Spain’s Colau will shape Catalonian left’s realignment

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
New Left ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
Movement Activist

Subject A profile of Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau. Significance Former social movement activist Ada Colau has been Barcelona’s mayor since June 2014. She is the most influential of several radical municipal leaders in Spain engaged in new approaches to the conduct of local politics that are aimed at achieving social and cultural change. Her party, Barcelona in Common (BComu), is in the process of establishing a new left-wing party throughout Catalonia, with the aim of winning the next regional election. Impacts Despite BComu’s radical programme, its coalition with the PSC is likely to remain stable. Colau’s European profile is set to grow thanks to her involvement with the pan-European Democracy in Europe Movement 2025. BComu is likely to push for the introduction of direct mayoral elections in Barcelona, which would benefit Colau.

Chile election results point to generational change

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Left ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Generational Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Strong Performance ◽  
Election Results

Significance In the parliamentary polls, a strong performance by the Frente Amplio (FA), a new left-wing alliance, and the election of an important contingent of newcomers to Congress, mark the start of a long-delayed generational change in Chilean politics. They also suggest that the run-off presidential ballot on December 17 will be tight. Impacts The results do not necessarily imply a shift to the left, but rather that voters are eager for new faces in politics. Polling methodologies will need to be reviewed after serious errors in forecasts, probably related to coverage of younger voters. The next government, particularly if headed by Pinera, will find managing Congress difficult.

Portugal Socialist government faces three-way squeeze

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
New Left ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Socialist Government ◽  
Step Down ◽  
Political Act ◽  
Radical Left

Significance Following a reconciliation among Portugal's left-wing parties, Silva must choose between appointing a Socialist (PS) minority government backed by smaller radical left forces, or a caretaker administration until fresh elections can be held in May or June 2016. Neither would have been his preference, and he is not rushing his decision. The new left-wing entente is based on a softening of the previous government's austerity plans. Impacts Having already missed the deadline, Portugal cannot submit a draft 2016 budget for European Commission scrutiny until it has a government. The PS's deals with the radical left exclude foreign affairs, potentially tempering US and NATO concerns about the likely new government. Naming the new government may be Silva's last significant political act before he must step down at the March 2016 end of his second term.

Citizens movement could reshape Spanish centre-right

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Left ◽  
National Election ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Opinion Poll ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strong Performance ◽  
Popular Party ◽  
Regional Elections

Subject A profile of the Citizens movement. Significance The March 2015 Andalucia regional election saw a breakthrough for Citizens and a setback for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party (PP). Of Catalan origin, Citizens is now starting to compete across Spain. An opinion poll this month showed a four-way contest, with Citizens, the new left-wing challenger Podemos and the traditional PP and Socialist Party (PSOE) within three points of each other. With a centrist appeal, Citizens has proved its ability to take votes from a range of other parties, as well as attract rebels from the small centre-right Progress and Democracy Union (UPyD). Ahead of regional elections in May and a national election expected in November, Citizens seems poised to play a significant role in the development of the centre-right. Impacts Citizens is standing in all 13 regions in May, and in at least all the provincial capitals in the simultaneous municipal polls. If it performs strongly in May, Rivera may head its lists in Catalonia's September regional election and the subsequent national election. A strong performance elsewhere in May would help Citizens become main alternative in Catalonia to Artur Mas's pro-independence alliance. Citizens' results and centrism may give it a key coalition role, first in regions such as Madrid and Valencia and then nationally. Citizens will continue to expand its organisational presence throughout Spain.

Panama Papers leak will shift Iceland's politics

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Left ◽  
Capital Controls ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Membership

Significance President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson has said neither he nor his UK-Israeli wife Dorrit Moussaieff have any knowledge of such transactions, which have been publicised in the Icelandic media. Grimsson had previously denied any link to the Panama Papers leak of offshore transactions, which have involved former Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. Despite initially refusing to resign, Gunnlaugsson eventually stepped down on April 5. A new cabinet has been formed and elections will be held early in autumn. Impacts The new cabinet will most likely continue the previous government's policies, with few changes. If the Pirate Party can sustain its support, it may emerge as the strongest party in the next parliamentary election. Iceland may remove its capital controls soon, with the Central Bank saying that it will not "get better conditions" than now. A new left-wing government would be unlikely to reapply for EU membership without holding a referendum first.

Frente Amplio will struggle to reach run-off in Chile

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Left ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Small Segment ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Primary Election ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Significant Step

Significance On July 2, the Frente Amplio (FA), a new left-wing alliance, held a primary election to select its presidential candidate. Building on FA’s participation in last year’s municipal elections, the primary represented a significant step in its bid to become Chile’s third political force but also showed that its support remains confined to a small segment of the population. Impacts How far FA swings to the left in its programme will be key to its ability to attract more centrist voters, its only real room for growth. Sanchez is proving less well known than her television and radio career would have suggested. The centre-right coalition’s primary confirms Pinera’s strong footing to become Chile’s next president.

The Contemplative Elite and Capitalism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Kucinskas
Keyword(s):  
Field Theory ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Symbolic Power ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Reforms ◽  
Cultural Diffusion ◽  
Movement Mobilization

This chapter introduces the contemplative mindfulness movement, its successes in legitimizing and popularizing mindful meditation, and its shortcomings. This case demonstrates how elite movements can initiate widespread cultural change by combining elements of social movement mobilization, institutional entrepreneurship, field theory, and cultural diffusion. Investigating the contemplatives sheds light on how a movement can support elites’ cultural pet projects across multiple powerful institutional fields. This approach to cultural change is particularly efficacious for elites’ and professionals’ initiatives for social reform, as they can draw upon their social networks, institutional resources, and symbolic power to advance their causes in the course of their everyday lives at work. While such movements may succeed in spreading compelling new cultures, they may struggle to initiate deeper structural social reforms.

