heart to do the biddings of politicians. Propaganda is a major tool politicians deploy to fight political opponents. It is a smart way of telling people black is white and make them believe it, Propaganda itself is not possible without language (literal or figurative). Language is central to communication. In Nigeria, effective use of language is an assurance for political success. Political register helps us understand how language is used by those who wish to gain power, exercise power, and keep power. The speeches of these politicians are replete with unachievable objectives enshrined in propaganda meant for some gullible electorates. Their diction changes from that of persuasion, emotion, pity, among others to one of violence when it suits them. Politicians employ different political strategies with the aid of language to rightly convince, confuse and elicit necessary information and subsequently votes from the electorates. The theory used for this study is the Speech Act Theory. The methodology is qualitative and quantitative. A survey design is used. This study evinces that political register makes use of linguistic devices, re-branding, marketing of candidates’ and pushing the narratives to political parties to help them be on top of the game. The speeches selected are of very high quality and the messages are very successfully communicated. We propose that when a politician delivers these sorts of speeches the goal is to draw the audience to himself and convince the electorate of why they are the better candidates for the election. To achieve this, politicians use their words in subtle and careful ways that capture the attention, interest, and admiration of the listeners. These speeches employ words and varying sentence structures. The sentences employ the pronoun system to deliberately make the audience believe the speech is about them – their ideas, opinions, desires, and comradeship.

Theory of the nation in the scientific concept of Lev Rebet

The article analyzes the life and work of L. Rebet, his general theoretical views on the formation and development of the nation. Considerable attention is paid to the characterization of L. Rebet’s fundamental scientific works on the theory and history of the Ukrainian nation, in particular: “The Formation of the Ukrainian Nation”; “Theory of the Nation”; “The Origin of Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians in the Light of Modern Soviet Theories”; “The Light and Shadows of the OUN”, etc. It is shown that in his scientific concept of the formation and development of the nation, Lev Rebet examined in detail the causes of the decline, economic and cultural isolation of the Ukrainian community during the Golden Horde, analyzed the causes of the territorial fragmentation of the Ukrainian principalities and determined the importance of the Galicia-Volhynia State for the continuation of the state life of the Ukrainian people. Using historical examples, L. Rebet identified the negative impacts on the Ukrainian population under the Lithuanian and Polish occupation of Ukrainian lands. L. Rebet rightly noted that during the revival of the Ukrainian people, religion and the Orthodox faith played an important role, opposing Catholicism and polonization and becoming the bearers of Ukrainian tradition and the formation of national consciousness. It was the Ukrainian bourgeoisie, part of the petty gentry, and artisans who proved to be the bearers of culture and state traditions. However, it was only the independent Ukrainian military Cossack stratum that became the military and organizational force that quickly acquired the features of a national state, and in the era of Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s hetmanship, thanks to the military and political success of the Cossacks, one of the most powerful Ukrainian states of that time emerged, which played a significant nation-building role and for several years “crystallized the Ukrainian community, approaching a higher type - the nation”, in which the Cossacks were the main political force. The article reveals that L. Rebet in his works considered nationalism as an ideology that should be based on feelings of national dignity, self-respect and national consciousness. L. Rebet convincingly argued in his writings that the Ukrainian people have the right to political self-determination and the creation of their own state. L. Rebet believed that in order to build one’s own state, first of all, it is necessary to raise the national consciousness and culture of the people. According to L. Rebbetzin, this requires the Ukrainian people to return to their national roots, to their own history and culture, in order to preserve and establish their national identity. In his scientific concept, Lev Rebet emphasized the importance of preserving Ukrainian culture and language, and of preserving the national identity of Ukrainians. Nationalism should be democratic and social. He sought to create a national liberation organization that would unite different segments of the population and work for the benefit of the entire Ukrainian people. L. Rebet favored the creation of national statehood, but believed that the source of power in the state should be the people, not the political elite. Rebet’s views on the importance of moral virtues and cultural values, such as freedom, justice, honesty, diligence, creativity, traditions, religion, and language, are particularly relevant. Rebet believed that these values are important for Ukrainian and other nations.

SIMULACRUM PEMANFAATAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGANCE PADA KAMPANYE POLITIK PILPRES DAN WAPRES 2024 MELALUI VIDEO TIKTOK

