bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Sins of Banking Regulation in the USA
Authors: Benston George J.
Published: May 2006

The US banking system has been prone to failure, primarily because it has been mis‐regulated. Banks have been restrained from diversifying and from serving their customers effectively by restrictions on branching and on products offered. But competition has been good for bank customers.
Derivatives: What's Needed to Protect the Financial Markets?
Authors: O'Hara Maureen
Published: May 2006

The rapid growth and scale of financial derivatives in the US have led to concern that this sector of the financial markets ought to be more strictly regulated to project firms and banks. Disclousure or certification requirements should be established, but active regulation is unnecessary.
Banking Supervision in New Zealand
Authors: Brash Donald T.
Published: May 2006

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's recently announced new approach to its conduct of banking supervision places greater emphasis on market disciplines and public disclosure to promote a stable financial system. Some detailed prudential rules currently imposed on banks will be removed.
Regulating Life Assurance: Objectives and Machinery
Authors: Stretton Jim
Published: May 2006

Misdirected regulation can be not merely ineffective but actually damaging to customers. Recent developments in the regulation of life assurance sales show how this can happen.
CRISIS, CHANGE, AND PUBLIC POLICY Considerations for a Comparative Analysis of Environmental Policies
Authors: LUNDQVIST LENNART J.
Published: May 2006

The environmental “crisis” is now a top priority in many industrialized countries. Perceived of as a threat to a society's resources, the environmental problem raises important questions regarding competing system goals. The problem cuts across traditional political and administrative structures and thus carries several implications for political change. Since the environmental issue has gained political recognition at the same time in many political systems, the auspices for comparative research are good.

This paper contains an analysis of the Swedish response to the environmental problem. The most spectacular changes seem to have appeared in policy content, and in the performance levels of the actors, while the structures of the system remain almost unchanged. A general framework for comparative environmental analysis is developed, followed by a discussion of certain aspects of environmental policy and political change. Drawing from Swedish, American and Canadian data, the complex adaptation processes between innovative agents, public opinion and institutionalized power mechanisms are discussed. Some propositions are offered for further comparative research.
ON POWER, ITS INTENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION
Authors: PASSIGLI STEFANO
Published: May 2006

The inadequate results and the lack of progress of all attempts at measuring power are primarily due to two factors: 1) the tendency to focus on a single dimension of the measurement problem, that is, either on the intensity of power in interpersonal relations, or on the distribution of power within a given social system, failing to link these two aspects; and 2) the inadequacy of community power studies to provide comprehensive models, and the continuing stubborn tendency to conceive measurement in strict, quantitative terms, failing to recognize the value of other less exact forms of measurement. The two problems of the intensity of power in interpersonal relations and of its systemic distribution may be tackled simultaneously by representing the actual impact and behaviour of power in a given system rather than measuring it quantitatively. This is done by means of a graphic, curvilinear representation of the power process, which allows the identification of different “phases”, where power has a substantially different nature (authority, influence, force), elicits different responses (obedience, passive resistance, submission), and results in different power relations (anarchy, legitimacy, bargaining, coercion). The curve bears considerable resemblance to the heuristic instruments of classical economics, and – though it is not without limitations – it offers substantial advantages, particulary its capacity to provide an instrument for comparing the power process in different political systems.
THE VISIBLE HAND OF THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION A REVIEW
Authors: HERNES HELGA
Published: May 2006

This article is a taxonomy of a new field of interest to political scientists, namely the study of multinational corporations as political actors on the local, national and international level. It describes the interests and activities of the four major actors involved: parent companies, subsidiaries, investor countries, and host countries. The article bases itself in part on seven books which represent these various actors'perspectives, and suggests what kind of further research is needed to describe the cooperative and conflictual relations among them. The theoretical challenges presented by the multinationals are related in part to their dual character as economic and political actors, and in part to the fact that they integrate activities among various levels of political organization, thus cutting across traditional divisions of scholarly disciplines such as local, comparative and international politics, as well as economics, international business, and industrial relations.
CULTURAL MODELS AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS
Authors: EISENSTADT S.N.
Published: May 2006

In this paper an attempt is made to indicate some possible relations between the working of political systems and, on the one hand, some aspects of “culture” and, on the other hand, various aspects of power and market relations. The discussion begins with some recent attempts to explain the variability of modern and modernizing societies in other terms than those offered in the earlier studies of modernization which heavily emphasized the difference between “traditional” and “modern” societies and attempted to explain many of the differences. The revision of these assumptions stresses both the importance of cultural continuities (and “traditions”) and various internal and international constellations of power relations in explaining the variety and variability of “modern, modernizing and transitional societies.”

