Showing papers on "Politics published in 2008"

The use of knowledge about society

Abstract: Selection of efficient institutions or policies in politics requires constituents to estimate the net benefits of political reforms. Political competition fails to inform constituents of the costs of forgone political alternatives. Ignorance of ‘political opportunity costs’ prevents the adoption of welfare enhancing reforms of public institutions and policies. The empirical record supports this contention.

Governance without Government: Order and Change in World Politics

Abstract: Preface Contributors 1. Governance, order and change in world politics James N. Rosenau 2. Governance with government: polyarchy in nineteenth-century European international politics K. J. Holsti 3. The decaying pillars of the Westphalian temple: implications for international order and governance Mark W. Zacher 4. The 'Triumph' of neoclassical economics in the developing world: policy convergence and bases of governance in the international economic order Thomas J. Biersteker 5. Towards a post-hegemonic conceptualization of world order: reflections on the relevancy of Ibn Khaldun Robert W. Cox 6. The effectiveness of international institutions: hard cases and critical variables Oran R. Young 7. Explaining the regulation of transnational practices: a state-building approach Janice E. Thomson 8. 'And Still It Moves' state interests and social forces in the European Community Linda Cornett and James A. Caporaso 9. Governance and democratization Ernst-Otto Czempiel 10. Micro sources of a changing global order James N. Risenau Index.

Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age

Abstract: The first edition of Unequal Democracy was an instant classic, shattering illusions about American democracy and spurring scholarly and popular interest in the political causes and consequences of escalating economic inequality This revised and expanded edition includes two new chapters on the political economy of the Obama era One presents the Great Recession as a “stress test” of the American political system by analyzing the 2008 election and the impact of Barack Obama’s “New New Deal” on the economic fortunes of the rich, middle class, and poor The other assesses the politics of inequality in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the 2012 election, and the partisan gridlock of Obama’s second term Larry Bartels offers a sobering account of the barriers to change posed by partisan ideologies and the political power of the wealthy He also provides new analyses of tax policy, partisan differences in economic performance, the struggle to raise the minimum wage, and inequalities in congressional representation President Obama identified inequality as “the defining challenge of our time” Unequal Democracy is the definitive account of how and why our political system has failed to rise to that challenge Now more than ever, this is a book every American needs to read

Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World

Abstract: Acknowledgments1. Introduction: Scales of Justice, the Balance, and the Map2. Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World3. Two Dogmas of Egalitarianism4. Abnormal Justice5. Transnationalizing the Public Sphere: On the Legitimacy and Efficacy of Public Opinion in a Postwestphalian World6. Mapping the Feminist Imagination: From Redistribution to Recognition to Representation7. From Discipline to Flexibilization? Rereading Foucault in the Shadow of Globalization8. Threats to Humanity in Globalization: Arendtian Reflections on the Twenty-First Century9. The Politics of Framing: An Interview with Nancy Fraser by Kate Nash and Vikki BellNotes ReferencesIndex

The Myth of Digital Democracy

Abstract: Is the Internet democratizing American politics? Do political Web sites and blogs mobilize inactive citizens and make the public sphere more inclusive? The Myth of Digital Democracy reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the Internet has done little to broaden political discourse but in fact empowers a small set of elites--some new, but most familiar. Matthew Hindman argues that, though hundreds of thousands of Americans blog about politics, blogs receive only a miniscule portion of Web traffic, and most blog readership goes to a handful of mainstream, highly educated professionals. He shows how, despite the wealth of independent Web sites, online news audiences are concentrated on the top twenty outlets, and online organizing and fund-raising are dominated by a few powerful interest groups. Hindman tracks nearly three million Web pages, analyzing how their links are structured, how citizens search for political content, and how leading search engines like Google and Yahoo! funnel traffic to popular outlets. He finds that while the Internet has increased some forms of political participation and transformed the way interest groups and candidates organize, mobilize, and raise funds, elites still strongly shape how political material on the Web is presented and accessed. The Myth of Digital Democracy. debunks popular notions about political discourse in the digital age, revealing how the Internet has neither diminished the audience share of corporate media nor given greater voice to ordinary citizens.

