Who Survives and Who Does Not? The Rise and Decline of Personalized Parties

2021 ◽  
pp. 088832542096494
Author(s):  
Teodora Yovcheva
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
East European ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
European Development ◽  
Party Members ◽  
High Level ◽  
Stabilizing Factors ◽  
Ruling Party

The analysis of parties created around charismatic leaders is becoming more important in dynamic times when the mainstream parties are challenged by outsiders. Most of the research on personalized parties focuses on Western Europe although the phenomenon has significant implications for East European party systems. This article examines the development of two highly electorally successful personalized parties in Bulgaria: National Movement Simeon the Second (NDSV) and Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), the incumbent ruling party. Their similar success but different paths of development provide a good basis for examining the stabilizing factors of personalized parties. The article fills a gap in the theoretical field by using information from qualitative interviews with high-level party members and proves that adoption of an organizational strategy is the key factor for survival. Examining a case of the emergence of personalized parties, the research finds that alongside charismatic leaders, investment in local branches and representation in localities are stabilizing factors when the popularity of the leader decreases and in this way secure the more stable development of the party.

Segmental Volatility in Ethnically Divided Societies: (Re)assessing Party System Stability in Southeast Europe

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Damir Kapidžić ◽  
Olivera Komar
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Party System ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
East European ◽  
Ethnic Parties ◽  
Stabilizing Factors

Abstract This article examines the role of ethnicity and ethnic parties as stabilizing factors in Southeast European party systems. It compares two ethnically divided countries in Southeast Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, where ethnic identities that form the political cleavage are firm, and Montenegro, where they are malleable. Theoretically, it addresses the debate between scholars who either find stability or instability in East European post-communist party systems. The article traces the role of ethnicity in the formation and development of electoral contests and compares the two cases by utilizing measures of block volatility, based on analysis of official electoral data. We argue that party systems in ethnically diverse countries are stable at the subsystems level, but unstable within them. In BiH, firm ethnic identity stabilizes the party system by limiting competition between blocks, leading to closure. Malleable ethnic identity in Montenegro opens competition to non-ethnic parties seeking to bridge ethnic divisions, leading to more instability. We find that party system dynamics in ethnically divided new democracies depend on identity rigidity and cleavage salience, in addition to levels of heterogeneity.

Going the Distance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Harris
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Business Corporation ◽  
Modern Economy ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Silk Route ◽  
Passive Investors

Before the seventeenth century, trade across Eurasia was mostly conducted in short segments along the Silk Route and Indian Ocean. Business was organized in family firms, merchant networks, and state-owned enterprises, and dominated by Chinese, Indian, and Arabic traders. However, around 1600 the first two joint-stock corporations, the English and Dutch East India Companies, were established. This book tells the story of overland and maritime trade without Europeans, of European Cape Route trade without corporations, and of how new, large-scale, and impersonal organizations arose in Europe to control long-distance trade for more than three centuries. It shows that by 1700, the scene and methods for global trade had dramatically changed: Dutch and English merchants shepherded goods directly from China and India to northwestern Europe. To understand this transformation, the book compares the organizational forms used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. The English and Dutch were the last to leap into Eurasian trade, and they innovated in order to compete. They raised capital from passive investors through impersonal stock markets and their joint-stock corporations deployed more capital, ships, and agents to deliver goods from their origins to consumers. The book explores the history behind a cornerstone of the modern economy, and how this organizational revolution contributed to the formation of global trade and the creation of the business corporation as a key factor in Europe's economic rise.

The Puzzle of Populism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul D. Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Party Systems

This chapter sets out the puzzle at the center of the book: what explains the success of populist campaigners in India, Asia, and beyond? It summarizes the existing literature on populist success both in Latin America and Western Europe and argues that these explanations do a poor job of explaining Indian and Asian cases in particular. Populists win elections when the institutionalized ties between non-populist parties and voters decay. However, because different kinds of party systems experience distinct stresses and strains, we need different models of populist success based on the prevailing party­–voter linkage system in place in any given country. The chapter then sets out the rationale for concentrating on explaining populist success in patronage-based party systems, which are common not only to Asia, but also to Latin America and Eastern Europe.

scholarly journals Allies among Enemies: Political authority and party (dis)loyalty in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
DAVID JACKMAN ◽  
MATHILDE MAÎTROT
Keyword(s):  
Political Competition ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Party Discipline ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Local Character ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Member Of Parliament ◽  
Ruling Party