The analyses presented here present a fuller specification of some of the institutional loci of such continuity, the nature of the cultural orientations or codes (similar to Weber's Wirtschaftsethik) which may influence the working of political systems, and the mechanisms through which such influence is exerted. These codes or models are not just abstract or intellectual orientations. They provide rather specific institutional directives. They help to define boundaries of collectives, the coalescence of different types of such collectivities – the cultural, political, ethnic and religious –, the rights of membership in these collectivities, the specification of collective goals and public goods prevalent in them, and the centers and various counter‐cultures. The paper attempts to trace the influence of such codes on some crucial aspects of social and political organization in both the traditional and modern phases of the “same” society – W. Europe, Russia, and various patrimonial societies in S.E. Asia and Latin America.

It attempts also to analyze some of the crucial differences between traditional and modern social phases, to indicate the nature of the process of struggle which takes place during transition, and to relate these changes to cultural models and codes.
THE IMPACT OF FEDERALISM ON EDUCATION FINANCE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS*
Authors: CAMERON DAVID R. , HOFFERBERT RICHARD I.
Published: May 2006

Drawing on the implications suggested by several recent studies in comparative public policy, this article examines the impact of the structure of intergovernmental relations on the patterns of distribution of educational funds. The fundamental hypothesis underlying this analysis is that differences in this structure, and in particular the distinction between federal and unitary systems of government, are systematically related to differences in distribution across and within nations. The variations in total educational allocations among eighteen nations in Europe and North America are considered in order to discover whether the aggregate funding of education, relative to a nation's wealth, is related to the structure of intergovernmental relations. Then, in a more intensive analysis, the intranational patterns of distribution are compared in four federal and four unitary systems. This analysis suggests that there is a significant difference between the two types of system in the degree to which educational policy outputs equalize the territorial disparities in wealth and effect a redistribution of funds within the nation.
THE POSITION OF SMALL POWERS IN THE WEST EUROPEAN NETWORK OF ECONOMIC RELATIONS*
Authors: VÄYRYNEN RAIMO
Published: May 2006

The purpose of the investigation is to explore, by using data on trade structures and multinational corporations, the extent to which the relatively homogeneous group of West European countries is characterized by the existence of dominance relations. The analysis indicates that smaller and not‐so‐rich West European nations tend to be systematically worse‐off, judged on the basis of the premises of the investigation, in the network of trade and investment relations. Furthermore the size dimensions, viz. Gross National Product, tend to have more explanatory power in relation to the position of smaller and not‐so‐rich nations than the level of development variable, viz. GNP/capita. The consequences of this state of affairs are for from clear because of the complexify and the multidimensionality of the dependent variable. In any case it appears to be important to make a distinction between mere growth of national economies ‐ which may be of parasitic nature as the case of Portugal illustrates – and development which implies a given degree of equality and autonomy in the economy concerned. Traditional theories concerning the position and external policy of small powers is of little help in describing and explaining these kinds of phenomena and consequently a reorientation in these theories is needed, if they are to be useful.
POLITICAL CLEAVAGES, PARTY POLITICS AND URBANISATION IN IRELAND: THE CASE OF THE PERIPHERY‐DOMINATED CENTRE*
Authors: GARVIN TOM
Published: May 2006

Irish political parties cannot be easily fitted into a conventional left‐right framework. The Lipset‐Rokkan centre–periphery concept is employed to explain this situation, and, in particular, to throw light on the persistent success of Fianna Fáil, the nationalist‐populist party which has dominated the system since 1932. It is argued that Ireland affords an example of a polity in which the political concerns and style of the rural periphery came to “invade” and dominate the urban centre for more than a generation. Evidence from a study of urban party activists indicates a persistence of rural political styles and ideological perspectives in a social context which has been urban for well over half a century.
THE CHANGING PARTY SPACE IN DANISH VOTER PERCEPTIONS, 1971–1973
Authors: RUSK JERROLD G. , BORRE OLE
Published: May 2006

The purpose of this study is to analyze the changing cleavage lines in Danish politics as reflected in people's perceptions of and votes for the various political parties in the system. The focus is on “change” between the 1971 and 1973 elections and what cause this change. Multidimensional scaling techniques help to uncover the differing cleavage lines in Danish politics in the 1971 and 1973 elections and to give us some understanding of the voting patterns underlying them. Direct analysis of correlates of the vote further specifies the causal factors involved in 1971 and 1973 in forming these different cleavage structures. Implications of these findings for the future of the Danish political system are then discussed.
THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE SETTLEMENT OF LABOR DISPUTES IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Authors: ELVANDER NILS
Published: May 2006

