Characteristics Of Political Systems Research Articles

Political Knowledge in the Context of Changing Institutions

Citizen political knowledge is conventionally measured with survey questions developed for use in the industrialized wealthy democracies. In this paper, we argue that certain characteristics of political institutions and party systems that are relatively common in unconsolidated democracies and mixed regimes are likely to constrain the acquisition of political knowledge as traditionally measured. Using data from Latin America, Africa, and the countries included in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, we examine the relationship between contextual factors and average levels of political knowledge across countries, measured both through civics knowledge and the ideological placement of political parties. We provide evidence consistent with the idea that citizens have fewer opportunities and are less motivated to acquire political knowledge in contexts where political institutions and actors frequently change and where young and nonprogrammatic parties are the norm.

In Search of the Missing Link: Election Law Infractions and Candidate Sanctions

In contrast to the extensive literature on the determinants of campaign spending and its effect on candidates’ electoral performance, comparatively less literature exists on the legal and sanctioning characteristics of political finance systems. Though some contributions have analyzed and compared the institutional designs of these financing systems, limited literature has empirically examined infractions and sanctions of electoral laws, categorized as either a crime or a misdemeanor, by the candidates. Limited knowledge exists about the political and sociodemographic profile of candidates who commit such offenses or misdemeanors, a gap this study addresses by empirically analyzing electoral law infractions. Using the case of Chile and an unpublished database of infractions of 38,246 candidates in the local elections of 2008, 2012, and 2016, as well as the legislative elections of 2009, 2013, and 2017, we present four conclusions. First, only about one-fifth of candidates commit such infractions. Second, such infractions are more common during first-tier elections, especially in deputy and senatorial elections. Third, the candidates most likely to commit such infractions are independent candidates who compete in regions remote from large urban centers, especially in rural areas. Fourth, the rise in infractions is linked to a new law that more strictly regulates candidates’ campaign spending. The study enhances our understanding of the efficacy of political finance systems and the enforcement of electoral sanctions.

Politicians and climate change: A systematic review of the literature

AbstractPoliticians' engagement with climate change is the focus of an emerging literature, but this research has not been subjected to systematic analysis. To address this important gap, we perform a systematic review of 141 articles on politicians and climate change published between 1985 and 2021. We find a growing research area; almost half of the articles were published after 2018. Existing research is fragmented and focused on a small number of democracies in the Global North, with the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and Australia being the most‐heavily studied. Substantively, we analyze politicians' motivations, the incentives and barriers they face, and the strategies they employ to block/enable climate action. We find evidence of politicians being both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivations often derive from formative experiences occurring prior to entering politics. Extrinsic motivations most commonly include publics/voters and external events. Importantly, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations vary in different political contexts, and indeed these two motivations may pull politicians in different directions. Politicians may employ various strategies—such as reframing—to achieve their desired policy outcomes. Moreover, politicians' motivations and strategies in relation to climate change are not static, but often vary. We conclude that there is an urgent need for research on how politicians are enabled and/or constrained by political system characteristics. Research is especially called for in the Global South and/or less democratic systems, as well as on investigating how politicians are (not) decarbonizing difficult‐to‐abate sectors and how they reconcile the sometimes‐competing demands for climate change mitigation and adaptation.This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > National Climate Change Policy Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance

Epistemic Vulnerability: Theory and Measurement at the System Level

ABSTRACT Research about the epistemic crisis has largely treated epistemic threats in isolation, overlooking what they collectively say about the health of news environments. This study integrates the literature on epistemic problems and proposes a broadly encompassing framework that departs from the traditional focus on falsehoods: epistemic vulnerability. This framework is an attempt to more fully capture the erosion of authority and value conferred to political information, which has put stress on the public spheres of many democracies. The study develops the EV index to quantify this phenomenon at the system level in a comparative manner. Using OLS regression, I test the relationships between the EV index and various structural characteristics of political and media systems. Findings are remarkably consistent with established typologies of media systems. Northern European countries exhibit greater epistemic resilience, while the US, Spain, and Eastern Europe are more vulnerable. The study also offers strong evidence that populism, ideological polarization, and political parallelism contribute to higher levels of epistemic vulnerability. Conversely, public media viewership and larger party systems are associated with more epistemically resilient societies.

