scholarly journals Neopatrimonialism and Party Clientelism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teimuraz Kareli
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
The Government ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
The Right ◽  
Party Dominance ◽  
Ruling Party

The article deals with the features of formation of the party systems in the post-Soviet space. To understand the specific processes, the attention is focused on the inverse logic of the post-Soviet states, the basic features of which can be expressed by the concept of neopatrimonialism. In this context the functioning features of political parties, their principal tasks and the logic of creating the "power party" are described. The article examines the key criteria for the concept of the dominant party, such as its ability to consistently and steadily win the elections, the significant duration of its stay in power, as well as its personnel Control over the government. In the sociopolitical discourse the "power party" enjoys a privileged ideological position and has more opportunities compared to its competitors to appeal to voters. Along with that the party dominance reveals itself not only in its external manifestation (the stay in power), but also in the substantial one – the ability to exercise an effective political choice. The article analyzes the factors of sustainability of the "power party" systems: the historical merits of the "power party"; the ruling party’s ability to effectively take advantage of the electoral system; its strong relationships with the most affluent social groups and major corporations, as well as with the predominant ethnic or linguistic social groups; a privileged access of the ruling party to media resources. These factors are also effective in the polycentric political systems without any dominant party. However, under the dominant party systems they manifest themselves in a complex way, providing the ruling camp with a multi-layered protection due to a synergy effect. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of clientelism, widely used by the ruling party as a strategy of political mobilization. However, if discrimination arose by clientelism reaches the level that denies clients the right to choose, this is certainly not consistent with the rules of democracy.

scholarly journals Is government contestability an integral part of the definition of democracy?

Politics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aris Trantidis
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Political Group ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Party Dominance

Is government contestability an integral part of the definition of democracy? The answer to this question affects the way we classify political systems in which, despite a formally open political structure, a dominant political group faces weak opposition from other political parties and civil society organizations – an indication of a low degree of government contestability. In Robert Dahl’s polyarchy, contestability is an essential dimension of democracy and, consequently, one-party dominance is classified as an ‘inclusive hegemony’ outside his conception of democracy. For procedural definitions of democracy, however, dominant party systems are legitimate outcomes of electoral competition provided that there have been no formal restrictions to the exercise of civil and political rights. The article examines the boundaries between democracy and authoritarianism, broadens the notion of authoritarian controls to include soft manipulative practices and explains why government contestability should be regarded as a constitutive property of democracy.

The Japanese Diet: Parliamentary Groups and Lawmaking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikitaka Masuyama
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
The Government ◽  
Legislative Activities ◽  
Party Dominance ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Democracy Functions ◽  
Japanese Diet

By exploring specific incidents and parliamentary practices and reviewing how parliament operates across a typical year, this chapter highlights the significance of the negotiation between parliamentary groups, explaining how the Diet rules and procedures strongly influence parliamentary behavior. Representative democracy functions through the interconnection of the legislative and electoral systems, affecting the fusion and diffusion of powers. The constitutional fusion of power underlies the whole process of lawmaking in the Diet. However, one-party dominance makes the government and opposition relations permanently asymmetrical. Unless elections allow voters to choose a government, the majoritarian control to make the ruling party accountable will not work, and legislative activities will remain mismatched with electoral competitions.

Correa may yet win fourth term in Ecuador

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Wealth Redistribution ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Successive Term ◽  
Ruling Party

Subject Pre-election politics in Ecuador. Significance Deteriorating economic conditions, declining public spending and falling support for the government have provided opposition forces with a favourable climate to make gains in advance of next year's general elections. However, with little over eight months before voters are scheduled to go to the polls, the opposition is fragmented and the main challengers are uncertain. The political landscape is further complicated by uncertainty over who will stand for the ruling party. While President Rafael Correa has repeatedly stated that he will not compete, he may yet seek election for a fourth successive term. Impacts Constitutional reform, media freedom, security and tax reductions will be the focus of electoral campaigns from the right and centre. Preventing large-scale mining, environmentalism, creating a plurinational state and wealth redistribution will be central to the left. The full list of parties and candidates authorised to compete in the elections will not be known until the year-end.

scholarly journals Crisis Management in Nigeria’s Public Sector and the Impact of the Organised Labour Union: Interrogating the Nexus between Industrial Harmony and Political Stability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Taye Medoye
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Two Sectors

This study sought to explore the dynamics in managing crisis in the Nigerian public sector and its engagement with the organised labour, with a view to determining the interface between industrial harmony and political stability in the country. This study is predicated on the fact that crisis management is essentially embedded in humanity. Additionally, the study was informed by the established and widely held view by scholars, that social groups by their nature and context, are in fact characterised by conflicts. Consequently, the study established that the public sector in every society is not immune against conflict or crisis, and this will naturally arise as long as there is interaction between and among human elements in the two sectors. The author used the terms—crisis and conflict—interchangeably in the study, and pointed out that the methodology adopted was a descriptive and analytical approach. This is informed by the sources of information accessed which are essentially secondary. The study concluded by asserting that given the humanity-linked nature of conflict, its management in the public sector, particularly in Nigeria, will continue to be an unavoidable responsibility of the government. This is to ensure that the right environment is created to guarantee smooth governance.

