Power Consciousness: A Comparative Analysis

1977 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 1544-1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Aberbach
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
System Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Versus System ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Power Position

This article, drawing on recent studies of class consciousness and powerlessness explained in individual versus system level terms, develops and analyzes an operational measure of “power consciousness.” Power consciousness is defined as a person's evaluation of his or her political power position and his or her explanation of the causes of any inadequacies or advantages perceived in this position. The operational measure of power consciousness arrays responses to two items on political power satisfaction (one of them open-ended) along a dimension which ranges from satisfaction, to dissatisfaction ascribed to personal failures of the respondent, to dissatisfaction explained in terms of problems with the political system. Survey data are utilized for a comparative analysis of whites' and blacks' scores on the power consciousness measure. The following topics receive detailed attention: the place of power consciousness in the matrix of power measures; its relationship to background factors, especially level of education; its relationship to indicators of political discontent; and the impact of power consciousness on levels and styles of political behavior. The analysis is followed by suggestions for the development of future work in this area.

Referendum konstytucyjne we Włoszech. Jak głosowanie ludowe wpływa na system polityczny państwa?

2017 ◽  
pp. 110-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kużelewska
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This article analyses the impact of constitutional referendums on the political system in Italy. There were three constitutional referendums conducted in 2001, 2006 and 2016. All of them have been organised by the ruling parties, however, only the first one was successful. In the subsequent referendums, the proposals for amending the constitution have been rejected by voters. The article finds that lack of public support for the government resulted in voting „no” in the referendum.

Back to the Westminster model? The Brexit process and the UK political system

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212096737
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Baldini ◽  
Edoardo Bressanelli ◽  
Emanuele Massetti
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Westminster Model ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Quantitative Indicators ◽  
The Impact

This article investigates the impact of Brexit on the British political system. By critically engaging with the conceptualisation of the Westminster model proposed by Arend Lijphart, it analyses the strains of Brexit on three dimensions developed from from Lijphart’s framework: elections and the party system, executive– legislative dynamics and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Supplementing quantitative indicators with an in-depth qualitative analysis, the article shows that the process of Brexit has ultimately reaffirmed, with some important caveats, key features of the Westminster model: the resilience of the two-party system, executive dominance over Parliament and the unitary character of the political system. Inheriting a context marked by the progressive weakening of key majoritarian features of the political system, the Brexit process has brought back some of the traditional executive power-hoarding dynamics. Yet, this prevailing trend has created strains and resistances that keep the political process open to different developments.

Division de pouvoir et intégration social: de Montesquieu à la crise actuelle du parlementarisme

1968 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-269
Author(s):  
André Vachet
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Western Democracy ◽  
Vital Forces

Division of power and social integrationExplanation of some of the recent challenges to western democracy may be found in a re-examination of Montesquieu's thought. Here we find the theory of the separation of power to be far more complex than is implied in the simple divisions of legislature, executive, and judiciary. For Montesquieu, the separation of power is more a social division than a political or juridical one. He contemplated returning the organs of political power to various social forces, e.g. monarchy, aristocracy, and bourgeoisie, and that then the self-assertion of forces would be restrained by the resistance of other social groups. The realization of its goals would require every important social group to integrate itself both to society and to the state and to seek its goals through realization of the general good.Since Montesquieu's time, political structures would seem to have been very little changed even though social structures have been greatly altered by the rise of economic powers. Political institutions have been losing touch with the vital forces of society and these have had to find other channels of expression. The personalization of power, the rise of the executive, violence, and increasing paternalism may be viewed as phenomena of compensation by which attempts are being made to bridge the gap between the structures of political power and those of a society which has been restructured.Revigoration of parliamentary democracy would seem to require that all vital social forces be reintegrated into the political system and be given meaningful channels of political expression. Failure to make such changes opens the way to identification of the political powers with technocracy and the increasing general use of violence in the resolution of social problems.

Romania thirty years later: from a totalitarian dictatorship to a deep state?

2021 ◽  
pp. 254-268
Author(s):  
Nikolai N. Morozov
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Totalitarian Regime ◽  
Political Evolution ◽  
Deep State

This chapter combines an analysis of the party-political system of post-communist Romania with the impressions of a direct witness to the most important historical events in the country, tracing the political evolution of Romania over the 30 years after the December revolution of 1989, which led to the overthrow of the totalitarian regime of Ceauşescu. A review of political parties and alliances is presented, which may be of practical benefit to researchers working on this period in Romanian history. On the basis of numerous sources and direct interviews with Romanian politicians, some specific characteristics of the political process in the country are identified. An attempt has been made to show the mechanisms of political power that have emerged since the collapse of the former totalitarian system.

scholarly journals Power, Patronage, and the Candidate-nomination Process: Observations from Bangladesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 314-336
Author(s):  
ADEEBA AZIZ KHAN
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Mayoral Election ◽  
Power And Influence

