Search Results

Motivated Social Cognition and Ideology: Is Attention to Elite Discourse a Prerequisite for Epistemically Motivated Political Affinities?

Christopher M. Federico and Paul Goren

in Social and Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification

Political psychologists have long searched for links between citizens' personality characteristics and their political worldviews. In particular, much research has examined the relationship between ... More

Political psychologists have long searched for links between citizens' personality characteristics and their political worldviews. In particular, much research has examined the relationship between epistemic motivation-the needs or motives that lead individuals to acquire and use information in order to construct a view of reality—and ideological self—placement. Most notably, this line of work suggests that the need for closure, or the need for "any firm belief on a given topic, as opposed to confusion and uncertainty" is associated with greater political conservatism. Extending and qualifying this argument, the chapter argues that the connection between epistemic motivation and ideology may depend on the extent to which citizens are familiar enough with key political ideas and debates, as propounded by political elites, to "correctly" select the orientation that satisfies their epistemic needs. Using data from a student and an adult sample, support is found for this hypothesis, demonstrating that the relationship between the need for closure and ideological orientation is stronger among those high in political expertise.Less

The Single Market and the Environment: From Issue Linkage to Political Choice

Albert Weale, Geoffrey Pridham, Michelle Cini, Dimitrios Konstadakopulos, Martin Porter, and Brendan Flynn

in Environmental Governance in Europe: An Ever Closer Ecological Union?

Many of the arguments about the processes of European integration that were reviewed previously turn on the issue of spillover. In this chapter, the origins of the EU environmental policy in terms of ... More

Many of the arguments about the processes of European integration that were reviewed previously turn on the issue of spillover. In this chapter, the origins of the EU environmental policy in terms of this concept are examined, particularly, the relationship between the single market and environmental policy, on the assumption that the creation of the single market has been the most important device for increasing European integration. In addition, it shows that there is clearly a close relationship between the evolving European single market and the protection of the European environment. It also seeks to address the question of how far this relationship develops from technical spillover to political spillover.Less

How Rich Countries Cope with Deindustrialization

Patrick Emmenegger, Silja Häusermann, Bruno Palier, and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser

in The Age of Dualization: The Changing Face of Inequality in Deindustrializing Societies

This conclusive chapter reviews the comparative evidence accumulated throughout the book on the new, widening and deepening divides between insiders and outsiders. It answers two key questions: who ... More

This conclusive chapter reviews the comparative evidence accumulated throughout the book on the new, widening and deepening divides between insiders and outsiders. It answers two key questions: who are the outsiders? And what is driving dualization? Most importantly, the comparative evidence discussed in this chapter points to the crucial importance of political choice in shaping the social outcomes of deindustrialization. Hence, insider-outsider divides are not a straightforward consequence of deindustrialization, but rather the result of policy. Finally, the chapter speculates about the future development of dualized societies: are they on a road to ever more inequality and social exclusion, or can we expect new equilibria to last? It argues that several mechanisms - including institutional feedback, the occupational segmentation of labor markets and the weak political mobilization of outsiders – may stabilize the new inequalities brought about by dualization.Less

Foot Voting, Federalism, and Political Freedom

Ilya Somin

in Federalism and Subsidiarity: NOMOS LV

This chapter examines foot voting as a tool for enhancing political freedom and its implications for federalism. It begins with a discussion of some of the limitations of ballot box voting compared ... More

This chapter examines foot voting as a tool for enhancing political freedom and its implications for federalism. It begins with a discussion of some of the limitations of ballot box voting compared to foot voting as a method of political choice, such as voters' inability to exercise choice over the basic structure of the political system and the presence of widespread rational political ignorance. It then considers some possible disadvantages of foot voting, including moving costs, the possibility of “races to the bottom,” and the problem of oppression of minority groups by subnational governments. It argues that the case for foot voting under federalism should be expanded “all the way down” to local governments and private communities, and “all the way up” to allow greater migration across international boundaries. Finally, the chapter highlights the advantages of “all the way down” decentralization for foot voting.Less

The Varying Strategies of Social Preservation

Japonica Brown-Saracino

in A Neighborhood That Never Changes: Gentrification, Social Preservation, and the Search for Authenticity

Social preservationists' practices fall into three general categories: (1) symbolic, as in the use of festivals, streetscapes, and artworks that celebrate old-timers or theater productions that ... More

