Politics: Blocks 3 & 4 PDF

**POLITICS : BLOCKS 3 & 4** {#politics-blocks-3-4.T3} =========================== POLITICS : Session 9 {#politics-session-9.T3} ==================== Political Elections {#political-elections.T3} =================== [Introduction ] **Przeworski** - " many people fear that this time it is diffe...

**POLITICS : BLOCKS 3 & 4** {#politics-blocks-3-4.T3} =========================== POLITICS : Session 9 {#politics-session-9.T3} ==================== Political Elections {#political-elections.T3} =================== [Introduction ] **Przeworski** - " many people fear that this time it is different, that at least some established democracies are experiencing con- ditions that are historically unprecedented, that democracy may gradually deteriorate, "backslide," or even not survive under these conditions." ( - Feeling, fear that living in age of polarization, contestation democracy not longer given advent of illiberal democracies - "The view of democracy I adopt is "minimalist" and "electoralist": democracy is **a political arrangement** in which people select governments through elections and have a reasonable possibility of removing incumbent governments they do not like - authors who held this view : Schumpeter, Popper, and Bobbio - Democracy = system in which incumbents lose elections and leave when they lose." - Trump going after arrangement because he said he's not accepting if he's loosing - " **democracy = mechanism** for processing conflicts" (Przeworksi ) - Willing to accept the 4 years to come - With arrangements you can process conflicts, channel conflicts in to institutions and they try to solve them (checks and balances) **Kinds of voting** 1. Typical of representative democracies : **choice of persons or parties** to whom the responsibility of making collective decisions is given - occurs at constitutionally determined (usually regular) intervals 2. **The electorate decides on substantive political issues** as a form of direct democracy - where it is constitutionally permitted, can be conducted at any time either "from above" as in plebiscites or "from below" through citizens initiatives" XXX 2 major types of electoral formulas : 1. Majoritarian one: first-past-the-post : single member constituencies or nationwide presidential elections 2. Proportional one: allocating seats in parliament according to proportional share of votes for parties [Elections and Differences of Voting Systems]**:** **Majoritarian systems (1^st^ past the post)** - Single member plurality systems (UK, US, India) - Variants on f - Advantages (better decision-making) and disadvantages (limited number of parties, - pluralistic parties loosing not being represented), very strict division (may lead to polarization -- *city/countryside, south/north*) - Relative majority is sufficient to obtain a seat in parliament - Differences - UK: 1 vote **UK general elections 2017** - Effect majoritarian voting: won 318 constituencies by a margin - Despite fact that parties were so close to each other, only 262 lib won constituencies - Big difference popular vote and actual outcome - Depending on which swing state won, may have + or - representatives - Doesn't represent actually the popular vote [Comparative analysis: ] **UK general elections 2019** - Conservatives came back + 48 - Labour : - 60 - SNP: + 13 IMPORTANT: - What is likely to happen tomorrow - Importance of swing states !! - Midterm elections: seats gained/lost by president's party POLITICS : Reading Session 9 {#politics-reading-session-9.T3} ============================ Chapter 10 10.1 Law and Politics ===================== - Finer: one main Western innovations was the "Law-bounded state" - Definition: in order for a ruler's decision to accepted, it must first be codified (made into a law) which makes existing legislation more pertinent than what a leader says - Legal Positivism: the law is what the state says it is (i.e. it's socially constructed) - Legal monism: the international and national system work as one entity - Constitution: a specific document that lays down the basic institutions of a state and procedures for changing them, as well as the basic rights and obligations of its citizens - It also serves as the basic source of national law, so that individual laws and legal codes are expected to conform to it - It should be the core of the legal system - The UK doesn't have one, it's apparently a "state of mind" rather than an actual doc according to Peter Hennessey (good chap theory of government) - Constitutionalism: government can and should be legally limited in its powers, and that its authority depends on its observing these limitations - Example: USA 10.3 Fundamental Human Rights ============================= - Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948: adopted by the UN; acts like a global road map for freedom and equality -- protecting the rights of every individual, everywhere - Laid down fundamental human rights - Subcategory in this taken up by some people in the USA is "right to life" (aka anti-abortion) - Often times nation-states would adopt a clause in their constitution elaborating on the goal and direction in which their political institution is expected to develop - Was always a feature in Latin America but is being adopted by some European and Islamic states 10.4 Constitutional Courts and Judicial Review ============================================== - Here to safeguard the constitution - All states have a constitutional court and most of which (especially federal states) provide constitutional guarantees to citizens or corporations that they're interests will not be repressed - \*Baguette land is an exception. Its Conseil Constitutionnel can only pass comment on a law in the short time between its approval in parliament and promulgation (public declaration). Once a law has been publicly declared, it can't be changed unless through parliamentary action - You don't have to be a lawyer to work for that fancy schmancy french ConsAIL place 10.5 Legal Adjudication (making an official decision) of Political Problems =========================================================================== \*\*Basic interpretations of "**Legal Justice**" (social function of the law) - Legalists in China: prevent anarchy through making sure they obey the law - Weren't interested in justice - Due to their interest in upholding the law, extreme punishments were considered just because they deterred law breaking - Rule by law but aimed at making people fear the rulers - Communist states: the function of the law was to serve communism - Universal human rights were of lesser concern - Judges had to be members of the communist party - Islamic states: laws were formulated by scholars and were interpreted for each individual case which allowed people to choose lawyers that suited their end desires - No systematic codification of legal precedents - More political monism (one way for thinking politically) and legal pluralism (multiple forms of interpretations) as opposed to the West which has political pluralism (many different ways to interpret politics) and legal monism (only a very strict amount of ways to interpret the law) - Procedural justice (western approach): making consistently very similar verdicts if the cases have similar circumstances - Requires greater legal bureaucracy - The number of qualified lawyers in a country would have a big impact on the place of law in a nation's public life and therefore citizens ability to have recourse to law 10.6 Federalism, Consociational Democracy, and Asymmetrical Decentralisation ============================================================================ - Federalism: division and sharing of power between national and state governments - The American Constitution uses it as a way to further limit the power of the state along with branch separation and checks & balances - Used to guarantee that minority communities (mainly based on ethnicity or race) would be able to preserve their culture (language, way of life, religion, etc.) - Consociationalism: a state which has major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, but which remains stable due to consultation among the elites of these groups - Think: give voice to minority groups - Usually applied to small states - Example country: The Netherlands - Asymmetric decentralisation: hybrid combinations between unitary and federal systems - E.g. Spain: was unitary but started giving more power to places like Catalonia, Basque, Galicia, and Andalusia (aka andouille- not the best type of sausage) Chapter 11 11.1 The Voting Paradox ======================= - Voting is a mechanism for making collective decisions that try to ensure that the candidate preferred by the majority will win - 2 paradoxes: - With a huge number of citizens, no singular person would make the difference between 2 or more choices, yet without votes, democracy wouldn't be able to continue - Difficulty of relying on votes to determine the objective preferences of the public due to the problem in this theorem: - Arrow impossibility theorem: when a group of people are forced to make a choice between 3+ options, it is impossible to conclude one as being "most preferred" if it doesn't have 50% of the votes 11.2 Elections ============== - The key element in the exercise of democracy is the holding of fair and free elections at regular intervals enabling the people's will to be expressed - Electoral systems: 11.3 Functions of Legislatures ============================== - Democracies need legislatures - Comparative view on legislatures: - Functions they perform (what does the political system need and how do they appease it) - Institutional arrangements in them and compare the similarities and differences (debating chambers, standing committees, how the staff runs their offices, etc...) - Functions of Parliament: - Representational functions: - Represent the views of the citizens (or the elites because in order to become a representative, you must have a relatively elite status) - Elections can be used as a way to prevent or postpone prosecution for criminal acts - Connection between the representative and constituency (region) it represents - Problems: doesn't have enough minority (aka female) representation - Governmental functions (legislational): - Creates the laws of the society - Hold governments accountable for their election promises - Provide forums for national debates - Procedural functions: - Ritualise conflict by allowing people to express differing views in debates (i.e. allowing for diversity) - Hold partisan (biassed) ideologies - Make policies openly so there's no mistrust in the government (as if this actually happens 🙄) - \*Types of Legislatures according to their capacity to stand up to the executive: active, reactive, vulnerable, marginal, minimal 11.5 Structure of Legislatures ============================== - Unicameral: - One legislative house - Favours the majority - Bicameral: - Upper and lower legislative houses - Gives more representation to minority - Committees are put in place to help legislators carry out important decisions with more attention to detail (most work is done in them) - With the rise of professionalisation in those in the political field, there has almost been a rise of a political class in which the people are self-interested, self-aware, and dependent for the economic and moral status on the resources of the state - Alternative forms of public decision making: - Sortition: selection of public representatives by a lot or lottery instead of an election which would give rise to... - Impartiality when it came to elections - Simplicity of procedures and saving of extreme election expenditures - Sense of integration in the sense that everyone thinks they have an equal chance of getting elected - Serenity effect (no one can feel offended for not getting elected) - Citizens' juries: citizens, who were chosen at random, would have an advisory role in government for a limited amount of time POLITICS : Guest Lecture {#politics-guest-lecture.T3} ======================== The 2024 American Election and Potential Impact on Europe {#the-2024-american-election-and-potential-impact-on-europe.T3} ========================================================= 1. [Why do presidential elections go on forever? ] - **"Smoke-filled room":** - Party officials and power-brokers usually negotiated for who would be the candidate for each party - No transparency corruption - Around 1910, effort to clean up elections - **Power to the People:** - Early 20^Th^ century brings a new process to selecting candidates - People will vote for preferred candidate in state elections - Party will not decide it will aggregate votes of the people and send delegates to the convention representing who won state primary - But is was not until about 1970 that delegates were bound to a particular candidate - **Primary elections:** - Looks like any other elections but not in constitution or federal law - Sometimes conducted by party but usually run by state as a convenience - May be open to all voters or closed to only party members - Determines selection of delegates to national party convention to be held in the summer - Most primary elections between January and April candidate has to be in the race months before that to have a chance of winning and need donors - building infrastructure ; this is why it takes so long 2. [Why does the Electoral College exist? ] - **Why an electoral college? Because it's a federal system** - Federal government: - Defense - Foreign relations - Printing money - Regulation of things that cross state lines - Maintenance of federal lands - Anything not specifically in constitution of fed gov states (lots of power) - State governments: - Professional standards - Education - Regulations of things in the state - Health regulation -... - Federalists : contested issue which power are going to be whose ? **This is why states elect the president :** - Small states were scared of being overrun by big states big struggle over the Constitution - Electoral college = compromising - Prevent tyranny of majority - Each state, number of delegates, based on population + seats in the senate (every state has 2) - Make sure that every state has same amount of power - GOOD: forces presidential candidates to build coalition across lots of regions *need farmers in Ohio too* - BAD: possible to have outcomes where candidates who wins popular vote looses in the Electoral College unfair ? - Unlikely to change: requires a constitutional amendment 3. [What do opinion polls mean?] - **Who will win? Understanding poll data** - What is the margin of error? - Most polls: 2% margin of error typical *(48% could be 50% or...46%)* - Who is being surveyed? - Right mix of Rep, Dem and Independents? - How adjust sample to make it + accurate ? (try to mimic reality and history) - Should I talk to registered voters or likely voters? (almost everybody registered to vote but only 50% will vote) - What questions to ask? - Language is important: people respond to verbal cues in questions - Trump tends to get + votes than surveys predict - Attracts people who generally not interested in pol? - Surveys in 2024 better than in 2020 or 2016? Maybe fixed it maybe didn't - **What are swing states?** - Change - Not always rep or dem - **Good poll sites:** - Nate silver's 538 - Real clear politics 4. [How might the outcome affect foreign policy and Europe] - **Foreign policy in the US election :** - Not a big issue for most voters eco and domestic concerns dominate - Voters prefer a candidate who aligns with their basic view of how the world works - Is it dangerous environment where pays to be powerful and all states pursue their interests - Environment where cooperation and mutual gains possible if construct correct agreements and institutions - Voters tend to feel + comfortable with a candidate based on general perspective rather than specific foreign policy issues - **Will the election affect US-Europe Relations?** - US' ability to cope with pressures of great power competition hinges on securing Europe and preserving transatlantic alliance - Pompeo: Ukraine in Nato as soon as possible all European allies assume burden of protecting it - Trump administration don't want to leave and isolate Europe according to people in foreign policy - **Possible big issues:** - Digital services act will cause + tension with Trump than with Harris - Liquified Natural Gas exports from US to Europe will likely increase under Trump and lower energy costs in Europe // Harris no change - Both will push for a negotiated settlement of Ukraine-Russia war - Both will likely push EU and NATO to take + concrete steps to counter influence of China-Russia-Iran "authoritarian axis" READING Session 10 {#reading-session-10.T3} ================== Elections and electoral behaviour {#elections-and-electoral-behaviour.T3} ================================= [Introduction: ] **Free and fair elections ** - Necessary condition for modern democracies - Elections = formal process of selecting persons or parties to fill public offices/ accepting-rejecting political proposition in a referendum - Free : based on effective existence of civil rights (freedom of information, expression and organization) - Fair : no frauds, manipulations, constraints or unequal conditions created by incumbent authorities to influence voters **2 kinds of voting:** - Typical of representative democracies : choice of persons/parties to whom responsibility of making collective decisions is given - Constitutionally determined - Direct democracy: Substantive political issues - Constitutionally permitted (from above/below) - Elections = decision making mechanism - Majorities can be wrong corrected, cannot decide everything, bound by basic democratic principles and rule of law [Electoral systems: ] **Depend on:** - Geographical area (divided into number of electoral districts given pop size, can correspond to pattern of federal states, entire territory) - Electoral formulas: - Majoritarian - Proportional : allocating seats according proportional share of votes - In some electoral systems: explicit threshold concerning min % of votes to be obtained - Categorical vote: vote for only 1 candidate/party (\>\< others systems: rank preferences or several votes even across party lists) **Normative concern: criteria for "free and fair":** - Ideally: each adult citizen equal right and possibility to exercise his vote and each vote should have the same weight supervised by an independent electoral commission - In practice: infringements : outright manipulation and rigging of elections by those in power through vote buying, fraud in the tallying and computing procedures, unequal and unfair representation of candidates and parties in the public media, legal and institutional provisions which prevent a level playing field - façade in hybrid regimes - But even the case in well-established contemporary democracies : rules prevent voters from having an equal weight of their vote - may be perfectly legal/ legitimate, but deviate from the democratic ideal easiest form of "institutional engineering" laws not part of the constitution - In majoritarian: relative majority sufficient to get a seat all other votes disregarded/lost - Size and shape of constituencies play a role - *France: 2^nd^ round of voting absolute majority but all minority votes lost* - Proportional representation: - rules like clauses *Germany, Turkey* prevent smaller parties from gaining seats - way in which votes converted into seats distorting effects (favouring large parties) - receiving bonus seats to ensure greater majorities and government stabilities - rules determine success/failure of any party in given election also affect entire party system **Duverger's laws** [Electoral behaviour: ] **Different interest and motives to take part in elections :** - Material interests: serve their interests best (worker-labour, upper-liberal) rationally (! Paradox: would be + rational to free-ride) - **Downs'** "median voter theorem": for party strategies, would be + rational to seek votes in the middle towards the median - Long-term social cleavages : **Lipset-Rokkan** tradition : voter's perceptions 'framed' by macro-social conditions turn to parties which reflect personal position most - Cross-pressures (*ex: catho worker*) - *USA: regional/family traditions of party indetification \>\>\> influence* - Past performance of candidates: Fiorina's 'retrospective voting' - Direct experience of a person's life situation (better or worse) - General conditions in the country as reported in the media - Development of surveys show voters are multimotivated - Predicting electoral outcomes complex - Margin of error - Only prospective voters can be interviewed may not vote - Exit polls more reliable but after the fact - Western democracies: electoral volatility increased = longer lasting social ties decreased leading party officials/candidates play a role - Role public and social media ! - Turnout can vary considerably - Founding elections: participation +++ - US, Europe: greater indifference crucial to mobilize one's own potential voters than convincing other parti's adherents [Forms of direct democracy: ] **Public meeting on a local basis** limited size **Referenda on particular policy issues** - Forms and regulations vary - Supplement representative institutions but can't replace them - Mandatory : approve change of constitution/important international treaties - Official: by gov/parl on specific legislative measure - Plebiscites in authoritarian systems (not free and fair illusion and manipulation) - Citizen's initiatives: min signatures, actual referendum quorum of voter participation law - Historically: Switzerland, California - Frequent local/state level - Less in national level POLITICS : Session 11 Political representation {#politics-session-11-political-representation.T3} ============================================== **Test** - Voir ppt **US