How has populism transformed party systems in Europe? I survey the varieties of populism, the sources of their support and the different ways that they appeal to voters. I use data from the Chapel ...Hill Expert Survey to explore whether populist parties are intensifying competition on the cultural dimension, accelerating the decline of mainstream parties, and increasing polarization. I argue that while left and center populist parties have upended existing structures of competition, it is longstanding conservative parties, remodeled using ethnopopulism, that have been the most consequential for the substance of political competition and the trajectory of domestic politics. I consider the behavior of incumbents and argue that varieties of populism should shape our expectations of what happens when populists rule: While left populist parties in power over the last decade have tended to become more ordinary, sometimes even shedding antiestablishment and anti-EU positions, ethnopopulist parties in power have used harsh "us-versus-them" appeals, misinformation, and democratic backsliding in their pursuit of more power.
An Introduction to Special Issue Teorell, Jan; Ziblatt, Daniel; Lehoucq, Fabrice
Comparative political studies,
04/2017, Volume:
50, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This article introduces a collection of papers that explore two understudied but critical questions of enduring concern for the study of democratization. Was the secret ballot driven by the same ...forces that drove the rise of democracy more generally? Did the secret ballot end electoral fraud, or was its effect merely endogenous to economic modernization more generally? This article provides historical context for the rise of the secret ballot, systematizing some of the complexities and ambiguities of the concept of the “secret ballot” itself. Second, we summarize the approach and some of the main findings of the papers in the volume, offering an outline of the broader lessons that emerge from the papers. Finally, we reflect upon the significance of a historical study of the secret ballot for technological and institutional reforms for contemporary democracy.
Despite the large number of technology-intensive organisations, their corporate know-how and underlying workforce skill are not mature enough for a successful rollout of Artificial Intelligence (AI) ...services in the near-term. However, things have started to change, owing to the increased adoption of data democratisation processes, and the capability offered by emerging technologies for data sharing while respecting privacy, protection, and security, as well as appropriate learning-based modelling capabilities for non-expert end-users. This is particularly evident in the energy sector. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyse AI and data democratisation, in order to explore the strengths and challenges in terms of data access problems and data sharing, algorithmic bias, AI transparency, privacy and other regulatory constraints for AI-based decisions, as well as novel applications in different domains, giving particular emphasis on the energy sector. A data democratisation framework for intelligent energy management is presented. In doing so, it highlights the need for the democratisation of data and analytics in the energy sector, toward making data available for the right people at the right time, allowing them to make the right decisions, and eventually facilitating the adoption of decentralised, decarbonised, and democratised energy business models.
Abstract
Extending previous works on major changes in policy advisory systems (PASs), such as externalization (locus) and politicization (government control), this study examines whether and how ...democratization (citizensourcing) of PASs works based on the case of the Kwanghwamun Citizensourcing Policy Platform, which operated for 4 years under the Moon Jae-in administration in South Korea. Analyzing more than 11,000 policy suggestions proposed by ordinary citizens on the digital policy platform, this study investigates how citizensourced policy ideas are discussed, incubated, and finally adopted through interactions among ordinary citizens, policy experts, and government agencies. Based on the belief that the operation of PASs becomes increasingly complicated and often dysfunctional as societies face more “wicked”, cross-cutting, and volatile policy problems than ever, this study argues that citizensourcing policymaking is critical to ensuring policy legitimacy and receptivity. This study suggests that both the quality and features of citizensourced policy ideas are important for advancing policymaking processes. This study also finds that political cycle and active citizen policy entrepreneurs are also critical factors, while it shows noteworthy limits on the quality and features of citizensourced policy ideas, which, in fact, lead to a frustratingly low policy adoption rate. This study suggests that governments need to actively capitalize on the power of ordinary citizens as citizen experts, while the shortcomings and risks of citizensourcing PASs also need to be carefully addressed.
