Legitimation and Strategic Maneuvering in the Political Field

This article combines a pragma-dialectical conception of argumentation, a sociological conception of legitimacy and a sociological theory of the political field. In particular, it draws on the theorization of the political field developed by Pierre Bourdieu and tries to determine what new insights into the concept of strategic maneuvering might be offered by a sociological analysis of the political field. I analyze a speech made by the President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, following his suspension by Parliament in April 2007. I suggest that the argument developed in this speech can be regarded as an example of adjudication and I discuss its specificity as an adjudication in the political field in an electoral campaign. I also try to relate legitimation as political strategy to strategic maneuvering oriented to meeting the contradictory demands of the political field, which I see—following Bourdieu—as involving a double political game, a game of democratic representation and a game of power

Branding and strategic maneuvering in the Romanian presidential election of 2004: A critical discourse-analytical and pragma-dialectical perspective

In this paper I analyse differences in the legitimation strategies used by and on behalf of the two presidential candidates in the elections of December 2004 in Romania, using a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis and pragma-dialectics. These differences are seen to lie primarily in the varieties of populist discourse that were drawn upon in the construction of legitimizing arguments for both candidates: a paternalist type vs. a radical, anti-political type of populism. I relate the success of the latter type to more effective strategic maneuvering in argumentation, part of more effective branding strategies in general, but also to existing types of political culture amongst the electorate and to social, economic circumstances. In CDA terms, I discuss the "Băsescu brand" as involving choices at the level of discourse, genre and style; in pragma-dialectical terms, I view its success as partly the effect of successful strategic maneuvering. I also place the success of this brand within the Romanian context at the end of 2004, where often questionable populist electoral messages were perceived as reasonable and acceptable, as fitting adjustments to the situation and even as means of optimizing the deliberative situation of the electorate

Is unemployment insurable? Employers and the institutionalization of the risk of unemployment

In order to shed light on the recent debates that are reinterpreting the role played by organized employers in the development of modern social policy, this paperexamines the origin of the system of contributory unemployment insurance during the Weimar period. Contrary to the claims of the laborist accounts of the origin ofthe modern welfare state that view the working class as the most important protagonist behind the transition from 'assistance' to 'insurance' policies, this paperargues that employers dissatisfaction with the means-tested system ofunemployment assistance and employers endorsement of an insurance solution tothe risk of unemployment was the decisive factor leading to the introduction of theinsurance system during the Weimar period.Drawing on original archival material, this paper reconstructs the political preferences of employers towards various institutional solutions to the risk of unemployment and focuses on a sectoral conflict between employers of large andsmall firms over the organization of the risk pool within the system of unemploymentinsurance. While the existing literature concerned with the political role played by employers in the development of the modern welfare state fails to provide the analytical elements for an understanding of employers preference towards social policies, this paper attempts to address this limitation of the existing literature by providing the microfoundations for an understanding of sectoral differences in thedegree of employers support for alternative social policies -- In diesem Diskussionspapier wird die politische Entwicklung während der WeimarerPeriode von dem System der Arbeitslosenfürsorge zur Arbeitslosenversicherung analysiert, um die Diskussion zur Rolle der organisierten Arbeit-geber bei derEntwicklung der modernen Sozialpolitik neuerlich zu beleuchten. Das Ergebnis der Analyse widerspricht der power-resource- Theorie. Im Gegensatz zu den laborists, die die Arbeiterklasse als wichtigsten Protagonisten für das Entstehendes modernen Wohlfahrtsstaates sehen, wird hier die Meinung vertreten, daß die Unzufriedenheit der Arbeitgeber mit einem System der Arbeitslosenfürsorge und ihreBevorzugung eines Systems der Arbeits-losenversicherung der letztlichentscheidende politische Faktor war, der die Einführung einerArbeitslosenversicherung ermöglichte.Auf der Basis der historischen Quellen wird in diesem Beitrag die politischeHaltung der Arbeitgeber für unterschiedliche institutionelle Lösungen des Risikos Arbeitslosigkeit analysiert. Dabei geht es besonders um den Konflikt zwischen Groß- und Kleinunternehmen über die Gestaltung des Risiko-Pools innerhalb derArbeitslosenversicherung. In den vorliegenden Publikationen zur politischen Rolleder Unternehmer bei der Entwicklung des Wohlfahrtsstaates werden keine Argumente für eine Analyse vorgelegt, die zu einem Verstehen der Präferenz der Arbeitgeber für sozialpolitische Regelungen beitragen. In dem vorliegenden Papierwird versucht, diese Selbstbeschränkung in der vorhandenen Literatur in den Blickzu nehmen und die Ansätze einer Theorie der politischen Präferenzen der Unternehmen für verschiedene Sozialpolitiken zu entwickeln und so einen Beitragzur theoretischen Literatur über die Rolle der Unternehmer bei der Entwicklung derSozialpolitik zu leisten.

