The organisational strategies of movements in referendums from below

Author(s):  
Donatella della Porta ◽  
Francis O’Connor ◽  
Martín Portos ◽  
Anna Subirats Ribas

This chapter examines the organisational aspects of the referendums from below in Scotland and Catalonia and the participation of various social movements in those campaigns. It first considers the role of pro-independent political parties and their interactions with the relevant movements before looking at some of the most significant movement organisations active in campaigns around the issue of referendums in the Catalan and Scottish cases. In particular, it discusses the organisational structures and repertoires of contention of the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) and Women for Independence (WFI) in Scotland, and the Plataforma pel Dret a Decidir/Platform for the Right to Decide (PDD), the Assemblea Nacional Catalana/National Catalan Assembly (ANC), and the Òmnium Cultural in Catalonia. The chapter shows that two factors impinge on the nature of the organisational strategies adopted by movements in referendum campaigns: the issue of time and the prevailing political culture in the two nations.

Author(s):  
Andrea Oelsner ◽  
Mervyn Bain

This chapter examines the main features of the undemocratic regimes that were in power in Latin America from the late 1960s, along with the democratization processes that followed since the 1980s. The nature of the non-democratic governments varied throughout the region, and consequently the types of transition and the quality of the resulting democracy varied as well. The chapter focuses on four cases that reflect these differences: Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela. For each country, the chapter reviews a number of dimensions that have been relevant in the democratization processes: the historical and international contexts, the role of economic factors, political culture and society, political parties and social movements, and the institutional challenges that still lie ahead.


2018 ◽  
pp. 305-321
Author(s):  
Andrea Oelsner ◽  
Mervyn Bain

This chapter examines the main features of the undemocratic regimes that were in power in Latin America from the late 1960s, along with the democratization processes that followed since the 1980s. The nature of the non-democratic governments varied throughout the region, and consequently the types of transition and the quality of the resulting democracy varied as well. The chapter focuses on four cases that reflect these differences: Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela. For each country, the chapter reviews a number of dimensions that have been relevant in the democratization processes: the historical and international contexts, the role of economic factors, political culture and society, political parties and social movements, and the institutional challenges that still lie ahead.


Author(s):  
Cristiano Gianolla

Representative democracy is currenty facing strong social criticism for its incapacity to envolve people in a way that makes them part of the decision-making process. An existing gap between the representatives and the represented is hereby emphasized. In this space, the role of political parties is central in order to bridge society with institutions. How much are parties concerned about this issue? How and in which context do they interact more with their electorate and the wider society? Participatory democracy is emerging throughout the world in different forms and with different results, but the dominant pattern of democracy remains the liberal western democratic paradigm in which people can contribute barely through electing candidates. In order to achieve what Boaventura de Sousa Santos calls ‘democratisation of democracy’ the role of political parties is therefore fundamental in particular to achieve a more participative democracy within the representative model. This article approaches this theme through a bibliographic review comparing social movements and political parties with a focus on the innovation of the Five Star Movement in Italy. Finally, it provides a reading of the relationship between political parties andparticipation, including good practice and perspectives.KEYWORDS: Participation, political parties, social movements, political movements, representative democracy, participatory democracy.


2020 ◽  
pp. 318-335
Author(s):  
Herbert Kitschelt ◽  
Philipp Rehm

This chapter examines four fundamental questions relating to political participation. First, it considers different modes of political participation such as social movements, interest groups, and political parties. Second, it analyses the determinants of political participation, focusing in particular on the paradox of collective action. Third, it explains political participation at the macro-level in order to identify which contextual conditions are conducive to participation and the role of economic affluence in political participation. Finally, the chapter discusses political participation at the micro-level. It shows that both formal associations and informal social networks, configured around family and friendship ties, supplement individual capacities to engage in political participation or compensate for weak capacities, so as to boost an individual’s probability to become politically active.


Author(s):  
Herbert Kitschelt ◽  
Philipp Rehm

This chapter examines four fundamental questions relating to political participation. First, it considers different modes of political participation such as social movements, interest groups, and political parties. Second, it analyses the determinants of political participation, focusing in particular on the paradox of collective action. Third, it explains political participation at the macro-level in order to identify which contextual conditions are conducive to participation and the role of economic affluence in political participation. Finally, the chapter discusses political participation at the micro-level. It shows that both formal associations and informal social networks, configured around family and friendship ties, supplement individual capacities to engage in political participation or compensate for weak capacities, so as to boost an individual's probability to become politically active.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Mommsen

The role of Konrad Adenauer in the proceedings of the Parliamentary Council in Bonn and his decision after his election as first federal chancellor not to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party paved the way to a fundamental transformation of the traditional German democratic paradigm versus the Anglo-Saxon concept of interaction between government and parliamentary opposition. The inherited pattern of constitutional democracy that had contributed to the structural weaknesses of Weimar parliamentarism was replaced by the concept of an interaction between government and opposition. Political parties took on the primary tasks of securing stable parliamentary majorities and providing sufficient electoral support for the chancellor. Adenauer's resolved political leadership, therefore, was an indispensable contribution to the reorientation of West German political culture from the former distrust of unrestricted parliamentary sovereignty toward Western democratic traditions.


