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Where Now For European Political Parties?
Political parties perform important roles in European societies. Parties are institutions in which citizens with similar political views organise, develop political programmes and actively participate in the political process. They are vital for democracy because parties offer the most clear-cut political choices that are put to the electorate. Parties are also recruitment organisations, through which parliamentarians and members of government are sourced. Even though the latter functions are important, the general effectiveness of parties is closely linked to the first characteristic: their societal embeddedness – the main channel between a party and citizens. And in this respect, political parties have been declining dramatically.
The demise of political parties is not a new phenomenon. Since at least the 1980s, parties in all established European democracies have suffered massive membership losses to the point where they only retain a very limited capacity to engage citizens. The societal anchor of political parties is seriously threatened. Vernon Bogdanor wrote in 2006 that ‘the story of the rise and fall of the mass political party is one of the great unwritten books of our time’. So why do I pick this rather old problem up again in 2009? Not because I want to write the obituary of the mass political party but because we can now see where the development of political parties might lead us. This potential new future became apparent during the US Presidential campaign.
Additionally to his remarkable personal qualities, Barack Obama – during the Democratic primaries, the Presidential campaign and now even as sitting President – has been extremely successful in using new communication technologies to connect directly with citizens. Through the use of social networking tools, online video messaging and almost real time updates on what was happening on the campaign trail – and by making many of these tools available to his supporters too – he was able to create a community that was not only prepared to vote for him but willing to organise and campaign on the local level. He was able to create a political movement he can now build upon. Read the rest of this entry »
The Meaning of Friendship and Passion on 5 cm
Here the non fiction novel, there are five f
riends who had a friendship for seven years. They are the most handsome Arial, Riani as the only woman in the group, Zafran posing as a poet, Ian’s most fertile body, and Genta are considered a leader in that group. They have a penchant for the weird start of visiting the cafe of the most expensive and the cheapest, to watch the display step. Until one day because there is a sense of boredom with one another, they decided not to meet and communicate with each other for three months. Where that’s when they find new things that enrich their lives before. The meeting after three months full of flavor miss finally celebrated with a trip. Where a journey is full of beliefs, ideals, dreams, and love. Farewell and they passed this trip turned out to have made them become truly human, not just a piece of meat that can only talk, walk, and had a name. Donny Dhirgantoro non fiction book gives the reader an invitation to love this rich country. Depictions of the main characters in this story is specific enough to make the reader as if familiar with them. Although the conflict in this story is less, but this story is a good story because of lightweight and easy to understand. In this story there are many song’s lyrics so that if not all readers know how the song from the lyrics. Even so, the story is interspersed with words and sentences that can demonstrate to readers how the meaning of life is and how we live our lives the best way possible. Although the novel is not explained whether it is real inside story as a whole or only a fiction but this story has been able to immerses the reader into a story that is useful for a human.
