Hasil untuk "Political theory"

J. Dewey

Ruqiang Lai, Loo-See Beh

Citizens’ e-participation determines the successes and failures of digital government or e-government. However, its results to date have not been satisfactory. IT adoption models dominate previous studies. However, citizens’ psychological factors have been overlooked. The field has fallen into the trap of “technological solutionism.” This research focuses on political efficacy and collected self-reported data from 388 respondents through an online questionnaire. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was carried out for data analyses. The results showed that e-participation intention positively affects e-participation behavior. Both internal political efficacy and external political efficacy have a positive significant relationship with e-participation intention. Additionally, descriptive analysis results revealed the relationships between citizens’ demographic factors and their influence on e-participation, including gender, age, monthly income, education level, political affiliation, and occupation. This research provides further empirical evidence and insightful knowledge for scholars, enriching political efficacy theory. Government officials can benefit from this research where targeted measures can be developed.

Kostas Gourzis, Effie Emmanouil, Stelios Gialis et al.

This paper examines the uneven geography of skill mismatches by studying the regional allocation of highly educated workers in high, medium or low skill-level occupations. To this end, a conceptual framework is developed combining Geographical Political Economy with theorizations around the optimal allocation of human capital. A comparative empirical analysis is then conducted using the Location Quotient Index for the period 2009-2021 for five countries (Greece, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Denmark), where the universities affiliated to the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA) are located. The results of this analysis are then contextualized through correlations with various macroeconomic, population density, and demographic metrics, which represent factors underlying the uneven geography of skill mismatches. The analysis stresses five critical factors behind the regional and occupational allocation of skills: economic dynamism at the national level, regional industrial specializations, urbanisation levels, demographic structures, and institutional endowments. Moreover, it is argued, these factors behind human capital development tend to reproduce geographical unevenness rather than ameliorating spatial inequalities. Based on these observations, a set of policy actions is recommended based on the five factors mentioned above and the EU’s New Skills Agenda. With the above, the paper offers valuable insight into the negative externalities associated with skills mismatches, taking into account the different socio-economic models and school-to-work transition systems across the EU. Moreover, it attempts to make a positive contribution to the European Universities Initiative, as examining the skills gaps in the regions associated with the ERUA strengthens the Alliance itself and helps to bridge existing inequalities.

Alfonso García Figueroa

Este artículo discute la concepción hartiana del deporte sostenida por el profesor José Luis Pérez Triviño. Algunas objeciones se basan en mi convicción de que la teoría del Derecho de Hart es insuficiente para ofrecer una explicación adecuada del Derecho y en este sentido no creo que sea un modelo fiable para extrapolarlo al deporte. En cambio, otras objeciones se basan en que, aun asumiendo la validez de esa teoría del Derecho, su extensión al deporte no resulta del todo satisfactoria.

Carlos Garrido, Christopher Helali

This paper examines the contemporary comprehensive crisis of legitimacy in the United States as a collapse of ethical life (Sittlichkeit), the historically constituted unity between individual will and the objective institutions that structure social existence. It begins by tracing Hegel’s critique of Kant’s moral formalism (Moralität), showing that freedom must be grounded not in abstract autonomy but in the rational institutions through which individuals recognize themselves in society. Following Hegel and scholars such as Terry Pinkard, Charles Taylor, Robert Pippin, Michael Lazarus, Karen Ng, and Slavoj Žižek, the paper argues that ethical life is actual when individuals experience their belief, purpose, and actions as continuous with the shared ideals and practices of the community. When this alignment fractures – when institutions are no longer experienced as rational or authoritative – a crisis of ethical life emerges. Drawing from Hegel’s account of Sittlichkeit and a Marxist critique of capitalist political economy, the paper contends that the United States is in the midst of such a crisis. What persists is not an actual ethical life organically grounded and necessary, but a hollowed-out structure experienced as arbitrary and artificial, sustained through mutual misrecognition rather than genuine belief. The result is widespread alienation, distrust, and disunity between people and dominant institutions. The paper concludes by arguing that the only path forward lies in constructing new institutions – dual power formations – grounded in collective freedom, mutual recognition, and human flourishing, which can serve as the basis for a renewed ethical life.

