bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The ‘Corroborative Rule’ from a comparative and critical perspective
Authors: Ben-David Guy
Published: February 2019

In general, a conviction may be based on a single piece of evidence or a single testimony if the court is convinced that it proves the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, in some jurisdictions special cases were established by statute and case law in which a single piece of evidence cannot suffice to prove a defendant’s guilt and additional evidence is required to support the main evidence. This rule, known as the Corroborative Rule (hereinafter ‘the rule’ or ‘CR’) constitutes a barrier against conviction on the basis of individual evidence, without the judge or jury cautioning themselves against reliance on a single piece of evidence in order to convict the accused. In general, the requirement for additional evidence exists in cases where there is a single piece of incriminating evidence, but there is concern regarding its reliability. In order to reduce the risk of a mistake that will lead to a false conviction (conviction of an innocent defendant), the law requires additional evidence as a condition for conviction. The first purpose of this article is to provide a comparative-descriptive perspective on the CR as practised in Anglo-American and Israeli law. While in continental law a defendant’s conviction is not subject to any requirement for a specific quantity of evidence, in Anglo-American law there is a clear trend to reduce the application of a requirement for additional evidence. Yet in Israeli law, an opposite trend is evident, expressed in increased application of the Corroborative Rule in order to convict the accused. The second purpose of the article is to undertake a critical examination of the theoretical infrastructure underpinning the CR. According to this infrastructure, the justification for the CR is epistemic and relates, as a rule, to testimony whose reliability is, a priori, dubious. Thus the CR is linked to one of the purposes of some of the rules of criminal proceedings, which is to prevent the conviction of innocent defendants. However, at the same time, the CR restricts judicial discretion and harms the prosecutor’s and the court’s ability to ensure conviction of guilty defendants, even in cases where there is a single piece of evidence, which the court trusts. The first section provides a comparison of the use of the CR in English, Canadian, Scottish, American and Israeli law. The second section is devoted to the description of the theoretical infrastructure of the CR, while the third section contains a critical discussion on both the theoretical infrastructure described in the second section and also the requirement for evidential supplements, in general. To conclude the article, I provide a summary of its contents.
‘Our Service’: Normalizing CCTV’s institutionalized practices through Chunyun discourse
Authors: Hou Jianbo
Published: February 2019

As the largest annual human migration on the planet, China’s Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) is a focal point for discussions about a wide range of sociopolitical topics, because it is a condensation of many fundamental relations in Chinese society. This research is based on a collection of news reports broadcast during the 40-day Chunyun period of 2012, 2013, and 2014 on the News Simulcast program of the China Central Television network. The Critical Discourse Analysis theories of ‘Ideological Square’ and ‘macrostructure’ are used as a framework within which to analyze these news reports and to identify the underlying motives which shape the linguistic features of this form of discourse. The main findings of this research are as follows: (1) Chunyun news reports aired on China Central Television’s News Simulcast program are shaped by China’s official ideology to become a unified story – ‘Our Service’ – about the many essential services provided by public servants and (2) the reason why China Central Television shapes Chunyun news reporting in this way is to normalize its institutionalized practices within the sociopolitical context of China.
Effects of sarcopenia on functional improvement over the first year after cardiac surgery: a cohort study
Authors: Teng Chiao-Hsin , Chen Ssu-Yuan , Wei Yu-Chung , Hsu Ron-Bin , Chi Nai-Hsin , Wang Shoei-Shen , Chen Yih-Sharng , Chen Cheryl Chia-Hui
Published: February 2019

Background:

Sarcopenia is linked with poor postoperative outcomes.

Aims:

To evaluate the effects of sarcopenia on first-year functional changes after cardiac surgery.

Methods:

In this prospective cohort study, functional changes (physical activity levels in metabolic equivalent hours/week, 6-minute walking distance in metres, and grip strength in kg) from preoperative baseline to 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively were compared in adult patients with and without sarcopenia undergoing cardiac surgery at a tertiary medical centre. Presurgical sarcopenia was defined as low muscle mass plus either low strength or poor physical performance (i.e. reduced gait speed). Secondary outcomes (length of hospital stay and 1-year mortality) were compared between sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia groups.

Results:

Sarcopenia presented in 27.7% ( n=67) of 242 participants. Participants with sarcopenia were significantly older, predominantly women, and had lower body mass index and higher cardiac surgery risk (measured by the EuroSCORE II) than those without sarcopenia. For both groups, physical activity levels, walking distance and grip strength steadily improved over the year following cardiac surgery. Independent of EuroSCORE II, changes in physical activity levels, walking distance and grip strength did not differ significantly between the sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia groups 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Nevertheless, the sarcopenia group had a significantly longer length of hospital stay than the non-sarcopenia group (19.4 vs. 15.3 days; β=2.9, P=0.02) but 1-year mortality (3.4 vs. 3.9% for non-sarcopenia group) was comparable.