On the applicability of the synergetic approach in political research

The article summarizes some provisions of synergetics and assesses the possibility of their application to the objects of political science. The author suggests that the synergetic approach is applicable to the study of political processes and dynamic states of political systems. The features of political systems from the point of view of synergetics are clarified: a combination of organizational and self-organizational principles; openness and dynamism; nonlinearity and multilevelness. The conclusion is made about the applicability of the synergetic approach in studies of stable and unstable states of political systems, as well as about the prospects of using adapted provisions of synergetics in explaining crisis phenomena and transitional processes in politics.

The concept of national security in the light of Aristotle’s philosophy of Politics

Purpose: to present the main assumptions of Aristotleʼs Politics through the prism of the category of national security. Also, to reflect on the characteristics of political systems presented by Aristotle as the basis for the search for the essence of the functioning of the state, as well as an attempt to describe the perfect state (politeia).
 Method: the research was conducted using the following general scientific and special methods: the historical method during the study of the development of the political systems by Aristotle in chronological order; the method of analysis and synthesis related to the functioning of the state by Aristotle, abstract-logical method – for formulating theoretical generalizations and research conclusions.
 The results of the study: in the history of socio-political thought, Politics should be perceived as an important work that was the first to scientifically deal with the entire spectrum of issues of internal and external politics, tasks faced by rulers and citizens, goals of the state, and factors of its stability and development.
 Theoretical implications: deepened unique perception of the state, in line with the spirit of antiquity, in which the boundary between politics and ethics is not clearly drawn. It really matters, as seen from the current approaches to the roles the state is able or supposed to play. That’s why it is worth treating the research as a good starting point for analyzing the tasks of the state, including national security.
 Практична цінність дослідження: the results of the research can be considered, while analyzing the socio-political theory of Aristotle, as a supporter of the democratic system - looking for inspiration and parallel solutions for the political culture of current liberal democratic societies.
 Papertype: theoretical.

Adoption, implementation and design of carbon pricing policy instruments

Carbon pricing has now been implemented as a key policy instrument for climate change mitigation in many countries globally. However, existing systems differ significantly in design with regard to stringency, coverage and the use of the revenues collected through the system. In this literature study, we synthesise existing knowledge of how key factors affect the adoption, implementation, and design of carbon pricing systems. We find that the characteristics of actual political systems, the degree and nature of business influence and public opposition, as well as international influences, have impacted implementation. Obstacles to implementation have been overcome by adapting the design of the systems to meet different societal interests. Preferential treatment and tax exemptions are thus common, which makes the incentives for emission mitigation less coherent across sectors. The results are of practical relevance for policy makers when designing and implementing carbon policies and indicate that carbon pricing needs to be part of a policy package in order to secure both rapid mitigation and a long-term decarbonisation. Further research is needed on the nature of obstacles to carbon pricing policies in various contexts and on how to combine carbon pricing with other types of policies.

EXPERIENCE OF LAND USE DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AT THE LOCAL (MUNICIPAL) LEVEL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The article examines the development of theoretical and methodological approaches and practical recommendations for improving the ecological and economic foundations of land management and land management at the local level in the example of the European Union. In practice, regional, spatial, strategic, landscape, and integrated types of land use development planning are most often used in the European Union. With the development of the market economy of European society, environmental problems arose, which prompted the development of landscape planning, both landscape-ecological and socio-economic aspects of territorial development. The experience of landscape planning was introduced in Germany, which later became used in almost all European countries. The study and direct comparison of existing landscape planning systems in different European countries, and their reduction to several basic features are not possible and impractical because these systems are very different. This is due to a number of reasons: history, features of political systems, cultural traditions, level of economic development, the nature of legal systems and property relations. Landscape planning in the European Union is going to be one of the tensest areas of activity in the future, and Ukraine must take an active part in this process.

When Covid-19 first struck: Analysis of the influence of structural characteristics of countries - technocracy is strengthened by open democracy.

