Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Rup Kumar Barman, Paribarta Anusandhan: Rashtra, Nagarikatta, Bastuchyuti O Itihascharcha. Gangchil, 2022, 170 pp. ₹450 (Hardback), ISBN: 978-93-93569-38-7.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic has Affected Transgender Community People: Findings From a Telephonic Survey in Odisha
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Alike any other marginalized groups of people, the unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 virus has also catastrophically damaged the lifestyle of the transgender persons in Odisha. In order to understand the life struggle of transgender people during the world pandemic, this study is an attempt to examine their life experience throughout the pandemic and their strategic plans to deal with such tragic crisis. To materialize the above cited objectives, we have conducted 30 telephonic interviews from two cities (Cuttack and Bhubaneswar) of Odisha. We asked some open-ended questions regarding their struggle to survive, family support, availability of government assistances and accessibility of basic services and their mental conditions during the pandemic time. Our finding from the survey depicts that there was much fear and insecurity among the transgender people during the pandemic time. Because of the loss of basic earnings, shortage of foods and unavailability of other basic essentials, with the sense of group solidarity, they managed to survive with meagre substances. However, lack of family support during the pandemic, exclusion from government benefits, restrictions in social mobility and the fear of COVID-19 virus infection led to increase their mental distress and made their life more miserable.
Alike any other marginalized groups of people, the unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 virus has also catastrophically damaged the lifestyle of the transgender persons in Odisha. In order to understand the life struggle of transgender people during the world pandemic, this study is an attempt to examine their life experience throughout the pandemic and their strategic plans to deal with such tragic crisis. To materialize the above cited objectives, we have conducted 30 telephonic interviews from two cities (Cuttack and Bhubaneswar) of Odisha. We asked some open-ended questions regarding their struggle to survive, family support, availability of government assistances and accessibility of basic services and their mental conditions during the pandemic time. Our finding from the survey depicts that there was much fear and insecurity among the transgender people during the pandemic time. Because of the loss of basic earnings, shortage of foods and unavailability of other basic essentials, with the sense of group solidarity, they managed to survive with meagre substances. However, lack of family support during the pandemic, exclusion from government benefits, restrictions in social mobility and the fear of COVID-19 virus infection led to increase their mental distress and made their life more miserable.
Why the left has more to lose from ideological convergence than the right
Party Politics, Volume 29, Issue 5, Page 803-816, September 2023.
Why are many traditional governing parties of advanced democracies in decline? One explanation relates to public perceptions about mainstream party convergence. Voters think that the centre-left and -right are increasingly similar and this both reduces mainstream partisan loyalties and makes room for more radical challengers. Replicating and extending earlier studies, we provide evidence supporting this view. First, observational analysis of large cross-national surveys shows that people who place major parties closer together ideologically are less likely to be mainstream partisans, even when holding constant their own ideological proximity to their party. Second, a survey experiment in Germany suggests that this relationship is causal: exposure to information about policy convergence makes mainstream partisan attachments weaker. Importantly, we advance previous discussions of the convergence theory by showing that, in both our studies, ideological depolarisation is most detrimental to mainstream centre-left partisan attachments. We suggest that this is due to differing party histories.
Why are many traditional governing parties of advanced democracies in decline? One explanation relates to public perceptions about mainstream party convergence. Voters think that the centre-left and -right are increasingly similar and this both reduces mainstream partisan loyalties and makes room for more radical challengers. Replicating and extending earlier studies, we provide evidence supporting this view. First, observational analysis of large cross-national surveys shows that people who place major parties closer together ideologically are less likely to be mainstream partisans, even when holding constant their own ideological proximity to their party. Second, a survey experiment in Germany suggests that this relationship is causal: exposure to information about policy convergence makes mainstream partisan attachments weaker. Importantly, we advance previous discussions of the convergence theory by showing that, in both our studies, ideological depolarisation is most detrimental to mainstream centre-left partisan attachments. We suggest that this is due to differing party histories.
Intertwined fates? Members switching between niche and mainstream parties
Party Politics, Volume 29, Issue 5, Page 840-852, September 2023.
Little attention has been paid to the process of members leaving parties in order to support other parties. Party developments in the UK in the 2010s provide an opportunity to analyse the determinants of members giving up their current party and joining a rival. We examine this issue using an original panel survey of 2,679 members of the Green Party of England and Wales. Our results show that members who joined the Greens motivated by concern about social justice are more likely to leave and support Labour after Jeremy Corbyn’s election as party leader. Members who joined to protect the environment are less likely to leave. Niche parties can attract members predominantly motivated by issues traditionally represented by a mainstream party but these members are more likely to leave the party again following a position change by the mainstream party.
Little attention has been paid to the process of members leaving parties in order to support other parties. Party developments in the UK in the 2010s provide an opportunity to analyse the determinants of members giving up their current party and joining a rival. We examine this issue using an original panel survey of 2,679 members of the Green Party of England and Wales. Our results show that members who joined the Greens motivated by concern about social justice are more likely to leave and support Labour after Jeremy Corbyn’s election as party leader. Members who joined to protect the environment are less likely to leave. Niche parties can attract members predominantly motivated by issues traditionally represented by a mainstream party but these members are more likely to leave the party again following a position change by the mainstream party.