The purpose of this paper is to examine, by comparative analysis, the role played by the state in resolving labor disputes in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland and to suggest reasons that may explain why these roles have assumed different forms in these four countries. Three forms of state action in the settlement of disputes are considered: implementation decisions in cases involving disputes about rights; mediation in cases in which interests are in dispute; and forcible intervention in cases in which it appears that public safety is threatened. These three forms are regarded as dependent variables that vary from country to country depending on two sorts of independent variables: first, historical factors of a political and economic nature (background variables) and second, organizational‐structural factors and parliamentary power factors (intermediate variables). The economic background variables have to do with the character of the industrialization process: the date it began, the pace at which it unfolded, and the kind of economic structure (and in consequence the organizational structure) it brought into being. The political variables have to do first of all with the point in time the political system became democratic and the way this was accomplished; but more special and unique factors are also considered, such as national “traumas” like civil war (Finland) and general strike (Sweden), together with special features of the countries'political cultures.
THE STATE AND SECTIONAL INTERESTS: THE BOLIVIAN CASE*
Authors: WHITEHEAD LAURENCE
Published: May 2006

The article presents a case study of the contemporary Bolivian state in interaction with the major interest groups and locates the Bolivian example in its comparative context. An analysis of the internal organisational problems of the Bolivian state is followed by an account of its exceptional vulnerability to international pressures of various types and a description of the unusually intractable domestic political problems it confronts. These conditions are held to explain (if not to justify) many of the techniques of government adopted by successive Bolivian régimes. There follows a discussion of the pattern of political behaviour which major domestic interests are constrained to adopt in response to the normal conduct of the Bolivian state. In general such interests are highly insecure, aggressive in their pressure group tactics, deeply politicised and subject to wildly fluctuating fortunes. However, it is also recognised that they vary widely in the resources they command, the aims they pursue, and the alliances they can enter into. In the conclusion the uniqueness, or otherwise, of the Bolivian case is assessed and this country study is related to the general debate on the degree to which military bureaucratic régimes in the Third World may be considered autonomous from sectional interests and capable of promoting some forms of ‘modernisation’.
COOPERATIVENESS IN A MULTI‐PARTY SYSTEM: A MEASURE AND AN APPLICATION*
Authors: LAAKSO MARKKU
Published: May 2006

Most measures of legislative voting behavior have been created to suit two‐party systems. Many special characteristics of multi‐party systems (e.g. coalition formation) can thus not be taken into account sufficiently. Consequently, there has been an increasing interest in methods that especially fit multi‐party systems. This article proposes one such method and illustrates it visually by simple vector algebra.

The method is applied to data which consist of 450 divisions of the Finnish Parliament from 1964 to 1966. An attempt is made to interpret the results by taking into consideration the special characteristics of the Finnish political system and the country's political dynamics. The interpretation also uses Gunnar Sjöblom's classification of the basic goals of political parties. Finally, the observations concerning political coalition theory are condensed into broader generalizations, which, however, need further study.
ON THE NOTION OF POLITICAL FEASIBILITY*
Authors: MAJONE GIANDOMENICO
Published: May 2006

In a positive, as opposed to a normative or prescriptive, approach to policy analysis, the critical examination of the conditions of feasibility of public policies assumes paramount importance. A proposal is feasible if it satisfies all relevant constraints. But while the notion of economic or technical feasibility can be explicated by pointing to the corresponding constraints, “political feasibility” is generally used in a much less precise sense; and lack of conceptual precision severely restricts its analytical usefulness. For instance, questions of political feasibility are often confused with considerations of political costs or of political opportunity. I argue that the analyst should always be prepared to translate a judgment of political feasibility or infeasibility in terms of the specific political constraints operating in the problem under consideration. In this paper, three main groups of political constraints are considered: those resulting from the limitation of the available political resources; those relating to the permissible distribution of the benefits and costs of a policy (distributional constraints); and those imposed by the institutional framework.
THE PIVOTAL PARTY: DEFINITION AND MEASUREMENT
Authors: RÉMY DOMINIQUE
Published: May 2006

Analyses of party strategy in multiparty parliamentary systems often refer to the idea of a pivotal party. But this notion is not uniformly treated and rarely covers the same entities. This essay is an attempt to clarify the concept and to isolate its characteristics. Among four types of “dominated” parties, the name of pivotal party should only be given to that party which controls the maximum of potentialities belonging to these parties, namely the power to modify the government majority by bestowing or withdrawing its support. This perspective also suggests the utility of an index measuring the extent of this modification.
FORMAL THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS*
Authors: HERNES HELGA
Published: May 2006