Digital systems and networks (internet), which have increasingly developed recently, have triggered various technological innovations. One of the innovations that has received great attention from citizens of the world - indications are that there are various technological discoveries through applications on cellphones - is the presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. In formats in the media realm - whether films, videos, photos, music or text - AI technology has been presented and used with its sophistication. Although the use of AI actually becomes a simulacrum in text messages - borrowing the concept of simulacrum from Jean Baudrillard - in a number of cinema films and social media. Specifically on social media, AI technology is being used by a number of political parties and success teams or spin doctors from each pair of presidential and vicepresidential candidates in 2024 in delivering their political campaigns. The content of political campaign messages published on social media regarding the election of presidential and vicepresidential candidates (presidential and vice presidential candidates) - including Facebook, YouTube, effective in the context of delivering communication messages. The range of communication or political campaign messages that are appropriate and effective - via cell phones or mobile phones and laptops - is able to reach and shape personal perceptions through cognitive, affective and conative structures or behavior towards potential voters. Although, this research only examines political campaigns using the concept of simulacrum theory and political communication (campaigns) on short videos tens of seconds long that utilize AI technology and are distributed on social media regarding the election of presidential and vice presidential candidates, especially TikTok - considering this social media has penetration and is the highest usage choice – regarding the election of presidential and vice presidential candidates for the period 2024 – 2029.

Bread-and-Butter Politics: Arrested Liberalization and Hegemonic Materialism in Singapore

ABSTRACT Singapore has displayed a continued ability to confound the assumed symbiotic relationships between democratization, economic growth, and liberalism. This paper historicizes the development, use, and understanding of a popular idiom frequently employed in Singaporean electoral discourse – “bread-and-butter” – to explore the relationship between hegemonic discourses, social attitudes, and political contestation in Singapore. Doing so reveals a complex pattern of the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) ideological-discursive legwork: bread-and-butter issues are discursively constituted around a set of core economic issues and demarcated as the key political concerns of voters, while calls for more liberal or progressive changes in society are bracketed within the sphere of postmaterialist values. By seeking to maintain the hegemonic notion of the party as the guarantor of basic material goods, PAP sets the terms of competition in electoral politics to issues that are its perceived strengths. The party’s continued ability to provide economic goods contributes to its political success, stalling the growth of liberalization and a more competitive political landscape in Singapore. Bread-and-butter discourse therefore reflects and reproduces the preeminence of materialism in Singapore’s politics.

When mentally ill women become sexual preys in Zimbabwe: An African indigenous religio-cultural perspective

There is a phenomenal increase in the number of cases of women suffering from mental illness in our contemporary society, which is hard hit by pandemics. As scholarship reflects on this condition, there has been little attention paid to the impact of indigenous religion and cultural practices to the sexual and reproductive health of women with mental illness and indigenous entrepreneurs who seek economic fortunes in a post COVID-19 epoch. Largely, the Zimbabwean society detests mental illness and this has rendered mentally ill women to the social margins. However, cases of men from the mainstream society having illicit sexual intercourse with mentally ill women are rampant, both in urban and rural environments. So one can ask why men from the mainstream society are having sexual relations with the ostracised mentally ill women. Prioritizing ethical considerations, this qualitative study uses ritual theory as its theoretical framework, sociology of religion, phenomenology of religion and gendered cultural hermeneutics to explore the prevalence of these sexual practices. Data was gathered through interviews and desk research from January to December 2023. Findings of the study were that these sexual activities are ritualistic, done to enhance success in politics, business, farming and self-initiated churches. An analysis of the reasons behind the performance of these sex rituals showed that a mentally ill woman’s body is an entity which belongs to the spiritual world so the sexual relationship makes it possible for the male entrepreneur to access the spiritual world. Through these rituals, men with entrepreneurial wishes will be attempting to connect with and manipulate the spiritual world. The study concluded that mentally ill women have less choice over their sexual and reproductive lives. They are sexually exploited, yet they lack the capacity to disclose these heinous acts to the mainstream society. They are regarded by the patriarchal society as sexual preys where coercive sex and or rape are used for ritual purposes, with the intent of attaining socio-economic transformation.

Conglomerates at the court: The political consequences of mergers & acquisitions

Increasingly, corporations expand through the creation or acquisition of new subsidiary companies. Despite the commonality of the practice, little is known regarding how it influences corporations’ political behavior. This research note analyzes how subsidiaries shape corporations’ political interests and collaborations as they seek to influence the Supreme Court. To accomplish this, we construct a historical dataset of the acquisitions and mergers of a politically active sample of Fortune 500 corporations (spanning various industries and sizes) that we combine with their history of filing amicus curiae briefs to the Court. Through social network and longitudinal analyses, we analyze whether and how corporations change their targeted issue areas, collaborations, and political success following consolidation. While mergers and acquisitions have little effect on the quantity of actions or success before the Court, they expand the issues of political interest for corporations, and increase both their popularity and ability to broker information in their political network.

