Immigration control in Italian political elite debates: Changing policy frames in Italy, 1980s–2000s

Ethnicities ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 643-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Magnani
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Policy Frames ◽  
Immigration Control ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Italian Immigration ◽  
Normative Dimension

This work provides an analysis of the structure and transformations of the official political debate over immigration control within the Italian political elite over the last three decades. Through a close historical reading of the Italian political scene based primarily on parliamentary debates, this article charts the key policy frames articulated in different periods of Italian immigration history in relation to the nature of the immigration control problem (cognitive dimension) and the suggested policy solutions (normative dimension). Moreover, it highlights the various factors – from party competition and political ideologies to the pressure of interest groups, the characteristics of national political institutions and the normative pressure from Europe and European institutions – that have influenced immigration policy frames and have interacted with them in shaping policy goals.

Foreign aid’s impact on domestic business climates

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabamita Dutta ◽  
Russell S. Sobel ◽  
Sanjukta Roy
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
North American ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Economic Institutions ◽  
Business Climate ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Existing literature has expressed significant pessimism about the outcomes of foreign aid received by developing nations. Foreign aid can lead to negative outcomes by generating greater rent-seeking opportunities and creating aid dependence. While aid’s negative impact has been explored in the context of growth, political institutions, and economic institutions, the literature has not investigated the effect of aid on business climate of recipient nations. The purpose of this paper is to explore foreign aid’s impact on government regulations on the business climate in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) and Middle East and North American countries. Design/methodology/approach The authors consider a panel of 64 countries over six years. Since foreign aid is most likely to be endogenous, as identified in most studies, the identification strategy follows two methodologies – system GMM estimator, that creates its own instruments via moment generating conditions and instrumental variable approach that relies on an external instrument. Findings The authors find that aid worsens the business climate by increasing government restrictions. Foreign aid provides the recipient governments and the political elite resources to strengthen their power and reinforce predatory policies that are harmful for the business climate. The results further show that in the presence of long-lasting and sustainable democratic regimes, the negative impact of foreign aid on business climate mitigates to a certain extent. Originality/value While aid’s negative impact has been explored in the context of growth, political institutions, and economic institutions, the literature has not investigated the effect of aid on business climate of recipient nations. The authors explore the impact of foreign aid on government regulations on the business climate in SSA and Middle East and North American countries.

POLITICAL ELITE AS A SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
Nargiza Ortikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Scientific Problem ◽  
Elite Theory ◽  
State Administration ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Government ◽  
Working Out

The article deals with the problems like capability and experience of development of political elite theory, the notion of political elite specialized in ruling a country and other problems in this sphere. The author of the article throws light on the activity of political elite members, groups of people who are occupied at ruling the government, state, political parties and other political institutions. Main factors which indicate tendencies and mechanisms of state development are also discussed in the article. The author of the article suggests that political elite is a ruling layer of a society and functions in the sphere of state administration. The author of the article approaches theoretically to the notions of political elite, which in most cases, consists of professional politicians, who had professional training on working out program and strategies of state administration.Key words: state administration, strategy, program, politician, political institution, analysis of problems, activity of groups

‘That was a good move’—Some remarks on the (ir)relevance of ‘narratives of secularism’ in everyday politics in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mascha Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Everyday Politics ◽  
Good Move ◽  
Party State

This article explores the complex role of political ideologies in everyday politics and for urban middle-class Bangladeshis’ evaluation of political parties. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research and, more specifically, conversations and contentions around the removal of ‘Lady Justice’ from the front of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 2017, I show that although the Awami League continues to be considered a ‘secular party’, many people do not believe that the Awami League is implementing secular policy and criticise it for what they perceive as ‘hypocrisy’. I argue that this seemingly paradoxical situation can be explained by a political structure that is marked by high factionalism and party competition. Data from research among politicians and the left-leaning, so-called ‘culturally-minded’ milieu in Sylhet, shows that certain segments of the educated middle class acknowledge the pragmatic realities of politics and do not expect the Awami League to act ‘progressively’. Nonetheless, they continue to position the party’s ‘progressive’ and ‘secular’ ideological basis as a primary reason for supporting the party. The article thus contributes to a deeper understanding of contemporary popular and elite practices and perceptions of party politics, democracy, and what might be labelled the ‘party-state effect’.