Contesting the dominant narrative: expanding the multistory cultural change approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-228
Author(s):  
Martijn van Ooijen ◽  
Antonie van Nistelrooij ◽  
Marcel Veenswijk
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Organizational Field ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to expand the theory on multistory cultural change by showing how a dominant narrative on construction safety dynamically interrelates and is contested on multiple intertextual levels in an organizational field of organizations contributing to the recovery of houses in an earthquake region.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnoventionist research approach was adopted in which interpretation of data to find narratives and designing interventions went hand-in-hand.FindingsWe found four distinctive composite narratives besides the dominant narrative to which five actors refer in their accounts, thereby contributing to three types of story patterns. These narratives disclose the taken-for-granted ideas and beliefs that characterize the challenge of changing organizational culture. One intervention, which intended multiple stories to touch the surface, was highlighted as a multistory intervention.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research could extend the knowledge on other change interventions that contribute to multistory cultural change processes.Originality/valueAdopting an ethnoventionist approach to provide deep insights on an unfolding cultural change process for both scholars and practitioners.

scholarly journals Local-Level Democratic Backsliding? The Consolidation of Aspiring Dominant-Party Regimes in Hungary and Poland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Conor O'Dwyer ◽  
Matthew Stenberg
Keyword(s):  
Local Politics ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
Strategic Coordination ◽  
The Future ◽  
Two Factors

Abstract Aspiring dominant-party regimes often institute major institutional and political reforms at the national level to ensure they retain control. However, subnational politics is an important, under-studied, component of regime consolidation. This study uses mayoral races in Hungary and Poland from 2006 to 2018 to examine two factors that may inhibit dominant-party regime consolidation in local politics: the use of two-round, i.e. runoff, electoral systems and strategic coordination among opposition parties. While we find little evidence that strategic coordination can lead to widespread opposition success in single-round systems, we do find that increasing the number of candidates decreases the likelihood of the nationally dominant party winning in the first round while not affecting the second round. As such, two-round mayoral elections may be an important buffer to dominant-party regime consolidation and may provide a training ground for the future opposition.

scholarly journals Sustaining organizational culture change in health systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron David Willis ◽  
Jessie Saul ◽  
Helen Bevan ◽  
Mary Ann Scheirer ◽  
Allan Best ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Realist Review ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Culture Change ◽  
Contextual Elements ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Guiding Principles

Purpose – The questions addressed by this review are: first, what are the guiding principles underlying efforts to stimulate sustained cultural change; second, what are the mechanisms by which these principles operate; and, finally, what are the contextual factors that influence the likelihood of these principles being effective? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a literature review informed by rapid realist review methodology that examined how interventions interact with contexts and mechanisms to influence the sustainability of cultural change. Reference and expert panelists assisted in refining the research questions, systematically searching published and grey literature, and helping to identify interactions between interventions, mechanisms and contexts. Findings – Six guiding principles were identified: align vision and action; make incremental changes within a comprehensive transformation strategy; foster distributed leadership; promote staff engagement; create collaborative relationships; and continuously assess and learn from change. These principles interact with contextual elements such as local power distributions, pre-existing values and beliefs and readiness to engage. Mechanisms influencing how these principles sustain cultural change include activation of a shared sense of urgency and fostering flexible levels of engagement. Practical implications – The principles identified in this review, along with the contexts and mechanisms that influence their effectiveness, are useful domains for policy and practice leaders to explore when grappling with cultural change. These principles are sufficiently broad to allow local flexibilities in adoption and application. Originality/value – This is the first study to adopt a realist approach for understanding how changes in organizational culture may be sustained. Through doing so, this review highlights the broad principles by which organizational action may be organized within enabling contextual settings.

Reflecting on perceived deinstitutionalization of gender‐biased employment practices in accountancy

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 300-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind H. Whiting
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Human Resource Managers ◽  
Employment Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Chartered Accountants

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in gender‐biased employment practices that it is perceived have occurred in New Zealand accountancy workplaces over the last 30 years, using Oliver's model of deinstitutionalization.Design/methodology/approachSequential interviewing was carried out with 69 experienced chartered accountants and three human resource managers, and at a later date with nine young female accountants.FindingsEvidence is presented of perceived political, functional and social pressures cumulatively contributing to deinstitutionalization of overt gender‐biased employment practices, with social and legislative changes being the most influential. Deinstitutionalization appears incomplete as some more subtle gender‐biased practices still remain in New Zealand's accountancy workplaces, relating particularly to senior‐level positions.Research limitations/implicationsThis study adds to understanding of how professions evolve. The purposeful bias in the sample selection, the small size of two of the interviewee groups, and the diversity in the interviewees' workplaces are recognized limitations.Practical implicationsIdentification of further cultural change is required to deinstitutionalize the more subtle gender‐biased practices in accountancy organizations. This could help to avoid a serious deficiency of senior chartered accountants in practice in the future.Originality/valueThis paper represents one of a limited number of empirical applications of the deinstitutionalization model to organizational change and is the first to address the issue of gender‐biased practices in a profession. The use of sequential interviewing of different age groups, in order to identify and corroborate perceptions of organizational change is a novel approach.

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