Associative Behaviours and Political Participation of EU migrants

Civic culture is structured on a network of interpersonal associations with different degrees of formalization. According to theories on civic and political action, certain agents, such as associations, play a key role in setting targets, socializing or coordinating sociopolitical actions, among other functions. Associations strengthen the political and civic system of societies. Likewise, they are a vehicle for individuals’ integration, which is particularly important in the case of immigrants. For these, associations are both a vehicle for integration and an instrument for political participation. This article explores the use and purpose of associations according to immigrants from Romania, Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany living in Spain.

The cognitive mobilization index: crises and political generations

This article shows how the cognitive mobilization index, designed for use in observing potential political participation, can be used as an indicator of the political climate that a particular society is going through. Following a discussion of the theoretical elaborations (and their working definitions) of the concept of cognitive mobilization, a longitudinal study of various European countries is used to consider the question of how political crises influence cognitive mobilization indexes and what effects they have on the political socialization process among the youngest cohorts.

La participación política de los residentes británicos y alemanes en España: el caso de San Miguel de Salinas, Alicante

Este estudio se fija en los ciudadanos noreuropeos asentados en la provincia mediterránea de Alicante que tienen un estatus más cercano al de un inmigrante que al de un turista. La importancia que ha cobrado esta corriente inmigratoria ha provocado cambios profundos en muchos municipios. El objetivo es estudiar el papel político de estos ciudadanos en aquellas regiones en las que su presencia es más significativa. El análisis se basa en datos demográficos y de participación en las elecciones municipales de 2011 y en un trabajo cualitativo que ahonda en la comprensión de los procesos informales de participación política. El hecho de que la influencia de los residentes noreuropeos en las instituciones políticas locales no haya crecido al mismo ritmo que su peso demográfico se debe tanto al desinterés de los extranjeros por participar en la vida pública como al interés de las élites políticas por desincentivar dicha participación.

Les débats parlementaires autour du suffrage universel dans la construction de la représentation politique en Espagne et en Argentine: vers une analyse comparée (1860-1870)

This article aims to undertake a preliminary comparative review of the concepts of political representation developed by the Spanish and Argentinean liberalism during the construction of the parliamentary and constitutional regimes in the nineteenth century. The idea of the representative government, as a regulatory mechanism of political participation, is considered in terms of an analysis of the right to vote, of the processes to develop citizenship, and of political modernization. Legislation on the right to vote, born as the political right par excellence during the nineteenth century, gives an excellent guide to these political processes of major scope and depth that characterize the contemporary world. The comparison between the Spanish and Argentinean cases shows that exchanges, transfers of legislative models and cultural movements took place in the birth of the concept of political representation in both countries. This enables us to identify the differences of in each case.

Crisis política y juventud en España: el declive del bipartidismo electoral

This paper shows the increasing trend of Spanish young people towards non-conventional mechanisms of political expression, in a crisis context which has reduced its reliance on traditional political actors. As an alternative to bipartisanship, political participation moves towards increased interest and attention to new players, such as emergent political parties. Using a covariance structural model, factors such as political activism, awareness and understanding of country problems, and trust in the political system, are explored in order to explain an electoral behavior that is undergoing deep changes.

Antiausteridad y protesta en el contexto de la crisis económica y política en España e Italia

The crisis affecting European Union, and especially Mediterranean countries, is both an economic and a political crisis. In a broad sense, we can look at the crisis as the result of an internal crisis of the neoliberal model, exacerbating the perceived subordination of politics to the economy, and therefore the deficit of legitimacy and involvement that characterizes both European and national institutions. The decline in support for traditional political organizations and reduction of conventional political participation is accompanied by a process of reinvention of politics, which takes form in grass-root, non conventional participation. New political actors challenge economic and political institution and claim for a renewal of democracy and for a new relation between economy and politics. The article, after comparing steps and dimension of crisis, explores the characteristics of anti- austerity movements in Spain and in Italy, analyzing differences and similarities. Finally, we locate the movilization occurred in these two countries within the context of the global cycles of protest.

Uso de Internet y prácticas políticas de los jóvenes españoles

A partir de un análisis secundario de los microdatos procedentes del estudio 2.889 del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas de España, pretendemos observar la posible relación entre el uso de Internet por parte de los jóvenes y sus prácticas políticas. En concreto, las variables disponibles permiten estudiar tres aspectos fundamentales: si existe relación entre la frecuencia de uso de Internet y la participación política; si el grado de participación política en el espacio virtual se correlaciona con la participación fuera de este espacio; y si se observan diferencias en términos de participación política online según variables sociodemográficas. Entre los resultados obtenidos podemos destacar la existencia de una relación estadísticamente significativa entre una mayor frecuencia de uso de Internet y una mayor implicación política tanto en el espacio virtual como offline.

Muestreo de candidatos extranjeros en las elecciones locales españolas. Nota metodológica

El aumento de la movilidad intraeuropea, potenciado por las sucesivas ampliaciones de la UE, ha puesto en valor la importancia de la participación política de los residentes extranjeros, especialmente en términos de su elegibilidad en las elecciones municipales españolas. En el contexto del proyecto de investigación titulado “La participación política como candidatos de los residentes europeos en España” (Ref. CSO2012-32930), este texto metodológico muestra cómo se ha utilizado un muestreo de tipo onomástico para identificar a los extranjeros que forman parte de las listas de los partidos que se han presentado en las elecciones locales españolas desde el año 2007 al 2015. El trabajo recoge las fases de implementación técnica asociadas al diseño, con la finalidad de determinar la población muestreada.

Parti communiste et féminisme. De l’antifascisme à la transition démocratique en Espagne

Dans les années 1930, les femmes membres du Parti communiste espagnol (PCE) collaborent avec des représentantes du féminisme et réclament une égalité pour les femmes sans pour autant se déclarer féministes. Pendant la guerre civile, elles ne remettent pas en question l’attribution de tâches maternelles aux femmes, mais elles revendiquent une participation politique dans les mêmes conditions que les hommes. Au cours des années 1970 cependant, la culture politique communiste traditionnelle, qui repose sur une relation de genre inégale, est remplacée par une nouvelle culture, dans laquelle socialisme et égalité vont de pair. Pendant la transition démocratique, les militantes se considèrent comme féministes et demandent que les fondements théoriques du féminisme soient assumés par le Parti.

The conversation on political issues on Twitter: an analysis of the participation and frames in the debate on the 'Wert law' and evictions in Spain

The aim of this study is to determine which social agents are involved in the political debate on Twitter and whether the interpretive hegemony of actors that have traditionally been the most prominent is tempered by the challenge of framing shared with audiences. The relationship between the interpretations expressed and the profiles of participants is analyzed in comparison with the frames used by mainstream media. The chosen methodology combines content analysis and discourse analysis techniques on a sample of 1,504 relevant tweets posted on two political issues –the approval of the education law LOMCE and the evictions caused by the crisis, which have also been studied in the front pages of four leading newspapers in Spain. The results show a correlation between political issue singularities, frames and the type of discussion depending on the participants.