ContextThe Covid-19 pandemic hit the developed world differentially due to accidental factors, and countries had to respond rapidly within existing resources, structures, and processes to manage totally new health challenges. This study aimed to identify which pre-existing structural factors facilitated better outcomes despite different starting points, as understanding of the relative impact of structural aspects should facilitate achieving optimal forward progress.MethodsDesk study, based on selecting and collecting a range of measures for 48 representative characteristics of 42 countries’ demography, society, health system, and policy-making profiles, matched to three pandemic time points. Different analytic approaches were employed including correlation, multiple regression, and cluster analysis in order to seek triangulation.FindingsPopulation structure (except country size), and volume and nature of health resources, had only minor links to Covid impact. Depth of social inequality, poverty, population age structure, and strength of preventive health measures unexpectedly had no moderating effect. Strongest measured influences were population current enrolment in tertiary education, and country leaders’ strength of seeking scientific evidence. The representativeness, and by interpretation the empathy, of government leadership also had positive effects.ConclusionStrength of therapeutic health system, and indeed of preventive health services, surprisingly had little correlation with impact of the pandemic in the first nine months measured in death- or case-rates. However, specific political system features, including proportional representation electoral systems, and absence of a strong single party majority, were consistent features of the most successful national responses, as was being of a small or moderate population size, and with tertiary education facilitated. It can be interpreted that the way a country was lead, and whether leadership sought evidence and shared the reasoning behind resultant policies, had notable effects. This has significant implications within health system development and in promoting the population’s health.

'Reversed Favoritism' – Resolving the Puzzle of Discriminatory Taxation in African Agriculture

The political economy literature highlights the redistribution of resources to political support groups – often along regional or ethnic lines – as a dominant feature of political systems. Against this assumption, Kasara (2007) documents a puzzling result of discriminatory rent extraction by political leaders from farmers in their ethnic home region. Linking a new database on the ethnic and regional affiliation of political leaders to fine-grained survey data, I disentangle ethnic and regional affiliations and show that their intersection explains the phenomenon which I will label in the following “reversed favoritism.” More specifically, I provide evidence that agricultural price hikes indeed do not reduce poverty among co-ethnic farmers in the leader’s birth region. Results indicate that farmers are aware of the unfavorable taxation as they express lower tax support. Yet, leaders seem to act politically rational as they only apply this treatment in regions where they enjoy high trust. An exploratory analysis suggests that the counter-intuitive support of discriminatory policies can be explained by transfers in other areas, namely development aid.

Policy Reinvention and Diffusion: Evidence from Chinese Provincial Governments

Since the late 1950s, more than 1,000 academic articles related to policy innovation and diffusion have been published; most focus on how a policy spreads once it has been created, yet less attention is paid to how it is changed by those who adopt it. We extend the focus of policy innovation research from policy inventors to followers by focusing on the diffusion and adoption of the “One Visit at Most” policy in China. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used to summarize the core factors affecting the reinvention of this policy by provincial governments in China. The results verify the characteristics of political systems are important factors in the provincial government’s policy reinvention. The vertical intergovernmental relation is the necessary condition to influence the policy reinvention. The combination of the factors for horizontal intergovernmental relations, the geographical leadership mobility of governors, and the characteristics of the government’s own economic environment also affect the provincial government’s policy reinvention. This study contributes the unique characteristics of the Chinese system and important theoretical developments to the study of policy reinvention within the broader policy innovation literature.

Towards a Neomedieval Urban Future: Neoliberal or Sustainable?

The role of cities in the transformation of society is discussed. The growing importance of cities and their global networks undermine the nation state. This is a reversal of the development of the modern state which, over several centuries, increased its control over its territory and cities. Such changes have generated renewed interest in the Middle Ages. The relations between Medieval cities and territorial states were part of complex and shifting political arrangements, involving urban networks and overlapping claims to authority over territories. The general characteristics of prospective neomedieval political systems are discussed in more detail and applied to the regulatory challenges faced by neoliberalism and the transformation to a circular economy. The shift in the focus of neoliberal policy from the competitiveness of cities to that of metropolitan regions, with diverging urban and provincial interests hampers neomedievalist coordination. The cooperation between urban and provincial interests can however be realised in the transformation from a linear to a more circular economy, where metropolitan regions are well suited to accommodate the diverging aspects and forms of territorial regulation in a neomedievalist manner.