Social preservationists' practices fall into three general categories: (1) symbolic, as in the use of festivals, streetscapes, and artworks that celebrate old-timers or theater productions that criticize gentrification; (2) political, from protests against upscale development to membership on an affordable-housing task force; and (3) private, such as the decision to support old-timers' businesses and to resist selling property for profit. Of course, the lines between the categories sometimes blur. Symbolic practices are often overtly political. Private efforts often arise from political concerns, and political choices can be very personal. However, the categories isolate the medium through which preservationists work. This chapter first outlines the dimensions of each type of practice. Then it describes the practices typical of each site and how context shapes preservationists' strategies.Less

The Political Circumstances of Constitutional Scrutiny

Conrado Hübner Mendes

in Constitutional Courts and Deliberative Democracy

This chapter examines the political constraints of constitutional adjudication. It first discusses the five main political choices facing constitutional courts. These are tensions involved in the ... More

This chapter examines the political constraints of constitutional adjudication. It first discusses the five main political choices facing constitutional courts. These are tensions involved in the following: agenda-setting and docket-forming; in defining the degree of cohesion of the written decision (whether single or plural); in calibrating the width, depth, and tone of the decisional phrasing; in anticipating the degree of cooperation or resistance of the other branches; and in managing public opinion. The chapter further recommends that the virtues of prudence and courage should help a constitutional court to handle the political pressures it faces. It then characterizes what the political facet of constitutional scrutiny entails for the court's internal deliberation. The chapter considers the notions of prudence and courage as supplementary virtues that shape the ethics of deliberation and assist the court to handle those political constraints.Less

The Permissive Power of the Ban on War

Ian Hurd

in How to Do Things with International Law

This chapter examines a classical area of international law: the use of force by states. The ban on war is often cited as the centerpiece of the modern international legal-political system and used ... More

This chapter examines a classical area of international law: the use of force by states. The ban on war is often cited as the centerpiece of the modern international legal-political system and used to distinguish the contemporary age from earlier, less legalized periods. Liberal convention sees the ban on war as a legal constraint on states' political choices; states seeking to uphold the international rule of law are advised to refrain from using force against other states. However, this understanding is flawed. The UN Charter outlaws some kinds of war and permits others, such as those undertaken in self-defense. The chapter then demonstrates that the Charter is a mechanism by which law sorts the motivations for war into lawful (self-defense) and unlawful (all others) categories. It thereby creates a framework to legitimate wars and reduce their political costs. The Charter is not antiwar: it is explicitly permissive of war so long as the claimed motive is self-defense.Less

Introduction: The Elements of Political Communication Change

Ben Epstein

in The Only Constant is Change: Technology, Political Communication, and Innovation Over Time

This introduction serves several important goals. It lays out both the research objective and theoretical framework placing this study on an interdisciplinary foundation that combines work from ... More

This introduction serves several important goals. It lays out both the research objective and theoretical framework placing this study on an interdisciplinary foundation that combines work from political science, American political development, mass communication, history, and diffusion studies. It introduces the core concepts of the book, concentrated around a recurring multistage process called the political communication cycle (PCC). The three stages of the PCC, detailed in the following chapters, include the information and communications technology (ICT)–focused technological imperative phase; the political choice phase, which emphasizes the behavioral process central to innovation; and stabilization through the establishment of new norms, regulations, and institutions. This process has repeated throughout history, where long periods of relative stability, known as political communication orders (PCOs), are disrupted by shorter periods of permanent change, identified as political communication revolutions (PCRs). The introduction concludes by introducing the three claims that are used throughout the book and outlining the chapters that follow.Less

Political Choice: The Behavioral Role in Political Communication Change

Ben Epstein

in The Only Constant is Change: Technology, Political Communication, and Innovation Over Time

Chapter 4 explains the concept of political choice, the second and most important phase of the political communication cycle (PCC). The political choice phase is the process in which political actors ... More

Chapter 4 explains the concept of political choice, the second and most important phase of the political communication cycle (PCC). The political choice phase is the process in which political actors choose if and when to incorporate new information and communications technologies (ICTs) into their communication strategies. This chapter details the process that political actors or organizations go through when determining whether to innovate and helps to identify characteristics of those parties that are more likely to innovate earlier than others, known as innovativeness. Political choice is the behavioral component of the political communication cycle. These innovation decisions are the primary determinants regarding if and how ICT innovations are used to change political communication activity. Therefore, political choice is the most important phase of the PCC, differentiating political communication change from social and societal communication change more broadly.Less

