bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can the Prince Really Be Tamed? Executive Prerogative, Popular Apathy, and the Constitutional Frame in Locke'sSecond Treatise
Authors: KLEINERMAN BENJAMIN A.
Published: April 2008

Even as he recommends it as the extra-constitutional solution to the inefficiencies and insufficiencies of legislative constitutionalism, Locke'sSecond Treatiseis far more aware of the dangers of executive prerogative than the more optimistic accounts in the recent scholarship have appreciated, making Locke pessimistic about the permanent sustenance of legislative constitutionalism. This pessimism stems from Locke's recognition that the people are far too constitutionally passive for the vigilance essential to ‘umpire’ well the necessity of executive action outside the laws. In fact, liberalism itself can contribute to such passivity: the people are content to allow an executive to act with a significant degree of discretion outside the laws so long as those actions do not interfere with their short-term interest in security and prosperity. Understanding Locke's pessimism regarding popular vigilance casts into new light his argument for a legislative constitutionalism based on fundamental laws that establish a clear separation of powers. Such fundamental laws provide legislative elites with the constitutional ‘signals’ by which they can alert the otherwise slumbering people about an executive intent on usurpation and tyranny.
Reopening the Quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns: Leo Strauss's Critique of Hobbes's “New Political Science”
Authors: STAUFFER DEVIN
Published: April 2008

Leo Strauss's greatest project was his attempt to resurrect classical political philosophy by reawakening the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns. This essay illuminates Strauss's view of that quarrel by considering a crucial stage in the development of his understanding of the most important differences between ancient and modern political philosophy. Strauss's critique of Hobbes inThe Political Philosophy of Hobbesculminates in a striking comparison of Hobbes's distinctively modern approach to political philosophy with the approach of Plato and Aristotle. By examining Strauss's critique of Hobbes's “new political science,” this essay brings out the view of the deficiencies in modern political philosophy that led Strauss to conceive of the possibility of a genuine return to classical thought.
Solidary Groups, Informal Accountability, and Local Public Goods Provision in Rural China
Authors: TSAI LILY L.
Published: April 2008

Why would government officials in authoritarian and transitional systems where formal democratic and bureaucratic institutions of accountability are often weak ever provide more than the minimum level of public goods needed to maintain social stability? Findings from a unique combination of in-depth case study research and an original survey of 316 villages in rural China indicate that even when formal accountability is weak, local officials can be subject to unofficial rules and norms that establish and enforce their public obligations. These informal institutions of accountability can be provided by encompassing and embedding solidary groups. Villages where these types of groups exist are more likely to have better local governmental public goods provision than villages without these solidary groups, all other things being equal.
When Race Matters and When It Doesn't: Racial Group Differences in Response to Racial Cues
Authors: WHITE ISMAIL K.
Published: April 2008

Building on previous research on the effects of racial priming on the opinions of White Americans, this paper engages the question of how exposure to racial cues in political messages shapes the opinions of African Americans. I argue that explanations of racial priming that focus exclusively on White Americans are insufficient to explain how racial cues influence the opinions of Black Americans, as they fail to account for the activation of in-group attitudes and mis-specify the role of explicit racial cues. In two separate laboratory experiments, I test the effects of explicitly racial, implicitly racial, and nonracial verbal cues on both Black and White Americans' assessments of an ostensibly nonracial issue. The results point to important racial differences in the effectiveness of explicit and implicit racial verbal cues in activating racial thinking about an issue. Only frames that provide oblique references to race successfully activated racial out-group resentment for Whites. Among Blacks, explicit references to race most reliably elicited racial thinking by activating racial in-group identification, whereas the effect of implicit cues was moderated by the activation of negative representations of the in group. These findings not only demonstrate that racial attitude activation works differently for African Americans than for Whites but also challenge conventional wisdom that African Americans see all political issues through a racial lens.
Party, Policy, or Duty: Why Does the Supreme Court Invalidate Federal Statutes?
Authors: KECK THOMAS M.
Published: April 2008

This paper explores three competing accounts of judicial review by comparing the enacting and invalidating coalitions for each of the fifty-three federal statutes struck down by the Supreme Court during its 1981 through 2005 terms. When a Republican judicial coalition invalidates a Democratic statute, the Court's decision is consistent with a partisan account, and when a conservative judicial coalition invalidates a liberal statute, the decision is explicable on policy grounds. But when an ideologically mixed coalition invalidates a bipartisan statute, the decision may have reflected an institutional divide between judges and legislators rather than a partisan or policy conflict. Finding more cases consistent with this last explanation than either of the others, I suggest that the existing literature has paid insufficient attention to the possibility of institutionally motivated judicial behavior, and more importantly, that any comprehensive account of the Court's decisions will have to attend to the interaction of multiple competing influences on the justices.
When Do Elections Encourage Ideological Rigidity?
Authors: CANES-WRONE BRANDICE , SHOTTS KENNETH W.
Published: April 2008

