Incumbency (dis)advantage when citizens can propose

This paper analyses the problem that an incumbent faces during the legislature when deciding how to react to citizen proposals such as the outcome of referenda or popular initiatives. We argue that these proposals constitute a potential source of electoral disadvantage when citizens factor in their evaluation of the incumbent his reaction to these proposals. This is because an incumbent politician may jeopardize his re-election by implementing policies close to his preferred ones but unpopular among the electorate. We characterize conditions under which this potential disadvantage becomes in fact an electoral advantage for the incumbent. We find that the choices of the incumbent during the legislature will be closest to citizens policy proposals when the intensity of electoral competition is neither too soft nor too tough. Finally, we use our results to discuss some implications of the use of mechanisms such as referenda and popular assemblies on electoral competition and on the incumbency advantage phenomenon.

Género y cultura popular

En uno de los capítulos de Los Simpson, la pequeña Lisa compra, emocionada, la última versión de Stacy Malibú (el equivalente a nuestra Barbie). La novedad consiste en que después de 50 años de existencia, la muñeca habla. Pero para consternación de Lisa, el repertorio de frases es de lo más indignante: "Me encantaría que en la escuela enseñaran a ir de compras", "¡Vamos a hornear unas galletas para los chicos!" o "No me preguntes: sólo soy una chica (risita vacua)". Obviamente, la comprometida y concienciada Lisa no puede quedarse de brazos cruzados y pide a su madre que la lleve a la fábrica de Stacy Malibú para presentar sus quejas. La conversación entre ambas es enormemente reveladora: aunque Marge apoya a su hija e insiste en que siempre defienda sus ideas, considera que quizás está yendo más allá de lo razonable en su denuncia de que toda una generación de niñas se comportará como Stacy Malibú y la tomará como modelo y, finalmente, concluye en tono conciliador: "Yo tuve una Stacy Malibú de pequeña y no me ha pasado nada.¡Vamos a olvidarnos de estos problemas con un gran bol de helado de fresa!". La respuesta de Lisa no deja lugar a dudas; poniendo en funcionamiento a la muñeca y situándola frente a su madre, oímos a Stacy diciendo: "¡Vamos a olvidarnos de estos problemas con un gran bol de helado de fresa!". Huelgan los comentarios.

Género y cultura popular

En uno de los capítulos de Los Simpson, la pequeña Lisa compra, emocionada, la última versión de Stacy Malibú (el equivalente a nuestra Barbie). La novedad consiste en que después de 50 años de existencia, la muñeca habla. Pero para consternación de Lisa, el repertorio de frases es de lo más indignante: "Me encantaría que en la escuela enseñaran a ir de compras", "¡Vamos a hornear unas galletas para los chicos!" o "No me preguntes: sólo soy una chica (risita vacua)". Obviamente, la comprometida y concienciada Lisa no puede quedarse de brazos cruzados y pide a su madre que la lleve a la fábrica de Stacy Malibú para presentar sus quejas. La conversación entre ambas es enormemente reveladora: aunque Marge apoya a su hija e insiste en que siempre defienda sus ideas, considera que quizás está yendo más allá de lo razonable en su denuncia de que toda una generación de niñas se comportará como Stacy Malibú y la tomará como modelo y, finalmente, concluye en tono conciliador: "Yo tuve una Stacy Malibú de pequeña y no me ha pasado nada.¡Vamos a olvidarnos de estos problemas con un gran bol de helado de fresa!". La respuesta de Lisa no deja lugar a dudas; poniendo en funcionamiento a la muñeca y situándola frente a su madre, oímos a Stacy diciendo: "¡Vamos a olvidarnos de estos problemas con un gran bol de helado de fresa!". Huelgan los comentarios.

Traditional cockney and popular London speech

This paper gives a full description of the phonetics and phonology of Traditional Cockney and Popular London speech, treating these varieties as constituting a continuum rather than two separate dialects. Exemplification of the vowels, diphthongs and consonants is provided, both in isolate words and in connected speech, along with their range of variation. The frequencies of the vowels have been charted on the basis of the pronunciation of three elderly male speakers. Regarding the consonants, there are detailed observations on the features typically associated with the linguistic varieties examined: strong aspiration of unvoiced plosives, glottalization, H-dropping, L-vocalization and TH-fronting. A section on prosody provides coverage of lexical stress, rhythm and intonation. The paper takes into account up-to-date research on these phenomena, but does not deal with the most recent vowel shifts, some of which form part of Multi-cultural London English.

