Social Movements and Political Representation in Chile (1990–2013)

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrián Albala ◽  
Victor Tricot Salomon
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Sociedad Civil

Chile has witnessed an unprecedented emergence of social movements since the return to democracy in 1990. These have been characterized by limited participation by the conventional political actors who used to be the backbone of social demands in the country. In the current “Chilean model” of governance, political parties have lost their connection with their base. The existence of a difference between the needs emerging from civil society and those advanced by politicians has opened alternative opportunities for political action. Chile ha sido testigo de una emergencia inédita de movilizaciones sociales desde la vuelta a la democracia en 1990. Éstas se han caracterizado por la baja presencia y participación de actores políticos convencionales los cuales solían constituir la “columna vertebral” de las demandas sociales en el país. En el “modelo chileno” actual de gobernanza, los partidos, por más institucionalizados que sean, han abandonado su vinculación con su base. La existencia de un distanciamiento entre las necesidades que emergen desde la sociedad civil y las manifestadas por los políticos ha incidido en la aparición de espacios alternos de acción política.

Hollow parties and their movement-ization: The populist conundrum

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1084-1105
Author(s):  
Jean L. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Western Democracies

This article focuses on the relationship between social movements and political parties in the context of populist challenges to constitutional democracy. There are many reasons for the current plight of democracy but I focus here on one aspect: the decline of mainstream political parties, the emergence of new forms of populist movement parties and the general crisis of political representation in long consolidated Western democracies. This article analyses the specific political logic and dynamics of social movements – the logic of influence, and distinguishes it from that of political parties – the logic of power. It addresses transformations in movements, parties and their relationships. It looks at the shifts in movement and party types that constitute the political opportunity structure for the emergence of new populist movement party forms and relationships, focusing on the hollowing out and movement-ization of political parties. Contemporary populist movement parties are not the cause of the hollowing out or movement-ization of political parties. Rather they are a response to the crisis of political representation exemplified by hollow parties and cartel parties. But it is my thesis that thanks to its specific logic, populism fosters the worst version of movement party relationships, undermining the democratic functions of both.

‘What Will We Be without Them?’ Rural Intellectuals in the State and NGOs in Zimbabwe’s Crisis-Ridden Countryside

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 595-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Moore ◽  
Zenzo Moyo
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The State ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
South West ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
State Organizations ◽  
The Many

Research on NGOs in rural Zimbabwe suggests that ideas of automatic opposition between ‘civil society’ and/or non-governmental organizations and authoritarian states are too simple. Rather, relations between state and non-state organizations such as those referenced in this article, in the rural district of Mangwe about 200 kilometres south-west of Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo, are symbiotic. This contrasts with urban areas where political histories have led to more contested state-civil society relations in the last two decades, during which social movements with a degree of counter-hegemonic (or counter-regime) aspirations were allied with many NGOs and opposition political parties. Gramsci’s idea of ‘rural intellectuals’ could complement the widely used notion of ‘organic intellectuals’ to examine the members of the intelligentsia appearing to be at one with subordinate groups in the countryside and at odds with the state. Likewise state workers distant from the centre and close to their class peers in NGOs as well as their ‘subjects’ may operate with autonomy from their masters in ruling parties and states to assist, rather than repress, citizens and also to co-operate with NGO workers. This research indicates that discerning how hegemony works across whole state-society complexes is more complicated than usually perceived, given the many regional variations therein.

scholarly journals Have You Ever Seen the Void? Interest Groups Concerns Toward the Weakening Representational Role of Political Parties in European Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Chiara Fiorelli
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Democratic Life

Contemporary democracies face a trend toward the diffusion of the representational void left by under- legitimized political parties (Mair 2013). The essential functions of traditional political parties to organize and articulate political conflict and societal interests have been challenged both from the inside of the party system, by the emergence of populist habits of newcomers, and from the outside, by the progressive erosion of old political culture and corresponding increasing of hostility feeling. Intermediaries organizations of political and economic interests usually push their demands toward political actors in order to shape policy choices. What can happen when the traditional party system suffers from de- legitimation? In this paper, I will try to understand the level of concern of interest organizations toward the progressive detachment of civil society from political actors, in order to define if the risk of a void of representation is perceived as real and contingent. Thanks to a new original European dataset (the Comparative Interest Groups Survey), the analysis shows that different types of interest groups perceive the void to be real and with a possible impact on their activities and their own survival. As expected, in the regression model, differences emerge between countries with a traditional strong interests’ system and countries where groups activities are usually barely regulated. The results support the idea that the distance between civil society and political representatives should be considered a prominent focus of contemporary social and political investigation in order to understand the challenge for democratic life and the possible strategy of reaction.

