{"title":"Patterns of change in the justifiability of euthanasia across OECD countries","authors":"R. Tormos, M. Rudnev, Edurne Bartolomé Peral","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1036447","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1036447","url":null,"abstract":"The public's justifiability of euthanasia has increased as more countries have adopted laws permitting a range of end-of-life practices. Despite this trend, there is a dearth of longitudinal and comparative studies investigating attitudes toward euthanasia. Consequently, it remains unclear whether this rise in justifiability is a period-specific trend or generational change.We analyzed data from the European and World Values Survey from 1981 to 2021 to examine period variations, between-cohort differences, and within-cohort changes across 35 affluent countries. This analysis was conducted using dynamic comparative multilevel regression and a comparative version of the cross-classified random effects regressions.Our descriptive results supported our hypotheses, indicating an increase in euthanasia's justifiability in virtually all surveyed countries, with both overall and within-cohort changes gravitating toward higher degrees of justifiability. Furthermore, newer periods and younger cohorts were found to be more permissive than their older counterparts. These consistent increases in the justifiability of euthanasia were verified by the multilevel models.Our results were in line with modernization theory, observing a gradual change in attitudes between cohorts due to generational replacement. However, we also identified intra-cohort changes related to the processes of human development across various countries. Some robustness checks produced ambiguous results in distinguishing period and cohort effects, yet the combination of these components aligns with substantive theory.Our findings indicate a more complex pattern of change than predicted by the impressionable years model, a leading approach in political socialization research. This study contributes significantly to our understanding of evolving attitudes toward euthanasia, bridging the gap in longitudinal and comparative studies on the subject.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48263283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rentier State Theory 50 years on: new developments","authors":"Scott Walker","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1120439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1120439","url":null,"abstract":"As Rentier State Theory (RST) has recently passed the half-century mark, it is clear that rentier states have changed dramatically during that time. The article discusses three recent developments in RST scholarship in recent years. First, the theory has evolved a great deal in order to survive. Second, scholars have incorporated a greater degree of dynamism into state behavior. Finally, there have been attempts to explain how and when RST may cease to exist in its current form.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48454725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Limits to the Anthropocene: geopolitical conflict or cooperative governance?","authors":"J. Scheffran","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1190610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1190610","url":null,"abstract":"In the Anthropocene the world is facing an acceleration of human growth and its impact on nature. The expansionist world order which emerged from Europe since colonial times is reaching multiple limits (environmental, economic, social, political and scientific-technical), increasing marginal costs and risks which trigger multiple crises, conflicts and catastrophes that challenge this world order. Alternative futures range from a collapse of human civilization to geopolitical power competition and conflict between rivals to disruptive technical innovations and systemic transformation of the economy and society within natural boundaries. In response to geopolitical conflicts and their consequences, such as climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war, efforts of cooperative governance can help to mitigate, adapt to and manage complex crisis landscapes. Instead of an epochal turn (Zeitenwende) for arms race and war, more promising are sustainable climate protection and a peaceful energy transition within planetary boundaries. To further prevent escalating and mutually enforcing crisis dynamics and geopolitical conflicts in the Anthropocene, cooperative governance needs to adjust to the world's complexity and move from a negative nexus of problems to a positive nexus of solutions. The interaction between geopolitics and governance and the transition from risk cascades to synergies is discussed for the energy-security nexus and the climate-conflict-migration nexus. Energy conflicts can be contained by diminishing land competition and biodiversity loss, as well as risky dependencies on strategic raw materials and conflict minerals. Measures for a sustainable energy transition include energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy and decarbonization, a circular economy and nature-based solutions. To prevent risk multiplication in the climate-conflict-migration nexus, synergies in climate, migration and security policy facilitate integrative solutions for a socio-ecological transformation based on mitigation and adaptation, conflict resolution and environmental peacebuilding, aiming for a mutual enforcement of sustainability and peace.