Representative Democracy Research Articles

Mauro Dorato: Science and Representative Democracy: Experts and Citizens

Mauro Dorato: Science and Representative Democracy: Experts and Citizens

Tunnels of Attention: Reconsidering Issue Competition

Dominant visions of modern representative democracy posit that parties focus on contrasting issues during campaigns, leading to a diverse political supply. However, there is remarkably little empirical evidence to back up those claims. We argue that parties have little incentives to leave potentially rewarding issues to rivals. Lacking knowledge about their electorate and its short-term preferences, parties will monitor competitors and take up issues from each other. Empirical analyses covering all policy issues in a unique set of seven diverse advanced democracies over four decades are consistent with our predictions. Issue attention appears to be mostly inspired by rivals’ emphases, resulting in “tunnels of attention”. The model holds when introducing the alternative explanation of responsiveness to voters, corroborating the endogenous nature of tunnels of attention. Our new perspective has wide-ranging implications for party competition and representation.

Accepting a party’s decision to (not) participate in a coalition government. Does the inclusiveness of the decision-makers make a difference?

ABSTRACT The decision whether or not to participate in a coalition government is crucial for parties operating in parliamentary democracies using a list-PR system. For party members, agreeing (winning) or disagreeing (losing) with this decision can potentially have a considerable impact on their attitudes and potential behavior including party and membership satisfaction, support for the decision-making process, decision acceptance, activity within the party, leaving the party and no longer voting for the party. It has extensively been documented that losers of elections and referendums become less supportive of the political system, but the question is whether such a winner-loser gap also occurs when party members win or lose on a difficult party decision. In addition, according to the procedural fairness theory, including party members in the decision-making process might ease the pain of losing. However, the exact impact of the openness of decision-makers (inclusive or exclusive) on the effect of winning and losing on members’ attitudes and potential behavior remains unclear. Based on a survey experiment among party members of two parties in Flanders (Belgium), we find consistently significant differences in members’ attitudes and potential behavior after winning or losing the decision of government participation. Remarkably, there is only limited moderating influence of the kind of decision-makers on the effect of winning or losing.

Unveiling the Anti-Obesity Potential of Thunder God Vine: Network Pharmacology and Computational Insights into Celastrol-like Molecules.

Obesity, characterized by abnormal or excessive fat accumulation, has become a chronic degenerative health condition that poses significant threats to overall well-being. Pharmacological intervention stands at the forefront of strategies to combat this issue. Recent studies, notably by Umut Ozcan's team, have uncovered the remarkable potential of Celastrol, a small-molecule compound derived from the traditional Chinese herb thunder god vine (Tripterygium wilfordii) as an anti-obesity agent. In this research, computational chemical analysis was employed, incorporating the "TriDimensional Hierarchical Fingerprint Clustering with Tanimoto Representative Selection (3DHFC-TRS)" algorithm to systematically explore 139 active small molecules from thunder god vine. These compounds were classified into six categories, with a particular focus on Category 1 molecules for their exceptional binding affinity to obesity-related targets, offering new avenues for therapeutic development. Using advanced molecular docking techniques and Cytoscape prediction models, six representative Celastrol-like molecules were identified, namely 3-Epikatonic Acid, Hederagenin, Triptonide, Triptotriterpenic Acid B, Triptotriterpenic Acid C, and Ursolic Acid. These compounds demonstrated superior binding affinity and specificity toward two key obesity targets, PPARG and PTGS2, suggesting their potential to regulate fat metabolism and mitigate inflammatory responses. To further substantiate these findings, molecular dynamics simulations and MM-PBSA free-energy calculations were applied to analyze the dynamic interactions between these small molecules and the enzymatic active sites of their targets. The results provide robust theoretical evidence that support the feasibility of these molecules as promising candidates for anti-obesity therapies. This study underscores the power of the 3DHFC-TRS algorithm in uncovering bioactive compounds from natural sources, such as thunder god vine, and highlights the therapeutic promise of PPARG and PTGS2 as novel obesity-related targets. Furthermore, it emphasizes the essential role of computational science in expediting drug discovery, paving the way for personalized and precision-based treatments for obesity and heralding a future of more effective healthcare solutions.

