bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Direct Action and Political Culture: The Changing Political Consciousness of the British Public*
Authors: SANDERS DAVID , TANENBAUM ERIC
Published: May 2006

Recent evidence suggests that significant changes in consciousness are occurring in Western democracies. This paper argues that in Britain, at least, the full extent and import of these changes can only be assessed by a panel‐based mass survey which builds upon the ‘Political Action’ research of the 1970s. Such a survey should examine propositions derived from personal risk theory, social learning theory and from a more detailed examination of the individual's ‘objective’ environment.
Rules and Strategy in Negotiations: Notes on an Institutionalist and Intentionalist Approach*
Authors: MIDGAARD KNUT
Published: May 2006

Psychological factors and organizational phenomena play a significant role in negotiations. It is argued that a systematic study of negotiations requires a basic model which is. firstly, institutionalist in the sense that the rules which are constitutive and regulative of the negotiations are taken systematically into account, and, secondly, intentionalist in the sense that intended rationality is assumed. On the intentional aspect, a theoretical framework will be deficient if the strategic aspects are not taken systematically into account. A distinction is made between various types of negotiations, and these are used to illustrate the fruitfulness of game‐theoretic concepts. For the institutional aspect, a case is argued for the fruitfulness for the study of negotiations of the concept of ‘speech act’ as a basis for dealing with commitments in a more nuanced and systematic way: also discussed are official purpose, participants and their roles, time and place, rules of communication, ‘institutional speech act profile’, and procedural rules. The significance of organizing and preparing negotiations so as to increase the chance of a satisfactory process and outcome is emphasized.
Parties and Coalitional Behaviour in Italian Local Politics: Conflict or Convergence?
Authors: PRIDHAM GEOFFREY
Published: May 2006

Conventional coalition theories have applied only to formal or executive coalitions and have tended to be very one‐dimensional in their approach. They do not do justice to the strongly informal element in Italian coalitional behaviour, where a multi‐dimensional framework of analysis is required. Because of Italy's system as a partitocrazia the key variables are inevitably party‐political in nature. In this context, there is a strong case for looking at local coalitional behaviour and its relationship with national politics. In particular, it may be examined whether national patterns have simply been replicated locally. or alternatively whether local government has allowed experimentation in new alliance formations as a possible precursor for national politics with implications for policy change. Despite the strong control that national party élites have over local politics, Italy has experienced left administrations sub‐nationally: however, these have made no dramatic impact because of the institutional and political constraints on local government and also because Italy's worsening economy has further reduced policy options at this level. This analysis therefore supports the thesis of that country's ‘ungovernability’, and the answer to the ‘Italian crisis’ must clearly come from Rome and not the provinces. For general comparative purposes, there is nevertheless a strong case for considering sub‐national politics in coalition studies not least because this level of activity invariably enters the strategic considerations of national party leaders.
Normal Vote Analysis: A Methodological Note
Authors: RATTINGER HANS , FALTER JÜRGEN W.
Published: May 2006

By juxtaposing observed voting behaviour and voting expected due to partisan affiliations, normal vote analysis attempts to classify elections at the aggregate level and to estimate the impact of short‐term variables on the vote. Apart from graphical illustrations, this latter task is performed by the effect coefficients proposed by Boyd. This contribution demonstrates that these coefficients under certain circumstances can exaggerate the effect of short‐term influences on the vote, proposes a modified formula, and shows how normal vote analysis can be adapted to comprise the notion of statistically controlling for third short‐term forces. Finally, an attempt is made formally to relate the effect coefficients of normal vote analysis to the decomposition of variance in multiple regression analysis. It is demonstrated that such a formal relationship cannot be established, so that in terms of variance decomposition normal vote analysis is incapable of precisely and numerically comparing short‐term vs. long‐term influences on the vote, or of comparing short‐term effects across different variables or even across different samples.
Changes in Electoral Systems as ‘Interventions’: Another Test of Duverger's Hypothesis*
Authors: SHAMIR MICHAL
Published: May 2006

