Inequality in Congruence: Gender Gap and Electoral Rules

A number of studies on political representation focus on the comparative assessments of citizen ideological congruence. But this literature has largely overlooked an important topic: the representation of social groups. While present studies of congruence investigate whether some countries perform better than others in terms of the levels of median citizen congruence, they cannot say much about the extent to which political elites give adequate concern to every group of citizens in the representative process. In this paper I introduce the concept and measure of inequality in congruence and demonstrate its properties by comparing gender groups. I also ask whether virtues of proportional electoral arrangements endure when we consider group differences in ideological representation. Empirical tests that were conducted on data from 88 legislative elections in 33 countries strongly suggest that gender inequality in congruence is in fact considerably smaller in countries with majoritarian arrangements

Political Representation: Subjects, Contents and Agents

This paper surveys political science literature in search of a proper conceptualization of political representation. The first section of the paper reviews most influential normative and theoretical understandings of political representation. The section concludes with a summary of general attributes of the concept of representation which ought to be taken into consideration in each study on representation. The second section reviews empirical studies of political representation with one main intention: to provide a synthesis of different empirical understandings of “who is being represented”, “what is being represented” and “who is the representative”. Instead of conclusion a novel model of the process of representation is presented at the end, which should be read as a conceptual map for future studies on political representation

Inequality in Congruence: Gender Gap and Electoral Rules

A number of studies on political representation focus on the comparative assessments of citizen ideological congruence. But this literature has largely overlooked an important topic: the representation of social groups. While present studies of congruence investigate whether some countries perform better than others in terms of the levels of median citizen congruence, they cannot say much about the extent to which political elites give adequate concern to every group of citizens in the representative process. In this paper I introduce the concept and measure of inequality in congruence and demonstrate its properties by comparing gender groups. I also ask whether virtues of proportional electoral arrangements endure when we consider group differences in ideological representation. Empirical tests that were conducted on data from 88 legislative elections in 33 countries strongly suggest that gender inequality in congruence is in fact considerably smaller in countries with majoritarian arrangements

Génération Désenchantée: Satisfaction with Democracy and Income Inequality

Recent scholarship offers compelling evidence on the negative impact of income inequality on satisfaction with democracy. This article studies whether the impact of inequality on evaluations of the democratic process varies for different groups in the population and over time. The central argument is that the impact of inequality is conditional on individual characteristics and experience. Young adults and members of the 1990s generation should be more sensitive to income inequality compared to older generations. To answer this question, we use cumulative six-wave data from the European Social Survey (2002-2012), matched with income inequality estimates from the Standardized World Income Inequality Dataset (2014). Results from a series of mixed-effects models reveal that higher levels of income inequality are associated with lower levels of satisfaction with democracy, but with a disproportionate negative influence on young adults compared to older citizens and also on the 1990s cohort compared to all other cohorts

BIRTH ORDER AND RISKY BEHAVIOR AMONG YOUTH

Rizično ponašanje može se definirati kao ponašanje s neželjenim posljedicama za osobu koja ga ispoljava te je u ovom istraživanju predstavljeno u vidu konzumacije alkohola, pušenja duhana i marihuane. Neka istraživanja navode kako značajna odrednica rizičnog ponašanja moţe biti i redoslijed rođenja. Redna pozicija koju pojedinac stječe rođenjem unutar obitelji predstavlja njegov redoslijed rođenja. Pregledom dostupnih studija vezane tematike, pokazalo se kako su kasnije rođena djeca buntovnija u odnosu na prvorođenu djecu (Paulhus i sur., 1999; Healey i Ellis, 2007, prema Eckstein i sur., 2010). Za djecu koja imaju stariju braću/sestre vjerojatnije je da će iskazivati rizično ponašanje kao što je konzumacija alkohola, duhana i marihuane što se može smatrati činom bunta (Argys i sur., 2006; Laird i Shelton, 2006; Averett i sur., 2011; Horner i sur., 2012). Glavni cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi stupnju rizičnog ponašanja mladih u vidu konzumacije duhana, marihuane i alkohola s obzirom na redoslijed rođenja određen Adlerovom, dihotomnom, serijalnom i kontinuiranom metodom. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 266 sudionika (63 sudionika i 203 sudionice) u dobi od 18 do 28 godina. Kako bi se odgovorilo na postavljene probleme, primjenjen je on-line upitnik kojim su prikupljeni podaci o redoslijedu rođenja sudionika i njihovoj razini rizičnog ponašanja. Obradom podataka nisu utvrđene razlike u razini rizičnog ponašanja obzirom na redoslijed rođenja što se može objasniti metodološkim nedostacima istraživanja. Nadalje, nije utvrđena značajna povezanost redoslijeda rođenja određenog različitim metodama s pušenjem cigareta i marihuane te konzumacijom alkohola.Risky behavior can be defined as behavior with adverse consequences for the person who manifests it and in this study is presented in the form of alcohol consumption, smoking tobacco and marijuana. Some studies suggest that birth order is a significant determinant of risky behavior. Ordinal position that one gain by birth within the family represents his birth order. A review of available related studies showed that later born children are more rebellious compared to the first-born children (Paulhus et al., 1999; Healey and Ellis, 2007, according to Eckstein et al., 2010). Children who have older siblings are more likely to exhibit risky behaviors such as alcohol consumption, smoking tobacco and marijuana that can be considered as an act of rebellion (Argys et al., 2006; Laird and Shelton, 2006; Averett et al., 2011; Horner et al., 2012). The main aim of this study was to determine the level of risky behavior among young people in the form of tobacco, marijuana and alcohol consumption considering birth order measured by Adler's, dichotomous, serial and continuous method. The study was conducted on a sample of 266 participants (63 males and 203 females) between the ages of 18-28 years. In order to provide an answer to these problems, an on-line questionnaire, which collected data about participants birth order and their level of risky behavior, was applied. The analysis of the data showed no difference in the level of risky behavior due to the birth order that can be explained by methodological shortcomings of the research. Furthermore, no significant correlations between birth order measured by various methods and tobacco, marijuana and alcohol consumption were found

Što piše između redaka: predizborna istraživanja u Hrvatskoj

Izvještavanje o kampanji često je nalikovalo na komentiranje sportskih događanja u skladu s horse-race novinarstvom