scholarly journals Referendum on the Constitution dated November 6, 1994 in Albania (The associated political debate and reasons for its failure)

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 740-761
Author(s):  
Adelina Nexhipi
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
To Come ◽  
Venice Commission

The constitutional reform is one of the most debatable reforms in the Albanian transition period. One of the most critical moments is the Referendum on the Constitution dated November 6th, 1994. The way how this process took place, helps us to understand more about the nature and the dynamics of the Albanian events during the transitional period.  The purpose of this descriptive - analytic study is to describe, analyze and evaluate the Referendum on the Constitution dated November 6th, 1994, in legal, procedural and political aspect as well as its effects on political life in Albania. To meet this objective, we will be delivering an analysis of all events and decisions that took place before, during and after the Referendum on the Constitution, concentrating on the procedures that followed, debates associated to the process, political and institutional attitudes, electoral campaigns, attitudes of political parties towards the content of the draft constitution, reasons of the popular “NO” to the referendum and its consequences. The study relies on official documents of Albanian and foreign institutions (such as OSCE, Venice Commission), the press (newspapers like “Zëri i Popullit”, “Rilindja Demokratike”, “Koha Jonë”) publications from domestic and foreign scholars and memories of the protagonists. At the end, it was concluded that the lack of political consensus and the willingness of political forces to come to an agreement with each other, made the attempt to give the country a constitution failed.  The result of the referendum affected the political life in the country by increasing conflicts and political intolerance among the parties. There were problems within the Democratic Party and the governing coalition too.   

The Ideology of Socialism and the Armenian Political Parties

wisdom ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-113
Author(s):  
Gegham HOVHANNISYAN
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Given

The article covers the manifestations and peculiarities of the ideology of socialism in the social-political life of Armenia at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. General characteristics, aims and directions of activity of the political organizations functioning in the Armenian reality within the given time-period, whose program documents feature the ideology of socialism to one degree or another, are given (Hunchakian Party, Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian Social-democrats, Specifics, Socialists-revolutionaries). The specific peculiarities of the national-political life of Armenia in the given time-period and their impact on the ideology of political forces are introduced.

Roads to the Radical Right

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Damhuis
Keyword(s):  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Unique Material ◽  
Marine Le Pen ◽  
To Come ◽  
National Perspective ◽  
Western Democracies ◽  
Do So ◽  
Cross National

Trump, Wilders, Salvini, Le Pen—during the last decades, radical right-wing leaders and their parties have become important political forces in most Western democracies. Their growing appeal raises an increasingly relevant question: who are the voters that support them and why do they do so? Numerous and variegated answers have been given to this question, inside as well as outside academia. Yet, curiously, despite their quantity and diversity, these existing explanations are often based on a similar assumption: that of homogeneous electorates. Consequently, the idea that different subgroups with different profiles and preferences might coexist within the constituencies of radical right-wing parties has thus far remained underdeveloped, both theoretically and empirically. This ground-breaking book is the first one that systematically investigates the heterogeneity of radical right-wing voters. Theoretically, it introduces the concept of electoral equifinality to come to grips with this diversity. Empirically, it relies on innovative statistical analyses and no less than 125 life-history interviews with voters in France and the Netherlands. Based on this unique material, the study identifies different roads to the radical right and compares them within a cross-national perspective. In addition, through an analysis of almost 1,400 tweets posted by Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen, the book shows how the latter are able to appeal to different groups of voters. Taken together, the book thus provides a host of ground-breaking insights into the heterogeneous phenomenon of radical right support.

Lloyd George's Timing of the 1918 Election

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry McGill
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Political Relationships ◽  
The Commons ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Moment

The full story of the 1918 election can never be told, although its importance as a watershed is, and was at the time, undoubted. Private papers have disappeared and fire destroyed records of the Local Government Board and Home Office. An especially interesting kind of record, the expenditure of candidates, was not even collected, and no questions were raised about this until it was too late.Churchill was among those who understood that “an election is to be fought, the result of which will profoundly affect political relationships and political issues for several years to come ….” Recent scholarship has concentrated on the divisions within the Liberal Party prior to the election, the special questions of Ireland and of National Democratic Party candidates, and “the stages” by which the drama unfolded in the autumn of 1918. But there has been no explanation of the timing: why did Lloyd George wait so long, and, having waited so long, why did he hurry into a December election, knowing the problems of voter registration and the signs of apathy and even hostility to an election? Moreover, all the discussion of why “coupons” were awarded as they were has obscured the difficulty of planning a coalition program, which was the precondition of any allocation of “coupons.”The constraints upon Lloyd George went back to 1916. From the moment he succeeded Asquith he was “a Prime Minister without a party.” His claim to have 136 Liberal supporters in the Commons was never substantiated by a name list or verified in the division lobbies.