Conclusions:

Despite a longer length of hospital stay for the sarcopenia group, sarcopenia was not a restriction for cardiac surgery given their comparable functional improvement and mortality 1 year following surgery.
What are Morality Policies? The Politics of Values in a Post-Secular World
Authors: Mourão Permoser Julia
Published: February 2019

This article critically reviews the literature on morality policies and the politics of values, focusing in particular on the question of what defines morality policies as a specific policy field. Drawing from both US American and European literature, it surveys to which extent morality policies can be understood as a particular form of contention over primary values, a way of framing, a cultural conflict, a specific type of politics, or a class of substantive policy issues. The article then develops a new approach that draws on political theory and pays particular attention to the role of religion, arguing that morality policies reflect deep divisions within modern societies over key principles of political liberalism.
Planning for Street Trees and Human–Nature Relations: Lessons from 600 Years of Street Tree Planting in Paris
Authors: Laurian Lucie
Published: February 2019

Planting rectilinear regularly spaced and low-diversity rows of trees along sidewalks is the dominant streetscaping practice in Western cities. Street trees provide shade, pleasant pedestrian environments, and ecological benefits. I interrogate the origin of this surprisingly stable practice by exploring the last 600 years of street tree planting in Paris. Paris’ iconic tree-lined boulevards have influenced streetscapes worldwide. This model of royal and imperial origins stems from, and reproduces, a complex mode of human–nature relations involving biophilia, the use of orderly nature as a symbolic commodity and, more recently, ecological stewardship.
Improving the Hybrid A* method for a non-holonomic wheeled robot
Authors: Nemec Dušan , Gregor Michal , Bubeníková Emília , Hruboš Marián , Pirník Rastislav
Published: February 2019

This article proposes and completely describes a modification of the Hybrid A* method used for navigation of a non-holonomic mobile wheeled robot. Our modification allows straightforward multi-criterial adjustment of the algorithm according to the desired behavior considering not only traveled distance but also time, changing of direction, stopping, going backwards while avoiding obstacles. The obstacle avoidance algorithm evaluates the danger of collision smoothly (not-binarily) using danger fields. Such behavior reflects human-like sensing of danger—the closer to the obstacle the robot is, the higher is the danger of collision. A modified uniform state expansion method has been used to cover the state space of the robot more uniformly providing the possibility of precise near-target navigation. A greed factor has been introduced to decrease the computational time and improve the real-time performance of the algorithm.
Shades of grey in implicit effective leadership: Searching for clarity in the midst of paradox
Authors: Jiang Xueting , Xu Sen , Houghton Jeffery D , Manz Charles C
Published: February 2019

In this paper, we extend research on implicit leadership theories by exploring and clarifying the content and structure of effective leader prototypes. We invited 78 Chinese and 50 American business practitioners to describe effective and ineffective leaders. Drawing on grounded theory approaches, we coded 671 statements of participants and found 41 leader attributes. After grouping these attributes into eight themes, we found that the structure and content of effective and ineffective leader prototypes indicate a departure from existing implicit leadership theories. In particular, we discovered a paradoxical theme regarding leader power, whereby this attribute could be simultaneously viewed as both effective and ineffective. This finding also emerged in a follow-up qualitative study that used archival data to explore the attributes of four exemplar powerful business leaders in the United States and China. Our studies probe the differences between effective leaders and typical leaders in implicit leadership theories and evoke scholars’ attention to the paradoxical evaluation of power in effective leaders. We discuss the implications for future research and managerial practice stemming from the ambiguity surrounding certain aspects of leadership effectiveness.
Optimal allocation of test times for reliability growth testing with interval-valued model parameters
Authors: Wang Wei , Xu Yaofeng , Hou Liguo
Published: February 2019

Reliability growth testing is widely used to identify and remove failure modes in the development of complex systems. Different models have been proposed to track the progress of reliability growth during test, and previous research has addressed the improvement of after-testing system reliability by allocating limited testing resources. The majority of reliability growth testing models are based on the AMSAA/Crow model with known parameters, but there is a lack of work focusing on the situation when the AMSAA/Crow parameters are subject to uncertainty. In this article, we investigate a reliability growth testing allocation problem to series–parallel systems that considers parameter uncertainty in the AMSAA/Crow models. The model parameters are assumed to be known as uncertain-but-bounded values. Interval arithmetic and an interval order relation reflecting decision maker’s preference are used to analyze the uncertain parameters. In order to determine the optimal allocation of testing time for each component or subsystem aiming to maximize the after-testing system reliability, a modified genetic algorithm is developed. A penalty function is used to handle the testing resource limitations, and the techniques of dual mutation and random keys are used in the algorithm to improve searching efficiency. Computational results indicate that the interval analysis is a useful tool to deal with parameter uncertainty of reliability growth testing allocation problems.
The NLRP3 inflammasome mediates DSS-induced intestinal inflammation in Nod2 knockout mice
Authors: Umiker Benjamin , Lee Hyun-Hee , Cope Julia , Ajami Nadim J. , Laine Jean-Philippe , Fregeau Christine , Ferguson Heidi , Alves Stephen E , Sciammetta Nunzio , Kleinschek Melanie , Salmon Michael
Published: February 2019