This paper re‐examines Duverger's hypothesis about the ‘multiplicative tendency’ of the electoral system of proportional representation. The data cover six countries over time, and the change of the electoral system to PR is conceived as an ‘intervention’ whose impact on the party system is assessed by time‐series techniques following the logic of ‘interrupted time‐series quasi‐experiments’. In two countries the results are altogether negative, in one positive. In the three other cases, PR does not increase the degree to which the party system is fractionalized, but increases the number of parties, essentially by adding small ones. The support for the hypothesis is at most partial and, in addition, it is argued that the observed effect is systemically unimportant.
Rational Choice Models and Aggregate Voter Behaviour in the 1929–69 Northern Irish Parliamentary Elections*
Authors: DUTTER LEE E.
Published: May 2006

Rational‐choice models of voter behaviour are concerned with two basic questions: what stimulates citizens to vote, and, if a citizen votes, for whom does he/she vote? In this study, aggregate voter behaviour is modelled as a system of equations with three endogenous variables related to these questions. The parameters of this system are estimated with pooled cross‐sectional, time‐series data on the 1929–69 Northern Irish Parliamentary elections. After appropriate controls are included and within the constraints imposed by these data, evidence is found which supports the applicability of rational‐choice models to these elections. On the related issue of voter decision rules, evidence is found which supports the calculus‐of‐voting approach, an important component of many voting models (e.g., spatial models of candidate/party competition). Finally, the analysis highlights the major aspects of Northern Irish voter behaviour in these elections and can serve as a paradigm for the examination of similar electoral data from other political systems.
Public Support for Tax Evasion: Self‐interest or Symbolic Politics?*
Authors: LISTHAUG OLA , MILLER ARTHUR H.
Published: May 2006

The literature suggests two major theoretical explanations for public resistance to taxation. The first emphasizes a cognitive, instrumental, utility‐maximizing response to objective elements of taxation and government spending. The second treats contemporary tax revolts as the result of more enduring ideological predispositions, disaffection from politics in general and the result of social mobilization by anti‐government protagonists. In this article we confront the self‐interest model and the symbolic politics model with empirical evidence at both the aggregate level and at the micro‐level. In the macro‐analysis we examine the relationship between the level of taxation and the acceptance of tax cheating in twelve Western nations; in the micro‐analysis we perform a more detailed study of Norway, employing survey data. The over‐all results clearly show the strongest support for the symbolic politics model, while the self‐interest explanation is only weakly supported by the data. An important finding is that political attitudes and values have their strongest and most consistent impact among the politically uninvolved. This result further substantiates the symbolic politics model.
Economic aspirations, well‐being and political support in recession and boom periods: the case of West Germany
Authors: FRANZ Gerhard
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Usually the aggregate over‐time relationship between economics and politics is empirically reduced to a simple one equation regression model which specifies political support as the dependent, and several economic indicators as independent variables. Here more comprehensive causal model is tested for West Germany. Economic aspirations, personal well‐being, fear of the direct effects of economic crisis and political demands are introduced as intervening causal structures between the state of the economy and political support. It is demonstrated that the strength of the relationship between the economy and political support is quite different in recession and boom periods, depending on the subjective importance of economic concerns and the degree of fear of losing one's job. As the analysis of four different economic periods reveals, the effects of inflation and unemployment on political support are strongest when these indicators have an upward tendency. If they are stationary at a low or a higher level, their influences disappear.
Memory and partisan identity: the case of the French Communist Party
Authors: LAVABRE Marie‐Claire
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The French Communist Party pays particular attention to the writing and the recounting of its own history. Its militants consent often to an important training effort. The understanding of historical memory by the dimension which connects French Communism to ‘true socialism’, would prohibit reasoning which would have an objective of re‐instating the memory of French Communists as an element of a partisan identity, rather than the falsification of which the nature of history might have been the object. Maurice Halbwach's notion of ‘collective memory’ fits this project. Consequently, some elements of the party's historical memory, especially autobiographies of communist party leaders, are compared to the opinions or life experiences collected from militants. In this comparison between published memories and oral life stories, models and constant themes appear. But one must also insist on the discrepancies between interviews, and on the differences between life stories and published autobiographies. If autobiographies provided life patterns founded on invariable elements and methods of historical interpretation, other factors were of influence, such as how long the subject has belonged to the party, the family continuity in the partisan group, school background.
Legislating on occupational safety and health: a comparison of the British and American experience
Authors: WILSON Graham K.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In the early 1970s both the United Kingdom and the United States legislated new occupational safety regulations. Enforcement strategies varied considerably: the British chose a persuasive, the Americans a coercive approach. The legislative process was characterized by consensus in the first case, by conflict in the second. Consequentially the UK regulation appears to have been quite effective, while the US one led only to negligible results. This difference can be mainly explained by the different strength of the interest groups involved in the regulation's implementation.
Some correlates of partisan preference in Greece, 1980: a discriminant analysis
Authors: TSOKOU Stavroula , SHELLEY Mack C. , DOBRATZ Betty A.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The factors underlying patterns of partisan preference in Greece have been the subject of fairly little systematic analysis. This article uses data from a 1980 Euro‐Barometer survey, the first to include a Greek sample, to outline the structure of the Greek partisan universe. A number of demographic variables – age, family income, education, occupation, sex, size of community, and household status – together with attitudinal variables regarding both foreign and domestic policy issues are tested as predictors of party identification. The multivariate statistical technique of discriminant analysis is used to measure the relative importance of these predictor variables in influencing the direction of party preferences. The findings show that attitudinal factors for the most part are more important than demographic traits. A stepwise analysis provides a rankordering of the strongest explanatory variables. The impact of recent political and historical developments on the party system in Greece is discussed.
Attitudes and behaviour of party activists
Authors: PIERRE Jon
Published: May 2006