A propòsit d'una cançó popular recollida per Jacint Verdaguer i enviada al seu amic Marià Aguiló

«Comiat de Vic» forma part del recull de cançons populars que Jacint Verdaguer va enviar al seu amic i erudit mallorquí Marià Aguiló. La lletra de la cançó traça un itinerari a través de la ciutat que va fent menció dels edificis religiosos que es troben durant el trajecte. L’emoció acumulada i el dolor de la partença indiquen que probablement es tracta del comiat definitiu d’un condemnat a mort.

An Explanatory Approach to the Political Uses of ICT Initiatives for Participation : Institutions, Context, and Characteristics of the Actors

Political actors use ICTs in a different manner and in different degrees when it comes to achieving a closer relationship between the public and politicians. Usually, political parties develop ICT strategies only for electoral campaigning and therefore restrain ICT usages to providing information and establishing a few channels of communication. By contrast, local governments make much more use of ICT tools for participatory and deliberative purposes. These differences in usages have not been well explained in the literature because of a lack of a comprehensive explanatory model. This chapter seeks to build the basis for this model, that is, to establish which factors affect and condition different political uses of ICTs and which principles underlie that behaviour. We consider that political actors are intentional and their behaviour is mediated by the political institutions and the socioeconomic context of the country. Also, though, the actor¿s own characteristics, such as the type and size of the organization or the model of e-democracy that the actor upholds, can have an influence in launching ICT initiatives for approaching the public.

Online and Offline Participation at the Local Level : A Quantitative Analysis of the Catalan Municipalities

This paper presents a first analysis on local electronic participatory experiences in Catalonia. The analysis is based on a database constructed and collected by the authors. The paper carries out an explanatory analysis of local initiatives in eparticipationand off line participation taking into account political variables (usually not considered in this kind of analysis) but also classical socio-economic variables that characterise municipalities. Hence, we add a quantitative analysis to the numerous case studies on local e-participation experiences. We have chosen Catalonia because is one of the European regions with more initiatives and one that has enjoyed considerable local governmental support to citizen participation initiatives since the 80s. The paper offers a characterisation of these experiences and a first explanatory analysis, considering: i) the institutional context in which these experiences are embedded, ii) the characteristics of the citizen participation processes and mechanisms on-line, and iii) a set of explanatory variables composed by the population size, thepolitical adscription of the mayor, the electoral abstention rate, age, income and level ofeducation in the municipality. The model that we present is explanatory for the municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants but it is not for the fewer than 20,000inhabitants. Actually, the number of participatory activities developed by these last municipalities is very low. Among all the variables, population size becomes the mostinfluential variable. Political variables such as political party of the mayor and the localabstention rate have a certain influence but that have to be controlled by population size.

Surfing the Net: A Pathway to Participation for the Politically Uninterested?

This article explores whether use of the Internetchanges the role that political motivation hastraditionally played in classic explanations ofparticipation. We ask if, by reducing so dramatically the costs of political participation,the Internet causes interest in politics to loseimportance as a causal factor of participation.We examine this issue analysing a representativesurvey of the Spanish population which deals withpolitical participation and Internet use. Theresults show that use of Internet has a directeffect on participation independently of motivation, and that, in order to participate online, skilled Internet users do not need to be motivated or interested in politics.

Online and Offline Participation at the Local level: A Quantitative Analysis of the Catalan Municipalities