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic disorder of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by inflammation and intestinal epithelial injury. Loss of function mutations in the intracellular bacterial sensor NOD2 are major risk factors for the development of CD. In the absence of robust bacterial recognition by NOD2 an inflammatory cascade is initiated through alternative PRRs leading to CD. In the present study, MCC950, a specific small molecule inhibitor of NLR pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3), abrogated dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced intestinal inflammation in Nod2−/− mice. NLRP3 inflammasome formation was observed at a higher rate in NOD2-deficient small intestinal lamina propria cells after insult by DSS. NLRP3 complex formation led to an increase in IL-1β secretion in both the small intestine and colon of Nod2ko mice. This increase in IL-1β secretion in the intestine was attenuated by MCC950 leading to decreased disease severity in Nod2ko mice. Our work suggests that NLRP3 inflammasome activation may be a key driver of intestinal inflammation in the absence of functional NOD2. NLRP3 pathway inhibition can prevent intestinal inflammation in the absence of robust NOD2 signaling.
LncRNA GAS5 enhanced the killing effect of NK cell on liver cancer through regulating miR-544/RUNX3
Authors: Fang Peipei , Xiang Luxia , Chen Weilai , Li Shaoxun , Huang Shanshan , Li Jie , Zhuge Lu , Jin Lingxiang , Feng Wenke , Chen Yiping , Pan Chenwei
Published: February 2019

This study aimed to explore the role of lncRNA GAS5 in the regulation of the killing effect of NK cells on liver cancer. Compared with a control group, lncRNA GAS5, RUNX3, and NCR1 were down-regulated in NK cells of patients with liver cancer, whereas miR-544 expression was up-regulated in NK cells of patients with liver cancer. Activated NK cells had higher IFN-γ level. Knockdown of GAS5 in activated NK cells decreased IFN-γ secretion, NK cell cytotoxicity, the percentage of CD107a+ NK cells, and the apoptosis rate of HepG2 and Huh7 cells. We also proved the interaction of GAS5 and miR-544, and the negative regulation role of GAS5 on miR-544. GAS5 overexpression in activated NK cells increased RUNX3 expression, IFN-γ secretion, the NK cell cytotoxicity, the percentage of CD107a+ NK cells, and the apoptosis rate of HepG2 cells, while miR-544 mimic abolished the promotion effect of GAS5 overexpression. Finally, in vivo experiments indicated an inhibition effect of GAS5 in tumor growth. LncRNA GAS5 overexpression enhances the killing effect of NK cell on liver cancer through regulating miR-544/RUNX3.
Government and Opposition in the Argentine Congress, 1989-2007: Understanding Inter-Party Dynamics through Roll Call Vote Analysis
Authors: Jones Mark P. , Hwang Wonjae , Micozzi Juan Pablo
Published: February 2019

This article employs roll call vote data and Bayesian ideal point estimation to examine inter-party dynamics in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies between 1989 and 2007. It highlights the presence in the Argentine Congress of a strong government vs. opposition dimension as well as identifies the relative position on this dimension, vis-à-vis the governing party, of the most prominent non-governing parties. Special attention is paid to the evolution of inter-party legislative dynamics during Argentina's brief experience with coalition government (1999-2001) and to party behavior in the Chamber during the final two years of President Néstor Kirchner's term in office (2005-07).
Evade, Corrupt, or Confront? Organized Crime and the State in Brazil and Mexico
Authors: Bailey John , Taylor Matthew M.
Published: February 2019

Government and organized criminal groups co-exist in uneasy equilibrium. Criminal groups adjust their behavior as a function of their own goals and resources in relation to inter-group cooperation and conflict, dynamic markets, and public policies; governments adjust their behavior according to shifting perceptions of the benefits offered, threats posed, and strategies adopted by criminal groups. When governments attempt to control or repress their activities, criminal groups employ various tools and instruments that might be grouped into three categories: evasion, corruption, and confrontation. The paper draws on recent cases from Brazil and Mexico with respect to tactical and strategic choices by governments and criminal groups, seeking to address three broad questions. What factors disrupt the state-criminal group equilibrium? Under what circumstances do disruptions produce significant levels of violence (as opposed to evasion or corruption)? What are the implications for the quality of democracy as criminal groups violently confront the state?
Failed Presidencies: Identifying and Explaining a South American Anomaly
Authors: Hochstetler Kathryn , Edwards Margaret E.
Published: February 2019