STRATEGIC INNOVATION AND POLITICAL TRIUMPH: APPLYING THE BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY APPROACH IN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS

In the dynamic realm of electoral politics, achieving victory hinges on strategic innovation and the ability to capture voter sentiment effectively. This paper explores the application of the "Blue Ocean Strategy" to electoral campaigns, drawing parallels between business strategy and political success. Originating from the business sector, the Blue Ocean Strategy advocates creating uncontested market spaces by simultaneously enhancing value and reducing costs, thereby redefining competitive dynamics. By analyzing Canadian Prime Minister Trudeaus electoral triumph in 2015, where innovative strategies targeted non-traditional voters through positive messaging and digital engagement, this paper illustrates how political actors can transcend traditional partisan strategies. It delves into key components of the Blue Ocean Strategy adapted to the electoral context, emphasizing the importance of strategic divergence from conventional tactics. This study offers insights for future electoral campaigns seeking to navigate and innovate in the complex landscape of contemporary politics.

From Civil Society Organisations to Pirate Parties to Digital Democracy

Reshaping our political and social systems for a sustainable future requires a multifaceted approach that addresses several key areas, such as: political reform, social change, economic development, environmental preservation, or technological innovation. In order to achieve a sustainable future, we need to implement its ideals in every societal sector. When dealing with the political system, we cannot ignore the antidemocratic tendencies arising or taking over our everyday life even in the Western World. Under these circumstances, political reform is a must and we have to admit that one of its most important tasks is strengthening democracy. The actual political discourse is full of ideas like proportional representation, direct democracy, sustainability-focused governance, transparency, accountability, and equity. Among the many actors that try to solve these problems there is a group that proposes some new solutions, based on the means of Information Society, Pirate Parties. Emerging from the digital world, they are a fresh wave of political movements with deep roots in online activism. These parties, some born from anti-establishment protests, have rapidly spread across the globe in just two decades. Their journey is one of transformation, from grassroots movements to established political players. Pirate Parties have a clear digital agenda, focusing on issues like copyright reform, open access to information, and online privacy. They champion net neutrality and the free flow of knowledge. However, most of them have recognized the importance of broader democratic values for political success. Beyond their digital focus, Pirate Parties also advocate for traditional democratic ideals, including civil rights, transparency, and combating corruption. They promote free speech, direct democracy, and exploring alternative forms of citizen participation in government, often leveraging technology (e-democracy). The future impact of Pirate Parties remains uncertain, but their influence is undeniable. They’ve challenged traditional political norms and brought issues of the digital age to the forefront. Pirate Parties have reshaped the European political landscape and inspired similar movements around the world. My paper aims to briefly present these political formations, with special regard to their origins in and their relations with civil society. After outlining the broad framework, I present some of the most notorious of these formations.

Unlocking policy success: is codesign the key to achieving effective policy outcomes?

Codesign is increasingly promoted as best-practice and a solution to many policy ills, yet there is little empirical evidence suggesting that it is actually more effective for designing and implementing policy. This article investigates whether codesigned policies and programs are in fact more successful in achieving positive policy outcomes by applying the policy success framework to the codesign process behind the Australian Capital Territory’s Family Safety Hub. Using this framework, we conclude that codesign can have a significant positive impact on the process when it is done well, but its effect on longer-term program and political success depends heavily on other factors. The use of codesign as a stand-alone policy tool is limited, but further research is needed to understand how the value it generates in the early design stages can be translated into better implementation and positive program outcomes.

Mediatyzacja parlamentarnej kampanii wyborczej. Przypadek narodowej demokracji w 1922 roku

National Democracy actively participated in the mediatization of the electoral campaign in 1922. The effects of the media mediation process in learning about the world, influencing the world view of individuals and social groups, and creating an image of social reality were measurable because they brought political success in the form of obtaining parliamentary and senatorial seats in the parliament of the first term. To characterise the components of the mediatization of political activities, a case study article was proposed, considering knowledge about National Democracy, its members participating in the process of disseminating knowledge about politics through the media, and about the techniques used to influence recipients. Attention was paid to the variety of directions of propaganda work, to the involvement of brochure and periodical publishers, to the variety of election forms that were intended to promote the national political program, and, above all, to the ways of obtaining votes from the electorate from particular social groups limited by age, gender or profession. The conclusions include the use of communication competences of National Democracy leaders and members. The leadership of the national formation used three types of narrative: factual, sensational, and humorous, stimulating the effect.

Challenging Liberal Principles: Understanding of Democracy among Populist Radical Right Youth Leaders in Austria and Germany

ABSTRACT Responding to the growing political success of populist radical right parties, scholars have increasingly examined those parties relationship to democracy. While some consider these parties as a democratic corrective to a crisis of political representation, others point to their ideological conflict with the principles of liberal democracy. We contribute to this debate by exploring the understanding of democracy of populist radical right youth leaders. Specifically, we conducted nine qualitative semi-structured expert interviews with leaders and executive members of the populist radical right youth wings in Austria (Ring Freiheitlicher Jugend/RFJ) and Germany (Junge Alternative/JA). To determine their understanding of democracy, we utilised a vignette technique to simulate governmental decision-making in resolving specific political scenarios. The findings indicate that although the youth leaders recognise democracy as such, their understanding of democracy contains majoritarian and anti-egalitarian aspects that might indirectly curtail liberal principles of democracy. This study thus provides an in-depth analysis of the motivations underlying the intentions of populist radical right youth leaders toward potential transformations of democratic institutions.