Indigenous Political Representation in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Rice
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Indigenous Movements

Indigenous peoples have become important social and political actors in contemporary Latin America. The politicization of ethnic identities in the region has divided analysts into those who view it as a threat to democratic stability versus those who welcome it as an opportunity to improve the quality of democracy. Throughout much of Latin America’s history, Indigenous peoples’ demands have been oppressed, ignored, and silenced. Latin American states did not just exclude Indigenous peoples’ interests; they were built in opposition to or even against them. The shift to democracy in the 1980s presented Indigenous groups with a dilemma: to participate in elections and submit themselves to the rules of a largely alien political system that had long served as an instrument of their domination or seek a measure of representation through social movements while putting pressure on the political system from the outside. In a handful of countries, most notably Bolivia and Ecuador, Indigenous movements have successfully overcome this tension by forming their own political parties and contesting elections on their own terms. The emergence of Indigenous peoples’ movements and parties has opened up new spaces for collective action and transformed the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state. Indigenous movements have reinvigorated Latin America’s democracies. The political exclusion of Indigenous peoples, especially in countries with substantial Indigenous populations, has undoubtedly contributed to the weakness of party systems and the lack of accountability, representation, and responsiveness of democracies in the region. In Bolivia, the election of the country’s first Indigenous president, Evo Morales (2006–present) of the Movement toward Socialism (MAS) party, has resulted in new forms of political participation that are, at least in part, inspired by Indigenous traditions. A principal consequence of the broadening of the democratic process is that Indigenous activists are no longer forced to choose between party politics and social movements. Instead, participatory mechanisms allow civil society actors and their organizations to increasingly become a part of the state. New forms of civil society participation such as Indigenous self-rule broaden and deepen democracy by making it more inclusive and government more responsive and representative. Indigenous political representation is democratizing democracy in the region by pushing the limits of representative democracy in some of the most challenging socio-economic and institutional environments.

Contentious Institutions and Party Orders in American Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Hejny ◽  
Adam Hilton
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Party Development ◽  
State And Society ◽  
American Party ◽  
Over Time

What are political parties, and how and why do they change? These questions are foundational to party research, yet scholars of American parties disagree about the answers. In this paper we present a new theoretical framework capable of bridging these scholarly divides and coming to terms with American party politics today. We argue that political parties should be seen as fundamentally contentious institutions. Due to their mediating position between state and society, parties are subject to rival claims of authority from a range of political actors, including elected officeholders, party officials, interest groups, and social movements. To manage intraparty contention, win elections, and govern, entrepreneurs construct and maintain party orders -- institutional and ideational arrangements that foster an operational degree of cohesion and constraint through time. Together, the dynamics of intraparty contention and the rise and fall of distinct party orders over time illuminate the patterns of American party development.

scholarly journals Niche Parties and Social Movements: Mechanisms of Programmatic Alignment and Party Success

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Blings
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Issue Ownership ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Niche Parties ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Core Issues

AbstractNiche parties often originate in social movements, yet the latter’s role in shaping these parties has received scant attention. I argue that movement roots can help niche parties achieve both vote- and policy-seeking goals by keeping core issues salient, bolstering issue ownership and securing allies in civil society. Employing interviews with movement, as well as Green and Pirate party leaders in Sweden and Germany, I identify three mechanisms (electoral pressure, grassroots linkage, elite orientation) that lead to programmatic alignment. This article extends an emerging research agenda that highlights how social movements shape party politics and offers evidence that niche party–movement interactions open new avenues for political representation counterbalancing mainstream parties’ increasing detachment from civil society.

scholarly journals Reforms and Changes in Nepal: Political-Sociological Perspectives on State Restructuring Process in the Post-Democratic Period

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-98
Author(s):  
Prakash Upadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
State Restructuring ◽  
Restructuring Process ◽  
The Common

