The Unequal Representation of Income Groups and Direct Democracy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reto Wuest ◽  
Anouk Lloren
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Income Groups

Kämpfe um Bergbau und die Möglichkeiten demokratischer Transformation

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (189) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Dietz
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Mining Project ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Relationship

The article explores the political effects of popular consultations as a means of direct democracy in struggles over mining. Building on concepts from participatory and materialist democracy theory, it shows the transformative potentials of processes of direct democracy towards democratization and emancipation under, and beyond, capitalist and liberal democratic conditions. Empirically the analysis is based on a case study on the protests against the La Colosa gold mining project in Colombia. The analysis reveals that although processes of direct democracy in conflicts over mining cannot transform existing class inequalities and social power relations fundamentally, they can nevertheless alter elements thereof. These are for example the relationship between local and national governments, changes of the political agenda of mining and the opening of new spaces for political participation, where previously there were none. It is here where it’s emancipatory potential can be found.

Discursive construction of an anti-immigration Europe by a Sweden Democrat in the European Parliament

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-439
Author(s):  
Kamber Güler
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Power ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Group

Discourses are mostly used by the elites as a means of controlling public discourse and hence, the public mind. In this way, they try to legitimate their ideology, values and norms in the society, which may result in social power abuse, dominance or inequality. The role of a critical discourse analyst is to understand and expose such abuses and inequalities. To this end, this paper is aimed at understanding and exposing the discursive construction of an anti-immigration Europe by the elites in the European Parliament (EP), through the example of Kristina Winberg, a member of the Sweden Democrats political party in Sweden and the political group of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy in the EP. In the theoretical and methodological framework, the premises and strategies of van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach of critical discourse analysis make it possible to achieve the aim of the paper.

The Nexus Between Urbanisation and Human Empowerment: Income Group Based Findings of Bidirectional Causality

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
Christos Kollias ◽  
Panayiotis Tzeremes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Democratic Rule

Abstract The economic and social drivers of democratisation and the emergence and establishment of democratic institutions are longstanding themes of academic discourse. Within this broad body of literature, it has been argued that the process of urbanisation is also conducive to the emergence and consolidation of democracy through a number of different channels. Cities offer better access to education and facilitate organised public action and the demand for more democratic rule and respect of human rights. The nexus between urbanisation and human rights is the theme that is taken up in the present paper. Using a sample of 123 countries for the period 1981–2011, the paper examines empirically the association between urbanisation and human empowerment using the Cingranelli-Richards Index. In broad terms, the findings reported herein do not point to a strong nexus across all income groups. Nevertheless, there is evidence suggesting the presence of such a statistically significant positive association in specific cases.

Planetary gentrification and urban (re)development

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta Lees
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Urban Redevelopment ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Low Income Groups

Abstract Gentrification is no-longer, if it ever was, a small scale process of urban transformation. Gentrification globally is more often practised as large scale urban redevelopment. It is state-led or state-induced. The results are clear – the displacement and disenfranchisement of low income groups in favour of wealthier in-movers. So, why has gentrification come to dominate policy making worldwide and what can be done about it?

LOCUS OF CONTROL AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AMONG THE EMPLOYEES OF AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (01-02) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Paramanandam ◽  
K. Sangeetha
Keyword(s):  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
Significant Positive Correlation ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Statistical Tools ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Group A

Locus of control reflects the extent to which individuals believe that what happens to them is within their control, or beyond it. The objective of the present study was to study locus of control and employee engagement among the employees of automobile industry. A convenience sample consisting of ninety employees working in automobile industry participated in the study. By administering questionnaires locus of control and employee engagement among the employees were assessed. The collected data was analysed with various statistical tools like Mean, Standard Deviation, Correlation, regression and ANOVA tests. A higher level of locus of control was observed among the above 50 years age group and a higher level of employee engagement among the 41-50 age group. A higher level of locus of control and employee engagement was observed among the above 30000 income group. There were significant differences in locus of control and employee engagement among the respondents of different income groups. There was a significant positive correlation between locus of control and employee engagement. Approximately 18% of the variance of employee engagement was explained by locus of control.

Income or Culture? Examining the Determinants of Subjective Wellbeing in an International Sample

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddharth Garg
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Regression Coefficient ◽  
Marginal Utility ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The World ◽  
Diminishing Marginal Utility ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between income, subjective wellbeing, and culture among people from a higher socio-economic class across the world. Rationale: Ed Diener proposed the law of diminishing marginal utility as an explanation for differences in subjective wellbeing among different income groups across different countries (Diener, Ng, & Tov, Balance in life and declining marginal utility of diverse resources, 2009). Thus, people with higher incomes would experience less subjective wellbeing due to income, and culture should emerge as a significant predictor. Method: Data from this study came from another study (https://siddharthgargblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/14/love-for-money/). I used an online survey to collect data on annual income in US dollars, subjective wellbeing (WHO-5), and country of residence (Indicator of Culture). 96 responses (Indians = 24, Foreigners = 72) were entered in IBM SPSS and a regression analysis was conducted. The raw dataset used in this study can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8869040.v1Results: ANOVA showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between Indians and foreigners on levels of subjective wellbeing. Linear regression shows the regression coefficient of culture to be significant (Beta = -.254, p = .014) but the regression coefficient of income was not found to be significant. The overall model was found to explain 8.2% of the variance in wellbeing.Conclusion: The sample of this study is too small to make any kind of generalization; it does lend a little bit of support to the idea of diminishing marginal utility of income on subjective wellbeing and provides a rationale for further research.

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