Firms and the welfare state: the emergence of new forms of unemployment

The goal of this paper is to provide the elements of a unitary analytical framework that incorporates the findings of two bodies of literature which, so far, havedeveloped independently: comparative models of the political economy that distinguish between coordinated and uncoordinated market economies and comparative models of social policy. While sharing the emphasis on firm behaviour of the first models, the paper attempts to build a micro-logic into comparative models of social policy, in order to overcome the functionalist character of these analyses.By using combined insights from both models and by specifying the micro-regulatory role of the welfare regimes and the impact of welfare regimes on firm adjustment, we can explain cross-national differences in the changes of the institutions situated at the interface between the welfare state and firms during the1980s and cross-national differences in the mix between employment and non-employment. -- Ziel des Papiers ist es, Elemente für einen einheitlichen Analyse-Rahmen zuentwickeln, der Ergebnisse zweier unterschiedlicher Stränge der Forschungsliteratur aufgreift, die bis jetzt unabhängig voneinander entwickelt worden sind: es geht zumeinen um die vergleichenden Modelle der politischen Ökonomie, die zwischen koordinierten und unkoordinierten Marktwirtschaften unterscheiden und zum anderenum vergleichende Modelle bezogen auf Sozialpolitik. Von den erstgenanntenModellen wird die Fokussierung auf das Verhalten von Unternehmen übernommen, denn es geht um den Einbau einer Mikro-Logik in die Modelle zur Analyse von Sozialpolitik. Damit soll der funktionalistische Charakter dieser Analysen überwunden werden. Durch die Kombination von Ergebnissen beider Modelle und durch eine genaueAnalyse der mikro-regulatorischen Rolle wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Regelungen sowiederen Bedeutung auf Anpassungsprozesse von Unternehmen können Unterschiedezwischen verschiedenen Ländern bei der Veränderung der Institutionen an der Nahtstelle des Wohlfahrtsstaats und der Unternehmen während der achtziger Jahre und Unterschiede in der Verteilung von Beschäftigung und Arbeitslosigkeit erklärtwerden.

Gay-Related Smartphone Applications: Potential and Risk- A Review of the Medical Literature in the Field

In the setting of difficulty in finding inter-relational partners for the individuals belonging to the LGBT community, a number of mobile phone applications provided with geo-tracking system have appeared in the last years, facilitating communication between gay individuals located in the nearby geographic areas, free applications which protect the identity of the users and indicate the relative distance between users and allow the sharing of information regarding physical characteristics (age, height, weight) as well as image-type files. At present, it is worth acknowledging that all those applications addressed to the LGBT persons in search for partners are sex-specific, being polarized (applications for MSM/lesbians). Among those the most successful and renowned are Grindr, Planet Romeo (homosexuals, MSM) and, respectively, Brenda (lesbians). In the medical literature there are recent studies that assess the STI risk-specific profile of these users, as well as the opportunities of behavioral study that these applications are presenting to the scientists, through the accessibility of interviewing gay persons and targeting them in HIV prevention programs. The present paper aims to look over the medical studies published to date which involved these types of internet type social networks, emphasizing on the potential represented by these applications and on the behavioral and risk profile of the users