Are presidential democracies inherently unstable and prone to breakdown? Recent work on Latin America suggests that the region has seen the emergence of a new kind of instability, where individual presidents do not manage to stay in office to the end of their terms, but the regime itself continues. This article places the Latin American experiences in a global context, and finds that the Latin American literature helps to predict the fates of presidents in other regions. The first stage of a selection model shows that presidents who are personally corrupt and preside over economic decline in contexts where democracy is paired with lower levels of GDP/capita are more likely to face challenges to their remaining in office for their entire terms. For the challenged presidents in this set, the risk of early termination increases when they use lethal force against their challengers, but decreases if they are corrupt. These factors help account for the disproportionately large number of South American presidents who have actually been forced from office, the “South American anomaly” of the title.
Presidential Support in a Context of Crisis and Recovery in Peru, 1985-2008
Authors: Arce Moisés E. , Carrión Julio F.
Published: February 2019

Largely due to the theoretical weight given to the role of economic crisis, the existing literature on presidential approval in Peru offers a variety of competing explanations about the factors that account for presidential support. These competing explanations share one bond: they emphasize the absence of traditional economic voting. We argue here that the diversity of interpretations and empirical findings stem from the high degree of volatility experienced by economic indicators, and the failure of existing research to account for the time-dependent variance of presidential popularity. We analyze the impact of economic performance and key political events on the determination of presidential approval in Peru for the period 1985-2008 using an Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model. Our findings suggest that the effects of economic conditions on presidential approval approximate more traditional economic voting postures than previously thought. To the extent that crisis-ridden economic conditions in Peru have helped to theorize the alleged departures from traditional economic voting, the country is an ideal case to revisit standing propositions in the literature, particularly in a moment when those crisis-ridden economic conditions have disappeared.
Knowing Left from Right: Ideological Identification in Brazil, 2002-2006
Authors: Ames Barry , Smith Amy Erica
Published: February 2019

Ideology, typically defined on a left-right spectrum, should provide a means of communication between elites and masses. After years of leftist party rule, have Brazilian voters internalized ideological divisions? Longitudinal surveys conducted from 2002 to 2006 reveal high nonresponse and instability in ideological self-identification. We find that the capacity to think ideologically is in part a function of political and social context. This capacity has real political consequences. A Heckman selection model reveals that those who refuse to take an ideological position or who exhibit high instability in self-identification tend to be latent rightists and to choose rightist presidential candidates. Moreover, they interpret the ideological spectrum differently from those who are more consistent in ideological self-placement. We thus make two contributions, showing how contextual factors influence ideological thinking and how low levels of ideological thinking affect the measurement of Brazilian public opinion.
Political Appointments and Coalition Management in Brazil, 2007-2010
Authors: Praça Sérgio , Freitas Andréa , Hoepers Bruno
Published: February 2019

Studies on coalition management in presidential systems usually focus on two types of goods used by the president and formateur party to hold together coalitions: exchange goods (such as individual budget amendments) and coalition goods (such as ministries). This research notes analyzes, with an original dataset of party members and political appointees in Brazil, a different type of good: presidential political appointments. Our study shows that partisan political appointees vary greatly among Brazilian ministries and within them. We also found that there is a disconnect between how many seats a political party holds in Congress and the number of political appointment offices it controls. This has implications for the literature on bureaucracy and politics and the literature on coalition management.
Bullets and Votes: Violence and Electoral Participation in Mexico
Authors: Trelles Alejandro , Carreras Miguel
Published: February 2019

In this paper we analyze the effect of criminal violence on electoral participation in Mexico. Many scholars have studied the origins of criminal violence, as well as the success or failure of contemporary regimes in dealing with it. However, few have studied how it affects voter turnout. Following recent findings in the behavioral subfield, we hypothesize that as criminal violence increases, citizens abandon public channels of participation and take refuge in their private spheres. Using longitudinal and geostatistical tools to analyze Mexican municipalities in the last decade, we find that the level of electoral turnout is lower in the most violent regions of the country. In the final section, we use survey data to confirm that citizens exposed to high levels of criminal violence are less likely to vote.
Latin American Legislative Politics: A Survey of Peer-Reviewed Publications in English
Authors: Alemán Eduardo
Published: February 2019

This study discusses basic trends in articles on legislative politics in Latin America published in twelve journals between 2000 and 2010. It examines the distribution of the articles over time and by journal, the authors’ institutional affiliations and patterns of collaboration, the frequency with which various countries are studied, and common approaches and topics. The articles in this set are all peer-reviewed and published in English.
Item Vetoes and Attempts to Override Them in Multiparty Legislatures
Authors: Palanza Valeria , Sin Gisela
Published: February 2019