Elected officials are commonly accused of beingideologically rigid, or failing to alter their positions in response to relevant policy information. We examine this phenomenon with a theory in which politicians have private information about their ideological leanings and expected policy consequences. The theory shows that in many circumstances the informational differences create a context in which elections induce ideological rigidity. Correspondingly, elections often fail to provide incentives forinformation-based moderation, in which both left- and right-leaning politicians become more likely to use policy information. These seemingly perverse incentives occur because politicians wish to signal that they share voters' leanings; indeed, the motivation to signal preference similarity can induce rigidity even when voters want politicians to be responsive to new information. We show that such incentives for rigidity are greater when voters have less information about policy and politicians' preferences, and discuss possible tests of these predictions.
Thrips (Thysanoptera) identification using artificial neural networks
Authors: Fedor P. , Malenovský I. , Vaňhara J. , Sierka W. , Havel J.
Published: April 2008

We studied the use of a supervised artificial neural network (ANN) model for semi-automated identification of 18 common European species of Thysanoptera from four genera:AeolothripsHaliday (Aeolothripidae),ChirothripsHaliday,DendrothripsUzel, andLimothripsHaliday (all Thripidae). As input data, we entered 17 continuous morphometric and two qualitative two-state characters measured or determined on different parts of the thrips body (head, pronotum, forewing and ovipositor) and the sex. Our experimental data set included 498 thrips specimens. A relatively simple ANN architecture (multilayer perceptrons with a single hidden layer) enabled a 97% correct simultaneous identification of both males and females of all the 18 species in an independent test. This high reliability of classification is promising for a wider application of ANN in the practice of Thysanoptera identification.
Primordialism, Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Violence in the
Balkans: Opportunities and Constraints for Theory and Policy
Authors: Harvey Frank P.
Published: April 2008

The literature on evolutionary theory tends to address questions of
ethnicity from two perspectives: (1) macro, or long–term selection processes associated with basic human preferences for individual or
group survival, ethnic identity or kinship affiliations; and (2)
intermediate selection mechanisms associated with the fitness and
adaptability of specific cultures, religions or belief systems in
different regions of the world. Comparatively less time has been spent
addressing micro–evolutionary questions about the timing, escalation
and duration of ethnic violence — that is, micro or
short–term selection
processes and fitness mechanisms that account for the escalation and/or
duration of ethnic hatreds, violence or war at a particular time.
“Welcome In, But Check Your Rights at the Door” : The
James Bay and Nis[vBar ]ga'a Agreements in Canada
Authors: Rynard Paul
Published: April 2008

The signing of the Nis[vBar ]ga'a Final Agreement in August of 1998 was an
event of singular importance in the history of “First Nations
relations” in Canada. It marked the completion of the first treaty
negotiations in British Columbia in the twentieth century and will soon
be followed by many others as nearly province–wide negotiations redefine
the relationship between First Nations, the province and Canada. Given a
political climate hostile to Aboriginal rights, the treaty is a
significant achievement and deserves the support of fair–minded
Canadians. It certainly does not “give too much” to the
Nis[vBar ]ga'a Nation
as its critics in the Liberal and Reform parties of British Columbia
frequently assert.
Public Brokerage: Constitutional Reform and the Accommodation of
Mass Publics
Authors: Mendelsohn Matthew
Published: April 2008

It is widely recognized that the traditional institutions and processes
of Canadian politics, such as executive federalism, elite accommodation
and brokerage parties have fallen into disrepute with large sections of
the Canadian public, and political scientists have noted their failure
to resolve long–standing conflicts in the area of constitutional
politics. I argue that the reasons why these processes have failed to
manage constitutional political conflict have not been properly
diagnosed. In particular, Canadian political scientists have not
adequately differentiated executive federalism from accommodation and
brokerage, often assuming they are contingent on each other (as they
are, by definition, in the commonly used expression “elite
accommodation”). The pessimism among some Canadian political
scientists about Canada's ability to amend the Constitution to the
satisfaction of major groups stems in large part from the misplaced
assumption that the brokerage and accommodation necessary in Canada
require executive federalism. This conventional wisdom suggests that
since executive federalism is discredited and has been replaced by a
populist requirement for citizen participation, usually through
referendums, shuns accomodation in favour of a mojoritarianism which is
unable to deal adequately with the problems of a multinational
federation like Canada.
British Imperial Politics and Judicial Independence: The Judicial
Committee's Decision in the Canadian Case Nadan v. The
King
Authors: Krikorian Jacqueline D.
Published: April 2008