Electoral systems applied to the Iraqi parliament elections after 2003 (comparative analytical study)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurdistan Saeed ◽  
Chawan Salah
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Party System ◽  
Analytical Study ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Right

This study deals with the electoral systems applied in Iraq after 2003 for the Iraqi Parliament elections. The issue's importance lies in the fact that elections are the legitimate means adopted by modern political systems based on the separation of powers. Therefore, after changing the political system in Iraq in 2003 from a one-party system to a democratic parliamentary system, the permanent constitution of 2005 granted the right to political participation for citizens. Including the right to participate in elections through nomination or candidacy for the Iraqi Council of Representatives, this study examines the electoral systems applied after 2003 and the reasons for the instability of the Iraqi parliament elections on a specific law. The study dealt with the types of electoral systems by focusing on the concept and emergence of elections and the most critical electoral systems adopted by political systems. Furthermore, the electoral systems applied after 2003 in the Iraqi parliament elections by focusing on the electoral laws or their amendments that preceded each electoral cycle since 2003 until now. The study concluded that the electoral system in Iraq was not legally stable; several amendments have been made to the laws regulating the elections for the House of Representatives. So the two elections did not repeat under one law because of political parties' criticism leveled at it. Moreover, the attempt by the large parliamentary blocs, through their control of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, to legislate laws that limit the victory of the blocs and small parties.

Race to succeed Correa gets underway in Ecuador

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
The Other ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Investors ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Ruling Party

Subject Possible successors to President Rafael Correa. Significance The surprising news that President Rafael Correa will not stand in the 2017 presidential elections has triggered a debate over who the ruling party, Alianza Pais, will select as its candidate. The task confronting the party is to choose a candidate who has the potential to secure low and middle-income votes on the one hand and appeal to national and international investors on the other. Striking this balance will be particularly important as the collapse of world oil prices and slowdown of economic growth has damaged the government and fuelled social and political tensions. Impacts Whoever Alianza Pais selects is likely to be the strong favourite, despite the government's difficulties in recent months. The key election battle is likely to be over control of the legislature rather than the presidency. The primary challenge for the opposition to the right will be to find a candidate capable of uniting various leaders and factions.

Transition from Single-Party Dominance? New Data from Malaysia

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Case
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Independent Effect ◽  
Electoral Outcome ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
Key Dimensions ◽  
Party Dominance

Leading theories of transitions from single-party dominant systems begin with economic crisis, the party's loss of patronage resources, and elite-level defections. The multiparty elections that are then held exert no independent effect, but instead register neutrally the party's decline and the democratization of politics. This article, however, shifts attention from the dominant party to citizens and elections in noncrisis conditions. It argues that citizens assess on key dimensions the dominant party's legitimacy or worthiness of support. Further, where they grow critical of its policy outputs, they scrutinize more closely its conformity to procedures. And as they anticipate that their voting preferences will be thwarted by electoral manipulations, they vote in protest, perhaps producing a “liberalizing electoral outcome.” Elections, then, do not simply indicate the dominant party's decline. By deepening alienation, they help citizens to cause it. Analysis is set in Malaysia, long an exemplar of single-party dominance, but recently a case in which the government was dealt a striking electoral setback.

scholarly journals The Evolution of the Party System and Cleavages in Post- Communist Hungary

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
Crina Samarghitan ◽  
Victor Cioara ◽  
Sergiu Gherghina ◽  
Adrian Muica
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Political Economic

The post-Communist countries suffered many transformations in a short period of time; their political, economic and social system is in a continuous change. All the countries from Central and Eastern Europe try to cope with the Western political systems, try to avoid the third wave of authoritarianism, wave that usually comes after a democratization one. One country’s political system is impressing and interesting in many ways. We decided to approach and to analyze only a part of the political system in a country that relatively succeeded on its way towards democracy – Hungary. The evolution of Hungarian cleavages allows us to identify the emergence of parties and from that point on to deeply analyze the party system from 1990 until now. One main advantage of our study is that we make a dynamic evaluation of the party system, using some variables that were applied in the case of other party systems. The variables and indicators were used by well-known scholars to observe some variations in the Western party systems and to realize some categories. The conclusions obtained have a degree of specificity; they cannot be entirely applied to the countries in the region. The research can be improved by analyzing the electoral system and by searching new indicators for the already used variables.

scholarly journals Parliamentary Elections in Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
E. Ionova
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Lower House ◽  
The Right ◽  
First Time ◽  
Ruling Party

Following the results of the regular elections to the Mazhilis in January 2021, the ruling Nur Otan party retained its leadership in the lower house of parliament. However, the other two parties, which broke the 7% barrier, strengthened their positions, gaining several new seats. A feature of the 2021 elections was that they were held taking into account a certain liberalization of the country's electoral system. In particular, the constitutional rights of the Mazhilis which received the right to approve the new government were expanded, the institution of parliamentary opposition was legislated, and a 30% quota for women and youth was introduced. In addition, the ruling party introduced the practice of primaries for the first time.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document