scholarly journals Resentment and Coping With the Democratic Dilemma

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Celis ◽  
Louise Knops ◽  
Virginie Van Ingelgom ◽  
Soetkin Verhaegen
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Socially Disadvantaged ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Democratic Dilemma ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Empirical Investigations

Resentment is a complex, multi-layered emotion, within which perceptions of unfairness and feelings of anger are central. When linked to politics, it has predominantly been associated with the alleged “crisis of representative democracy” and populism. However, recent studies have shown that resentment can intervene positively in people’s relations to politics and political institutions by facilitating certain types of political participation (Capelos & Demertzis, 2018). Despite this, the concept of resentment, and hence its role in contemporary representative democracy, is often poorly defined, with empirical investigations of its manifestation(s) remaining scarce. Borrowing a conceptualization of resentment as “resentful affectivity,” our article draws on the analysis of focus groups carried out in Belgium (2019–2020) with individuals where resentful affectivity is likely to be observed (i.e., contemporary movements of contestation such as the Yellow Vests, Youth for Climate, and individuals who occupy a socially disadvantaged position). We find that experiences of intense anger, fear, disappointment, and the unfairness of representative democracy, i.e., of how representative democracy works on the ground, coexist simultaneously with remaining hopes in the democratic system. We show how this complex blend of emotions confronts citizens with what we call a “democratic dilemma.” We document the different ways in which citizens cope with this dilemma and conclude by highlighting both the positive and negative ways in which resentment intervenes in the contemporary “crisis of representative democracy.”

scholarly journals WHEN NEW POLITICAL PARTICIPATION MEETS TRADITIONAL POLITICS / QUANDO A NOVA PARTICIPAÇÃO POLÍTICA SE ENCONTRA COM A POLÍTICA TRADICIONAL

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (26) ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Ricardo de João Braga
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Traditional Institutions ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Representative System

This article presents and analyzes new forms of political participation and their relationship with the traditional institutions and actors of representative democracy. In spite of the creation of new forms of political participation during the last fifty years, the representative system was until now not able to interact with the new political phenomena in a profitable way. The detachment between these two realities – two distinct groups of actions, actors, organizations and institutions - constitutes important part of the permanent “crisis of democracy”. While this detachment lasts, possible political outputs are the advance of populism and the delegitimization of some classical political institutions, like Parliaments.

The Internet, Political Participation and Election Turnout: A Case Study of Germany's www.abgeordnetenwatch.de

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartwig Pautz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Political Decision Making

Germany's parliamentary democracy appears to be in crisis. The major parties' membership is in decline and barely existing in East Germany, election turnout is decreasing at all levels, and the reputation of politicians has never been worse. At the same time, however, Germans are more interested in politics than in the 1990s, overwhelmingly support democracy, and are keen on participating particularly in local political decision making. Out of this situation emerged www.abgeordnetenwatch.de— a website that aims to re-establish the link between electors and elected by allowing voters and representatives to communicate via a publicly accessible question-andanswer structure. This article addresses the questions of whether such an instrument can revitalize representative democracy and whether it has done so in the context of the 2009 federal elections.

scholarly journals Burnout, resilience, and perception of mindfulness programmes among GP trainees: a mixed-methods study

BJGP Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. bjgpopen20X101058
Author(s):  
Petra Hanson ◽  
Amy Clarke ◽  
Manuel Villarreal ◽  
Majid Khan ◽  
Jeremy Dale
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Coping