Democratic Innovations and Political Participation. The Case of the Estonian Citizens’ Assembly (Rahvakogu)

The aim of this article is to examine the impact of the Estonian Citizens’ Assembly, convened in 2013, on the evolution of political participation in the country. This is a significant topic, given that Estonia offers relatively few opportunities for participation between parliamentary elections. The article presents a verification of the hypothesis, assuming that the Estonian Citizens’ Assembly has not resulted in notable alterations to the existing Estonian legislation, particularly with regard to the expansion of the catalogue of civic participation, both in the immediate and extended terms. The research presented in the article was conducted through the application of the decision-making method and an analysis of legal acts. The article is divided into three parts: the first part analyses the main issues related to the phenomenon of democratic innovation, including definitional issues and the process of its development; the second part locates the main circumstances of the convening of the Assembly, primarily in the context of the crisis of Estonian representative democracy caused by the “Silvergate” scandal. The procedure and stages of the holding of the Estonian Citizens’ Assembly were also presented. The third part was devoted to the results achieved and their impact on political participation in Estonia. The research findings permit the conclusion that the Estonian Citizens’ Assembly can be included in the catalogue of democratic innovations. This is due to the fact that it was an instrument for conferring a new role on citizens in the co-governance process, thereby creating new opportunities for political participation, decision-making and influence over representative democracy. Conversely, it is not feasible to assert that the Estonian Citizens’ Assembly has exerted a profound impact on the legal system, particularly in the context of introducing novel participatory instruments.

The (Other) Boundary Problem: Conceptualizing Membership of the Demos’ Two Bodies

AbstractThis paper intersects the literature on the democratic boundary problem with the literature on the constructivist turn in political representation to show that the boundary problem broadly construed involves a distinction between ‘the problem of inclusion’ (into pre-existing demoi and their decision-making procedures) and ‘the problem of constituting the demos’ (which involves criteria for partaking in constituent power). This distinction is consistently neglected by democratic theorists. However, it has serious implications for representative democracies because the standard answers to the boundary problem – the all-affected-interests principle, the all-subjected principle, and the substantive-demos principle – do not apply to the problem of constituting the demos. A new principle aimed at the latter problem is here proposed: the constructivist-representative principle. In the end, it should be clear that ascertaining who should be entitled to participate in which democratic decision requires the adoption of different principles depending on the specific demos in question and on the type of decision-making procedure involved (e.g., constitution-making-or-changing, lawmaking, policymaking, etc.).

Elections, War, and Gender: Self-Selection and the Pursuit of Victory

Abstract Why might female leaders of democratic countries commit more money, equipment, soldiers, and other resources to interstate conflicts than male leaders? We argue that gender bias in the process of democratic election helps explain this behavior. Since running for office is generally more costly for women than for men, only women who place a higher value on winning competitions will choose to run. After election, they also devote more resources to pursuing victory in conflict situations. To provide microfoundational evidence for this claim, we analyze data from an online laboratory game featuring real-time group play in which participants chose to run for election, conducted a simple campaign, and represented their group in a contest game if elected. Women with a higher nonmonetary value to winning were more likely to self-select into candidacy, and when victorious, they spent more resources on intergroup contests than male elected leaders. The data suggest that electoral selection plays an important role in observed differences between male and female leaders in the real world.

Efektivitas Sistem Threshold dalam Presidential Threshold di Indonesia

The Presidential Threshold is a rule that sets the minimum threshold percentage of votes that a political party is required to achieve, in order to nominate or carry presidential and vice presidential candidates in the election contestation. This system is designed to filter out candidates who are considered qualified, the hope is that only candidates with high electability levels can run. However, its implementation is often a source of controversy because it is considered to hamper potential candidates from small parties or independents who may have quality, but are less known to the public. As a result, the dominance of major parties in the presidential candidacy limits people's choices and does not reflect the existing political diversity. In the Indonesian system of government, where the president and the DPR are independent institutions, the Presidential threshold system is considered incompatible with the principles of inclusive and representative democracy. This provision was first implemented through Article 5 paragraph (5) of Law Number 23 Year 2003 on the General Election of the President and Vice President, and has continued to be used in subsequent presidential elections. This article focuses on the effectiveness of the Presidential Threshold in the Indonesian political context and its impact on political participation, democratic representation, and constitutional law.

