The Tea Party and American Populism Today: Between Protest, Patriotism and Paranoia

This article takes a closer look at the Tea Party by adding a transatlantic perspective. Its aim is to show that the Tea Party is a genuine right-wing movement with strong affinities to the Republican Party which revives particular American traditions of conservatism and the radical right. Its support base is not 'the mainstream' but a particular cross section of the white middle classes. In this, it is the American mirror image of many European parties and movements of the populist radical right which share the Tea Party’s anti-establishment message, its ultra-patriotism and ethnocentrism. It also shares some of its characteristics with the Christian Right with which it competes and cooperates when aiming at influencing the Republican Party and Washington while marking the merger of the Christian Right with Southern conservatism

From Parties to Movements: Studying the Radical Right with Sidney Tarrow

For Symposium Absstract is not require

From Parties to Movements: Studying the Radical Right with Sidney Tarrow

For Symposium Absstract is not require

Auszehrung der Demokratie: Politik- und Regimeeffekte der radikalen Rechten in Osteuropa

Der Beitrag untersucht den Einfluss rechtsradikaler Parteien in Osteuropa auf die Positionen der etablierten Parteien, die Minderheiten- und Asylpolitik und letztlich die Qualität des demokratischen Gemeinwesens. Das Konzept des Einflusses als Interaktionseffekt besagt, dass die Interaktionsdynamik zwischen der radikalen Rechten und den etablierten konkurrierenden Parteien, die von der Relevanz der ersteren und der strategischen Reaktion der letzteren beeinflusst wird, bestimmt, ob es zu Rechtsverschiebungen in den Positionen und der Politik kommt und inwieweit die politische Ordnung infrage gestellt wird. Zu den untersuchten Ländern gehören Bulgarien, Estland, Polen, Rumänien, die Slowakei, die Tschechische Republik und Ungarn. Die Auswirkungen auf die Positionen der Parteien werden anhand von Expertenbefragungen untersucht, die Auswirkungen auf die Politik anhand einer gründlichen Analyse von Gesetzesinitiativen der radikalen Rechten in den nationalen Parlamenten und die Auswirkungen auf das Gemeinwesen anhand von Messungen der Demokratiequalität. Wir stellen fest, dass die Zusammenarbeit der etablierten Parteien mit der radikalen Rechten und/oder die Übernahme ihrer Themenpositionen tendenziell zu einer Verschiebung ihrer Positionen nach rechts und zur Verabschiedung restriktiver Maßnahmen führt, und dass solche Verschiebungen auch nach dem Abtritt der radikalen Rechten fortbestehen. Diese signalisieren eine Infragestellung grundlegender Werte der liberalen Demokratie, z.B. der Inklusion, und markieren die Auszehrung der Demokratie.The paper explores the impact of radical right parties in Eastern Europe on mainstream parties' positions, minority and asylum policies and ultimately the quality of the democratic polity. Conceptualizing impact as interaction effects, it argues that interaction dynamics between the radical right and established competitor parties, influenced by the former's relevance and the latter's strategic reaction, determine if rightward shifts occur in positions and policies, and to what extent the polity is challenged. The country cases under consideration include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Impact on party positions is examined through expert survey data, on policy through a thorough review of legislative initiatives of the radical right in national parliaments, and on the polity through democracy quality measurements. We find that mainstream parties' cooperation with the radical right and/or co-optation of its issue positions is likely to lead to rightward shifts in their positions and to the adoption of restrictive policies, and that such shifts persist even after the radical right exits the scene. These shifts signal a challenge to fundamental values of liberal democracy, such as inclusion, and mark the depletion of democracy

The use of moderate hypothermia during cardiac surgery is associated with repression of tumour necrosis factor-α via inhibition of activating protein-1: an experimental study

INTRODUCTION: The use of moderate hypothermia during experimental cardiac surgery is associated with decreased expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α in myocardium and with myocardial protection. In order to identify the cellular mechanisms that lead to that repression, we investigated the effect of hypothermia during cardiac surgery on both main signalling pathways involved in systemic inflammation, namely the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and activating protein-1 pathways. METHOD: Twelve female pigs were randomly subjected to standardized cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermia or normothermia (temperature 28°C and 37°C, respectively; six pigs in each group). Myocardial probes were sampled from the right ventricle before, during and 6 hours after bypass. We detected mRNA encoding TNF-α by competitive RT-PCR and measured protein levels of TNF-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclo-oxygenase-2 by Western blotting. Finally, we assessed the activation of NF-κB and activating protein-1, as well as phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase by electrophoretic mobility shift assay with super shift and/or Western blot. RESULTS: During and after cardiac surgery, animals subjected to hypothermia exhibited lower expression of TNF-α and cyclo-oxygenase-2 but not of inducible nitric oxide synthase. This was associated with lower activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and of its downstream effector activating protein-1 in hypothermic animals. In contrast, NF-κB activity was no different between groups. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the repression of TNF-α associated with moderate hypothermia during cardiac surgery is associated with inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38/activating protein-1 pathway and not with inhibition of NF-κB. The use of moderate hypothermia during cardiac surgery may mitigate the perioperative systemic inflammatory response and its complications

From Parties to Movements: Studying the Radical Right with Sidney Tarrow

For Symposium Absstract is not require