Between cabinet membership and opposition: Commitment and responsibility of support parties
Party Politics, Volume 29, Issue 5, Page 981-987, September 2023.
Existing research suggests that government participation is crucial for how voters evaluate party performance and how they cast their votes. However, in real life the distinction between government and opposition is not as straight-forward as one would think. Minority governments often enjoy the legislative support of external support parties, which play an ambiguous role in politics: while they are formally part of the opposition, they are simultaneously committed to keeping the government in office and passing its bills. How do voters evaluate parties that support a minority government? Will they respond to different frames about the significance of the commitment that support parties have made to government policy and survival? In a survey experiment, I test whether framing a written agreement as effective will cause voters to attribute more or less responsibility to the support parties and find that they respond to different frames by altering their perceptions of the importance of the agreement, but not their responsibility attribution.
Existing research suggests that government participation is crucial for how voters evaluate party performance and how they cast their votes. However, in real life the distinction between government and opposition is not as straight-forward as one would think. Minority governments often enjoy the legislative support of external support parties, which play an ambiguous role in politics: while they are formally part of the opposition, they are simultaneously committed to keeping the government in office and passing its bills. How do voters evaluate parties that support a minority government? Will they respond to different frames about the significance of the commitment that support parties have made to government policy and survival? In a survey experiment, I test whether framing a written agreement as effective will cause voters to attribute more or less responsibility to the support parties and find that they respond to different frames by altering their perceptions of the importance of the agreement, but not their responsibility attribution.
‘On the front line of the battle for reunification’: Nationalism and Romania’s identity paradiplomacy in Moldova
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‘On the front line of the battle for reunification’: Nationalism and Romania’s identity paradiplomacy in Moldova
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Mapping ethics self-regulation within political parties: Norms, oversight and enforcement
Party Politics, Volume 29, Issue 5, Page 892-905, September 2023.
This article introduces the new Party Ethics Self-Regulation database, covering 21 indicators on ethics self-regulation organised into three categories (norms, oversight and enforcement) across 200 political parties of 25 countries available in 2020. Internal self-regulatory efforts developed by political parties have been insufficiently addressed in the literature and remain a blind spot in existing databases on political parties. Our analyses indicate that Radical Right Parties have a lower probability of adopting codes of conduct/ethics when compared to any other party family. It also reveals the strongest effect of country-level factors, with party system institutionalization, political corruption or level of democracy shaping the adoption of at least one form of ethics regulation/body. These findings are relevant because they open the debate about the possibility of incrementing ethics self-regulation within political parties through ethics-targeted public funding and raise the need for further research on the effects of such measures on the parties’ ethical climate and public legitimation.
This article introduces the new Party Ethics Self-Regulation database, covering 21 indicators on ethics self-regulation organised into three categories (norms, oversight and enforcement) across 200 political parties of 25 countries available in 2020. Internal self-regulatory efforts developed by political parties have been insufficiently addressed in the literature and remain a blind spot in existing databases on political parties. Our analyses indicate that Radical Right Parties have a lower probability of adopting codes of conduct/ethics when compared to any other party family. It also reveals the strongest effect of country-level factors, with party system institutionalization, political corruption or level of democracy shaping the adoption of at least one form of ethics regulation/body. These findings are relevant because they open the debate about the possibility of incrementing ethics self-regulation within political parties through ethics-targeted public funding and raise the need for further research on the effects of such measures on the parties’ ethical climate and public legitimation.
Comparing Independence Referendums: Why Do Some States Accept Them while Others Do Not?
The Myth of the Ten-Year Limit on Reservations and Dr Ambedkar’s Stance
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
It is a common perception that the reservation framework for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India was supposed to last only for a period of 10 years, and that B. R. Ambedkar himself was a proponent of this view. This article analyses the historical material to argue that the supposed time limit on reservations is a falsehood. The initial time limit was imposed only on political reservations (subject to few conditions) and not on reservations in services and education. It would be demonstrated that Ambedkar was not in favour of any time limit even on political reservations, and that the temporary 10-year limit imposed on political reservation was a decision adopted by other members, who formed the majority in the Constituent Assembly. It would be further demonstrated that Ambedkar had suggested the method of constitutional amendments to keep increasing the initial time limit on political reservations.
It is a common perception that the reservation framework for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India was supposed to last only for a period of 10 years, and that B. R. Ambedkar himself was a proponent of this view. This article analyses the historical material to argue that the supposed time limit on reservations is a falsehood. The initial time limit was imposed only on political reservations (subject to few conditions) and not on reservations in services and education. It would be demonstrated that Ambedkar was not in favour of any time limit even on political reservations, and that the temporary 10-year limit imposed on political reservation was a decision adopted by other members, who formed the majority in the Constituent Assembly. It would be further demonstrated that Ambedkar had suggested the method of constitutional amendments to keep increasing the initial time limit on political reservations.