Traditionally, Canadian commentary on the Judicial Committee has focused
on the effect or impact of the imperial tribunal's decisions on the
nature of Canadian federalism. Numerous studies have examined the issue
of whether or not the Judicial Committee strengthened the powers of
provincial governments at the expense of the federal government by
misinterpreting the Constitution Act, 1867 and by ignoring the
intentions of the fathers of Confederation who sought to create a strong
centralized government. The Canadian preoccupation with the merits of
this debate has led one distinguished political scientist, David E.
Smith, to suggest that “perhaps too much” has been written about the
Judicial Committee. The literature examining the relationship
between the Judicial Committee and Canada has not, however, addressed
the significance of the imperial context in which the tribunal's
decisions were written. The Judicial Committee was not only the final
appellate body for Canada but was also responsible for hearing
disputes from other parts of the Empire. Decisions written for one
Dominion or colony could have profound legal and political effects on
another.
Regional Perspectives on Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms: A
Re–examination of Democratic Elitism
Authors: Vengroff Richard , Morton F. L.
Published: April 2008

In The Clash of Rights, Paul. M . Sniderman, Joseph Fletcher, Peter
Russell and Philip Tetlock have challenged the orthodox view of
“democratic elitism” and “value consensus” with respect to support for
civil rights and liberties. Based on analysis of Canadian attitudes
toward the 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Sniderman et
al, found that support for rights claims varied more among elites than
between elites and masses. They extend this finding to a hypothesis that
competing political elites are prone to exploit disagreement over
rights issues for purposes of partisan electoral advantage. They find
that the Conservative officeholders are typically less supportive of
rights claims, while New Democratic party and Parti Québécois
legislators tend to be more supportive. On most issues, the Liberals are
(surprise!) in between. These findings lead to conclusions
such as “the issue of bilingualism is political, not
social.”
More generally, Sniderman and his colleagues suggest that there is
broad, evenly distributed support for rights among the Canadian public,
and that conflict over rights is largely attributable to partisan
competition among political leaders.
Hannah Arendt, lectrice de Rosa Luxemburg
Authors: Moreault Francis
Published: April 2008

This article analyses the reasons why the political ideas of Rosa Luxemburg must find, according to Hannah Arendt, their place in the education of political scientists in the countries of the West. For Arendt, two ideas of Luxemburg are pre-eminent: the theory of justice and the theory of political action. Justice is an essential idea to found a common world while political action establishes political freedom. Thus, the political theory of Rosa Luxemburg rejects not only the political thought of Lenin, but constitutes a good criticism of the modern political party systems. Finally, the author demonstrates that Arendt appropriated Luxemburg's non-Marxist political theses as a true expression of political freedom not bound by domination.
Canadian Exceptionalism: Explaining Differences over Time in Provincial and Federal Voter Turnout
Authors: Studlar Donley T.
Published: April 2008

Canada is unusual among advanced industrial democracies in having some provinces which regularly have greater voter turnouts for provincial than for federal elections. Provincial and federal turnouts by province in Canada are analyzed for the 1945-1998 period using multiple regression analysis, both for each set of elections and by comparing differences between the two. Federal turnout has declined over the years but provincial turnout appears to have increased slightly. Although the effects found here largely confirm previous findings about the relative effects of different types of variables found for the Canadian federal level only, several of the political explanations previously supported in cross-national research find less support. Instead, region, population density, months since the last federal or provincial election, and season of the year generally have greater and sometimes more consistent effects. This suggests the need for more studies of turnout in democracies at sub-central levels.
Democracy's Family Values: Alexis de Tocqueville on Anxiety, Fear and Desire
Authors: Janara Laura
Published: April 2008

Standing interpretations of the family relations depicted in Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America project onto his portrait of democracy a strong public-private dichotomy. However, de Tocqueville insists that family life is embedded in the dynamics that shape the broader society and culture. Investigating this claim yields a psychological account of the desires, fears and anxieties that haunt democratic society. These passions foment a paradoxical mix of egalitarianism and hierarchy, liberty and subjugation, within family life and beyond. De Tocqueville's fundamental thesis that democracy boasts healthy and unhealthy potentialities is better understood when the idea of family as a discrete sphere is abandoned.
Canada and the Multinational State
Authors: McRoberts Kenneth
Published: April 2008

Along with the nations created by states, there are ''internal nations'' within states. Several such nations exist within the Canadian state, representing close to one quarter of the population. In recent years, Canadian political scientists have been actively theorizing this multinationalism and showing how it might be accommodated. Yet, the political realm has become highly resistant to such notions. Dualism, the primary historical accommodation of the francophone ''internal nation,'' has been displaced by a state nationalism which, in turn, has entrenched a purely territorial rationale for federalism and has made multiculturalism the only legitimate basis for accommodating cultural diversity. Moreover, the nationalisms of the two predominant ''internal nations,'' Quebec and ''First Nations,'' have been mobilized in direct opposition to each other. In the end, rather than constituting a new form of ''post-modern state'' which transcends nationalism, Canada is in fact caught in the contradiction between the nationalism of the Canadian state and the nationalisms of its ''internal nations.''
Canaries in the Mines of Citizenship: Indian Women in Canada
Authors: Green Joyce
Published: April 2008

