scholarly journals The value of ‘between-election’ political participation: Do parliamentary e-petitions matter to political elites?

Author(s):  
Felicity Matthews

Responding to the crisis of democracy, legislatures worldwide are developing new participatory mechanisms to promote parliamentary engagement and provide additional opportunities for citizens to influence policymaking. Yet despite the prevalence of such initiatives, little is known about whether political elites are receptive to public input. This article addresses this important gap, presenting original research that examines the e-petition system in the United Kingdom’s national legislature. It demonstrates significant apathy – on occasion, antipathy – on the part of Westminster’s elected MPs. In particular, it reveals concerns that parliamentary e-petitions risk undermining the relationship between MPs and their constituents; inundating the parliamentary agenda with immediate, but not necessarily important, issues; and exacerbating misunderstandings of the parliamentary process. More broadly, political elites remain sceptical about the capacity of parliamentary e-petitions to address the democratic divide, with a widespread sense that e-petitions often amplify the voices of those who already shout the loudest.

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alecia J. McGregor ◽  
Laura M. Bogart ◽  
Molly Higgins-Biddle ◽  
Dara Z. Strolovitch ◽  
Bisola Ojikutu

AbstractBoth African American and LGBT voters can prove pivotal in electoral outcomes, but we know little about civic participation among Black LGBT people. Although decades of research on political participation has made it almost an article of faith that members of dominant groups (such as White people and individuals of higher socioeconomic status) vote at higher rates than their less privileged counterparts, recent work has suggested that there are circumstances under which members of marginalized groups might participate at higher rates. Some of this research suggests that political participation might also increase when groups perceive elections as particularly threatening. We argue that when such threats are faced by marginalized groups, the concern to protect hard-earned rights can activate a sense of what we call “political hypervigilance,” and that such effects may be particularly pronounced among members of intersectionally-marginalized groups such as LGBT African Americans. To test this theory, we use original data from the 2016 National Survey on HIV in the Black Community, a nationally-representative survey of Black Americans, to explore the relationship among same-sex sexual behavior, attitudes toward LGBT people, and respondent voting intentions in the 2016 presidential election. We find that respondents who reported having engaged in same-sex sexual behavior were strongly and significantly more likely to say they “definitely will vote” compared to respondents who reported no same-sex sexual behavior. More favorable views of LGBT individuals and issues (marriage equality) were also associated with greater intention to vote. We argue that these high rates provide preliminary evidence that political hypervigilance can, in fact, lead to increased political engagement among members of marginalized groups.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 806-817
Author(s):  
Patrick Amfo Anim ◽  
Frederick Okyere Asiedu ◽  
Matilda Adams ◽  
George Acheampong ◽  
Ernestina Boakye

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationships between political marketing via social media and young voters’ political participation in Ghana. Additionally, this study examines the mediating role political efficacy plays in enhancing the relationship. Design/methodology/approach With a positivist mindset, and adopting the survey strategy, data gathered from the questionnaire administered from the sampled 320 young voters (18-29 years) in Greater Accra were quantitatively analyzed. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to assess and confirm the proposed scales validity and the relationships of the research model. Findings The study revealed that a political party or candidate’s ability to achieve political participation from Ghanaian young voters’ is dependent on how effective they build customer relationship or gaining visibility through social media. In addition, the study showed that political efficacy mediates the relationship between customer relationship building or gaining visibility through social media and political participation among Ghana young voters. Thus, young voters in Ghana must see themselves to have a say in the affairs of political parties through the political messages they gather from social media platforms to enhance their political participation activities. Practical implications The results of this paper will enable political marketers and politicians not only in Ghana but across the globe, to better understand how social media as a communication tool could be used to positively influence users’ political participation. Originality/value Considering the uniqueness of this study in a Ghanaian context, this paper is the first of its kind to use the social capital theory in examining the mediating role political efficacy plays in enhancing the relationship between political marketing on social media and young voters’ political participation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie Campbell ◽  
Sarah Childs ◽  
Joni Lovenduski

This article analyses the relationship between the representatives and the represented by comparing elite and mass attitudes to gender equality and women’s representation in Britain. In so doing, the authors take up arguments in the recent theoretical literature on representation that question the value of empirical research of Pitkin’s distinction between substantive and descriptive representation. They argue that if men and women have different attitudes at the mass level, which are reproduced amongst political elites, then the numerical under-representation of women may have negative implications for women’s substantive representation. The analysis is conducted on the British Election Study (BES) and the British Representation Study (BRS) series.


