1,720,961 research outputs found
BARRIERS TO WOMEN IN POLITICS: CANDIDATE SELECTION AND INFORMAL PARTY POLITICS IN INDIA
No full textThis dissertation examines the internal party dynamics of two major parties in India that contribute to the persistent underrepresentation of women in Indian national politics. I compare and investigate the processes and informal practices of candidate selection in two major parties: Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Based on original candidate data and semi-structured elite interviews, I examine the factors that constrained women's nominations in the national elections held in India between 2004 and 2019. Drawing on mixed-methods research, I find that centralized formal selectorates and selection methods limit opportunities for women, alongside the marginalization of subsidiary women’s organizations by both parties, thereby constraining women’s candidacy. Despite ideological differences, both the parties reinforce underlying patriarchal norms by limiting the role of subsidiary women's organizations from the candidate selection processes. The underrepresentation of women in the formal selectorate restricts their ability to shape nominations and curtail opportunities for women candidates for both general and reserved seats in the national elections. My findings show that underlying gender biases among party elites, who prioritize informal traits that reinforce existing power structures in parties and marginalize women who do not fit these criteria. For general seats, both the parties tend to prefer women candidates who have wealth, dynastic connections, criminal cases, and higher education. As for the reserved seats, the INC tend to favor wealthy, dynastic, and highly-educated women candidates, while the BJP tend to prefer women candidates with wealth, criminal cases, and higher-education. This dissertation reveals differing nomination patterns between the INC and BJP and distinct ideological stances in the less politically competitive reserved seats. The INC nominated more women candidates in reserved seats in the 2004 and 2019 elections, aligning with its inclusive ideology. Conversely, the BJP has not with its more traditional right-wing nationalist values. Overall, this dissertation finds that both candidate selection methods and informal party practices perpetuate gender disparities in political representation in India. By examining the opaque candidate selection processes through a gendered lens, this dissertation sheds light on the barriers women face for electoral candidacy in Indian national politics.DissertationDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)This dissertation investigates the inner workings of the two major political parties in India, i.e. the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that contribute to the lack of women in Indian national politics. Drawing on mixed-methods research involving empirical data analysis of original candidate data and semi-structured elite interviews, I examine candidate selection within the two major Indian parties for national elections held between 2004 and 2019. I find that both the parties’ centralized, and male-dominated selection processes marginalize the subsidiary women’s organizations within them, limiting women’s influence on nominations during national elections. For general seats, both the parties tend to prefer women candidates with wealth, dynastic ties, criminal cases, and higher-education. In the reserved seats, the INC tend to favor wealthy, dynastic, and highly-educated women candidates, while the BJP tend to prefer women with wealth, criminal cases, and higher-education. The INC’s inclusive ideology led to more women candidates in the less politically competitive reserved seats in the national elections of 2004 and 2019, unlike the BJP’s traditionalist approach. Overall, my findings reveal that both candidate selection methods and informal practices within parties result in creating barriers for women’s electoral candidacy in Indian national politics
Digital Discrimination Against Historically Marginalized Groups in Ethiopia and India
No full textWhy are Internet shutdowns rising in Ethiopia and India? How are ethno-religious secessionist movements suppressed? This dissertation adopts structural institutionalism to explain how historically marginalized groups in Ethiopia (Oromo) and India (Jammu and Kashmir) are primarily targeted by the government to quell successionist movements. It finds that regional Internet shutdowns are not simply short-term authoritarian government responses to political challenges but rather the result of a much longer history of discrimination, which can exist in both democracies and autocracies. Process tracing of past policies and critical junctures in Ethiopia to show that structural and ethno-religious inequality, as well as regional Internet shutdowns, are used to target secessionist movements and reinforce the inequities. Building on the conceptual framework of digital discrimination, I analyze the implications of regional Internet shutdowns on historically marginalized groups in Ethiopia and India. I argue that structural inequalities contribute to the institutionalization of digital discrimination against ethno-religious minorities. My findings show that while federalism and power-sharing agreements were adopted to address past grievances, they are unhelpful in alleviating ethno-religious inequalities. Drawing from both qualitative and quantitative data, including semi-structured interviews, cross-country data, and secondary literature, my findings show that while federalism and power-sharing agreements were adopted to address past grievances, they are unhelpful in alleviating ethno-religious inequalities. In fact, both governments exploit the institutional organizations of the state to target historically marginalized