Papers by Mitja Hafner-Fink
A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western ... more A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western democracies in the last decades of the 20th century. In this framework, researchers largely agree on the key factors of participation: from generational differences and socio-economic status through civic values to civic competencies. The emergence and expansion of the Internet have brought new opportunities to expand political participation practices and to include in these practices certain groups which have so far been less active. By analysing the presence of various forms of participation via the Internet in Slovenia, we assess a thesis on the (possible) expansion of space for political participation and search for answer(s) to research questions about the relationship between traditional forms of political participation in general and digital forms of participation: a) are online forms merely combining with other traditional forms of participationor b) are they emerging as a new ty...
Cilj prispevka je konstruirati topografijo okusa slovenskih televizijskih gledalcev, ta pa je tak... more Cilj prispevka je konstruirati topografijo okusa slovenskih televizijskih gledalcev, ta pa je tako rezultat kulturne diferenciacije med sloji kot tudi artikulacije hegemoničnega učinka televizijskega programa. Preference gledalcev so namreč neposredno odvisne od televizijske ponudbe. Obenem sta avtorja menila, da je estetsko vprašanje politično relevantno, saj je vsak konflikt, ki ima opraviti z izključevanjem od sredstev, ki omogočajo "indentitetni družbeni obstoj" (K.Eder), političen konflikt. Z empirično analizo je bilo identificiranih 11 tipičnih skupin gledalcev na podlagi njihove diferencirane televizijske potrošnje. Združevanje teh skupin v manjše število skupin gledalcev (tri skupine) kaže na delitev slovenskih gledalcev v tri svetove življenja, ki določajo tudi estetske preference - tradicionalnega, populističnega in elitno-liberalnega
Teorija in praksa
The article examines the deliberation of higher education (HE) scholars and practitioners on rese... more The article examines the deliberation of higher education (HE) scholars and practitioners on research issues in the HE field, which has taken into account the complexity of current trends of deglobalisation and changing characteristics of globalisation. More precisely, the article offers a systematic review of the ideas developed by focus group participants (FGPs) from different parts of the world while debating internationalisation, globalisation and Europeanisation with respect to the field of HE. These FGPs agreed that: 1) theoretical definitions used by academics and practitioners are currently socially constructed in a biased way (in favour of the Anglo-North American point of view); 2) academic research (notably conceptual definitions) must better take into account the issues contextually and dynamically across time and space; and 3) that HE research is in the stage when a more theoretically refined and a methodologically stronger new global wave of empirical research is requi...
Članek obravnava problematiko povezanosti med razredom in državljanstvom v kontekstu sprememb, ki... more Članek obravnava problematiko povezanosti med razredom in državljanstvom v kontekstu sprememb, ki sta jih skozi procese (post)modernizacije doživela oba koncepta. Poudarek je dan na problematiki politične participacije, ki jo razumemo kot ključni element oblikovanja državljanskih slogov - načinov realiziranja državljanskih pravic, kakor jih je prav v kontekstu razrednih neenakosti kapitalistične družbe razvil Marshall. Participacijo in državljanske sloge, ki nastanejo na tej podlagi razumemo kot način izražanja skupinskih identitet, med katere lahko štejemo tudi razredno identiteto. V prispevku je predstavljen in obrazložen splošni model povezanosti med ključnimi pojmi: razred, državljanstvo, državljanske pravice, participacija, identiteta, modernizacijski procesi.The article focuses on the relationship between class and citizenship in the context of changes in both concepts occurring in the process of (post)modernisation. It primarily deals with political participation as the key w...
Članek z raziskovanjem lobističnih strategij nacionalnih interesnih organizacij v okviru mnogorav... more Članek z raziskovanjem lobističnih strategij nacionalnih interesnih organizacij v okviru mnogoravneskega političnega sistema EU opozarja na popačenost interesnega predstavništva v okviru EU. Tako teoretski okvir o določnicah odločitve nacionalnih interesnih organizacij (IO), da delujejo na ravni EU, kot tudi analiza podatkov projekta INTEREURO Multi-Level Governance Module (MLG) (www.intereuro.eu) razkrivata tri ključne ugotovitve. Prvič, največje razlike med interesnimi organizacijami nastajajo med IO iz starejših članic EU (Nemčije, Združenega kraljestva in Nizozemske), kar se kaže v njihovi nadpovprečni aktivnosti, ter IO iz novejših članic EU (Švedske in Slovenije), ki so podpovprečno aktivne na ravni EU. Drugič, razlike med ravnmi aktivnosti IO med različnimi javnopolitičnimi področji so manjše kot razlike med državami. Tretjič, čeprav IO iz vseh držav uporabljajo medije in strategije objavljanja (informacijsko politiko) pogosteje kot mobilizacijo svojih članov in podpornikov (...
