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Introducing the comparative study of electoral systems in Tunisia: Populist attitudes, political preferences, and voting behavior
Get PDFAlthough public opinion research has gained prominence in the Middle East and North Africa region
since 2011, data on electoral behaviour and political attitudes are scarce and rarely have a
comparative focus. This research note introduces a new post-election survey conducted after the
2019 Tunisian elections. The project contributes to the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
(CSES) database. In its 26-year history no country other than Israel was ever part of the CSES from
the Middle East and North Africa region. Tunisia is the first Arab country to be covered in the
CSES. We introduce this new research resource, its methodology, and its themes. We also provide
some preliminary results from the main topic of the CSES between 2016 and 2021: populist attitudes.
Using a three-dimensional model, we find that people who score high on the populist
attitudes measures do not necessarily have a higher preference for populist parties or
candidates. Contrary to consistent results from advanced industrial democracies, we also
find that people who endorse nativism are more likely to support left-wing parties. This research
note illustrates the importance of such datasets and how they ibute
to a specific topic: understanding populism across multiple contexts
Measuring populist ideology: anti-elite orientation and government status
No full textIn most contemporary conceptions of populist ideology, anti-elite orientation is considered to be one of its central components. Consequently, instruments designed to measure populism include items intended to capture anti-elitism. Such operationalizations may, however, neglect the interaction with the political status of the relevant actors—that is, parties/leaders. A negative and critical attitude towards the party or parties in government could reflect a populist anti-elite orientation but might also simply represent a negative attitude towards a specific party (which may be affected by pre-existing party identification or a negative government performance evaluation). Hence, such an indicator of populist ideology would then be contaminated by unintended content. This paper uses the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems dataset (with the addition of Serbia) to analyze the average anti-elite scores of parties in different countries. The overall results suggest that the anti-elite scale also captures the attitude towards parties in government. The paper discusses the methodological ramifications of this finding
Organizational Archetypes in Public Procurement
No full textThe paper analyses a situation where the efficient public procurement legislative framework formally exists, but in practice, the process does not work as planned. The data were gathered from one hundred contracting authorities in the Republic of Serbia, based on a nationwide survey conducted on public procurement officers (PPOs) and end-users (ENUs) in all contracting authorities. We propose a model for measuring organisational discrepancies and classifying public procurement processes (PPP) into one of four organisational patterns, based on organisational decision-making authority and focused on goals and principles. The Mann-Whitney U (MWU) test was used to test the independent responses from two hundred PPOs and ENUs on the items – who works, who is accountable, and who has benefits, for seven key public procurement activities. The statistical analysis shows that the public procurement process in Serbia can be classified as a process with centralised organisational decision-making authority, focused on form, with demotivated public procurement officers. The efforts for further improvement of the legislation are not expected to reach their full potential until solving organisational structure, reward system, environment, and culture issues
Durkheim's Ambivalence towards Psychology and the Foundations of Sociology as a Discipline
Get PDFThe paper explores Durkheim’s ambivalent position towards psychology, drawing on his debates with Comte, Tarde, and Wundt. In addressing this issue, we propose different types of anti-psychologism in sociology: epistemological (excluding psychological dimensions from sociological explanations), institutional (denying psychology the status of science), and strategic (establishing sociology as a scientific field). The analysis shows that Durkheim’s strategic anti-psychologism was more prominent and comprehensive than his epistemological anti-psychologism. Durkheim was against psychologism in sociology, but he incorporated psychological dimensions into his theory (cognitivism). He opted for a clear distinction between sociological and psychological fields, but he accepted psychology as an academic discipline (unlike Comte) and even incorporated some ideas from Wundt’s psychology. Durkheim’s position was determined by historical developments in the emerging social sciences. The competition between the neighbouring academic fields asked for ’distinction’. At the same time, shifting paradigms in psychology resulted in converging positions (Durkheim and Wundt). We argue that a common perception of Durkheim’s anti-psychologism has overshadowed his nuanced approach to psychological factors in his work. It has also determined the long-term ’fear of psychologism’ and a lack of relevant psychological perspective in sociology
Approaching Regional Depopulation in Serbia
No full textWhat would demographic future of Serbia look like if the recently adopted pronatalist policy became successful? How the change in migration patterns related to the Serbia’s expected EU accession can affect population dynamics of the country? These emerging demographic issues are discussed in the framework of the scenario-based population projection disaggregated at the district level. The declining and ageing trend of the total and working-age population in Serbia is strongly selective with respect to regional and sub-regional levels, even in the optimistic scenario of the successfully implemented pronatalist policy. Moreover, a resurgence in the number of live births can be expected only in districts along the central transport corridor, which connects the most developed and populous urban centres having a positive migration balance. On the other hand, the predominantly less developed border areas facing long-term out-migration will remain endangered. The results suggest that the policy measures have to be implemented much longer than the projection horizon shown, that is, in a strategic way, because their initial reach is limited to the improvement of the age structure, while the positive impact on the total population can be expected only in the decades after recovering the fertile contingent
