New Zimbabwe opposition will face uphill battle

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Presidential Succession ◽  
White Farmers

Subject Outlook for Zimbabwe's political parties. Significance President Robert Mugabe's ousted deputy, Joice Mujuru, last month launched a formal opposition manifesto, the strongest sign yet that she seeks to challenge Mugabe in 2018 elections. This adds a new dimension to a political landscape already unsettled over presidential succession within the ruling ZANU-PF. Impacts Mining firms may use a recently proposed additional tax, coupled with power cuts, as reasons to slow or even halt certain operations. The issue of compensation to white farmers over land invasions in the 2000s remains unresolved and could stymie a detente with donors. High inputs costs for firms and deflation will dampen growth and raise unemployment, providing fertile ground for the opposition.

Chile coalition crisis hints at new Pinera presidency

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Pole Position ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Election Results ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Consistent Support ◽  
Actual Size

Significance Albeit expected, that defeat has widened divisions within its centre-left coalition and between the administration and its political parties. The election results put the centre-right opposition in the pole position to win the next presidential election in November 2017. Impacts The impact of the election outcome on the mood in government parties far exceeds the actual size of their defeat. High abstention is a criticism of both main coalitions and suggests potentially fertile ground for populism. Without consistent support from its own parties, it will be difficult for the government to pass promised reforms.

New Tunisian president may struggle to enact reforms

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Law Making ◽  
Legislative Election

Significance The success of candidates outside the main political parties is also reflected in the legislative polls, where independents performed well and existing parties performed poorly, resulting in a fragmented political landscape with many parties holding few seats and many independents holding one seat. Impacts Ennahda has two months to form a coalition before the president asks another party to form a government. If no government is formed in four months, there may be another legislative election. Law-making and reforms will be put on hold as coalition-building and government forming will take precedence.

scholarly journals User engagement with political “facts” in the context of the fake news phenomenon

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 1082-1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Marcella ◽  
Graeme Baxter ◽  
Agnieszka Walicka
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Subject Knowledge ◽  
Perceived Credibility ◽  
North East ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Quality Awareness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that explored human behaviour in response to political “facts” presented online by political parties in Scotland. Design/methodology/approach The study consisted of interactive online interviews with 23 citizens in North-East Scotland, in the run-up to the 2017 UK General Election. Findings Participants demonstrated cognitive and critical responses to facts but little affective reaction. They judged facts swiftly and largely intuitively, providing evidence that facts are frequently consumed, accepted or rejected without further verification processes. Users demonstrated varying levels of engagement with the information they consume, and subject knowledge may influence the extent to which respondents trust facts, in previously unanticipated ways. Users tended to notice facts with which they disagreed and, in terms of prominence, particularly noted and responded to facts which painted extremely negative or positive pictures. Most acknowledged limitations in capacity to interrogate facts, but some were delusionally confident. Originality/value Relatively little empirical research has been conducted exploring the perceived credibility of political or government information online. It is believed that this and a companion study are the first to have specifically investigated the Scottish political arena. This paper presents a new, exploratory fact interrogation model, alongside an expanded information quality awareness model.

Political radicalization and fragmentation of the democratic blocs and the legislative council elections in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-384
Author(s):  
Chung Fun Steven Hung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Special Administrative Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legislative Council ◽  
Administrative Region ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
One Country Two Systems ◽  
Historical Comparative

Purpose After direct elections were instituted in Hong Kong and the sovereignty was transferred from Britain to China, politicization inevitably followed democratization. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the pro-democratic political parties’ politics in Hong Kong in recent history. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted through a historical comparative analysis, within the context of Hong Kong after the sovereignty handover and the interim period of crucial democratization. Findings With the implementation of “One country, Two systems,” political democratization was hindered in Hong Kong’s transformation. The democratic forces have no alternative but to seek more radicalized politics, which has caused a decisive and ineluctable fragmentation of the local political parties. Originality/value This paper explores and evaluates the political history of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under “One country, Two systems” and the ways in which the limited democratization hinders the progress of Hong Kong’s transformation.

Crowded Space, Fertile Ground: Party Entry and the Effective Number of Parties

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Kselman ◽  
Eleanor Neff Powell ◽  
Joshua A. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Effective Number ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Effective Number Of Parties ◽  
Number Of Parties

This paper develops a novel argument as to the conditions under which new political parties will form in democratic states. Our approach hinges on the manner in which politicians evaluate the policy implications of new party entry alongside considerations of incumbency for its own sake. We demonstrate that if candidates care sufficiently about policy outcomes, then the likelihood of party entry shouldincreasewith the effective number of status quo parties in the party system. This relationship weakens, and eventually disappears, as politicians’ emphasis on “office-seeking” motivations increases relative to their interest in public policy. We test these predictions with both aggregate electoral data in contemporary Europe and a data set on legislative volatility in Turkey, uncovering support for the argument that party system fragmentation should positively affect the likelihood of entry when policy-seeking motivations are relevant, but not otherwise.