Indonesia has long been hailed as a rare case of democratic transition and persistence in an era of global democratic setbacks. But as the country enters its third decade of democracy, such laudatory ...assessments have become increasingly untenable. The stagnation that characterized Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second presidential term has given way to a more far-reaching pattern of democratic regression under his successor, Joko Widodo. This volume is the first comprehensive study of Indonesia's contemporary democratic decline. Its contributors identify, explain and debate the signs of regression, including arbitrary state crackdowns on freedom of speech and organization, the rise of vigilantism, deepening political polarization, populist mobilization, the dysfunction of key democratic institutions, and the erosion of checks and balances on executive power. They ask why Indonesia, until recently considered a beacon of democratic exceptionalism, increasingly conforms to the global pattern of democracy in retreat.
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) continues its remarkable growth as a method for visualizing biological objects, which has been driven by advances across the entire pipeline. Developments in both ...single-particle analysis and in situ tomography have enabled more structures to be imaged and determined to better resolutions, at faster speeds, and with more scientists having improved access. This review highlights recent advances at each stageof the cryo-EM pipeline and provides examples of how these techniques have been used to investigate real-world problems, including antibody development against the SARS-CoV-2 spike during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Electoral violence has become a recurring challenge in Africa, posing a significant threat to democracy, political stability, and human security. This paper explores the relationship between state ...security and electoral violence in the African context and draws valuable lessons for Ghana. The objectives of this study include investigating the causes and dynamics of electoral violence in Africa, analyzing the role of state security agencies in preventing and mitigating electoral violence, assessing lessons that Ghana could learn from other African countries' experiences, and proposing recommendations to enhance state security and prevent electoral violence in Ghana's Fourth Republic. The paper adopted an explanatory sequential mixed method design. The approach combined the quantitative data analysis and qualitative data collection through literature reviews, interviews, and focus group discussions. By identifying causes and dynamics of electoral violence, assessing the performance of state security agencies, and drawing lessons from successful strategies employed in other African countries. The aim of the study is to add to the existing literature the development of effective measures for ensuring peaceful and fair elections in Ghana. The results reveal a positive and direct relationship between electoral violence and democratization. Furthermore, the research discloses a positive and direct relationship between electoral violence and state security. Finally, the results reveal that state security has an intermediating effect between electoral violence and democratization. The research findings will inform policymakers, election officials, and relevant stakeholders in designing strategies to reduce electoral violence and promote democratic processes in Ghana and across the African continent. Based on these, the study recommends the provision of trusted security, a constitutional review, and an increment of trust in the electoral space.
An emerging consensus holds that nonviolent resistance campaigns are more successful than violent campaigns, partly because they attract more participants. Yet, we lack an understanding of whether ...and why nonviolent tactics attracts support. We propose two motivational logics that can explain support for nonviolence: An instrumentalist logic, whereby nonviolent resistance is preferred based on cost-benefit considerations, and an intrinsic logic where nonviolent resistance is preferred because of perceived inherent moral worth. To investigate the motivational pull of these two logics, we conduct a pre-registered survey experiment among more than 5000 respondents across 33 countries in fall 2019. We find that nonviolent tactics strongly increase movement support relative to violent tactics, and that the preference for nonviolence is primarily driven by intrinsic commitments to the moral worth of nonviolent resistance, rather than instrumental considerations.
Influential voices contend that democracy is in decline worldwide and threatened in the US. Using a variety of measures, I show that—while there has been some recent backsliding—the global proportion ...of democracies remains close to an all-time high. The current rate of deterioration is not historically unusual and is well explained by the lower income and unseasoned institutions of many new democracies swept upwards in the Third Wave. Historical data suggest the probability of democratic breakdown in the US is extremely low. Western governments are seen as threatened by weakening popular support for democracy and an erosion of elite norms. But systematic evidence for these claims is very limited. While eroding democratic quality in some countries is indeed a cause for concern, the fear of a global slide into autocracy appears premature.
PDF