scholarly journals Issue evolution and partisan polarization in a European multiparty system: Elite and mass repositioning in Denmark 1968–2011

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 660-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Arndt
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Partisan Polarization ◽  
Niche Parties ◽  
The Us ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
Mainstream Party

Issue evolution is a well-established theoretical perspective in the analysis of long-term party competition and partisanship in the US. However, this perspective has rarely been used to analyze political elite effects on partisan polarization in European multiparty systems. Consequently, I apply the issue evolution perspective to polarization in a European multiparty system. I find an emergence of cultural issues in Denmark, where mass level polarization on cultural issues followed elite level polarization. Unlike two-party systems, niche parties drive issue evolution on the elite level, which is then followed by niche partisan polarization and, finally, mainstream party adaption. The findings illustrate the mechanisms of issue evolution in a European-style multiparty system and the role of niche parties.

Workers' Councils and Political Stratification: The Yugoslav Experience

1978 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Verba ◽  
Goldie Shabad
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Open Channels ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
Extensive Survey ◽  
Using Data

Many students of citizen participation claim that one solution to the problem of political inequality in liberal democracies lies in the establishment of direct participatory channels in decentralized socioeconomic and political institutions similar to those found in Yugoslavia. Others argue that the availability of participatory channels in the workplace leads to the domination of these channels by a technocratic elite. Still other students of participation in Yugoslavia claim that participatory channels are dominated by the political elite, the League of Communists.In this paper, we examine this set of conflicting hypotheses by using data which come from an extensive survey of participatory activities in four Yugoslav republics. Our findings are consistent with the interpretation that workers' councils open channels for a more technocratically oriented participation. When it comes to other kinds of activity, affiliation with the League is more important than socioeconomic or professional status in determining who participates. But because League members come disproportionately from upper-status groups, there is not a marked difference in the extent to which membership in workers' councils and participation in other kinds of activity are biased in favor of the advantaged segments of Yugoslav society. In each case, but for different reasons, it is the upper-status citizen who is likely to be active.

Duverger's Law and the Meaning of Canadian Exceptionalism

1999 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 835-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN J. GAINES
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
National Level ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
District Level ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Plurality Rule ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Canadian Provinces ◽  
Duverger's Law ◽  
Electoral Law

Duverger's law is an unusually simple and specific elaboration on exactly how political institutions “matter”: It proposes that plurality rule elections result in two-party competition. Canada is commonly thought to violate the law at the national level, but to match its predictions at the district level, and thus not to constitute a genuine counterexample. In fact, analysis of a vast data set of Canadian election returns reveals that these elections are multicandidate events, district by district, year after year. An explanation for this multipartyism may lie in the complicating factor of federalism, because Canadian provinces often feature strikingly different national and provincial party systems. Generally, the Canadian case illustrates that theories relating party systems to electoral law but not to other institutions are unrealistically parsimonious.

scholarly journals “A Pattern for Princes to Live by”: Popery and Elizabethan History During England’s Exclusion Crisis, 1679-1681

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-154
Author(s):  
Christopher Ross Petrakos
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Parliamentary Sovereignty ◽  
Political Outcomes

Abstract This article investigates the intersections of historical memory and political behavior during England’s “Exclusion Crisis” of 1679-1681. In doing so, I bring together theorists of social and historical memory in interpreting the Exclusion Crisis polemic. Between 1679 and 1681, opposition Whigs and Loyalist Tories rehashed sixteenth-century Elizabethan history because it provided potent analogues to the contemporary crisis over the succession. Through an analysis of parliamentary debates and historical writing, I argue that England’s sixteenth-century history was an integral part of the contemporary political debate. The context of Elizabeth’s Treason Act and the imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots provided historical parallels that opposition writers used to justify the exclusion of the Duke of York as well as make claims for parliamentary sovereignty in determining the succession. The Elizabethan era provided a wellspring of historical examples that could be culled to refute arguments for monarchial divineright absolutism. Rather than foreground the role of political theory in structuring attitudes and assumptions about the monarchy and parliament, this article sets out to show that sixteenth-century historical polemic set the terms of contemporary debate and, thus, influenced political outcomes.