election** - Trump won popular vote Why did he win? - Able to pick up a lot of votes in minorities - Against globalization, external threats immigrants,.. - !! paradox : much of economy based on globalization - very different - New figures? hypothetical - Not in constitution - Highly undemocratic to restrict president 2 terms? - limit at the power - result 2016 very similar to result 2024 - senate: vote for own state's interest - in theory, republicans have the key to majority - also house - Easy and quickly work together and agree on subjects - Rep exercise - Mid term elections turnover if parts of senate/house re-elected checks and balances - Does DT have features of charismatic authority? Yes, people willing to follow 1. [Political elections ] **Proportional representation** = vote is proportionally allocated to different lifts/parties to have seats in parliament - Party lists (NL) - Advantages : plurality ++ - Disadvantages : many more parties into parlement, difficult work - Single Transferable Vote (IRE) : rank candidates in order of preference candidates need quota - Advantages : fewer votes wasted - Disadvantages : counting votes longer, donkey voting (order of appearance) **Others :** - Two Round Systems (FRA, BRA) big surprises - Advantages : plurality 1^st^ round, 2^nd^ round need to take into account plurality of 1^st^ round widen their options - Disadvantages - Hybrid Systems **European elections:** - Voters sometimes don't have a lot of choice problem (voters don't feel attached to process) - *Ex: UK, Germany* **National elections:** - Majority voting (1^st^ member you want to elect directly) + proportional voting (2^nd^ : party vote) - Compromise system (direct vote + respect need for plurality) **European elections:** - Final composition of EP based on variety of elections in different member systems with various voting systems - Issue: leads to composition of seats according to numbers of seats member states can have Need to have European elections: spitzkandidaten because results too low **Turnout (average):** - 51% - Average of all EU member states - Lowest: Slovakia : 13% how do they understand need to vote - Top: Belgium and Lux obligatory **Surveys:** - Knowing what people think - "Predicting electoral outcomes is, therefore, a complex matter. Nevertheless, this has become **a thriving business** (and employment opportunity for political science graduates) for private and public polling organizations in many countries. **Modern survey research based on random sampling** can come fairly close to this (see also Chapter 3), but there are many practical hurdles as well. Samples usually have to be stratified in order to save costs and face-to face interviews have, for the same reason, been largely replaced by telephone or increasingly internet contacts. A fair level of **representativeness** is then even harder to establish. In some countries, as in the United States where the number of votes in the Electoral College for either party is strongly determined by a few "swing states", predictions will have to be based on state-by-state assessments, increasing the costs even more." (Morlino, Berg- Schlosser and Badie 2017, p. 2012) Key facts: - Different survey companies - How could them be so wrong? 2. [Comparative politics ] **State institutions:** - Executives and administrations: leadership, steering, implementing - Parliamentary based and legitimized leadership (on majority in parliament) parliamentarism) - Presidentialism (own legitimacy chain) - Legislatures: law-making, overseeing and holding accountable - Unicameral (*Denmark*) - Bicameral (*federal systems, UK,...)* - Judiciaries: interpreting law and providing justice - Three constitutional powers of a state - Can you think of fourth power? - Media? Not state-run but through its check and balances, covering,... **Presidentialism vs. Parliamentarism** - Executive based on election for president (*US*) **vs**. executive based on parliamentary majorities (*UK, BE*) - Law-making vested in executive and f branches of government - non flexible vs. non-flexible? - Which system has its merits? - 'Hybrid systems' (*ex: France, Russia*) - Federal systems and vertical checks and balances **Presidential model and separation of powers:** (Parsons p.222) - Checks and balances - Bicameral systems - Unicameral systems - Divided government : horizontal -- powers on same level of gov & vertical -- federal systems - Reasons for the presidential model - Checks & balances, unifying face leadership, leadership provided, split-ticket voting,... **Parliamentary model and fusion of powers:** Less based on check and balances fused - Fusion of powers (support by the legislature) - Separation of head of government and head of state - Coalition governments - Bicameral systems - Divided government (rather vertical) & checks and balances - Specific dynamics: vote of confidence, changing executives, dissolving legislatures, irregular calendars,... **Constitution & constitutionalism** - Set of values that speak for democratic and plural constitutionalism - Inclusive systems enabling a plurality of citizens to be - Respect for diversity and difference - Constitutionalism beyond the nation-state/state-nation - European Union - Constitutionalization of IOs **Constitutions and federalism** - Systems of shared sovereignty - Exclusive and shared competences - State functions divided over different levels of government - Federal government (int, trade, defense, fiscality) - Regional government - Local government - Vertical checks and balances - Ex: *Germany, Belgium, European Union, Canada, United States, etc.* **Fundamental Right and Rule of Law** - Positive and negative fundamental rights - Individual and group rights - Political, economic, social, cultural and religious - Rule of law - Checks and Balances - Access to justice - Equal treatment before the law Reading Parsons {#reading-parsons.T3} =============== **Chapter 7.3: Political Parties: Intermediaries of Representation** - Political parties : essential intermediaries in representative democracies organize voter choices and coordinate the actions of their representatives - Shapes representation based on the number of parties and how they function - Rules of the game, societal characteristics, and the nature of the party\'s intermediary role all contribute to how representation works. - Parties offer several **benefits** to democratic representation: - Aggregate the interests of voters, discern what is important to society, and provide representatives to appeal to those interests - Create easily understandable \"brands\" that help voters navigate complex political choices by focusing electoral competition into manageable debates - Encourage civic engagement, get people to vote, and help recruit and train political leaders - Provide government direction and coherence by uniting representatives around common agendas and helping to solve collective action problems - Also **drawbacks:** - May exaggerate differences, stifle competition, and become unresponsive to their supporters or captured by specific groups - **Duverger\'s Law :** - single-member plurality systems favor two-party systems - only the largest parties win - proportional representation systems encourage multiparty systems - PR systems allow smaller parties to succeed - There are three major configurations of party systems: - **Dominant-party systems:** 1 party wins repeatedly, are rare in open and free democracies - **Two-party systems: 2** main contenders, are also uncommon - **Multiparty systems:** 5 or + significant parties, are the most common configuration - **Voting rules** influence party systems but do not fully determine them. Factors like ideological divides, societal diversity, and historical events also play a role - Two-party systems can reinforce majoritarian politics by pushing voters and politicians towards the loudest voices - Multiparty systems can reinforce proportional representation and create space for descriptive representation - Criticisms of different party systems reflect the representative principles they embody. - Those who dislike majoritarianism often criticize two-party system - Those concerned with fragmentation may find fault with multiparty systems - Party strength varies and influences how parties affect representation - Strong, centralized parties present coherent positions and deliver coordinated action - less responsive , magnify the tendencies of different party systems - Party strength is influenced by voting rules, candidate selection processes, and campaign finance - In US: parties are relatively weak due to factors like SMP rules, decentralized candidate selection, and individual fundraising weakens the majoritarian tendencies of the system - **Parties are essential to representation** but often face criticism because they organize competition for power and may hinder representation - The specific characteristics of party systems depend on various factors like voting rules, social divisions, and campaign financing **Chapter 7.4: Elected Offices: Executives and Legislators in the Presidential Model** - Structure of elected offices shapes representation from the top down - All democracies have executive and legislative offices - Presidential systems have separate election - parliamentary systems fuse them - **Presidential model:** - pioneered by US - based on the separation of powers, where different branches of government hold separate authority to prevent abuse - Checks and balances further limit each branch\'s power. - voters directly elect the president as both head of government and head of state - president chooses a cabinet and oversees government departments, forming the executive branch - Voters also elect representatives to a legislature, usually bicameral, with equal power to approve laws - Executive and legislature in presidential systems have distinct and equally valid claims to represent the people, requiring them to work together but also checking and limiting each other. They have nonoverlapping personnel, and neither branch can easily remove the other - Presidential elections are inherently **majoritarian**, but the separation of powers introduces a proportional element by giving different groups power through separate elections - Divided government, where different parties control different branches, is common - The American founders envisioned a system of multiple majorities, where different communities could have a voice even if they were minorities in some areas. Congress was intended to check the president\'s power and ensure diverse representation - Presidentialism tempers majority rule by creating competition between multiple electoral winners - Proportional and descriptive representation can be incorporated through other features, such as voting rules - **Advantages:** - **Checks and balances** ensure broad support for policies - A directly elected president provides a **unifying national face** and encourages unity - The fixed electoral timetable and clear leadership promote **stability** - Voters have frequent opportunities to express their preferences through **various elections** - **Disadvantage** - **risk of impasse or stalemate** between the executive and legislature **Chapter 7.5: Elected Offices: Executives and Legislators in the Parliamentary Model** - Parliamentary model based on the **fusion of powers**: the executive depends on the support of a legislative majority**.