Abstract. During the last four years a research project has studied the ‘Middle‐Level Elites’ of sixty European political parties. Like most previous studies in this area the main objective of the project was strictly party activists’ attitudes; no attention was paid to their actual behaviour in the party organisation. Other studies of recent date indicate however that party activists, despite their often more radical or extreme stands on many issues, often submit to the authority and dominance of the party leadership in the intraparty policy‐making process. Thus, attitudinal data seem to tell us very little about the actual behaviour of the party activists. The article first presents the results of some recent studies on the attitudes of party activists. Secondly, these findings are related to studies on the actual behaviour of the activists. When synthesising these different types of observations, we can develop a typology of intraparty conflicts, as well as one of party activist behaviour. Together, these two typologies represent different models of intraorganisational behaviour. Finally, by using empirical illustrations drawn from recent studies on party activist attitudes or behaviour, some hypotheses deduced from the theories of May, Hirschman and Michels are introduced to suggest paths for future research and to point to some of the most salient problems in this area.
Sectoral reallocation, distributional coalitions and the welfare state as determinants of economic growth rates in industrialized democracies
Authors: WEEDE Erich
Published: May 2006

Abstract.This paper investigates three propositions about economic growth. It rejects the proposition that differences in the size of the agricultural sector or in opportunities to reallocate resources from this sector to other sectors of the economy significantly contribute to the explanation of differential growth rates among industrialized democracies. It supports Olson's proposition that long lasting democracies suffer from an accumulation of distributional coalitions whose rent‐seeking activities retard economic growth. It also supports the proposition that the welfare state contributes to economic decline. Technically, this paper applies cross‐sectional and pooled regression analyses of growth rates on employment in agriculture as a percentage of civilian employment, age of democracy, and social security transfers as a percentage of GDP. Data refer to the 1960–82 period and 19 nations.
Weakening partisanship and the higher educated in Britain
Authors: BARTON Terry , DÖRING Herbert
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The decline in support for traditional political parties in a number of Western democracies is often attributed to the effects of recent educational expansion and a consequent rise in cognitive mobilisation in the electorate. The thesis that support for the two major parties in Britain is lowest among the young educated is tested here, using survey data for the period 1964–1983. The analysis indicates that for only a short time in the early 1970s was there evidence of such a relationship, and that differences in major‐party support which are related to age and to educational achievement have all but disappeared by the 1980s. Moreover, the findings cast serious doubt upon the validity of current operationalisations of ‘cognitive mobilisation’.
Macro‐economic decision‐making in Norway: an analysis of economic decisions within the politico‐economic framework
Authors: SØRENSEN Rune J.
Published: May 2006

Summary. The aim of the study is to analyze when and why Norwegian governments carry out expansive decisions rather than contractive ones. Following the politico‐economic approach, it is proposed that both the governmental re‐election prospects and economic indicators may influence macro‐economic decision making.

