Improbable but Potentially Pivotal Oppositions: Privatization, Capitalists, and Political Contestation in the Post-Soviet Autocracies

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 891-916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Junisbai
Keyword(s):  
Original Data ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Causal Account ◽  
Political Pluralism ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Formal And Informal Institutions ◽  
Opposition Movements ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Economics And Politics

Reflecting a chiefly economic approach to understanding political outcomes, a burgeoning literature on post-Soviet political economy finds a strong link between privatization and political pluralism in the region. To test whether the political promise of economic liberalization and the logic of modernization that underlies it hold true, I draw on existing and original data on privatization, pluralism, and opposition movements throughout the region from early independence to the present. The data reveal a fundamentally different formulation of the relationship between economics and politics than that found in the standard causal account. Contrary to approaches that stress the “the primacy of economics” in determining political outcomes, numerous cases of post-Soviet capitalist defection to the political opposition clearly point to “the primacy of politics”: the tangible ways that formal and informal institutions structure economic opportunities and ultimately impinge on individual calculations to comply with, oppose, or seek refuge from the regime.

scholarly journals The constitutional status of the Sejm in the political system of the Republic of Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (57) ◽  
pp. 30-43
Author(s):  
Stanisław Bożyk
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Political Pluralism ◽  
Lower Chamber ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this article is to evaluate or to determine the constitutional status of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in the light of the basic principles of the political system. The position of the lower chamber of the Polish parliament is presented in turn against the backdrop of four principles: the sovereignty of the Nation, political representation, political pluralism, and the separation and balancing of powers. In the context of the latter principle, the relationship between the Sejm and the executive is also presented.

Contingent technocracy: bureaucratic independence in developing countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel P. Teodoro ◽  
M. Anne Pitcher
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
The Political ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Established Democracies ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis study investigates the effects of formal bureaucratic independence under varying democratic conditions. Conventional accounts predict that greater formal independence of technocratic agencies facilitates policy implementation, but those claims rest on observations of industrialised, high-income countries that are also established democracies. On the basis of research in developing countries, we argue that the effects of agency independence depend on the political context in which the agency operates. Our empirical subjects are privatisation agencies and their efforts to privatise state-owned enterprises in Africa. We predict that greater independence leads to more thorough privatisation under authoritarian regimes, but that the effect of independence declines as a country becomes more democratic. Using an original data set, we examine the relationship between formal agency independence and privatisation in Africa from 1990 to 2007. Our results modify the conventional wisdom on bureaucratic independence and culminate in a more nuanced theory of “contingent technocracy”.

Political Families and Support for Democracy in Pakistan

Asian Survey ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1044-1071
Author(s):  
Vineeta Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Original Data ◽  
The Political ◽  
Entire Family ◽  
Independent Judiciary ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Free Media ◽  
The Impact

Political families are common across many countries in Asia, including Pakistan. Politicians from political families (PPFs) make decisions with the goal of maximizing the political prospects of the entire family, in contrast to non-PPFs, who maximize their individual political self-interest. This changes the impact they have on their country. Scholars find that the presence of PPFs is associated with significantly worse development and governance outcomes, including in Pakistan. However, we know much less about their impact on political outcomes. In this paper, we use original data from a 2018 systematic national survey of about 150 Pakistani politicians to investigate PPFs’ support for key democratic institutions and practices. We find that compared to non-PPFs, Pakistani PPFs are significantly more supportive of instrumentally useful institutions and practices such as free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, and a free media, but no different in their low level of support for human rights.

scholarly journals Value of the constitutional teleology and constitutional legitimacy of the political and ideological diversity (pluralism): doctrine and practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-99
Author(s):  
I A Kravets
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Party System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Pluralism ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Constitutional System ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Constitutional Legitimacy

The article examines the legal nature and mission the constitutional teleology, the role of teleological function of the constitution in the Soviet and modern Russian legal system, the concept and types of constitutional legitimacy, the relationship of constitutional legitimacy and political and ideological foundations of the constitutional system, the nature and limitations of the principles of political pluralism, multi-party system and ideological pluralism.

