Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The ratings of ten interest groups, along with party unity and presidential support scores, are analyzed to explore the broader evidence of change and stability in gender difference and women’s ...
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The ratings of ten interest groups, along with party unity and presidential support scores, are analyzed to explore the broader evidence of change and stability in gender difference and women’s impact across the strikingly different environments of the 103rd and 104th Congresses. Although the results suggest that increased descriptive representation will enhance substantive representation of women, these findings of gender difference coexist with evidence that descriptive representation might not necessarily contribute to increased substantive representation of women. Gender differences narrowed in the 104th, primarily due to the influx of a new cohort of Republican women who were in some cases even more conservative than their male colleagues, but also due to ‘conversion’ effects, as veteran Republican women shifted rightward in an institutional environment where the cost of difference increased. With Democratic men on average being more feminist/liberal than Republican women on average, the question is raised whether substantive representation of women would be better served by increasing the proportional presence of Democrats (regardless of gender) or by increasing women’s presence regardless of party.Less
The ratings of ten interest groups, along with party unity and presidential support scores, are analyzed to explore the broader evidence of change and stability in gender difference and women’s impact across the strikingly different environments of the 103rd and 104th Congresses. Although the results suggest that increased descriptive representation will enhance substantive representation of women, these findings of gender difference coexist with evidence that descriptive representation might not necessarily contribute to increased substantive representation of women. Gender differences narrowed in the 104th, primarily due to the influx of a new cohort of Republican women who were in some cases even more conservative than their male colleagues, but also due to ‘conversion’ effects, as veteran Republican women shifted rightward in an institutional environment where the cost of difference increased. With Democratic men on average being more feminist/liberal than Republican women on average, the question is raised whether substantive representation of women would be better served by increasing the proportional presence of Democrats (regardless of gender) or by increasing women’s presence regardless of party.
John A. Booth
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199289653
- eISBN:
- 9780191710964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289653.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Arising from the 1948 Costa Rican civil war, a multiparty system developed in Costa Rica under a social democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) that dominated the polity for decades. Small ...
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Arising from the 1948 Costa Rican civil war, a multiparty system developed in Costa Rica under a social democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) that dominated the polity for decades. Small conservative opposition parties coalesced to win the presidency upon occasion. These merged into the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), which challenged the PLN for dominance within the system in the 1990s. Under stresses imposed by neo-liberalism, the Costa Rican party system destabilized in the early 2000s. This chapter traces the evolving system, examines the parties in presidential and legislative elections over time, and discusses citizen electoral participation. It examines major parties' social bases and their evolving legitimacy, organization, membership, recruitment, financing, factionalism, and interest articulation. It describes the impact for the party system of the rise of media-dominated retail electoral politics, depersonalization partisan politics, and the adoption of primary elections. The PLN stumbled badly in the elections of 1998 and especially 2002, but rallied while the PUSC — plagued by scandals in two administrations — effectively collapsed in the 2006 election. Trends suggest increasing instability and volatility of the system.Less
Arising from the 1948 Costa Rican civil war, a multiparty system developed in Costa Rica under a social democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) that dominated the polity for decades. Small conservative opposition parties coalesced to win the presidency upon occasion. These merged into the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), which challenged the PLN for dominance within the system in the 1990s. Under stresses imposed by neo-liberalism, the Costa Rican party system destabilized in the early 2000s. This chapter traces the evolving system, examines the parties in presidential and legislative elections over time, and discusses citizen electoral participation. It examines major parties' social bases and their evolving legitimacy, organization, membership, recruitment, financing, factionalism, and interest articulation. It describes the impact for the party system of the rise of media-dominated retail electoral politics, depersonalization partisan politics, and the adoption of primary elections. The PLN stumbled badly in the elections of 1998 and especially 2002, but rallied while the PUSC — plagued by scandals in two administrations — effectively collapsed in the 2006 election. Trends suggest increasing instability and volatility of the system.
Reuven Y. Hazan and Gideon Rahat
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199572540
- eISBN:
- 9780191723070
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572540.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter addresses each of the four main dimensions of candidate selection (candidacy, selectorate, decentralization, and voting/appointment) according to its impact on different aspects of ...