This article is an attempt to extract pervasive modes of thinking about nations and their foreign policies from three classical political theories and to examine to what extent it is possible to speak of “cognitive archetypes”. The study consists of two cases. The first is a treatment of The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, in particular an analysis of the debate at Sparta as a rational choice model. The conclusion is that the assumptions underlying rational actor models and the argument as presented by Thucydides closely coincide. The second case is a comparison of the logical structure of the prisoner's dilemma and the state of nature as presented by Hobbes and Rousseau. It concludes that Rousseau presents a clearer exposition of the dilemma than Hobbes who by differentiating between the security of the individual in the state of nature and that of states in the international system finds the establishment of the Leviathan an adequate solution to the problem of order.
A CLASSIFICATION OF PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS ACCORDING TO COALITIONAL OPTIONS*
Authors: DE SWAAN ABRAM
Published: May 2006

Traditionally, party systems are classified by the number of parties they include. More recently their coalitional possibilities have been taken into account, even though policy positions of parties were ignored. Closed Minimal Range Theory holds that parliamentary coalitions in support of a government will consist of parties that are adjacent on an ordinal scale of social‐economic policy positions, and will span a range along that scale that is no larger than is necessary for the coalition in order to control a majority of seats in the voting body. This theory, which has achieved very satisfactory empirical results, allows the classification of parties according to the number of closed minimal range coalitions they are part of in a given situation. There is always a party that is a member of every such closed minimal range coalition; in actual fact such pivotal parties may maintain this position for very long periods and were found to be a member of the government in 104 out of 108 coalitions studied. Party systems may be classified according to the number of closed minimal range coalitions they present in a given situation and whether or not all parties are included in at least one such coalition. Coalitional situations in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden since 1918, and in Israel since 1948, Italy since 1945, in the French IVth Republic, and the German Weimar Republic are presented in a table and discussed briefly.
INSTITUTIONAL INERTIA AND POLITICAL IMPETUS IN FRANCE AND BRITAIN *
Authors: HAYWARD JACK
Published: May 2006

The concern with immobilism or stalemate in France and Britain is analysed in terms of the concept of institutional inertia, defined as structural overinstitutionalisation and processual pluralism and incrementalism. Examples from economic policy indicate that French governments, relying principally on the techno‐bureaucracy, have a greater innovative capacity than British governments, relying primarily on the major interest groups. That this is so even when the French governments are Right‐wing and the British governments are Left‐wing suggests the operation of culturally‐based dominant values that inhibit or preclude some kinds of government action and favour others.

Though the political factor may not be of decisive importance in determining whether a country experiences economic “success”, it is pivotal in explaining how countries cope with economic “failure”. A comparison between the relative capacity of France and Britain to mobilise consent and to overcome dissent indicates that French étatisme has worked more successfully than British tripartite power sharing between government, business and labour organisations. A reforming impetus coming from a French government is less likely to be impeded and more likely to be furthered by interest groups (pressured rather than pressure groups) than is the case in Britain. The culturally‐determined addiction to crisis‐avoidance characteristic of Britain has prevented the emergence of “new men” and encouraged a foredoomed reliance on salvation through attempted imitations of French institutions such as national planning or the ENA.
PARLIAMENTARY ATTITUDES TOWARDS LABOR MARKET POLICIES *
Authors: PETTERSEN PER ARNT
Published: May 2006

Labor force mobility, both between economic sectors and between different regions of a country is one of the major consequences of industrialization and urbanization in Western societies. There is reason to believe that the attitudes toward this development at the political elite‐level have changed quite drastically, both when it comes to the theoretical understanding of what benefits a society would have from such a redistribution of labor and what means should be used to control or advance this development. In this paper we have described the attitude development at the Norwegian parliamentary level toward the problem mentioned above for the postwar period. We have also formalized a model which we think would make comparative research more feasible on attitudes towards labor market policies, labor market mobility, development of different economic sectors and related areas.
ECONOMETRICS AND ARMS RACES: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND SOME EXTENSIONS *
Authors: RATTINGER HANS
Published: May 2006

Recent years have witnessed an increasing use of econometric analysis in arms race studies. The present article reviews this past and the potential future contribution of econometrics to arms race research and concludes that so far the main impact of the new approach has been on efforts at parameter estimation. Therefore, a number of problems typically arising in the application of econometric techniques to the estimation of arms race models from empirical time series data are discussed, and the need for a thorough investigation of the small‐sample properties of the results of common procedures is demonstrated. Finally, the considerable potential of econometrics for refining current arms race models is illustrated in the context of asymmetric response and distributed lag hypotheses.
THE FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE REFERENDUM*
Authors: SMITH GORDON
Published: May 2006