A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication

Abstract: The great thinkers who influenced the contemporary field of political communication were preoccupied with understanding the political, social, psychological, and economic transformations in modern industrial society. But societies have changed so dramatically since the time of these landmark contributions that one must question the continuing relevance of paradigms drawn from them. To cite but a few examples, people have become increasingly detached from overarching institutions such as public schools, political parties, and civic groups, which at one time provided a shared context for receiving and interpreting messages. What are the implications of this detachment on how people respond to media messages? Information channels have proliferated and simultaneously become more individualized. Is it still relevant to conceive of ‘‘mass media’’ or has that concept been made obsolete by audience fragmentation and isolation from the public sphere? Does this new environment foreshadow a return to a time of minimal effects? If we are looking at a new minimal effects era, how can we distinguish it from the last such period? Retracing some of the intellectual origins of the field may help us identify the fundamental changes in society and communication technologies that are affecting the composition of audiences, the delivery of information, and the experience of politics itself. In particular, we are concerned with the growing disjuncture between the prevailing research strategies and the sociotechnological context of political communication, which may give rise to unproductive battles over findings (Donsbach, 2006). To the extent that research paradigms fail to reflect prevailing social and technological patterns, the validity of results will be in serious question. Consider just one case in point: the famous earlier era of ‘‘minimal effects’’ that emerged from studies done in the 1940s and early 1950s (Klapper, 1960). The underlying context for this scholarship consisted of a premass communication media system and relatively dense memberships in a group-based society networked through political parties, churches, unions, and service organizations (Putnam, 2000). At this time, scholars concluded that media messages were filtered through social reference processes as described in the two-step flow model proposed by Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955; Bennett & Manheim, 2006). Although the classic study by Lang

Political Institutions under Dictatorship

Abstract: 1. The world of dictatorial institutions 2. Three illustrative cases 3. The use of institutions to co-opt 4. Institutions and policies under dictatorship 5. Institutions and outcomes under dictatorship 6. Institutions and the survival of dictators.

National Responsibility and Global Justice

Abstract: This chapter outlines the main ideas of my book National responsibility and global justice. It begins with two widely held but conflicting intuitions about what global justice might mean on the one hand, and what it means to be a member of a national community on the other. The first intuition tells us that global inequalities of the magnitude that currently exist are radically unjust, while the second intuition tells us that inequalities are both unavoidable and fair once national responsibility is allowed to operate. This conflict might be resolved either by adopting a cosmopolitan theory of justice (which leaves no room for national responsibility) or by adopting a ‘political’ theory of justice (which denies that questions of distributive justice can arise beyond the walls of the sovereign state). Since neither resolution is satisfactory, the chapter defends the idea of national responsibility and proposes a new theory of global justice, whose main elements are the protection of basic human rights worl...

Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of Political Participation

Abstract: A growing chorus of scholars laments the apparent decline of political participation in America, and the negative implications of this trend for American democracy. This article questions this position – arguing that previous studies misdiagnosed the sources of political change and the consequences of changing norms of citizenship for Americans' political engagement. Citizenship norms are shifting from a pattern of duty-based citizenship to engaged citizenship. Using data from the 2005 ‘Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy’ survey of the Center for Democracy and Civil Society (CDACS) I describe these two faces of citizenship, and trace their impact on political participation. Rather than the erosion of participation, this norm shift is altering and expanding the patterns of political participation in America.

Introduction to Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages

Abstract: Where does the nation-state end and globalization begin? In Territory, Authority, Rights , one of the world's leading authorities on globalization shows how the national state made today's global era possible. Saskia Sassen argues that even while globalization is best understood as "denationalization," it continues to be shaped, channeled, and enabled by institutions and networks originally developed with nations in mind, such as the rule of law and respect for private authority. This process of state making produced some of the capabilities enabling the global era. The difference is that these capabilities have become part of new organizing logics: actors other than nation-states deploy them for new purposes. Sassen builds her case by examining how three components of any society in any age--territory, authority, and rights--have changed in themselves and in their interrelationships across three major historical "assemblages": the medieval, the national, and the global. The book consists of three parts. The first, "Assembling the National," traces the emergence of territoriality in the Middle Ages and considers monarchical divinity as a precursor to sovereign secular authority. The second part, "Disassembling the National," analyzes economic, legal, technological, and political conditions and projects that are shaping new organizing logics. The third part, "Assemblages of a Global Digital Age," examines particular intersections of the new digital technologies with territory, authority, and rights. Sweeping in scope, rich in detail, and highly readable, Territory, Authority, Rights is a definitive new statement on globalization that will resonate throughout the social sciences.