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This chapter addresses each of the four main dimensions of candidate selection (candidacy, selectorate, decentralization, and voting/appointment) according to its impact on different aspects of responsiveness. It begins with a discussion of political party unity, seeing high levels of unity as a sign of party‐centered responsiveness and low levels of it as a sign of candidate‐centered responsiveness. It then assesses the relationship between candidate selection and party unity, addressing each of the four dimensions and showing how the influence of different candidate selection methods on responsiveness can vary significantly. The chapter also deals with an important associated aspect that is relevant for responsiveness in particular, party financing, and points to its relationship with candidate selection. Throughout the chapter there is a constant reflection on the influence of the democratization of candidate selection, particularly as two contrasting approaches are delineated and empirical data is presented.Less
This chapter addresses each of the four main dimensions of candidate selection (candidacy, selectorate, decentralization, and voting/appointment) according to its impact on different aspects of responsiveness. It begins with a discussion of political party unity, seeing high levels of unity as a sign of party‐centered responsiveness and low levels of it as a sign of candidate‐centered responsiveness. It then assesses the relationship between candidate selection and party unity, addressing each of the four dimensions and showing how the influence of different candidate selection methods on responsiveness can vary significantly. The chapter also deals with an important associated aspect that is relevant for responsiveness in particular, party financing, and points to its relationship with candidate selection. Throughout the chapter there is a constant reflection on the influence of the democratization of candidate selection, particularly as two contrasting approaches are delineated and empirical data is presented.
DIRK SPILKER
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199284122
- eISBN:
- 9780191712579
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284122.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The German communists who resumed their work in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany in the dying days of World War II were determined to exploit the existing power vacuum and seize — with help from the ...
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The German communists who resumed their work in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany in the dying days of World War II were determined to exploit the existing power vacuum and seize — with help from the Soviet Union — the key posts in the new administrations. Their plan was to absorb Germany's proud but weakened Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) into a communist-led Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and thus win control of the German workers' movement, destroy the power of Germany's upper bourgeoisie through a series of radical economic reforms promoted under the guise of anti-fascism, and win the support of the German middle classes by protecting their interests and rejecting calls for an immediate transition to socialism. This strategy worked well until, in the autumn of 1945, opposition to the communists from Germany's other political parties, which had earlier been non-existent because of the post-war chaos, increased. Still, the founding of the SED was a success for the communists at a time when few things were certain in Germany.Less
The German communists who resumed their work in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany in the dying days of World War II were determined to exploit the existing power vacuum and seize — with help from the Soviet Union — the key posts in the new administrations. Their plan was to absorb Germany's proud but weakened Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) into a communist-led Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and thus win control of the German workers' movement, destroy the power of Germany's upper bourgeoisie through a series of radical economic reforms promoted under the guise of anti-fascism, and win the support of the German middle classes by protecting their interests and rejecting calls for an immediate transition to socialism. This strategy worked well until, in the autumn of 1945, opposition to the communists from Germany's other political parties, which had earlier been non-existent because of the post-war chaos, increased. Still, the founding of the SED was a success for the communists at a time when few things were certain in Germany.
Patrick Major
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199243280
- eISBN:
- 9780191714061
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243280.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Few historical changes occur literally overnight, but on 13 August 1961 18 million East Germans awoke to find themselves walled in by an edifice which was to become synonymous with the Cold War: the ...
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Few historical changes occur literally overnight, but on 13 August 1961 18 million East Germans awoke to find themselves walled in by an edifice which was to become synonymous with the Cold War: the Berlin Wall. This new history rejects traditional, top‐down approaches to Cold War politics, exploring instead how the border closure affected ordinary East Germans, from workers and farmers to teenagers and even party members, ‘caught out’ by Sunday the Thirteenth. Party, police, and Stasi reports reveal why one in six East Germans fled the country during the 1950s, undermining communist rule and forcing the eleventh‐hour decision by Khrushchev and Ulbricht to build a wall along the Cold War's frontline. Did East Germans resist or come to terms with immurement? Did the communist regime become more or less dictatorial within the confines of the so‐called ‘Antifascist Defence Rampart’? Using film and literature, but also the GDR's losing battle against Beatlemania, Patrick Major's cross‐disciplinary study suggests that popular culture both reinforced and undermined the closed society. Linking external and internal developments, Major argues that the GDR's official quest for international recognition, culminating in Ostpolitik and United Nations membership in the early 1970s, became its undoing, unleashing a human rights movement which fed into, but then broke with, the protests of 1989. After exploring the reasons for the fall of the Wall and reconstructing the heady days of the autumn revolution, the author reflects on the fate of the Wall after 1989, as it moved from demolition into the realm of memory.Less
Few historical changes occur literally overnight, but on 13 August 1961 18 million East Germans awoke to find themselves walled in by an edifice which was to become synonymous with the Cold War: the Berlin Wall. This new history rejects traditional, top‐down approaches to Cold War politics, exploring instead how the border closure affected ordinary East Germans, from workers and farmers to teenagers and even party members, ‘caught out’ by Sunday the Thirteenth. Party, police, and Stasi reports reveal why one in six East Germans fled the country during the 1950s, undermining communist rule and forcing the eleventh‐hour decision by Khrushchev and Ulbricht to build a wall along the Cold War's frontline. Did East Germans resist or come to terms with immurement? Did the communist regime become more or less dictatorial within the confines of the so‐called ‘Antifascist Defence Rampart’? Using film and literature, but also the GDR's losing battle against Beatlemania, Patrick Major's cross‐disciplinary study suggests that popular culture both reinforced and undermined the closed society. Linking external and internal developments, Major argues that the GDR's official quest for international recognition, culminating in Ostpolitik and United Nations membership in the early 1970s, became its undoing, unleashing a human rights movement which fed into, but then broke with, the protests of 1989. After exploring the reasons for the fall of the Wall and reconstructing the heady days of the autumn revolution, the author reflects on the fate of the Wall after 1989, as it moved from demolition into the realm of memory.