This article explores the concept of citizenship in relation to certain Aboriginal women, whose membership in First Nations is subject to Canadian federal legislation and First Nations constitutions and membership codes. In the struggle for decolonization, Aboriginal peoples use the language of rights - rights to self-determination, and claims of fundamental human rights. The state has injected its limited policy of ''self-government'' into this conversation, characterized by the federal government's preference for delegating administrative powers to Indian Act bands. Since the 1985 Indian Act revisions, bands have been able to control their membership. Where prior to 1985 the federal government implemented sexist, racist legislation determining band membership, now some bands have racist, sexist membership codes. In both cases, the full citizenship capacity of affected Aboriginal women, in either the colonial state or in First Nations, is impaired. The bands in question resist criticism by invoking rights claims and traditional practices; the federal government washes its hands in deference to self-government. The rights claims of affected women are scarcely acknowledged, much less addressed. Meanwhile, their citizenship in both dominant and Aboriginal communities is negotiated with the realities of colonialism, racism and sexism. Their experience demonstrates the limitations of citizenship theory and of Canadian citizenship guarantees.
Do Networks Matter? Linking Policy Network Structure to Policy Outcomes: Evidence from Four Canadian Policy Sectors 1990-2000
Authors: Howlett Michael
Published: April 2008

Relatively recent contributions to the policy literature have called into question the utility of the "network" approach to the study of public policy making, including a challenge to long-held views concerning the impact of the structure of policy subsystems on policy change. This article uses empirical evidence accumulated from case studies of four prominent Canadian federal policy sectors over the period 1990-2000 to address this issue. It sets out a model that explains policy change as dependent upon the effects of the articulation of ideas and interests in public policy processes, and generates several hypotheses relating different subsystem configurations to propensities for paradigmatic and intra-paradigmatic policy dynamics. It suggests that the identification of the nature of the policy subsystem in a given policy sector reveals a great deal about its propensity to respond to changes in ideas and interests.
How Campaigns Matter in Canada: Priming and Learning as Explanations for the Reform Party's 1993 Campaign Success
Authors: Jenkins Richard W.
Published: April 2008

The 1993 Canadian election campaign clearly mattered; the fortunes of the Conservative and Reform parties underwent a fundamental re-orientation during the campaign. Previous research has indicated that Reform's success in 1993 was related to the activation of people who were opposed to the welfare state, but this represents only one dimension of Reform's appeal. This article examines the effect of issues on Reform support during the campaign and considers the actual process by which issues affect party support. While it is sometimes said that a candidate primed or made important certain issues for voters, it may be that some of what is labeled priming is actually something else. This article makes a conceptual and empirical distinction between campaign learning and priming. If voters do not know where a party stands on an issue, they cannot adequately use it in their overall evaluation. The evidence demonstrates that the increased importance of attitudes toward the welfare state was largely a function of the distribution of new information or learning, while the increased importance of cultural questions represented priming.
''The Spirit of Christianity and Its Fate'': Towards a Reconsideration of the Role of Love in Hegel
Authors: Ormiston Alice
Published: April 2008

This article examines Hegel's view of love in his ''early theological writing,'' ''The Spirit of Christianity and Its Fate,'' where he saw love as a basis of autonomy in the modern self which could overcome the divisions between reason and emotion, self and other and finite and infinite. The article also examines Hegel's attempt in the essay to come to grips with why a community of love cannot be sustained by modern individuals. Consideration of this essay is seen to be valuable because of the insight it offers into the nature of the modern subjectivity. Even more importantly, it throws a different perspective on the mature Hegel. Contrary to the feminist view of Hegel as basing his political community on a reason that is exclusive of love and intuition, and the Marxist view of him as building the political community upon the abstract labouring will, this article argues for the ongoing importance of love in Hegel's mature political philosophy. Furthermore, it suggests that the need to protect and preserve the knowledge of love from the eclipsing effects of a narrow instrumental reasoning was an essential motive in the development of Hegel's mature philosophical system.
State Government Convergence and Partisanship: A Long-Run Analysis of Australian Ministerial Portfolios
Authors: Sayers Anthony M. , Moon Jeremy
Published: April 2008

