Search

The idea of democracy is probably one of the easiest to get consensus about in contemporary societies, while at the same time there are clear symptoms of political disaffection. The explanations for this political disaffection phenomenon are quite varied. While some argue that the lack of political implication is a consequence of individualism and «civic privatism» that threatens to break the bonds within the political community, others argue that this is a consequence of the crisis of the politics led by elites, which gives way to new forms of political participation driven by the masses. Lying behind these contradictory explanations there is a debate about the normative concept of citizenship or the «good citizen». In this paper I analyze empirically different conceptions of citizenship in Europe, as measured by how much value individuals attach to different civic duties that belong to the definition of citizenship from a normative point of view. In order to do that, I distinguish one dimension of normative commitment and one of community commitment. I then explain the value attached to each dimension at the individual level using multilevel analysis techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is undergoing important transformations on both the normative and the identity level. The «Others» in Europe are no longer merely those who do not hold citizenship of one of the member states of the Union. In the new European immigration context, «Otherness» as defined on a legal basis —the foreigner— has been complemented by a culturally and an ethnically coloured definition. This paper analyses the construction of categories and identity classifications underlying new forms of inclusion and exclusion that are to be found in the context of the emergence of Europe as a legal, political and cultural entity. It will focus more specifically on the formation of particular collective identities which are targets of stigmatization and derogation as a result of the process of «Europeanization» and the establishing of an «imagined European identity». In a context characterized by the increasing stress placed on the juridical dimension of social relations together with a rise in affirmative identities, this project attempts to analyse the processes of categorization and derogation of individuals and groups on the basis of «culture» or «ethnicity», and their consequences for both minority groups (mobilization, submission, retreat, etc.) and majority groups (the fight against discrimination, normative and cultural impositions, intercultural practices, etc.). An examination of the hypothesis according to which the definition of collective derogated identities —the «European outsiders»— is undergoing a transition from legal criteria (nationality) towards «cultural/ethnic» criteria («Blacks», «Roms», etc.) or even religious criteria («Muslims») is particularly important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note has three objectives: First, to discover what the attitude of citizens towards towards the subsidiarity principle is; next, to examine whether or not there is a consistent relationship between, on the one hand, the attitude towards the subsidiarity principle and, on the other hand, the opinions and preferences on the question of the distribution of power, functions and resources among the different levels of government; and thirdly, to identify the typical citizen characteristics that show consistent attitudes and opinions. The research focuses on the province of Barcelona and the Community of Madrid. The last section of the paper contains some thoughts about possible avenues to further research on these questions and a short discussion on the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern citizenship is in crisis. The reasons are complex. It is faced with problems that are both internal (such as political and cultural legitimacy, social regulation, resources and costs) and external (such as economic impulse, problems arising from the intermediate social formations, demographic changes, difficulty in managing social groups and social strata that are not connected with the State) to the political system. In this paper, the objective is to observe and bring to light the fact that all these problems focus on issues relating to the culture, specifically political, of a community. The cultural environment of citizens no longer generates motivations, values and rules that harmonize with the institutions of the modern, democratic nation-State. What are the alternatives? Is it possible to re-launch citizenship as a basis for democracy? In what sense? What are the conditions and possible developments? After reviewing the Marxist and Liberal visions of citizenship, the following conclusion can be offered: a new phase is beginning or, in sociological terms, a societary semantic in which citizenship takes the shape of a complex of rights- duties of the people and the associative formations which articulates the civic life in «universal autonomies» which are able to integrate the generality of the aims and self-management practices. This is the challenge that the complex society imposes on itself. This challenge is called «societary citizenship», or citizenship of the social autonomies, in a post-modern democratic State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]