Gerakan Sosial Anak Muda dalam Proses Demokrasi Elektoral 2024: Studi Gerakan Protes atas Politik Dinasti

This study aims to explore the youth social movements in the electoral democracy process of 2024. The social movement was triggered by the various situations that are related to the issue of political dynasty which is seen as producing a sense of injustice and a threat to democracy existence. This study uses a qualitative approach. The data is obtained and osberved from various social media reports on the protests against political dynasty issue. This study shows that the protest movement was carried out by more than 700 universities spread across various regions in Indonesia. The protest movement on the streets was dominated by the youth. This study formulates that the social movements carried out involving various framings and repertoires in building narratives for rejecting the political dynasty and demanding a systemic change. Actors in this social movements use social media as a tool for mass mobilization. However, the main challenge in this social movement comes from a strong cultural power system and a complex of democratic dynamics, which affect the results of the protest movement that carried out. Through these two challenges, the protest movement against political dynasty issue has not been so strong enough in accomodating, influencing and changing the political system will by the protesters. The contribution of this study is to expand the research issue related to new social movement that focuses on youth as movement’s actors and reveal the layered barrier or challenge of social movement in the context of Indonesia’s democracy.

Political legitimacy after the pits: Corruption narratives and labour power in a former coalmining town in England.

This article examines the erosion of political legitimacy in ex-mining towns in England. Political sociologists and political scientists have long taken an interest in the politics of coalmining areas, which were characterised by high strike rates and militant left values. More recently, the question of legitimacy in these areas has resurfaced, as now-deindustrialised pit towns register unusually high levels of political discontent and disengagement compared to areas with similar economic and demographic profiles. In interviews and group discussions with 93 residents of the former mining town of Mansfield, England, I find that many express ideas that profoundly challenge the system of representative democracy in its current form, with almost one in three participants understanding politics primarily through the frame of corruption. Drawing on an emergent literature which casts corruption talk as a moralised discourse of political in/exclusion, I argue that the corruption frame is best understood as the inversion of a now-defunct symbolic economy. As workers in pit towns no longer received the same tokens of care from their representatives, reflecting their reduced power, many came to understand the political system as corrupt and illegitimate.

An overview on plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence via metallic nanoantennas

Abstract In the realm of nanotechnology, the integration of quantum emitters with plasmonic nanostructures has emerged as an innovative pathway for applications in quantum technologies, sensing, and imaging. This research paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the photoluminescence enhancement induced by the interaction between quantum emitters and tailored nanostructure configurations. Four canonical nanoantennas (spheres, rods, disks, and crescents) are systematically investigated theoretically in three distinct configurations (single, gap, and nanoparticle-on-mirror nanoantennas), as a representative selection of the most fundamental and commonly studied structures and arrangements. A detailed analysis reveals that the rod gap nanoantenna configuration achieves the largest photoluminescence enhancement factor, of up to three orders of magnitude. The study presented here provides insights for the strategic design of plasmonic nanoantennas in the visible and near-IR spectral range, offering a roadmap for these structures to meet specific requirements in plasmon-enhanced fluorescence. Key properties such as the excitation rate, the quantum yield, the enhanced emitted power, or the directionality of the emission are thoroughly reviewed. The results of this overview contribute not only to the fundamental understanding of plasmon-enhanced emission of quantum emitters but also set the basis for the development of advanced nanophotonic devices with enhanced functionalities.

