| Srl | Item |
| 1 |
ID:
132666
|
|
|
|
|
| Publication |
2014.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
The article examines the influence of renewable energy companies on the decision-making process related to the German energy transition. It identifies clusters of different lobbying activities and styles through in depth interviews with 20 stakeholders from policy-making and business. The research used Repertory Grid Technique in combination with HOMALS multivariate analysis. Its main findings are: First, although the big four electric utilities operating on the German energy market still possess wide influence, companies of renewable energy have developed from a niche into important players of the energy regime. Second, lobbies by the renewable energy sector are mainly aimed at the legislative framework, particularly on the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the feed-in-system. Third, interviewees identified 36 different lobby activities; the most effective ones are: 'Regular and personal maintenance of contact to politicians', 'Lobbying within an association', 'Knowledge development with correct information' and 'Top-down contacting of most powerful politicians'. Fourth, the statistical analysis reveals clear distinctions between companies with regards to their lobby strategies which are evaluated differently by stakeholders. Finally, the article concludes that companies have a strong influence on political-decision making and - together with governmental actors - form a 'policy network' that strongly shapes the German energy transition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
ID:
187732
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Democracy is subject to constant and seemingly interminable contestation in academic and policy contexts, and yet, empirically and methodologically robust analysis of what the term means in practice for actual citizens has remained an area of relative lacuna. Admittedly, large-N surveys have attempted to address this research gap by examining attitudes to numerous components of democracy, but without the fine-grained detail required to overcome simply reproducing the focus on liberal procedural, Western precedent-based, top-down approaches to understanding such a complex and varied political system. This article proposes a methodological approach, based on the requirements of comparative political theory and research into how people view democracy. This allows us to explore political attitudes and the meaning of democracy with a bottom-up approach using the methods of repertory grid and in-depth interviews. Singapore is a particularly exciting case for comparative political science: although it has all the advantageous conditions that, according to classic modernization theory, promote the development of democracy, it is still not a democracy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|