Abstract The authority of political leaders in Bangladesh rests on diverse qualities, not least of which are the muscle and finance they can mobilize, and the relationships they can craft with senior party members. These are utilized to confront rivals both within and outside their own party. In some instances, the intensity of intra-party competition can be so severe that a further quality emerges: the capacity to find allies among enemies. Building local inter-party alliances can bolster the authority of politicians, yet be to the detriment of party coherence. This argument is developed through an analysis of mayoral and parliamentary elections held in the past decade in a small Bangladeshi city, where a ruling party member of parliament (MP) and opposition mayor appear to have developed such a relationship. This has thwarted the electoral ambitions of their fellow party members and has posed a serious challenge to party discipline. While political competition is often seen as being either inter- or intra-party, here it is focused around inter-party alliances. This portrayal suggests we need to give greater emphasis to the decentralized and local character that political authority can take in Bangladesh.

scholarly journals Analysis of Lipid Peroxidation by UPLC-MS/MS and Retinoprotective Effects of the Natural Polyphenol Pterostilbene

Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Isabel Torres-Cuevas ◽  
Iván Millán ◽  
Miguel Asensi ◽  
Máximo Vento ◽  
Camille Oger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Peroxidation ◽  
Diabetic Retinopathy ◽  
Redox Homeostasis ◽  
Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Diabetic Retina ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Adrenic Acid ◽  
Diabetic Rabbits ◽  
High Level

The loss of redox homeostasis induced by hyperglycemia is an early sign and key factor in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Due to the high level of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, diabetic retina is highly susceptible to lipid peroxidation, source of pathophysiological alterations in diabetic retinopathy. Previous studies have shown that pterostilbene, a natural antioxidant polyphenol, is an effective therapy against diabetic retinopathy development, although its protective effects on lipid peroxidation are not well known. Plasma, urine and retinas from diabetic rabbits, control and diabetic rabbits treated daily with pterostilbene were analyzed. Lipid peroxidation was evaluated through the determination of derivatives from arachidonic, adrenic and docosahexaenoic acids by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Diabetes increased lipid peroxidation in retina, plasma and urine samples and pterostilbene treatment restored control values, showing its ability to prevent early and main alterations in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Through our study, we are able to propose the use of a derivative of adrenic acid, 17(RS)-10-epi-SC-Δ15-11-dihomo-IsoF, for the first time, as a suitable biomarker of diabetic retinopathy in plasmas or urine.

scholarly journals Comparison of reliability evaluation methods between China and Canada standards for wood structures featuring duration of load

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiongyao Wu ◽  
Shuang Niu ◽  
Enchun Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Reliability Analysis ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Safety Level ◽  
Wood Structures ◽  
Load Effect ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Live Loads ◽  
High Level ◽  
Partial Factor ◽  
Duration Of Load

Abstract Duration of load (DOL) is a key factor in design of wood structures, which makes the reliability analysis of wood structures more complicated. The importance of DOL is widely recognized, yet the methods and models through which it is incorporated into design codes vary substantially by country/region. Few investigations of the effect of different model assumptions of DOL and other random variables on the results of reliability analysis of wood structures can be found. In this paper, comparisons are made on the reliability analysis methods that underlie the China and the Canada standards for design of wood structures. Main characteristics of these two methods, especially the way how DOL is treated are investigated. Reliability analysis was carried out with the two methods employing the same set of material properties and load parameters. The resulted relationships between reliability index β and resistance partial factor γR* (the β–γR* curves) for four load combinations are compared to study the safety level indicated by the two methods. The comparison shows that the damage accumulation model (Foschi–Yao model) in the Canada analysis method is highly dependent on the type and duration of load, resulting in more conservative design than the China analysis method in loading cases dominated by dead load, but less conservative design in cases of high level of live loads. The characteristics of the load effect term of the performance function are also found to make considerable difference in reliability levels between the two methods. This study aims to provide references for researchers and standard developers in the field of wood structures.

scholarly journals The Centre Does Not Hold: Coalition Politics and Party System Change in the Netherlands, 2002–12

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huib Pellikaan ◽  
Sarah L. de Lange ◽  
Tom W.G. van der Meer
Keyword(s):  
Coalition Formation ◽  
Party System ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Coalition Politics ◽  
Coalition Formation Process ◽  
The Impact