Benchmarking and governance

Graham Room

in The European challenge: Innovation, policy learning and social cohesion in the new knowledge economy

This chapter focuses on the role of benchmarking in relation to governance. It notes that if benchmarking of the new knowledge-based economy and policy learning are to be ‘intelligent’, they must ... More

This chapter focuses on the role of benchmarking in relation to governance. It notes that if benchmarking of the new knowledge-based economy and policy learning are to be ‘intelligent’, they must deploy a range of tools proportionate to its complexity. It discusses that benchmarking, policy learning, political choice, and the pursuit of particular trajectories of socio-economic development all presuppose a certain level of State capacity. It explains that capacity-building is, indeed, an integral part of the Lisbon strategy, as countries are encouraged to build on best practice and Community programmes are refashioned to support achievement of the Lisbon goals.Less

Infrastructure Governance as Political Choice

Kai Wegrich and Gerhard Hammerschmid

in The Governance of Infrastructure

This chapter explores political decision-making relating to infrastructure investments in light of the recent trends towards establishing independent expert bodies to guide this process. The chapter ... More

This chapter explores political decision-making relating to infrastructure investments in light of the recent trends towards establishing independent expert bodies to guide this process. The chapter argues that the complexity of infrastructure governance leads to patterns of decision-making shaped by mechanisms of bounded rationality and selective perception. Drawing on the concept of ‘political choice’, it also shows that current debates about such independent expert bodies too often seek to replace the political logic with a technocratic one, instead of exploring ways to increase the intelligence of inherently political processes. Institutional design debates suffer from ‘naive institutionalism’ overestimating the effects of formal institutional changes and ignoring the role of informal political dynamics. Overall, the institutional design debate in infrastructure governance should be more reflective and consider experiences with institutional reforms and attempts to depoliticise the policy process with tools of rational analysis.Less

Introduction: The Public's Part of Public Discussion

in Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life

This chapter argues that informal interaction should not be overlooked, because it is a way in which people collectively develop fundamental tools of political understanding. Political scientists ... More

This chapter argues that informal interaction should not be overlooked, because it is a way in which people collectively develop fundamental tools of political understanding. Political scientists have given the act of understanding politics, also referred to as the act of interpreting or making sense of politics, far less attention than the act of evaluating or making political choices. In analyzing processes of interpretation, the dependent variable is no longer preferences but perspectives. Preferences are attitudes about particular issues. Perspectives are the lenses through which people view issues. Some aspects of a person's perspective or outlook on life are not necessarily tied to their social context. Yet, how people look at the world is grounded in where they place themselves in relation to others. Social identities are not just one component of worldviews. Instead, we see the world through ideas of where we place ourselves in relation to others.Less

Dry wall

Arthur Aughey

in The British question

The final chapter in this first part of the book proposes a more satisfactory way of understanding historical change and the ambiguities of modern British politics. It draws on the metaphor for ... More

The final chapter in this first part of the book proposes a more satisfactory way of understanding historical change and the ambiguities of modern British politics. It draws on the metaphor for historical change favoured by the English philosopher Michael Oakeshott, the ‘dry wall’. The advantage is that it allows us better to render unto politics those things which are political and unto history those things which are historical. It puts the practical emphasis on calculations and wagers, making the stuff of politics much more interesting and open-ended. The chapter argues that we cannot rely either on the narratives of Providence or Zeitgeist but are faced with the burden of judgement and choice. It calls on the skill of subtle analysis because things don’t evolve nor are they inevitable.Less

Conclusion: Displacing War Mythology and Developmental Logic

Megan H. Mackenzie

in Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone: Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development

This concluding chapter remarks on two photos of women representing the aftermath of civil war. One is an image of victims of sexual violence while the other is a picture of a young woman with either ... More

This concluding chapter remarks on two photos of women representing the aftermath of civil war. One is an image of victims of sexual violence while the other is a picture of a young woman with either one or both of her limbs amputated. The chapter states that both of these representations have typically been employed to raise awareness about the ways that civilians were impacted and victimized by the civil war. Furthermore, they signal that women's bodies are stained with the legacies of the conflict. Thus, the reproduction of these images is one of the political choices that serve to reconstruct women in a distinct way post-conflict.Less