Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy
... Generally, movements either vanish relatively quickly or transform into an NGO or political party. The thesis proposed by Michels (1968) since the early 20th century asserts that when movements evolve into formal organizations, they often replace their substantive, idealistic goals with operational objectives. In this process, the leaders of the newly formalized movement use the original ideology as a tool to ensure the survival of the organization, rendering the ideals into mere empty slogans. ...
... The relationship between identity, momentum, and resource management reveals two possible outcomes for a movement. On one hand, if a movement has a very strong identity, low momentum, and low resource management, and is focused solely on ensuring its future existence, it will likely transform into an organization (Michels, 1968). This transformation occurs when the movement solidifies its structure and adopts organizational features such as hierarchy and formal rules to sustain itself. ...
... The art of doing organization without becoming an organization: the concept of transpoiesis Based on the ideas ofMichels (1968) andMayreder (1917), it is generally agreed that a movement cannot sustain itself indefinitely without either disappearing or evolving into an organization. Put simply, the key distinction between a movement and an organization is that, while a movement strives to maintain its ideals without 2 A social system that would stop the process of differentiating between identity and difference would simply cease to exist.3 ...
This paper uses the concept of transpoiesis to describe the mechanisms that sustain social movements. Emerging from ethnographic research on the World Social Forum (WSF) and inspired by systems theory, transpoiesis emphasizes the dynamic balance within social movements between decentralized organization and strategic coherence. This differentiates it from autopoiesis, which focuses on self-sustaining systems that maintain and reproduce their structure autonomously through internal processes, rather than emphasizing the dynamic balance between decentralized organization and strategic coherence. Transpoiesis offers a particularly instructive model in the digital age, when classical explanations often fail to account for the rapid pace of change, innovation, flexibility and decentralized collaboration that characterize modern organizations. The concept aids in understanding how social movements build collective identities, navigate organizational dynamics, structure collective learning, and contribute to social change. Moreover, it reflects the broader shift toward network-based arrangements in contemporary organizations, an adaptation to the complexities of the digital environment.
... We first identify two different analytical perspectives on intraparty friction in existing research, one rooted in a primarily structural conception of political parties, one in a primarily behavioral conception. Structuralist accounts are predominantly "inward oriented," emphasizing the party as a social system in which frictions typically occur because intraparty actors, given their respective roles within the organization, hold different political goals (e.g., Michels 1915;Pedersen 2010a;Schumacher, de Vries, and Vis 2013). In contrast, behavioral accounts primarily conceive of the party as a vehicle for external goal attainment in which frictions are largely the result of actors' differences in policy, ideology, or issue orientations (e.g., Gherghina, Close, and Kopecký 2019;Polk and Kölln 2018;Strøm 1990;Willumsen and Öhberg 2017). ...
... Preference divergences underpinning conflict-rather than being nourished by ideological or policy disagreement-stem from "basic differences of interests between participants occupying different positions in the organizational hierarchy" (505-6). This view directly aligns with Michels's (1915) famous "iron law of oligarchy," predicting, for example, divisions between leaders and members, a perspective that has fundamentally shaped the literature on party organization and intraparty dynamics ever since. ...
... The former relates to emotional or interpersonal issues, the latter to goals, contents, issues, tasks, or roles relevant to the operation and activities of an organization. Both accounts of political parties are thus concerned with substantive conflict, acknowledging the same minimum requirement because frictions have to have-at least potentially-implications for the organization, either in terms of self-maintenance or goal attainment (e.g., Michels 1915;Panebianco 1988). ...
Every complex organization is sometimes marked by preference heterogeneity, disagreement, and conflict. Within political parties, such frictions are traditionally viewed negatively, while recent research has started to perceive them more positively. How might such contradictory evaluations be explained? Through a three-step conceptual analysis we (1) identify two analytical perspectives on intraparty friction, one rooted in a primarily structural conception of parties, one in a primarily behavioral conception; and (2) specify a minimal definition of intraparty friction, which underpins a hierarchical concept structure to (3) suggest a way to resolve contradictions in the consequences attributed to intraparty frictions. Structuralist accounts often view frictions as negative due to a more demanding conceptual threshold, suggesting different types and levels of risk taking by conflict partners. Conversely, behavioralist perspectives see friction more often as beneficial because they focus on expressed disagreement without necessitating an organizational response. Our conceptual tools have important implications for research on membership organizations generally.
... I will consider the period between 2012 to 2023, relying on secondary data for the first period and interviews and fieldwork from 2021 to 2023. Dynamics of change are frequent in political organisations, and party change has long been an object of scholarly attention, especially in the field of party politics (Michels 1966;Janda 1990;Katz and Mair 1995;Harmel 2002;Gauja 2016). Nevertheless, attention to cultural structures and the link between culture and political practices is not typical in studies of parties or party change, which are primarily concerned with changes in formal rules that organise parties. ...
... According to Harmel (2002), we can distinguish between three concurring theories of explaining party change: (1) Life cycle theories in which party change is considered in terms of phases of evolution. In Michels's law of oligarchy (Michels 1966), for example, parties generally tend to become oligarchic over time. ...
This study examines the trajectory of the League, a populist-radical right party, which gained and subsequently lost significant consensus during its transformation from regionalism to nationalism. It also explores the party’s attempts to expand into non-traditional areas with varying degrees of success. Covering the period from 2012 to 2024, the research is based on interviews with party members and participant observation at public events conducted between 2021 and 2023.
The first objective is to analyze how the League has evolved over time, with particular emphasis on sub-national dynamics during periods of rapid growth and decline. The second objective investigates party change as a sociological process, integrating underexplored analytical dimensions in party politics scholarship—most notably the interplay between culture and political interactions. Finally, this research aims to explore the sociological understanding of the relationship between culture and political action, extending beyond the specific case of the League to examine the transformation of patterns of political action within organizations more broadly.
... Given that, as established above, leaders of political organizations do not possess the main source of power available to managers of business and production organizations -to punish and reward employees by adjusting their wages -we can assume that ordinary party members tend to become passive once their group moves past the conflict stage, at which point all intragroup power is concentrated in the hands of the leaders who emerge victorious from the conflict. In our opinion, it is in this way that Michels's law of oligarchization 15 , known in political science, is realized. ...
... Thus, preventing the escalation of internal conflicts will halt the effect of Michels' law of oligarchization 15 within such political parties. The increased degree of organization of political parties, as understood by Eric Berne 24 , following the implementation of a variable structure -the dynamic networkand the decomposition of the entire scope of these organizations' activities into priority sectors will significantly increase the amount of time that rankand-file party members can dedicate, on a voluntary basis, to party activities as a result of enhancing their competence and expertise through learning, work, and other activities outside the party. ...