** - It evolved to limit monarchical power by subjecting the executive to the will of the legislature - Citizens vote only for legislators, who then choose the prime minister. The prime minister heads the government, while a separate head of state plays a largely ceremonial role - PM forms a government by securing a majority in the lower house of parliament, often requiring the formation of coalition governments with multiple parties - **Key features:** - **Vote of no confidence**, where the legislature can remove the executive - Possibility of **changing PM** without an election - **Snap elections,** called by the executive to dissolve the legislature and hold new elections - **Irregular electoral calendar**, as elections can be triggered by various events. - Parliamentarism can be either majoritarian or proportional, depending on whether a single party holds a majority or a coalition government is formed - **Two-party parliamentary systems** tend to be **highly majoritarian**, giving the winning party significant control over the government - **Multiparty parliamentary systems** often exhibit **proportional politics**, with smaller parties gaining influence in coalition negotiations. - Can lead to a stronger emphasis on descriptive representation. - **Benefits:** - **Clear and simple connection** between voters and representatives - Greater **ability** for representatives **to deliver on their promises** - System that encourages b**argaining and compromise** to **avoid impasse** - Adaptability to changing **social conditions**, with the ability to **shift between majoritarian and proportional modes** POLITICS : Session 12 {#politics-session-12.T3} ===================== Discussion {#discussion.T3} ==========   Vertical accountability ; berlin assembly -- Brandenburg counsel -- Bundestag   - There is a higher power to account to but federal still accounts to regional and local ex: *America bans abortion but it is up to the state to decide , it is their accountability or when there is corruption in federal the legislative in the local can call him out*   States checks and balances ; L ,E , J : same level = horizontal accountability   - **Monist** system ; 1 coherent legal system ( twinning's legal system )   - **Statist** ; the state has a monopoly on law  - **Positivist** ; what is not recognized by the state , is not law    Broad constitutions ; structure of the state , political culture  , UNDFHR   Narrow constitutions ; simple documents , less popular , trias politica     Written constitution ;  Unwritten constitution ;  magna carta UK , collection of laws and precedence   Rule by law ; you change the law how much you want to     Types of legislature ( chapter 11 )     **[Constitution and constitutionalism ]** - Values that speak for democratic and plural constitutionalism - Inclusive systems enabling a plurality of citizens to be - Two ways of looking at constitution ; written ( US ) or unwritten ( UK ) - Respect for diversity and difference - Constitutionalism beyond the nation-state/ state-nation [-European union] ; entities that have constitutions but cannot be called a constitution ; exclusive competence of EU : monetary policy ; member states have given up that competence to run the monetary situations by themselves , trade , agriculture / which competence does the EU not have = defense ( remains with member states ) e.g. armies , police forces ( = these constitutions can look like states , lots of debate because of the competences ) -[constitutionalization of IO's] ; take notes of IO 's , based on international treaties , fulfills a certain purpose ; [UNESCO] = mandate to look at cultural heritage , rights of a child ,... ; [OECD] : looking at economy of industrialized world ( Pisa recommendations ; to improve our standards of primary and secondary education in Europe ) , members of OECD agree to follow these standards , it is voluntary though , counsel of Europe [; Reykjavík principles] ; 10 principles that all the members of Europe follow , human rights , political rights , conditions ( corruption ) , institutions , direct democratic elements ; referenda , future outlooks ; investing in education to make democracy work ( shouldn't it already be clear = there is a difference of what is in our constitutional set of values and how we are implementing them, the invasion of Russia in Ukraine -- argument of lots of member states : emphasize the fact that we are members of democracy ) , you have to work towards a mechanism as an IO to ensure democracy ? = constitutionalism ( what we do with human , political rights ) is being scrutinized by IO's **[Constitutions and federalism ]** - Sovereignty sharing = - Exclusive and shared competences = divided by federal government and regional , local ; certain entities have certain competences -\> competition over competences , depends on constitutional rules , how much a federal government can intervene and take over competences ( based on certain principle -\> listen to recording ) - Constitution as a rule book = who can decide on a certain issue and when - Another example of a competence ( on how to run a state ) = - Vertical checks and balances - E.g. Germany, Belgium , European Union , Canada , US , Australia , etc. -\> organized differently ( how they share the sovereignty ) but also similar ( sovereignty ) Vertical checks and balances **[Fundamental rights and rule of law ]** - Positive rights = rights that enable you in your opportunities e.g. the right to education , to welfare , to speaking your mother tongue - Negative rights = protect you from government intervention e.g. right to property , freedom speech , - Group rights - Rule of law **[Law and politics]** - Primary or Constitutional Law Making - Secondary or Legislative Law Making - Establishing a hierarchy of law - Constitutions, constitutional practice and constitutional dynamics - Constitution-making (more specifically democratic constitution-making) - Constitutional practice (for example, power- relations) - Constitutional dynamics (constitutional change) Law as an outcome of politics  Une image contenant capture d'écran, diagramme, texte, conception Description générée automatiquement  Easton: Une image contenant texte, carte de visite, Police, capture d'écran Description générée automatiquement - What do you demand from politics ; ask the government for certain wage , to ban abortion ,...and you get support from interest ( don't know )  groups   - This goes in the system , in to the government  and you get decisions and policies   - There is things that get lost = black box , lost in translation   - Governance ; the ability of the government to govern   - Budget ,.. -\> compromise -\> 8 euro minimum wage   - Black box = lost , they did not do the asked 15 euros , that is what got lost in translation   - Feedback loop ; policies comes back and is liked / not liked by the public -\> reactionary loop and in the middle eats elements up   POLITICS : Session 13 {#politics-session-13.T3} ===================== Civil society, interest groups and social media {#civil-society-interest-groups-and-social-media.T3} =============================================== Reading Chapter 10 pdf {#reading-chapter-10-pdf.T3} ====================== - Political participation = actions taken by citizens in an attempt to influence political decisions - 2 kinds of participation: - Shaped by strong political institutions - Directed against or runs parallel to political institutions. - **Paradoxes of Participation** - **First Paradox**: Economic development ( stable democracy) can reduce political participation (Lipset) - **Second Paradox**: Collective action is useful, but individual participation may be irrational (free rider theory -- Olson) - Ex: someone may benefit from higher wages negotiated by a trade union without paying membership fees or participating in strikes - **Third Paradox**: Participation is more significant in authoritarian regimes, often through social movements and revolutions - **Social movements, riots, and revolutions tend to mobilize more people in authoritarian contexts, and they lead to greater social and political changes** - **The Civic Culture** ​ - Study by Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba (1965) on political attitudes in five democracies - New empirical approach to institutional political participation based on a survey of five democracies - Optimal model found in the UK with a culture of compromise (transactions and negotiations) - Civic participation considered the most democratic - **Classical forms of political participation include:** - keeping oneself informed in the political field - voting - mobilizing during an election or collective action - being a regular activist in a political party - running as a candidate in an election - Newer, non-classical forms of political participation are increasing as classical forms decline - **People may be participating in non-classical forms due to** - weak responsiveness of the political system to social demands - growing gap between voting and decision-making - marginalization of various social minorities - Social transformations create expectations and frustrations, which lead to new forms of political participation - Political participation is increasingly influenced by social variables such as age, education, gender, and socio-economic variables - Influence of Durkheim: social transformations create expectations and frustrations. - Decline in classical electoral participation, increase in extra-institutional forms of mobilization - **New technologies are shaping new forms of political participation** - The internet and social networks are increasingly influential, particularly in non-democratic countries where they provide an alternative to prohibited forms of protest - Newer forms of political participation tend to be more focused on promoting individual interests and local problems than national causes - **In authoritarian regimes, people may protest by transfer, using religion, tradition, popular folklore, or national customs to disguise their dissent** - Other forms of protest include abstention and using coded messages to ridicule or mock the leader - **Social movements are more routinized and institutionalized in industrialized societies than in developing societies** - Protests in developing countries are - more precarious, episodic, and fragile - but also stronger and more violent - The concept of revolution has changed throughout history: - In the past, associated with a class movement - After World War II, revolutions moved