BackgroundTrainee GPs are at risk of developing burnout as a result of high stress levels. Improving resilience may prevent the negative effects of stress on wellbeing, morale, and patient care, thereby supporting recruitment to general practice.AimTo explore experiences of stress and burnout among GP trainees, and their level of interest in undertaking a mindfulness programme.Design & settingA qualitative study was performed with a cohort of GP trainees in Coventry and Warwickshire.MethodThis mixed-methods study utilised a survey with validated measures to investigate the prevalence of burnout, state of wellbeing, and resilience in GP trainees. Focus groups were also used to explore experiences of stress and burnout, and perceptions of mindfulness practice.ResultsIn total, 47 (response rate 39%) trainees completed the survey and 14 participated in focus groups. There was a high prevalence of disengagement (n = 36; 80%) and emotional exhaustion (n = 35; 77%), with 29 (64%) scoring above the cut-off value for both. While 16 (34%) reported already practising mindfulness, 39 (83%) described interest in engaging in mindfulness practice. The focus groups identified a range of issues relating to how trainees recognise stress and burnout, their help-seeking and coping strategies, the perceived barriers to practising self-care, and motivations for participating in mindfulness training.ConclusionThis study confirms the degree of stress and burnout that GP trainees experience, and their desire for greater wellbeing and resilience support. It identified a high level of interest in attending a mindfulness programme, but also barriers to engagement. Results of this research shaped the Mindful Practice Curriculum programme, which was later provided to this cohort of trainees.

scholarly journals Modele przemian politycznych w regionie Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 79-82
Author(s):  
Jacek Wojnicki
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Research Hypothesis ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Transformation Processes

Models of Political Changes in the Region of Central and Eastern Europe The article discusses the issues of transformation processes in Central and Eastern Europe. The analysis took many factors into account: geographical, historical, political, political, social and economic. Internal and external premises decided about the course of political and political changes initiated at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. Classical political theories about the Transition to democracy were included. A research hypothesis was put forward that the traditions of democratic political institutions have a positive impact on the pace and extent of consolidation of the democratic system.

scholarly journals Female street vendors’ (dis)engagement with politics in Rwanda – Orientalising women’s political participation

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-117
Author(s):  
Xia Nan JIN
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Visual Methods ◽  
Feminist Ethnography ◽  
Street Vendors ◽  
Political Decision Making ◽  
Women's Political Participation

Women’s political participation was initiated as an instrument for gender equality yet now is under research scrutiny. Due to gender quotas and other institutionalization of women’s political inclusion, Rwanda has the highest number of women in its parliament – 67%. But is women’s political participation a real tool for gender equality, or is it one that through the artificial guise of women’s political representation sets up an exclusive political space? Apart from women who work in political institutions, who else are participating in politics and how and where are they engaging with politics? Feminists should claim back this discussion, reject neoliberal approach to ‘empower’ women and propose a more distributive and collective agenda. As part of my PhD project regarding women’s (dis)engagement with politics in Rwanda, female vendors drew my attention during my fieldwork in Rwanda. In Rwanda, female vendors are among the groups who are the ‘furthest’ to participate and influence the political decision-making process, yet are heavily influenced by various political policies on a daily base. For example, the by-law forbidding street vendors was initiated in 2015 and further enforced in 2017 was designed to punish street vendors because they build “unfair competition for customers with legitimate businesses paying rent and taxes” . Consequently, many female vendors face a great deal of violence by local forces. Using feminist ethnography as the methodology, I choose visual methods to tell the stories of female vendors. That is, the photography project is designed to elicit stories of ‘what happened when’, and to encourage participants to ‘remember’ past events, and past dynamics on the street, as well as to express their own opinions and ideas. My task is to reconstruct the process of female street vendor’s engagement with politics and in doing so deconstruct the fake formal image of female political participation in Rwanda.