... This dichotomy challenges us to confront the complex interplay between the normative rhetoric of inclusivity and the persistence of entrenched power dynamics within civil society. It prompts a critical reexamination of theoretical frameworks and paradigms that have traditionally conceptualised civil society as a monolithic, egalitarian space (Michels, 2001;Putnam, 1976). Our empirical substantiation of civil society elites requires a more nuanced and contextual understanding of the complexities inherent within this domain. ...
... Historically, civil society studies have often operated within a normative framework that celebrates civil society as a bastion of democratic participation, civic engagement, and a counterweight to state and market forces (Cohen & Arato, 1992;Tocqueville, 2003;Putnam, 2000). However, this idealised perception has occasionally obscured the realities of power asymmetries and stratification within civil society itself (Michels, 2001;Skocpol, 2003). By integrating perspectives from elite studies, we can shed light on the existence of elite strata within civil society and the processes of resource accumulation and influence that shape these power dynamics (Johansson & Uhlin, 2020;. ...
This final chapter discusses how this volume has explored the dynamics that shape the composition, trajectories, and societal influence of Italian civil society elite. By bridging civil society studies and elite studies, it unveils the complexities characterising this elite stratum, illuminating their socio-demographic profiles, ideological orientations, career pathways, and subjective perceptions. The findings highlight a paradox between the socio-demographic privilege and progressive ideological leanings of Italian civil society elite. The volume has also examined professionalisation trajectories and contrasting leadership models across national contexts. It explored the career mobility and boundary-crossing patterns, as well as the historical legacies, ideological divides, and subjective realities that shape the Italian third sector. By integrating civil society studies and elite studies, this work challenges theoretical frameworks, confronts the tension between inclusivity rhetoric and stratified realities, and contributes to a nuanced understanding of the role of civil society elites in democratic governance and social change.
... The critique of both trade unionism and industrial relations (IR) literature for downplaying gender oppression is nothing new (Franzway, 2002(Franzway, , 2017Holgate et al., 2006;McBride, 2001McBride, , 2020. Similarly, the critique of trade unionism for safeguarding the particularistic and economic interests of its leadership, as Robert Michel's wellknown "iron law of oligarchy" suggests (Michels, 1999;Tolbert, 2010;Tolbert & Hiatt, 2009), has been a recurring theme. However, the extent to which these two discriminatory practices are intrinsically related and mutually influence one another in maintaining a specific hegemonic order has received less exploration and discussion (Cranford, 2007;Kirton & Greene, 2005;Kirton & Healy, 1999;Ledwith, 2012;McBride et al., 2015). ...
... Unlike several studies advocating for educational programs to diminish gender and class disparities within union structures (Ledwith, 2012) In this manner, the union leadership aimed to control technical knowledge over how to organize rank-and-file's leisure, a process akin to what Michels (1999) referred to as "expert leadership." This strategy emancipated the leadership from the influence of the rank-and-file and made them less accountable to democratic oversight. ...
The ongoing debate in organization and management studies regarding the transformation of oligarchic structures through rank‐and‐file participation often overlooks gender dynamics. Drawing from the experience of Argentine women playing football independently, this article argues that promoting gender inequalities and reinforcing masculine stereotypes can preserve class disparities in trade unions. Additionally, it highlights how trade unions, by extending control into women's leisure, can perpetuate oligarchic structures, emphasizing the importance of politicizing leisure as a domain of gender inequalities. In turn, the patriarchal‐oligarchic organization represents a unique form of class and gender domination that reconfigures itself by co‐opting informal solidarity networks.
... The literature grappling with the deradicalization of European socialism can be roughly divided into two camps: one that focusses on the relationship between parties and the state, and another that focusses on the relationship between parties and wider society. The idea that parties' relationship with the state could be a source of deradicalization can be found in some of the earliest writings on the party form, with the most famous example being Robert Michels' (1915) account of the evolution of the German Social Democratic Party. Drawing on classical elite theory and the ideas of his teacher, Max Weber (1958[1914[1917), Michels argued that as parties grow, they begin to need bureaucrats and specialist leaders in order to function efficiently. ...
... Most modern accounts of the evolution of socialism have focussed on parties' relationships with society, whether that means the electorate, networks of policy experts, or organizations capable of funding political action (Ferguson 1995;Mudge 2018;Przeworski and Sprague 1986). But, as an earlier generation of scholars (e.g., Michels 1915) pointed out, parties' relationship with the state also matters. For Miliband (1964Miliband ( , 1969, the crucial mechanism is the way that the experience of governing forces socialist party elites into a new institutional context, one that has profound effects on their beliefs and, through them, on the ideological positions of the parties they lead. ...
The question of deradicalization looms large in the historiography of western European socialism. But in this contested field, the contributions of the New Left historian, Ralph Miliband, have been curiously neglected. Through his work on the British Labour Party, Miliband developed a distinctive account of deradicalization that foregrounds the fact that when parties enter government, party elites find themselves transplanted into new, alien institutions. Over time, he argued, they then come to internalize the worldviews of those institutions and reshape their parties accordingly. This essay presents the first quantitative and cross-national test of this “experience of governing hypothesis,” using Comparative Manifesto Project data from western European socialist parties between 1945 and 2021 and a novel matching technique for panel data. Miliband’s theory is strongly supported by this analysis, which also demonstrates the value of taking a multi-dimensional approach to deradicalization.
... Poliarki sendiri merupakan sebuah konsep dalam ilmu politik untuk menggambarkan bentuk pemerintahan di mana kekuasaan didistribusikan di antara banyak kelompok, dan bukan terpusat di tangan satu individu atau kelompok kecil (Michael, 2024 (Diamond, 1999;Steinberg & Tan, 2023 (Dahl, 2001;Pareto, 1926 (Dahl, 1992 (Shaphiro, 2023), dan penerimaan terhadap hal-hal yang tidak masuk akal dan irasional (Michels, 1962 (Dahl, 1992 ...
Runtuhnya Rezim Soeharto 1998, menjadi penanda penting bagi lahirnya demokrasi di Indonesia. Transisi ini menjadi sebuah kunci bagi keterbukaan politik setiap orang untuk dapat menikmati manfaat dari demokrasi. Meskipun demikian, kritik terhadap demokrasi tetap bergulir bahkan ketika Indonesia telah menikmati kehidupan yang lebih demokratis. Salah satu kritik utama dalam wajah demokrasi Indonesia adalah dengan adanya dominasi minoritas atau elit politik dalam memanfaatkan kehidupan demokrasi di Indonesia. Kondisi ini pada akhirnya membuat Indonesia seolah tidak jauh berbeda dari periode sebelumnya akibat adanya praktik de-demokratisasi dari adanya dominasi aktor. Melalui metode penelitian kualitatif jenis deskriptif analisis, serta dengan teknik pengumpulan data berbasis studi pustaka, penulis akan menggunakan Teori Dominasi Minoritas sebagai perspektif utama dalam menjelaskan fenomena kemunduran dan kritik terhadap demokrasi di Indonesia pasca Orde Baru. Penulis menyimpulkan bahwa dominasi minoritas melalui kekuasaan politik, menyebabkan adanya penyelewengan kekuasaan dengan melanggengkan dominasi minoritas melalui politik dinasti dalam jelmaan jubah demokrasi.
