How party polarization shapes the structuring of policy preferences in Europe

A significant body of literature has addressed the impact of party polarization on voting behavior. Yet little is known of the relationship between party polarization and belief systems. The present study argues that party polarization enhances the ideological consistency of belief systems and does so for the citizenry as a whole. We first demonstrate that the more party systems are polarized on economic and sociocultural issues, the more consistently belief systems are aligned with the progressive-conservative continuum. Second, we show that ideological consistency is greater in highly polarized party systems, not only among the most politically attuned Europeans but also among those with lower levels of political sophistication. Results have implications for our understanding of citizen competence and responsiveness to elite cues in polarized party systems.

When Knowledge Is Not Enough: Individual Preconditions for Strategic Voting

Voters often have to decide between supporting their preferred candidate or choosing a less appealing but more viable alternative. What are the underlying mechanisms that enable citizens to navigate these strategic trade-offs? Combining experimental and observational evidence from the UK, we differentiate three crucial preconditions for strategic voting---motivation, information, and capabilities---and provide converging evidence illuminating how these factors interact. Specifically, we find that high levels of motivation are a necessary condition for the beneficial effects of information and capabilities to manifest. Our findings suggest that a narrow focus on political knowledge to improve strategic voting and thereby democratic representation is short-sighted. Methodologically, we offer a novel experimental framework that enables researchers to independently manipulate different mechanisms underlying citizen competence.

The Influence of Citizen Competence on District Level Political Accountability in Uganda

Citizen competence in a democratic society is perceived as an essential mechanism for promoting political accountability in local governance. This paper, thus, qualitatively investigates the relationship between citizen competence and political accountability in Uganda’s local governance system across two discrete political regimes, during the post-independence period. Using an in-depth explorative design, it was established that citizens in both regimes were largely inarticulate, disengaged and uninvolved in determining local preferences, suggesting minimal link between citizen competence and the propensity to promote political accountability at district level. The data suggested that citizen competence was less influential in district politics for the greater part of the post-colonial period. Nonetheless, there were also episodes where citizens actively participated in enforcing political accountability at the grassroots under multiparty politics in both the Obote II and NRM regimes, with slight variations in the intensity and pattern between the two periods. Thus, the level of citizen competence and nature of local governance in Uganda mirror the political accountability practices at the local level, mainly shaped by civic challenges and the character of politics in Uganda during the periods studied regardless of differences and longevity. The paper recommended deliberate state intervention for mobilization of citizens and the establishment of state-engineered dynamic social networks to generate capacity for holding local leaders accountable and more empowered civil society to construct robust citizen competence programmes to foster political accountability.

Evaluación de la implementación de materiales didácticos en Ciencias Sociales: propuestas para el desarrollo de la competencia social y ciudadana

La información que se presenta en este artículo se centra en la evaluación de la implementación de cinco propuestas didácticas en Ciencias Sociales, para el desarrollo de la competencia Social y Ciudadana, particularmente en la percepción del profesorado sobre el material propuesto. Los resultados se obtuvieron por medio de encuestas que los y las docentes de nueve institutos de Cataluña debían responder antes de aplicar las unidades didácticas y después de cada una de las sesiones. El procesamiento de la información se realizó con un modelo de análisis cuantitativo con el uso del programa Excel. Entre los principales resultados que podemos destacar de la información entregada por los nueves docentes que aplicaron el material: el profesorado hace una evaluación positiva de las unidades didácticas; las actividades son motivadoras para el alumnado; por último, que para los y las docentes el material resulta útil para conseguir los objetivos de aprendizaje propuestos al alumnado. The information presented in this article focuses on the evaluation of the implementation of five didactic proposals in Social Sciences, for the development of Social and Citizen competence, particularly in the perception of the teaching staff about the proposed material. The results were obtained through surveys that the teachers of nine institutes in Catalonia had to answer before applying the teaching units and after each of the sessions. The processing of the information was done with a quantitative analysis model with the use of the Excel program. Among the main results we can highlight the information provided by the nine teachers who applied the material: the teachers make a positive evaluation of the teaching units; the activities are motivating for the students; finally, that for teachers the material is useful to achieve the learning objectives proposed to the students.

“These Grandmas Drove Me Mad. It Was Brilliant!”—Promising Starting Points to Support Citizen Competence for Sustainable Consumption in Adults

The article addresses citizen competence for sustainable consumption in adults. It discusses whether it is possible to develop educational offerings for adults (being by nature short and isolated) that effectively promote this competence and whether it makes a difference if sustainable consumption is approached by focusing on good life (quality of life) and justice or by focusing on natural resources and environment (as is suggested by, e.g., environmental literacy approaches). Taking the case of energy policy, it presents an educational intervention (EdIn) developed, implemented, and investigated by the authors. In data-analysis, three approaches were adopted (methodological triangulation), one analysing the deliberations’ cognitive structure, one analysing the participants’ perception, one analysing the participants’ reaction (in terms of the knowledge/concepts and values/concerns they voiced). The results show, firstly, that the didactical design of EdIn was successful with a view to supporting citizen competence in participants. Secondly, they show that in adult civic education sustainable consumption should be approached by focusing on good life and justice. Thirdly, they indicate that people do not necessarily perceive themselves to be part of societal decision-making, leading from the question of the design and content of civic educational activities to the question of their necessity.