Remnants of Communism and Present-Day Inequality

2020 ◽  
pp. 106939712095729
Author(s):  
Waleed A. Jami ◽  
Markus Kemmelmeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Rapid Transition ◽  
Social Views ◽  
Communist Countries

Communism substantially shaped the values and beliefs of those who grew up under its regime. We argue that, after the Soviet Union’s collapse and the rapid transition to democracy and capitalism, many older people in post-communist countries continued to abide by an “ethos of equality” that was part of their socialization. These individuals continue to believe that it is the government’s responsibility to establish social equality; hence, they should evaluate social and political institutions based on the level of inequality that exists in their country. Using the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey, we examined to what extent levels of social inequality moderated the effects of age on social views and personal outcomes in post-communist and non-communist societies. We found that, especially in highly unequal post-communist societies, older individuals were less satisfied with democracy and trusted societal institutions less than their younger counterparts, whereas this was much less likely to be the case in post-communist countries with low inequality. There was no link between age and social views in non-communist societies, regardless of levels of inequality. Other than suggested by some scholars, inequality did not have any implications for evaluations of one’s personal life. The discussion focuses on the implications of our findings and their contributions to current research on social inequality and on the legacy of communism.

Assessing China's E-government and Its Impact on Government and Citizen Relationship

2010 ◽  
pp. 360-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Li Lollar
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Political Impact ◽  
The Government ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Incremental Process

The goal of this chapter is to examine the e-government development in China and its political impact on the communist countries’ transition to democracy by transforming relations between the government and citizens. It is widely accepted that e-government can help to encourage government transparency, expand the information flow, promote work efficiency and increase citizens’ political participation. This may be true in open democracies, yet there is little scholarly support for this conventional wisdom applied in authoritarian societies. This chapter will test hypotheses that e-government can improve the quality of government by enhancing citizens’ accessibility to information and service, increasing citizens’ political participation and promoting citizen outreach of the Chinese government. The chapter will indicate that e-government is transforming relations between citizens and the Chinese government and show how it is playing an essential role in China’s incremental process of democratization.

scholarly journals Involvement and Trust in Poland and Bulgaria in Comparison with Other European Societies

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-208
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Developmental Analysis

A developmental analysis of the two waves: 2008 and 2016 ESS Indicators of social engagement (we mean here organisational engagement) are treated as a measure of the process of social modernisation (Herrmann, 1999, Matei, Apostu, 2012). It is assumed here that higher scores of indicators demonstrate the 'maturity of civil society, the quality of the functioning of democracy and the process of its evolution (Boulding, 2010). The concept of generalised trust and trust in political institutions have a somewhat similar status, and they are treated as indicators of collective capacity and a premise for conclusions about the effectiveness of the development processes (Putnam, 1993, Sonderskov, 2011). The proposed presentation will focus on the changes we were able to register over eight years in Poland and Bulgaria (2008 and 2018) to indicate the position of the societies of these post-communist countries in comparison to other European countries. The main hypotheses would be to verify the relationship between trust indicators and declared involvement in NGO sector organisations as well as basic sociodemographic variables in a temporal perspective. The quantitative analysis will be preceded by a form of qualitative description and interpretation of the existing state of knowledge. ESS data would be used for the analysis, and the basis for inference will be the indices of “generalised trust”, “trust in national political institutions”, and “involvement in NGO” using regression analysis.

Political Trust and the “Crisis of Democracy”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom W. G. van der Meer
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
The Face ◽  
Democratic Rule ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Scholarly Inquiry

For decades, scholarly inquiry into political trust has been motivated by concerns about declining levels of public trust in politics. Because political trust is considered a necessary precondition for democratic rule, a decline in trust is thought to fundamentally challenge the quality of representative democracy. Fundamentally, political trust can be understood as citizens’ support for political institutions such as government and parliament in the face of uncertainty about or vulnerability to the actions of these institutions. While political trust is conventionally treated as a pro-democratic value, its absence is not evidently detrimental to democracy. Rather, skepticism stimulates political engagement and signals a willingness to judge political institutions by their own merits. In cross-national comparisons political trust is consistently highest in countries that are not considered liberal democracies. Within the set of liberal democracies, the Nordic countries tend to have the highest trust rates, while the former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe have the lowest. Despite evidence that political trust declines in many longstanding democracies in the 1960s and 1970s, the last few decades are characterized by trendless fluctuations in most countries. While scholars have made great headway in understanding the sources of political trust—most notably corruption, procedural fairness, (economic) performance, inclusive institutions, and socialization—this article argues that knowledge about its consequences has remained remarkably scarce.