... Este desenlace anómalo no se limita a las corporaciones clásicas, sino que es un rasgo característico de las organizaciones con base democrática, como señala el análisis de Robert Michels (1915). ...
Entendiendo que la gestión organizacional es un aspecto tan crucial como sub-estimado en los análisis sobre la Democracia Económica, presentamos los re-sultados de una investigación doctoral. Esta investigación se centró en explorar y analizar los diversos estilos de gestión presentes en las PyMEs del sector software argentino, con especial énfasis en aquellos que promueven dinámicas más participativas, democráticas o horizontales. En otras palabras, buscamos comprender en profundidad aquellas organizaciones donde la toma de deci-siones se distribuye de manera más equitativa.
Nuestro objetivo general fue indagar en el potencial de las configuraciones or-ganizacionales con esquemas decisorios más democráticos, es decir, más par-ticipativos y horizontales, para lograr un funcionamiento estable y eficaz. Para ello, construimos un marco teórico sólido que explicara la viabilidad y sostenibi-lidad de las organizaciones con gestión horizontal.
Posteriormente, realizamos una investigación de campo de naturaleza mixta, basada en entrevistas en profundidad a actores clave de 17 organizaciones de la industria del software en Argentina. A partir de los datos cualitativos obteni-dos, desarrollamos una escala sumatoria que nos permitió medir el grado de horizontalidad de la gestión en cada organización. Esta escala, estadísticamente validada, nos brindó una herramienta cuantitativa para analizar y comparar las empresas estudiadas.
Al mapear las empresas argentinas de software (tanto cooperativas como no cooperativas) en un espacio biaxial que cruza la "Propiedad de los Trabajado-res" con la "Horizontalidad de la Gestión", identificamos cinco perfiles distinti-vos de horizontalidad. Estos perfiles ilustran los rasgos de gestión más caracte-rísticos de las organizaciones estudiadas.
A partir de estas indagaciones empíricas, podemos concluir que:
a) Es posible democratizar significativamente la gestión, aún la de organi-zaciones con propiedad concentrada, y existen diversas maneras y profundi-dades para hacerlo. Esto implica que las posibilidades de distribución más equi-tativa del poder para decidir no se limitan a las cooperativas solamente.
b) La horizontalidad de la gestión no es exclusiva del cooperativismo. Si bien existe una fuerte asociación, encontramos casos de cooperativas (cuya propie-dad es democrática por naturaleza) con esquemas de gestión muy próximos a las configuraciones tradicionales más centralizadas.
c) Las cooperativas poseen una ventaja natural para alcanzar altos niveles de horizontalidad. Sus principios fundacionales y su estructura de propiedad democrática favorecen la participación y la toma de decisiones colectiva. Sin embargo, es importante destacar que la horizontalidad no es un estado estáti-co, sino que depende de prácticas de gestión continuas y de la voluntad de los miembros
... German social theorist Robert Michels in 1911 wrote the book Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie (Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy), in which he presented a very influential theory on "the iron law of oligarchy" (Michels, 1968). On the example of political parties and trade unions, he tried to point out the necessary existence of elites who know how to manage the running of an organization, which tends to move towards oligarchy and thus represents "an oligarchical power grounded upon a democratic basis". ...
This work tries to point out the risks of creating false ideas that ignore the fact that people will always live in an uncertain world. Attention is also paid to critical thinking and the responsibility of a person for his opinions, decisions and deeds.
... The "no-mandates" representation allowed the development of workable consensus in policy-making and thus contributes to decisive action (that is also perceived as legitimate given that those who make decisions have been elected). However, while avoiding the "mob-rule" that Plato was warning against regarding direct democracy, modern democracy leaves room for the emergence of the "iron law of oligarchy" (Michels 1999), the tendency of all political parties and the instruments of government to be taken over by a small group of decisionmakers who are far from representing the interests of the majority. ...
How can the West’s economic and political polarization be explained? We argue that persuasive lobbying at various levels of government leads to systematic deviations of policies from those desired by the majority. Implemented policies diverge from the majority position despite centripetal forces that induce interest groups to select positions closer to that majority position. Resources, organization, and cognitive biases can induce one-sided outcomes. When we allow for long-term lobbying infrastructure investments in a simplified tax-and-spend model, the deviations between majority desires and implemented policies are even larger than those in the absence of long-term investments.
... Ele não poderá, portanto, estar disposto a sacrificar o interesse partidário imediato, pois não há maneira pela qual ele possa se assegurar de que seus adversários fariam o mesmo. Com efeito, um pouco de reflexão mostra que a lógica do "dilema do político" praticamente reenuncia, dentro do jargão dos nossos dias, o argumento de Robert Michels (1966), sobre a "lei de ferro da oligarquia" em sua melhor formulação: sendo a organização a que pertence o político um meio indispensável para que ele possa atingir os seus propósitos (independentemente do mérito intrínseco desses propósitos), então a adesão responsável a esses fins induzirá uma sobreposição crescente entre os fins da organização e os fins substantivos originais, com inevitáveis conflitos e progressivo comprometimento dos fins originais. ...
Artigo baseado no capítulo 4 da tese de doutorado (1997), a partir de trabalho apresentado em mesa redonda coordenada por Alberto Tosi Rodrigues na ABCP do ano 2000.
... A model example of a 'least likely' case is Robert Michels's (1962) classical study of oligarchy in organizations. By choosing a horizontally structured grassroots organization with strong democratic ideals--that is, a type of organization with an especially low probability of being oligarchical--Michels could test the universality of the oligarchy thesis; that is, 'If this organization is oligarchic, so are most others.' ...
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (4) The case study contains a bias toward verification; and (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and that a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more good case studies.
... Both explicit and implicit coordination result in higher quality articles, with explicit coordination being especially central in the early life of an article. Shaw and Hill [34] found that behavior in online wiki communities is consistent with the "iron law of oligarchy," which states that earlier members of a group will, over time, gain disproportionate decisionmaking power and act increasingly out of self-interest rather than the good of the group [29]. Similarly, Halfaker et al. [18] attributed decreasing participation on Wikipedia to poor retention of new users. ...