This article outlines a way in which the wide range of experience of the referendum in Western Europe can be brought together by means of a “functional” approach. Two important perspectives appear to be: the degree of “control” exercised by the political authorities and the general “hegemonic effect” as seen in the consequences of the referendum. The variations that are possible, both in control and effect, provide the basis for a matrix of functional variance from which a broad typology can be established. The five basic types of referendum – including a non‐functional category – are illustrated and elaborated by reference to a range of examples. These show that each referendum poses problems of interpretation. The conclusion is that a functional analysis of this type could be further refined by concentrating on the relationship a referendum bears to the prevailing party system.
NATIONAL CONFLICT STRUCTURE AND FOREIGN POLITICS: THE IMPACT OF THE EEC ISSUE ON PERCEIVED CLEAVAGES IN NORWEGIAN POLITICS*
Authors: VALEN HENRY
Published: May 2006

The main concern of this article is the problem of how an important foreign policy issue may affect the national conflict structure of a given society. The EEC issue in Norwegian politics has been studied as such a case. This issue which became salient in the summer of 1970 and culminated at the referendum of September 1972, triggered off a very intensive political debate, in which alliances for and against the EEC membership cut across the “normal” patterns of political conflict. In studying how these events affected political cleavages in the minds of the electorate, the author has analysed data on party preference hierarchies from three nationwide voter surveys, in 1969, 1971, and 1972.

The analysis demonstrates that the voters were strongly inclined to change their perceptions of distances to different parties in the system, consistent with their stand on the EEC issue. A multidimensioned scaling analysis indicates that the two cleavages which were most salient before the EEC dispute started, the left‐right conflict and the moral‐religious conflict, remained salient throughout the debate. In addition, a third axis, which reflected the position of various parties towards the EEC membership, appeared as a third dimension in the studies of 1971 and 1972. This new axis has been interpreted as an expression of coalitions along several historic cleavages which became salient during the dispute, in particular the urban‐rural and the center–periphery conflicts. A separate analysis of the four bourgeois parties supports this interpretation. The changes in the patterns of perceived conflicts led to tensions between political parties, which had formerly been friends and allies, as well as between subgroups within individual parties. The disruptive effects of the EEC dispute upon the party system were clearly demonstrated at the subsequent national elections.
IDEOLOGICAL PROXIMITY AMONG FRENCH CHILDREN: PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION AND MEASUREMENT
Authors: PERCHERON ANNICK
Published: May 2006

The problem of measuring ideological proximities or identifications among children is one of the most difficult. First, the author defines the limits of measurement by means of partisan identification when applied to cultures other than the American one and to populations other than adult. Second, using more indirect means of measurement it is suggested that ideological values which may be described as left‐ or right‐wing are part of the set of values acquired by most of the children and structure most of their attitudes even if they are unaware of it and even when they are unable to qualify themselves as being on the Left or Right.
POLITICAL GENERATIONS: SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE CONCEPT AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE GERMAN CASE
Authors: ALLERBECK KLAUS R.
Published: May 2006

The paper examines the problem of measuring the effect of generation membership on political attitudes. Using Karl Mannheim's concept of “generation” and “generation units” as a starting point, popular notions of generational differences in political outlook in Germany are discussed. The applicability of cohort analysis to the study of political generations and survey data is treated. Election results and survey data are used to investigate the separation of ageing and generation effects on political attitudes of Germans today. As age differences are linked to education effects, the stability of the impact of higher education is considered. The interaction of generation membership and social structural forces is considered. The importance of the basic demographic process in the study of historical change is stressed.
A PRELIMINARY NOTE ON FRENCH POLITICAL GENERATIONS
Authors: BON FRÉDÉRIC , JAFFRÉ JÉRÔME
Published: May 2006

The signs of political generations in France that can be traced in the Presidential election of 1974 – in particular the generations of May 1968 and of the Algerian war – enable us to outline a few hypotheses: the age at which a generation comes into being is a function of the major events that occur and of their repercussions; generations may come into being over a very precise, very short period linked to a crisis in the political system. They will usually by and large concern a particular political and social group rather than the entire population.
A THREE‐NATION ANALYSIS OF VOTERS’ ATTITUDES TO ELECTION COMMUNICATION *
Authors: BLUMLER JAY G. , EWBANK ALISON , CAYROL ROLAND , GEERTS CLAUDE , THOVERON GABRIEL
Published: May 2006