Issue Competition and the Social Construction of Target Populations: Alternative Suggestions for the Study of the Influence of Populist Radical Right Parties on Health Policy and Health Outcomes Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties' Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe".

Rinaldi and Bekker ask whether populist radical right (PRR) parties have an influence on population health and health equity. The assumption is that this influence is negative, but mediated by political system characteristics. Starting from the authors’ premise that the positions of PRR parties on welfare policies are a good proxy for health outcomes, we build on political science literature to suggest further avenues for research. The equivocal relationship between political parties and the ownership of specific healthcare, health insurance and public health issues invites studies that break down party positions relating to different health policy issues. As policy-makers use social representations of target populations to make policy decisions and anticipate the feedback these decisions might generate, it is worth studying how PRR parties influence societal, institutional and partisan perceptions of deserving and undeserving populations, even when they are not in government

Realizing the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development – engaging national parliaments?

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of national parliaments in policy processes related to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, adopted in the UN General Assembly in 2015. We outline three main roles of parliaments in the case of national policy-making based on intergovernmental agreements: legislative and policy approval, citizen representation, and accountability. The cases of Sweden and Ghana are examined with regard to those roles, looking for factors that impact the degree of parliamentary involvement with the 2030 Agenda. The cases show that while formal features of political systems impact how parliaments exercise those roles, political choice among policy-making elites and voters is an equally important factor shaping how those roles play out. Yet, political choice can in turn be circumscribed by competing domains, issues and actors in national 2030 Agenda processes. Even if the two countries chosen for comparison are dissimilar with regard to substantive challenges faced in realizing the 2030 Agenda, they are alike with regard to weak involvement of their parliament in policy-making related to the 2030 Agenda thus far. The conclusion puts forward possible implications of a lack of parliamentary involvement for the domestic democratic legitimacy and realization of the 2030 Agenda.

Political power sharing and crosscutting media exposure: how institutional features affect exposure to different views

Previous research shows that power-sharing political systems are associated with (a) individual perceptions of political inclusiveness and (b) a more deliberative news media supply. Little, however, is known about the effect of this institutional feature on exposure to crosscutting views through the media. We posit that political systems provide different degrees of institutional power and public visibility to political parties and minorities, and this difference affects crosscutting news exposure. Survey data from three countries ( N = 5,500 individuals) show that media contribute more to crosscutting exposure in a consensus system (Italy) than a polarized pluralist variant of majoritarianism (Spain), or a hegemonic illiberal democracy (Mexico). Additionally, analyses reveal that minority views are positively correlated with crosscutting media exposure in a consensus system and a polarized pluralist variant of majoritarianism, but not in a hegemonic system. These findings suggest that certain political system characteristics can override the tendency for selective exposure.

A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties' Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe.

Background: In light of worrying public health developments such as declining life expectancy gains and increasing health inequalities, there is a heightened interest in the relationship between politics and health. This scoping review explores the possible welfare policy consequences of populist radical right (PRR) parties in Europe and the implications for population health. The aim is to map the available empirical evidence regarding the influence of PRR parties on welfare policy reforms and to understand how this relationship is mediated by political system characteristics in different countries. Methods and Analysis: A scoping review of peer-reviewed empirical literature addressing the relationship between PRR parties, political systems and welfare policy in Europe was performed using the methodology by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Data was charted on main study characteristics, concepts and relevant results, after which a qualitative content analysis was performed. The data was categorised according to the political system characteristics: constitution, political economy, interest representation and partisanship. Five expert interviews were conducted for validation purposes. Early evidence from 15 peer-reviewed articles suggests that exclusionary welfare chauvinistic positions of PRR parties are likely to have negative effects on the access to welfare provisions and health of vulnerable population groups. Differences in implementation of welfare chauvinistic policy reforms are partly explained by mediation of the constitutional order (judicial institutions at national and European Union [EU] level), political economy (healthcare system funding and European single market) and partisanship (vote-seeking strategies by PRR and mainstream parties). No clear evidence was found regarding the influence of interest representation on welfare chauvinistic policies. Discussion: While early evidence suggests that the welfare chauvinistic ideology of PRR parties is harmful for public health, the possible mediating role of political system characteristics on PRR welfare policy influence offers risk and protective factors explaining why the PRR ideology plays out differently across Europe.