James Tully

This introduction orients readers of European Journal of Political Theory who have not read the book, and helps all readers understand the differences between the first section of the book and other similar approaches – such as Melissa Williams’ Deparochializing Political Theory mode of disclosure. It also orients readers to the book's second section on dialogue and decolonization with reference to both the contrapuntal ensemble (Said) and governmentality (Foucault), and the contributions of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Richard Gregg's contra racism, capitalism, militarism, and anthropocentric ecocide—as well as their pro “democratic countermodernity” mode of disclosure.

Brian Bix

The present paper addresses two exchanges between Eugenio Bulygin and Joseph Raz. The first exchange appeared in the book Una discusión sobre la teoría del derecho, in which Bulygin, like Robert Alexy, commented on an article by Raz “Can There Be a Theory of Law?”. The second exchange takes place in Bulygin’s essay,  “Enunciados Jurídicos y Positivismo: Una Respuesta a Joseph Raz” (1981), which was a response to an article by Raz, “The Purity of the Pure Theory,” published in 1981.

Emilia-Laura VARTOLOMEI

The aura of power and prestige surrounding the ministerial positions, situated at the apex of the government, is much valued by the parties and political actors (Verzichelli, 2008). The paper explores the political recruitment of Romanian ministers affiliated with the National Liberal Party (PNL) in the governments related to the 2020-2024 electoral cycle. It delves into the processes and factors shaping the recruitment, selection, and careers of ministers within the party, shedding light on the intricate dynamics of political recruitment in the Romanian context. The research examines how elements such as opportunity structure, political ambitions, party positions, and the former local, national, or parliamentary offices held by the political actors (ªtefan, 2016) influence ministerial appointments. Since most of the PNL ministers were already members of parliament at their ministerial appointment and about three-quarters had obtained two parliamentary mandates, a previous parliamentary career appears to be one of the beaten paths toward the ministerial chair. Being cabinet members in previous electoral cycles was another possible reason for the party’s designation of certain individuals in ministerial positions as more than half of the liberal ministers had prior experience in cabinets. By analysing the career trajectories and tenures of PNL ministers, this study contributes to understanding the complexities involved in the political recruitment of executive members within the party that was continuously in government, along the Cîtu, Ciucã, and Colacu cabinets, in the 2020–2024 legislature.

Cami Sanderson, Lindsey Maxwell, Lynne Marie Chandler Garcia et al.

With political incivility high, students yearn for a safe space to discuss political issues among their peers. The Unify America Challenge provides such an opportunity by bringing together college students across the United States with divergent views to engage in political discussion. This commentary explores the experiences of four instructors in different disciplines and in different institutions of higher education who utilized the Unify America Challenge as a tool for deliberative pedagogy. Drawing our observations and feedback from students, we conclude that it is a useful activity that promotes communication skills, encourages students to listen to diverse voices, and underscores the shared values that transcend divisive political issues.

Klára Jelínková

Tim Marshall's Prisoners of Geography, published in 2015, is an in-depth examination of the influence that geographic features exert on the geopolitical strategies, international law, historical trajectories, and socioeconomic events of nations. Marshall is an experienced foreign correspondent, drawing on his extensive experience and knowledge of world history and geopolitics.

