IV: Political Process: Public Opinion, Attitudes, Parties, Forces, Groups and Elections/Vie Politique: Opinion Publique, Attitudes, Partis, Forces, Groupes et Élections
| DOI | 10.1177/002083451606600404 |
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Abstracts |
472
IV
POLITICAL PROCESS : PUBLIC OPINION,
ATTITUDES, PARTIES, FORCES, GROUPS AND ELECTIONS
VIE POLITIQUE : OPINION PUBLIQUE,
ATTITUDES, PARTIS, FORCES, GROUPES ET ÉLECTIONS
66.4509 ABDULLAH, Walid Jumblatt — The Malay community:
voting trends and issues. Round Table 105(2), Apr. 2016 :
205-215.
This article analyzes the reasons for the Malay community’s seeming
support for the People’s Action Party (PAP) government in Singapore,
despite online discontent expressed towards the party immediately prior
to the elections. The article makes three main arguments: (1) that the
reasons explaining the community’s support for PAP are similar to other
Singaporeans, such as the death of founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and
the risk-averse nature of the electorate; (2) that institutional impediments
exist with regard to the community that heavily favor the government;
and (3) that the main opposition party, the Workers’ Party, has not been
able to present itself as a viable alternative to PAP for the community in
terms of either quality of candidates or ideas for governance. [R] [See
Abstr. 66.4778]
66.4510 ACHILOV, Dilshod — When actions speak louder than
words: examining collective political protests in Central
Asia. Democratization 23(4), 2016 : 699-722.
How do post-Soviet Central Asian citizens negotiate the tensions be-
tween partakin g in and abstaining from elite-challenging collective pro-
tests? By analyzing cross-national attitudes in two Central Asian states,
this article (1) systematically analyzes the variation in collective protests
by testing rival macro-, meso-, and micro-level theories; (2) reintroduces
a conceptual and empirical distinction between low-risk and high-risk
collective protests; and (3) examines the conditions under which individ-
uals participate in two distinct types of elite-challenging collective ac-
tions. Three conclusions are reached: (1) the evidence suggests that
nuanced consideration of multi-level theoretical perspectives is neces-
sary to explain contingencies of elite-challenging actions. (2) Econom ic
grievances and resource mobilization emerge as leading factors driving
both low-risk and high-risk protests. (3) Islamic religiosity and social
networking robustly predict participation in high-risk collective action. [R,
abr.]
66.4511 AHLER, Douglas J. ; CITRIN, Jack ; LENZ, Gabriel S. — Do
open primaries improve representation? An experimental
test of California's 2012 top -two primary [USA]. Legisla-
tive Studies Quarterly 41(2), May 2016 : 237-268.
To improve representation and alleviate polarization among US lawmak-
ers, many have promoted open primaries — allowing voters to choose
candidates from any party — but the evidence that this reform works is
mixed. To determine whether open primaries lead voters to choose
ideologically proximate candidates, we conducted a statewide experi-
ment just before California's 2012 primaries, the first conducted under a
new top-two format. We find that voters failed to distinguish moderate
and extreme candidates. As a consequence, voters actually chose m ore
ideologically distant candidates on the new ballot, and the reform failed
to improve the fortunes of moderate congressional and state senate
candidates. [R]
66.4512 AÏT-AOUDIA, Myriam — Des émeutes à une crise poli-
tique : les ressorts de la politisation des mobilisations en
Algérie en 1988 (From riots to political crisis: the politici-
zation of the mobilizations in Algeria in 1988). Politix 112,
2015 : 59-82.
Based on the Algerian case in 1988, this paper analyzes the process by
which riots develop into political crisis through the politicization of multi-
sector rallies. This political crisis produces an unprecedented liberaliza-
tion of the authoritarian regime. The paper focuses on the political and
contentious dimension of these events, showing first that they cannot be
labeled as “political”, as it were “from above”, often on the basis of an ex
post analysis. Instead, one has to be attentive to the struggles for a
legitimate definition of the event, and recreate the process by which a
definition tends to impose itself on all the protagonists, sweeping all
competing categorizations aside. Second, articulating a political judg-
ment about an event is not taken for granted, nor is this political interpre-
tation destined for success. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 66.4079]
66.4513 AKARCA, Ali T. — Putting Turkey’s June and November
2015 [parliamentary] election outcomes in perspective.