This study makes use of ministerial portfolios to analyze the scope of government activity. It shows that in comparison with expenditure and employment measures, portfolios have a number of advantages in terms of stability, absoluteness, and in identifying when new activities attract sustained government attention. Portfolios are used to investigate whether there has been any convergence in the scope of government activity across state governments in Australia over the century since 1890, and, also, whether partisanship has had any consistent impact on government activity. Neither hypothesis is confirmed. Rather, long-term patterns of activity are complex and appear to be driven by a wide range of forces.
The Politics of Tecumseh Corners: Canadian Political Parties as Franchise Organizations
Authors: Carty Roland Kenneth
Published: April 2008

Canadian political parties are charged with aggregating the interests of a diverse and changing electorate in order to balance particularistic local demands with general national interests. This article asks what kind of organizations have they adopted to do this? How does their organizational character shape their capacities and their practices? The argument outlines a franchise organization model and explores the extent to which it can be used to explain Canadian party behaviour. The article exploits this model to analyze questions of party membership, the place of incumbents, leadership and electoral organization as they are played out in Canadian politics.
Male Power and Contract Theory: Hobbes and Locke in Carole
Pateman's The Sexual Contract
Authors: Boucher Joanne
Published: April 2008

This article critically analyzes Carole Pateman's novel and provocative reading of social contract theory in her now-classic work, The Sexual Contract. Pateman posits the existence of a sexual contract prior to the social contract which she argues has been suppressed in the tradition of Western political thought. The article indicates some of the potential weaknesses with constructing a gendered critique of contract theory through the lens of a sexual contract. The author specifically focuses on Pateman's re-interpretation of the patriarchalism of Hobbes and Locke to make this case.
Recognizing Rights: Hobbes on the Authority of Mothers and Conquerors
Authors: Lewis Thomas J.
Published: April 2008

This article follows Hobbes's distinction between man as the artificer of a commonwealth and man as the material of the commonwealth, by exploring the meaning of natural right and consent from the perspective of an artificer or potential sovereign. From this perspective, natural rights are transformed from alleged attributes of humans into decisions by a victor in war to treat the defeated as if they had natural rights. Similarly, consent is transformed from actions of subjects or citizens into a decision by a victor to recognize the defeated as if they had a right to consent and to treat them as if they had consented. Moreover, Hobbes's concept of a commonwealth by institution is understood as a definitional standard for the creation of commonwealths by force or acquisition, rather than as a possible historical event. Hobbes sought to explain and substantiate this view of natural right and consent by comparing the emergence of political authority from victory in war to the emergence of authority of a mother over her infant in a state of nature. According to Hobbes, just as maternal authority rests on a mother's recognition of the right of her infant to consent, political authority rests on the victor's recognition of the right of the defeated to consent. The practical policy thrust of Hobbes's thought emerges from his comparison of the authority of mothers and conquerors.
Quiet Constitutionalism in Canada: The International Political Economy of Domestic Institutional Change
Authors: McBride Stephen
Published: April 2008

The idea that Canada is experiencing a "post-constitutional" era is misleading because it is based only on lack of changes to the formal codified constitution. Through an examination of international economic agreements, considered as untraditional mechanisms having a constitutional effect, a case is made that Canada's constitution has undergone significant, but little noticed, change over the last decade. Using Stephen Krasner's typology of sovereignty, it is shown that several aspects of Canada's sovereignty have been diminished. The effect is that the balance between liberalism and democracy in Canada's liberal democratic polity has been altered, to the detriment of the democratic component.
Federalism at the Crossroads: Old Meanings, New Significance
Authors: Hueglin Thomas
Published: April 2008

Federalism has remained a contested concept. The constitutional certainties of the modern federal state are under attack from confederal practices of negotiated agreement. Such practices have their traditional roots in the political theories of Althusius and Montesquieu. The central argument of this article is that the American Federalists broke with that older tradition and deliberately misinterpreted Montesquieu along the way. Consequently, the predominant reading of federalism emphasizes federal supremacy over the idea of a social compact among equal partners, territorial representation dominates over the recognition of social community, and the allocation of divided powers is guided by national prerogatives rather than regionally differentiated policy needs. Recent trends towards a more collaborative form of federalism indicate that the old model of constitutional federalism may be replaced by new practices of treaty federalism.
Federal Germany and Its Non-Federal Society: Emergence of an All-German Educational Policy in a System of Exclusive Provincial Jurisdiction
Authors: Erk Jan
Published: April 2008

William Livingston's idea of "federal society" is one of the leading sociological approaches to federalism. This article applies Livingston's approach in the opposite direction. It is argued that the unitary German societal structure, or the "non-federal" German society, has exerted centralist pressures on the federal system. In particular, the article examines the changes within the policy area of education. Despite explicit constitutional clauses that place education under the exclusive jurisdiction of the German Länder, an all-German educational policy has emerged. A process that started with harmonization and standardization has eventually led to the "nationalization" of education. This has largely come about through public demands for a Germany-wide public policy. Empirical research shows that political actors have differed over the contents of educational policy but have shared an all-German frame of reference.
An Institutionalist Reinterpretation of Cold War Alliance Systems: Insights for Alliance Theory
Authors: Rafferty Kirsten
Published: April 2008