Dirk Spilker
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199284122
- eISBN:
- 9780191712579
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284122.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Would it have been possible to build a unified and democratic Germany half a century before the fall of the Berlin Wall? This book reassesses this question by exploring Germany's division after World ...
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Would it have been possible to build a unified and democratic Germany half a century before the fall of the Berlin Wall? This book reassesses this question by exploring Germany's division after World War II from the point of view of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands or SED), the communist-led and Soviet-sponsored ruling party of East Germany. Drawing on unpublished documents from the SED archives, the book rejects claims that the East German comrades and their Soviet masters had abandoned their struggle for socialism and were willing to accept a democratic Germany in exchange for a pledge to neutrality. It argues that the communists' sudden switch to a multi-party approach at the end of the war was a tactical move inspired not by a desire for compromise but by the mistaken belief that they could win political hegemony — and the chance to introduce socialism throughout Germany — through the ballot box. Communist optimism, as this book shows, rested on specific assumptions about the situation after the war, all of which revolved around the prospect of political instability and social unrest in West Germany. The comrades in East Berlin did not just say that their regime would ultimately prevail, they genuinely believed it. Nor should their hopes be dismissed as a mere fantasy. In the aftermath of the war, the economic gap between the two Germanies was still relatively narrow and West Germany's future success as a magnet for the people in East Germany was by no means guaranteed.Less
Would it have been possible to build a unified and democratic Germany half a century before the fall of the Berlin Wall? This book reassesses this question by exploring Germany's division after World War II from the point of view of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands or SED), the communist-led and Soviet-sponsored ruling party of East Germany. Drawing on unpublished documents from the SED archives, the book rejects claims that the East German comrades and their Soviet masters had abandoned their struggle for socialism and were willing to accept a democratic Germany in exchange for a pledge to neutrality. It argues that the communists' sudden switch to a multi-party approach at the end of the war was a tactical move inspired not by a desire for compromise but by the mistaken belief that they could win political hegemony — and the chance to introduce socialism throughout Germany — through the ballot box. Communist optimism, as this book shows, rested on specific assumptions about the situation after the war, all of which revolved around the prospect of political instability and social unrest in West Germany. The comrades in East Berlin did not just say that their regime would ultimately prevail, they genuinely believed it. Nor should their hopes be dismissed as a mere fantasy. In the aftermath of the war, the economic gap between the two Germanies was still relatively narrow and West Germany's future success as a magnet for the people in East Germany was by no means guaranteed.
DIRK SPILKER
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199284122
- eISBN:
- 9780191712579
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284122.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter deals with the German Question and the attitudes of the Soviet Union and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) towards it. It argues that, with Moscow's backing, the SED leaders ...