The internet has enabled collaborations at a scale never before possible, but the best practices for organizing such large collaborations are still not clear. Wikipedia is a visible and successful example of such a collaboration which might offer insight into what makes large-scale, decentralized collaborations successful. We analyze the relationship between the structural properties of WikiProject coeditor networks and the performance and efficiency of those projects. We confirm the existence of an overall performance-efficiency trade-off, while observing that some projects are higher than others in both performance and efficiency, suggesting the existence factors correlating positively with both. Namely, we find an association between low-degree coeditor networks and both high performance and high efficiency. We also confirm results seen in previous numerical and small-scale lab studies: higher performance with less skewed node distributions, and higher performance with shorter path lengths. We use agent-based models to explore possible mechanisms for degree-dependent performance and efficiency. We present a novel local-majority learning strategy designed to satisfy properties of real-world collaborations. The local-majority strategy as well as a localized conformity-based strategy both show degree-dependent performance and efficiency, but in opposite directions, suggesting that these factors depend on both network structure and learning strategy. Our results suggest possible benefits to decentralized collaborations made of smaller, more tightly-knit teams, and that these benefits may be modulated by the particular learning strategies in use.
... There has not been a candidate nomination method that maximizes all three concepts at the same time. However, it is also possible to say that the available data shows that democratic candidate nomination mechanisms do not produce results that are completely parallel to the oligarchic tendencies of the party administration, which Michels (1968) defines as the Iron Law of Oligarchy. This study shows that the use of participatory nomination methods can go beyond the oligarchic tendencies of party elites and make political parties more responsive to grassroots demands and more accountable to their grassroots. ...
This study aims to assess the extent to which competition, inclusive participation and high representation within Turkish mainstream political parties are realized in the nomination of candidates. To attain this objective, candidate selection methods used by AKP (Justice and Development Party), CHP (Republican People's Party), and MHP (Nationalist Action Party), which competed in the general elections on June 12, 2011, and June 7, 2015, are going to be analyzed. Candidate selection methods and their results are going to be discussed in the light of concepts of participation, competition, and representation. The concept of participation is going to be considered on the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of the selectorate. The impact of inclusiveness and exclusiveness of selectorates on competition and representation concepts will be measured. The concept of competition is going to be measured by winning indices of new candidates against incumbents. The concept of representation is going to be measured by winning indices of women and young candidates. The dataset is composed of candidates placed in the parliamentary seats previously won by these parties. Candidates selected by the CHP through primary elections in which party members participated produced the most competitive results. When the representation of women and youth is taken into account, it is seen that the candidate selection methods used by the parties do not have a clear advantage over each other. 2011 ve 2015 Genel Seçimlerinde Türkiye'deki Siyasi Partilerin Aday Seçim Yöntemleri Özet Bu çalışma, Türkiye'deki ana akım siyasi partilerin aday belirleme süreçlerinde rekabetin, kapsayıcı katılımın ve yüksek temsilin ne ölçüde gerçekleştiğini değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaca ulaşmak için 12 Haziran 2011 ve 7 Haziran 2015 genel seçimlerinde yarışan AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) ve MHP'nin (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi) aday belirleme yöntemleri analiz edilecektir. Bu partilerin kullandıkları aday belirleme yöntemleri katılım, rekabet ve temsil kavramları üzerinden sonuçları tartışılacaktır. Katılım kavramı, seçicilerin kapsayıcılığı ve dışlayıcılığı üzerinden ele alınacaktır. Seçicilerin kapsayıcılığı ve dışlayıcılığının rekabet ve temsil kavramları üzerindeki etkisi ölçülecektir. Rekabet kavramı, mevcut adaylara karşı yeni adayların kazanma oranı ile ve temsil kavramı ise kadın ve genç aday kazanma oranları ile ölçülecektir. Veri seti bahsi geçen partilerin daha önce kazandıkları milletvekili sandalyelerine yerleştirilen adaylardan oluşturulmuştur. CHP'nin parti üyelerinin katıldığı ön seçimler ile belirlediği adaylar en rekabetçi sonucu üretmiştir. Kadın ve genç temsili dikkate alındığında partilerin kullandığı aday belirleme yöntemlerinin birbirine net bir üstünlüğü olmadığı görülmektedir.
... In classical studies, elites are generally defined in terms of power and influence, and are traditionally associated with command and stable positions (Khan, 2012;Schjif, 2013;Wedel, 2017). For example, Michels (2001) interprets power as a consequence of occupying specific positions in apical organisations. However, influence can also be informal and linked to the alternative and indirect strategies through which actors engage with governments and influence decision-making processes, rather than formal positions and organisations or institutions (Cohen & Arato, 1992;Santilli, 2024). ...
This chapter provides an in-depth exploration of the methodologies and data utilised in our comparative study of civil society elites across Europe, with a particular emphasis on Italy. The study incorporates data from 133 respondents in Italy, supplemented by comparative data from Sweden (308 respondents), the UK (123 respondents), and the EU level (158 respondents) to offer a broader context. It begins by mapping elite organisations and their leaders, identifying and categorising resource-rich civil society organisations and their leaders. Following this, it details an online survey conducted in the spring of 2021, which captures various aspects of the composition, reproduction, integration, and contestation of civil society elites. The analysis and discussion of the survey data highlight significant findings and trends that shed light on the dynamics of civil society elites across different European contexts. Additionally, supplementary interview data from Italian civil society leaders illustrates specific phenomena such as career paths, professionalisation, and the unique challenges they face. With these methodological approaches and empirical findings, the chapter contributes to a comprehensive understanding of civil society elites in Europe and offers valuable insights into their roles, influence, and the broader socio-political landscape within which they operate.
... The study of political parties has been a key part of comparative political science (Luther & Müller-Rommel, 2002, p. 3). It goes back to the pioneering work of Moisey Ostrogorski 54 (1964[1902), Robert Michels (1962[1911) and Max Weber (1946[1919), or even to more classical studies dating back to the eighteenth century (see Scarrow, 2002). 34 This longstanding interest is justified by the fact that parties play a central role in modern representative democracies. ...
This dissertation provides an empirical, systematic and detailed analysis of programmatic change in European radical left parties (RLPs) since the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989). In particular, it seeks to understand the programmatic development of the party family since this important critical juncture and the factors that have driven changes in their policy platforms since then. In short, it addresses the question of how and why RLPs have changed programmatically over the past three decades.
... 108 Parties have also suffered from the "iron law of oligarchy": a leadership class that dominates the party at the expense of their constituents' concerns. 109 The umbrella party Nidaa Tounes collapsed in part due to the attempts of late President Essebsi to insert his son to power while internal criticism has grown unchecked within the Islamist Ennahda, as its leader Rached Ghannouchi postponed the 11th General Congress, which according to party by-laws should have put an end to his tenure. 110 ...
Dates, durations, and deadlines, questions about when things are done or when they happen: time has political value and is essential to political processes.134 The critique of assumed linear temporalities in peace and transition processes has become increasingly popular in scholarship. Looking at current events in Tunisia through the lens of conflicting temporalities, with a focus on the transitional justice process, can help us make sense of the hopes/expectations, pitfalls, and disappointments that have been shaping the current situation.