Transitions, by definition, bring changes and the 1951, 1979-80, 1990 and 2006 transitions in Nepal were changes towards democracy. But all transitions before 2006 did not herald major inclusive reforms. Pedestal on the perspectives of Political Sociology, this article argues that political actors, including parties, pressure groups and social movements, operate within a wider social contexts and issues. The socio-political formation of the modern Nepali state is extremely bucolic and power centric hence who rules is a vital concern in Nepal. Political actors inevitably rule, shape, and in turn are shaped by blistering issues faced by the society. Issues as State restructuring often becomes a blistering controversial issue when a country is going federal on the basis of desegregation. Nepali society is extremely diverse and complex hence steps forward in Nepal is possible only from macro perspective which could be a yardstick in developing the Nepali society. As Nepal is a state of many nationalities, hence in post republican State restructuring in Nepal, not xenophobia but positive protests, civil society and political parties /opposition and factual devotion will provide the common bond of harmony in variety. In the process, the affects of public opinion, civic society, ideologies and social tendencies outside of the formal institutions of political power remains decisive.Crossing the Border: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Vol.3(1) 2015: 81-98

scholarly journals Bonificación de determinadas cuotas de la Seguridad Social en Melilla: evaluaciones y perspectivas

Aldaba ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Jesús A. García Ayala
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The Political ◽  
Subjective Character ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Parliamentary Debate ◽  
Personal Opinion ◽  
Valid Data ◽  
Sociedad Civil ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

El rechazo por el Congreso de los Diputados a la toma en consideración de la proposición de ley presentada por la Asamblea de la ciudad de Melilla, para la extensión y ampliación de las bonificaciones en determinadas cuotas de la Seguridad Social, puede haber trasladado el debate a la sociedad civil. A los actores políticos se sumarían ahora las centrales sindicales y organizaciones empresariales. La reflexión a realizar entre todos se ve dificultada por una de las carencias puestas de manifiesto: la de datos objetivos y fiables sobre Melilla que permitan evaluar los resultados de las bonificaciones vigentes. Por ello se hacen necesarios varios objetivos: el inicial es aportar datos válidos para la citada evaluación, el intermedio es que el tratamiento de los datos obtenidos permita la obtención de resultados representativos, y el final es la extracción de conclusiones y recomendaciones válidas. Las conclusiones, asociadas a hechos objetivos tratados en el curso del trabajo, tratan de anticipar, en lo posible, las consecuencias que se seguirían en el supuesto de que las bonificaciones fueran extendidas y ampliadas, siguiendo la senda de convergencia deducible del debate parlamentario. Finalmente se aportan unas determinadas consideraciones, cuyo carácter subjetivo no puede descartarse en tanto están asociadas a la opinión personal del autor.The rejection by the Congress of the Deputies to the taking in consideration of the proposal of law, presented by the Assembly of the City of Melilla, for the extension and increase of the subsidies in certain contributions to Social Security, can have transferred the debate to the civil society. To the political actors, the unions and enterprise organizations would be added now. The reflection to make between everybody is made difficult by one of the shown deficiencies: the one of objective and trustworthy data on Melilla that allows to evaluate the results of the effective subsidies. For that reason several targets become necessary: the initial one is to contribute valid data for the mentioned evaluation; the intermediate one is that the treatment of the collected data allows the obtaining of representative results; and the next one is the extraction of valid conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions, associated to objective facts treated in the course of the work, try to anticipate, as far as possible, the consequences that would be followed supposing that the subsidies were extended and increased, following the footpath of deductible convergence of the parliamentary debate. Finally certain considerations are contributed, whose subjective character cannot discard in as much are associate to the personal opinion of the author.

Obstacles and opportunities: recent Kurdish struggles for political representation and participation in Turkey

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günay Göksu Özdoğan ◽  
Büşra Ersanlı
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Attitudes And Practices

AbstractHaving gone through different phases of political action and facing various forms of suppression by the state, the Kurdish movement from 1990's persisted in establishing legal parties despite recurrent bans by the Constitutional Court. In the 2007 national elections DTP (after its ban the BDP) running as independent candidates formed a group in the Parliament which was followed by an extensive regional representation in eastern and southeastern Turkey in local elections of 2009. At the three levels of political activity (parliament, local government, civil society) the extent of women's presence exceeds well over the general percentage in Turkey while various civil society organizations at both the national and regional levels lend support for extension of minority/human rights. Although the new legal and political reforms as of early 2000's in line with Turkey's bid for accession to the EU have opened up a new venue for legitimization of Kurdish identity and recognition of various cultural, civil and cultural rights, strictness of the electoral law impedes fair representation and certain discriminatory attitudes and practices still persist in the civil and military bureaucracy, mass media and political parties in contention. Whether Kurdish participation in Turkey's politics will fare in 'normal' terms in the future is largely dependent on Turkey's democratization process in which the Kurdish politicians' claims to function as a non-regional Turkey party constitute an important but only one of the impacting factors, e.g., rehabilitation of the PKK, decentralization and empowerment of local government, extension of human rights, and a non-exclusionary definition of Turkish identity.

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