This article formulates a model of alliance persistence and evolution to account for two aspects of behaviour that are largely neglected by traditional alliance theory. It argues that states that encounter common threats to military and nonmilitary interests (like political and economic stability) are likely to institutionalize their military pacts. This process raises material and normative obstacles to exiting the alliance, even as the performance of the alliance falters or the strategic context undergoes fundamental changes. The article tests several of the model's hypotheses by engaging in a comparative analysis of two Cold War alliance systems: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
Party Activity across Electoral Cycles: The New Brunswick Party System, 1979-1994
Authors: Carty R. Kenneth , Eagles Munroe
Published: April 2008

Political parties in Canada oscillate between periods of inter-election quiescence and active electoral year mobilization. This article moves beyond vote share accounts of party system change by using the financial accounts of local associations and central party organizations to track these patterns in the New Brunswick party system. The analysis covers several electoral cycles encompassing government turnover and the rise of a flash party. Ecological models rooted in electoral district-level data (including measures of party activity based on their annual financial records, census data describing the electoral districts and conventional aggregate electoral data) are developed to provide a more nuanced account of a party and party system change than those based on simple election results. The findings demonstrate that even in a period of remarkable electoral flux, party activity and success appears to be rooted in diverse constituency social and political contexts.
Post-Communism's First Decade: A Primer for Non-Specialists
Authors: Falk Barbara J.
Published: April 2008

This article examines the lessons "learned" and the legacies inherent in the downfall of authoritarian communism in central and eastern Europe in view of post-communism's first decade. It is argued that the events of 1989-1991 were revolutionary in dramatically and unexpectedly establishing new regimes and ushering in simultaneous and multilateral (political, economic, social, national) change. Furthermore, 1989-1991 represents a rejection of "grand narrative" large-scale social experimentation in political arrangements in favour of hybridism and incrementalism. Ten key maxims are introduced as a means of analyzing this historical rupture and understanding the variety of experiences across the region.
Environmental Determinants of Racial Attitudes among White Canadians
Authors: Blake Donald E.
Published: April 2008

Canada is on the threshold of a major transformation in its ethnic and racial profile. Relative rates of immigration from European and non-European countries have reversed during the past 40 years. What impact has this had on the attitudes of the dominant white majority? This article provides a partial answer to this question by examining the attitudes and voting behaviour of this majority when faced with increasing concentrations of visible-minority neighbours. Attitudinal data from the 1997 and 2000 Canadian Election Studies were combined with data from the 1996 census to measure socio-economic status and the visible-minority population of the neighbourhoods occupied by survey respondents. Regression analysis reveals two different contextual effects involving the attitudes of the majority toward visible minorities. Positive attitudes towards visible minorities increase with neighbourhood socio-economic status, a finding consistent with "social identity" theory. However, positive attitudes toward racial minorities decline when the visible-minority population increases, a finding consistent with "realistic conflict" theory. Both contextual effects have implications for voting. Independent of individual characteristics, white voters are more likely to support Reform/Alliance if they live in less-educated environments or among higher numbers of visible-minority neighbours.
Do Newspapers Enlighten Preferences? Personal Ideology, Party Choice and the Electoral Cycle: The United Kingdom, 1992-1997
Authors: Andersen Robert
Published: April 2008

The Gelman-King theory of enlightened preferences holds that the mass media play an important role in enlightening vote choices during election campaigns in the United States. This article adapts this theory to the electoral cycle in Britain. It also expands the theory to consider the media's role in facilitating consistent attitudes. Using data from the 1992-1997 British Election Panel Study, the author finds that attitudinal consistency and enlightened party preferences were highest immediately following elections. Moreover, there were significant differences according to the type of newspapers voters read, with broadsheet readers being the most enlightened. These findings suggest that enlightened preferences theory has wider applicability than simply US election campaigns.
The Elusive Quest: Linking Environmental Change and Conflict
Authors: Matthew Richard A. , Gaulin Ted , McDonald Bryan
Published: April 2008

Despite contentious debates within the field of environmental security, findings of the principal research projects undertaken in the 1990s suggest significant agreement about the process linking environmental change to conflict. This article offers a reconsideration of the theoretical arguments unifying much of the research in environmental security, and argues that cases must extend their time frames considerably. The authors suggest that this would improve understanding of the social effects of environmental change, but is likely to revise mainstream arguments connecting environment and security in dramatic ways. By focusing on the often neglected role played by adaptive mechanisms, longer-range case studies tend not to support the claim that environmental stress is an urgent security issue, viewing it instead as an issue with long-term theoretical and policy relevance to those concerned not only with security, but also with sustainable development and environmental justice.
Liberalism, Group Rights and the Boundaries of Toleration: The Case of Minority Religious Schools in Ontario
Authors: White Linda A.
Published: April 2008