The 1972 Elections

1973 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
H. G. Nicholas
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
The Public ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
American Elections ◽  
To Come

Elections satisfy both the practical and the theoretical requirements of classical democratic theory if they answer one question only: Who shall rule? Judged by this test the American elections of 7 November 1972 returned as clear and unequivocal an answer as the United States Constitution permits – crystal-clear as to individuals, equivocal as to parties and political forces. But the student of politics and society cannot resist treating elections as data-gathering devices on a wide range of other questions, on the state of the public mind, on the relative potency of pressure groups, on the internal health of the political parties, and, of course, on the shape of things to come. In this ancillary role American elections, despite the generous wealth of statistical material which they throw up – so much more detailed and categorized (though often less precise) than our own – Suffer in most years from one severe limitation, a limitation which in 1972 was particularly conspicuous; they do not engage the interest of more than a moderate percentage of the American citizenry. In 1972 that percentage was as low as 55 per cent, i.e. out of an estimated eligible population of 139,642,000 only 77,000,000 went to the polls. Since this circumscribes the conclusions which can be drawn from the results themselves, as well as constituting a phenomenon of considerable intrinsic interest, it seems worthwhile to begin any examination of the 1972 elections by an analysis not of the votes counted but of those which were never cast.

scholarly journals Introduction

Modern Italy ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (02) ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Stephen Gundle ◽  
Lucy Riall
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Local History ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Popular Narrative ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Collective Movements ◽  
Historical Methods ◽  
Scholarly Attention

In recent decades historiography has moved decisively away from the highly personalized treatments of past events which were once favoured. Not ‘great men’ but ‘labouring men’, collective movements, political forces, social and economic development, women's and local history have been the focus of attention. Nowadays, the problem of political leadership is considered primarily in institutional terms, and the emphasis given to personality has correspondingly diminished. With very few exceptions, biography has been relegated to the level of popular narrative. To raise the question of charisma in these circumstances is almost to violate a taboo, to address an embarrassing topic unworthy of scholarly attention. With the exception of the mainly theoretical work of Luciano Cavalli on the origins and permutations of charisma, there have been no sustained attempts to examine comparatively the various cases of charismatic leadership that Italian political life has produced. Thus, partly because charisma has been abandoned as a scholarly topic, it can appear inexplicable, inaccessible to the historical methods used for the study of social and political structures.

scholarly journals The Limits of Constructivism: Can Rawls Condemn Female Genital Mutilation?

2009 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Koppelman
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
The Body ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Face ◽  
Acceptable Theory ◽  
Female Genital

AbstractConstructivist political theory, championed most prominently by John Rawls, builds up a conception of justice from the minimal requirements of political life. It has two powerful attractions. It promises a kind of civic unity in the face of irresolvable differences about the good life. It also offers a foundation for human rights that is secure in the face of those same differences. The very parsimony that is its strength, however, deprives it of the resources to condemn some atrocities. Because it focuses on the political aspect of persons, it has difficulty cognizing violence done to those aspects of the person that are not political, preeminently the body. Constructivism thus can be only a part of an acceptable theory of justice.

