Position Of Social Groups Research Articles

PaReSoGo: Dataset on party representation of social groups for 25 countries, 2002–2016

Whereas social scientists have devised various ways to measure representation gaps between the political elite and the masses across nations and time, few datasets can be used to measure this gap for particular social groups. Minding the gap between what parties social groups vote for and what parties actually attain seats in parliament can reveal the position of social groups in the political power structure. We help to fill this gap with a new publicly available dataset, Party Representation of Social Groups (PaReSoGo), consisting of 25 countries and 150 country-years, and a method for its construction. We used the European Social Survey 2002–2016 and ParlGov data for this time span to create a Dissimilarity Index. To demonstrate the utility and flexibility in the combination of cross-national surveys and administrative data, we chose social groups of gender, age, and education, as well as intersectional groups based on gender and age, and attitudinal groups. We conclude this research note with empirical illustrations of PaReSoGo’s use.

Differentiation of the quality of life in the regional space

The quality of life depends on the place in the social structure. Social groups have different opportunities for meeting needs and achieving goals. Positions of different social groups in the subjects of the Russian Federation differ, which can significantly influence social well-being and protest moods; therefore, the study of the quality of life in the regional space is important in both theoretical and practical perspectives. The article aims at considering differentiation of the quality of life in the regional space and identifying the most vulnerable social groups. The authors study the quality of life with the multidimensional hierarchical approach based on a complex of interrelated objective and subjective criteria. This methodology was tested in the empirical study of the quality of life in the Oryol Region. The study used the following set of indicators of the quality of life: subjective assessments of the most significant forms of deprivation; movable and immovable property; housing and the quality of living conditions; savings; access to paid social services; professional position, possibilities of professional self-realization; political activity and political culture; leisure preferences and opportunities that entail additional spending; self-identification in different spheres of life. This set of indicators allowed to describe positions of social groups and their regional differentiation: social groups that make up the regional population, their positions in the stratification system, their quantitative and qualitative characteristics were identified. The authors also identified the most vulnerable groups affected by social tensions and showed that the growth of social inequality can lead to an increase in the protest and destructive behavior.

Bringing Social Action and Situated Rationality Back in

The social order and the organizational forms in our so-called capitalist era did not emerge from a tabula rasa. What Marx labeled capitalism never emerged in any ideal or pure form but was itself a result of specific historical processes in social contexts where social groups already had social positions in relation to the production and trade of goods, as well as the regulation of these activities. Indeed, the capitalist era and its specific forms of economic institutions, organizational forms, social division of labor, and positions of social groups in society took root in, rebuilt, and transformed existing social formations. However, in each social context, the emerging institutionalized standard of capitalism got its own face or color. Today, specific versions of the universal capitalistic institutions such as the market economy, the private ownership, and the political superstructure, are taking root in and creating new social orders in Russia, in the former East European countries, in China, and in Africa. In these social systems, existing social groups, social positions, and the production of trade and goods are not deleted overnight but provide the very background for building new forms of capitalism, or new business systems. The contemporary role of the Russian mafia and the political-bureaucratic elite provides one of many examples of how the past social structures shape the future even if there is a radical shift in the regime type (see also Michailova, 1997). Another example