2015 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
KARA MOSKOWITZ

AbstractThis article examines squatter resistance to a World Bank-funded forest and paper factory project. The article illustrates how diverse actors came together at the sites of rural development projects in early postcolonial Kenya. It focuses on the relationship between the rural squatters who resisted the project and the political elites who intervened, particularly President Kenyatta. Together, these two groups not only negotiated the reformulation of a major international development program, but they also worked out broader questions about political authority and political culture. In negotiating development, rural actors and political elites decided how resources would be distributed and they entered into new patronage-based relationships, processes integral to the making of the postcolonial political order.


Author(s):  
Zaki Arshad ◽  
Henry David Maughan ◽  
Karadi Hari Sunil Kumar ◽  
Matthew Pettit ◽  
Arvind Arora ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was investigate the relationship between version and torsional abnormalities of the acetabulum, femur and tibia in patients with symptomatic FAI. Methods A systematic review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines using the EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed and Cochrane databases. Original research articles evaluating the described version and torsional parameters in FAI were included. The MINORS criteria were used to appraise study quality and risk of bias. Mean version and torsion values were displayed using forest plots and the estimated proportion of hips displaying abnormalities in version/torsion were calculated. Results A total of 1206 articles were identified from the initial search, with 43 articles, involving 8861 hips, meeting the inclusion criteria. All studies evaluating femoral or acetabular version in FAI reported ‘normal’ mean version values (10–25 °). However, distribution analysis revealed that an estimated 31% and 51% of patients with FAI displayed abnormal central acetabular and femoral version, respectively. Conclusion Up to 51% of patients presenting with symptomatic FAI show an abnormal femoral version, whilst up to 31% demonstrate abnormal acetabular version. This high percentage of version abnormalities highlights the importance of evaluating these parameters routinely during assessment of patients with FAI, to guide clinical decision-making. Level of evidence IV.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-155
Author(s):  
Elva Orozco Mendoza ◽  

This article offers an interpretation of anti-feminicide maternal activism as political in northern Mexico by analyzing it alongside Hannah Arendt’s concepts of freedom, natality, and the child in The Human Condition. While feminist theorists often debate whether maternalism strengthens or undermines women’s political participation, the author offers an unconventional interpretation of Arendt’s categories to illustrate that the meaning and practice of maternalism radically changes through the public performance of motherhood. While Arendt does not seem the best candidate to navigate this debate, her concepts of freedom and the child provide a productive perspective to rethink the relationship between maternalism and citizenship. In making this claim, this article challenges feminist political theories that depict motherhood as the chief source of women’s subordination. In the case of northern Mexico, anti-feminicide maternal activism illustrates how the political is also a personal endeavor, thereby complementing the famous feminist motto.


Author(s):  
Ana Carneiro ◽  
Ana Simoes ◽  
Maria Paula Diogo ◽  
Teresa Salomé Mota

This paper addresses the relationship between geology and religion in Portugal by focusing on three case studies of naturalists who produced original research and lived in different historical periods, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Whereas in non-peripheral European countries religious themes and even controversies between science and religion were dealt with by scientists and discussed in scientific communities, in Portugal the absence of a debate between science and religion within scientific and intellectual circles is particularly striking. From the historiographic point of view, in a country such as Portugal, where Roman Catholicism is part of the religious and cultural tradition, the influence of religion in all aspects of life has been either taken for granted by those less familiar with the national context or dismissed by local intellectuals, who do not see it as relevant to science. The situation is more complex than these dichotomies, rendering the study of this question particularly appealing from the historiographic point of view, geology being by its very nature a well-suited point from which to approach the theme. We argue that there is a long tradition of independence between science and religion, agnosticism and even atheism among local elites. Especially from the eighteenth century onwards, they are usually portrayed as enlightened minds who struggled against religious and political obscurantism. Religion—or, to be more precise, the Roman Catholic Church and its institutions—was usually identified with backwardness, whereas science was seen as the path to progress; consequently men of science usually dissociated their scientific production from religious belief.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Brubaker ◽  
Cemal Ozemek ◽  
Alimer Gonzalez ◽  
Stephen Wiley ◽  
Gregory Collins