Gendering democracy: feminist parliamentary responses to opposition against gender equality

ABSTRACT Gendering democracy in parliaments faces a wave of active opposition against gender equality by far-right parties and anti-gender movements in Europe. In this adverse context, advancing gender equality policies relies on discourses and practices that address this opposition. What are the feminist parliamentary strategies to respond to anti-gender far-right opposition? This article studies feminist responses articulated in the Catalan parliament, the most gender-sensitive regional parliament is Spain, from the entry in 2021 of the far-right party Vox through interviews with members of Catalonia’s parliament and analysis of parliamentary debates. Whilst parliamentary groups and individuals respond through coalition-building, rule-making, knowledge production, and everyday pragmatic engagement with the far right, the Parliament as an institution appears less responsive. We identify new categories of responses, such as institutionalization of gender equality and protection and support. The gender-sensitive Catalan parliament shows how the disruptive impact of far-right anti-gender opposition on parliamentary democracy and equality goes beyond its small representation, by triggering polarization that jeopardizes parliamentary debates on gender equality and pushes them outside the parliament. Yet, the strength of the institutionalization of gender equality and alliances and the role of feminist civil society and critical actors equip the parliament to counter anti-gender opposition.

Shaping of the Woman Constituency in Indian Elections: Evidence from the NES Data

This article studies the patterns of women’s vote in the Lok Sabha elections in India in 2024. It draws upon the National Election Studies (NES) data of 2024 and of previous years to address three key questions related to women’s vote in Indian elections. The first is about the extent of Indian women’s political participation in the wake of increased turnout of women voters and the closing of the gender gap. The second question is about the extent of women’s support to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) as their favoured party. In the absence of conclusive evidence on gender-wise patterns of vote, there have been several tentative and speculative analyses regarding the increasing support of women voters to the BJP both at the regional and national elections, especially since 2014. The article uses the unique window of the NES data sets to understand and decipher women’s support for the BJP and other political parties on a timeline. Finally, from within the confines of the empirical evidence provided by the NES data sets, it also tries to address a rather nuanced question of the arrival of women’s agency in the electoral democracy in India. With the help of the NES data sets, it tries to understand whether women vote mainly as women, prioritizing their gendered identities over other kinds of identities, and whether their voting patterns indicate the arrival of an autonomous women’s constituency in Indian democracy.

Teaching the People by Example: Mill on the Exemplary Influence of Deliberative Elites

ABSTRACT The notion of moral exemplarity, though repeatedly alluded to in John Stuart Mill’s writings, is rarely treated as an essential element of his democratic theory. This article, however, highlights and explains the centrality of exemplarity in Mill’s project of fostering public-minded citizens for a successful democracy. In Representative Government, Mill conceives the exemplary influence of deliberative elites as a necessary condition for making local deliberative bodies the main site for the cultivation of a public spirit. Mill’s Romantic reading of Plato’s Gorgias suggests that this move resulted from his radical skepticism about the power of reason to motivate virtuous behavior along with his corresponding faith in the moral exemplar’s aesthetic force of beauty to improve the spectator’s conduct. Mill’s emphasis on the necessity of exemplary influence for achieving a civic ideal based on a detailed account of its moral psychology reveals him to be a unique political thinker who continues to invite contemporary interest.

Is Structural and Cultural Iron Cage be a Barrier?

This study aims to discuss the social movements within the democratic process in Indonesia in 2024. This movement emerged as a response to injustice political policies in the context of electoral democracy that support president’ son be a vice president. His presence on the political arena is perceived by the public as a being laden with political dynasty values. Political dynasty itself is a threat for democracy. This study uses a qualitative approach, where primary data is obtained from observations and various reports revealed by various social media. This study shows that movement in various regions of Indonesia is a respond of public dissatisfaction and suspicion towards the dynastic power system. This study also reveals the dynamics of social movements in criticizing the government regime. Although this movement is massively carried out, there are very strong structural and cultural barriers, refers to Weber’s term this is alike an “iron cage”, and the social movement carried out have not yielded a significant results as needed by the public. This study concludes that social movements have their own dynamics and it is necessary to examine the structural and cultural aspects.

Democracy and the ethics of voting

ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of the ethical challenges facing voters in democratic elections. It starts by examining the assumptions that underpin contemporary claims about the moral and epistemic advantages of lotteries as compared to elections and shows their similarities to arguments for ‘unveiling the vote’, as Brennan and Pettit put it. (G. Brennan & Pettit, 1990) It looks at the empirical and normative difficulties of these claims and highlights the risk of confusing morally misguided voting with injustice, and of supposing that it must be politically consequential. Finally, the paper casts doubt on the claim that democracy implies that voters should be publicly accountable to each other for their vote and that the secret ballot is, therefore, a regrettable, if necessary, concession of principle to sad reality. It concludes by drawing out the implications of its analysis for the ethics of voting in ideal, non-ideal and highly non-ideal situations.

