Political Parties in Deeply Multilingual Polities: Institutional Conditions and Lessons for the EU

Stojanović, Nenad; Bonotti, Matteo

doi:10.1111/jcms.12944

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…But since the 1970s its main parties have been exclusively monolingual (Dandoy and De Decker 2009). In Switzerland, instead, all major parties are still multilingual (Stojanović and Bonotti 2020). Institutional choices, such as direct democracy and centripetal electoral systems (Lacey 2017;Stojanović 2011Stojanović , 2021, may contribute to explaining such divergent trajectories and could serve as an inspiration for institutional reforms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multilingual Parties and the Ethics of Partisanship

Bonotti

Stojanović

2022

The Journal of Politics

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In this article, we argue that within multilingual polities, whether national or transnational, multilingual parties are allthings-considered more desirable than monolingual parties operating via a lingua franca. First, we develop a taxonomy of what we believe are the main ideal-type models of "linguistic democracy," that is, of the relationship between language and democracy in multilingual polities. Second, we argue that multilingual parties are in a better position than monolingual parties to formulate conceptions of the common good that take into account diverse linguistic and epistemic perspectives. Third, we claim that such parties can perform an educational role for their members and for citizens in general, by making them aware of the implications of linguistic diversity for democratic life. Fourth, we argue that multilingual parties can offer a linkage between citizens and government via forms of intraparty deliberation that are rendered more inclusive and democratic by the use of multiple languages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Switzerland is a case in point. All major Swiss parties are multilingual (Stojanović and Bonotti 2020). At the cantonal level, they typically operate in only one language given that most cantons are officially monolingual.…”

Section: Multilingual Parties the Common Good And Public Justificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilingual Parties and the Ethics of Partisanship

Bonotti

Stojanović

2022

The Journal of Politics

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“…In Centripetal Democracy Joseph Lacey argues that the biggest threat facing the EU is its linguistic divisionsa crucially important source of discursive complexity -which make it hard to develop a common democratic public sphere. Lacey proposes regular referendums requiring majority support from numerous linguistic groups, broadly following the Swiss model, as a way of generating a common sense of participation in a common, though linguistically segmented, public sphere by generating parallel debates in the EU's various languages (Lacey 2017; see also Stojanović and Bonotti 2020).…”

Section: Centripetalistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Centripetal Representation

Ferris

2022

American J Political Sci

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Growing political complexity is one of the defining features of contemporary rich post-industrial society. Patterns of electoral, administrative, and societal representation have become more complex over the past fifty years as organizations and policymaking processes have stretched across borders, as relatively stable patterns of post-war party competition have broken down, and as more dynamic and ad-hoc governance networks have sprung up alongside older bureaucratic hierarchies. While populist leaders have capitalized on voters' desire to "take back control" of institutions whose opacity they find alienating, deliberative democratic and constructivist theorists of representation tend to express substantial enthusiasm for more complex representative systems.They show why pluralizing processes of representation can promote wiser, more inclusive, more dynamic, and, ultimately, more democratically legitimate processes of self-rule.iii However, the fragmentation of processes of political representation can pose a serious threat to democratic legitimacy and should be countered by a specific kind of democratic simplification. Complexity exacerbates information asymmetries between representatives and constituents that afflict the resource-poor worse than others, biasing the representative system against them. Simplifying systems of political representation can help ordinary people understand and engage with their representatives and push back against gridlock, collusion, capture, and shirking. Broad inclusion of pluralistic claims, actors, and institutions on the periphery of the representative system should therefore be combined with substantial democratic simplicity at its core, with networked responsiveness in between. I use the metaphor of centripetal motion to captures the idea that pressure and influence should flow "inwards" from a heterogeneous assemblage of claims, actors, and institutions on the periphery to a relatively small and organized group at the centre.The theory of centripetal representation can help political theorists, social scientists, and political practitioners think about how to manage complexity and shape our evolving systems of representation in ways that promote democratic legitimacy by helping ordinary people to be seen and heard, rather than allowing the powerful to hide. iv Acknowledgments This dissertation first began to take shape under the guidance of Simone Chambers, whose work has long been an important model for my own. Her incisive judgement has helped me not stray too far from the right path and her somewhat pugilistic style has been a constant spur to professionalism. I was influenced at a decisive stage by Michael Donnelly, an erstwhile committee member whose inspiring teaching got me excited about the way political scientists study political representation. I am extremely lucky that Andy Sabl happened to come to Toronto, as there are few democratic theorists so independent in their orientation and so closely engaged with empirical work. Certainly, there cannot be many who are ...

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“…What we need to establish, then, are the limits within which pluralist commitments should express themselves in a liberal democracy and, especially, the political actors from which we should expect these attitudes. In this regard, a number of political theorists have recently argued that specific responsibilities fall on partisans – those citizens that act with others in pursuit of translating a certain vision of the common good into governmental policy through competing in elections (Bonotti, 2011, 2018, 2019; Bonotti et al, 2018; Herman and Muirhead, 2020; Invernizzi-Accetti and Wolkenstein, 2017; Muirhead and Rosenblum, 2006; Stojanović and Bonotti, 2019; White, 2015a, 2015b; White and Ypi, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018; Wolkenstein, 2016a, 2016b, 2018, 2019). The position of partisans in the public sphere – with privileged access to financial resources, media attention, law-making and key administrative positions – lends them significantly larger amounts of political power than other citizens (Herman and Muirhead, 2020).…”

Section: Pluralist Commitments and Partisanship: An Uneasy Relationshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the past decade, a number of democratic theorists have aimed to rehabilitate partisanship as a normative category, and thus account for what ‘good partisanship’ entails in democratic societies (Bonotti, 2012, 2014, 2019; Bonotti et al, 2018; Herman, 2017; Herman and Muirhead, 2020; Invernizzi-Accetti and Wolkenstein, 2017; Muirhead, 2006, 2014; Muirhead and Rosenblum, 2006; Rosenblum, 2008; Stojanović and Bonotti, 2019; White, 2014, 2015a, 2015b; White and Ypi, 2010, 2011, 2018; Wolkenstein, 2016a, 2016b, 2018, 2019). Against the long-standing belief that partisanship, defined here as an array of discourses and practices in support of a certain vision of the common good attached to partisan identification (Herman, 2017), is necessarily vector of intolerance and division, one of the central contentions of this literature is that partisanship is compatible with a pluralist orientation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can partisans be pluralist? A comparative study of party member discourse in France and Hungary

Herman

2020

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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Pluralist norms, which prescribe certain attitudes of openness and mutual respect for diverging views, have long been considered a central pillar of liberal democracy. While democratic theorists have championed these values, they have been conflicted as to the capacity of political parties to carry them. Partisanship is widely recognized as an essential institution of democratic regimes but it has also been traditionally associated with intransigence rather than tolerance. This paper investigates this theoretical debate from an empirical standpoint, asking whether partisans can be carriers of pluralist values. It relies on focus-group methodology and software-assisted textual analysis to evaluate the extent to which the discourse of 117 party members in two different national contexts, France and Hungary, resonates with the pluralist worldview. The results of this study provide key empirical insights into the nature of partisanship, demonstrating wide variations in the extent to which partisans uphold pluralist principles, but also their capacity to do so at a stringent level.

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Political Parties in Deeply Multilingual Polities: Institutional Conditions and Lessons for the EU

Cited by 23 publications

References 46 publications

Multilingual Parties and the Ethics of Partisanship

Multilingual Parties and the Ethics of Partisanship

Centripetal Representation

Can partisans be pluralist? A comparative study of party member discourse in France and Hungary

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