Context:Underwater treadmill (UTM) exercise is being used with increased frequency for rehabilitation of injured athletes, yet there has been little research conducted on this modality.Objective:To determine the cardiorespiratory responses of UTM vs land treadmill (LTM) exercise, particularly with respect to the relationship between heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO2).Design and Setting:This quantitative original research took place in sports medicine and athletic training facilities at Wake Forest University.Participants:11 Wake Forest University student athletes (20.8 ± 0.6 y, 6 women and 5 men).Intervention:All participants completed the UTM and LTM exercise-testing protocols in random order. After 5 min of standing rest, both UTM and LTM protocols had 4 stages of increasing belt speed (2.3, 4.9, 7.3, and 9.6 km/h) followed by 3 exercise stages at 9.6 km/h with increasing water-jet resistance (30%, 40%, and 50% of jet capacity) or inclines (1%, 2%, and 4% grade).Main Outcome Measures:A Cosmed K4b2 device with Polar monitor was used to collect HR, ventilation (Ve), tidal volume (TV), breathing frequency (Bf), and VO2 every minute. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were also obtained each minute.Results:There was no significant difference between UTM and LTM for VO2 at rest or during any stage of exercise except stage 3. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between UTM and LTM for HR, Ve, Bf, and RPE on any exercise stage. Linear regression of HR vs VO2, across all stages of exercise, indicates a similar relationship in these variables during UTM (r = .94, y = .269x − 10.86) and LTM (r = .95, y = .291x − 12.98).Conclusions:These data indicate that UTM and LTM exercise elicits similar cardiorespiratory responses and that HR can be used to guide appropriate exercise intensity for college athletes during UTM.


2021 ◽  
pp. 78-107
Author(s):  
Lizeth Benavides ◽  
Natasha Cabrera_Jara ◽  
Belén Campoverde_Bermeo

El cambio de modelo urbano asumido durante el siglo XX, trajo un sinnúmero de problemas como la priorización del vehículo, por lo que en la última década han surgido esfuerzos para dotar de importancia al ciudadano de a pie, en el espacio público. Esta investigación estudió las condiciones físico-espaciales de un corredor urbano donde el modelo centrado en el vehículo se acentúa, con la fnalidad de generar posibles estrategias que reviertan esta situación. Se tomó como caso de estudio a la Av. 24 de Mayo, en Azogues, y se lo analizó mediante una metodología mixta, que evaluó, detalladamente, tres zonas de estudio, determinando que la falta de accesibilidad y conectividad y el modelo de movilidad defendido por la ciudadanía, en general, infuyen directamente en las condiciones del espacio público peatonal y por ende en la habitabilidad urbana, perjudicando los desplazamientos a pie. Palabras clave: Espacio público; habitabilidad urbana; conectividad; accesibilidad; percepción. AbstractThe change of urban model assumed during the 20th century, brought countless problems such as the prioritization of vehicles, so in the last decade eforts have emerged to give importance to the citizen on foot in the public space. This original research studied the relationship of urban habitability with the physical-spatial conditions of an urban corridor, where the vehicle-centered model is accentuated, to generate possible strategies to reverse this situation. The Av. 24 de Mayo in Azogues was taken as a case study and analyzed using a mixed methodology that evaluated in detail three study areas, determining that the lack of accessibility and connectivity and the mobility model defended by citizens in general have a direct infuence on the conditions of the pedestrianpublic space and, therefore, on urban habitability, which afects walking Keywords: Public space; urban habitability; connectivity; accessibility; perception.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Tito Handoko ◽  
Mega Hidayati ◽  
Muhammad Azhar ◽  
Abdul Munir Mulkan ◽  
M . Rafi ◽  
...  

This article aims to analyze the relationship between the teacher and the congregation of the Naqsabandiyah in local political action and their relationship with local political elites. This study uses a qualitative approach that aims to interpret a case that will be carefully examined and analyzed using periodic descriptive analysis methods. The results of this study indicate that the pattern of relations between teachers and congregation of the Naqsabandiyah groups in local political action in Rokan Hulu Regency tends to be more accommodating to the authorities, where the political orientation of this group has undergone a transition from traditional to rational action with its own political choices. Then, the relationship between the group and local political elites in socio-religious practices has confirmed the existence of a very strong religious and political relationship, where the Naqsabandiyah sees Achmad (local political elite) as a group representation traced from the existence of kinship ties.


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