This paper analyzes the dynamics of vetoes and veto overrides in the context of a multiparty legislature using an original dataset from the period 1983–2007 in Argentina. We argue that the President can use an “item” or “partial” veto to selectively delete articles, while keeping enough distributive goods in the bill to break up the coalition responsible for its passage, thereby eliminating support for an override. Our research reveals that total vetoes – which affect all legislators equally – are more likely to be overridden than partial vetoes. Contradicting the received wisdom that in multiparty legislatures override attempts are more likely under a divided government, we find that override attempts are more likely in plurality governments. We use case analyses to illustrate the main arguments developed in this paper.
Cabinets and Legislative Cartels in Uruguay: Examining the Legislative Consequences of Government Formation
Authors: Chasquetti Daniel
Published: February 2019

Since the return to democracy, Uruguayan presidents have built cabinets of varying natures (majority and minority coalitions, majority and minority parties). Most studies on presidential government assume that the partisan composition of a cabinet is a good predictor of the performance of a government's legislative program. In this paper I test this hypothesis using Cox and McCubbins’ (1993, 2005) party cartel theory. The results confirm that six of the eight presidential cabinets’ legislative performances were consistent with theoretical expectations, while two were deviant cases. This article also provides a theoretical explanation for these two outliers, highlighting the importance of legislative parties, the presidential style of government, and preferences as regards legislative initiative.
Does Women's Presence Change Legislative Behavior? Evidence from Argentina, 1983–2007
Authors: Htun Mala , Lacalle Marina , Micozzi Juan Pablo
Published: February 2019

In scores of countries, the adoption of gender quotas has boosted the numbers of women elected to national legislatures. How does the growing presence of women affect legislative behavior regarding women's rights? Using an original dataset of all the bills submitted to the Argentine Congress between 1983 and 2007, we analyze the relationship between women's presence in Congress and the introduction and approval of bills related to women's rights. Our dataset allows us to compare three periods with varying levels of women's presence in both legislative chambers (the first without quotas, the second with a quota in one chamber, and the third with full quota implementation in both chambers). Our results confirm the necessity of distinguishing between the process of legislative behavior and its outcome. We show that many more women's rights bills were introduced when women held a greater share of seats in both chambers. However, the approval rates of these bills actually declined. Despite their greater presence, women continue to be marginalized in the legislature and to suffer reduced political efficacy.
Great Promise, but Poor Performance: Understanding the Collapse of Venezuela's Causa Radical
Authors: Nogueira-Budny Daniel
Published: February 2019

Rising meteorically to national prominence amidst the collapse of Venezuela's ossified two-party system, the leftist Radical Cause (LCR) seemed poised to ease the country's crisis of representation and win the presidency in 1993. Instead, it imploded, paving the way for radical populist Hugo Chávez. How can the poor performance of a party with such great promise be explained? This article explains LCR's initial success and eventual failure through the party's adoption of internally democratic mechanisms. Its highly participatory approach attracted progressive groups, helping LCR's early “meteoric” success. But it also sowed the seeds of LCR's collapse: the absence of formalized decision-making rules and hierarchical leadership hindered the resolution of a political impasse. Internal democracy proved harmful to institutional growth and prevented the party from confronting factional conflict and instituting much-needed reforms in the long run. It is not only a heavy hierarchy and bureaucracy that prevent political change, but also the opposite in a base democracy.
Partisan Protesters and Nonpartisan Protests in Brazil
Authors: Winters Matthew S. , Weitz-Shapiro Rebecca
Published: February 2019

In young democracies with weak parties, there is some evidence that partisan identification may shift in response to short-term government performance. The massive protests that erupted in Brazil in June 2013 sharply increased the salience of, and public attention to, poor government performance and took most observers by surprise. They were also widely depicted as nonpartisan or even antipartisan. We use two well-timed surveys to examine the effects of the protests on mass partisanship. We find that the protests led to increased nonpartisanship and decreased attachment to the governing Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party, PT) among the public as a whole. We also show that small leftist parties were more broadly represented among protesters than has been previously recognized.
Designing Cabinets: Presidential Politics and Ministerial Instability
Authors: Martínez-Gallardo Cecilia
Published: February 2019

This article proposes a set of arguments about the strategic use of cabinet appointments by executives in presidential systems. Although recent work has greatly improved our understanding of government formation in presidential countries, most changes to presidential cabinets happen throughout the lifetime of a government and remain poorly understood. I argue that presidents use cabinet changes in response to unexpected shocks and to adjust their governments to changing political and policy circumstances. Weak presidents are more likely to use this strategic resource, which means that ministerial turnover should be higher when a president's formal authority is weak and he or she has low political support and popularity. To test these claims, I have assembled an original dataset that records individual cabinet changes in 12 Latin American countries between 1982 and 2012. The data provides strong support for the theory.
Evaluating Theories of Decision-making on the Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal
Authors: Tiede Lydia Brashear , Ponce Aldo Fernando
Published: February 2019