Drawing on the proliferating literature on multiculturalism, this article provides a theoretical and critical argument in support of public funding for minority cultural schools, as well as a critique of the Ontario Conservative government's proposal in 2001 to extend tax credits to parents who enroll their children in private schools in Ontario. It argues that governments in Canada committed to the idea of multiculturalism have an obligation to promote the maintenance and flourishing of minority cultures through education and financial support. The article first outlines and refutes neutralist liberal arguments against public funding for minority religious and culturally education, and demonstrates what is meant by a right to culture and the attendant duties such rights impose on the state. It then raises and responds to concerns about such cultural pluralist policies and suggests ways to balance group demands for public funding with other values the state wishes to support. It argues that the Ontario government's proposal to provide tax credits for private education without regulation does not respond to concerns about balancing the right to culture and teaching liberal citizenship values, and offers alternative policy recommendations in the conclusion.
Effect of Municipal Amalgamations in Ontario on Political Representation and Accessibility
Authors: Kushner Joseph , Siegel David
Published: April 2008

This article evaluates whether municipal amalgamations in the Canadian province of Ontario met the provincial government's objectives of employing fewer politicians while maintaining councillors' accessibility to citizens. On the basis of a survey of residents and interviews with community leaders and councillors, the article concludes that in the amalgamations studied, the provincial government achieved its objectives.
The Effectiveness of Local Campaign Spending in the 1993 and 1997 Federal Elections in Canada
Authors: Eagles Munroe
Published: April 2008

Recent studies of the effects of campaign spending
by political parties and candidates at elections in Canada and elsewhere
have established the importance of local constituency campaigns.
However, particular claims to measure the effects of campaign spending
on the vote have been questioned on methodological grounds. This article
revisits the question of whether local spending matters in Canadian
federal elections. Responding to some criticisms of earlier work, this
analysis presents the results of two parallel regression analyses (the
first employing two–stage least squares estimation, the second
using three–stage least squares techniques) of the effects of
local spending in the 1993 and 1997 elections. The results offer strong
confirmation that comparatively greater local spending by candidates
enhances their vote shares, and diminishes that of rivals, albeit to
different degrees for different parties and elections.
Dieu est–il mort en étude des idées politiques?
Sur l'aporie de l'opposition entre les idées et le monde
Authors: Giroux Dalie
Published: April 2008

L'étude des idées politiques est, malgré l'apparente floraison des
approches, d'une homogénéité étonnante.
La raison m'en semble être l'incapacité
générale des formes de pensée dominantes de
dépasser la
distinction théorique entre le monde-langage et le
“monde-monde”. Que l'on
se tourne vers l'exégèse développée par Leo Strauss, vers les
différentes versions contemporaines du matérialisme et de la
sociocritique, ou vers les théories de moyenne portée
à la Quentin
Skinner ou à la Pierre Bourdieu, une constante se
révèle: les “idées”
et la “réalité” sont deux choses bien
distinctes, et nul n'oserait se
pencher sur les phénomènes de la vie politique sans
l'arme cognitive que
constitue cette distinction. L'incapacité théorique
de dépasser cette dernière, telle est l'intuition
à la base de ce texte,
est liée à une méconnaissance des idées
politiques comme phénomène
humain. Avant de donner le détail de cette intuition et d'indiquer le
plan de son exploration théorique, il faut définir les notions qui
seront ici mises en oeuvre.
Constructing a Cardinal Measure of Democratic Development in a
Transition Polity: The Nigerian Example
Authors: Dinneya Godson E. , Tsegaye Asrat
Published: April 2008

In the last decade, the political institutions and practices under which
economic decisions are made have received increasing attention in the
analysis of the responsibility for economic underperformance. This
attention has in turn led to a questioning of the issues of
conceptualization and measurement of the variables involved. While
economic variables are easily conceptualized and measured, political
institutional factors present some difficulty. Although the aim of a
democratic system is to assure the rights and freedoms for the citizens
of a polity, for those polities in transition, the processes that drive
societies towards or away from higher rights and freedoms for their
citizens are more important. This paper attempts to cover the following
topics: first, to construct measurable variables of democratization that
can be used to determine the level of democratic development in a
transition polity; and second, to apply these variables to determine the
level and patterns of democratization in Nigeria. Section two highlights
significant past research which has measured the levels of democracy
across different countries. In section three Nigeriaxi' s political history
is summarized to show a polity in continuing political transition.
Section four identifies relevant dimensions of democratization in a
transition polity. Section five applies the dimensions to derive indices
to measure the level of democratization in Nigeria. In section six the
pattern of the democratization process in Nigeria is established.
Section seven justifies the measures for transition polities and
suggests the use to which they may be put.
When the Central Player Fails: Constraints on Cabinet Formation in
Contemporary India
Authors: Nikolenyi Csaba
Published: April 2008