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This chapter deals with the German Question and the attitudes of the Soviet Union and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) towards it. It argues that, with Moscow's backing, the SED leaders sought to extend their control over the whole of Germany but found themselves frustrated by the Western Allies as well as the incompetence of their West German fellow comrades. By mid-1946, the lines for the division of Germany had been drawn following a dramatic decline in Soviet-Western relations as well as the SED's failure to turn itself into a nationwide party, although the belief that Western Germany was not viable on its own gave the SED leaders hope. The founding of the SED via a zonal rather than a nationwide merger between the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was a severe blow to the idea of German political unity. Its implications were not lost on the KPD leaders.Less
This chapter deals with the German Question and the attitudes of the Soviet Union and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) towards it. It argues that, with Moscow's backing, the SED leaders sought to extend their control over the whole of Germany but found themselves frustrated by the Western Allies as well as the incompetence of their West German fellow comrades. By mid-1946, the lines for the division of Germany had been drawn following a dramatic decline in Soviet-Western relations as well as the SED's failure to turn itself into a nationwide party, although the belief that Western Germany was not viable on its own gave the SED leaders hope. The founding of the SED via a zonal rather than a nationwide merger between the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was a severe blow to the idea of German political unity. Its implications were not lost on the KPD leaders.
PATRICK STEVENSON
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198299707
- eISBN:
- 9780191708053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299707.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter focuses on public language use in the GDR. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 examines the official discourse of the Socialist Unity Party as manifested in statements of various ...
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This chapter focuses on public language use in the GDR. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 examines the official discourse of the Socialist Unity Party as manifested in statements of various kinds. This formed the bedrock of ‘public language’ in the GDR — not the language of everyday social intercourse, but the discourse of authority and political orthodoxy which ordinary citizens would inevitably encounter, and in which they would develop at least a passive competence. Section 3.2 considers the functions and importance of the ritualization of speech events involving most members of the population (focusing on May Day and the Jugenweidhe, the secular equivalent of confirmation).Less
This chapter focuses on public language use in the GDR. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 examines the official discourse of the Socialist Unity Party as manifested in statements of various kinds. This formed the bedrock of ‘public language’ in the GDR — not the language of everyday social intercourse, but the discourse of authority and political orthodoxy which ordinary citizens would inevitably encounter, and in which they would develop at least a passive competence. Section 3.2 considers the functions and importance of the ritualization of speech events involving most members of the population (focusing on May Day and the Jugenweidhe, the secular equivalent of confirmation).
Conor Little and David M. Farrell
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- July 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198758631
- eISBN:
- 9780191818554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198758631.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the crucial role that political parties play in maintaining a unified voting bloc in parliament. This party-based approach sets it apart from most existing studies in this area. ...
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This chapter examines the crucial role that political parties play in maintaining a unified voting bloc in parliament. This party-based approach sets it apart from most existing studies in this area. The focus of this chapter is on the factors that incentivize MPs to vote in a unified manner. The chapter tests three hypotheses: (1) whether party unity is improved by greater party organizational strength; (2) whether the greater threat of disciplinary sanctions increases party unity; and (3) whether greater access to resources by MPs reduces party unity. The authors use the Political Party Database (PPDB) dataset to test these hypotheses in thirteen of Europe’s democracies, finding strong support for the third hypothesis, some support for the first hypothesis, but little support for the second hypothesis. This study adds an important new dimension to research on how institutions affect party unity by showing the distinct role party organizations can play in this regard.Less
This chapter examines the crucial role that political parties play in maintaining a unified voting bloc in parliament. This party-based approach sets it apart from most existing studies in this area. The focus of this chapter is on the factors that incentivize MPs to vote in a unified manner. The chapter tests three hypotheses: (1) whether party unity is improved by greater party organizational strength; (2) whether the greater threat of disciplinary sanctions increases party unity; and (3) whether greater access to resources by MPs reduces party unity. The authors use the Political Party Database (PPDB) dataset to test these hypotheses in thirteen of Europe’s democracies, finding strong support for the third hypothesis, some support for the first hypothesis, but little support for the second hypothesis. This study adds an important new dimension to research on how institutions affect party unity by showing the distinct role party organizations can play in this regard.
ALAN McDOUGALL
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199276271
- eISBN:
- 9780191706028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276271.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how throughout the 20th century, the government and political movements in Germany sought to win over the young generation to their ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how throughout the 20th century, the government and political movements in Germany sought to win over the young generation to their ideological cause. It then focuses on the founding of the Free German Youth (FDJ) as a ‘non-partisan, united, and democratic youth organization’. It discusses the limitations of a one-sided ‘Stalinization’ approach to the FDJ's early years, which serves as an effective starting point for one of the central premises of this book: namely, that the FDJ's experiences during the fifties and sixties wholly discredit the ‘totalitarian’ paradigm as a valid means of explaining and understanding the character of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany's (SED) dictatorship.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how throughout the 20th century, the government and political movements in Germany sought to win over the young generation to their ideological cause. It then focuses on the founding of the Free German Youth (FDJ) as a ‘non-partisan, united, and democratic youth organization’. It discusses the limitations of a one-sided ‘Stalinization’ approach to the FDJ's early years, which serves as an effective starting point for one of the central premises of this book: namely, that the FDJ's experiences during the fifties and sixties wholly discredit the ‘totalitarian’ paradigm as a valid means of explaining and understanding the character of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany's (SED) dictatorship.