The article attempts to employ this framework in an empirical analysis of events data, i.e. in an analysis of 318 decision events spread throughout the period from 1964 to 1984. Unemployment is the major determinant of macro‐economic policies. The hypothesis of political business‐cycle receives only limited empirical support, and there is little reliable evidence of socialist governments responding differently to economic and political factors compared to borgeois governments.
Unwanted children: Political violence and the cycle of protest in Italy, 1966–1973
Authors: PORTA Donatella DELLA , TARROW Sidney
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The article focuses on the cycle of protest that developed in Italy during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some hypotheses on the evolution of the repertoires of action are tested with the aim of explaining the emergence of political violence during a cycle of protest. Newspaper‐based data are presented on the proportional presence of violent forms of action, on the social and ideological groups involved in political violence, and on the grievances expressed during violent protests. The widespread political violence that developed in Italy in the early 1970s is explained as an internally differentiated strategic adaptation within the social movement sector, during a cycle of protests that was disorderly but far from violent.
Political stability and the science of comparative politics
Authors: DOWDING Keith M. , KIMBER Richard
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The utility of comparative politics has been questioned from time to time in two ways. Doubts have been cast upon its ability to offer genuine and useful generalisations, and these doubts have been reinforced by the appearance of studies which, while statistically adventurous, are not grounded upon a sufficiently sound theoretical base. In this paper we consider Alasdair MacIntyre's objections to the idea of a science of comparative politics, and discuss the nature of law‐like generalisations. We explore the extent to which MacIntyre's objections may be overcome, and indicate the form that generalisations about political stability could take. We also argue that studies of stability need a clear explanatory linkage between the empirical data they utilise and the hypotheses of a theory about political stability. This is often lacking in such studies, which seem to substitute a sophisticated statistical technique for genuine political theory.
Cycles of the third kind
Authors: WEBER Robert Philip
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This paper delineates three kinds or senses of the cycle concept as used in social science theory and research. Cycles of the weak or first kind merely refer to fluctuations or state changes. Cycles of the moderate or second kind refer to fluctuations with some constant periodicity in fact or in principle. Cycles of the strong or third kind have several analytical properties that require explanation. I argue that the term cycle should be reserved for cycles of the second or third kinds and that the terms fluctuation or alternation should be used for cycles of the first kind. The paper concludes with some comments on sources of resistance to the cycle concept.
Party strategies in the electoral market: Political marketing in West Germany, Britain and Ireland
Authors: FARRELL DAVID M. , WORTMANN MARTIN
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The use of a political marketing framework to describe modern party election campaigns can be useful for comparison over time, between and within countries. This paper concentrates on inter‐country comparisons, examining the election compaigns of the West German Christian Democrats in 1983, the British Conservatives in 1983 and the Irish Fine Gael party in 1981. Political marketing is defined as the application of promotional activities to direct an exchange with voters through the use of such instruments as product policy, communications policies and distribution. Among the paper's main findings are, first, that the CDU were the only party to have communications policies which closely matched their product policy and, second, that distribution activities appear to be where future campaign developments are likely to concentrate. The paper concludes with a discussion on some specific aspects of political marketing including effects, financial corruption and the part political marketing plays in the general evolution of the electoral process.
Old and new politics: The Dutch peace movement and the traditional political organizations
Authors: KRIESI HANSPETER , VAN PRAAG PHILIP
Published: May 2006

Abstract. On the basis of data on the Dutch peace movement, we study the relationship between traditional organizations of political intermediation such as parties, unions and churches with a new social movement on the local level. After having argued for the relevance of the institutional context, the general structure of new social movements and the particular structure of the movement under consideration with regard to this relationship, we first present evidence confirming our claims that we are dealing with new social movement. Then we show that the relationships in question are quite elaborate confirming the hypothesis that political activity within traditional organizations and new social movements is to some extent cumulative. More generally, the results imply that the development of the peace movement and other new social movements in the Netherlands is not indicating a diminishing legitimacy of the Dutch political parties.
Implementation, accountability and trust
Authors: LANE JAN‐ERIK
Published: May 2006