scholarly journals Pulled in and pushed out of politics: The impact of neoliberalism on young people’s differing political consumerist motivations in the UK and Greece

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212093552
Author(s):  
Georgios Kyroglou ◽  
Matt Henn
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Political consumerism refers to citizens’ use of boycotting and buycotting as they seek to influence political outcomes within the marketplace rather than through more traditional routes such as voting. However, given the pressure that neoliberalist forces exert on the marketplace, the lack of literature problematising the relationship between political consumerism and neoliberalism is somewhat surprising. Addressing this gap, we examine how neoliberalism impacts youth political consumerism in the UK and Greece. Focus-group findings suggest the existence of two inter-connected effects. Firstly, we detect a neoliberal ‘push effect’ away from electoral politics. Secondly, we discern a parallel ‘pull effect’ as young people seek the ‘political’ within the marketplace. In Greece, youth political consumerism seems to result primarily from distrust of institutional political actors. In contrast, young political consumers in the UK appear to be principally driven by confidence in the capacity of the market to respond to their pressing needs.

Inactivity of the Economy and the Economy of Inactivity. An Interview

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-146
Keyword(s):  
Russian Translation ◽  
Public Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Economics And Politics

The article presents edited material from a meeting with Giorgio Agamben to publicize the release of the Russian translation of his book The Kingdom and the Glory: For a Theological Genealogy of Economy and Government. Agamben discusses the reasons and conditions for the formation of power in the West as oikonomia; the early Christian origins of the modern domination of the economy and government in all spheres of public life; the certainty of modern power; together with what makes politics possible and the connection of politics with inactivity, dispositives and processes of deactivation. The archaeological study of the phenomenon of power suggests that its modern forms are notconfined exclusively to government, but power is also characterized by the concept of “glory” whose ceremonial, liturgical and praiseworthy aspects we have customarily viewed as rudiments of the past even though they still retain their influence. Power in the guise of government shifts the focus to action that reveals its own baselessness and radically reconfigures ideas about the relationship between economics and politics. In turn, the groundlessness of praxis requires conceptualizing will, understood as dispositive, which raises the issue of adequate strategies for constructing relations between the subject and the government as a condition for the very possibility of the political. Deactivation, profanation and inactivity are a prism through which the potential of the political, the poetic, the economic and the human is revealed.

Revolutions and Constitutional Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Vüllers
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Old Regime ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Opposition Movements ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Revolutionary actions and constitutional crises are closely linked. However, research mainly looks at the two phenomena as distinct from each other. While studies on revolutionary actions are interested in the agency and the impact of the actions on the country’s institutions, legal research focuses on the constitution itself. The separation of the two strands leads to a limited understanding of their dynamics and complexity. What do we know about the relationship between revolutionary actions and constitutional crisis, and vice versa? The first question is how revolutionary actions trigger constitutional crisis, defined as a moment in which decision makers are unwilling or unable to manage the societal conflicts within the confinement of the constitutionally provided boundaries. Different types of revolutionary behavior—such as elite-led military coups, civil wars, and nonviolent resistance movements—trigger constitutional crises in many cases. They can lead to a new constitution with diverse implications for the political system. Whether the opposition or the old regime prevails in the constitutional crisis is a question of the power resources of both parties to the conflict. In some cases, the opposition movements succeed in making the political system more democratic. However, there are also cases where the constitutional crisis ultimately leads to more power for the ruling class. The relationship also works vice versa: a constitutional crisis can trigger revolutionary actions. Constitutional coups, and processes of democratic backsliding and constitutional rot, can trigger violent and nonviolent revolutionary actions. Political elites can try to change constitutional norms for their own benefit, such as extending the presidential term of office. This often leads to a storm of public protest and can become a real threat to the regime’s survival. A constitution can enter a crisis phase for a long time if it no longer serves the needs of parts of society. The injustices that thus arise within society can be a strong motive for revolutions. The combination of agency and constitutional processes is a promising avenue for future research that could help analyze the complex relationship between constitutional crises and revolutionary actions. In addition to innovative theoretical approaches, new empirical data is needed to examine the process of constitutional negotiation in more detail.