Data for Alabama Taxation and Changing Discourse from Reconstruction to Redemption

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasey Hendricks
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
General Role ◽  
Proposition 13 ◽  
New Era ◽  
Princeton University

At their most basic level taxes carry, in the words of Schumpeter ([1918] 1991), “the thunder of history” (p. 101). They say something about the ever-changing structures of social, economic, and political life. Taxes offer a blueprint, in both symbolic and concrete terms, for uncovering the most fundamental arrangements in society – stratification included. The historical retellings captured within these data highlight the politics of taxation in Alabama from 1856 to 1901, including conflicts over whom money is expended upon as well as struggles over who carries their fair share of the tax burden. The selected timeline overlaps with the formation of five of six constitutions adopted in the State of Alabama, including 1861, 1865, 1868, 1875, and 1901. Having these years as the focal point makes for an especially meaningful case study, given how much these constitutional formations made the state a site for much political debate. These data contain 5,121 pages of periodicals from newspapers throughout the state, including: Alabama Sentinel, Alabama State Intelligencer, Alabama State Journal, Athens Herald, Daily Alabama Journal, Daily Confederation, Elyton Herald, Mobile Daily Tribune, Mobile Tribune, Mobile Weekly Tribune, Morning Herald, Nationalist, New Era, Observer, Tuscaloosa Observer, Tuskegee News, Universalist Herald, and Wilcox News and Pacificator. The contemporary relevance of these historical debates manifests in Alabama’s current constitution which was adopted in 1901. This constitution departs from well-established conventions of treating the document as a legal framework that specifies a general role of governance but is firm enough to protect the civil rights and liberties of the population. Instead, it stands more as a legislative document, or procedural straightjacket, that preempts through statutory material what regulatory action is possible by the state. These barriers included a refusal to establish a state board of education and enact a tax structure for local education in addition to debt and tax limitations that constrained government capacity more broadly. Prohibitive features like these are among the reasons that, by 2020, the 1901 Constitution has been amended nearly 1,000 times since its adoption. However, similar procedural barriers have been duplicated across the U.S. since (e.g., California’s Proposition 13 of 1978). Reference: Schumpeter, Joseph. [1918] 1991. “The Crisis of the Tax State.” Pp. 99-140 in The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism, edited by Richard Swedberg. Princeton University Press.

Social workers, critical theory and the political sphere: addressing political misrecognition and marginalisation in the Republic of Ireland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Critical Commentary ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Electoral Representation ◽  
Irish Politics

Despite the traditional social justice mandate of social work, and critical and radical theoretical traditions that pursue egalitarian and just societies, the engagement of the social work academy with Irish politics has been underwhelming at best. While there are abstract analyses that address sociopolitical theory and ideological wrongdoings related to neoliberalist rationality, attention in social work academia to the nuts and bolts of everyday political life in Ireland, such as democratic party politics and electoral representation, leaves much to the imagination. This article therefore pursues a more grounded reading of social justice in Irish politics for social workers. The supporting proposition is that to effectively interject in political misrecognition and marginalisation, social workers must understand the present political state of play. Towards achieving this, Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition aids thematic critical commentary on the literature.

scholarly journals Looking through the mirror: representativeness of the Italian party system before the 2018 General Election

2021 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-83
Author(s):  
Beniamino Masi
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
General Election ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Voting Advice Applications

The use of the Internet and communication technologies has dramatically increased in recent times. This change has affected every aspect of political life, with electoral campaigns and parties making no exception. One of the most significant advancements on the theme is the spread of Voting Advice Applications (VAAs). These tools are developed before elections to match users’ policy preferences to those of the parties running. By looking at the dataset created with the answers of the users of an Italian VAA, Navigatore Elettorale, this study aims at understanding the representativeness of the six main parties running in the 2018 General Election. Through the development of a Representative Deficit Index, the study will also assess the key policy areas in which each of these parties performed best in the eyes of the electorate. The finding shows a diversified pattern of (in)successes for each of the parties, with some unexpected results.

scholarly journals How Do You Want Me to Address You? – The Macedonian Name Dispute Resolved

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-28
Author(s):  
Krisztián Manzinger
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Break Up ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

Abstract The Macedonian name dispute, a political debate between Greece and the current Republic of North Macedonia, arose after the break-up of the multi-ethnic Yugoslavia. The issue was overpoliticized for the societies of both countries. The international community followed the dispute, yet it did not exercise any pressure on Greece to cede in a debate seen by many as the stronger bullying the weaker. A breakthrough became achievable when political forces interested in the resolution came into power in both countries in the mid-2010s. The Prespa Agreement, signed in 2018, offered a mutually acceptable resolution and opened the way for North Macedonia to enter the NATO and to the opening of accession talks with the EU in March 2020.

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