Achieving Equality at Scale through System Transformation: Evaluating System Change

Change in the Italian party system

Res Publica ◽

10.21825/rp.v38i2.18623 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 279-294

Author(s):

Luciano Bardi

Keyword(s):

Structural Change ◽

Party System ◽

System Change ◽

Party Systems ◽

Organizational Adaptation ◽

Constitutional Change ◽

Party Organization ◽

System Transformation ◽

System Characteristics

The article attempts to trace the origins and to assess the extent ofparty-system change in Italy in the 1990s. It also examines some hypotheses on the possible causes of such changes. Building on research on anti-party sentiment and on changes in party organization the paper begins with an analysis of the evolution of the party system in the last 30 years which identifies organizational adaptation as a delaying factor in party system change. This is followed by a description of the party system after the 1994 elections based on generally accepted party system characteristics and indicators (volatility, number ofparties, ideological distance) . The assessment is made difficult by the, perhaps temporary, coexistence of two party-systems, respectively relevant for electoral and inter-election competition. The evidence however, suggests, that party-system transformation is under way, while it might still be inappropriate to talk about structural change. Degeneration of parties and a deep institutional crisis appear to be the factors leading to the explosion of pent-up alienation and antiparty sentiments, and to demands for institutional and constitutional change that preceded and appeared to be the immediate causes of party system transformation.

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How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-021-01178-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cees Leeuwis ◽

Birgit K. Boogaard ◽

Kwesi Atta-Krah

Keyword(s):

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

System Change ◽

Emergent Properties ◽

System Transformation ◽

Rational Engineering ◽

Governance Strategies ◽

Political Challenge ◽

Discourse Coalitions ◽

And Control

AbstractThis paper argues that supporting food system transformation requires more than obtaining science-based understanding and analysis of how components in the system interact. We argue that changing the emergent properties of food systems (what we call food system synthesis) is a socio-political challenge that is affected by competing views regarding system boundaries and purposes, and limited possibilities for central steering and control. We point to different traditions of ‘systems thinking’ that each emphasize particular types of interventions for achieving system change, and argue that food systems are best looked at as complex multi-dimensional systems. This implies that we need to move beyond rational engineering approaches to system change, and look for approaches that anticipate and accommodate inherent social tensions and struggles in processes of changing food system dynamics and outcomes. Through a case study on the persistence of an undesired emergent property of food systems (i.e. poverty) we demonstrate that a multi-level perspective (MLP) on system transformation is useful in understanding both how food system transformation has happened in the past, and how desirable transformations is prevented from happening today. Based on such insights we point to key governance strategies and principles that may be used to influence food system transformation as a non-linear and long-term process of competition, negotiation and reconfiguration. Such strategies include the creation and nurturing of diversity in the system, as well as process interventions aimed at visioning, destabilization and formation of discourse coalitions. Such governance interventions imply a considerable re-orientation of investments in food system transformation as well as a rethinking of the role that policy-makers may play in either altering or reproducing undesirable system outcomes.

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Das spanische Parteiensystem von 1977 bis 2019: Veränderung oder Transformation?

Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen ◽

10.5771/0340-1758-2020-1-166 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (1) ◽

pp. 166-188

Author(s):

Daniel Lemmer

Keyword(s):

Standard Deviation ◽

Party System ◽

System Change ◽

System Transformation ◽

General Change ◽

The Mean ◽

Definition Of

This article investigates if a party system change has taken place in Spain from June 1977 to January 2019 . The operationalization of Smith’s (1989) definition of party system change requires the distinction between “normal” and “unusual” values of the indicators, which are subject to constant fluctuations . This distinction was achieved by defining unusual values as values that fall outside the area of plus/minus one standard deviation around the mean of the respective indicator . If an indicator’s values are unusual several times in a row, Smith considered it to have undergone change . The distinction between limited and general change as well as a party system transformation depends on how many indicators measure the properties of different party groups that undergo change . The results show that the Spanish party system underwent a series of limited changes from 1977 to 2015 . Despite the following massive shifts in the distribution of seats and the increases in format, this period can only be qualified as one of (weak) general change, but not of party system transformation .

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