... Así como el mercado puede cumplir una función emancipadora; el estado también puede tener más de un filo: a) puede operar como el garante y salvaguardia de los intereses del mercado y de los intereses en el mercado, b) puede ser el instrumento de la defensa del mundo de la vida contra la expansión incontrolada de las relaciones mercantiles (la función "social-demócrata"); pero, asimismo; y tal como lo han enfatizado Michael Mann (1986), Theda Skocpol (2008 y Charles Tilly (1975), puede dar origen a estructuras de poder y de interés irreductibles a los interés de clase o a las exigencias de la sociedad civil. Es a estas alturas bastante evidente que el Estado es una arena de poder en sí, y que se autonomiza de la sociedad y del mercado por una doble vía: 1.Como resultado de la dinámica del agente/principal, como secuela de la cual; es evidente que su personal, sus organismos, su burocracia y sus agentes desarrollan un interés poderoso para autonomizarse y e imponerse a sus putativos mandantes, generándose una tensión ineluctable entre mandantes y representantes (Michels et al., 1915), y 2. Como efecto de que la propia acción estatal, en lo que tiene de específico y de irreductible a los intereses sociales no estatales, es un ámbito de acción dotado de su propia lógica, de sus propias metas, de sus propias pulsiones, que llevan a sus aparatos a funcionar para sí y en sí, de manera cada vez más auto contenida y autodefinida. No solo que los organismos estatales se emancipan ineluctablemente de sus raíces sociales, sino que constituyen en sí una raíz social paralela y de origen estructural autónomo a los intereses sociales civiles. ...
En este artículo se analiza críticamente la narrativa sobre la crisis de legitimidad del Estado en el Ecuador y sobre el tópico de la desinstitucionalización. Se examina la trayectoria de pérdida de las ilusiones sobre la capacidad de distintas corrientes ideológicas para fundamentar una legitimidad consolidada y duradera en los últimos 30 años. Se sostiene que, -en buena parte-, esta temática parte de un espejismo y que el Ecuador mantiene una estructura institucional muy fuerte y arraigada, pero que ella es irreconocible e impresentable para los sujetos. Se intenta caracterizar esta institucionalidad “en la sombra” y se exploran las causas de su arraigo y de la imposibilidad de trascenderla efectivamente con un modelo estatal alternativo. Por último, se intenta describir las razones por las cuales mantiene su estabilidad en el largo plazo histórico y cuáles podrían ser las arenas en las que se establecerían la lucha política por alternativas, así como sus potenciales maneras de hacerse viable.
... Como parte del estudio sobre la representación y los legisladores también existe una tradición del estudio sobre las élites parlamentarias. Desde 1994 destaca el proyecto Élites Políticas de Latinoamérica (pela) donde una de las líneas más sólidas es sobre las élites parlamentarias (Alcántara, 1995) que sigue una larga tradición de la ciencia política iniciada con Mosca (1896), Pareto (1916), Michels (1911), Mills (1956) y Dahl (1961) aunque con un componente empírico y de encuestas a parlamentarios en dieciocho países para comprender su ideología y su comportamiento (pela, s.f.) y que a la fecha cuenta con más de 8 700 entrevistas. Este tipo de trabajos es relevante para la subdisciplina porque sirven de "termómetros" de la situación política de los países (Crowther y Matonyte, 2007). ...
Los estudios legislativos conforman una subdisciplina de las ciencias sociales que, mediante diferentes estrategias metodológicas y enfoques, busca describir y explicar el comportamiento parlamentario. En este artículo se describe un panorama general de los orígenes, desarrollo y debates contemporáneos sobre el estudio de la representación política y el desempeño de las legislaturas, así como de los espacios de colaboración académica que han permitido la consolidación de la investigación legislativa especializada. Se advierten algunos de los principales retos para este campo de conocimiento frente a los propios desafíos de las ciencias sociales entre los que destacan las limitaciones teóricas y metodológicas, la estrechez de visiones disciplinarias, su escasa relevancia para la reforma institucional y utilidad para la toma de decisiones, las necesarias comparaciones entre casos y su visibilidad.
... 7 And while such statements seemed to conflict with past statements by FMLN officials about how projects that allowed foreign access to vital resources (such as water, metallic minerals, or health care) were "neoliberal" and solely enabled outside investors to enrich themselves at the expense of local Salvadorans, such discourses largely disappeared once the FMLN held state power. That such "neoliberal" policies and projects suddenly become "opportunities" when leftist parties assume state power shows both the disciplining effects of state power itself (Krupa and Nugent 2015) and how leftist parties' moderation in the interest of maintaining state power can separate them from their revolutionary ideals and grassroots supporters (Michels 1911;Sprenkels 2018 SMOs such as ACDUDESBAL in an even more complicated position as the discursive and material effects of Fomilenio 2 manifested in their communities. ...
In 2012, the “climate hotspot” region of the “Bajo Lempa” in El Salvador was the recipient of a Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Fund granted by the United States and administered by the leftist FMLN political party to bring “sustainable development” to the region. Local organizations initially pursued funding opportunities through this mega-project though their efforts were unsuccessful, thereby undercutting subsequent campaigns to resist the project for its environmental risks. Remaining pockets of resistance were undermined by gang violence directed at key community leaders, seemingly at the behest of local oligarchs. Thus, an interlocking web of political-economic obstacles blocked communal agency to forge alternative climate futures. By analytically foregrounding the meso-level relationships between community-based environmental movements and leftist-controlled state institutions subordinated to global logics of accumulation, I distill the contradictions inherent to anthropocentric state forms, and the inability of the Latin American left to incorporate environmental concerns into their projects of governance. Ultimately, I argue that despite their inability to halt the MCA, the political and agro-ecological practices of communities in the Bajo Lempa “overflow” channels of the Latin American left and instantiate communal projects of resource governance as horizons of climate change adaptation, and radically democratic forms of governing social life.
While extensive research examines electoral systems and institutions at the country-level, few studies investigate rules within parties. Inside Parties changes the research landscape by systematically examining 65 parties in 20 parliamentary democracies around the world. Georgia Kernell develops a formal model of party membership and tests the hypotheses using cross-national surveys, member studies, experiments, and computer simulations of projected vote shares. She finds that a party's level of decentralization – the degree to which it incorporates rank and file members into decision making – determines which voters it best represents. Decentralized parties may attract more members to campaign for the party, but they do so at the cost of adopting more extreme positions that pull them away from moderate voters. Novel and comprehensive, Inside Parties is an indispensable study of how parties select candidates, nominate leaders, and set policy goals.