Audience expectations of election campaign messages in Belgium, Britain and France are treated in this study as a point of departure for the comparative analysis of different political communication systems. Broad cross‐national similarities in voters’ priorities of communication need at election time are traced. In each case television is the most favoured medium of election information. Sub‐group analysis, however, discloses large variations in the forces shaping voters’ motives for following a campaign in the different countries. Demographic factors are mainly influential in Britain, political affiliations in France, and regional/linguistic divisions in Belgium.
IS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT A PARLIAMENT?*
Authors: HERMAN VALENTINE , LODGE JULIET
Published: May 2006

The paper considers the powers, or more correctly the lack of powers, of the European Parliament. Attention is focused on the legislative powers of the Parliament; its financial powers following the revision of Article 203 of the Treaty of Rome; and its control, or oversight, powers. Comparisons are made between the powers of the European Parliament and those of the national parliaments of the European Community's nine Member States. The detailed examination of the powers of the European Parliament reveals that in no widely accepted comparative sense can it be considered a parliament as it fails to meet a series of basic political, constitutional, and decision‐making requirements concerning the performance of legislative, financial, and control functions.
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN POLITICAL RECRUITMENT IN THE SOVIET REPUBLICS*
Authors: DELLENBRANT JAN ÅKE
Published: May 2006

The article presents an overview of differences between the fifteen Soviet republics in the field of political recruitment. The indicators of recruitment chosen are membership of the Communist Party and the Komsomol. The study covers the period 1956–73. The existence of significant differences is established. These differences tend also to remain over time. In the field of political recruitment, the western republics situated in the European part of the USSR behave differently from those of Central Asia. Finally, a connection between the differences in political recruitment and the differences in socio‐economic development is suggested. The political organizations tend, on the average, to have more members in the economically advanced areas and vice versa.
THE GERMAN AID RELATIONSHIP: A TEST OF THE RECIPIENT NEED AND THE DONOR INTEREST MODELS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN BILATERAL AID 1961–70
Authors: McKINLAY R.D.
Published: May 2006

There is currently a high degree of confusion about the role of aid and its foreign policy implications. This paper attempts to resolve some of this confusion by making a cross‐national, longitudinal analysis of the distribution of West German aid for each of the years 1961–70. Two basic models of allocation, reflecting different basic aid utilities, are tested. One suggests that aid is allocated according to the dictates of recipient need and reflects an economic assistance or humanitarian utility for aid. The other suggests that aid is distributed according to ‘particular donor interests and as such reflects a foreign policy utility for aid. In general, we find support for a modified donor interest interpretation. While there is evidence of a quasi humanitarian influence, the German aid programme is premised primarily from the perspective of German “vital interests”.
THE MASS CLIENTELISM PARTY: THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN CATANIA AND IN SOUTHERN ITALY
Authors: BELLONI FRANK , CACIAGLI MARIO , MATTINA LIBORIO
Published: May 2006

The main theoretical question confronted in this article concerns the nature and character of the Christian Democratic party (DC) in Catania and in Southern Italy. The Catania DC was transformed in the early fifties from a party of representation led by “notables” to a modern party under the direction of a new class of party professionals. The DC has become a mass party, containing various characteristics attributed to the mass party model in the literature; but it lacks some mass party features and contains others which are extraneous to it. The particular use of the party's mass membership in the intraparty struggle for position and power and the employment of the instrument of clientelism for achieving its goal, is what distinguishes the Southern Italy party. A mass‐based structure, clientelism and the use of public resources for distributing benefits are the main characteristics of the mass clientele party. The article examines the structure and the mode of operation of the mass clientele party; the principal sets of social, economic and political conditions necessary for the emergence of such a party; the functions it performs in the regional and national political systems.
THE CLIMATE OF OPINION AS A CONTEXTUAL DETERMINANT OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
Authors: FALTER JÜRGEN W.
Published: May 2006

Most multilevel analyses are restricted to the explanation of individual behavior by utilizing contextual variables. The interchange processes operant between context and individual are generally not specified and/or empirically tested. Analyzing how contextual effects come into being and how local norms actually influence individual behavior is the primary aim of this article. Its basic assumption is that contextual norms are transferred through interpersonal contacts at the local level. Personal relations reaching beyond the home community as well as the direct information gathered from the mass media probably act as “noise” which disturbs the intra‐communal influence processes. Therefore, persons having interpersonal contacts at the local level should be more affected by contextual norms than persons without such contacts. Furthermore, individuals obtaining their political information mainly through interpersonal contacts should be more susceptible to context norms than those who rely more on the mass media. Among the latter, individuals using nationwide media should be less influenced by the local context than individuals using primarily regional or local mass media. These assumptions are empirically tested by means of a variety of indicators. The results of our analysis do indeed confirm our expectations. Thus, this article provides some further material which may serve to bridge the theory gap of contextual analysis pointed out by Hauser and others.
DOES POLITICS MATTER: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLIC WELFARE COMMITMENT IN ADVANCED DEMOCRATIC STATES
Authors: CASTLES FRANK , McKINLAY ROBERT D.
Published: May 2006

