scholarly journals The politicization of world politics and its effects: Eight propositions

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Zürn
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
National Level ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Analytical Potential ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
The One ◽  
North And South

World politics is no longer a matter of executive multilateralism and technocratic expert decisions. What we see instead is the politicization of international institutions – a twofold process of growing resistance to and the more intensive utilization of these institutions. After providing evidence for this claim, this article develops propositions on the effects of politicization of world politics on the quality of decision making and the content of policies on both the international and national level. On the one hand, the politicization of international institutions arguably heralds a reflexive stage of global governance. The increased participation of societal actors leads to a new mode of decision making in world politics, which includes a notion of global common goods in conjunction with elements of public deliberation. By the same token, increased politicization of international institutions contradicts lamentations about the hollowing-out of national democracies and shows that political participation is in fact partly emigrating to the international level. While politicization has the inherent potential for initiating the democratization of international institutions and making new types of global policies possible, there are on the other hand several dangers associated to this process. First, it may perpetuate existing inequalities between North and South in terms of representation on the global level. Second, the politicization of world politics puts pressure on national democracy, since it moves attention away from national political matters and skews national policies towards universalist positions. Moreover, it arguably provokes the constitution of a new political cleavage, cosmopolitanism vs. communitarianism, which may possibly restructure politics in the 21st century to a large extent. These propositions on the effects of politicization will be developed with the help of empirical illustrations. However, they will not be systematically tested – the purpose of this contribution is to elaborate the analytical potential of a new concept and identify broad trends.

The Politicization of Authority beyond the Nation State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Zürn
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
World Politics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
The One

This chapter argues that the notion of international cooperation as a purely executive, legal, or technocratic matter misses some decisive features of world politics today. International institutions are seen not only by political, but also by societal actors as political institutions exercising public authority requiring legitimacy. Two broad claims are tested. According to the first, the politicization of international institutions can be ascribed to the patterns of authority in the global governance system. The more political authority international institutions exercise, the more attention they attract, the more actors participate in debates and the more polarization in opinions takes place. The second broad claim is that politicization is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it leads to a broadening of legitimation efforts including participatory and fairness-based narratives. On the other hand, politicization may also lead to a significant legitimacy gap that can undermine the authorities as a whole.

Studies of Central–Provincial Relations in the People's Republic of China: A Mid-Term Appraisal

1995 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 487-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Ho Chung
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
National Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
The One ◽  
Central Level

Spatial aspects of power have been relatively neglected in the field of political science in general, with the notable exception of federalism. Many have argued that the study of political power has generally confined itself to the national level and paid scant attention to the interactions between the central government on the one hand and regional and local authorities on the other. Several tendencies have worked against the flourishing of political research on central-local government relations in the last three decades. First, in methodological terms, the “behavioural revolution” that swept the discipline caused a sudden premature end to the institutional analysis so crucial to central-local government relations. Secondly, in thematic terms, political scientists have been overly preoccupied with central-level processes of decision-making while neglecting the politics of central-local relations. Thirdly, in conceptual terms, the rise of “state” as an encompassing concept was facilitated largely at the expense of complex intra-governmental dynamics.

Taking Public Administration Seriously

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Joseph Heath
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Administrative Power ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The One ◽  
Public Decision

This chapter begins with a series of examples that illustrate the power wielded by unelected state officials. This power includes not only discretion but also control over the policy process, as well as the ability to bring pressure to bear upon elected officials. The exercise of this administrative power, far from being an imperfection in the system, contributes a great deal to the quality of public decision-making. But it raises a difficult normative question concerning how unelected officials can wield power in a way that is consistent with the commitment to political neutrality of the permanent civil service and to the more general principles of democratic legitimacy that govern liberal-democratic states. A contrast is drawn between this position and the one defended by Pierre Rosanvallon.