High courts with abstract review powers to find laws unconstitutional may provide a strong check on other political actors and influence public policy if the judges in these courts are impartial decision makers. This paper tests existing judicial decision-making theories in relation to the behavior of judges on the Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal who are selected exclusively by Congress. Taking advantage of an original data set of judges’ votes on the Tribunal, we find that the origin of the law and whether the enacting governments at the national and subnational levels are still in power at the time of judicial review are important determinants of judicial behavior. Judges’ own political loyalties seem to have no perceived effect on decision making, which suggests that political affiliations are trumped by strategic concerns of judges due to the institutional design of the Tribunal as well as the political context in which it operates.
Making Citizens: Brazilian Social Policy from Getúlio to Lula
Authors: Hunter Wendy
Published: February 2019

This article compares and contrasts two important phases of social incorporation in Brazil: (i) an early punctuated period that integrated formal sector workers and civil servants under President Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945) and (ii) a later more extended sequence that strived to include the informal sector poor, beginning with the military regime (1964–1985), gaining momentum with the 1988 Brazilian Constitution and the presidency of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002), and continuing under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010). It captures the shift from a welfare state based on corporatist principles to one that comes closer to basic universalism. Whereas Vargas's incorporation project addressed workers as producers, later governments incurporated the informal poor as beneficiaries of public policy programs – including income support policies – in a more individualist and liberal fashion.
Lulismo, Petismo, and the Future of Brazilian Politics
Authors: Samuels David , Zucco Cesar
Published: February 2019

What is the source of the Partido dos Trabalhadores’ (PT) success? And is the PT likely to thrive into the future as a key player in Brazil's party system? In this paper we weigh in on an emerging debate about Lula's role in the PT's rise to power. Without Lula's ability to win more votes than his party, we might not be discussing lulismo at all, much less its difference from petismo. Yet despite Lula's fame, fortune, and extraordinary political capabilities, lulismo is a comparatively weak psychological phenomenon relative to and independently of petismo. Lulismo mainly reflects positive retrospective evaluations of Lula's performance in office. To the extent that it indicates anything more, it constitutes an embryonic form of petismo. The ideas that constitute lulismo are similar to the ideas that constitute petismo in voters’ minds, and they have been so since the party's founding – a nonrevolutionary quest to make Brazilian democracy more equitable and more participatory. Both lulismo and petismo are key sources of the PT's strength, but petismo is likely to endure long after Lula has departed the political scene.
Low-Level Corruption Tolerance: An “Action-Based” Approach for Peru and Latin America
Authors: Alvarez Joseph Pozsgai
Published: February 2019

Since the beginning of the past decade, the tolerance of corruption by citizens of most Latin American countries has become a concept in its own right within the broader study of corruption. This construct, however, lacks a systematic approach and is yet to account for specific types of corruption tolerance or identify appropriate indicators to measure them. The present study addresses these voids by analyzing data provided by LAPOP's AmericasBarometer 2006 for Peru (a typical case for the incidence of bribery in Latin America) and the Global Corruption Barometer against a carefully constructed framework for the understanding of the phenomenon of corruption tolerance. The results indicate that attitudes toward specific types of low-level corruption should not be equated to citizens’ decisions to engage in such behavior. They further suggest that the study of corruption tolerance has the potential to greatly improve our understanding of the determinants of corruption in developing countries.
How Sustainable is Democratic Innovation? Tracking Neighborhood Councils in Montevideo
Authors: Serdült Uwe , Welp Yanina
Published: February 2019

Focusing on the relatively longstanding experience of neighborhood councils in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo (1993–), this research note seeks to analyze how sustainable democratic innovation is and to explain subsequent results. Sustainability is assessed through the evolution of citizens’ participation in elections and through the number of candidates who apply to become neighborhood councilors. For both indicators, a consistent decline in the levels of participation over time is found. This is deemed to be a consequence of an institutional design that seriously limits the performance of neighborhood councils in terms of their influence in the decision-making process and their acquisition of legitimacy and political capital.
The Political Cost of Corruption: Scandals, Campaign Finance, and Reelection in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies
Authors: Jucá Ivan , Melo Marcus André , Rennó Lucio
Published: February 2019

While corruption is widely disapproved of, some corrupt politicians continue to win elections. We tackle this paradox by examining the effects of malfeasance scandals in politicians’ behavior. In particular, we focus on their campaign finance strategies and career choices. We explore these issues empirically with an original dataset that includes all lower-house members of Congress (MCs) in Brazil from 1995 to 2010. Although tainted incumbents tend to be penalized electorally, we show that campaign spending attenuates this effect. These results are robust, controlling for a host of potential confounders and biases. Hence, we offer a first exploration of incumbents’ strategies to avoid the electoral cost of their publicized wrongdoings. Above a certain threshold of funding, Brazilian members of Congress become impervious to negative exposure, regardless of the severity of their ethical and/or criminal violations. These results carry important normative consequences in terms of regulating campaign financing as a means of improving accountability.
Crisis of Representation in Chile? The Institutional Connection
Authors: Siavelis Peter M.
Published: February 2019