DIRK SPILKER
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199284122
- eISBN:
- 9780191712579
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284122.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book offers a new perspective on the ‘German Question’ — why Germany was divided after World War II and whether that division could have been avoided. Although this question has intrigued many ...
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This book offers a new perspective on the ‘German Question’ — why Germany was divided after World War II and whether that division could have been avoided. Although this question has intrigued many historians, it has never before been studied comprehensively from the point of view of the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands), the communist-dominated Socialist Unity Party of Germany installed by the Soviet Union in what was to become East Germany. While numerous publications have dealt with the SED and the German Question in one way or another, many of these were written before the collapse of communism and thus without recourse to archival material. This book looks at the period between 1944, the year when the future leaders of the SED determined their post-war strategy, and 1953, the year of the failed East German uprising that sealed the division of Germany for almost 50 years. The focus of the book is on the SED's collective leadership.Less
This book offers a new perspective on the ‘German Question’ — why Germany was divided after World War II and whether that division could have been avoided. Although this question has intrigued many historians, it has never before been studied comprehensively from the point of view of the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands), the communist-dominated Socialist Unity Party of Germany installed by the Soviet Union in what was to become East Germany. While numerous publications have dealt with the SED and the German Question in one way or another, many of these were written before the collapse of communism and thus without recourse to archival material. This book looks at the period between 1944, the year when the future leaders of the SED determined their post-war strategy, and 1953, the year of the failed East German uprising that sealed the division of Germany for almost 50 years. The focus of the book is on the SED's collective leadership.
John Curtice
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748622467
- eISBN:
- 9780748672028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748622467.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
Probably the most remarkable feature of the outcome of the 2003 Scottish Parliament election in Scotland was the success of political parties and election candidates other than those representing one ...
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Probably the most remarkable feature of the outcome of the 2003 Scottish Parliament election in Scotland was the success of political parties and election candidates other than those representing one of the country's four largest parties. Such ‘other’ candidates accounted for no fewer than seventeen of the 129 parliamentary members sent to fill the Holyrood chamber. As many as seven of them came from the Scottish Green Party, another six represented the Scottish Socialist Party, while the remainder comprised three independents and a candidate from the Scottish Senior Citizens' Unity Party. This major breakthrough by parties and candidates from outside Scotland's political establishment led to the newly elected body being dubbed by the media a ‘rainbow parliament’. This chapter examines who supported ‘other’ parties in Scottish Parliament elections and why, focusing on the 2003 election and especially the ballot on which such parties were most successful, the list vote.Less
Probably the most remarkable feature of the outcome of the 2003 Scottish Parliament election in Scotland was the success of political parties and election candidates other than those representing one of the country's four largest parties. Such ‘other’ candidates accounted for no fewer than seventeen of the 129 parliamentary members sent to fill the Holyrood chamber. As many as seven of them came from the Scottish Green Party, another six represented the Scottish Socialist Party, while the remainder comprised three independents and a candidate from the Scottish Senior Citizens' Unity Party. This major breakthrough by parties and candidates from outside Scotland's political establishment led to the newly elected body being dubbed by the media a ‘rainbow parliament’. This chapter examines who supported ‘other’ parties in Scottish Parliament elections and why, focusing on the 2003 election and especially the ballot on which such parties were most successful, the list vote.
David M. Willumsen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198805434
- eISBN:
- 9780191843501
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198805434.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The central argument of this book is that voting unity in European legislatures is not primarily the result of the ‘disciplining’ power of the leadership of parliamentary parties, but rather the ...