A Brief Comment on Science-based Risk Regulation Within the European Union

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Stibernitz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Central Position ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Scientific Experts ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
The One

Nowadays as political decision making involves such a huge range of complex matters, scientific experts have become more and more involved in European risk regulation. The support by so-called independent experts may, on the one hand, be seen as a guarantee of rational decision making, increasing the quality of decisions as well as the general acceptance of all people affected. On the other hand, the number of expert groups, scientific committees and agencies helping the Commission in fulfilling its duties is vast and confusing.In addition, scientific advisory bodies often face the burden of unrealizable independence, as well as a lack of transparency and democratic control. This article sums up the central position of science-based risk regulation within the European Union (EU), referring to the necessity for expert opinion as well as to consequent problems concerning the involvement of these experts in risk regulatory actions.

scholarly journals Presentation to the Dossier: political repertoires in transnational labor struggles and new forms of global labor governance

Tempo Social ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 05-14
Author(s):  
Leonardo Mello e Silva ◽  
Elísio Estanque ◽  
Hermes Augusto Costa
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
National Level ◽  
Informal Work ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
New Learning ◽  
Climate Transition ◽  
International Experts ◽  
North And South ◽  
Platform Economy

Despite the concerns about wages and the increase in the quality of life of the working classhaving acquired a historical centrality in the struggle repertoires designed at national level, theambition of internationalist solidarity and the emancipation of the forms of collective organization of workers has always been an end in yourself. In the light of current times, it is an ambitionthat can be witnessed in the way that the trends of globalization and contemporary neoliberalismdemand adequate and organized responses, sharing experiences, contributions to new formsof global governance, more just and dignified. And also new learning outcomes for the classicprotagonists of the world of work. By gathering contributions from international experts on theworld of work, from different national contexts and disciplinary affiliations, this dossier fulfillsthis purpose of critical debate, supported by concrete experiences. Here the reader can findcontributions on regional solidarity and union networks, political regulation processes, globaleconomic planning, climate transition, forms of transnational labor organization, informal work,North and South relations, work in the platform economy or digital communication processes.

Procedural safeguards cannot disentangle MAiD from organ donation decisions

2020 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106456
Author(s):  
Zeljka Buturovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organ Donation ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
Organ Donors ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
The One

In the past, a vast majority of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) patients were elderly patients with cancer who are not suitable for organ donation, making organ donation from such patients a rare event. However, more expansive criteria for MAiD combined with an increased participation of MAiD patients in organ donation is likely to drastically increase the pool of MAiD patients who can serve as organ donors. Previous discussions of ethical issues arising from these trends have not fully addressed difficulties involved in separating decision to end one’s life from the one to donate one’s organs. However, realities of organ donation logistics and human decision making suggest that this separation can be extraordinary difficult. The need to maximise quality of donated organs complicates dying experience of the donor and is likely in tension with the dying experience the patient envisioned when first considering MAiD. Furthermore, the idea that patients will think about MAiD first, and only when firmly decided to end their life, consider organ donation, runs contrary to organ donation policies in some countries as well as end of life and everyday decision making. This opens the door for organ donation to serve as an incentive in MAiD decisions. Dispensing with the simplistic assumption that organ donation can never be a factor in MAiD decisions is, therefore, essential first step to properly addressing ethical issues at hand.

Voter Information Processing and Political Decision Making

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Nai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Political Information ◽  
The Other ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
The One

Contemporary political information processing and the subsequent decision-making mechanisms are suboptimal. Average voters usually have but vague notions of politics and cannot be said to be motivated to invest considerable amount of times to make up their minds about political affairs; furthermore, political information is not only complex and virtually infinite but also often explicitly designed to deceive and persuade by triggering unconscious mechanisms in those exposed to it. In this context, how can voters sample, process, and transform the political information they receive into reliable political choices? Two broad set of dynamics are at play. On the one hand, individual differences determine how information is accessed and processed: different personality traits set incentives (and hurdles) for information processing, the availability of information heuristics and the motivation to treat complex information determine the preference between easy and good decisions, and partisan preferences establish boundaries for information processing and selective exposure. On the other hand, and beyond these individual differences, the content of political information available to citizens drives decision-making: the alleged “declining quality” of news information poses threats for comprehensive and systematic reasoning; excessive negativity in electoral campaigns drives cynicism (but also attention); and the use of emotional appeals increases information processing (anxiety), decreases interest and attention (rage), and strengthens the reliance on individual predispositions (enthusiasm). At the other end of the decisional process, the quality of the choices made (Was the decision supported by “ambivalent” opinions? And to what extent was the decision “correct”?) is equally hard to assess, and fundamental normative questions come into play.