Political transformations in the CEE post-communist countries: theoretical and metodological approaches

2017 ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Vira Burdjak
Keyword(s):  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Hybrid Regimes ◽  
Illiberal Democracy ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Political Realities

Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of political transformations in the CEE post-communist countries have been analyzed. The author argues that democratic transits do not guarantee transition to democracy and its consolidation. They are just polymorphic conversion processes from one political state to another, where the final destination is not always a democracy. They are influenced by general international factors, which allows us to consider the democratic transits, which may not consolidate into democracy, as integral components of the modern global democratic wave. Their real democratic value is not a definite variable. Political realities indicate that some of the transits proceed to illiberal democracy and hybrid regimes with different (non-) democratic features or often with versions of a new authoritarianism. In electoral democracies, only the external, formal sides of the democracy and democratic procedures are imitated, especially elections, which does not give grounds to relate these regimes to the democratic ones. Keywords: Post-communist countries of CEE, theoretical and methodological approaches, political transformation

Institutions and Political Support

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Political Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Expectation ◽  
Using Data

This chapter analyzes to what extent variation in political institutions affects political support. The chapter observes that the existing research is not always clear on which institutions should produce what kind of effect, although a general expectation is that institutional arrangements improve political support when they give citizens an increased sense of connection to the political process. In general then, we should expect institutions that strengthen the quality of representation to strengthen political support. This general expectation is specified in six hypotheses that are tested using data from the ESS 2012. The chapter demonstrates that electoral systems that provide voters with more choice about candidates, multiparty governments, and “responsive” legislatures, correlate positively with political support. However, compared to other macro-level factors and individual characteristics, the effects of political institutions on political support are modest. The chapter concludes that the prospects for institutional reform to strengthen political support are limited.

Centripetal Democratic Governance: A Theory and Global Inquiry

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN GERRING ◽  
STROM C. THACKER ◽  
CAROLA MORENO
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Constitutional Level ◽  
Quality Of Governance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Dominant Paradigm

Why are some democratic governments more successful than others? What impact do various political institutions have on the quality of governance? This paper develops and tests a new theory of democratic governance. This theory, which we label centripetalism, stands in contrast to the dominant paradigm of decentralism. The centripetal theory of governance argues that democratic institutions work best when they are able to reconcile the twin goals of centralized authority and broad inclusion. At the constitutional level, our theory argues that unitary, parliamentary, and list-PR systems (as opposed to decentralized federal, presidential, and nonproportional ones) help promote both authority and inclusion, and therefore better governance outcomes. We test the theory by examining the impact of centripetalism on eight indicators of governance that range across the areas of state capacity, economic policy and performance, and human development. Results are consistent with the theory and robust to a variety of specifications.

scholarly journals Older HIV+ and HIV− Adults Provide Similar Definitions of Successful Aging: A Mixed-Methods Examination

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pariya L Fazeli ◽  
Jessica L Montoya ◽  
Chastity N McDavid ◽  
David J Moore
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
General Health ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neurocognitive Impairment ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Demographic Correlates ◽  
Biological Health ◽  
Design And Methods