groups and worsen digital discrimination. Moreover, non-state actors such as Internet service providers (ISPs) are also constrained by structural conditions and complied with shutdown orders with minimal resistance, despite their ownership structure. This dissertation finds that despite Ethiopia’s brief liberalization, the government continues to repress the Oromo people. On the other hand, India is moving towards authoritarianism, with rising inequality and self-censorship. Analyzing through the digital discrimination lens enables us to observe the distinct socio-economic impacts of regional Internet shutdowns on the people of Oromo and Jammu and Kashmir, particularly women, who are impacted in areas such as employment, resources, health services, and human security.ThesisDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)Why are Internet shutdowns increasing in Ethiopia and India? How are ethno-religious secessionist movements suppressed? This dissertation uses a structural institutionalism perspective to explain how marginalized groups in Ethiopia (Oromo) and India (Jammu and Kashmir) are primarily targeted by governments to suppress secessionist movements. It shows that regional Internet shutdowns are not just short-term authoritarian responses but stem from a long history of discrimination, present in both democracies and autocracies. The study examines the effects of these shutdowns on marginalized communities, arguing that entrenched inequalities foster digital discrimination against ethno-religious minorities. Findings suggest that although federalism and power-sharing were intended to address past inequalities, they are ineffective in reducing ethno-religious disparities. Instead, governments manipulate state institutions to target marginalized groups and intensify digital discrimination. Additionally, internet service providers (ISPs), constrained by structural factors, generally comply with shutdown orders with little resistance, regardless of ownership. Analyzing these issues through digital discrimination reveals distinct socio-economic impacts on Oromo and Jammu and Kashmir residents, especially women, affecting employment, resources, health, and security
Minimal Factionalism in Singapore's People's Action Party
Get PDFSingapore's People's Action Party (PAP) is one of the longest ruling parties in the world. The PAP's ability to avoid overt factionalism over the years is exceptional, especially compared to the region’s personalistic or cadre parties. In recent years, the defection of former PAP cadre Dr. Tan Cheng Bock and the formation of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and PM Lee Hsien Loong's family rivalry, which involved PAP elites, have challenged the cohesion of the PAP. This study examines a set of incentives and constraints institutionalised at the party and national levels to foster elite cohesion. It is argued that the critical junctures in the PAP's early years led to the adoption of a cadre party model and a centralised candidate selection process that co-opts like-minded elites into a core that promotes elite unity. Nationally, party switching and factional alignments based on ethnicity or ideology have been systematically banned. Given the lack of credible alternatives that seriously challenge the incumbent PAP, ambitious party cadres would do better toeing the party line and staying loyal
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Access to power : hegemonic party rule in Singapore and Taiwan
No full textMy dissertation investigates the sources of hegemonic party resilience. I ask why do some hegemonic party regimes persist, while others concede to multipartism? Building on party politics and electoral authoritarianism literature, I develop a mid-range theory based on the concepts of strategic coordination and institutionalization to explain why elites unite and oppositions fail to pose a credible threat. To demonstrate the utility of my explanation, I compare two similar hegemonic parties of different outcomes: the People’s Action Party (PAP) in Singapore and the Kuomintang Party (KMT) in Taiwan.
I posit three factors to account for hegemonic party resilience. First, I contend that a hegemonic party that is adept in strategic coordination – by providing public goods and withdrawing political, civil liberties and media freedom – is more likely to win mass support and deter opposition coordination. Both the PAP and early KMT were high performing, strategic regimes that enjoyed growth and forestalled democratization. While the PAP remained the ruling party in Singapore, the KMT controlled the pace of liberalization during its long decade of transition, losing power after a party split. Second, I argue that the PAP is better than the KMT in keeping the ruling elites united because of its institutionalized leadership succession system. I develop a model to explain how a centralized, oligarchic and exclusionary leadership selection method fosters elite unity. My findings based on elite interviews, party publications and survey data support the counter-intuitive theory that the more intra-party democracy, the less party cohesion.
Finally, in hegemonic party regimes, survival means increasing the certainty of winning. Through electoral engineering, the incumbent is able to institutionalize an uneven playing field that systematically disadvantages the opposition. By analyzing the mechanical and psychological effects of electoral reforms, I offer new empirical evidence to show how the PAP “manufactured” its legislative supermajority to rescue its declining popular votes. The contrasting study of the KMT highlights how a former hegemonic party transforms and adapts as a dominant party to survive the uncertainty of elections.Arts, Faculty ofPolitical Science, Department ofGraduat
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