to the South and developing countries **Decolonization movements were the first step, followed by violent mobilizations against coercive and weakly legitimate post-colonial states** - **There are two main theories about the origins of revolutions:** - focuses on socio-economic factors - emphasizes political explanations - Political participation is becoming more individual, less hierarchical, and more oriented towards reshaping the world ​ - **Conclusions** - Political participation is taking new forms, often outside traditional institutions - Growing importance of communication technologies and individual movements - Coexistence of traditional and new forms of political participation Reading chapter 14 Book: {#reading-chapter-14-book.T3} ======================== Civil society, interest groups, and the media {#civil-society-interest-groups-and-the-media.T3} ============================================= 14. **1 Civil society** - Ambiguous term subject to wide variety of interpretations - Definition Robertson: - Civil society = framework within which those w/o political authority live their lives - Purely analytical concept doesn't exist independently of pol authority or vice versa no clear boundary between the 2 - Became + used when regimes overturned (Philippines, South-Corea, China,...) - Mostly acquired heroic aura when protests brought down communist regimes in Eastern Europe - Inspiring symbolize possibility of downtrodden rising up & overthrowing oppressors - 2. **Interest Groups** - Big component of civil society & essential element of democracy - Attract normative comment - For some, baleful influence disproportionately privilege some interests at expense of others/public interest - For others, desirable facilitate input of new ideas into pol process key elemnt in pluralism - Olson : most rational form of pol activity for ordinary citizens - What counts as a group? - Pressure group (self-conscisouly cohesive group) - Disparate group of people with common interest but no cohesive action - Generally, IG conceived as + organized elements of society - Robertson: IG = associations formed to promote a sectional interest in the political system - Different from pol parities : no candidates for gov focus on narrower rang of issues - Distinction : - Insider: winning support through lobbying, personal contacts,.. - Outsider: winning public opinion through campaigning, media,.. - Puhle: 8 types of IG : - Professional associations - Groups of business, commerce, industry - Trade unions - Agricultural organizations - Single-interest groups (*National Riffle Association*) - Ideological interest groups (*Amnesty International*) - Welfare associations (*Royal national institute for* *Blind*) - Adapt themselves to structure of institutions want to influence - National gov: attention to capital, public opinion, ministers,MP,... - Def systems: support in idnvidual states - Administritatvely dominant comms : lobbying officials - Schlozman: strong centralized French system weak IG 3. **Corporatism** - Governments listen + to some IG governance \> government better policy-making - Schmitter: - 'interest intermediation': select group of organizations : channels for exchanging view with gov and vice verse rather than promoting set view - 2 patterns of establishing those relationships: - Societal-led: grom below choice of which of these actors the state recognize depends on pressures from below - State-led: state took mead designating preferred partners - Lehmbruch: corporatism ++ certain periods and in certain groups of countries - Keynesian eco managments 60s, 70s - Still common approach to governance in continental Europe 4. **Infrapolitics and subaltern studies: the state viewed from below** - Politics can be viewed through 2 lenses: - From below - Focus on national government & state leaders - Comes from pol anthropology - Gledhill: power & its disguises - Ordinary people realte to pol systems - Scott: infrapolitics : subtle ways in which powerless subvert/undermine authority of powerful - Ambiguity rather than direct expression of opinions misunderstood - Infrapolitics could be - Covert resistance (paoching, squatting, desertion, evasion,...) - Dissident subculture of resistance - Subaltern school: see politics & institutions of regions in world without shadow of Europe - Emphazise multiplicity in which state is perceived by people because of disparate ways in which they are treated by local officials - Demand consideration for development strategies that are not borrowed from West and better adapted to local conditions 5. **The media and politics** - Media and especially press = essential element of liberal democracy and check on power of the executive - Politicians and media are by turns adversaries and accomplices - Wilson: 'Communication is a central activity of the state in the modern age. It is the bread and butter of everyday life in government' - Habermas: public sphere - Democracies recognize importance of media in upholding freedom of speech - Journalists 'make' news out of facts - Default gatekeepers of public debate - Structure but don't determine what public thinks of politics - Bailey: fiction might help us understand 'true nature' of 'real' politics - Cod of accuracy in reporting fundamental ! - Harrison: core news journalism = disposition towards truthfulness - Tabloids blamed for populist political reporting, oversimplifaction and dumbing down politics - Politicians criticized for 'spinning' activities - Standards and expectations of journalism vary around world - Developing world: + positive attitude towards domestic politics - Schudson's 7 Key functions that Media Perform for democracy: - information: the news media can provide fair and full information so citizens can make sound political choices; - investigation: the news media can investigate concentrated sources of power, particularly governmental power; - analysis: the news media can provide coherent frameworks of interpretation to help citizens comprehend a complex world; - social empathy: journalists can tell people about others in their society and their world so that they can come to appreciate the viewpoints and lives of other people, especially those less advantaged than themselves; - public forum: journalists can provide a forum for dialogue among citizens and serve as a common carrier of the perspectives of varied groups in society; - mobilization: the news media can serve as advocates for political programs and perspectives and mobilize people to act in support of those programs; - publicizing representative democracy: journalists \[should\] cover more carefully some institutions and relationships that today they take for granted or ignore - assessment of the power of the media needs to take into account the way politics is presented in all the formats where it appears and not just in current affairs programmes - way power of the press operates is extremely difficult to pin down - press perform important function in holding politicians and governments to account, but they aren't always loved for it 6. **Challenges of new technologies** - New communications technologies have aroused great hopes for transforming citizen involvement in politics, by enabling outsiders and new ideas to penetrate established political systems - Can also enable 'smart mobs' to disrupt government and hold the public to ransom - Their effect may be greater in states with less established or less legitimate political institutions, especially at times of crisis - Allow non-journalists to publish news stories and influential blogs - May enable greater participation in local decision-making - Electronic voting is still subject to great risks about the integrity of the technology & hacking - But authoritarian regimes are beginning to retaliate by using the Internet to interfere in the politics of states that are critical of them and spreading 'fake' news - Political debate in democracies is also becoming infected with disputes over genuine and fake news - Social media platforms sometimes promote disputes and polarization for the sake of their profits - A further potential challenge in the future is the possibility for governments to use artificial intelligence to predict citizens' policy preferences and remove the need for elected representatives or even voting - For the foreseeable future the Internet is more likely to contribute to democracy by facilitating deliberation in policy-making through citizen POLITICS: Session 13 {#politics-session-13-1.T3} ==================== Civil Society, Interest Groups & Media {#civil-society-interest-groups-media.T3} ====================================== [Civil society ] - Analytical concept (=*allows us to do smth with that concept for our analysis of politics, with analytical concept, try to understand how politics functions need to take into account civil society into account now*) - a framework within which those who do not have political authority come together (big category under which a lot of organizations, movements fall matter to politics (pressure those with pol authority)) - Doesn't exist independent of political authority - Hence, we can ask how influential/powerful is civil society in political decision-making broadly speaking or policy-making more specifically? - Ex of civil society: *religious organizations, worker's unions, revolutions in Eastern Europe, student associations,...* - Lots of attention for civil societies that stand up for a cause - Ex: *Greenpeace taking photos during whaling cause: species, balances ecology/business needs of people* **Instances how civil society shows its power and ways of influence** - **Bottom-up** movements (calling for change) - Revolutions, organization with normative credentials, inlcuding human rights, democracy,... - Take away: change is possible authoritarian systems can be changed (ex: *fall communism Eastern Europe*) - Seen as prime movement of civil society - Need civil society to sustain democracy - **Top-down** : - Links between those with political authorities and civil society - Ex: *youth organizations related to parties, how DT able to organize riots on 6^th^ of January* - Non-governmental organization: - links with so-called Western countries and respective efforts of development cooperation - ex*: Greenpeace, UNICEF,...