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The central argument of this book is that voting unity in European legislatures is not primarily the result of the ‘disciplining’ power of the leadership of parliamentary parties, but rather the result of a combination of ideological homogeneity through self-selection into political parties and the calculations of individual legislators about their own long-term benefits. Despite the central role of policy preferences in the subsequent behaviour of legislators, preferences at the level of the individual legislator have been almost entirely neglected in the study of parliaments and legislative behaviour. The book measures these using an until now under-utilized resource: parliamentary surveys. Building on these, the book develops measures of policy incentives of legislators to dissent from their parliamentary parties, and show that preference similarity amongst legislators explains a very substantial proportion of party unity, yet alone cannot explain all of it. Analysing the attitudes of legislators to the demands of party unity, and what drives these attitudes, the book argues that what explains the observed unity (beyond what preference similarity would explain) is the conscious acceptance by MPs that the long-term benefits of belonging to a united party (such as increased influence on legislation, lower transaction costs, and better chances of gaining office) outweigh the short-terms benefits of always voting for their ideal policy outcome. The book buttresses this argument through the analysis of both open-ended survey questions as well as survey questions on the costs and benefits of belonging to a political party in a legislature.Less
The central argument of this book is that voting unity in European legislatures is not primarily the result of the ‘disciplining’ power of the leadership of parliamentary parties, but rather the result of a combination of ideological homogeneity through self-selection into political parties and the calculations of individual legislators about their own long-term benefits. Despite the central role of policy preferences in the subsequent behaviour of legislators, preferences at the level of the individual legislator have been almost entirely neglected in the study of parliaments and legislative behaviour. The book measures these using an until now under-utilized resource: parliamentary surveys. Building on these, the book develops measures of policy incentives of legislators to dissent from their parliamentary parties, and show that preference similarity amongst legislators explains a very substantial proportion of party unity, yet alone cannot explain all of it. Analysing the attitudes of legislators to the demands of party unity, and what drives these attitudes, the book argues that what explains the observed unity (beyond what preference similarity would explain) is the conscious acceptance by MPs that the long-term benefits of belonging to a united party (such as increased influence on legislation, lower transaction costs, and better chances of gaining office) outweigh the short-terms benefits of always voting for their ideal policy outcome. The book buttresses this argument through the analysis of both open-ended survey questions as well as survey questions on the costs and benefits of belonging to a political party in a legislature.
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199778201
- eISBN:
- 9780199897216
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199778201.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter focuses on the 1989 East German uprising. East Germans found that shifting international dynamics—linked to Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost policies and Hungary’s decision to open ...
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This chapter focuses on the 1989 East German uprising. East Germans found that shifting international dynamics—linked to Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost policies and Hungary’s decision to open its border—enabled them to mobilize. As tens of thousands of East Germans emigrated through Hungary, a labor shortage and an economic crisis developed. When state officials stopped emigration, citizens expressed opposition to regime policies through demonstrations, which were initially tied to Protestant churches’ peace prayer services. As demonstrations expanded, regime leaders tried to repress the movement. But troops defied orders and many deserted, since protesters’ nonviolent demeanor made it difficult to justify the use of force. Hence security force defections, combined with the loss of emigrants’ labor skills, paralyzed the regime. Subsequently, the Berlin Wall fell, and the East German state was dismantled.Less
This chapter focuses on the 1989 East German uprising. East Germans found that shifting international dynamics—linked to Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost policies and Hungary’s decision to open its border—enabled them to mobilize. As tens of thousands of East Germans emigrated through Hungary, a labor shortage and an economic crisis developed. When state officials stopped emigration, citizens expressed opposition to regime policies through demonstrations, which were initially tied to Protestant churches’ peace prayer services. As demonstrations expanded, regime leaders tried to repress the movement. But troops defied orders and many deserted, since protesters’ nonviolent demeanor made it difficult to justify the use of force. Hence security force defections, combined with the loss of emigrants’ labor skills, paralyzed the regime. Subsequently, the Berlin Wall fell, and the East German state was dismantled.
Arvid Nelson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106602
- eISBN:
- 9780300130300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106602.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Environmental History
Under Soviet occupation, reparations and land reform sparked an ecological and economic revolution in the German countryside until the late 1940s. German foresters could not do anything as the Soviet ...
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Under Soviet occupation, reparations and land reform sparked an ecological and economic revolution in the German countryside until the late 1940s. German foresters could not do anything as the Soviet Union purged experienced forest ecologists and silviculturists. With the end of formal Soviet occupation, the new East German government took shape. The German Communist Party was reconstituted in April 1946 as the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and announced the formation of the East German state three years later. East Germany's foresters took responsibility for forest management as the new government appeared to adopt pragmatic policies and conservationist, close-to-nature forestry.Less
Under Soviet occupation, reparations and land reform sparked an ecological and economic revolution in the German countryside until the late 1940s. German foresters could not do anything as the Soviet Union purged experienced forest ecologists and silviculturists. With the end of formal Soviet occupation, the new East German government took shape. The German Communist Party was reconstituted in April 1946 as the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and announced the formation of the East German state three years later. East Germany's foresters took responsibility for forest management as the new government appeared to adopt pragmatic policies and conservationist, close-to-nature forestry.
