Green party members and grass-roots democracy: A Comparative Analysis

When Green parties emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, their political project included a strong commitment to a new type of internal party organization, giving power to the ‘grass roots’. With Green parties having become well established in most West European party systems, has the vision of ‘grass-roots democracy’ survived the party foundation stage? What drives the ongoing or waning commitment to grass-roots democracy? Analysing party membership survey data from 15 parties collected in the early 2000s when many Green parties had for the first time become involved in national government, we find that it is the social movement oriented, pacifist, left-wing membership that is most committed to grass-roots democracy. It is the current involvement in social movements rather than past activity that is most important. Support for grass-roots democracy is also stronger in ‘Latin Europe’ and Greece but weaker in parties which have become established in parliament and government

Comparing nuclear power trajectories in Germany and the UK: from ‘regimes' to ‘democracies’ in sociotechnical transitions and Discontinuities

This paper focuses on arguably the single most striking contrast in contemporary major energy politics in Europe (and even the developed world as a whole): the starkly differing civil nuclear policies of Germany and the UK. Germany is seeking entirely to phase out nuclear power by 2022. Yet the UK advocates a ‘nuclear renaissance’, promoting the most ambitious new nuclear construction programme in Western Europe.Here,this paper poses a simple yet quite fundamental question: what are the particular divergent conditions most strongly implicated in the contrasting developments in these two countries. With nuclear playing such an iconic role in historical discussions over technological continuity and transformation, answering this may assist in wider understandings of sociotechnical incumbency and discontinuity in the burgeoning field of‘sustainability transitions’. To this end, an ‘abductive’ approach is taken: deploying nine potentially relevant criteria for understanding the different directions pursued in Germany and the UK. Together constituted by 30 parameters spanning literatures related to socio-technical regimes in general as well as nuclear technology in particular, the criteria are divided into those that are ‘internal’ and ‘external’ to the ‘focal regime configuration’ of nuclear power and associated ‘challenger technologies’ like renewables. It is ‘internal’ criteria that are emphasised in conventional sociotechnical regime theory, with ‘external’ criteria relatively less well explored. Asking under each criterion whether attempted discontinuation of nuclear power would be more likely in Germany or the UK, a clear picture emerges. ‘Internal’ criteria suggest attempted nuclear discontinuation should be more likely in the UK than in Germany– the reverse of what is occurring. ‘External’ criteria are more aligned with observed dynamics –especially those relating to military nuclear commitments and broader ‘qualities of democracy’. Despite many differences of framing concerning exactly what constitutes ‘democracy’, a rich political science literature on this point is unanimous in characterising Germany more positively than the UK. Although based only on a single case,a potentially important question is nonetheless raised as to whether sociotechnical regime theory might usefully give greater attention to the general importance of various aspects of democracy in constituting conditions for significant technological discontinuities and transformations. If so, the policy implications are significant. A number of important areas are identified for future research, including the roles of diverse understandings and specific aspects of democracy and the particular relevance of military nuclear commitments– whose under-discussion in civil nuclear policy literatures raises its own questions of democratic accountability

Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements in Comparative Perspective

This work is grounded in the tradition of using data based on ‘protest events’ as reported by the media to analyse the development of social Giugni was part of Hanspeter Kriesi’s research group, which in the early 1990s conducted a huge data-gathering process and produced a major contribution to the comparative study of social movements in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland (Kriesi et al., 1995). Giugni’s new book builds on the data gathered in that project, retaining the case of Switzerland and adding two new countries, the US and Italy, seeking to evaluate the impact of the ecology, anti-nuclear and peace movements over a period of about 25 years

Quem protesta na Grécia? Oposição de massas à austeridade

No abstract available

Beyond the usual suspects: new participants in anti-austerity protest in Greece

In light of the emergence of mass protest against the austerity measures taken by the Greek government in 2010, we investigate whether these protests mobilized just the "usual suspects" of left-wing trade union activists, or if a new protest generation emerged. Using a general population survey carried out in December 2010, we find that almost one-third of the adult Greek population had taken part in anti-austerity protests, but less than one in five had been first-time protesters. Comparing new protesters with veteran protesters and nonprotesters, we find that new protest recruits do not fit the expected pattern in many respects. In particular, new demonstrators are less left wing than veterans and do not differ significantly from nondemonstrators, thus fitting the model of "apprentice" protesters. For the recruitment of new strikers, on the other hand, factors such as trade union membership and support for left-wing parties are more important

Beyond the usual suspects: new participants in anti-austerity protest in Greece

In light of the emergence of mass protest against the austerity measures taken by the Greek government in 2010, we investigate whether these protests mobilized just the "usual suspects" of left-wing trade union activists, or if a new protest generation emerged. Using a general population survey carried out in December 2010, we find that almost one-third of the adult Greek population had taken part in anti-austerity protests, but less than one in five had been first-time protesters. Comparing new protesters with veteran protesters and nonprotesters, we find that new protest recruits do not fit the expected pattern in many respects. In particular, new demonstrators are less left wing than veterans and do not differ significantly from nondemonstrators, thus fitting the model of "apprentice" protesters. For the recruitment of new strikers, on the other hand, factors such as trade union membership and support for left-wing parties are more important

The dynamics of policy change : lobbying and water privatisation

Privatization is now a universal practice and is the result of a set of interrelated factors, all of which are explored in this two-volume collection. Following an introduction by the editors, the work concentrates on the public policy of privatization, and explores its dimensions by presenting key theoretical and empirical articles. The volumes are also interdisciplinary, bringing together articles informed by political science, economics and sociology

Public opinion and global warming

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