Insight Turkey 17(4), Fall 2015 : 91-104.
The results of Turkey’s June and November 2015 parliamentary elec-
tions are put in perspective in light of economic voting literature and
observed historical patterns. Usual and unusual factors that played roles
in these elections are identified and their relative importance is as-
sessed. It appears that a higher than usual number of strategic votes
cast due to special circumstances were essentially behind the outcomes
of both of these elections. The results also show that voters have consol-
idated in four camps more firmly than ever before and that the AK Party
once more came close to a fifty percent vote-share, which is the long-ru n
potential for conservative parties. [R]
66.4514 ALDRICH, John H. ; LEE, Daniel J. — Why two parties?
Ambition, policy, and the presidency. Political Science
Research and Methods 4(2), May 2016 : 275-292.
Duverger’s Law suggests that two parties will dominate under first-past-
the-post (FPTP) within an electoral district, but the law does not neces-
sarily establish two-party competition at the national level. The US is
unique among FPTP countries in having the only durable and nearly
pure, two-party system. We answer two questions. First, what contrib-
utes to the same two parties competing in districts all across the country
and at different levels of office? Second, why is the US two-party system
so durable over time, dominated by the same two parties? “Why two
parties?” We propose the APP: ambition, the presidency, and policy. [R,
abr.]
66.4515 ALDUY, Cécile — Nouveaux discours, nouveaux succès
(New discourse, new successes [of the French Front na-
tional]). Pouvoirs 157, Apr. 2016 : 17-29.
The ascent of Marine Le Pen to the leadership of the Front national in
2011 represented a double shift in the history of the party: on the one
hand, a renewing of the discourse, the leadership and the image of the
FN; on the other, a clearly ascendant electoral momentum. Are the two
things connected? The confrontation between the analysis of her
speeches and a survey of the motivations of the FN voters indicates a
shift rightward of the electorate rather than an ideological repositioning of
the party. [R] [See Abstr. 66.4650]
66.4516 ALFIERI, Sara, et al. — Who are Italian “NEETS”? Trust in
institutions, political engagement, willingness to be ac-
tive and attitudes toward the future in a group at risk for
social exclusion. Rivista internazionale di Scienze sociali
123(3), July-Sept. 2015 : 285-306.
Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) young people are an
emerging at-risk-of-social exclusion group in contemporary society. This
research investigates NEETs’ socio-demographic characteristics and
some variables crucial in the transition to adulthood: perceptions about
the future job opportunities, their desire to start a family, perceptions
about the future, trust in the institutions and social participation. We
compare NEET and non-NEET young people on these variables to
understand the determinants of their political and social commitment.
Results on a study led to 8112 Italians, aged between 19-29, show that
NEETs and non-NEETs are not evenly distributed in the country and by
gender. [R, abr.]
66.4517 ALPTEKIN, Hüseyin — The economic context of Turkey’s
June and November 2015 [parliamentary] elections. In-
sight Turkey 17(4), Fall 2015 : 125-143.
This article argues that the economic context of the June and November
general elections differed to a great extent. While the economy was
central in the June elections, its prominence was shadowed in November
by rising security concerns. Second, while Turkey’s macroeconomic
indicators were pretty unpromising prior to the June elections, increasing
growth figures before November, with the help of the AK Party’s presen-
tation of it, revived the public’s optimism about the AK Party’s economic
performance. Third, in the June elections, the opposition parties plied the
electorate with positive economic messages. The AK Party avoided this
Vie politique : opinion publique, attitudes, partis, forces, groupes et élections
473
trend in June but joined the populist camp after seeing the voters’ pos i-
tive reactions to economic promises. [R, abr.]
66.4518 ALT, James E. ; LASSEN, David D. — Credible sources
and sophisticated voters [Denmark]: w hen does new in-
formation induce economic voting? Journal of Politics
78(2), Apr. 2016 : 327-342.
competence and ultimately vote economically? Since politically relevant
information is often conveyed by actors with incentives to influence voter
perceptions, the credibility of information sources can vary significantly.
