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842. Una alternativa de participación política. Las Redes Ciudadanas del PRD en Nuevo León
- Author:
- Angélica Hernández Ramírez
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- La política ha cobrado un significado negativo ante los ojos de buena parte de la ciudadanía, quien, lejos de desear participar en ella, permanece lo más alejada posible. Ante esta situación, los partidos políticos y algunos sectores de la sociedad han comenzado a buscar medios alternativos de participación política. Uno de ellos está formado por las redes ciudadanas que podrían facilitar una participación directa mayor que la de los propios partidos, y que podrían constituir, en ocasiones, grandes masas de individuos dispuestos a integrarse en el sistema político.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
843. Enhancing Democracy Assistance
- Author:
- Lincoln A. Mitchell and David L. Phillips
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- The Research Project on Enhancing Democracy Assistance is undertaken by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and the Atlantic Council of the United States. This report recognizes that democracy assistance is essential to the promotion of US foreign policy and global interests, and offers political and technical recommendations in order to enhance democracy assistance.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Democratization, Development, Globalization, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- United States
844. Von der gesteuerten Demokratie zum selbststeuernden Kapitalismus
- Author:
- Wolfgang Streeck
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The paper is an expanded and revised version of a lecture given at the 2008 Annual Colloquium of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). Its subject is the relationship between social theories and political-economic change. The paper's central claim is that theories of society can by nature be fully understood only if related to and interpreted in the horizon of action of a virtual user located in the social world that is being explained. This is illustrated with reference to the development of political macrosociology since the Second World War. Next, five tendencies in today's social sciences are briefly discussed, all of which seem to indicate growing uncertainty about the practical usefulness of basic research in social science, in light of the demise of the democratic nation-state: the transition from Steuerungstheorie to research on “governance”; the departure from participatory models of democracy; the rise of economics to academic and political hegemony; a functionalist, efficiency-theoretical turn in theories of social policy; and growing doubts about the usefulness of a scientistic model of theory. In the final section it is suggested that the social sciences might find new theoretical orientation and practical self-confidence by defending in public discourse its fundamental insights on the limits of a market-driven organization of social life.
- Topic:
- Democratization, International Political Economy, Political Economy, and Political Theory
845. Women in the European Parliament: effects of the voting system, strategies and political resources. The case of the French delegation.
- Author:
- Willy Beauvallet and Sébastien Michon
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Political Sociology
- Abstract:
- This article aims to provide elements to explain the feminisation of French MEPs. While the voting system should be taken into account, its effects can only be understood in relation with two elements: on the one hand, the position of the European Parliament in the French political field; on the other, the specific configuration of social and political struggles of the public space in 1990s France. Within this framework, gender constitutes a political resource that is more valuable in the European Parliament than in the national parliament; as a result, women who are less politically professionalised are promoted. They turn towards forms of parliamentary “goodwill” and strategies of over-involvement in European political roles. The relative specificity of the postures they adopt within the institution does not have to do with a hypothetical “feminine nature”, but with a set of sociopolitical processes.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Gender Issues, Political Economy, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Europe and France
846. Civic Engagement on the Move
- Author:
- J.D. Lasica
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Conventional wisdom holds that the growing influence of mobile media has contributed to the steady dissolution of society's civic bonds. The creeping sense of disengagement was documented recently in a Duke University study that found we are feeling far more socially isolated today than we were two decades ago. The more we hunker down by checking stocks and scores on our iPhones, sharing our photos on Flickr and jabbering into our Razr phones, the less likely we are to hold a conversation with a stranger, volunteer at a homeless shelter or join a political cause. Or so the argument goes.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Demographics, Politics, and Science and Technology
847. Sierra Leone a Year After Elections: Still in the Balance
- Author:
- Tom Cargill
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- The UN mission that led Sierra Leone out of bloody civil war in 2002 ends on 30 September 2008. Despite significant advances, and landmark elections last year that saw the opposition win power, the country remains amongst the poorest in the world. It is vulnerable to crime, corruption, and the growing power of South American drugs cartels. The UK has been Sierra Leone's major donor since its military intervention in 2000 - the last successful military intervention before the Iraq war. However, slow progress and uncertain prospects for the country mean that the UK is keen to broaden the responsibility for supporting Sierra Leone. There are good signs that the government of Sierra Leone is serious about reform. But if it is to cement stability and growth, it will need to find new international partners, continue its reform efforts, and deter drug-traffickers from establishing themselves in the country. Most importantly, it will need to show greater leadership, confidence and direction to both voters and donors to ensure that widespread goodwill is not eroded by uncertainty and drift.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Democratization, Post Colonialism, Poverty, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Africa
848. The Evolution of Authoritarian Organization in Russia under Yeltsin and Putin
- Author:
- Lucan A. Way
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper uses the case of Russia in the 1990s to demonstrate the utility of approaching transitional regimes not just as emerging democracies but as failed or unconsolidated authoritarian regimes. Even for many competitive or democratic regimes, it is essential to focus not just on the development of constitutions, civil society, or party systems, but on the success or failure of efforts to build institutions to eliminate opposition and maintain political control. I examine the evolution of state and party organizational strategies by Yeltsin and then Putin to consolidate power and the impact of these strategies on regime competitiveness. First, I demonstrate how state and party weakness under Yeltsin in the early 1990s promoted political contestation in important ways. In turn, stronger state and party organization under Putin undermined political competition. Next, I show how organizational strategies taken reflected a logic of learning by trial and error. The failure of initial organizational forms to reduce contestation led to adoption of new approaches, culminating in Putin's decision to create a highly centralized state structure and single ruling party.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Politics, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Russia
849. Political Crises and Democracy in Latin America Since the End of the Cold War
- Author:
- Luis E. González
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper addresses current problems of democratic instability in continental Latin America, assuming that all its countries have been at least “minimalist” democracies during the years 2000–07. To identify essential factors leading to instability, it focuses on the countries' most recent and acute political crises. It considers two periods in the post–cold war years: 1992–99 and 2000–07. The number of crises is similar in both periods, but their nature changes, from mostly “traditional” crises in the first (essentially elite-led affairs) to mostly non-traditional crises in the second (with crucial participation by the population). The data suggest that the main causes of the 2000–07 crises were already in place before the 1990s. Building on the available literature this leads to an explanation based on two medium-to-long term processes: the accumulation of unsatisfied expectations during a generation or so, and the still-precarious nature of these minimalist democracies. A cluster analysis strongly confirms that this model can explain both acute crises and their opposite, cases of democratic consolidation. The model also produces some post-dictions on electoral volatility (empirically confirmed), and some predictions for the years 2008–15. The discussion leads to some conclusions concerning prospects for democracy in the region. First, in spite of the crises, minimalist democracy is helping to impel democracy beyond minimalism. Second, to define “democracy,” it is not necessary to include stronger political requisites than those of “minimalism,” nor socioeconomic requisites. Both are needed, in any case, merely to stabilize minimalist democracies.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Democratization, Development, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
850. Regime Legacies and Democratization: Explaining Variance in the Level of Democracy in Latin America, 1978—2004
- Author:
- Scott Mainwaring and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- In this paper we analyze the level of democracy achieved by 19 Latin American countries after 1977, in the period between the transitions from authoritarian rule and 2004. Our study shows enduring regime legacies: despite authoritarian interruptions in the past, the best predictor of the current level of democracy is the country's experience with competitive politics during the “first” (1900–44) and the “second” (1945–77) waves (and counter waves) of democratization. We document the impact of regime legacies using a fixed-effects vector decomposition model. Our finding resembles, but does not strictly confirm, theoretical claims about “path dependence” in democratization.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Latin America