The overriding conclusion of the majority of recent policy studies is that political factors play an insignificant role in influencing policy outputs. We establish a number of models, comprising both economic and political variables, which are used in an attempt to indicate the relative salience of rival determinants of public welfare commitment in advanced democratic states. Though we cannot dismiss some influence of economic factors, the main findings run counter to the conventional wisdom of policy studies in indicating the greater salience of political factors as determinants of public welfare outputs.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PARTY ORGANIZATION: A CROSS‐NATIONAL, TIME SERIES ANALYSIS
Authors: WELLHOFER E. SPENCER
Published: May 2006

The effectiveness of party organization is modeled by a modified Cobb‐Douglas production function where inputs are characteristics of party organization and output is the popular vote of the party. Next, an index of organizational learning is introduced to compete with the input factors; organizational learning accounts for some increased output, particularly in the early periods of party development. The model is tested with time‐series data for the Argentine, British, Norwegian, and Swedish Socialist Labor parties.
A NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM MODEL: SEMI‐PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: DUVERGER MAURICE
Published: May 2006

This article aims at defining the concept of “semi‐presidential government” and detailing the diversity of its practices. There are in fact three types of semi‐presidential regimes: the president can be a mere figurehead, or he may be all‐powerful or again he can share his power with parliament. Using four parameters — the content of the constitution, tradition and circumstances, the composition of the parliamentary majority and the position of the president in relation to the majority — the author seeks to explain why similar constitutions are applied in a radically different manner.
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS AND NATIONAL MINORITIES: SOME PARALLELS IN THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE *
Authors: COAKLEY JOHN
Published: May 2006

In the case of several successful nationalist movements in Europe the path to independence has followed a common pattern. In Ireland, Finland, Estonia and Latvia, the progress of a tripartite struggle may be charted: between the metropolitan governing power, the local centre and the local periphery. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the local centre (Irish Protestants, Swede‐Finns and Baltic Germans) comprised a minority population group divided from the bulk of the local population in terms of language, economic position and political status (and, in the case of Ireland, religious affiliation). Political development tended to take on a form contrasting with the West European norm. As society modernised, the local periphery began to challenge the economic hegemony of the local centre by moving into towns and into industrial occupations and by threatening the confiscation of landed estates. The cultural supremacy of the local centre was undermined as the standardisation and revival of the peripheral language led to its replacing the central language in education, commerce and the administration, except in Ireland. The growth of a distinct ethnic identity among the peripheral population assisted in its assuming control of local government and ultimately of attaining political independence.
THE INVOLVEMENT OF VOTERS IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS OF 1979: ITS EXTENT AND SOURCES
Authors: BLUMLER JAY G. , FOX ANTHONY D.
Published: May 2006

This article examines the reception by voters of the first direct elections to the European Parliament in June 1979, using data from comparable surveys conducted shortly after Polling Day in eight of the nine member states of the European Community. Against a background of party campaigning and media coverage which often differed from that normally associated with national elections, four indices of popular involvement are examined: degree of interest in the campaign; evaluations of its presentation on television; the extent to which it was followed through the mass media and other channels of communication; and voters' perceptions of the issues that emerged from the campaign. A number of influences that affected turnout and other forms of electoral participation are then reviewed, including outlook on European affairs, partisan affiliations, demographic positions, and amount of mass media exposure to the campaign, a factor which appeared particularly significant for those voters whose interest in the campaign was relatively weak.
POLITICAL CORRUPTION: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Authors: DEYSINE ANNE
Published: May 2006

This paper analyses some of the main approaches that can be found in the literature on corruption.

