scholarly journals Pulled in and pushed out of politics: The impact of neoliberalism on young people’s differing political consumerist motivations in the UK and Greece

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212093552
Author(s):  
Georgios Kyroglou ◽  
Matt Henn

Political consumerism refers to citizens’ use of boycotting and buycotting as they seek to influence political outcomes within the marketplace rather than through more traditional routes such as voting. However, given the pressure that neoliberalist forces exert on the marketplace, the lack of literature problematising the relationship between political consumerism and neoliberalism is somewhat surprising. Addressing this gap, we examine how neoliberalism impacts youth political consumerism in the UK and Greece. Focus-group findings suggest the existence of two inter-connected effects. Firstly, we detect a neoliberal ‘push effect’ away from electoral politics. Secondly, we discern a parallel ‘pull effect’ as young people seek the ‘political’ within the marketplace. In Greece, youth political consumerism seems to result primarily from distrust of institutional political actors. In contrast, young political consumers in the UK appear to be principally driven by confidence in the capacity of the market to respond to their pressing needs.

This chapter charts the shape and movement of the growth strategies of the developed democracies since 1945 across three periods: an era of modernization, one of liberalization, and an era of knowledge-based growth, with an emphasis on the relationship between developments in the political economy and changes in the character of electoral politics. It argues that economic policy-making always entails assembling coalitions for policy in both the arenas of electoral politics and of producer group politics. Accordingly, economic policy responds, not only to secular economic developments, but also to shifting political conditions and notably to changes in the cleavage structures underpinning electoral politics, which are themselves influenced by preceding economic developments. Growth strategies are conditioned by how an evolving “economic gestalt” portrays the problems of the economy and by processes of coalition formation in the electoral arena. The chapter devotes special attention to the growth strategies of the UK, France, Germany, and Sweden


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-217
Author(s):  
Anton I Emelianov

The article discusses the impact of Internet technologies on the political process in Russia and in the world. The author draws attention to the emergence of new trends in the field of IT, which bring new to the electoral process, PR-activities, agitation, propaganda and counter-propaganda. It is suggested that political actors should act within the framework of the new rules of the game, without neglecting the transfer of political struggle in the Internet space. The article draws attention to the fact that the Internet activity of political actors can be both positive and negative in perception and goals. Given the impact that the Internet has on the political sphere of society, we can assume that the virtual environment will be the main stage of political struggle. The author emphasizes that modern political technologists should take this factor into account in their activities. Thus, the author concludes that the online space significantly expands the tools of political campaigns and radically transforms the relationship between citizens and the state, forming the real prerequisites for the development of democracy.


Author(s):  
Wendy J. Schiller ◽  
Charles Stewart

This chapter integrates findings on indirect elections with current scholarship on the impact of the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment and onset of direct elections. It constructs a comprehensive counterfactual analysis that helps demonstrate what the political outcomes would have been with direct elections in place since the founding, and in contrast, what Senate elections would look like after 1913 if indirect elections were still in place. It also addresses the question of whether U.S. senators represented states as units and responded to state governmental concerns more under the indirect system than they do under direct elections. It argues that indirect election had little impact on the Senate's overall partisan composition prior to 1913. Contrary to widespread belief, had direct election been in effect during the years immediately preceding the Seventeenth Amendment's passage, Republicans, not Democrats, would have benefited.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Levita ◽  
Jilly Gibson Miller ◽  
Todd K. Hartman ◽  
Jamie Murphy ◽  
Mark Shevlin ◽  
...  

COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented disruption of normal social relationships and activities, which are so important during the teen years and young adulthood, and to education and economic activity worldwide. The impact of this on young people’s mental health and future prospects may affect their need for support and services, and the speed of the nation’s social recovery afterwards. This study focused on the unique challenges facing young people at different points during adolescent development, which spans from the onset of puberty until the mid-twenties. Although this is an immensely challenging time and there is a potential risk for long term trauma, adolescence can be a period of opportunity, where the teenagers’ brain enjoys greater capacity for change. Hence, the focus on young people is key for designing age-specific interventions and public policies, which can offer new strategies for instilling resilience, emotional regulation, and self-control. In fact, adolescents might be assisted to not only cope, but excel, in spite of the challenges imposed by this pandemic. Our work will feed into the larger societal response that utilizes the discoveries about adolescence in the way we raise, teach, and treat young people during this time of crisis. Wave 1 data has already been collected from 2,002 young people aged 13-24, measuring their mental health (anxiety, depression, trauma), family functioning, social networks, and resilience, and social risk-taking at the time of the pandemic. Here we present a preliminary report of our findings, (Report 1). Data collected 21/4/20- 29/4/20 - a month after the lockdown started).