Who promotes firm innovation more: outside or inside political successor?

ABSTRACT Whereas researchers have demonstrated the relevance of politician turnover for firm innovation, the role of successor origin has remained elusive. This paper compares internally and externally appointed political successors and investigates which types of succession foster more firm innovation. Using a sample of manufacturing firms experiencing political succession events between 2005 and 2010 in China, we find that firms experiencing outside political succession conduct fewer R&D activities than those undergoing inside political succession. Furthermore, we find that factors aggregating information asymmetry (i.e. abnormal departure of the predecessor) augment the above negative relationship, while those weakening information asymmetry (i.e. successor-related information) alleviate it. Our findings support the information asymmetry theory’s prediction that outside succession introduces greater information asymmetry regarding the consistency of the political environment than inside succession, thus decreasing firm innovation. This study contributes to the politician turnover literature by highlighting the influence of successor origin on firm innovation.

Written directives and ministerial tenure in China: a novel gauge for political performance?

ABSTRACT While prior research on Chinese political elites has predominantly centred on local officials, assessing the performance of ministers may pose significant challenges. This paper uses written directives (WDs), a pivotal form of elite communication, as a metric for evaluating ministers’ political performance. We posit that a higher frequency of WDs received by ministers from top leaders signifies increased attention and enhanced political success, potentially bolstering their longevity in office and career advancement. To test this hypothesis, we analyse ministerial tenure in China from 1949 to 1976, a period characterized by the unparalleled influence of Chairman Mao Zedong, which facilitated the measurement of WDs. Our findings indicate that ministers who received a greater number of WDs, on average, enjoyed longer tenures, while those with a shared historical background with Mao did not. These results align with previous historical analyses demonstrating Mao’s adept consolidation of power within political elites. Moreover, the recent release of historical Chinese materials has unveiled a wealth of political communication among Chinese political elites, with WDs offering a novel avenue for gauging political performance. This research contributes empirical insights from China to the global literature on ministerial tenure, enriching the landscape of contemporary Chinese bureaucratic studies.

Indigenous onto-epistemology and the Niyamgiri Movement in India

Climate crises and other manifestations of environmental degradation are inextricably linked to the universalizing technoscientific paradigm underpinning capitalist industrialization and modernization. This study aimed to problematize the modern/colonial ontological dualism underpinning environmental crises and advocates the indigenous/Adivasi relational onto-epistemology. It offers a different reality that questions the virtues of science, capitalism, the colonial narrative, and its continuation in subjectivities and social relations with the modern state. Drawing from the new materialist insights of human and non-human imbrications and the framework of political ontology, this study further analyzed the Dongaria Kondh people's political success in defending their relational way of worlding against corporate-driven extractivism. The state perpetuates violence and takes development initiatives in this mineral-rich eastern Indian province. While other political movements have succumbed to combined corporate and state power, the Dongaria's political struggle continues in different forms. Finally, the article makes the point that knowledge and insights born out of political struggle against a particular ontology, masquerading as universal, press the need for engagement between different realities, knowledges, and recognition of a pluriverse, a world of multiple ways of worlding, where each ontological story exists not as superior or inferior, but as equal, with space for mutual engagement and dialogue.

The Heterarchy of the Roman Galli

Abstract Aim of this paper is to describe the strategies that a specific type of Roman priests, namely the galli who worshipped the goddess Mater Magna, used to enhance their own religious authority. By doing so, they were transcending a state-given political hierarchy and a long established social normativity, namely the masculine hegemony of the ancient Roman society. More generally, temporary priestly offices were highly political: every Roman statesman had to fulfil at least one such office for some time during his life. However, there were also priests and priestesses that held their offices for life. Lacking the possibility of generating prestige through warfare or political success, like Roman statesmen, the galli had to garner prestige in their lifelong priesthood, and consequently social power, through different aspects. Specific religious services, such as sacrifices, spells, etc., were one possibility. However, the galli’s power could also have been generated through social aspects, such as habitus, which is rooted in the living conditions, the cultural milieu, and the biography of an individual (Schreg, Zerres, et al. 2013, 101). This article discusses the case of the priesthood of the Mater Magna cult, a religion that emerged in Rome at the end of the 3rd century BCE and in which the priests applied a specific form of stigma management to foster their religious authority. I argue that the priesthood of the Mater Magna—although they were even defamed by the Roman intellectuals for their inconclusive sex—made use of their ‘otherness’ to generate a certain religious authority, as a form of stigma management, that elevated them in the social hierarchy and created heterarchical relations.