COVID-19 may trigger an ideological shift over decades

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Global South ◽  
Borrowing Constraints ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Key Driver ◽  
Thomas Piketty

Significance Research by Thomas Piketty shows that a form of free-market ideology has been a key driver of rising income inequality since the 1980s. The airing of alternative ideas, the challenge of decarbonising economies and the potential for the COVID-19 crisis to reset politics raise the prospect of a paradigm shift. Impacts In much of the global South, borrowing constraints and obstacles to taxing the wealthy will make redistribution harder. Strengthening democratic institutions may be as important as strengthening pro-equity political parties to advance redistributive agendas. Political parties in OECD nations have focused on ‘identity’ issues since the 1980s; COVID-19 is bringing redistribution back to the fore.

Elections will fragment Moroccan political landscape

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Content Type ◽  
Political Landscape

Headline MOROCCO: Elections will fragment political landscape

The World. Challenges of the Global Crisis. Germany

2014 ◽  
pp. 38-52
Author(s):  
I. Semenenko ◽  
G. Irishin
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Market Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Economy Model ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Market ◽  
The Eu

The economic crisis of 2008–2009 highlighted new problems in the development of the German social market economy model and brought to the forefront the factors of its resilience that have ensured Germany’s leadership positions in the EU. Changes in economic policy have affected in the first place the energy and the financial sectors. Shifts in the political landscape have led to the appearance of new political parties. These changes have affected the results of the 2013 elections, the liberal democrats failure to enter the Bundestag has made the winner – CDU – seek new coalition partners.

scholarly journals Identification and Characterization of Genes Required for 5-Hydroxyuridine Synthesis in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli tRNA

2019 ◽  
Vol 201 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles T. Lauhon
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Genomic Context ◽  
Similar Reduction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Wobble Position ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACT In bacteria, tRNAs that decode 4-fold degenerate family codons and have uridine at position 34 of the anticodon are typically modified with either 5-methoxyuridine (mo5U) or 5-methoxycarbonylmethoxyuridine (mcmo5U). These modifications are critical for extended recognition of some codons at the wobble position. Whereas the alkylation steps of these modifications have been described, genes required for the hydroxylation of U34 to give 5-hydroxyuridine (ho5U) remain unknown. Here, a number of genes in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis are identified that are required for wild-type (wt) levels of ho5U. The yrrMNO operon is identified in B. subtilis as important for the biosynthesis of ho5U. Both yrrN and yrrO are homologs to peptidase U32 family genes, which includes the rlhA gene required for ho5C synthesis in E. coli. Deletion of either yrrN or yrrO, or both, gives a 50% reduction in mo5U tRNA levels. In E. coli, yegQ was found to be the only one of four peptidase U32 genes involved in ho5U synthesis. Interestingly, this mutant shows the same 50% reduction in (m)cmo5U as that observed for mo5U in the B. subtilis mutants. By analyzing the genomic context of yegQ homologs, the ferredoxin YfhL is shown to be required for ho5U synthesis in E. coli to the same extent as yegQ. Additional genes required for Fe-S biosynthesis and biosynthesis of prephenate give the same 50% reduction in modification. Together, these data suggest that ho5U biosynthesis in bacteria is similar to that of ho5C, but additional genes and substrates are required for complete modification. IMPORTANCE Modified nucleotides in tRNA serve to optimize both its structure and function for accurate translation of the genetic code. The biosynthesis of these modifications has been fertile ground for uncovering unique biochemistry and metabolism in cells. In this work, genes that are required for a novel anaerobic hydroxylation of uridine at the wobble position of some tRNAs are identified in both Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. These genes code for Fe-S cluster proteins, and their deletion reduces the levels of the hydroxyuridine by 50% in both organisms. Additional genes required for Fe-S cluster and prephenate biosynthesis and a previously described ferredoxin gene all display a similar reduction in hydroxyuridine levels, suggesting that still other genes are required for the modification.

scholarly journals Monuments and Monumentality in a Changing Socio-Political Landscape: A View from Udaypura

Histories ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-296
Author(s):  
Rafia Khan
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
Indian History ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Historical Periods

This work intends to explore the nature of socio-political change in historical periods usually referred to as interregnal which, for the purposes of this paper, is defined as a period of discontinuity or gap in political and social organization. It traces the survival of a historical monument through two interregnal centuries of medieval Indian sub-continental history (11th–12th and 14th) to argue that modern historiographical templates which study these periods as precursors or remnants of succeeding and preceding centuries, respectively, do not sufficiently explore the socio-political possibilities innate in these periods of distributed political agency. In the context of Indian history, while historians have focused on the confrontational aspect of Hindu-Muslim polities or communities in interregnal centuries, I suggest that these periods provided fertile ground for political innovation and negotiation, thus breaking the confrontational stasis usually associated with regnal centuries.

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