Our contribution focuses on a bottom-up view of the inputs of national interest organisations int... more Our contribution focuses on a bottom-up view of the inputs of national interest organisations into EU-level policymaking. We pay particular attention to two categories of strategy adopted by interest organisations: (1) the strategies they adopt in terms of their selection of the level of government and the choice of institution to lobby (the national executive, national parliament and the executive EU institutions - the European Commission and EU Council, as well as the European Parliament); and (2) the strategies they adopt in terms of lobbying methods and techniques. Based on data from the INTEREURO Multi-Level Governance Module (MLG) (www.intereuro.eu ), we tested the following determinants which we expected to shape the strategies of interest organisations: the type of interest organisation (whether economic or noneconomic); the policy field (the empirical data on the 20 most salient legislative proposals in the period from 2008 to 2010 cover three policy fields – (i) environmen...
East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures, 2014
Based on a social constructivist framing, this article seeks to address the gap in the literature... more Based on a social constructivist framing, this article seeks to address the gap in the literature on the impact of Europeanisation on the national interest group political culture in general and in the post-communist context in particular. The impacts of Europeanisation on interest group domestic policy behaviour, in terms of national interest groups networking with their European counterparts, their contacts with EU-level decision makers, and their access to EU funds, are tested based on the panel surveys that were conducted in 1996 and 2012 of the most influential interest groups in eleven policy fields in Slovenia. Our key findings are that Europeanisation does support changes in the national interest group political culture in the direction of a more pro-active approach in influencing national policy processes. However, Europeanisation explains only a small portion of the variability among the domestic policy behaviour of interest groups.
Družboslovne Razprave, 2014
This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature regarding the determinants of voter behav... more This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature regarding the determinants of voter behaviour at presidential elections in a post-socialist context, taking into acco - unt the changing patterns of competition both within the party system (parliamentary elections) and at presidential elections. Slovenia is taken as a case study of predictors of voting behaviour at presidential elections (1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012) based on bivariate and multivariate methods using Politbarometer public opinion survey data. The key findings are that the predictors of voting behaviour change over time and that party identification has recently been declining in importance as a predictor of voting behaviour at presidential elections.
Das International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) ist ein länderübergreifendes, fortlaufendes Umfr... more Das International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) ist ein länderübergreifendes, fortlaufendes Umfrageprogramm, das jährlich Erhebungen zu Themen durchführt, die für die Sozialwissenschaften wichtig sind. Das Programm begann 1984 mit vier Gründungsmitgliedern - Australien, Deutschland, Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten - und ist inzwischen auf fast 50 Mitgliedsländer aus aller Welt angewachsen. Da die Umfragen auf Replikationen ausgelegt sind, können die Daten sowohl für länder- als auch für zeitübergreifende Vergleiche genutzt werden. Jedes ISSP-Modul konzentriert sich auf ein bestimmtes Thema, das in regelmäßigen Zeitabständen wiederholt wird. Details zur Durchführung der nationalen ISSP-Umfragen entnehmen Sie bitte der Dokumentation. Die vorliegende Studie konzentriert sich auf Fragen zu Soziale Ungleichheit: Soziale Ungleichheit. Themen: Bedeutung verschiedener Aufstiegschancen (wohlhabende Familie, gebildete Eltern, gute Ausbildung, harte Arbeit, die richtigen Leute kenn...
Content: attitudes towards religious practices.Topics: assessment of personal happiness; attitude... more Content: attitudes towards religious practices.Topics: assessment of personal happiness; attitudes towards pre-maritalsexual intercourse; attitudes towards committed adultery; attitudestowards homosexual relationships between adults; attitudes towardsabortion in case of serious disability or illness of the baby or lowincome of the family; attitudes towards gender roles in marriage; trustin institutions (parliament, business and industry, churches andreligious organizations, courts and the legal system, schools and theeducational system); mobility; attitudes towards the influence ofreligious leaders on voters and government; attitudes towards thebenefits of science and religion (scale: modern science does more harmthan good, too much trust in science and not enough in religious faith,religions bring more conflicts than peace, intolerance of people withvery strong religious beliefs); judgement on the power of churches andreligious organizations; attitudes towards equal rights for allr...
Ars & Humanitas, 2021
The article presents the results of the Slovenian Public Opinion survey conducted just before the... more The article presents the results of the Slovenian Public Opinion survey conducted just before the outbreak and during the first and second waves of the epidemic. In this article, we are interested in the impact of perceptions and evaluations of social inequalities on citizens' protest participation. More specifically, we are interested in how these perceptions relate to the actual situation of individuals and how the interaction of the two contributes to the dissatisfaction that manifests itself as a willingness to protest. We take as our starting point the theory of relative deprivation, which proves to be relevant in explaining the occurrence of protests in times of crisis. The results of the study confirm the relevance of the theory especially in times of crisis or in the case of unannounced and sudden outbreaks of resentment, when the usual explanatory models of political action are not sufficient. The results show that the main trigger of collective action is not absolute d...