scholarly journals Endogenous Institutional Change and Dynamic Capitalism

2010 ◽  
pp. 15-39
Author(s):  
Victor Nee ◽  
Sonja Opper
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Property Rights Protection ◽  
The Government ◽  
Formal Rules

State-centered theory asserts that political institutions and credible commitment by political elite to formal rules securing property rights provides the necessary and sufficient conditions for economic growth to take place. In this approach, the evolution of institutions favorable to economic performance is a top-down process led by politicians who control the state. Hence, in less developed and poor countries, the counterfactual is that if formal institutions secure property rights and check predatory action by the political elite, then sustained economic growth would follow. The limitation of state-centered theory stems from the problem that behavioral prescriptions - formal rules and regulations - that reflect what politicians prefer can be ignored. In contrast, we lay out the bottomup construction of economic institutions that gave rise to capitalist economic development in China. Entrepreneurship in the economically developed regions of the coastal provinces was not fueled by exogenous institutional changes. When the first entrepreneurs decided to decouple from the traditional socialist production system, the government had neither initiated financial reforms inviting a broader societal participation, nor had it provided property rights protection or transparent rules specifying company registration and liabilities. Instead, it was the development and use of innovative informal arrangements within close-knit groups of like-minded actors that provided the necessary funding and reliable business norms. This allowed the first wave of entrepreneurs to survive outside of the state-owned manufacturing system. This bottom-up process resembles earlier accounts of the rise of capitalism in the West.

scholarly journals On the prospects of transitioning from the corruption “track” of historical path of the Russian society

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Dmitry Vadimovich Bakharev
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Russian State ◽  
State Administration ◽  
Mode Of Operation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government ◽  
Russian Model

The subject of this research is the historical prerequisites of formation of the modern Russian model of state administration with its enormous corruption component. Analysis is conducted on the sociopolitical processes that took place in Russia, since the origin of conception of its statehood (formation of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir) until the events of past decade. A wide variety of literature of the Russian and foreign authors dedicated to the historical and institutional aspects of formation of national and foreign statehood became the source base for this research. An attempt is made to determine the fundamental factors of the emergence and wide spread of various manifestations of corruption at all stages of existence of the Russian state. A conclusion is made that drastic reconstruction of the historically established in Russia model of relationship between the government and society, and thus, decline in the scale of corruption, are possible only under the condition of formation of a large social coalition that supports: 1) the expansion of pluralistic basis in creation and development of the mode of operation of political institutions; 2) further public control over their activity. The reference point of such processes can become only a historical situation, which marks an informed need of broad social circles to be able to fully exercise political rights, and simultaneous response to such request from the acting political elite.

Taking bread off the table: race, gender, resources and political ambition in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-142
Author(s):  
Kristin Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Candidate Emergence ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
Women's Participation

Traditional gender roles, gendered political institutions and resource inequities disincentivise women’s participation in formal politics. This article analyses the Brazilian case – where women comprise 9.2 per cent of federal legislators elected since 1994 – to illustrate the centrality of resources in shaping candidate emergence. I examine how entrepreneurial elections, which incentivise intra-party competition and expensive campaigns, have sustained white men’s dominance in Brazilian political institutions and deterred white and Afro-Brazilian women’s political ambition. Using the latest data on campaign finance in Brazilian legislative elections, I explain how recent campaign finance reforms and a series of injustices provoking women’s emotive power yielded important resources catalysing the candidacies of women, especially Black women. The findings suggest that defraying campaign costs offers a potent mechanism for levelling the playing field, and remind us that women’s political ambition is shaped by their ‘relationally embedded’ risk assessment, constrained in no small part by the masculinised ethos of party politics.

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