Like many party systems across Western Europe, the Dutch party system has been in flux since 2002 as a result of a series of related developments, including the decline of mainstream parties which coincided with the emergence of radical right-wing populist parties and the concurrent dimensional transformation of the political space. This article analyses how these challenges to mainstream parties fundamentally affected the structure of party competition. On the basis of content analysis of party programmes, we examine the changing configuration of the Dutch party space since 2002 and investigate the impact of these changes on coalition-formation patterns. We conclude that the Dutch party system has become increasingly unstable. It has gradually lost its core through electoral fragmentation and mainstream parties’ positional shifts. The disappearance of a core party that dominates the coalition-formation process initially transformed the direction of party competition from centripetal to centrifugal. However, since 2012 a theoretically novel configuration has emerged in which no party or coherent group of parties dominates competition.

Protecting Medical and Genetic Data

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Data Protection ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
East European ◽  
Separate Treatment

AbstractData protection was introduced in Western Europe in the early 1970s and now also extends to Central and East European countries. It is a remarkable example of the response given by Human Rights law to the challenges of modern society. The applications of science and technology in the fields of informatics and biomedicine have produced results unforeseen by any legislator. Regulation has been developed under the leadership of the Council of Europe. It aims at laying down basic principles of data protection but without blocking the future. The author presents a historical survey of the Council of Europe's two main treaties relevant to protection of medical and genetic data, those of 1981 (data protection) and 1997 (bioethics) and of several other texts. He concludes that the European Human Rights Convention should be reinforced with specific provisions on 'medical human rights' and on data protection. He also comes out in favour of separate treatment of traditional medical files and genetic data.

scholarly journals Perceptual decisions are biased toward relevant prior choices

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Feigin ◽  
Shira Baror ◽  
Moshe Bar ◽  
Adam Zaidel
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Irrelevant Stimulus ◽  
Stimulus Feature ◽  
Serial Dependence ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
High Level ◽  
Motor Actions ◽  
The Brain

AbstractPerceptual decisions are biased by recent perceptual history—a phenomenon termed 'serial dependence.' Here, we investigated what aspects of perceptual decisions lead to serial dependence, and disambiguated the influences of low-level sensory information, prior choices and motor actions. Participants discriminated whether a brief visual stimulus lay to left/right of the screen center. Following a series of biased ‘prior’ location discriminations, subsequent ‘test’ location discriminations were biased toward the prior choices, even when these were reported via different motor actions (using different keys), and when the prior and test stimuli differed in color. By contrast, prior discriminations about an irrelevant stimulus feature (color) did not substantially influence subsequent location discriminations, even though these were reported via the same motor actions. Additionally, when color (not location) was discriminated, a bias in prior stimulus locations no longer influenced subsequent location discriminations. Although low-level stimuli and motor actions did not trigger serial-dependence on their own, similarity of these features across discriminations boosted the effect. These findings suggest that relevance across perceptual decisions is a key factor for serial dependence. Accordingly, serial dependence likely reflects a high-level mechanism by which the brain predicts and interprets new incoming sensory information in accordance with relevant prior choices.

The challenge of Populist Radical Right Parties to Europeanization – the cases of Estonia and Latvia, 2018-2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-175
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik ◽  
Peteris F. Timofejevs
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Member States ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
East European ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Definition Of

Over the last two decades, family law has undergone changes in Western Europe, widening the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. In addition, some East European countries offer a legal recognition of civil unions of same-sex couples, while others do not offer any legal recognition at all. This diversity in family law has been recently challenged by developments at the European level. It is argued here that this constitutes an adaptational pressure on those European Union (EU) member states that do not offer any or offer only formal recognition of same-sex couples. We examine two cases when member states faced such an adaptational pressure, namely Estonia and Latvia, focusing on the interplay of two types of factors. First is that of formal institutions which, due to their constitutional role or their expertise in the EU law, may act as facilitators of legal changes. On the other hand, there are also political actors which have tried to constrain such an adaptation. We examine here especially the role of two political parties which have made a considerable effort to oppose the change in the two countries. It is argued here that the ideological orientation of these parties explains, at least partly, their opposition to the ongoing Europeanization of family law. The paper concludes with a discussion of the main findings and their implications.

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