Uticaj unutrašnjih faktora na spoljnopolitičku orijentaciju malih država: slučaj Srbije
Get PDFPravac spoljne politike određene države, bez obzira da li se radi o velikoj ili maloj sili, uslovljen je brojnim faktorima. Spoljašnjim, koji dolaze iz strukture međunarodnog sistema, i unutrašnjim, poput odnosa različitih socijalnih grupa u državi, vrste političkog sistema i unutarpolitičkih odnosa. Male države, iako zauzimaju marginalni položaj u odnosu na velike sile, ne formulišu svoju spoljnu politiku isključivo kao odgovor na prilike u međunarodnom sistemu. U svom spoljnopolitičkom strateškom opredeljenju one se takođe usmeravaju na osnovu brojnih unutrašnjih faktora. Ti faktori diktiraju njihovo delovanje u pravcu koji nije uslovljen samo stukturnim činiocima. U radu se nudi odgovor na pitanje zašto su unutrašnji faktori važni za razumevanje spoljnopolitičke strateške orijentacije malih država. Na primeru Srbije pokazuje se kako ovi faktori utiču na izbor vojne neutralnosti kao njenog strateškog opredeljenja, uprkos činjenici da su sedam od osam susednih država članice NATO-a. Jedan od glavnih činilaca koji doprinosi vojnoj neutralnosti jeste ključno unutrašnje i spoljnopolitičko pitanje za Srbiju – Kosovo i Metohija. Identitetska bliskost sa Rusijom i podrška ove države po pitanju Kosova i Metohije, te sve bliži odnosi sa Kinom, opredeljuju Srbiju za vojnu neutralnost, kao i identifikacija vodećih država članica NATO-a kao glavnih zagovarača nezavisnosti Kosova
Infertility and assisted reproductive technologies in Serbia
Get PDFInfertility is a significant challenge, both on individual and macro levels. The overall aim of this paper is to contribute to better understanding infertility in Serbia by analysing relevant policies and programmes, data on the epidemiology of infertility, health services, and research findings. The investigation is grounded in the action research methodology, which is built on a shared process of reflection between researchers and participants on selected data and documents. The legal framework reflects modern approaches to a number of challenges in this area. Since the end of 2006, the Republic Health Insurance Fund (RHIF) has been financing the National Infertility Treatment Program with biomedically assisted reproduction (BMAR) procedures. The data on the epidemiology of infertility is not sufficiently addressed in health statistics and representative research. The quality of infertility treatment in Serbia is on par with developed countries, but it doesn’t include the donation of reproductive cells and surrogacy. There is also a lack of research on various aspects of infertility in Serbia from the perspective of different scientific disciplines. It is also hard to understand why, despite considerable possibilities for individual solutions to the problem of infertility in Serbia, the share of children born from BMAR procedures is relatively low
Spoljnopolitički identitet Republike Srbije između uticaja međunarodnih okolnosti i identitetskih kategorija stanovništva
Get PDFНове технологије, нови наративи и нови потрошачи: Mлади, морална паника и ефекти технолошких
Get PDFOд помињања појма techne у Аристотеловој „Никомаховој етици”, утицајем
и променама које иницирају нове технологије баве се и готово све
хуманистичке дисциплине, настојећи да антиципирају њихове ефекте и
евентуално укажу на оно шта би требало постићи, а шта спречити. Крајем прве
половине 20. века, Хајдегер је упозоравао на „чудовишно изокретање”, које може
водити
катастрофалном епилогу. Увиђајући такву могућност, он, међутим, није
само оправдано констатовао практичне претње коју су доносиле различите нове
технологије,
већ и својеврсну онтолошку претњу човековој стварности и бићу,
примећујући
да – док се прибојавамо катастрофе, она се можда већ догађа у нашој
стварности.
То бива последица тога што је нова технологија, од средства које треба
да служи људском добру и контроли природе, с временом постала сврха човековог
живота.
Треба свакако имати на уму да су велики мислиоци тог доба технолошке
промене
и изазове тумачили оправдано увиђајући могућности катастрофа коју су
доносили
разарајући потенцијали нуклеарне енергије (бомби). Имајући пред
очима ужасе у Јапану, Сартр је човечанство упозоравао да мора свакодневно доносити
одлуку да настави да живи, а Албер Ками, његов колега и пријатељ (добрим
делом заједничих живота), да се налазимо између пакла и разума, па да зато
морамо размислити да ли желимо да идемо ка колективном самоубиству или ка
интелигентнијем начину коришћења сопствених технологија. Неке сличне дилеме
и страхови делом су и у основи актуелних друштвених паника, иницираних технолошким
иновацијама и њиховим последицама
Green Public Procurement as Potential Lever of Green Growth
Get PDFIn the past two decades, public procurement changed significantly from compliance to
a strategic function in a majority of highly developed countries becoming a strong lever
that promotes green growth. EU legislation created favorable legal preconditions for the
application of green public procurement (GPP) in member states (MS) in all phases of the
procurement process. However, some recent research show that uptake of GPP was low
and fragmented in MS with weak enforcement of the public procurement rules allowing
environmental considerations. To promote GPP adoption of GPP in practice, governments
have to work on closing implementation gaps. That includes, besides creating a favorable
legal framework, establishing a centralized governmental body that would lead and coordinate
reforms in this area as well as developing an evaluation methodology to detect the strengths
and weaknesses of a public procurement system. Strategies and annual action plans for the
development of public procurement system that includes GPP, as an integral part should be
prepared accompanied by close monitoring of progress in their implementation