Persistence of Power, Elites and Institutions

Abstract: We construct a model to study the implications of changes in political insti? tutions for economic institutions. A change in political institutions alters the distribution of de jure political power, but creates incentives for investments in de facto political power to partially or even fully offset change in de jure power. The model can imply a pattern of captured democracy, whereby a democratic regime may survive but choose economic institutions favoring an elite. The model provides conditions under which economic or policy outcomes will be invariant to changes in political institutions, and economic institutions them? selves will persist over time. (JEL D02, D72) The domination of an organized minority ... over the unor? ganized majority is inevitable. The power of any minority is irresistible as against each single individual in the majority, who stands alone before the totality of the organized minor? ity. At the same time, the minority is organized for the very reason that it is a minority.

Economic Inequality and Democratic Political Engagement

Abstract: What effect, if any, does the extent of economic inequality in a country have upon the political engagement of its citizens? This study examines this question using data from multiple cross-national surveys of the advanced industrial democracies. It tests the theory that greater inequality increases the relative power of the wealthy to shape politics in their own favor against rival arguments that focus on the effects of inequality on citizens' objective interests or the resources they have available for political engagement. The analysis demonstrates that higher levels of income inequality powerfully depress political interest, the frequency of political discussion, and participation in elections among all but the most affluent citizens, providing compelling evidence that greater economic inequality yields greater political inequality.

West European Politics in the Age of Globalization

Abstract: Over the past three decades the effects of globalization and denationalization have created a division between ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in Western Europe. This study examines the transformation of party political systems in six countries (Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK) using opinion surveys, as well as newly collected data on election campaigns. The authors argue that, as a result of structural transformations and the strategic repositioning of political parties, Europe has observed the emergence of a tripolar configuration of political power, comprising the left, the moderate right, and the new populist right. They suggest that, through an emphasis on cultural issues such as mass immigration and resistance to European integration, the traditional focus of political debate - the economy - has been downplayed or reinterpreted in terms of this new political cleavage. This new analysis of Western European politics will interest all students of European politics and political sociology.

Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil War

Abstract: A range of seemingly rival theories attempt to explain why some individuals take extraordinary risks by choosing to participate in armed conflict. To date, however, competing accounts have typically not been grounded in systematic, empirical studies of the determinants of participation. In this article, we begin to fill this gap through an examination of the determinants of participation in insurgent and counterinsurgent factions in Sierra Leone’s civil war. We find some support for all of the competing theories, suggesting that the rivalry between them is artificial and that theoretical work has insufficiently explored the interaction of various recruitment strategies. At the same time, the empirical results challenge standard interpretations of grievance-based accounts of participation, as poverty, a lack of access to education, and political alienation predict participation in both rebellion and counterrebellion. Factors that are traditionally seen as indicators of grievance or frustration may instead proxy for a more general susceptibility to engage in violent action or a greater vulnerability to political manipulation by elites. hy do some individuals take enormous risks to participate as fighters in civil war? What differentiates those who are mobilized from those who remain on the sidelines? What distinguishes those who rebel from those who fight to defend the status quo? In spite of a large literature on the topic, scholars continue to debate the conditions under which men and women take up arms to participate in deadly combat. In this article, we examine the evidence for prominent, competing arguments in the context of Sierra Leone’s civil war, drawing on a unique dataset that records the attitudes and behavior of 1,043 excombatants alongside a sample of 184 noncombatants.

Elaborating the “New Institutionalism”

Abstract: To sketch an institutional approach, this paper elaborates ideas presented over 20 years ago in The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life (March and Olsen 1984). Institutionalism, as that term is used here, connotes a general approach to the study of political institutions, a set of theoretical ideas and hypotheses concerning the relations between institutional characteristics and political agency, performance and change. Institutionalism emphasizes the endogenous nature and social construction of political institutions. Institutions are not simply equilibrium contracts among self-seeking, calculating individual actors or arenas for contending social forces. They are collections of structures, rules and standard operating procedures that have a partly autonomous role in political life. The paper ends with raising some research questions at the frontier of institutional studies.