Democratic Perspectives on Interactive Political Leadership

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-58
Author(s):  
Eva Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
The People ◽  
Input Legitimacy ◽  
The Way

Representative democracy is in transition in theory as well as in practice, and this transition affects the way we think about political leadership and democratic representation. New theories of democracy challenge traditional understandings of what it entails to represent the people, and a mushrooming of new forms of political participation destabilizes traditional views of the role of citizens in democratic decision-making. Chapter 4 shows how these theoretical and empirical developments, which are partially triggered by inherent tensions in democratic thought, promote a turn towards interactive forms of political leadership. Interactive political leadership can potentially alleviate the tensions in democratic thought and strengthen the input legitimacy of representative democracy in times of declining trust in politicians. A turn to interactive political leadership is no panacea. It triggers new dilemmas and challenges for elected politicians.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-190
Author(s):  
Karen Celis
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Final Time ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
Transformative Potential

The Conclusion recaps the transformative potential of Feminist Democratic Representation, before reflecting a final time on the vignettes. This chapter explores how the representational problematics experienced by women might fare were the authors’ feminist democratic process of representation in place. The first effect is a changed composition of elected political institutions: accomplished by supplementing descriptive representation. In transforming the membership of legislatures via the affected representatives of women, the institutional agenda and deliberation are rebalanced in women’s favor, reflective of the diversity of women. The design thus makes meaningful political participation possible, creates stronger representative relationships, and ensures systematic accountability—re-connecting formal politics with the represented. In these ways—through a feminist process of representation—women’s poverty of representation is redressed.

Reflections on the Achievements of Sidney Verba

The Forum ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Science Methods ◽  
Complex Theory ◽  
Social Science Methods ◽  
Distinguished Career ◽  
Democratic Systems

AbstractSidney Verba’s distinguished career, particularly his books, demonstrate a talent for finding superb collaborators, a deep normative concern about the health of civil society, and a commitment to using social science methods to understand the working of democratic systems. A re-reading of these books shows the development of an increasingly complex theory of political participation undergirding a complex portrait of American representative democracy, with all its flaws and strengths.

scholarly journals Democracy's Deficit: The Role of Institutional Contact in Shaping non-White Political Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela García-Castañon ◽  
Kiku Huckle ◽  
Hannah L. Walker ◽  
Chinbo Chong
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Voter Mobilization ◽  
Positive Effect

AbstractThis paper examines the effect of institutional contact on political participation among non-White communities. While both formal and informal institutions help shape community citizen participation, their effects vary on the historical inclusion (or exclusion) of certain racial groups. Formal institutions, like political parties, have historically excluded or neglected non-White and immigrant voters. We argue that for the excluded or neglected, non-traditional political institutions, like community based organizations, serve as supplements to facilitate political incorporation and engagement. These informal institutions help develop skills and resources among their constituents, and offer routine opportunities to participate. We use the 2008 Collaborative Multi-racial Post-Election Survey (CMPS) to test the differential effects of self-reported voter mobilization through nonpartisan and partisan institutional contact to explain variations among racial groups by the intensity of contact, occurrence of co-ethnic outreach, and type of institutional mobilization. We find that while contact by a partisan/political institution, like a political party or campaign, has an overall positive effect on political participation for all voters, contact by a nonpartisan/civic or community group is substantively more important for Latino and Asian American voter mobilization. Our analysis therefore offers cohesive evidence of how voters interact with and are affected by mobilization efforts that attends to differences across racial and ethnic boundaries, and variations in institutional contact.

Nexus Politics

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Flinders ◽  
Matthew Wood
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Governmental Institutions ◽  
Tribal Politics

Existing research on alternative forms of political participation does not adequately account for why those forms of participation at an “everyday” level should be defined as political. In this article we aim to contribute new conceptual and theoretical depth to this research agenda by drawing on sociological theory to posit a framework for determining whether nontraditional forms of political engagement can be defined as genuinely distinctive from traditional participation. Existing “everyday politics” frameworks are analytically underdeveloped, and the article argues instead for drawing upon Michel Maffesoli’s theory of “neo-tribal” politics. Applying Maffesoli’s insights, we provide two questions for operationally defining “everyday” political participation, as expressing autonomy from formal political institutions, and building new political organizations from the bottom up. This creates a substantive research agenda of not only operationally defining political participation, but examining how traditional governmental institutions and social movements respond to a growth in everyday political participation: nexus politics.

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