This article analyzes the challenges to democratic representation in contemporary Chile, with an institutional focus. I argue that the post-authoritarian model of politics was deeply constrained by institutions and practices inherited by democratic authorities and reinforced by the model of transitional politics and its series of informal institutions, which first facilitated, but then hindered democratic performance. While this does not point to a regime-threatening crisis, there are deep challenges to representation and a desire for a different model of politics that is more capable of resolving conflicts and satisfying citizen demands. I posit that, until now, Chile's formal and informal institutions have privileged stability over representation, accountability, and legitimacy. Consequently, it has fallen to social movements to set the agenda for change aimed at addressing Chile's deeper problems of political and social inequality. I argue that institutional reforms are a necessary, yet insufficient, antidote to current challenges of representation.
Unusual Bedfellows? PRI-PVEM Electoral Alliances in Mexican Legislative Elections
Authors: Spoon Jae-Jae , Gómez Amalia Pulido
Published: February 2019

We examine the electoral alliances between two Mexican political parties – the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM). Despite the PRI's electoral dominance, it has entered into preelection agreements with the PVEM since 2003. These electoral pacts are unusual for several reasons: the parties do not share an ideology; their bases of support come from different social sectors; and the PRI's survival as a party does not depend on these pacts. Using electoral data from 2006 to 2015, we examine the electoral districts in which the PRI and the PVEM ran joint candidates in federal legislative elections. We find that the ultimate goals of each party, their past electoral performances at the legislative district level, and the presence of PRI-PVEM alliances in gubernatorial elections explain the parties’ choices to collaborate in certain districts. Our findings have important implications for understanding the behavior of parties in newer democracies.
Classifying Ecuador's Regime under Correa: A Procedural Approach
Authors: Sanchez-Sibony Omar
Published: February 2019

This article presents the case for steering clear of electoral outcome-based regime classifications. It advocates focusing instead on the systemic character of the formal and informal institutions that govern access to power as a more appropriate way to draw electoral regime boundaries. The case study of Ecuador under the presidency of Rafael Correa is offered as an example of this approach. Both electoral outcomes under Correísmo (2006–2017) as well as the procedural context in which elections occurred are examined. But the regime is here analyzed and categorized on a procedural-centered basis. The analysis of the slope of the playing field in the electoral arena reveals that political competition was fundamentally unfair, placing the regime in the competitive authoritarian category. This conclusion is reached on grounds of the incumbent's capture of the electoral management body, as well as highly discriminatory electoral laws drawn by the incumbent, among many other factors that rendered Ecuadorean electoral contests unfair.
Public Perceptions of Clean Elections in Mexico: An Analysis of the 2000, 2006, and 2012 Elections
Authors: Ugues Antonio
Published: February 2019

This study explores how citizens in a newly democratized country with a legacy of electoral fraud and manipulation evaluate the cleanliness of the elections that have taken place since democratization. I argue that citizens in these contexts are more likely to express confidence in the credibility of elections when their electoral preferences are realized, due to the competitiveness of contemporary elections, but more importantly due to the legacy of electoral malpractice. Using panel data collected during the 2000, 2006, and 2012 Mexican elections, the evidence indicates that support for electoral winners is indeed associated with greater confidence in the cleanliness of election-day proceedings, whereas support for electoral losers is associated with less confidence.
Casino Capitalism and Its Legitimacy Impact on the Politico-administrative State in Macau
Authors: Lo Sonny
Published: February 2019

Casino capitalism has its dialectical tendencies in Macau. On the one hand, it stimulates economic growth, provides employment, and strengthens the post-colonial state in Macau during the period of economic boom. On the other hand, casino capitalism can widen the income gap between the rich and the poor, generate addictive gambling, and de-legitimize the post-colonial state in Macau during the global and regional economic downturn. The weaknesses of the politico-administrative state in Macau, including the absence of institutional checks and balances, the frail civil society and the relatively docile mass media, have magnified the negative impacts of casino capitalism on Macau. In response to the negative ramifications, the Macau government has taken measures to be more interventionist, to enhance social welfare, and to prepare contingency plans that would tackle the sudden bankruptcy of any casinos. The central government in Beijing also displays contradictory considerations when it deals with Macau's casino development, supporting the casino industry while simultaneously encouraging the Macau government to diversify its economy. Overall, casino capitalism not only has contradictory impacts on the Macau city-state but also reveals the inherent contradictions of Beijing's policy toward the territory's over-dependence on the casino economy.
The Chinese Communist Party: Recruiting and Controlling the New Elites
Authors: Li Cheng
Published: February 2019