The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation Is Reshaping American Politics

Abstract: Chapter 1: Citizenship and the Transformation of American Society The Social Transformation of America The Plot of This Book Conclusion DEFINING THE NORMS OF CITIZENSHIP Chapter 2: The Meaning and Measurement of Citizenship Citizenship in Theory What Is a "Good" Citizen? The Two Faces of Citizenship The Distribution of Citizenship Norms What Kind of Citizenship? Appendix Chapter 3: Forming Citizenship Norms A Generational Gap? The Rising Tide of Social Status Gender and Ethnicity Patterns Citizenship and Religion Partisan Differences in Citizenship Bringing the Pieces Together The Social Roots of Citizenship THE CONSEQUENCES OF CITIZENSHIP Chapter 4: Bowling Alone or Protesting with a Group? The Repertoire of Political Action Voting in Elections Campaign Activity Contacting Government Collective Group Activity Protest and Contentious Actions Online Participation Old Repertoires and New Repertoires Citizenship Norms and Participation Engaged Democrats Appendix Chapter 5: Free Speech for Everyone? How to Measure Political Tolerance The Unconventional Evidence: Rising Political Tolerance Who Is Tolerant and Who Is Not Citizenship and Tolerance Implications of Citizenship and Tolerance Chapter 6: Is the Government the Problem or Solution? What Should Government Do? We Want Government to Be a Big Spender Public Policy Preferences Are Citizenship Norms another Term for Partisanship? Citizenship and Public Policy Chapter 7: Is a Good Citizen Trustful or Skeptical of Government? Changing Images of Government Trusting Political Institutions America, Right or Wrong Appendix - Multivariate Analysis Chapter 8: In Tcoqueville's Footsteps The Norms of Citizenship Comparing the Consequences of Citizenship Citizenship in Comparative Perspective CONCLUSION Chapter 9: The Two Faces of Citizenship Balancing the American Political Culture Understanding Millennials Tocqueville Revisited Norm Shift and American Democracy

From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda

Abstract: What is the political legacy of violent conflict? This paper presents evidence for a link between war, violence and increased individual political participation and leadership among former combatants and victims of violence, and uses this link to understand the deeper determinants of individual political behavior. The setting is northern Uganda, where rebel recruitment methods generated quasi-experimental variation in who became a rebel conscript and who did not. Original survey data shows that the exogenous element of conscription (by abduction) leads to significantly greater political participation later in life. The principal determinant of this increased political participation, moreover, appears to be war violence experienced. Meanwhile, abduction and violence do not appear to affect multiple non-political types of community participation. I show that these patterns are not easily explained by models of participation based on simple rational preferences, social preferences, mobilization by elites, or information availability. Only 'expressive' theories of participation appear consistent with the patterns observed, whereby exposure to violence augments the value a person places on the act of political expression itself. The implications for general theories of political participation are discussed.

The Concept of Representation in Contemporary Democratic Theory

Abstract: Democratic theorists have paid increasing attention to problems of political representation over the past two decades. Interest is driven by (a) a political landscape within which electoral representation now competes with new and informal kinds of representation; (b) interest in the fairness of electoral representation, particularly for minorities and women; (c) a renewed focus on political judgment within democratic theory; and (d) a new appreciation that participation and representation are complementary forms of citizenship. We review recent innovations within democratic theory, focusing especially on problems of fairness, constituency definition, deliberative political judgment, and new, nonelectoral forms of representation.