Author(s):  
Hazel Gray

This chapter contrasts the way that the political settlement in both countries shaped the pattern of redistribution, reform, and corruption within public finance and the implications that this had for economic transformation. Differences in the impact of corruption on economic transformation can be explained by the way that their political settlements generated distinct patterns of competition and collaboration between economic and political actors. In Vietnam corrupt activities led to investments that were frequently not productive; however, the greater financial discipline imposed by lower-level organizations led to a higher degree of investment overall in Vietnam that supported a more rapid economic transformation under liberalization than in Tanzania. Individuals or small factional networks within the VCP at the local level were, therefore, probably less able to engage in forms of corruption that simply led to capital flight as happened in Tanzania, where local level organizations were significantly weaker.


2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212096737
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Baldini ◽  
Edoardo Bressanelli ◽  
Emanuele Massetti

This article investigates the impact of Brexit on the British political system. By critically engaging with the conceptualisation of the Westminster model proposed by Arend Lijphart, it analyses the strains of Brexit on three dimensions developed from from Lijphart’s framework: elections and the party system, executive– legislative dynamics and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Supplementing quantitative indicators with an in-depth qualitative analysis, the article shows that the process of Brexit has ultimately reaffirmed, with some important caveats, key features of the Westminster model: the resilience of the two-party system, executive dominance over Parliament and the unitary character of the political system. Inheriting a context marked by the progressive weakening of key majoritarian features of the political system, the Brexit process has brought back some of the traditional executive power-hoarding dynamics. Yet, this prevailing trend has created strains and resistances that keep the political process open to different developments.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
JON ORD ◽  
MARC CARLETTI ◽  
DANIELE MORCIANO ◽  
LASSE SIURALA ◽  
CHRISTOPHE DANSAC ◽  
...  

Abstract This article examines young people’s experiences of open access youth work in settings in the UK, Finland, Estonia, Italy and France. It analyses 844 individual narratives from young people, which communicate the impact of youthwork on their lives. These accounts are then analysed in the light of the European youth work policy goals. It concludes that it is encouraging that what young people identify as the positive impact of youth work are broadly consistent with many of these goals. There are however some disparities which require attention. These include the importance young people place on the social context of youth work, such as friendship, which is largely absent in EU youth work policy; as well as the importance placed on experiential learning. The paper also highlights a tension between ‘top down’ policy formulation and the ‘youth centric’ practices of youth work. It concludes with a reminder to policy makers that for youth work to remain successful the spaces and places for young people must remain meaningful to them ‘on their terms’.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136754942199423
Author(s):  
Anne M Cronin ◽  
Lee Edwards

Drawing on a case study of public relations in the UK charity sector, this article argues that cultural intermediary research urgently requires a more sustained focus on politics and the political understood as power relations, party politics and political projects such as marketization and neoliberalism. While wide-ranging research has analysed how cultural intermediaries mediate the relationship between culture and economy, this has been at the expense of an in-depth analysis of the political. Using our case study as a prompt, we highlight the diversity of ways that the political impacts cultural intermediary work and that cultural intermediary work may impact the political. We reveal the tensions that underpin practice as a result of the interactions between culture, the economy and politics, and show that the tighter the engagement of cultural intermediation with the political sphere, the more tensions must be negotiated and the more compromised practitioners may feel.


Author(s):  
Maite Soto-Sanfiel

Despite claims that “cinema is dead” or that it only interests nostalgic old-timers, statistics indicate a global increase in theater attendance. Not only is moviegoing still one of the favorite forms of entertainment, but it especially appeals to young people. Moreover, communication research seems to have neglected cinema, but the relationship between modern-day teenagers and the silver screen needs to be observed. This chapter reports the results of a cross-cultural study based on the uses and gratifications paradigm with youngsters from eight European countries. It presents their cinematographic uses and consumption, their motivations for going to the movies, and their preferences and conceptions regarding different movie traditions. The study also performs cross-cultural contrasts to reveal more about the impact of regional, national, and global forces on the psychological relationship between today’s teenagers and cinema.


2021 ◽  
pp. 479-496
Author(s):  
Effie Fokas

This chapter considers the relationship between ‘Orthodoxies’ and ‘Europes’, highlighting the multiplicity of Eastern Christian Orthodox approaches and attitudes towards Europe, from one majority Orthodox national context to another and one historical period to another, ranging from anti-Europeanism (and anti-Westernism) to Europhilism. It also draws attention to differences in Orthodox stances on the idea of Europe, on the one hand, and the political reality of the European unification project, on the other. A temporal perspective is particularly relevant in changing attitudes to the European Union. Special attention is paid to external perspectives on the relationship between ‘Orthodoxy’ and ‘Europe’, often politicized and influenced by the political turmoil in the Balkans. The chapter closes with reference to the situation of flux characterizing contemporary conceptions of Europe, and the impact of the latter on ‘Orthodoxy’ in relation to ‘Europe’.


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