This article explores two interrelated aspects of the new dynamics within the CCP leadership – the new elite groups and the new ground rules in Chinese politics. The first shows profound changes in the recruitment of the elite and the second aims to reveal the changing mechanisms of political control and the checks and balances of the Chinese political system. The article argues that the future of the CCP largely depends on two seemingly contradictory needs: how broad-based will the Party's recruitment of its new elites be on the one hand and how effective will the top leadership be in controlling this increasingly diverse political institution on the other. The emerging fifth generation of leaders is likely to find the challenge of producing elite harmony and unity within the Party more difficult than their predecessors. Yet, the diverse demographic and political backgrounds of China's new leaders can also be considered a positive development that may contribute to the Chinese-style inner-Party democracy.
Managing Stability in the Taiwan Strait: Non-Military Policy towards Taiwan under Hu Jintao
Authors: Chang Wu-ueh , Chao Chien-min
Published: February 2019

China's Taiwan policy has been one of coupling intimidation (the “stick” approach) with coercion (the “carrot” approach), a policy mix which, in the near term, is not likely to change, as is evidenced by the passage of the “Anti-Secession Law” in March, 2005. However, under Hu Jintao, the focus has been on pragmatism. The warm atmosphere that presently reigns in the Taiwan Strait area is unprecedented. Further talks are expected before the two cross-Strait leaders are slated to step down, simultaneously, in 2012. An era of reconciliation and negotiations has dawned. For the first time there is consensus regarding norms of interaction between the two sides. Cross-Strait relations have stabilized after years of tumult. More open, stable and predictable cross-Strait relations are in the interests of both sides. Difficulties surely lie ahead, but they will be dealt with in a different manner than what has been witnessed in the past.
New Approaches to Cross-Strait Integration and Its Impacts on Taiwan's Domestic Economy: An Emerging “Chaiwan”?
Authors: Cheung Gordon C. K.
Published: February 2019

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan and Presidential elections in January and March 2008 respectively re-orientated cross-Strait relations from hostility to co-operation. On 4 November 2008, Chen Yunlin, head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), and Chiang Pin-kun (Jiang Bingkun), chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), meeting in the Second Chiang-Chen Talks in Taiwan, took a historical step in the further development of cross-Strait relations. Agreements were signed on direct air and sea transport, postal services and food-safety security. On 22 December 2009, the Fourth Chiang-Chen Talks took place in Taizhong and more substantial and technical agreements were signed on agriculture, inspection/ accreditation and fisheries. It seems that continuous integration between China and Taiwan is inevitable. To address the implications of this process for Taiwan's domestic economy, four dimensions of the current cross-Strait relationship are scrutinized: guanxi, plutocracy, legalism and the idea of a Chinese Common Market. It is argued that in order to intensify economic co-operation across the Taiwan Strait, more institutionalization of the cross-Strait relationship must be brought about.
Between Dependency and Autonomy – Taiwanese Entrepreneurs and Local Chinese Governments
Authors: Lee Chun-yi
Published: February 2019

This paper focuses on the changing interaction between Taiwanese entrepreneurs and local Chinese governments. Through the analysis of this changing process, it can be seen that Taiwanese businesses are a special “asset” of Chinese governments. The main argument of this paper is that both central and local governments in China have strategic considerations in respect of Taiwanese businesses. The Chinese central government values Taiwanese businesses because more Taiwanese investment in China strengthens the Beijing government in negotiations with the Taibei government. Nevertheless, since the Kuomintang (KMT) (Guomindang) regained power in 2008, the strategic value of Taiwanese businesses in the cross-Strait relationship seems to have decreased. The central government has created a profitable macro-environment enabling local officials to give a warm welcome to Taiwanese businesses. Chinese local governments value Taiwanese businessmen not only because of the central government's deliberate policy but also because they are pursuing their own self-interest. This paper firstly focuses on the changing interaction between Taiwanese businesses and Chinese local governments. It then further analyses the different but complementary interests of both central and local governments in China in relation to Taiwanese investors.
The Movement Strategy in Taiwan's Judicial Independence Reform
Authors: Wang Chin-shou
Published: February 2019

Judicial independence reform in Taiwan was pioneered by a group of reform-spirited judges from Room 303 of the Taichung ([Formula: see text], Taizhong) District Court, in 1993. Rather than joining the mass movement that was unfolding on the streets, the reformers formed a coalition with other judges to trigger reform from within the judiciary. The reformers appealed to the rule of law and democracy as a movement strategy for mobilization. As a result, the movement strategy turned out to be a great success, and Room 303 became the chief engine for further judicial reforms in subsequent years. However, the movement strategy in itself also presents some limitations. This paper examines why the movement strategy was successful and how its limitations eventually created problems that hinder further judicial reforms in Taiwan.