* - Ambivalent term? Western term? - Perspective on modernization theory how civil society can change for the better and bring democratization - Seen critically in the text: western actors use experiences in their societies and spread it elsewhere [Interest groups: ] - Closer to policy-making (policy in the 3 pillars) - Associations with particular ('sectional') interests - Professional Associations (*shutdown during covid, schools being ope,*...) - Business groups, commerce, industry (l*ib, neo-lib deduction state and state regulations private\> state solutions*) - Trade unions - Argricultural organizations - Single-issue interest groups - Public interest groups - Ideological and religious groups (*US change educational curriculum, the Church influential abortion rights,* - Welfare associations - Etc. **Interest groups and Corporatism :** - The question, however, remains almost identical to the one which we asked in the case of civil society: how influential are they? - Most logical/ rational form of organization, as they are sufficiently large and not too broad/too large, as this may be the case with parties - Many citizens/individuals/employers/employees engage in interest groups and try to make their 'voice' and/or interests heard - Lobbying - Corporate decision-making includes "listening"/"taking on" interests of certain interests groups, including employers-groups and trade unions - Every group lobbying at UE needs to be registered [Civil society, Interest Groups, Transnatioanlism: ] **Transnational dynamics:** - Cross-national-border activities (Portes 2001) - Transnational practices - trans-migration - Transnational social movements - NGO's, social networks,... - Transnationalisation through law, transport and communication - Increase of interactions between Europeans and "others" - Ontological, analytical and normative perspectives - Ex*: Fridays for Future* - Ex: *migration:* *in order to migrate, need to cross a border* - *Covid vaccines (how important buisnesses are)*  - Transnational actors situated in certain states influencing governments/ public debates in other states beyond international politics/diplomacy **Participation:** - Changing roots of political participation - (Mass) mobilization (ex: *demonstrations Tel Aviv*) what brings people out in the street? - Abstention - Revolutions (are they possible?) **Infrapolitics :** - We should not only look at the world through the lens of Western ways of making politics, and bottom-up phenomena, such as civil society and corporatism - Infrapolitics takes essentially into account the 'other' perspective - Subaltern politics and decentring politics ('Decentring Europe') - Decolonizing politics **Media and new technologies :** - Freedom of expression (if you take that freedom away, you may have media but no longer media speaking to plurality of opinions) - Facts and news Journalist making news out of facts - Media power and media pluralism (needed for wide variety of different opinions) - Journalism on politics (4th pillar of checks and balances) - Media performing for democracy - Political (populist) reporting (easy solutions, fake news, - New technologies - Public Spheres - Ex : - *Rubert Murduck : media tycoon running lany different outlets (fox news) how much can these people influence what media is reporting on different political events* - *Bezos: owner Amazon, lots of information about all of us can that information be used in media business etc ?* - Examples: - *Social media* - *"free speech" vs "regulated speech"* - *Measures: laissez-faire vs controlling platform* - *AI* - *Reality vs Artificiality* POLITICS : Session 14 (B4L2) {#politics-session-14-b4l2.T3} ============================ Public policies and public administration {#public-policies-and-public-administration.T3} ========================================= **Policy:** - Def Anderson: "purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors in dealing with a matter of concern \..., public policies are those developed by governmental bodies and officials." - Limited def in scope: focuses on gov field **Institutions can change over time:** - 1979: 1^st^ universal elections to EP - 'Let us not be deluded into believing that the strictly institutional limitations on its powers can prevent a Parliament such as ours from speaking out at all times, and in every field of Community action, with the political authority conferred on it by its election'(Simone Veil) - Parliament not = to council consultative note - Maastricht treaty ('92): decision-making role - Elections create authority no one else directly elected to represent citizens and therefore directly represents the citizens - Because has authority, not limiting itself to constitution, treaties,... speaks abt whatever it wants to (environmental, policy making,...), all concerns of Europe **Building on Easton's system** **theory** (input-BLACK BOX- output) - Demands in society need to fill in pol system - Need to adapt policy for it - *Ex policy on demand:* - *migration (too many illegal migrants \>\< let + migrants it)* - *Climate policy* - What policies come out? Depends on who holds majority : in parlamentary systems \>\< In pres systems to estimate action: look at president's program (*ex: Trump*) - Who is lobbying for policy actions? - Easier to think abt long term-issues but some issues pop up & need immediate responses (*ex: Covid, Ukraine*) - Certain policies speak to certain people **Policy making = circle**  - When new gov coming, look at which topics high on demand and think what do different from gov before list of urgent issues + "constant" issues (taxes,...) - *Ex: conservative parties abt climate change  twist it/focus on economy* **Types of policies ** - **Distributive Policies**: policy that issues with objective that all citizens can benefit from policy (financially same extend) - *ex: public good, everybody pays only 10€ no matter how rich you are)* - **Constituent Policies**: setting marks by introducing new institutions, agencies - Policies trying to initiate policy-field by introducing constitutive features in society - Very often in combination with ??? - *Ex: regulatory agencies (digital services act)* - **Regulative Policies**: regulating, allowing, prohibiting practices in markets - Everything needs to be following standards (technical, medical, chemical,... standars) - *Ex: drugs, pharmaceutical product needs to be permitted to enter market* - *Ex: EU Policy saying we are quite open, we will no longer allow any country from checking passports at boarders* *(because of Schengen Agreement)* - **Redistributive Policies**: through texting, redistribute wealth state enough budget to redistribute especially to those in need - *welfare, educational support, invest in new housewarming,...* **Who bares the costs of policies?** Every policy comes with objective & consequences : - **Majoritarian** policies (benefits and costs dispersed) - **Entrepreneurial** policies (costs concentrated, dispersed benefits) - **Cliental** policies (costs dispersed, benefits concentrated) - **Interest-groups** policies (costs and benefits concentrated) Welfare state: - Who bares costs & benefits? - some may speak to a bigger part of society (*ex*: *elderly*) - some may targeted to very small groups of society (*ex: blind people* *traffic lights, equipment stations,...*) - costs dispersed and benefits very targeted Welfare policies: - "a number of policies through which the government provides protection against a predetermined set of social risks and needs" (Ferrara) **Politicisation** - How to make a policy salient (*= standout and important)*? - Loud: dB people used to the topic (policies linked to people consumption of media) creates polarization - A lot of issues are being politicised these days salient, polarized, extended (+ actors) - De Wilde : politicisation can be empirically observed in - The growing **salience** of European governance, Involving a **polarization** of opinion and an **expansion** of actors and audiences engaged in monitoring EU affairs **Policy Making** - **Incrementalism**: "adjustment process" - Diverse set of actors and interests - Need to do + - **Garbage can model**: "intermeshing of elements" - Policy making set of different interests, options, policy tools all in one big bag depending on constellation of actors, something may come out (an intermesh that sometimes make sense, sometimes not) - **Path dependence**: stickiness of politics - Certain paths that have been chosen in the past and that are very difficult to leave policy solutions work - Explains why institutions don't disappear - Bureaucracy, politicians, administrations support solutions that are already known  Think these 2 things together set of tools to understand policies and policy change Reading Chapter 9 Political Science {#reading-chapter-9-political-science.T3} =================================== Public policies and public administration {#public-policies-and-public-administration-1.T3} ========================================= **Introduction** - Implementation of decisions is crucial and involves public bureaucracy - Policy-making process includes six phases - agenda-setting: issue enters pol agenda (external events/leader) who defines issue and how framed at the beginning very relevant - policy formulation: alternative solutions put forward; different interests/conflicts - decision-making: formal actors (gov, parl) & bureaucracy, informal actors (affected interests, citizen groups) involved at different levels. Also when exchanges, compromises - implementation: bureaucracy - evaluation: relevant for 6^th^ - continuation/termination: once started, policies often continued strong inertial strength - policy-cycle **What are policies? ​** - Public policy is a purposive course of action by governmental bodies (Anderson) - Public policy when a bill is translated into actions so that the decisions are + or -- effectively implemented (Peters) - Policies are sets of decisions aimed at solving problems on the political agenda - ~~Single decision~~ - Purposive - Public when affects directly or indirectly collectivity (even a small one) & carried out in all its phases by public authorities - Declarations and written normative documents are translated into actio - Main examples of public policies: - supranational,national,local level - coordination among the different levels (*ex: EU regional cohesion policy*) - co-ordination between central authorities and the regional or municipal ones ex: **Classic classifications of policies:** - Procedural and substantive - Procedural: set the rules and processes concerning how policies are to be developed and implemented in various areas - Substantive: regulate a specific domain such as public health services, public education and many other fields - Lowi : 2 dimensions - likelihood of coercion in case of non-compliance (immediate/remote) - applicability of coercion (towards whom sanctions directed) - Distributive: services or benefits to individuals, certain groups or communities with no or few accompanying sanctions - Regulative: procedural policies impose strictly sanctioned restrictions on the behaviour of persons and groups legitimated because they protect general public interest - Constituent: setting up or reorganization of institutions by regulating the power of governing authorities - Redistributive: shifting the allocation of wealth and income in favour of lower classes or poorer people - Wilson : - Majoritarian: both costs and benefits are widely dispersed - Interest group: subsidy or regulation rewards a small group at the expense of a different group and the society at large is not affected by these policies - Entrepreneurial: generalized, small benefits & costs concentrated on a small section of society. - Client-oriented: costs that are dispersed in the society, but benefit only small, often well-organized groups **Welfare States: a short excursus ​** - Welfare policies aim to improve individual and collective wellbeing - They include health care, education, housing, unemployment benefits, pensions, and social assistance. - Welfare states have adapted to economic crises by reforming policies to maintain sustainability **The bureaucracy** - Bureaucracy is essential for implementing government decisions - Main task: implementation of formal political decisions - Public administration is present at the beginning of a policy-making process (drafting), in the second phase of secondary legislation (regulation), and in the final moment of implementing decisions - Max Weber\'s ideal type of bureaucracy includes - authority through law - specialized offices - hierarchical system - rules and procedures - full-time officials - New public management emphasizes flexibility, empowerment, and results-oriented approaches **Policy evaluation** - Policy evaluation assesses the effectiveness of policies, programs, or projects - It involves analyzing the impact, identifying causes, and comparing goals with results ​ - Evaluation is crucial for understanding policy success and informing future decisions​ **Models of policy making ​** - Incrementalism: Policies evolve through small adjustments and trial and error - Garbage can model: Policy making is complex and involves a mix of problems, solutions, and participants - Path dependence: Historical sequences and institutional inertia influence policy continuity and change Reading Chapter 13 Book {#reading-chapter-13-book.T3} ======================= Xx {#xx.T3} == **13.1 Legislatures and Executives** - Parliaments perform number of 'governmental' functions: important role in choice of head of government - Executive can either be parliamentarianism or presidentialism : - Parliamentarianism: parliament chooses the head of the government (executive) - *Ex: UK* - Presidentialism: head of the state chooses a prime minister or is personally the head of the executive branch - *Ex: France with prime minister*, *USA with executive as head* - Hybrid regimes: - Parties choosing their leader through elections that involve wider membership rather than simply own parliamentary members - *Ex: UK* - Candidates elected by all party members - *Ex: Canada, Germany* - President responsible for nominating PM but he must enjoy confidence of parliament - *Ex: France, Russia* - Cohabitation of executive head of state and PM from different parties can paralyse gov decision-making - *Ex: US, France, Taiwan,...* 2. **Civil Service** - Creation of an impartial civil service developed, 1^st^, the effective power of the state and then later, the stability of democracy (officials politically neutral) - British version: stressed the importance of impartiality of civil service of officials even at the highest levels - French version: political appointees can hold posts in the office of ministers - USA version: spoils system newly elected political leaders can fire and hire whoever they want which they normally do as a way to reward people who supported them - Weber : Efficiency of Modern Bureaucratic Organization - Technical superiority : precision, speed, unambiguity, strict subordination,... - European states developed different variants of the civil service and national traditions of administration - In general: stress upon role of law in establishing relationship state/bureaucracy "Rechtstaat" - *Ex: Italy 40000 laws* - Tendency for administrative, political, and business elites to overlap - *Ex: ENA France* - Colonial powers utilised these forms of government organisation on their colonies with varying long-term success - Ex: India - Consistent all-india administration - Limited, good gov - Public interest \>\> private ones - Ex: Nigeria - Few Nigerians incorporated personal recommendation \>\> exam - India & Nigeria: criticized for abuse authority, arbitrariness, corruption - Ex: Singapore - Quah : major features 3. **Embedded Autonomy and Economic Policy Making** - Embedded autonomy = civil servants are insulated from pressures from the rest of society but not completely isolated - Term emerged from the successful development of East Asian states in transforming the world economy - First successes: Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in the 1960s played a major role in Japan's economic successes influenced other states in the region (South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore) - 2 categories of economic systems in Europe and the USA: - **Anglo-American "liberal" model**: autonomous market and state - Private capitalist actors determine how to interact with each other based on expected comparative advantage - *Ex: USA* - **Coordinated Market Economies** (CMEs): - Government directs the economy through state-owned enterprises, regulating competition, managing labour relations, and providing technical & professional education and training - *Ex: Germany, France* - !! some policies (*healthcare*) attract considerable controversy based upon ideology and national political culture 4. **Theories of Bureaucratic Policy-Making** - Theories of public administration have revolved around principal-agent issues (actions of actors need to be harmonized but don't converge necessarly) - In democracies, public administration reform centred around trying to align policy outcomes with the original goals - Set of incentives/rules need to be formed in order to make them converge - In case of civil services: the minister gives instructions to the agents on what to do civil services (agents) must follow what their political leaders tell them to do - Theories of bureaucratic policy-making have sought to - Clarify how bureaucracies implement decisions - Identify ways that will enable principals better to ensure that policy outcomes conform with the original objectives - Principal agent relationship: identifies the differentiation of roles between the giver of instructions and implementer - New Public Management (NPM) = approach to the reform of government bureaucracies in the 1990s that sought to introduce methods of business administration - Emphasised incentives, competition, and performance rather than the traditional values of rule-based hierarchies - Public and private sector might not necessarily be 2 separate things - In developing countries, it can undermine efforts to get rid of corruption in public administration - Features of NPM: - Business oriented approach to gvt - Quality and performance oriented approach to public management - Emphasis on improved public service delivery and functional responsiveness - Institutional separation of public demand functions (councils), public provision (public management boards), and public service production functions (back offices, outsourcing,...) - Favour use of commercial market enterprises (deregulation, privatisation, etc.) and/or virtual markets (internal competition, benchmarking, etc.) 5. **Emergence of Agencies** - Agencification = creation of semi autonomous agencies (organisations charged with public tasks like policy implementation, regulation, and public service delivery, operating at arm\'s length of the government) - **3 dimensions of agency** (Talbot) - Structural disaggregation and/or the creation of "task-specific organisations" (*Child Support Agency*) - Performance contracting- some form of performance target setting, monitoring, and reporting - Deregulation/reregulation of controls over personnel, finance, and other management matter - Hollowing out of the state (Rhodes) // decentring of governance (Bevir) - Governance means steering a society instead of guiding it - The emergence of agencies meant to implement policies formed somewhere else helped facilitate concentration upon delivery - Heavy realiance upon targets as perdormance indicators - Complicated problems of ministerial accountability (attenuated it) 6. **Governance and Good Governance** - Governance = capacity of governments to make and implement policy in order to steer society (Pierre and Peeters) -- sometimes used to describe structure of decision-making - = process of decision-making and process by which decisions are implemented (UNESCAP) - Doesn't have to be used in pol context - Good governance encouraged in development world but ! downplays state-society distinction - **Elements of good governance** (World Bank) - Participation (encouraging involvement of a wide range of actors in making and implementing decisions) - Contributes to, but doesn't actually require democracy - Rule of law; clear legal frameworks that are enforced impartially - Implies a respect for human rights, independent judiciary, and an incorruptible police - Transparency (open decision-making procedures) - Responsiveness (policies that are formulated and implemented in ways that respond to social needs) - Consensus-oriented (decision making through mediation between different interests) - Equity and inclusiveness (opportunities for all, especially the most vulnerable to improve their living conditions) - Effectiveness and efficiency (good policies that make the best use of available resources and protect the environment) - Accountability (decision makers-both public and private- must be responsible for all their decisions to society as a whole, and there must be procedures for making sure that this happens) **13.7 Policy Communities, Iron Triangles and Issue Networks** - Sustainable development: show compatibility between environmental protection and economic growth - Civil society: consists of institutions (*ex:interest groups*) which stand at the crossroads between the individual and the state ○ Ignores the distinction between state and society - Policy communities: groups of officials and experts in a particular policy area who regularly consult each other - Iron triangles: groups of politicians, officials, and outside experts who regularly formulate government policy in particular issue areas to the exclusion of wider social groups - Lobbying helps establish common views on policy - Issue network: looser groups of officials and outsiders who regularly share ideas in particular policy areas - 5 **elements** that represent a **continuum of organisational strength** (from weak issue networks to strong policy communities) Rhodes - Issue networks: unstable and a lot of people - Producer networks: sharing economic interests and serve interest of producer - Intergovernmental networks: limited membership, limited vertical interdependence, extensive horizontal articulation - Professional networks: highly restricted membership, serves interest of profession - Policy or territorial communities: vertical interdependence, limited horizontal articulation POLITICS : Lecture 15 {#politics-lecture-15.T3} ===================== Policy outcomes in Europe {#policy-outcomes-in-europe.T3} ========================= **Policy-making in the EU** Une image contenant texte, Police, capture d'écran, Bleu électrique Description générée automatiquement - who is competent/responsible to decide on a policy? - In EU: principle of subsidiarity (act on lowest level sub federal level is + effective) **Which competences remain on the state?