Education for Agonistic Democracy: Reclaiming the Political Insights of Agonism

AbstractWhile education for democracy has been heavily influenced by the deliberative perspective on democracy, a recent turn towards an agonistic perspective on democracy places a great deal of faith in the role of political emotion and conflict. Educational scholars have mostly interpreted agonism in relation to the emotional and conflictual experiences that occur within school. Some scholars draw general pedagogical insights from this perspective, while others use it to propose conflictual approaches to classroom discussions. Overestimating, however, the extent to which experiences of agonism within school applies to politically experienced agonisms beyond the school, is problematic. Such overestimations undermine the core political insights of agonistic theory, concerning the democratic potential of radical collective movements. Agonistic theory acknowledges the psychological need among disgruntled citizens for radical alternatives enabling them to oppose and rearticulate the established power dynamics in society. The purpose of agonistic democracy is to enable rearticulations of hegemony through the institutions of representative democracy, rather than as opposed to them. Important for this paper, however, is the argument that such rearticulations depend on the rhetorical force of collective movements. Emphasizing that we cannot assume the presence of such movements in everyday school life, the paper revisits the following question: What are the didactical implications of an agonistic perspective on democracy? The democratic potential of collective movements is not easily captured through experiences within the pedagogical context alone, but proposals are made as to how this potential can be grasped in other ways.

Who, republican or democrat CEOs, laughs last? Political cycles in the market for corporate directors

Who, republican or democrat CEOs, laughs last? Political cycles in the market for corporate directors

Media Portrayal of EU Commission and Its Leaders: A Content Analysis of Spanish Press (1976–2024)

The role of the media is key in mediating civil society and its political representatives in EU institutions. In this context, this paper aims to describe the representation of the European Commission, one of the EU’s most important institutions, and its leaders by two leading Spanish newspapers. In order to address this objective, an automated content analysis was carried out on 13,340 news items published between 6 June 1976 and 15 February 2024 in El País (social democratic media) and ABC (conservative, monarchist media). The sample was subjected to a sentiment analysis as well as topic modeling. The latter method made it possible to identify five predominant issues on the agenda: Economy, Foreign Affairs, Internal Politics, Spanish Politics, and the Future of the EU. The average sentiment, which is close to neutral, has tended slightly toward the negative over the years, although the current president, Ursula von der Leyen, has the highest rating of all the leaders studied. Both El País and ABC provide more negative coverage of the EU when leaders of their ideological opposition govern, a phenomenon that can weaken the European model and encourage political drifts with consequences that are difficult to predict in the medium term.

Liberalism in Dialogue: Carl Schmitts Critique and Masao Maruyamas Defense

Abstract: Carl Schmitt criticized liberalism by asserting that it negates politics and leads to a crisis of parliamentary democracy. Through his theories on the concept of the political and sovereign decision-making, Schmitt provided a deep analysis of these issues. Masao Maruyama not only highly valued Schmitts work but also theoretically borrowed from his ideas. However, Maruyama placed individual subjectivity at the core of his analysis, using Japans traditional culture and unique historical and social context as his focus. In doing so, Masao Maruyama both supplemented and, in some aspects, refuted Schmitts critique of liberalism. For Schmitt, the survival and integrity of the political entity are paramount, necessitating a clear distinction between friends and enemies. His critique of liberalism centers not only on its moral neutrality but also on its perceived incapacity to make sovereign decisions that guarantee the preservation of the political entity. In contrast, Maruyama contended that Japanese imperialism elevated the state as the embodiment of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, thereby positioning it as a value-laden entity, creating a metaphysical order seemingly justified by the imperative of national survival. Although this might initially appear to align with Schmitts notion of the states primacy, Maruyama ultimately critiques this belief as an ideological facade, which devolved into a mere instrument of totalitarian rule.