2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
NILS ARNE SØRENSEN

After the liberation in 1945, two conflicting narratives of the war experience were formulated. A consensus narrative presented the Danish nation as being united in resistance while a competing narrative, which also stressed the resistance of most Danes, depicted the collaborating Danish establishment as an enemy alongside the Germans. This latter narrative, formulated by members of the resistance movement, was marginalised after the war and the consensus narrative became dominant. The resistance narrative survived, however, and, from the 1960s, it was successfully retold by the left, both to criticise the Danish alliance with the ‘imperialist’ United States, and as an argument against Danish membership of the EC. From the 1980s, the right also used the framework of the resistance narrative in its criticism of Danish asylum legislation. Finally, liberal Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen started using it as his basic narrative of the war years (partly in order to legitimise his government's decision to join the war against Iraq in 2003). The war years have thus played a central role in Danish political culture since 1945, and in this process the role of historians has been utterly marginal.


Author(s):  
Luciane Muniz R. Barbosa ◽  
Theresa Adrião

O presente artigo tem como objetivo refletir sobre o direito à Educação Infantil no Brasil,de modo a indagar sobre a participação dos governos estaduais na garantia dessedireito, considerado um dever do Estado cuja viabilização depende do efetivo exercíciode colaboração entre os entes federados. Neste caso, opta-se por analisar informaçõessobre o conjunto dos estados brasileiros, como: as performances das matrículasestaduais nesta etapa; os PIBs dos respectivos estados e os partidos políticos dasgestões governamentais iniciadas a partir da vigência da Lei de ResponsabilidadeFiscal. Ressalta-se a necessidade de revisão do pacto federativo no âmbito de formasde cooperação para a oferta da Educação Infantil no país, também como forma decombate à privatização e precarização do atendimento educacional das criançaspequenas.Palavras-chave: Educação Infantil; governos estaduais; cooperação federativa; partidos políticosThe purpose of the this paper is to reflect upon the right to Early Childhood Education inBrazil, in such a way as inquire the role of local state governments in safeguarding suchright, one that is deemed to be a State responsibility and whose accomplishmentdepends on the actual collaboration among the federated states. In the present case, wehave decided to analyze information on the Brazilian federated states as a whole, suchas the number of actual enrollments in this stage of education, the states’ GDP, and thepolitical parties ahead of the government administrations as from the enactment of theFiscal Responsibility Law. We emphasize the need for a revision of the federalagreement as regards the cooperation mechanisms relating to the offer of EarlyChildhood Education in the country, also as way to oppose the privatization anddebilitation of the educational services provided to young children.Keywords: Early childhood education; state governments; federalist cooperation;political parties


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 251-255
Author(s):  
Roland Lami

One of the institutions that has played a very important role in the post-communist period in Albania, is the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For pragmatic reasons or for guaranteeing their legitimacy, political parties have found it indispensable to cooperate with this institution. But, if we consider the role of the IMF from ideological perspectives, we would find that regardless of which party was in power (Socialist Party or Democratic Party) the respective government still has to follow its instructions and recommendations of a neoliberal nature.  This behavior has prevented political parties, especially those of the left wing, to get structured from the perspective of ideological profile.  For this reason, the entire discussion is mainly focused on the left-wing political perspective, as the principles of the right wing are closer to the IMF’s neoliberal philosophy, from the ideological standpoint.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-284
Author(s):  
Néstor García Canclini

Abstract Ever since the expansion of video-politics, television canalises citizens' criticism and demands regarding political authorities, conceiving of citizens as spectators. Social networks magnify this type of involvement, promising horizontality and social cohesion. Political parties have become reduced to elites that distribute power and benefits among themselves, disengaging from voters, except during electoral periods. Our opinions and behaviours are captured by algorithms and subject to globalised forces. The public space where citizenship should be exercised is becoming opaque and distant. Citizenship is radically diminishing while some social movements are reinventing themselves and winning sectorial battles: for human rights, for gender equality, against authoritarianism. Yet the neoliberal approach to technology maintains and deepens greater inequalities. What are the alternatives to this dispossession? Hackers and dissenters? What is the role of the vote in a State-society relationship reprogrammed by technologies and the market?


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document