This article randomly varies whether voters receive an aggregate unem-
ployment forecast from the central bank, government or main opposition
party using a survey experiment in Denmark linked to detailed panel
data. We find that politically sophisticated voters discern differences in
institutional credibility and the political cost of the signal and update their
unemployment expectations accordingly. Despite failing to differentiate
political costs, unsophisticated voters still substantially update their
expectations. However, while sophisticated voters intend to engage in
substantial prospective economic voting, unsophisticated voters do not
relate their new unemployment expectations to their vote intention. [R]
66.4519 ANCIANO, Fiona — A dying ideal: non-racialism and
political parties in post-apartheid South Africa. Journal of
Southern African Studies 42(2), Apr. 2016 : 195-214.
This article examines the concept of non-racialism primarily through the
lens of South Africa’s largest political opposition party, the Dem ocratic
Alliance (DA), but relates its approach to that of the African National
Congress (ANC). How has the DA conceptualized and instrumentalized
the vision of non-racialism, historically and in post-apartheid South
Africa? This article argues that neither the DA nor the ANC has been
able to do so coherently. The idea of non-racialism is a fracture that
deeply divides both parties; this division is also one that originated
historically for both parties. The article concludes that there is a clear
shift in how the DA envisaged non-racialism during apartheid and how
the party instrumentalizes the concept today. [R, abr.]
66.4520 ANDRÉ, Audrey ; DEPAUW, Sam — The electoral impact
of grassroots activity in the 2012 local elections in Flan-
ders [Belgium]. Acta politica 51(2), Apr. 2016 : 131-152.
The effect of party organization on performance is one of the most
enduring debates about political parties. The conventional wisdom
regarding the growing irrelevance of grassroots activity in the age of
television has been increasingly challenged by studies of constituency
parties’ efforts to mobilize likely supporters on election day. Few studies,
however, have looked at the electoral impact of grassroots activity
outside plurality systems. In particular, we present a most intriguing case
study — one where voting is compulsory and parties’ efforts at mobiliza-
tion likely superfluous. Using new and detailed data on grassroots party
activity in Flanders, we demonstrate that grassroots activity has a posi-
tive and significant effect on parties’ vote-share in the 2012 local elec-
tions, even after controlling for national tides and performance in the
previous election. [R, abr.]
66.4521 ANGERBRANDT, Henrik — Struggles over identity and
territory: region al identities in ethnoreligious conflict in
Northern Nigeria. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 22(2),
2016 : 172-192.
This article explores how ethnoreligious conflict over boundaries and
territoriality involves a politics of scale, that is, how positions and de-
mands are framed by actors according to, for instance, local, regional,
and national scales. The analysis focuses on how Muslim actors in a
conflict in Kaduna State in Nigeria frame a regional, northern Nigerian
identity that varies in content and form depending on the scalar context
in which communal conflict is placed with regional and national politics
yielding different identifications. [R]
66.4522 ATENG, Mathias Awonnatey ; ABAZAAMI, Joseph — Zi-
vilgesellschaftliche Organisationen und Peacebuilding in
Nord-Ghana. Erfassung der Faktoren, die das erfol-
greiche Eingreifen zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisation in
Konfliktzonen begünstigt haben (Civil Society Organisa-
tions and peacebuilding in Northern Ghana. Understand-
ing the factors that have facilitated the successful entry
of Civil Society Organizations in conflict zones). Conflict
and Communication 15(1), 2016 : online.
CSOs in the Northern Region of Ghana have played significant roles in
peace-building processes, resulting in the peaceful settlement of dis-
putes. This paper examines the factors that have facilitated the success-
ful entry of CSOs in peace-building processes in northern Ghana. Em-
ploying qualitative and quantitative research approaches, the study
reveals that the neutrality and impartiality of CSOs have made conflicting
parties to trust their work. Again, the capacity of CSOs, method of deliv-
ery and visibility has made their work more acceptable by all. Finally, the
idea of coordination and networking has shaped the concept of peace-
building and the avoidance of the duplication of efforts. This research
concludes that CSOs are more recognized, respected and preferred by
communities experiencing conflicts, than state institutions. [R]
66.4523 AUDEMARD, Julien ; GOUARD, David — La participation
électorale au prisme de la variable ethnique. Premiers
résultats et perspectives de recherche (Electoral partici-
pation and ethnicity. First results and research agenda).
