Dageförde, Mirjam. Concepts of Congruence and Europeans’ evaluation of representation. A micro-level-analysis. Cahiers européens de Sciences Po, n° 03/2016, Paris : Sciences Po, CEE, March 2016
The analysis of the relation between citizens and politics is mostly conducted from two different perspectives and disciplines: On the one hand, legislative scholars analyse legislative behaviour or evaluate representation in terms of responsiveness or congruence. On the other hand, public opinion research focuses mainly on analyses of political trust or satisfaction with democracy for assessing c
itizens’ perspective. To a minor degree, both disciplines are combined: In the last decades, legislative research neglected the perspective of citizens, and public opinion research referred only rarely to theories that concern representation at its core. This article aims at closing this r
esearch gap and addresses citizens’ evaluation of representation. It investigates the effects of congruence – as the main indicator for judging about the quality of representation – from a micro-perspective while referring to the underlying assumption: The higher the congruence, the better the quality of representation. It (1) develops new models for conceptualizing congruence on the micro-level, (2) analyses how citizens assess parliamentary representation in terms of perceived responsiveness and (3) explores how different concepts of congruence impact on it. The analysis is drawn for the EU countries. The results indicate that the distinct conceptualizations of congruence are of varying importance for explaining citizens’ representational judgments.
Rovny, Jan. Is Eastern Europe Uniformly Anti-Immigrant? Not so fast. Understanding immigration policy positions and policy change in Eastern Europe, LIEPP Policy Brief. March 2016, n° 24, p. 1-7
As the European Union struggled to address an unprecedented influx of refugees in 2015, four Eastern European governments rejected a proposal for European Union refugee quotas. Within each country, however, there are different views on the migrant crisis and immigration in general that are overshadowed by this uniform policy response. My research on the political divisions in each country explains that these differences are related to how political camps developed after communism. Through an analysis of the causes of immigration salience and the reasons behind immigration and integration policy positions of various parties in Eastern European countries, this research finds that which party – left or right – adopts more socially liberal policy positions depends on its relationships to communist federalism and the most politically notable ethnic group in the country. My work finds three distinct political patterns in Eastern Europe.
Rovny, Jan. Hungary and Poland’s anti-democratic turn: a new era or more of the same? In MAEurope, March 2016
Reforms affecting the independence of courts and the media in Hungary and Poland have received significant attention in recent months. But to what extent do these developments constitute a genuine shift in the nature of Hungarian and Polish politics? Jan Rovny writes that while both countries have witnessed a rise in support for parties with anti-democratic tendencies, the dynamics of party competition remain consistent with the liberal-conservative political divide that has characterised the politics of these countries since the fall of communism. [First lines]
Rozenberg, Olivier (ed). Should we continue to Study the EU? Politique européenne, March 2016, vol 2015/4, n° 50
In French: La gravité et la multidimensionnalité des crises que connaît l’UE imposent un questionnement sérieux. Comment les sciences sociales peuvent-elle analyser le désenchantement vis-à-vis de la construction européenne ? Faut-il voir dans les incertitudes de l’actualité une occasion unique de rendre les études européennes plus scientifiques et objectives ? Pour son 50e numéro, la revue s’efforce de regarder au-delà de la science politique de langue française.
Vitale, Tommaso. Roma: Oltre le baraccopoli: Agenda politica per ripartire dalle periferie dimenticate, Roma : Associazione 21 Luglio, 2016, 18 p.
In Italian : Con il presente documento, presentato in vista delle elezioni comunali che si svolgeranno a Roma nel 2016, l’Associazione 21 luglio vuole proporre alle forze politiche e ai candidati a cariche elettive i principi essenziali per mutare radicalmente le politiche verso gli abitanti delle baraccopoli e dei micro insediamenti presenti nella Capitale. Le azioni previste nel documento hanno come obiettivo, nell’arco temporale di 5 anni: la chiusura graduale e progressiva delle baraccopoli e dei micro insediamenti della Capitale e il superamento dei centri di raccolta dove sono concentrate le famiglie vittime degli sgomberi che nel passato hanno coinvolto abitanti di numerose baraccopoli. “Roma: oltre le baraccopoli” si avvale degli studi condotti dall’Associazione 21 luglio e, nell’ultima parte, del prezioso apporto del prof. Tommaso Vitale, Sciences Po (Université Sorbonne Paris Cité)1. Il testo condivide medesimi principi e metodi riportati all’interno della “Delibera di iniziativa popolare per il superamento dei campi rom”, promossa da nove associazioni2 e sottoscritta da oltre 6.000 cittadini, depositata in Campidoglio l’11 settembre 2015.
Woll, Cornelia. A Symposium on Financial Power. Accounting, Economics and Law: A Convivium, March 2016, vol 6, n° 1, p. 1-3
1st lines: It is a privilege to be read and discussed by such insightful scholars, several of which have made important contributions to our understanding of industry-government relations and financial regulation in recent history. Their reading of my own analysis has given me a much sharper sense of my argument. Indeed, I agree with many of their comments, including some of the critical ones, and believe our discussion contributes positively to the still on-going political analysis of the recent global crisis. The reviews all thoroughly engage with the political analysis and the empirical discussion of the bank bailout schemes presented in the book. Their main thrust differs, however, and it is helpful to organize my response by grouping them according to the focus of their criticism. This allows me to clarify three subjects in my rejoinder to the following discussion: the nature of power, the use of the chicken-game metaphor and the role of healthy banks in different countries.
Woll, Cornelia. A Rejoinder by the Author. Accounting, Economics and Law: A Convivium, March 2016, vol 61, p. 85-92
In order to respond to the insightful and detailed discussion, I find it helpful to group the authors according to the most relevant issues they have identified. First, I will return to the notion of power in business-government relations, which Wilmarth and Barnes discuss at length and which Reinke finds problematic. Second, I will clarify the use of the game-theoretical framing, which has certain heuristic limitations. It does, however, address the governments’ strategy, contrary to the criticism of Reinke and Jensen. Third, I dive into the empirical study to address other factors that help to explain bailout arrangements. I show why I disagree firmly with Jensen, who believes that healthy banks alone are sufficient to analyze the six cases, suggesting that my argument is over-determined. I do concede, however, that additional elements help to provide a richer analysis, in particular the institutional and legal settings highlighted by Moutot and Thiemann.