Geoff Horn
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780719088698
- eISBN:
- 9781781705780
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088698.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter examines Prentice‘s fightback campaign and his attempts to reverse the deselection decision of his local party in Newham North East. His strategy involved using his right of appeal as an ...
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This chapter examines Prentice‘s fightback campaign and his attempts to reverse the deselection decision of his local party in Newham North East. His strategy involved using his right of appeal as an opportunity to publicise the influence of the Left, highlight the predicament of the Right, and provide evidence that Labour‘s Left-Right coalition was irreparably fractured. Underlying his public campaign was a growing view that the Party would inevitably have to break up, with the creation of a new social democratic party. It was at this stage that Prentice became a potential catalyst for realignment, but the cause was negatively affected by short-term factors, including the initial success of a new incomes policy agreed between the Government and the trade unions. It also became apparent that the confrontational approach to internal party divisions pursued by Prentice and his associates was opposed by the majority of their natural allies on the Right. Influential figures, including amongst the Jenkinsite faction, favoured attempts at conciliation with the Left to ensure party unity.Less
This chapter examines Prentice‘s fightback campaign and his attempts to reverse the deselection decision of his local party in Newham North East. His strategy involved using his right of appeal as an opportunity to publicise the influence of the Left, highlight the predicament of the Right, and provide evidence that Labour‘s Left-Right coalition was irreparably fractured. Underlying his public campaign was a growing view that the Party would inevitably have to break up, with the creation of a new social democratic party. It was at this stage that Prentice became a potential catalyst for realignment, but the cause was negatively affected by short-term factors, including the initial success of a new incomes policy agreed between the Government and the trade unions. It also became apparent that the confrontational approach to internal party divisions pursued by Prentice and his associates was opposed by the majority of their natural allies on the Right. Influential figures, including amongst the Jenkinsite faction, favoured attempts at conciliation with the Left to ensure party unity.
Joy H. Calico
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520254824
- eISBN:
- 9780520942813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520254824.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter argues for the significance of Lucullus in the nation-building project undertaken by both the ruling SED (Socialist Unity Party) and prominent intellectuals in the Soviet-Occupied Zone, ...
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This chapter argues for the significance of Lucullus in the nation-building project undertaken by both the ruling SED (Socialist Unity Party) and prominent intellectuals in the Soviet-Occupied Zone, subsequently the German Democratic Republic. It highlights the agreement that opera had a role to play, but its form, its message, and its sound were major points of contention between SED leadership and intellectuals returning from exile in the West. The Trial of Lucullus (Das Verhör des Lukullus) and its attendant dispute marked a watershed moment in the development of cultural policy in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Because portraying the Lucullus controversy as an early step in a regime's ineluctable course to repression ignores the genuine, messy processes through which a young nation attempted to establish its identity and the familiar, nation-building role opera played in that agenda.Less
This chapter argues for the significance of Lucullus in the nation-building project undertaken by both the ruling SED (Socialist Unity Party) and prominent intellectuals in the Soviet-Occupied Zone, subsequently the German Democratic Republic. It highlights the agreement that opera had a role to play, but its form, its message, and its sound were major points of contention between SED leadership and intellectuals returning from exile in the West. The Trial of Lucullus (Das Verhör des Lukullus) and its attendant dispute marked a watershed moment in the development of cultural policy in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Because portraying the Lucullus controversy as an early step in a regime's ineluctable course to repression ignores the genuine, messy processes through which a young nation attempted to establish its identity and the familiar, nation-building role opera played in that agenda.
Agustina Giraudy
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198706861
- eISBN:
- 9780191778537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198706861.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter compares the influence of presidential power on SUR continuity in two Mexican SURs during the years of the first two PAN administrations, under Presidents Vincente Fox and Felipe ...