Uncertainty Forecasts Improve Decision Making Among Nonexperts

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limor Nadav-Greenberg ◽  
Susan L. Joslyn
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
Weather Uncertainty ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
The One ◽  
Normative Models ◽  
Uncertainty Information ◽  
The Impact

The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of weather uncertainty information on decision making in naturalistic settings. Traditional research often reveals deficits in human decision making under uncertainty as compared with normative models of rational choice. However, little research has addressed the question of whether people in naturalistic settings make better decisions when they have uncertainty information as compared with when they have only a deterministic forecast. Two studies investigated the effect of several types of weather uncertainty information on the quality of decisions to protect roads against icing and on temperature predictions and compared them with a control condition that provided deterministic forecast only. Experiment 1 was a Web-based questionnaire that included a single trial. Experiment 2, conducted in lab, included 120 trials and provided outcome feedback and a reward based on performance. Both studies indicated enhanced performance with uncertainty information. The best kind of uncertainty information tested here was the one that provided the probability at the threshold for the task at hand. We conclude that uncertainty information can be used advantageously, even when it does not result in perfectly rational performance, and that uncertainty can be communicated effectively to nonexpert end users, resulting in improved decision making.

scholarly journals Decision Making with Dynamic Uncertain Events

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 233-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meir Kalech ◽  
Shulamit Reches
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Approximation Algorithms ◽  
Optimal Algorithm ◽  
The Other ◽  
Uncertain Information ◽  
Effective Algorithm ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The One ◽  
The Cost

When to make a decision is a key question in decision making problems characterized by uncertainty. In this paper we deal with decision making in environments where information arrives dynamically. We address the tradeoff between waiting and stopping strategies. On the one hand, waiting to obtain more information reduces uncertainty, but it comes with a cost. Stopping and making a decision based on an expected utility reduces the cost of waiting, but the decision is based on uncertain information. We propose an optimal algorithm and two approximation algorithms. We prove that one approximation is optimistic - waits at least as long as the optimal algorithm, while the other is pessimistic - stops not later than the optimal algorithm. We evaluate our algorithms theoretically and empirically and show that the quality of the decision in both approximations is near-optimal and much faster than the optimal algorithm. Also, we can conclude from the experiments that the cost function is a key factor to chose the most effective algorithm.

scholarly journals Choice and Construction Preference of Ceramic Tile for Floor Finishes in Residential Houses: A Case Study of Ogbomoso Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (March 2018) ◽  
Author(s):  
O.O Ajayi
Keyword(s):  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Ceramic Tiles ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Interior Spaces ◽  
The One ◽  
North And South

The quality of finishes of housing space is imperative for the achievement of a qualitative living environment. Preferences and choices of floor finishes for interior spaces in residential settings in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Difference in taste of individuals in choosing floor finishes can be said to be the factor that predicts the quality of a building. Flooring is an important part of the building to ensure foot comfort and it is influenced by the choice made by the users. The study was carried out to determine people’s perceptions on the preference for use of ceramic tiles as floor finish in their residential buildings. This study considered One Hundred and Thirty Two (132) residential dwellings in Ogbomoso North and South local government in Nigeria, but only One Hundred and Twenty Two Questionnaires were available for analysis. The One Hundred and Twenty Two (122) respondents who were the owner’s of their residents were randomly sampled via a questionnaire instruments to determine the perceptions on the use of ceramic tiles. The data obtained were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis of mean (X) and chi-square(X’) based on two hypotheses to find correlation between the respondents perception and their visual quality. Results showed that there is no significant relationship between the acceptance of ceramic tiles for floor finishes and status of the respondent. The most preferred flooring material irrespective of the income group for most of the housing space was ceramic tiles favored by sixty five (65) respondents. This study however provides a motivational reason while respondents preferred to finish their floors with materials that will be easy to maintain at minimal cost and effort.

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