The ideological fit between party grassroots and leaderships has long been a concern for political science, with members in general, and young members in particular, thought to be more radical. However, we do not know, first, whether this is still the case and, if it is, what drives members in different ideological directions. To investigate, we propose a new typology of members as radicals, moderates and aligned, and develop a theoretical framework that accounts for how political socialization and party contexts drive congruence and incongruence. We test this using YOUMEM survey data from over 4,000 members of 12 youth wings in six countries. Our results show that while radicals are the largest group in most youth wings, they are more common on the centre-left than the centre-right. They tend to have been in the youth wing for longer than aligned members, but are under-represented among politically ambitious members. Our findings thus shed light on opinion structures within political parties and provide a typology for future research on intra-party cohesion.
The phenomenon of sole-candidate regional head elections in Indonesia has posed several challenges to democratic principles, particularly with regard to legitimacy, accountability, and public participation. This research aims to analyze the legal implications of regional head elections with sole candidates from the perspective of Administrative Law and evaluate their impact on democracy. The method used in this study is normative legal research, employing a legal and conceptual approach that includes a detailed analysis of election regulations, legal doctrines, and relevant literature studies. This method provides a robust framework for understanding the interplay between regulatory frameworks and democratic principles. The research findings indicate that elections with a sole candidate have the potential to undermine the legitimacy of the elected leader, reduce political accountability, and decrease voter participation rates. As a result, there is an urgent need to reform the electoral regulatory framework in Indonesia. Key recommendations include lowering the nomination threshold to foster competition, increasing transparency in the nomination process to ensure fairness, and strengthening political education to encourage public participation. These steps aim to enhance the quality of democracy and prevent the recurrence of sole-candidate elections in the future.
Religion constitutes a fundamental aspect of human existence, permeating social structures and individual identities worldwide. It serves as a lens through which individuals interpret their surroundings and define their sense of self within broader societal frameworks. This universal phenomenon manifests uniquely across cultures, encompassing diverse practices and beliefs that shape traditions and norms. This article explores the intersection of religious identity and elite hypocrisy, particularly how they function as tools of political patronage in Nigeria. It argues that religious identity plays a pivotal role in political negotiations within the Nigerian context, contributing to the dichotomy between "us" and "them". Drawing on Freudian concepts of Selective Perception, which posits that individuals tend to perceive and interpret information in ways that align with their pre-existing beliefs and identities, the analysis of religious consciousness in Abdul-Rasheed Na Allah's Seriya becomes crucial. Characters within the narrative exemplify how religious identity influences their decisions and actions, reflecting broader societal trends where religious affiliations shape political allegiances and agendas. The study exposes a socio-political climate marked by hypocrisy, manipulation, deceit, and exclusion. Ultimately, the article posits that characters' consciousness reflects their religious identities, influencing their socio-political engagements.
This paper assesses the repercussions of the Podemos party’s institutionalisation as a horizontal and participatory organisation, as well as the ramifications of its rapid institutionalisation on the party’s internal organisation. Accordingly, it outlines the particularities of movement parties and revisits the effects of party institutionalisation and external shocks on changes within political parties. The article underlines the way in which Podemos gradually lost its initial ‘democratic’grassroots and gave way to a more classical organisation, similar to most other institutionalised parties. Horizontality and a lay membership are no longer characteristics of Podemos. In conclusion, the article maintains that even if, following the process of institutionalisation and the effect of external shocks, some characteristics of movement party ideals can still be detected, Podemos’ internal organisation is no longer related to that of a movement …
Modern society increasingly relies on elite groups, or rather, the role that elite groups play in the construction of modernization is becoming ever more significant. The reason is straightforward. A distinct characteristic of modern society is the increasingly meticulous division of labor, a higher degree of specialization, and the growing complexity of its various components. To manage such an increasingly complicated, specialized, and professional society on a day-to-day basis, reliance on a professionalized, specialized elite group is indispensable.
The chapter delves into the multifaceted nature of leadership and its intrinsic connection to power. Various definitions and conceptualisations of leadership are critically examined, with attention to how it is often conflated with other forms of social influence and authority. The relational aspect of leadership is emphasised, focusing on the leader’s status, personal qualities and the type of influence exerted. A comparison is drawn between different leadership theories, including transformational and transactional leadership, while introducing the concept of power as it relates to influence, authority and political leadership. The chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the development of leadership studies, tracing its roots back to classical social science theories and exploring the interdisciplinary nature of leadership research. This foundation aids in understanding the complex interplay between leadership, power and democracy, particularly within the context of contemporary social change.
Resumo Este trabalho investiga as duas eleições majoritárias que se deram no Rio Grande do Norte em 2022. O artigo procura explicar por que a disputa de governador apresentou baixa competição enquanto o pleito de Senado se revelou competitivo de modo inédito no estado. No modelo analítico empregado aqui, as estratégias adotadas pela governadora no cargo são a principal causa dos dois resultados, em vista de sua antecipação de como os outros atores reagiriam a seus movimentos. No afã de facilitar sua reeleição, a titular no cargo ocasionou transferência de competitividade para a outra disputa majoritária. O texto propõe igualmente um indicador de competitividade eleitoral a partir dos estudos clássicos sobre voto estratégico e sistemas eleitorais.
Many experts in educational administration (EA) have voiced concerns over the absence of a scientific approach in the leadership of Iranian schools. However, what remains unaddressed is these experts' specific interpretation of the science of EA. This study aims to delve into Iranian EA experts' perceptions regarding the field's scientific foundations through an interpretive phenomenological lens. To achieve this aim, employing theoretical sampling and ensuring theoretical data saturation, 11 experts were carefully selected for this investigation. Utilizing indirect questioning techniques, we sought to uncover their nuanced perspectives. The outcomes of this study hold significance both within the discipline and in a broader societal context. The findings showed that from a disciplinary standpoint, the findings reveal a consensus among experts aligning with the principles advocated by the theory movement. On a social level, these insights resonate with a phenomenon known as Identification with the Aggressor (IWA). Notably, the concerns expressed by the experts regarding educational administration – such as the emphasis on distinctiveness, the adversarial nature of the external environment, and power dynamics as potential threats – mirror the narratives propagated by oligarchic management ideologies. These results challenge the historical theory of nation-state conflict, which delineates the historical and political fabric of Iranian society. According to this theory, individuals across all social strata, including intellectuals, inherently oppose all administrative structures' ideologies and resist assimilation. The divergence between the outcomes of this study and the theory of nation-state conflict suggests a transformation in the socio-economic landscape of society.