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48860792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Solidarities of citizenship","authors":"J. Stevens","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1141774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1141774","url":null,"abstract":"This essay contrasts the trajectory of Engin Isin's work since Being Political (2002) with a very different intellectual path pursued among scholars of a younger generation. Isin moves away from his initial critiques of citizenship and 10 years later proposes “citizenship without frontiers,” a way of understanding emancipatory interventions of active citizens in opposition to state violence. During this same time frame, other political theorists began to reject “citizenship” entirely. Whereas, Isin's oeuvre since Being Political incorporates the principles of creativity and resistance of “being political” into a more expansive concept of “citizenship,” other theorists began denouncing citizenship as of a piece with colonialism, capitalism, and neoliberalism. Such reactions expressly rejected efforts to recuperate citizenship for causes that oppose domination and oppression. This essay analyzes arguments antagonistic to citizenship claims through the lens of Isin's work, focusing in particular on competing views on nativism, Indigeneity, and nationality. The Conclusion considers recent examples of activist citizens and citizens without frontiers pursuing political solidarities along the lines Isin proposes.1","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46878727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are “bad” jobs bad for democracy? Precarious work and electoral participation in Europe","authors":"Leo Azzollini, Ross Macmillan","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1176686","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1176686","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction While socioeconomic inequality in voting has been central for research on electoral participation, recent years have seen radical changes in labor relations. The key issue is increasing prevalence of precarious work, involving dimensions as non-indefinite tenure and limited control over work activities. While occupations traditionally were the locus of political socialization, there is scarce research connecting occupational uncertainty to electoral participation. To fill this void, we develop a framework that connects the multiple dimensions of precarious work to electoral participation. Methods We test these ideas using data from 32 countries from the European Social Survey (2008–2018). Results and discussion Results indicate that work precarity is both strongly connected to traditional indicators of SES and has large, independent effects on probability of voting. We corroborate these results with heterogeneity analyses across countries. Findings show how precarious work heightens socio-economic stratification in electoral participation, undermining the universality of the right to vote and the health of democracies.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42062250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The 2021 Madrilenian regional election: how can the incumbent improve its results in times of crisis?","authors":"J. Coulbois","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1170294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1170294","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction Although there is a considerable amount of work on the effect of catastrophes on elections, we still do not have much work on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on them. This article focuses on the case of the Madrilenian regional election of 2021, looking for the causes of the improvement of the ruling party's results, the Popular Party (PP), which went from having 22.23% of the vote share in 2019 to 44.76% in 2021, and more concretely to the role that COVID-19 had on this. This election is especially interesting for this matter because the main issue was the question of how to manage the pandemic: The right-wing parties (and mainly the PP) criticized the restrictions imposed by the central government, led by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, while the left-wing parties defended them. Methods The article runs separate analyses at the aggregate and individual levels. At the aggregate level, it uses municipal and district-level data with electoral and socio-demographic variables; at the individual level, it uses a post-electoral survey. Results The main factors behind the PP's improvement were the absorption of its main competitor, Ciudadanos, the mobilization of previously abstentionist voters, and the impact of COVID-19 itself, with a higher propensity to increase their vote for the PP in the most affected areas. Discussion The article contributes to the understanding of the electoral consequences of the pandemic, providing some evidence that in this case, there was a rejection of the restrictions.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41667011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Agendamelding and COVID-19: the dance of horizontal and vertical media in a pandemic","authors":"Milad Minooie, J. B. Taylor, Chris J. Vargo","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1021855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1021855","url":null,"abstract":"How are attitudes formed in the 21st Century, and who sets the agenda for initial COVID-19 coverage in the United States? We explore these questions using a random sample of 6 million tweets from a population of 224 million tweets collected between January 2020 and June 2020. In conjunction with a content analysis of legacy media such as newspapers, we examine the second-level agendamelding process during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The findings demonstrate that in the early weeks of the pandemic, public opinion on Twitter about the virus was distinctly different than the coverage of the issue in the traditional media. The attributes used to describe it on social media demonstrate users relying on their past experiences and personal beliefs to talk about the virus. In the 1st week of February, public opinion, traditional media, and social media converged, but traditional media soon becomes the main agenda setter of COVID-19 for 13 weeks. However, for the final 5 weeks of our sample, traditional media are taken over by social media. The findings also show that, except for a few weeks at the onset of the outbreak, Twitter users relied on their personal experiences far less than what statistical models predicted and allowed. Instead, traditional media and social media to shape their opinion of the issue.","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49277387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corrigendum: Yellow Vests: anti-austerity, pro-democracy, and popular (not populist)","authors":"Michael J Carpenter, Benjamin Perrier","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2023.1221151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1221151","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34431,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48739681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}