AbstractIn this article, by studying the candidate-nomination process of the two major political parties, I show how power is distributed within the political party in Bangladesh. I show that the general acceptance by scholars that political power lies in the hands of the innermost circle of the political-party leadership in Bangladesh is too simplistic. A more nuanced observation of power and influence within the party structure shows that, in the context of Bangladesh's clientelistic political system, which is based on reciprocity between patrons and clients and relies on the ability of middlemen to organize and mobilize (in order to disrupt through hartals and strikes), power is often in the hands of those mid-level leaders who are in charge of mobilizing because their demands cannot be ignored by the topmost leadership. Through studying the candidate-nomination process of the major political parties and using the Narayanganj mayoral election of 2011 as a case study, I answer questions such as whose interests political parties are representing, what channels of influence are being used, and why these channels exist.

scholarly journals Statute of the Town and Island of Korčula 1214/1265 and issues of (dis) continuity of old and new constitutionalism

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-556
Author(s):  
Arsen Bačić
Keyword(s):  
Special Form ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Crossword Puzzle ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
Responsible Government ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Utility Services ◽  
The Town

In classic natural law the issue of constitution was related to the laws, institutions and practice of organising and directing states and the political system. According to this understanding, every political system of town-state had a constitution. The contemporary meaning of constitution nevertheless gained specific and valuable foundation: today the constitution means the establishment of a special form of political organisation. Contemporary constitutions talk of limited government. With a constitution, political power is constituted and limited at the same time. Some states are constitutional because they have a limited and responsible government and others are not. In the latter case, we are talking about states that have a constitution, but do not have constitutionalism. After civil revolutions, constitutionalism becomes the central mechanism of control of political power and ensuring freedom. This text opens up the question of whether the Statute of Korčule of the year 1214/1265, as a normative projection of municipal organs in the Town and Island of Korčula (assembly of all people, duke, grand council, small council, curia, utility services...), provided the base for researching the (dis)continuity of „ancient constitutionalism“ and classic rational, uniform and contractualistic forms of modern constitutionalism which is based on the constitution as the highest legal act and court control of constitutionality. In conclusion, the Statute of the Town and Island of Korčula, as a unique normative crossword puzzle of medieval institutions, special freedoms and multi-level jurisdictions, represented a real historical platform. From this platform all those bearers of power who implemented power could be controlled and balanced either within legal boundaries or they strived for absolutism and corruption.

Social Imperialism and Wilhelmine Germany

1979 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian L. D. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Domestic Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democrat ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Interpretive Scheme

In recent times the historiography of the Wilhelmine Reich has clearly reflected the influence of Eckart Kehr and of later historians who have adopted and developed his work. The Rankean dogma of the Primat der Aussenpolitik (primacy of foreign policy) has been replaced by a new slogan, Primat der Innenpolitik (primacy of domestic policy). The resultant interpretive scheme is by now quite familiar. The social structure of the Bismarckean Reich, it is said, was shaken to its foundations by the impact of industrialization. A growing class of industrialists sought to break the power of the feudal agrarian class, and a rapidly developing proletariat threatened to upset the status quo. The internecine struggle between industrialists and agrarians was dangerous for both and for the state, since the final beneficiary might be the proletariat. Consequently agrarians and industrialists closed their ranks against the common social democrat enemy and sought to tame the proletariat, which had grown restive under the impact of the depression, by means of a Weltpolitik which would obviate the effects of the depression, heal the economy, and vindicate the political system responsible for such impressive achievements. Hans-Ulrich Wehler and others call this diversionary strategy against the proletarian threat social imperialism; and this, it is said, is the domestic policy primarily responsible for Wilhelmine imperialism.

The Impact of African States on the United Nations

1969 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Kay
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Stable Pattern ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
The Face ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Impact

The United Nations at its present stage of development is a political system of formally coordinate Members, each able to place before the Organization the demands that flow from its own environment. One can hypothesize that a stable environment will yield a stable pattern of demands on the United Nations political system. Similarly it can be hypothesized that a change in the environment—the major components of which are the Member States—will change the pattern of demands made on the political system of the Organization. It is on just such a change that this article proposes to focus. In the period between 1955 and the end of 1968, 37 African states, largely devoid of experience in the contemporary international arena and struggling with the multitudinous problems of fashioning coherent national entities in the face of both internal and external pressures, joined the United Nations. The admission of these states substantially altered the Organization's environment and the demands being made upon it. It is suggested here that these changes have been so substantial as to alter the nature of the political process of the Organization. Concern will be focused successively upon the nature of the entry of the African states into the United Nations, a determination of the areas in which the African states have made demands upon the system, the constitutional structure of the Organization as it has evolved under the impact of the African states, the impact of the African states on the handling of major issues, and finally on trends and implications of the role of African states in the United Nations.

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