Abstract Background and Objective As HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals age, there is a need to understand successful aging (SA) from the patient perspective. This study compared SA definitions between HIV+ and HIV-uninfected (HIV−) older adults and then examined correlates of SA categories. Research Design and Methods Ninety-three HIV+ and 46 HIV− older (aged 50+) adults provided brief definitions of SA, which was examined using content analysis. We then compared the frequency of SA categories by serostatus and examined the correlates of SA categories within both groups. Results Seven SA categories emerged: General Health, Cognitive Health & Ability, Physical/Biological Health & Ability, Social Relationships, Attitudes, Psychological, & Emotional Well-Being, Proactive & Engaged Lifestyle, and Independence. While no significant differences emerged, HIV− older adults were more likely to report General Health and the subcategory of Longevity/Survival, while HIV+ older adults were more likely to report subcategories of Enjoying Life & Fulfillment and Maintaining Balance. Few demographic correlates of SA categories emerged. Mood and HIV characteristics were not associated with SA categories. In both groups, those without neurocognitive impairment were significantly more likely to endorse General Health than those with neurocognitive impairment. Discussion and Implications HIV+ and HIV− older individuals may generally perceive SA similarly, and their definitions parallel with existing models of SA. Yet, living with a chronic illness may cause HIV+ older adults to place greater value on quality of life and life satisfaction than physical health and chronological age. Observational and intervention studies may use similar approaches in evaluating and maximizing SA.

GLOBALIZATION AND INFLATION: NEW PANEL EVIDENCE

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Hyeon Kim ◽  
Shu-Chin Lin ◽  
Yi-Chen Wu
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Panel Cointegration ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Heterogeneous Panel ◽  
Positive Effect

Recent empirical work on globalization and inflation analyzes multicountry data sets in panel and/or cross-section frameworks and reaches inconclusive results. This paper highlights their shortcomings and reexamines the issue utilizing heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques that allow for cross-section heterogeneity and dependence. It finds that in a sample of developing countries globalization of both trade and finance, on the average, exerts a significant and positive effect on inflation, whereas in a sample of developed countries there is, on the average, no significant impact of openness. Neither type of openness disciplines inflationary policy. Despite this, there are large variations in the effect across countries, due possibly to differences in the quality of political institutions, central bank independence, the exchange-rate regimes, financial development, and/or legal traditions.

scholarly journals Aging and Exercise: A Health Perspective

1994 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna L. Bokovoy ◽  
Steven N. Blair
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Women ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Fatal Coronary Heart Disease ◽  
Habitual Exercise ◽  
And Function ◽  
Older Men And Women

Habitual exercise provides protection against fatal coronary heart disease, extends longevity, and enhances quality of life. National surveys show less physical activity in older men and women compared with middle-aged and younger persons; older women are particularly sedentary. Although there are still few longitudinal studies on exercise and physical activity in older individuals, the data support a positive relationship between physical activity and health and function in older individuals. The data further show that with regular physical activity, health and physical fitness are maintained or even increased over time in older individuals. Studies on physical activity requirements for beneficial health effects in the elderly are reviewed and presented, and exercise recommendations for older individuals are given.

scholarly journals Can the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals be efficient? The challenge for achieving social equality in the European Union

Equilibrium ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Stanickova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Research background: Economic crisis hit all the European Union Member States hard, with the impact of crisis varying considerably. The low growth performance in the EU has increased concerns regarding an increasing wage dispersion, income inequality at large, and social exclusion in line with poverty. Inequality should be seen as a cornerstone of both sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Social inequality in the EU is a real problem, which hampers sustainable economic growth. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to introduce evaluation of social development convergence and divergence trends between the EU Member States in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study gives an outline of the issues of the labour market and income disparities and poverty. Policymakers must be clear about what social objectives they are aiming to achieve, therefore special attention is paid to headline national goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Methods: The main task of this study is to assess social dimension and inequalities problems in the EU27 by applying Data Envelopment Analysis method, resp. time-series dynamic efficiency analysis in the form of output-oriented Malmquist Productivity Index. This study contains changes of key social equality indicators related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and compares objectives and general outlines of period 2010-2015, as well as the impact on national economics and living conditions. Findings & value added: Results contain elements of typology premises of the EU28 and point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as the Author observes both increases and decreases in inequality at the EU level. Recent changes in social inequality have been associated with the business cycle, particularly with the accessibility of the labour market and, of course, with income inequality. Additionally, the development challenges are discussed for improvement of the socioeconomic well-being of the EU and to avoid social disparities.

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