Our lives and values shape our research, so diary reflections and reflections on our memories are important contributions to knowing ourselves a little better and also allowing the readers to have a sense of the researcher’s own life. Social anthropologists have made diary keeping not merely an art form, but a way to guide their thinking and to reflect on their own “taken for granted” views as a result of their upbringing and culture of origin. In the past diaries were only a means to reflect on the personal, in order to recognise subjectivity, so that it could be bracketed or set aside and not permitted to shape or influence perceptions. Like all reflections, it is based on a bricolage of events and experiences that provide a world view. Nevertheless I do my best to examine my assumptions and values and to reflect on daily events and memories. Daily self-reflection within two communities in Fish Hoek, South Africa and Burnside, South Australia provides a context for observation by a white middle class woman with dual citizenship. The diary notes strive to make sense of personal and political events that play out during 2021–2022 as the pandemic, climate change and war unfolds and then in 2023, post-Covid when extreme amounts of load shedding (power outages) changed the way of life of South Africans.
Cuba’s relations with major powers have been a key factor driving the country’s history. Ranging from the colonisation by Spain in its path to becoming the greatest European and world power, to a strategic alliance with the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, those relations have taken many forms. They have conditioned the island’s inception in the modern world system and have shaped the evolution of its domestic structures.
Цель исследования заключается в рассмотрении роли политической элиты в обеспечении национальной безопасности государства. Методологическую базу исследования составляют элитологический и цивилизационный подходы. Результаты исследования. Политическая элита является субъектом, обеспечивающим национальную безопасность государства. Для обеспечения последней необходимо достижение единства целей и интересов власти и общества, государства и граждан, поскольку их поляризация ведет к кризису властных институтов, утрате доверия к ним со стороны населения. В настоящее время идет процесс национализации элит, представляющий собой изменение образа жизни и содержания сознания властей, их переориентации с личных интересов на интересы общества и государства, готовность представителей политической элиты решать важнейшие проблемы собственной страны. Перспективы исследования. Проблема национальной безопасности государства представляет научный и практический интерес в связи с эскалацией цивилизационного противостояния России и коллективного Запада.
This thesis explores the growing role of city-networks within the European Climate Governance (CG) regime. Since the end of the last century, there has been an important growth in city-networks working on climate change. The thesis argues that the growth of these networks can be seen as the homeostatic symptoms of a shift in the CG regime, serving to address the limitations of the more traditional, hierarchical, regime which is currently experiencing gridlock and fragmentary dynamics. It also argues that a Polycentric Governance framework is more adequate to understand these recent developments in the CG regime as it allows for more flexibility, allowing to truly mobilise the potential of networked organisation structures, and breaking free from the classical multi-level understanding of the system.
Three hypotheses are developed to answer the research question of why a growing number of European cities are joining climate city-networks. They might be doing so because it makes them more effective in tackling climate change (supporting the idea that a more effective networked CG regime is trying to break from its shell), because of institutional reasons (in the form of Europeanisation), or because of a changing ideological discourse (on the role and legitimacy of cities in the fight against climate change). The methodology chooses a qualitative approach, using in-depth interviews with officials from city administrations (i.e. Barcelona, Bologna, Madrid), alongside representatives from prominent city-networks that work on climate change (i.e. CEMR, C40, Covenant of Mayors, Eurocities).
The results from the interviews indicate that within the CG regime, there are a series of factors incentivising European cities to join an increasing number of networks. A supply and demand model is developed to explain this with demand-side factors that influence cities’ joining intentions, and supply-side factors shaping the availability of city-networks to join. Joining intentions are primarily determined by the benefits provided by city-networks. Instead, the availability of these networks is mostly determined by the EU’s institutional setting, and by the growing ideological discourse on the importance of the local level, especially regarding the implementation of climate policies. Importantly, however, the benefits, institutional setting, and ideological discourse are intrinsically co-related, making it difficult to talk about them in isolation.
It was further developed that the European Commission benefits from city-networks. They can support it as interest aggregators, to further its policy objectives, and as a potential external relations instrument. In addition, the Commission agrees with the ideological discourse regarding the importance of the local level (at least for climate matters), and sees the potential of further integrating it into co-decision making. In this regard, the only piece of binding legislation currently existing is Art.11 of the Governance Regulation, which forces states to organise a ‘multi-level dialogue’ in energy and climate matters. However, it currently can be used merely as a ‘box-ticking’ exercise, so great between-member-state differences remain regarding its impact.
Whilst this seems to indicate that there is an initial push to benefit from the networked and polycentric potential of further including the local level in co-decision-making through participatory design and consultation, the overall extent is still very limited.
Lord Acton's famous aphorism, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" (Lazarski, 2012, p.11), carries profound humanistic implications. It serves as a warning to those who advocate for true freedom and those pursuing positive axiological aims in life. As we will discuss in this paper, many thinkers have shared and supported Acton's saying in diverse ways. Their existential agony is simple: reflecting on dreadful historical events leads us to question who most negatively impacts society when holding excessive power-often the so-called utopian regimes. While some argue that not all state structures are corrupt, this paper challenges the foundational proposition of a perfect state. It questions the optimism in utopian states, exploring strategies like cultural relativism, deceitful propaganda, and romantic fantasies. By examining historical events qualitatively, the paper encourages philosophical and moral reflection on the challenges to achieving the values essential for a healthy society. Precisely, the author aims to provoke thought on the ideal regime, considering historical flaws and the need to overcome challenges in pursuing humanistic values.
In an era of heightened public skepticism toward political institutions, understanding the perceived divide between political elites and the general population has become increasingly essential. This study examines how Korean citizens perceive their political representatives, focusing on the socioeconomic and demographic disparities between political elites and the wider public. To achieve this, this study concentrates on three core elements: citizens' perceptions of politicians, the social networks of elite politicians, and the socioeconomic and demographic attributes of these elites in comparison to the general population. Employing a data-driven approach-including text analysis , clustering, social network analysis, and visualization techniques-this study investigates data on political elites alongside district-level data. The findings reveal significant socioeconomic and demographic disparities between political elites and the public, with elites predominantly emerging from narrow backgrounds characterized by affluence, high education, and an overrepresentation of males above the age of 60. These results underscore the need for measures that promote transparency , accountability, and inclusivity within the political system, highlighting the importance of bridging the divide between political elites and the general public to cultivate a more representative and responsive political environment.
The authors proceed from the classical understanding of the elite as a social group endowed with power and capable of influencing public opinion. The paper represents the examination of the role of elites – political, economic and social – in the formation of public ideas, values and political attitudes. The problem is conditioned, on the one hand, by the intensification of geopolitical confrontation and the formation of polar ideological concepts on both sides of the ocean, on the other hand – by the dynamic change in characteristics of media environment, which lead to increased centrifugal processes and polarization of public opinion on current events, values and ideology. The authors take into account the widely accepted hypothesis of relative homogeneity of elites (Huntington, Sklair) in the sense that cultural differences and stereotypes influence decision-making in this environment the least. This assumption became the starting point in choosing the topic, predetermined the search for possible points of contact in building a public dialogue, and, in general, served as the basis for a conceptual assessment of the ability of elites to resolve insurmountable contradictions between different segments of the political media space. The authors identified similarities and differences in the understanding of the social and political role of elites in the East and West and proposed possible routes for the development of dialogue. The study is based on the works of the classics of the theory of elites, as well as on modern research in the field of social communication and media.