State Power: A Strategic-Relational Approach

Abstract: List of Abbreviations. List of Boxes, Figures and Tables. Acknowledgments. General Introduction. What is the State?. A Preliminary Definition of the State. 'Putting this Book in its Place'. PART I: THEORIZING THE STATE. 1. The Development of the Strategic-Relational Approach. Three Sources of the Strategic-Relational State Approach. The First Phase in the Strategic-Relational Approach. The Second Phase of the Strategic-Relational Approach. The Third Phase of the Strategic-Relational Approach. Interim Strategic-Relational Conclusions. 2. Bringing the State Back in (Yet Again). Introduction. The Marxist Revival and the Strategic-Relational Approach. Strategic-Relational Tendencies in the Second Wave. New Directions of Research. Conclusions. PART II: SOURCES OF THE STRATEGIC-RELATIONAL APPROACH. 3. Marx on Political Representation and the State. What does The Eighteenth Brumaire accomplish?. On Periodization. The Political Stage. The Social Content of Politics. The State Apparatus and Its Trajectory. More on Political Representation. Conclusions. 4. Gramsci on the Geography of State Power. Spatializing the Philosophy of Praxis. Gramsci and the Southern Question. Gramsci on Americanism and Fordism. Gramsci on Territoriality and State Power. Gramsci and International Relations. Conclusions. 5. Poulantzas on the State as a Social Relation. Marxist Theory and Political Strategy. New Methodological Considerations. The State and Political Class Struggle. The Relational Approach and Strategic Selectivity. Re-Reading Poulantzas. Exceptional Elements in the Contemporary State. Periodizing the Class Struggle. The Spatio-Temporal Matrix of the State. Conclusions. 6. Foucault on State, State Formation, and Statecraft. Foucault and the "Crisis of Marxism". Poulantzas and Foucault compared. The Analytics of Power versus State Theory. Foucault as a Genealogist of Statecraft. With Foucault beyond Foucault. Conclusions. PART III APPLYING THE STRATEGIC-RELATIONAL APPROACH. 7. The Gender Selectivities of the State. Analyzing Gender Selectivities. Gender Selectivities in the State. Strategic Selectivity and Strategic Action. Political Representation. The Architecture of the State. Conclusions. 8. Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Temporal Sovereignty. Globalization Defined. Globalization and the Spatial Turn. Some Spatio-Temporal Contradictions of Globalizing Capitalism. The Implications of Globalization for (National) States. Conclusions. 9. Multiscalar Metagovernance in the European Union. State-Centric Perspectives. Governance-Centric Approaches. Changes in Statehood in Advanced Capitalist Societies. The EU as a Schumpeterian Workfare Post-National Regime. The European Union and Multiscalar Metagovernance. Conclusions. 10. Complexity, Contingent Necessity, Semiosis, and the SRA. Complexity and Contingent Necessity. Complexity and the Selection of Selections. Semiosis and Complexity Reduction. Towards a New Strategic-Relational Agenda. Conclusions. Original Sources of Chapters. Bibliography. Name Index. Subject Index

The Effect of Political Regime on Civil War: Unpacking Anocracy

Abstract: Research published in the American Political Science Review shows that anocracies—as defined by the middle of the Polity index of political regime—are more susceptible to civil war than are either ...

A Political Mediation Model of Corporate Response to Social Movement Activism

Abstract: This paper uses a theory of social movement outcomes, the political mediation model, to explain why certain corporations targeted by boycotts are more likely to concede to boycotters' demands. Hypo...

Philosophy and Real Politics

Abstract: Many contemporary political thinkers are gripped by the belief that their task is to develop an ideal theory of rights or justice for guiding and judging political actions. But in Philosophy and Real Politics, Raymond Geuss argues that philosophers should first try to understand why real political actors behave as they actually do. Far from being applied ethics, politics is a skill that allows people to survive and pursue their goals. To understand politics is to understand the powers, motives, and concepts that people have and that shape how they deal with the problems they face in their particular historical situations.Philosophy and Real Politics both outlines a historically oriented, realistic political philosophy and criticizes liberal political philosophies based on abstract conceptions of rights and justice. The book is a trenchant critique of established ways of thought and a provocative call for change.

The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World

Abstract: There are many types of revolutions. History talks mostly of political revolutions, dramatic events that all too often represent little real change over the long term: the cast of players in power shifts and new political philosophies come into vogue, but when it comes to the daily realities of most people, little changes.

Violence : six sideways reflections

Abstract: Zizek argues that the physical violence we see is often generated by the systemic violence that sustains our political and economic systems. With the help of eminent philosophers like Marx, Engel and Lacan, as well as frequent references to popular culture, he examines the real causes of violent outbreaks like those seen in Israel and Palestine and in terrorist acts around the world. Ultimately, he warns, doing nothing is often the most violent course of action we can take.

Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics

Abstract: Three stereotypical figures have come to represent the 'war on terror' - the 'dangerous' Muslim man, the 'imperilled' Muslim woman, and the 'civilized' European. Casting Out explores the use of these characterizations in the creation of the myth of the family of democratic Western nations obliged to use political, military, and legal force to defend itself against a menacing third world population. It argues that this myth is promoted to justify the expulsion of Muslims from the political community, a process that takes the form of stigmatization, surveillance, incarceration, torture, and bombing. In this timely and controversial work, Sherene H. Razack looks at contemporary legal and social responses to Muslims in the West and places them in historical context. She explains how 'race thinking,' a structure of thought that divides up the world between the deserving and undeserving according to racial descent, accustoms us to the idea that the suspension of rights for racialized groups is warranted in the interests of national security. She discusses many examples of the institution and implementation of exclusionary and coercive practices, including the mistreatment of security detainees, the regulation of Muslim populations in the name of protecting Muslim women, and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. She explores how the denial of a common bond between European people and those of different origins has given rise to the proliferation of literal and figurative 'camps,' places or bodies where liberties are suspended and the rule of law does not apply. Combining rich theoretical perspectives and extensive research, Casting Out makes a major contribution to contemporary debates on race and the 'war on terror' and their implications in areas such as law, politics, cultural studies, feminist and gender studies, and race relations.

Genealogies of Citizenship: Markets, Statelessness, and the Right to Have Rights

Abstract: 1. Theorizing citizenship rights and statelessness Part I. Citizenship Imperilled: How Marketization Creates Social Exclusion, Statelessness, and Rightlessness: 2. Genealogies of Katrina: the unnatural disasters of market fundamentalism, racial exclusion, and statelessness 3. Citizenship, statelessness, nation, nature, and social exclusion: Arendtian lessons in losing the right to have rights Part II. Historical Epistemologies of Citizenship: Rights, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere: 4. Citizenship troubles: genealogies of struggle for the soul of the social 5. What's political or cultural about political culture and the public sphere? Toward a historical epistemology of concept formation Part III. In Search of Civil Society and Democratic Citizenship: Romancing the Market, Reviling the State: 6. Let them eat social capital: how marketizing the social turned Solidarity into a bowling team 7. Fear and loathing of the public sphere: how to unthink a knowledge culture by narrating and denaturalizing Anglo-American citizenship theory.

Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age

Abstract: Democracy is not a sure thing Governments and party systems often strain against changes in societies, and some fall prey to corruption and bad policies Under the right conditions, people may reassert their rights to govern, and produce remarkable periods of creative reform, realignment, and change In these times, politics becomes a focus of personal life itself, restoring the sense that participation makes a difference The challenges of influencing the course of nations and addressing global issues may inspire creative solutions from the generations of young citizens who have access to digital communication tools The cascading advance of media platforms and social software enables unprecedented levels of production and distribution of ideas, public deliberation, and network organization It is clear that many young citizens of this digital and global age have demonstrated interests in making contributions to society Yet the challenge of engaging effectively with politics that are linked to spheres of government remains, for most, a daunting prospect The reasons are numerous A casual look at world democracies suggests that many of the most established ones are showing signs of wear Parties are trying to reinvent themselves while awkwardly staying the course that keeps them in power In the press, in everyday conversation, and often from the mouths of politicians, politics has become a dirty word rather than a commonly accepted vocabulary for personal expression 1 Perhaps most notably, younger generations have disconnected from conventional politics and government in alarming numbers These trends in youth dissatisfaction with conventional political engagement are not just occurring in the United States, but have parallels in other democracies as well, including Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom 2 The pathways to disconnection from government are many: adults are frequently negative about politics, the tone of the press is often cynical, candidates seldom appeal directly to young voters on their own terms about their concerns, politicians have poisoned the public well (particularly in the United States) with vitriol and negative campaigning, and young people see the media filled with inauthentic performances from officials who are staged by professional communication managers 3 Paralleling these developments has been a notable turning away from public life

Political Contestation in Global Production Networks

Abstract: I develop a critical framework on international management and production that draws from the literature on global commodity chains and global production networks, on institutional entrepreneurship, and on neo-Gramscian theory in international political economy The framework views global production networks as integrated economic, political, and discursive systems in which market and political power are intertwined The framework offers insights into contested political and social issues, such as sweatshops and incomes for coffee growers