Making Them Normal

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68059/2/10.1177_000276427001400206.pd

What are the consequences of a managerial approach to union renewal for union behaviour? A case study of USDAW

Purpose: This paper explores the consequences of a managerialist approach to renewal for a union’s behaviour by analysing the UK’s fourth largest trade union - The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). Design/methodology/approach: The findings draw on in-depth semi-structured interviews with union officials. Findings: The research findings show the significance of a managerialist approach to UDSAW’s renewal strategy and its correlation with existing renewal strategies of organising and partnership. However, this was not immune to context with tensions between agency and articulation challenging the basic concept of managerialism and influencing union behaviour. Research limitations/implications: The data were collected from a single case with a small sample size. Practical implications: Unions could benefit from a managerialist approach to insure against external challenges, but tensions between democracy and efficiency will mediate any such approach to union renewal. Originality/value: This paper brings together the current disparate themes in the literature to propose a conceptual framework of three key elements of managerialism: leadership or centralised renewal strategies; performance management techniques; and the managerialisation of union roles. To date, these elements of managerialism have not been studied simultaneously in a research project and without such knowledge, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the true complexities of how unions organise and renew, both conceptually and empirically. Consequently, we argue that theories of union renewal need to better reflect the complexities of a hybrid approach that unions, such as USDAW, are adopting, particularly their achievements of internal leveraging

Aggregation and Representation in the European Parliament Party Groups

While members of the European Parliament are elected in national constituencies, their votes are determined by the aggregation of MEPs in multinational party groups. The uncoordinated aggregation of national party programmes in multinational EP party groups challenges theories of representation based on national parties and parliaments. This article provides a theoretical means of understanding representation by linking the aggregation of dozens of national party programmes in different EP party groups to the aggregation of groups to produce the parliamentary majority needed to enact policies. Drawing on an original data source of national party programmes, the EU Profiler, the article shows that the EP majorities created by aggregating MEP votes in party groups are best explained by cartel theories. These give priority to strengthening the EP’s collective capacity to enact policies rather than voting in accord with the programmes they were nationally elected to represent

Group Formation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68807/2/10.1177_104649647300400206.pd

Political Radicalization as a Communication Process

Based on data taken from 412 adult education students in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this research attempts to show that attitudes toward French Canadian Separatism by the sample members can be accounted for by differentiaf communication processes. Results show that attitudes held by sample members are well explained (R2 = .64) by a weighted average of the information they received from interpersonal and media sources. The resultant attitude shows substantial effects on behaviors related to separatism for the same respondents.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67215/2/10.1177_009365027400100301.pd

Two shades of Green? The electorates of GreenLeft and the Party for the Animals

The Netherlands has two electorally significant parties that might be considered to be part of the Green' family: GreenLeft and the Party for the Animals. These two parties appeal to different niches of the Green electorate, identified on the basis of issue dimensions, demographics, and their trust in government. GreenLeft tends to attract voters from the traditional Green niche: those with egalitarian, cosmopolitan, environmentalist, and libertarian values. The Party for the Animals attracts another type of Green voter: significantly less cosmopolitan and evincing lower levels of political trust.</p

The New Political History

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66569/2/10.1177_000276427702100204.pd