Ethnic Parties and Indigenous Substantive Representation in Ecuador

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Christina Ewig
Keyword(s):  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Ethnic Parties

scholarly journals Political Representation by Ethnic Parties? Electoral Performance and Party-Building Processes among Ethnic Parties in Myanmar

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-336
Author(s):  
Kristian Stokke
Keyword(s):  
Political Representation ◽  
Formal Representation ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
Ethnic Parties ◽  
Party Building ◽  
Intrastate Conflicts ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
Electoral Performance

What is the role of political representation by ethnic parties in a multi-ethnic state that has undergone a transition from military rule, and is seeking to resolve protracted intrastate conflicts? The present article examines this question through a contextual case study of ethnic parties in Myanmar – a state that is characterised by unresolved ethnic grievances and conflicts; a political transition that has created new opportunities for ethnic representation; and multiple ethnic parties making representative claims on behalf of ethnic groups. Based on a mixed methods approach, the article documents that ethnic parties have been relatively ineffective in ensuring formal and descriptive representation and have had limited possibilities for substantive representation of ethnic interests. The article also identifies key explanations for the weak electoral performance of ethnic parties, emphasising party fragmentation and vote-splitting as well as weak party institutionalisation and limited capacity to make representative claims. Finally, the article analyses strategies for party-building, in preparation for the 2020 election. Based on the common emphasis on vote-splitting, most ethnic states have seen initiatives to merge parties, while a few parties have also sought to develop their political platform and sector policies. The article concludes that ethnic parties may gain improved formal representation after the next election but questions about the parties’ capacity for substantive representation remains. The 2020 election will thus be a new test for how ethnic voters see themselves best represented, in the light of competing representative claims and past experiences: by ethnic parties or non-ethnic democracy parties?

Female Representation in Colombia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica Pachón ◽  
Santiago E. Lacouture
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Electoral Democracy ◽  
Almost All

Mónica Pachón and Santiago E. Lacouture examine the case of Colombia and show that women’s representation has been low and remains low in most arenas of representation and across national and subnational levels of government. The authors identify institutions and the highly personalized Colombian political context as the primary reasons for this. Despite the fact that Colombia was an electoral democracy through almost all of the twentieth century, it was one of the last countries in the region to grant women political rights. Still, even given women’s small numbers, they do bring women’s issues to the political arena. Pachón and Lacoutre show that women are more likely to sponsor bills on women-focused topics, which may ultimately lead to greater substantive representation of women in Colombia.

Segmental Volatility in Ethnically Divided Societies: (Re)assessing Party System Stability in Southeast Europe

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Damir Kapidžić ◽  
Olivera Komar
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Party System ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
East European ◽  
Ethnic Parties ◽  
Stabilizing Factors

Abstract This article examines the role of ethnicity and ethnic parties as stabilizing factors in Southeast European party systems. It compares two ethnically divided countries in Southeast Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, where ethnic identities that form the political cleavage are firm, and Montenegro, where they are malleable. Theoretically, it addresses the debate between scholars who either find stability or instability in East European post-communist party systems. The article traces the role of ethnicity in the formation and development of electoral contests and compares the two cases by utilizing measures of block volatility, based on analysis of official electoral data. We argue that party systems in ethnically diverse countries are stable at the subsystems level, but unstable within them. In BiH, firm ethnic identity stabilizes the party system by limiting competition between blocks, leading to closure. Malleable ethnic identity in Montenegro opens competition to non-ethnic parties seeking to bridge ethnic divisions, leading to more instability. We find that party system dynamics in ethnically divided new democracies depend on identity rigidity and cleavage salience, in addition to levels of heterogeneity.

Negotiating Political Power at ‘Critical Junctures’: Women and Constitution Drafting in South Africa and India

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962110258
Author(s):  
Nila Mohanan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Gain Access

From a feminist institutionalist perspective, this article engages in a comparative analysis of South Africa, one of the only post-transition democracies where women organized as a distinct interest group representing gender interests were able to negotiate and gain access to political power, and India, where women’s participation was predominantly as ‘nationalist women’. It argues that constitution drafting is a decisive critical juncture when descriptive representation can be translated very effectively into the substantive representation of women as equal citizens, provided women qua women and as gender-conscious agents are able to intervene to promote the cause of their effective political participation.

scholarly journals Gender and Party Discipline: Evidence from Africa’s Emerging Party Systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
AMANDA CLAYTON ◽  
PÄR ZETTERBERG
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Party Discipline ◽  
Women Legislators ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
Legislative Effectiveness ◽  
Gendered Expectations

Are men and women legislators equally loyal to their parties? We theorize that parties select candidates based on gendered criteria, leading to the (s)election of more disciplined women. Moreover, we argue that gendered expectations about proper behavior limit women legislators’ ability to act independently from their parties. Using surveys from over 800 parliamentarians across 17 African legislatures, we find that women report significantly higher levels of party discipline than do their men copartisans. From this survey data and new legislative speech data, we also find support for our proposed causal mechanisms. Further, we find that among women parliamentarians, party discipline is negatively correlated with the prioritization of womens rights. A qualitative case study of the Namibian Parliament illustrates our findings. We discuss the implications of our results for women’s legislative effectiveness, for the substantive representation of women’s interests in policy making, and for the continued democratization of emerging party systems.

Participatory Representation in a Non-Western Context: The Case of Homeowner Associations in Beijing

2020 ◽  
pp. 107808742091950
Author(s):  
Ting Guan ◽  
Tao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Neighborhood Problems ◽  
Homeowner Associations ◽  
Transitional Society ◽  
Representational Capacity ◽  
Participatory Engagement ◽  
Neighborhood Level

This article examines the concept and practices of “participatory representation” in the Chinese context, a subset of substantive representation that emphasizes “authenticity” and participatory engagement in solving neighborhood problems. Through examining Chinese homeowner associations (HOAs), we explain how representation operates at the neighborhood level in a grassroots organizational context without a Western style of democracy, identifying the determinants and capacities of participatory representation. By proposing a model of representational capacity and using logistic regression analysis, we find that four factors have an impact on the quality of participatory representation: (1) homeowner attributes (i.e., gender, occupation, and length of residence), (2) problem-solving effectiveness of representative organizations, (3) transparent and open elections, and (4) level of homeowner participation. We further suggest that in a transitional society like China, these representative organizations, namely, HOAs, act as important training grounds for democratic skills, through which participatory citizen engagement is being learned and cultivated. This study contributes to contemporary accounts of participatory representation by identifying the informal representation patterns within HOAs and their potential to foster civic participation and social democracy in China in the coming decades.

scholarly journals Do Women Need Women Representatives?

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie Campbell ◽  
Sarah Childs ◽  
Joni Lovenduski
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Mass Attitudes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mass Level

This article analyses the relationship between the representatives and the represented by comparing elite and mass attitudes to gender equality and women’s representation in Britain. In so doing, the authors take up arguments in the recent theoretical literature on representation that question the value of empirical research of Pitkin’s distinction between substantive and descriptive representation. They argue that if men and women have different attitudes at the mass level, which are reproduced amongst political elites, then the numerical under-representation of women may have negative implications for women’s substantive representation. The analysis is conducted on the British Election Study (BES) and the British Representation Study (BRS) series.

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