Functions and tasks of the state. Topics: 1. Citizen rights: law-abidingness and selected forms o... more Functions and tasks of the state. Topics: 1. Citizen rights: law-abidingness and selected forms of protest against the government; freedom of speech and freedom of the press even for revolutionaries and racists; police intervention in the private sphere to prevent crimes; principle of rule by law, in doubt for the accused; attitude to participants in demonstrations, racists and revolutionaries. 2. Government intervention: tax progression and income re-distribution by the government; government measures regarding control of wages, salaries and prices as well as the reduction of government expenditures; government job creation measures, measures to stimulate the economy and subsidies; preference for reduced government economic http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/html/ZA3215.html?file=http%3A%2F%2F134.95.45.58%3A80%2Fobj%2FfStudy%2FZA3215 2 von 15 control; reduction in working hours versus creating new jobs; preference for an increase or reduction in government expenditures, applied to sele...
The intention of this article is to examine the nature of cognitive representations that responde... more The intention of this article is to examine the nature of cognitive representations that respondents create and utilise when making evaluative judgements in surveys. The following two hypothetical statements are the starting point of our analysis: (1) the order of items affects both the cognitive representation of the underlying dimension and the factor structure of the answers; (2) the different levels of cognitive sophistication of respondents affect their recognition of the concepts measured and the nature of their answers. A multidimensional scale of the concept of ‘negative nationalism’ was analysed. The concept was measured on two dimensions: xenophobia and protectionism. The research results partly confirm the hypothetical statements: the level of a respondent’s education (as an indicator of their level of cognitive sophistication) influences their recognition of the concept measured, while other classical context characteristics (such as item order) did not. We can only conf...
Slovenian Journal of Public Health, 2013
Background: This article explores gender trends in self-rated health in Slovenia over the period ... more Background: This article explores gender trends in self-rated health in Slovenia over the period of thirty years. The main research goals are to examine the associations between gender, social class and health, establish the extent that the patterns of subjective health converge with those in other countries and identify the most vulnerable health groups. Methods: The study is based on six waves of the Slovenian Public Opinion survey carried out between 1981 and 2012 on representative samples of the adult Slovenian population. The main dependent variables are the respondent’s self-assessed health and three indicators of psychosomatic health - experiences of insomnia, irregular heartbeat and anxiety. The main independent variables are gender and socio-economic status. The relationship between them was examined using Chi-square tests. Results: The 30 year trend is consistent with prior studies, which found that women report poorer self-assessed health than men. In Slovenia, this gende...
Teorija in praksa, 2014
A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western ... more A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western democracies in the last decades of the 20 th century. In this framework, researchers largely agree on the key factors of participation: from generational differences and socioeconomic status through civic values to civic competencies. The emergence and expansion of the Internet have brought new opportunities to expand political participation practices and to include in these practices certain groups which have so far been less active. By analysing the presence of various forms of participation via the Internet in Slovenia, we assess a thesis on the (possible) expansion of space for political participation and search for answer(s) to research questions about the relationship between traditional forms of political participation in general and digital forms of participation: a) are online forms merely combining with other traditional forms of participation; or b) are they emerging as a new type of political participation? We also investigate whether digital participation does indeed involve new groups of people and who are potential 'digital citizens'. In the analysis, we use the latest data from the Slovenian Public Opinion Survey 2013, which includes both information on the forms of political participation generally and information on digital-specific forms of participation.
A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western ... more A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western democracies in the last decades of the 20th century. In this framework, researchers largely agree on the key factors of participation: from generational differences and socio-economic status through civic values to civic competencies. The emergence and expansion of the Internet have brought new opportunities to expand political participation practices and to include in these practices certain groups which have so far been less active. By analysing the presence of various forms of participation via the Internet in Slovenia, we assess a thesis on the (possible) expansion of space for political participation and search for answer(s) to research questions about the relationship between traditional forms of political participation in general and digital forms of participation: a) are online forms merely combining with other traditional forms of participation; or b) are they emerging as a new ...
Czech Sociological Review, 2013
The article contributes to the literature on the changing concept of citizenship in the process o... more The article contributes to the literature on the changing concept of citizenship in the process of globalisation. It sets out from the thesis that the classic concepts of citizenship, which are linked to the nation state, are slowly but steadily losing their monopoly on explaining the relationship between individuals, the political community and government. Based on a theoretical discussion of the new models of citizenship, the authors seek to identify the elements of 'post-national' citizenship. The main research goal of the analysis is to discover the conditions in which elements of post-national citizenship are most likely to occur. The analysis is based on aggregated individual (survey) data (from the ESS 2008 and the EVS 2008) and macro contextual data on European Union countries. On the macro (country) level, the authors conduct a hierarchical cluster analysis and crisp set QCA and make the following fi ndings. First, two groups of countries are formed: (a) a fairly homogeneous group of six 'post-national' citizenship countries; and (b) a more heterogeneous group of classic citizenship countries. Second, 'post-national' citizenship is to be expected in countries in which the following conditions are combined: on the one hand, secularised and post-industrial societies with less emphasis on a knowledge society, and on the other hand, societies with a stable national status where knowledge is important.
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Papers by Mitja Hafner-Fink