A. Przeworski, M. Wallerstein

Toro López Maritza, Van den Broeck Pieter

Infrastructural design, transport and mobility policies are strong instruments for interpreting historical urban and regional transformation processes. The paper addresses the intercausalities between both of them. To do so, it briefly sketches debates on the causalities of transport infrastructure and urbanisation and the theory of technological politics, drawing attention to the relationship between transport infrastructure and politics, and how infrastructures and their techno-political frames include means of power and authority. From there, the paper moves to the debate on the relationship between social justice and transport, showing how transport systems embody social processes and social (in)injustice. The history of agrarian extractivism in the region of Urabá in Colombia serves as a case study. The paper shows how existing transport networks of the region of Urabá have supported the expansion of agrarian extractivist industries and more specifically the production of transport (in)justice. It explores the development of the infrastructural network, transport systems and urbanisation of this region from the early 1900s onwards. Results show how the actual agrarian extractivist industries of the region are causing huge challenges related to the overlapping of transport scales, congestion and risks of accidents in urban areas, and how actual transport dynamics in the region are affecting urban development, generating a high segregation characterised by uneven distributions of public services and transport infrastructures. The paper reveals that the existing transport developments in the region of Urabá have no support for local development and are mainly thought for the efficiency of agrarian extractivist industries over local economic development. Agrarian extractivism has been a consistent factor in the economic, political and social spheres, and since colonial times the appropriation of natural resources and the dispossession of territories has been omnipresent. This paper explores the historical role of transport in agrarian extractivism, the long-term impact of the prolongation of old mechanisms, and the interrelations of the latter with current urbanisation and development. It concludes that infrastructural developments in this region have supported agrarian extractivist industries, first in colonial times, but also more recently, showing the deep embeddedness of the relation between mobility and urbanity in the (agrarian extractivist) development history of this region.

B. Jessop

G. Marcus

Pasquale Passalacqua

The Author focuses on the employment law profiles of the Third Sector Code. After a systematic overview of the phenomenon of volunteering, particular attention is paid to the new “general” definition of volunteering, of which the Author underlines the systemic reflections. The paper il- lustrates then the complex and problematic relationship between “market” work and “off-market work” in Third sector entities as outlined by the Code.

Stephen R. Palmquist

Stephen R. Palmquist* Received: 20/03/2019     |       Accepted: 15/04/2019 After briefly recounting a strange, quasi-mystical experience I had while first reading Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, I devote most of this article to exploring various similarities between theories Kant developed and ideas more commonly associated with Paul Tillich. Hints are drawn from Chris Firestone’s book, Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason, which argues that my interpretation of Kant echoes themes in Tillich’s ontology. Among the themes whose Kantian roots I explore are Tillich’s theories of: God as the Ground of Being; faith as ultimate concern; courage as the proper life-choice in the face of the anxiety that naturally arises out of an honest response to the human situation, given our fundamental alienation from the divine; the crucial role of cultural symbols in bringing faith into historically realistic expressions; political forms as ideally self-negating; and love as a gift that we must express with power and justice in order to be efficacious. After considering whether Kant influenced Tillich more than Tillich ever admitted, I conclude by wondering if my own effort to develop an “affirmative” interpretation of Kant’s theory of religion may have itself had a hidden influence from my prior reading of Tillich.   * Professor of Philosophy, Dept. of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China     ׀        stevepq@hkbu.edu.hk 🞕 Palmquist. S. R. (2019). Does Tillich Have A Hidden Debt To Kant. The Journal of Philosophical-Theological Research, 21(81), 73۔ 88. doi: 10.22091/jptr.2019.4191.2093

S. Mulhall, A. Swift

Over the past decade, one of the most controversial and influential challenges to liberal political theory has been mounted by a number of writers usually labelled "communitarian". Focusing primarily upon the philosophical and metaphysical underpinnings of liberal accounts of justice, these critics have argued that such accounts presuppose an inadequate conception of the person and of the relationship between individuals and their communities, resulting in an impoverished view of the role of the state. This book traces the progress of the debate. Beginning with an account of John Rawls's "A Theory of Justice", it goes on to provide clear presentations of the work of the main communitarians - Michael Sandel, Alisdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor and Michael Walzer. This is followed by an assessment of Rawls's more recent work, in which his "political" liberalism is shown to provide resources for a response to the communitarian critique. Finally, the authors examine the writings of two other liberal theorists, Richard Rorty and Joseph Raz, each of whom can be read as pursuing strikingly different lines of argument which avoid the difficulties faced by Rawls but raise new problems of their own. With a guiding agenda of themes and issues, this book is a useful aid to students of contemporary political theory.

Kimberly Hutchings

E. Isin, Patricia K. Wood