Kościół katolicki wobec parlamentaryzmu II Rzeczypospolitej na przykładzie nauczania społecznego kardynała Stefana Adama Sapiehy

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-206
Author(s):  
Mateusz Kępa
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Pluralism ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Catholic Church

The purpose of this article is to describe the relationship between parliamentarism and the social teaching of the Catholic Church, with a special emphasis on pastoral, social and political activities of cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha. The system of parliamentary government is a system of government in which the legislative authority in the form of parliament passes laws and controls the executive authority, which is wielded by the president together with the government. An important aspect of this system of government is the interpenetration of these two authorities and their mutual complementing, which is evident even in the possibility of bringing forward bills by the executive. The view of the parliamentary system held by cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha was based on the social attitude which was represented by the Christian Democrats. The political system accepted by the Christian Democrats was democracy, which very clearly demonstrates all positive forms of local government’s actions and the principle of subsidiarity. The basis of this assumption is that it is on the lowest levels of society where the common good based on social solidarity can be realized. The Archbishop of Krakow perceived the political, social and economic issues through the prism of the Catholic Church. He believed that the task of the state is to protect society against the moral decay of anti-Christian totalitarian systems. According to Sapieha, the state should act as a servant in relation to the nation. The Metropolitan claimed also that the vision of the relationship between social ranks, contrary to the socialist vision, was not burdened with a conflict. Sapieha saw the danger of drastic social inequality, but definitely spoke out against socialist and communist solutions. The cardinal emphasized the accent which should be laid on the development of all forms of civic government. So the ideal state is a decentralized state, in which citizens, due to rights and activities taken up by themselves, have an influence over the governments. According to Sapieha, a democratic state of law should respect political pluralism based on the principle of subsidiarity and justice, as well as sovereignty, and above all – the principle of parliamentary majority.

Criminal Governance in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Mantilla ◽  
Andreas E. Feldmann
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Interdisciplinary Work ◽  
The World ◽  
Formal And Informal Institutions ◽  
The Relationship

Criminal governance understood as the regulation of social order, including informal or illegal economies through the establishment of formal and informal institutions that replace, complement, or compete with the state and distribute public goods (e.g., social services, justice, and security) is an expanding area of inquiry in the field of criminology. This analysis, which centers on Latin America, a region beset by this problem, unpacks specific dimensions of this concept including the overlap between the state and criminal orders, the relationship between violence and consent, and violence management through selective forms of enforcement. In so doing it sheds light on how changes in the architecture of governance of many underprivileged communities across the world, but especially in the Global South, is affecting in critical ways the lives and wellbeing of millions of individuals. The discussion underscores the need to reinforce interdisciplinary work linking criminology and other disciplines (e.g., political science, sociology, law, anthropology) as a way to enhance our understanding of the profound impact that criminal governance orders have on the political and social dimensions of contemporary societies.

scholarly journals The Universities and Elite Formation and Transformation in Kosovo

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Bekim Baliqi
Keyword(s):  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Elite Formation ◽  
Key Questions

Abstract This research aims to explore the relationship between the universities and political elite formation based on the case study of Kosovo. The key questions raised throughout the research are; how do the universities influence the formation of the political elites and how were the elites changed throughout time? Analysing these relationships in different periods, each with a different impact on the elite building processes, namely from the establishment of the University of Prishtina until recently. Central assumption here is that higher education institutions were the catalyst in the transformation of the political elites. Being a vital source of power, a control over it represents also a struggle for power between the rival forces with different political outcomes. Theoretical framework consists of John Higley approach on the elite formation, based in the context of post-conflict and divided society, such as Kosovo case.

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