– the question of definition: the end of overdefinition;

– the modernisation thesis: its assumptions and why some authors challenge it;

– the survival of corruption in advanced democracies;

– causes of corruption: a systemic and endemic phenomenon; two or more of the causes of corruption are dealt with in more detail: overregulation and the role of bureaucracy and the discretion of public officials;

– money in politics: attempts at reforming the system of election financing, in particular, in the United States and the entanglement of politics and (inter)national business;

– the consequences of corruption (in terms of societal values and costs);

– the remedies proposed: legislation, deterrence or reforms.
NINE SECOND‐ORDER NATIONAL ELECTIONS – A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE ANALYSIS OF EUROPEAN ELECTION RESULTS
Authors: REIF KARLHEINZ , SCHMITT HERMANN
Published: May 2006

The composition of the directly elected European Parliament does not precisely reflect the “real” balance of political forces in the European Community. As long as the national political systems decide most of what there is to be decided politically, and everything really important, European elections are additional national second‐order elections. They are determined more by the domestic political cleavages than by alternatives originating in the EC, but in a different way than if nine first‐order national elections took place simultaneously. This is the case because European elections occur at different stages of the national political systems' respective “electoral cycles”. Such a relationship between a second‐order arena and the chief arena of a political system is not at all unusual. What is new here, is that one second‐order political arena is related to nine different first‐order arenas. A first analysis of European election results satisfactorily justifies the assumption that European Parliament direct elections should be treated as nine simultaneous national second‐order elections.
DIFFERENTIAL MOBILISATION FOR EUROPE: A COMPARATIVE NOTE ON SOME ASPECTS OF THE CAMPAIGN
Authors: MENKE KURT , GORDON IAN
Published: May 2006

The present article focusses upon the impact of the European election campaign on the mobilisation of top political leaders, party activists, members and electors in the nine member countries of the European Community. For the purpose of comparative analysis, five factors are considered to be of importance: information, salience, electoral procedures, resources and conflict. These factors are discussed in order to compare the efforts and success of the respective campaigns. The information was provided by the national teams of the EES‐Campaign Project.
BROADER POWERS FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT? THE ATTITUDES OF CANDIDATES
Authors: INGLEHART RONALD , RABIER JACQUES‐RENE , GORDON IAN , SØRENSEN CARSTEN LEHMAN
Published: May 2006

The problem of the broadening of the European Parliament's powers was one of the main themes of the election campaign in several countries. Interviews carried out in April–May 1979, in the nine countries of the Community with a sample of candidates (N = 742, including 62% of those who were elected) reveals, among other things, their attitudes towards the role of the European Parliament during the next five years. The results weighted according to the numbers of seats obtained by each political group, give an image of the individual attitudes of the Members of Parliament which is probably very near to reality.

This study focuses on three specific aspects of the possible broadening of the European Parliament's powers, all of which are under current discussion: the power to select and dismiss members of the European Community; the power to elect the president of the Commission; the power to revise all budget proposals.

By and large the responses to these three topics by the candidates and members of the European Parliament show the same pattern: those from the original six countries are more supportive of these measures than those of the three new member countries. But there are two striking exceptions: the British delegation stands out as significantly more “pro‐European’ than one would expect on the basis of public opinion data; the French delegation shows a suprisingly low level of support for these measures.

Examining the attitudes of the major political groups elected to the European Parliament, one finds that the Socialists and the Christian Democrats are the most favorable to the measures (82%) under study; but the cleavage between supporters and opponents does not coincide with the Left/Right dimension: 62% of the Communist candidates, for instance, have declared themselves in favor of these measures, against only 57% of the Liberals.

But it would be highly misleading to view the respective cross‐national parliamentary groups as monolithic on such questions; the Communists show the largest Standard deviations on all three questions. On the whole, the differences between parties belonging to the same cross‐national group are larger than the differences between rival parties in the same nation. In other words, the political context of a given nation seems to be a more important influence on the attitudes of its representatives than are their party groupings.

Despite such cleavages, a strong majority of the European Parliament seems to support all three measures analyzed here. Moreover, their behavior seems consistent with their attitudes. In December 1979 the Parliament rejected the proposed EC budget. Virtually without exception, those supporting increased budgetary powers voted to reject the current budget.
The French Communist Party and Europe: the idea and its implementation (1945–1985)
Authors: CALLOT EMILE‐FRANCOIS
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The attitude of the French Communist Party to European integration falls into three distinct phases. From being seemingly sympathetic in the immediate postwar years, it switched to uncompromising opposition in 1947. In 1962 it began to moderate its position to take account of changed political circumstances. The article analyzes the ideological and environmental determinants of PCF policies and attitudes through to 1985, and reviews the strategies and campaigns employed by the party to advance its point of view.
Proportional methods, extremal values and manipulability
Authors: PETIT J.L. , TÉROUANNE E.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Proportional methods are used either for apportioning seats to states in proportion to their respective populations, or for allocating seats to lists in proportion to their respective scores in a poll. A family of such methods has been extensively studied and used. We generalize them as ‘multiplicative methods’, and show that there is another family, ‘additive methods’, that generalizes the greatest remainders method. We define a property of ‘regularity’, characterized by additive methods but not by multiplicative methods, thus showing that most of the methods now used are open to manipulation.