This book is the first comprehensive academic effort to examine the phenomenon of top female political leaders in Asia. It portrays prime ministers, presidents, and opposition leaders, but it is not a conventional biographical volume. Rather, it analyzes female politicians by means of case studies that are based on a common theoretical framework. The case studies were conducted over three years of field research, which included interviews with the female leaders themselves and members of their inner circle. Each chapter explores the similarities, but also points to the distinctiveness of each...

In diesem Band widmen sich 14 AutorInnen aus vergleichender politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive der Frage von Bedeutung und Deutung von Wahlen weltweit. Leitend ist fur die AutorInnen des Bandes die Erkenntnis aus der jungeren Wahlsystemforschung, dass eine Aufgabe heute gerade darin besteht, die jeweiligen Kontexte naher zu bestimmen, in denen Wahlen stattfinden und innerhalb derer Wahlsysteme eine bestimmte Wirkung entfalten. Es gilt, Abschied zu nehmen von vormals als universal betrachteten, indes eindimensional und haufig monokausal gefassten Theorien. Die Theoriediskussion erfordert...

The relationship between social movements and their countermovements is an underrepresented research topic, given the bulk of social movement studies that have been published to date. Moreover, empirical research on this topic primarily covers certain geographic areas of the world, specifically what is commonly called the global North. The mobilization of religious and women's movements against social change, which strive for a preservation of the status quo and can be held responsible for a delayed expansion of reform-oriented interest articulation, is a rare topic of social movement...