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This chapter compares the influence of presidential power on SUR continuity in two Mexican SURs during the years of the first two PAN administrations, under Presidents Vincente Fox and Felipe Calderón. Unlike in Argentina, Presidents Fox and Calderón could count on loyal copartisans at local government levels to foster the national–local alliances necessary to challenge subnational rulers’ power from within. As the results of the analyses depict, partisan presidential power was strong in Puebla, leading to SUR reproduction from above. In Oaxaca, in contrast, partisan presidential power was ineffective, prompting Presidents Fox and Calderón to strategically oppose and weaken the regime. Still, because autocrats managed to ensure party elite unity they were able to uphold the SUR’s local power and sustain the regime in power. These results again underscore the extent to which within-country differences between SURs dramatically affect different SURs’ chances of maintaining power.Less
This chapter compares the influence of presidential power on SUR continuity in two Mexican SURs during the years of the first two PAN administrations, under Presidents Vincente Fox and Felipe Calderón. Unlike in Argentina, Presidents Fox and Calderón could count on loyal copartisans at local government levels to foster the national–local alliances necessary to challenge subnational rulers’ power from within. As the results of the analyses depict, partisan presidential power was strong in Puebla, leading to SUR reproduction from above. In Oaxaca, in contrast, partisan presidential power was ineffective, prompting Presidents Fox and Calderón to strategically oppose and weaken the regime. Still, because autocrats managed to ensure party elite unity they were able to uphold the SUR’s local power and sustain the regime in power. These results again underscore the extent to which within-country differences between SURs dramatically affect different SURs’ chances of maintaining power.
Nicholas J. Schlosser (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039690
- eISBN:
- 9780252097782
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039690.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Radio
This chapter turns to the East German propaganda campaign against RIAS, examining the various efforts taken by the German Democratic Republic to stop its population from listening to the ...
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This chapter turns to the East German propaganda campaign against RIAS, examining the various efforts taken by the German Democratic Republic to stop its population from listening to the American-sponsored broadcaster. The Socialist Unity Party's media organs deployed a consistent arsenal of themes through anti-RIAS pamphlets and newspaper stories. These almost always depicted RIAS as a militaristic, imperialist organ that strove to keep Germany divided and hoped to provoke a war with the Soviet Union. However, the East German government went beyond simply attacking the station in the media. It also targeted individuals who listened to RIAS as a minority of unpatriotic, treasonous vagrants who were easily duped by the lies of the United States.Less
This chapter turns to the East German propaganda campaign against RIAS, examining the various efforts taken by the German Democratic Republic to stop its population from listening to the American-sponsored broadcaster. The Socialist Unity Party's media organs deployed a consistent arsenal of themes through anti-RIAS pamphlets and newspaper stories. These almost always depicted RIAS as a militaristic, imperialist organ that strove to keep Germany divided and hoped to provoke a war with the Soviet Union. However, the East German government went beyond simply attacking the station in the media. It also targeted individuals who listened to RIAS as a minority of unpatriotic, treasonous vagrants who were easily duped by the lies of the United States.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804762472
- eISBN:
- 9780804772488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804762472.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Political History
In the early 1970s, critical socialists such as Franz Fühmann and Christa Wolf had felt optimistic that the Socialist Unity Party (SED) dictatorship in East Germany would finally give way to a mature ...
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In the early 1970s, critical socialists such as Franz Fühmann and Christa Wolf had felt optimistic that the Socialist Unity Party (SED) dictatorship in East Germany would finally give way to a mature era in which there would be “no taboos in the realm of art and literature.” However, the hardline revision of the criminal code in 1979 was anything but a mature piece of normative reflection on what the content of socialist justice could be. Instead, it demonstrated the sharpening strategic considerations of a system that seemed incapable of feeling secure in its sovereignty. This chapter shows that the promised new law of socialist order in East Germany remains stubbornly suspended between the emergence of socialism and its catastrophic state of emergency. This suspension is evident in Fühmann's correspondence around the time of several aggressive legal actions against East German writers in the mid-1970s.Less
In the early 1970s, critical socialists such as Franz Fühmann and Christa Wolf had felt optimistic that the Socialist Unity Party (SED) dictatorship in East Germany would finally give way to a mature era in which there would be “no taboos in the realm of art and literature.” However, the hardline revision of the criminal code in 1979 was anything but a mature piece of normative reflection on what the content of socialist justice could be. Instead, it demonstrated the sharpening strategic considerations of a system that seemed incapable of feeling secure in its sovereignty. This chapter shows that the promised new law of socialist order in East Germany remains stubbornly suspended between the emergence of socialism and its catastrophic state of emergency. This suspension is evident in Fühmann's correspondence around the time of several aggressive legal actions against East German writers in the mid-1970s.