الهدف: يهدف هذا البحث إلى رصد التطور المفاهيمي النظري لعلم الاجتماع السياسي برؤية نقدية، مع عرض تطور القضايا المعنية بعلم الاجتماع السياسي في إطار المتغيرات العالمية، والثورات التكنولوجية، والمخاطر المحدقة على الصّعد كافة من خلال تحليل معالجات العلم للقضايا في ظل الوضع الحالي، والوضع المستقبلي، إلى جانب رصد أهم الإشكاليات والتحديات التي تواجه علم الاجتماع السياسي. المنهج: تبنت الدراسة المنهج التحليلي المقارن في رصد التطور المفاهيمي النظري لعلم الاجتماع السياسي من منظور نقدي، وكذلك في عرض تحليل القضايا المعنية بعلم الاجتماع السياسي من مداخل ومنظورات علمية في إطار المتغيرات العالمية والمخاطر المحدقة على الصّعد كافة من منظور مستقبلي. أهم النتائج: من خلال تحليل البحث لمستقبل قضايا علم الاجتماع السياسي، وتوجهاته النظرية، والمفاهيمية، والميدانية، والبينية، توصلت الدراسة إلى أهمية الربط بين صياغة المفاهيم والأطر النظرية وأدبيات علم الاجتماع السياسي من ناحية، وبين صنع وتنفيذ السياسات ذات الصلة من ناحية أخرى. وعليه؛ ينبغي توظيف قضايا العلم المستقبلية في استخدام "أرضية وسط" بين الواقع والمثالية، وتكون بمثابة سند علمي نظري وعملي يمكن الاستناد إليه للمساهمة في تحقيق التنمية الفعلية لدول العالم بعامة والمجتمع العربي خصوصًا، وهو ما يستلزم تركيز باحثي العلوم السياسية الانتباه إلى جميع الموارد المتاحة وهياكل الفرص السياسية و"قواعد اللعبة" التي تشكل القرارات المتعلقة بالقانون والسياسة من خلال الاستناد إلى مدخل الحوكمة العامة الجديدة الملائم للتعاطي مع مجمل المستجدات، والتحديات العالمية.
تقوم المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة بدور فاعل في الإنتاج والتشغيل، وهي أيضاً مساهم أساسي في سلاسل القيمة والتوريد العالميين. ما جعلها تحتل أهمية خاصة لدى صانعي السياسات على مستوى جميع أقاليم العالم بما فيها الدول العربية. الهدف: تهدف الدراسة إلى تقييم فعالية دور المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة في إنجاز التحول الهيكلي وتحقيق استدامة أعلى للتنمية ضمن أبعادها الاقتصادية والاجتماعية والبيئية في الدول العربية، وذلك أسوة بدورها في تجارب الدول المتقدمة والصاعدة. المنهج: وفي سبيل ذلك اعتمدت الدراسة على ثلاثة مناهج أساسية وهي: الوصفي التحليلي، والتحليلي المقارن، إضافة للمنهج الاستنباطي أو الاستدلالي. النتائج: توصلت الدراسة إلى أنه رغم اهتمام الدول العربية، لاسيما خلال العقود الأخيرة، بالمشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة، من خلال تأسيس أطر وهيئات حكومية لتنميتها، وإقرار العديد من التشريعات الهادفة لتدعيمها وتذليل الصعوبات التي تواجهها. فإنّ هذه المشروعات مازالت تواجه تحديات هيكلية، تحد من إمكانات تطوير دورها التنموي، وذلك مقابل مساهمتها الحيوية في التقدم الاقتصادي في تجارب الدول المتقدمة والصاعدة. كما انتهت الدراسة إلى تقديم نموذج كلي الطابع يتأسس على التطبيقات المعاصرة للسياسات الصناعية الحديثة، يعالج تلك القيود ويضمن أيضا تراكم وتكامل الجهود العربية الموجهة لتلك المشروعات، وذلك ضماناً لتحقق الهدف المطلوب المتمثل في توثيق العلاقة بين جهود تنمية هذه المشروعات من جانب، وجهود تحقيق التنمية المستدامة وإنجاز التحول الهيكلي من جانب آخر.
Araştırmanın amacı sivil toplum örgütlerinin kuruluş aşamasından sonra yapısallaşma girdiği yapısallaşma sürecinde profesyonelleşmenin etkisini ortaya koymaktır. Bu kapsamda araştırma evrenini yeni kurulmuş ve tam olarak yapısallaşamamış sivil toplum örgütleri oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma hipotezini test etmek için kuruluş aşamasından itibaren beş yılı geçmemiş bir sivil toplum örgütü araştırma örneklemi olarak seçilmiştir. Hipotezi test etmek için yapısallaşmanın bağımlı, profesyonelleşmenin bağımsız, sivil toplum örgütü üyelerinin yaşlarının ve tecrübelerinin kontrol değişkeni olduğu doğrusal regresyon modeli kurulmuştur. Bulgular neticesinde tecrübe açısından profesyonelleşmede anlamlı bir fark olduğu ve yapısallaşma üzerinde profesyonelleşmenin pozitif etkisi olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
The aim of the research is to examine the impact of professionalization during the process of structuration after the establishment phase of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The study encompasses newly established NGOs that have not fully undergone structuration. To test the hypothesis, a research sample
was selected from NGOs that have not exceeded five years since their establishment. A linear regression model was established with structuration as the dependent variable, professionalization as the independent variable, and the ages and experiences of NGO members as control variables. The findings indicate a significant difference in professionalization concerning experience, and it is concluded that professionalization has a positive impact on structuration.
One of the significant issues in contemporary international politics is to examine the contexts of energy usage of different countries, keeping in mind the looming climate threat. Energy transition not only highlights the central role of energy usage but also exposes the vulnerability caused by it. Given the context, Bangladesh has adopted nuclear technology to meet its economic demand and environmental requirements. As a middle-income country, eyeing to graduate to a developing nation by 2041, its choice of exploring nuclear energy has exposed the country to the question of the rationality of the decision. Nuclear energy has a distinguished history that accommodates several debates about its safety and sustainability. Though many developed countries are planning for a nuclear phase-out, Bangladesh’s decision merits attention and explanation to embrace such a stand. Often, the economic priorities have been attached to Bangladesh’s decision for the energy transition, while the discussion about nuclear energy in Bangladesh ignores the geopolitical purposes and international political agenda. This paper, therefore, aims to explore the internal and external climate-related urgency, and geopolitical concerns responsible for such a transition, which have remained unexplored in the existing literature.
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