This article presents an analysis on local participatory experiences in Catalonia,both online and in-person. The analysis is based on a database set up by theauthors. The article carries out an explanatory analysis of local participatoryinitiatives (on- and offline) taking into account political variables (not usually con-sidered in this kind of analysis) and also classical socio-economic variables thatcharacterize municipalities. Hence, we add a quantitative analysis to the numerouscase studies on local e-participation experiences. We have chosen Catalonia becauseit is one of the European regions with more initiatives and a considerable localgovernment support for citizen participation initiatives since the 1980s. Thearticle offers a characterization of these experiences and an explanatory analysis,considering: (i) the institutional context in which these experiences are embedded,(ii) the citizen participation processes and mechanisms online and (iii) a set ofexplanatory variables composed of the population size and the province to whichthe municipality belongs, the political tendency of the mayor, the electoral absten-tion rate, age, income, level of education, broadband connection and users of theInternet in the municipality. The model that we present is explanatory for munici-palities with more than 20,000 inhabitants but it is not for fewer than 20,000inhabitants. Actually, the majority of these latter municipalities have not developedany participatory activities. Among all the variables, population size is the mostinfluential variable and affects the influence of other variables, such as the politicalparty of the mayor, the local abstention rate and the province.

Public Participation in Technology through Hackerspaces

Peer-reviewed

Learning in later life: participation in formal, non-formal and informal activities in a nationally representative Spanish sample

This article examines the participation of Spanish older people in formal, non-formal and informal learning activities and presents a profile of participants in each kind of learning activity. We used data from a nationally representative sample of Spanish people between 60 and 75 years old (n = 4,703). The data were extracted from the 2007 Encuesta sobre la Participación de la Población Adulta en Actividades de Aprendizaje (EADA, Survey on Adult Population Involvement in Learning Activities). Overall, only 22.8 % of the sample participated in a learning activity. However, there was wide variation in the participation rates for the different types of activity. Informal activities were far more common than formal ones. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that education level and involvement in social and cultural activities were associated with likelihood of participating, regardless of the type of learning activity. When these variables were taken into account, age did not predict decreasing participation, at least in non-formal and informal activities. Implications for further research, future trends and policies to promote older adult education are discussed.

The scrutiny of the principle of subsidiarity by autonomous regional parliaments with particular reference to the participation of the Parliament of Catalonia in the early warning system

The purpose of this article is to offer a practical approach to the new European dimension for regional parliaments signified by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. The parliamentary scrutiny of subsidiarity by way of the early warning system has assigned a new mission to legislative assemblies with the aim of reinforcing the intervention of regions in the drafting of policies by Union institutions. In the Spanish case, the institutionalisation of this mechanism came about with Act nº 24/2009, which attributes to the Joint Committee for the European Union, in the name of the Cortes Generales [the Spanish Parliament], the function of receiving the proposals for legislative acts by the EU and transferring them to the regional parliaments in order for the latter to issue, in a brief period of four weeks, a report on compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. The majority of regional parliaments have also carried out normative reforms to regulate the procedure of participation in the early warning system.

La garantia jurídica de la democràcia com a dret fonamental. Una anàlisi de la jurisprudència del Tribunal Constitucional sobre la participació política

L'art. 23 de la CE consagra el dret fonamental dels ciutadans a participar en els assumptes públics, preveient-ne dues grans modalitats, la participació directa i la representativa. La doctrina jurisprudencial elaborada pel Tribunal Constitucional durant quasi trenta anys ha atorgat a aquest dret una configuració especial: el seu abast es veu reduït a l'estricta participació política (aspecte que tindrà conseqüències en el vessant de la participació directa reduïda a la iniciativa legislativa popular i el referèndum, deixant fora del seu abast altres possibles institucions participatives); però, per altra banda, amplia el nucli de protecció del dret, garantint no només l'accés dels ciutadans als càrrecs públics (un ius ad officium) en condicions d'igualtat; sinó també el dret dels representants a romandre en el seu càrrec lliures de qualsevol pertorbació i el tercer contingut, el dret dels representants a exercir les facultats inherents a la funció que desenvolupen tot atorgant-los un status constitucionalment garantit. Aquesta construcció jurisprudencial del dret esdevé així la garantia jurídica de la democràcia. Certament, aquest enteniment del dret fonamental de participació té conseqüències prou rellevants en l'àmbit dels partits polítics com a instruments fonamentals per a la participació política. L'abundància de resolucions per part del Tribunal Constitucional, majoritàriament a través de recursos d'empara, ha fet possible l'entrada del dret de participació en dos àmbits singularment rellevants del procés polític, com són el sistema electoral i el dret parlamentari, i ha permès al Tribunal construir tota una teoria de la representació política en seu de drets fonamentals.