Party Change and Political Personalization

Author(s):  
Gideon Rahat ◽  
Ofer Kenig

The chapter presents an empirical cross-national analysis of the relationship between the two processes of party change and political personalization. It demonstrates that there is indeed a moderate negative correlation between partyness and personalization when we focus on what happens off-line in the more veteran democracies. It also explains why, in some cases, partyness and personalization will not be in zero-sum relationships. It then turns to the question of the causal direction of this relationship: does party decline cause personalization, or is it the other way round? While it makes sense that the two should interact, our argument is that decline in partyness occurred first and was in fact one of the causes of personalization.

Author(s):  
Gideon Rahat ◽  
Ofer Kenig

Scholars tend to see the relationship between parties and personalization as a zero-sum game: when one declines, the other is expected to rise. Yet, while scholars of political personalization regard party decline as the starting point of their story, for scholars of party change personalization is only one of the possible outcomes of party decline. These two perspectives are critically examined here. Then the chapter surveys Wattenberg’s works, the only scholar who accorded the two phenomena equal weight. Next the challenges encountered by this common representation of the relationship between party change and political personalization as a zero-sum game are examined. The chapter ends by reviewing the issue of the causal direction of this relationship.


Author(s):  
Gideon Rahat ◽  
Ofer Kenig

The chapter presents an integrated cross-national analysis of political personalization in all our twenty-six countries. The two indicators of personalization online stand apart in terms of the incidents of depersonalization. An examination of the relationship between the three dimensions finds personalization especially in the institutional realm. In the other two dimensions, media and behavior, most cases are of personalization, but many indicate no trend or depersonalization. A comparison by country illustrates that, except for the cases of extreme personalization in Italy and Israel and a few cases of depersonalization, especially in Switzerland, most countries experience moderate–low or low levels of personalization. Most explanations for variance are ruled out. A moderately negative correlation is found between national levels of self-expression and national levels of political personalization. The chapter ends with a review of the claims raised in the literature about the consequences of political personalization.


Author(s):  
Gideon Rahat ◽  
Ofer Kenig

The book examines two of the most prominent developments in contemporary democratic politics, party change and political personalization, and the relationship between them. It presents a broad-brush, cross-national comparison of these phenomena that covers around fifty years in twenty-six countries through the use of more than twenty indicators. It demonstrates that, behind a general trend of decline of political parties, there is much variance among countries. In some, party decline is moderate or even small, which may point to adaptation to the changing environments these parties operate in. In others, parties sharply decline. Most cases fall between these two poles. A clear general trend of personalization in politics is identified, but there are large differences among countries in its magnitude and manifestations. Surprisingly, the online world seems to supply parties with an opportunity to revive. When parties decline, personalization increases. Yet these are far from being perfect zero-sum relationships, which leaves room for the possibility that other political actors may step in when parties decline and that, in some cases, personalization may not hurt parties; it may even strengthen them. Personalization is a big challenge to parties. But parties were, are, and will remain a solution to the problem of collective action, of channeling personal energies to the benefit of the group. Thus they can cope with personalization and even use it to their advantage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 81-102
Author(s):  
Irena Pańków

Democracy in a recession? Diagnosis and repair projects The essay examines two of the most prominent developments in contemporary democratic politics, party change and political personalization, and the relationship between them. It presents a broad-brush, cross-national comparison of these phenomena that covers around fifty years in twenty-six countries through the use of more than twenty indicators. It demonstrates that, behind a general trend of decline of political parties, there is much variance among countries. In some, party decline is moderate or even small, which may point to adaptation to the changing environments these parties operate in. In others, parties sharply decline. Most cases fall between these two poles. A clear general trend of personalization in politics is identified, but there are large differences among countries in its magnitude and manifestations. Surprisingly, the online world seems to supply parties with an opportunity to revive. When parties decline, personalization increases. Yet these are far from being perfect zero-sum relationships, which leaves room for the possibility that other political actors may step in when parties decline and that, in some cases, personalization may not hurt parties; it may even strengthen them. Personalization is a big challenge to parties. But parties were, are, and will remain a solution to the problem of collective action, of channeling personal energies to the benefit of the group. Thus they can cope with personalization and even use it to their advantage.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0739456X2110442
Author(s):  
Stephan Schmidt ◽  
Wenzheng Li ◽  
John Carruthers ◽  
Stefan Siedentop

This paper examines how national planning frameworks differ from each other and how those differences relate to patterns of urban development using an international cross section of metropolitan regions. We construct a composite index to measure institutional planning frameworks through objective criteria—restrictive versus permissive; binding versus nonbinding; nationally versus locally oriented—that enables comparison between (not within) countries. We also estimate a series of models to evaluate the relationship between institutional frameworks and patterns. The evidence suggests that a more centralized and coordinated planning framework produces more compact development, whereas a more decentralized and uncoordinated planning framework results in less compact development.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Michael Croucher ◽  
Stephanie Kelly ◽  
Chen Hui ◽  
Kenneth J. Rocker ◽  
Joanna Cullinane ◽  
...  

Purpose In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to explore how working remotely might impact the superior–subordinate relationship. Specifically, this study examines how immediacy explains articulated dissent, considers how an individual’s attitudes toward online communication predicts immediacy and articulated dissent and compares these relationships in England, Australia and the USA. Design/methodology/approach Three nations were examined: Australia, England and the USA (n = 1,776). Surveys included demographic questions and the following measures: organizational dissent scale, perceived immediacy measure, computer-mediated immediate behaviors measure and measure of online communication attitude. Findings The results reveal supervisors’ computer-mediated immediate behaviors and perceived immediacy both positively predict dissent. Some aspects of online communication attitudes positively predict computer-mediated immediate behaviors and perceived immediacy. In addition, attitudes toward online communication positively predict dissent. National culture influences some of these relationships; in each case the effects were substantively larger for the USA when compared to the other nations. Originality/value This study is the first to cross-culturally analyze dissent and immediacy. In addition, this study considers the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic influences the superior–subordinate relationship.


Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian McPhail

This study examines the effect of religious heterogamy on the transmission of religion from one generation to the next. Using data from 37 countries in the 2008 Religion III Module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), I conduct a cross-national analysis of the relationship between parents’ religious heterogamy and their adult childrens’ religious lives. By estimating fixed effects regression models, I adjust for national-level confounders to examine patterns of association between having interreligious parents during childhood and level of adult religiosity as measured by self-rated religiousness, belief in God, and frequencies of religious attendance and prayer. The results indicate that having religiously heterogamous parents or parents with dissimilar religious attendance patterns are both associated with lower overall religiosity in respondents. Parents’ religious attendance, however, mediates the relationship when each parent has a different religion. Having one unaffiliated parent is associated with lower religiosity regardless of parents’ levels of religious attendance. The negative impact of parents’ religious heterogamy on religious inheritance is independent of national-level factors and has implications for anticipating changes in the religious landscapes of societies characterized by religious diversity and growing numbers of interreligious marriages.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document