Appearances can be Deceptive: Political Polarization, Agrarian Policy, and Coalitional Presidentialism in Brazil

What can we infer about the effect of polarized politics on the Brazilian policy‐making process? We attempt to answer this question by analyzing the country's political landscape and focusing on one specific policy issue concerning agrarian policies, an area that is exposed to much ideological conflict for both the left and right wing. We show how the mechanism has worked in this case to mitigate the polarization effects. Two political groups monopolized national elections over the past two decades sharing very different positions concerning ideological preferences. In this article, we recognize polarization between the two leading parties, but argue that the Brazilian political system features the dynamics of coalitional presidentialism that mitigates party preferences. We analyze funding data for small farmers and rural settlements for the period 1995‐2016, arriving at the conclusion that the agrarian policy of the competing parties resembled one another, despite political polarization.Related ArticlesOndetti, Gabriel. 2008. “Up and Down with the Agrarian Question: Issue Attention and Land Reform in Contemporary Brazil.” Politics & Policy 36 (4): 510‐541. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2008.00120.xSegatto, Catarina Ianni, and Daniel Béland. 2018. “The Limits of Partisanship: Federalism, the Role of Bureaucrats, and the Path to Universal Health Care Coverage in Brazil.”Politics & Policy 46 (3): 416‐441. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12252Wolff, Michael Jerome. 2019. “Sharing Authority: The Politics and Practice of Community Policing in the Brazilian Slum.” Politics & Policy 47 (4): 748‐774. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12322

Domestic Political Consequences of International Rivalry

Given the conventional claim that external threats increase internal cohesion and government capacity, cross-country studies have examined how interstate conflict events influence domestic politics. This article reevaluates the in-group and out-group mechanisms by examining how international strategic rivalry, which indicates the presence of persistent external threats even in the absence of military conflict, affects domestic political competition. An alternative explanation suggests that the effect of external threats on political incentives of domestic actors differs between regime supporters and oppositions. We posit that the presence of international threats from rival states inflames domestic unrest and oppositions’ antiregime challenges, while making governments rely more on repressive tactics given resource constraints and a high level of domestic political intolerance. In addition, we propose that the domestic consequences of international rivalry are heterogeneous depending on the characteristics of political systems and the level of threat perception. Empirical tests reveal robust evidence for the hypotheses.

Explaining budget transparency through political factors

This study analyses various factors that can affect the level of budget transparency. It focuses on several political characteristics, investigating a pool of 95 countries for the years 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015. Findings from this study indicate that both governments’ characteristics and the characteristics of political and electoral systems affect the level of budget transparency. These results extend findings from previous literature on determinants of open budgets by using a more extended period and additional political and electoral features, and also by adopting an international comparative approach.Points for practitionersThe findings show essential elements for a sustainable transparency policy, suggesting that to be successful, budget transparency requires certain characteristics of both governments and electoral/political systems. Therefore, politicians are advised that reforms affecting these systems can limit their intent for opaqueness; similarly, oversight bodies are encouraged to consider the political conditions that may exert pressure to make budgeting processes public. The findings highlight the importance of the relationship between budget transparency and public-sector reforms, especially those affecting the political characteristics of a government and the institutional rules guiding its behaviour. Budgeting is not only an essential management device, but also a crucial political medium to allocate powers and resources, and a pivotal accountability tool to boost citizens’ involvement and to increase its transparency.

External Factors Determining the Electoral Strategies of Political Parties in Multi-Level Systems

This article identifies the factors which determine the electoral strategies of political parties in multi-level systems and describes how they can influence these strategies. It particularly focuses on the two aspects: regionalisation and “nationalisation” (centralisation) of the strategies. In the first case, state-wide parties allow their regional branches to develop their own strategies, in the second one – the regional strategies are dominated by the strategies of statewide parties. The article shows the features of political systems that foster each of these cases, especially the way in which a multi-layered system is created (bottom-up, top-down), the relations between the state authorities at central and regional levels (connected, separated), electoral systems and cycles.