From the first post–independence election in 1952 until the general
elections of 1989, the Indian National Congress party won a plurality of
the votes and a majority of the legislative seats in every national
parliamentary election except for the one that was held in 1977.
Although the party maintained its dominant position in the national
party system for almost four decades, starting in 1967 it gradually lost
it at the subnational level. Finally, the 1989 national election brought
Congress dominance to a definite end in the national party system as
well. Since 1989, Congress has neither remained the consistently
strongest electoral party nor has it won a parliamentary majority in any
single election.
Canadian Medicare: Is there a Potential for Loyalty? Evidence from Alberta
Authors: Cohn Daniel
Published: April 2008

Abstract.Political-economic theory posits that in the face of a perceived decline in service quality, those who might otherwise seek alternatives will be restrained by feelings of loyalty that are a product of their emotional and physical investment in a situation (Hirschman, 1970). Amartya Sen (1977) describes support for policies that is based exclusively in values—rather than self-interest or a combination of the two—as a commitment. This article sets out to answer two questions: First, what proportion of the supporters of Canadian medicare within the province of Alberta currently expresses self-interest, and what proportion does not? We can describe this latter group as possibly expressing commitment. Second, is it possible that those who support medicare and express self-interest also share the same values as those who might be expressing commitment? If so, feelings of loyalty might help to maintain support for medicare among those who currently express self-interest, should they perceive a decline in service quality. While evidence is found to support this view, care must be taken in generalizing the results to the wider population, given the size and nature of the sample.

Résumé.La théorie politique-économique pose en principe que, face à la perception d'un déclin de la qualité des services, ceux qui seraient normalement susceptibles de chercher d'autres solutions seront restreints par les sentiments de loyauté produits par l'investissement émotif et physique de l'individu dans son environnement (Hirschman, 1970). Sen (1977) décrit l'appui voué à certaines politiques pour des raisons exclusivement idéologiques, plutôt que par intérêt personnel, ou encore pour une combinaison de raisons idéologiques et d'intérêt personnel, comme un engagement. Cet article se propose de répondre à deux questions: en premier, quelle proportion de partisans du système public de santé canadien en Alberta exprime, ou n'exprime pas, des intérêts personnels? On peut probablement décrire le groupe qui n'exprime pas d'intérêts personnels comme témoignant d'un engagement. Deuxièmement, est-il possible que ceux qui soutiennent le système de santé tout en exprimant des intérêts personnels aient les mêmes valeurs que ceux qui expriment leur engagement? Si oui, ces sentiments de loyauté pourraient aider à maintenir le soutien pour le système de santé parmi ceux qui expriment actuellement des intérêts personnels, s'ils avaient l'impression d'un déclin de la qualité des services. Bien que nous ayons trouvé des preuves étayant cet avis, il faut être prudent dans la généralisation des résultats à l'ensemble de la population à cause de la taille et de la nature de l'échantillon.
Party Structure and Backbench Dissent in the Canadian and British Parliaments
Authors: Garner Christopher , Letki Natalia
Published: April 2008

Abstract.In this paper we analyze intra-party determinants of dissenting behaviour using samples of British and Canadian government backbenchers. Controlling for the range of factors traditionally considered to be important predictors of dissenting behaviour, we find that the major factor determining cross-voting, next to MPs' tenure, is perceptions of isolation from party communication and influence channels. This effect is particularly visible among Labour MPs with long tenure, as their ideological position is more extreme than that of party leaders, which reinforces the effect of isolation. The results suggest that the difference of dissent levels between the Canadian and British Houses of Commons can be explained by the frontbenchers' approach to managing the major resource of the party, i.e., the backbenchers.

Résumé.Cet article traite des déterminants intra-partis du comportement de dissidence en examinant des groupes de députés d'arrière-ban des gouvernements britannique et canadien. En contrôlant pour la gamme de facteurs qui sont traditionnellement considérés comme étant les prédicteurs importants du comportement de dissidence, nous trouvons qu'à part la durée de service du député, la perception d'isolement des voies de communication et d'influence du parti constitue le principal facteur incitant le député à voter pour un autre parti. Cet effet est particulièrement visible parmi les députés du Parti travailliste ayant de longs états de service, car leur position idéologique est plus extrême que celle des chefs du parti, ce qui renforce l'effet d'isolement. Les résultats suggèrent que les différences de niveaux de dissidence entre les Chambres des communes canadienne et britannique s'expliquent par la façon dont les députés de premier plan gèrent la ressource principale du parti, c'est-à-dire les députés d'arrière-ban.