Revue internationale de Politique comparée 22(1), 2015 : 83-
114.
The variable of ethnicity is rarely used for explaining electoral participa-
tion. When they do so, social surveys usually underline the fact that
belonging to ethnic minorities is a factor of electoral abstention. This
article analyzes the contrary hypothesis: how can ethnicity be a factor of
electoral participation? To answer this question, the article is based on a
study of the electoral participation of 10,475 voters from 10 voting sta-
tions of the city of Montpellier during French 2012 presidential and
legislative elections. From the study of voting lists and by crossing this
information with census data of INSEE, we have estimated the impact of
ethnicity on electoral participation. [R, abr.]
66.4524 AUDETTE, Andre P. ; WEAVER, Christopher L. — Filling
pews and voting booths: the role of politicization in con-
gregational growth. Political Research Quarterly 69(2), June
2016 : 245-257.
Using data from the National Congregations Study, a representative
sample of American congregations, we examine the impact of politiciza-
tion on church membership rates at the congregational level. Employing
ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and cross-lagged structural
equation models, we show that more politically active congregations
were more likely to see growth in membership over time. Using data from
the General Social Survey, we also offer evidence that partisans on both
ends of the political spectrum are more likely to engage in religious
switching than independents, suggesting that those joining new congr e-
gations may be politically motivated. Thus, while political activity may
cost religions adherents at the aggregate level, politicization benefits
individual churches by attracting members from a politically motivated
niche market, signifying that political outreach can be an effective strate-
gy for congregations. [R, abr.]
66.4525 AUGHEY, Arthur ; GORMLEY-HEENAN, Cathy — The [UK]
Conservative Party and [Northern Ireland] Ulster Union-
ism: a cas e of elective affinity. Parliamentary Affairs 69(2),
Apr. 2016 : 430-450.
This article [examines] the relationship between ideas and interests in
British party politics, in particular that relationship within Conservative
and Unionist politics. It examines a way of capturing paradoxical aspects
of ideological thinking — that it is self-chosen or the result of a changing
perspective and yet also apparently natural or in Conservative terms,
“common sense”. It explores the intellectual lineage of “elective affinity”
and assesses its value for understanding how political identities not only
endure but also how those identities change. It gives some substance to
that understanding by viewing through that lens of elective affinity the
association between Conservatives and Ulster Unionists in its historical,
ideological and institutional contexts. [R]
66.4526 AYBAK, Tunç — Geopolitics of denial: Turkish state’s
“Armenian problem”. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern
Studies 18(2), Apr. 2016 : 125-144.
Denial of the crimes committed against the Armenians during the late
Ottoman Empire has been a permanent feature of modern Turkish
diplomatic statecraft, which stems from Turkey’s geopolitical anxieties
closely tied with the nation-building process in the Anatolian lands at the
expense of other non-Turkish and non-Muslim minorities. This article
examines the current discursive debates and diplomatic statecraft in the
construction of the denial policies of the Turkish state. Even though
Turkey has now departed from collective amnesia and the Armenian
genocide has been opened up to public debate, the denial policy has
now become an integral part of the Islamic conservative Justice and
Development Party’s neo-Ottomanist grand strategy and its regional
ambitions. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 66.4784]
66.4527 BACHMANN, Klaus — Rebellen ohne Grund: Ursachen
und Folgen des Wahlsieges der PiS (Rebels without a
cause: sources and consequences of the PiS election
victory [in Poland]). Osteuropa 66(1-2), 2016 : 37-60.
Since its election victory in the Autumn of 2015, the Law and Justice
party has been undoing the Third Republic’s system of institutions with
revolutionary élan. Many observers suspect that this is an expression of
greater social upheavals. But these are neither the result of social injus-
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