** - Supportive ones - Many aren't written here - *Ex: police* - EU as an example of federal system **Why member-states willingly sharing their sovereignty?** - \+ effective if they cooperate Inverse subsidiary effect - To compete in the World State cooperate to create a **single market** (Treaty of Rome) - Possibility to freely exchange all goods, services, people and capital - Competition products need to follow same standards (not to have competitive advantages) - But to make such a market need to make many policies common - Peace **Special competencies:** - (text not correct about that) - Common Foreign and Security Policy - Why do we need that? - Security of 1 member state becomes security of everyone (no borders anymore) - Wants to communicate towards outside world as a whole - "one voice" - What do you do with countries no longer with the "one voice" - Common Security and Defence Policy - What EU wanted with Maastricht treaty is to create Political Union - There was a moment when could've become it - Political power at center of European Project European defense and political community - Failed because assemblée nationale did'nt agree - Instead small steps of economic + and + competences - Deep integration in a lot of fields but elements of Political Union behind  - Mostly -- for shared and exclusive competences -- the ordinary legislative procedure applies - In the other areas: policy-making in EU almost looks like processes in other countries - This procedure : already - Exceptions may apply **Trade** - Trade featured because exclusive competence - EU taking over that policy from member states - Who do you call when wanting to trade with EU? - Commission? Initiate processes (*ex:going into new trade agreement with US*) - Member-states don't have a minister of trade - Europe largest market on the world, most important trade entity in the world - Need trade agreements - EU agreements with lots of countries - Products more freely exchanged within the world - US didn't manage that well - EU doing a lot in that area hugely active entity in that domain - Seskovic **Migration** - Shared competence - Salient issue since migration crisis 2013-2014 conservative, radical parties  - From EU commission's perspective pact that make dealing with migration and asylum + smooth - What is happening? - Has been adapted in April - each Member State will now develop their own migration strategies based on a common implementation plan issued by the Commission 2026 - beginning of the implementation - Why so important? - EU doesn't have internal borders but 1 big internal border - Once in, freely move in asylum cases, asylum seeking request issued and taken care of in country where have entered first Reading : Foundations of European Politics {#reading-foundations-of-european-politics.T3} ========================================== **The extent of competence-sharing between the EU and national institutions varies greatly across policy areas** **12.1 Political Authority in a Multi-Level Europe** - The question of "who decides what" has become a key topic in EU political debate - Article 5(2) of the Treaty on European Union explicitly states that the EU only has competencies conferred upon it by the treaties - Exercise of powers by EU institutions is subject to two fundamental principles: **proportionality and subsidiarity:** - **Proportionality** : ensures that EU institutions' actions do not exceed what is necessary to achieve treaty objectives - **Subsidiarity** : means that the EU should act only when its intervention is more effective than action at a lower level (national, regional, or local) - Member states have agreed to delegate decision-making power to the EU for specific objectives, but only in certain areas - There are three types of competencies: - **Exclusive competencies**: areas where only the EU can legislate - **Shared competencies**: areas where member states can act, but only if the EU chooses not to - **Supporting competencies**: the EU complements or coordinates national actions without harmonizing national laws or regulations. - EU's authority is strongest in exclusive competencies and weakest in supporting competencies - Shared competencies fall in between - Figure 12.1 provides examples of policy areas under different types of competencies - Completer !! - Member states have granted the EU exclusive policymaking powers in areas : - customs union, EU trade policy, and competition control in the internal market - In other areas, both the EU and member states can legislate: - environmental policy or consumer protection laws - Certain policy areas are considered too sensitive for significant EU involvement - law enforcement, education, and healthcare - In shared competencies: EU law supersedes national law - Subsidiarity is more of a political principle than a clear legal guide subject to interpretation - National parliaments' role in EU policymaking has been strengthened in line with the subsidiarity principle - A "yellow card" early warning mechanism on subsidiarity was introduced ?? - In some areas, policymaking remains exclusively in the hands of national institutions - The EU only has supporting competencies to coordinate or complement national actions - Ex: income tax and healthcare policy - Sovereign state powers = two aspects of policy: - Control over policy involving the state\'s monopoly on legitimate use of force and taxation - The significance of policy areas in defining a state as a sovereign entity - The EU also holds special competencies in some policy areas - Ex: it can ensure member states coordinate their economic, social, and employment policies at the EU level - Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is a \"high politics\" area - CFSP remains formally intergovernmental, with national governments as primary actors and decisions requiring unanimity - The EU has been criticized for failing to adopt a unified stance member state divisions **12.2 Trade Policy** - EU institutions hold exclusive competencies over trade policy, legislating on trade matters and negotiating international agreements - Removing trade barriers : key focus, enhancing market access, competitiveness, growth, and employment while benefiting consumers with more choices at lower prices - Trade agreements can negatively affect working conditions and the environment, especially in developing countries - Recent agreements aim to promote human rights, labor standards, and environmental protection - TTIP negotiations with the US faced resistance due to concerns over sovereignty, transparency, and environmental standards, highlighting growing politicization of trade policy **12.3 Immigration Policy** - Immigration policy is shared between EU and national institutions - EU sets entry conditions for regular migration - National governments control admission volumes - EU aims to prevent irregular migration and supports integration measures but avoids harmonizing national laws - Contentious political issue, influenced by labor shortages, public skepticism, and Eurosceptic mobilization - 2015 refugee crisis increased focus on border control, with Frontex criticized by human rights groups - Migration quotas faced opposition, with legal challenges against countries refusing asylum seekers - The Schengen Agreement enables free movement, but intra-EU migration remains a political flashpoint **12.4 Environmental Policy** - Central to EU governance, supported by treaties, public demand, and international agreements - The European Green Deal aims for climate neutrality by 2050, promoting renewable energy and circular economies - Green parties have shaped agendas across Europe, influencing other political parties and fostering environmental initiatives - Policy outcomes vary across Member States, reflecting economic realities and divergent priorities - EU leads in global climate governance but faces challenges balancing rapid progress with economic concerns **12.5 Health Policy** - Primarily a national responsibility, with the EU complementing national systems - Healthcare delivery varies, often combining public and private sectors - The Covid-19 pandemic exposed disparities in healthcare systems and highlighted limited EU coordination capabilities - EU efforts focused on supporting vaccine research, coordinating distribution, and providing information, while Member States led emergency responses **12.6 Summary** - The chapter analyzed policy-making within Europe's multi-level governance system, emphasizing varying competences between EU and national institutions - Tensions between subsidiarity, political authority, and legal disputes characterize the integration process, influencing future policy-making POLITICS : Session 16 {#politics-session-16.T3} ===================== Discussion {#discussion-1.T3} ========== **Examen :** - Book + slides - Open + MCQ **Policies -- resilience and Paradigm Shift** - Resilience = internal capacity of societies to cope with crises, with emphasis on the development of self-organisation and internal capacities and capabilities Juncos - How pol actors are using the term? - Shift in the paradigm alters fundamental concepts underlying research and inspires new standards of evidence, new research technique and new pathways of theory and experiment that are radically incommensurate with the old ones - Do we need paradigm shift? Put more emphasis on other things? - Examples resilience: - 0-1 at 87^th^ minute team shows resilience and tries to score - Adapting in sports - Negative marks - Adapt when something tragic happened loss, - What can we do as society, to make policies + resilient? - Invest more in how we may want to react in turbulous situations, strategize, foresee - Bring up stop signs, show red lines - How react in certain situations ? *some countries don't know whether receive rockets at any moment prepare for that* - Ex: *export market breaks away* - Paradigm shift: - Examples: - Production : environmental shift, big world market economy - 1^st^ step in discussion in class comes from student : no preset menu - University policy: go to conference abroad only if not possible online, + than 4h, if less than 8h need to be by train - Good idea but difficult **Eurobarometer:** - Number 1: Common foreign security and defense - EU can't force on member states - Vice-commissioner + President European council (coordinates heads of governments) - Migration: politicization - Perceptions of what is important always perceptions - Defense industries in Europe guiding us in escalation of insecurity **Which policies require a paradigm change?** - Society based on migration? Fill pension gaps ? - Give peop