PENDAMPINGAN PENGOLAHAN ABON IKAN TONGKOL DALAM MEINGKATKAN PEREKONOMIAN MASYARAKAT DESA PULAU MANDANGIN SAMPANG

Ikan merupakan salah satu sumber protein hewani yang banyak di konsumsi masyarakat, salah satunya ialah ikan tongkol yang mudah didapat dari hasil tangkapan nelayan. Ikan tongkol juga memberikan dampak ekonomi terhadap setiap kegiatan usaha perikanan,  namun ikan cepat mengalami proses pembusukan, oleh karena itu pengawetan ikan perlu diketahui, salah satunya dengan pengolaan ikan melalui proses pengawetan yaitu Abon. Pelaksanaan program dilaksanakan di Desa Pulau Mandangin, dan dimulai dari tahapan persiapan, tahap pelaksanaan, tahap evaluasi. Komposisi dari bumbu untuk ikan 4 kg, adalah sebagai berikut: Bawang merah 25 g, Bawan putih 25 g, Lada 1 sendok makan, Kemiri 10 g, Ketumbar 1 sendok makan, Jahe 50 g, Lengkuas 50 g, Cabe rawit 25 g (untuk varian pedas), Daun salam 15 lembar, Daun jeruk 5 lembar, Daun bawang 5 g ( untuk varian bawang), Minyak goreng  7 sendok makan, Garam dan penyedap rasa secukupnya. Pentingnya proses pengemasan dan pelebelan juga dapat meningkatkan daya tari konsumen dan memiliki nilai jual yang lebih tinggi

ANALISIS EFEKTIVITAS POLA ALOKASI ZAKAT, INFAK, SEDEKAH DI BADAN AMIL ZAKAT NASIONAL KABUPATEN SAMPANG

Abstrak: Efektivitas suatu Pola Alokasi merupakan cara Pengalokasian program yang dilakukan oleh BAZNAS Kabupaten Sampang. Zakat, Infak, Sedekah (ZIS) salah satu ibadah yang memiliki posisi yang sangat penting dan strategis, baik dari sisi ubudiyah maupun dari sisi kesejahteraan umat dalam mengurangi kemiskinan antar masyarakat. zakat merupakan rukun islam yang harus ditunaikan oleh umat muslim, secara nyata dinyatakan di dalam Al-Qur’an dan Al-Hadist, zakat secara bahasa (lughat), berarti : tumbuh, berkembang dan berkah atau dapat pula berarti membersihkan atau mensucikan. dari sisi muzakki allah Swt. menjajikan bagi siapa saja yang mau mengeluarkan sebagian hartanya dalam bentuk zakat, infak dan sedekah akan diberikan ganjaran yang berlipat, tidak hanya diakhirat, tetapi juga didunia. Apun Pola alokasi dana ZIS akan efektif jika prinsip-prinsip dalam setiap pengelolaan dapat dilaksanakan dengan baik dan  mendorong untuk meningkatkan produktifitas masyarakat dengan menyesuaikan kebutuhan masyarakat yang manfaatnya bisa berkelanjutan dengan menjalankan prinsip-prinsip Pengeloaan ZIS. Badan Amil Zakat Nasional (BAZNAS) Badan Amil Zakat Nasional merupakan lembaga yang melakukan pengelolaan zakat secara nasional di Kabupaten Sampang. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, maka ada dua permasalahan yang menjadi kajian pokok dalam penelitian ini, yaitu: pertama, Bagaimana pola alokasi ZIS di BAZNAS Kabupaten Sampang. kedua, Bagaimana Efektifitas pola alokasi ZIS di BAZNAS Kabupaten Sampang. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis deskriptif. Sumber data diperoleh melalui wawancara, observasi dan dokumentasi. Informannya adalah pelaksana atau Pengelola di BAZNAS sampang. Sedangkan pengecekan keabsahan data dilakukan  melalui perpanjangan keikutsertaan, ketekunan pengamatan, triangulasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: pertama, Pola Alokasi ZIS di BAZNAS Sampang dalam program konsumtif dan produktif sudah disesuaikan dengan kehidupan masyarakat dan dimanfaatkan untuk kepentigan sosial guna mengurangi permasalahan dalam ekonomi, memberantaskan kemiskinan dalam menyelesaikan permasalahan sosial masyarakat. Kedua, Efektivitas Pola Alokasi ZIS di BAZNAS Sampang kurang dirasakan oleh masyarakat kabupaten sampang secara keseluruhan dalam kesejahteraan masyarakat sampang,  karena kurangnya kesimbangan antara Penyaluran Program Konsumtif dan produktif pemerataan diwilayah perkotaan dan di desa