Abstract. According tot standard dictionaries ‘implementation’ is ambiguous, as it means either the act of implementing or the state of having been implemented. This duality has characterized implementation theory, which models the process of implementation in different ways, each presumably conducive to successful implementation as an outcome. It is argued that one model of implementation as a process is most suitable for successful implementation meaning the fulfillment of policy objectives by programme technologies. However, there is no necessary relation between some model of implementation processes and implementation as an outcome. Public policies may be implemented in various ways and some policies do fail implementation or result only in political symbolism, but that does not warrant generalizations about the impossibility of successful implementation or create a case for some special model of implementation as hierarchical authority, or as evolution, learning or coalition. Basic to implementation is accountability, which restricts the amount of trust that gives autonomy to those responsible for the implementation of policies. The conceptualization of implementation as a combination of accountability and trust points in a new direction for the analysis of policy cycles.
Comparative nationalism: the Basques in Spain and France
Authors: LANCASTER THOMAS D.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Little research on peripheral nationalism goes beyond the case study approach. Comparative studies provide greater understanding of national self‐identification by comparing different ethnic groups, yet encounter difficulties in rigorously delineating specific non‐group causal factors. This study adds to our insights into peripheral nationalism by comparing self‐identification within the same group but in two different political systems. Study of the Basques in both Spain and France permits a comparison of the same group, thus imposing an analytical control on ethnicity, under two different sets of state policy directions. Utilizing survey data, this investigation found sharp differences in national self‐identification in the Basques in Spain and France. The argument is advanced that, even when other explanatory factors are considered, this difference in Basque identification should be understood in light of the different policy stances taken over time by the central governments in Paris and Madrid toward their respective Basque minorities. While initially counter‐intuitive, it is suggested that toleration and non‐repressive policies toward such minorities may actually serve in the long term to decrease peripheral national identification.
Utilitarianism and rational choice
Authors: LEWIN LEIF
Published: May 2006

Abstract.Rational choice theory springs from the utilitarian premises that what is best for society is nothing but the sum of what is best for each individual and what is best for the individual is best understood by the individual himself. Modern research, however, has often found both these premises to be invalid. Sometimes rational individual action leads to collectively irrational decisions. Occasionally, individual preferences emerge out of irrational motives. Other theories of the relation between man and society such as the doctrines of paternalism and the general will are therefore analyzed. The conclusion is that the present difficulties of rational choice theory can be attributed to its reluctance to integrate our empirical knowledge of the decision making of parties and organizations. There is room for a new theory that makes the rulers more independent of their voters than they are in rational choice theory, but more bound than they are in practice.
Social conflict and alternative mass communications: public art and politics in the service of Spanish‐Basque nationalism
Authors: CHAFFEE LYMAN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Mass communication is multi‐dimensional. One often overlooked alternative medium of mass communication, when it is systematic and not random, is public art ‐ murals, graffiti, wall painting and posters. The linking of art and politics has precedents in Basque culture. It is the thesis of this article that public art is an important factor in the political communication process in the Basque region, that Basque nationalists, especially radical Basques revolving around the ETA movement, have used public art as one source for increasing visibility, raising consciousness, and building a mass based movement. What is particular about Basque nationalism is that it is a cultural‐political movement, a reawakening from a ‘culture of silence’ induced by the Franco regime. Today, public art is an accepted channel for communicating the gamut of socio‐political issues relevant to the social conflict in the Basque homeland.
Social partnership and ‘foreigners policy’: on special features of Austria's guest‐worker system
Authors: BAUBOECK RAINER , WIMMER HANNES
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In most Western European countries, market forces have dominated the specific institutional regulations and administrative procedures concerned with labour migration and employment of foreigners during both the period of recruitment until 1973, and the subsequent period of massive reduction. But politics obviously does matter, especially in the area of foreigners policy. Internationally, Austria represents the corporatist case, and it is interesting to analyse which aspects of its foreigners policy can be ascribed to elements of the political system. One of the most conspicuous is that the ‘foreigners problem’ has not been in the forefront of political discourse. A second feature is that the trade unions, which have strongly influenced decisions concerning employment and the legal status of foreign workers, have made little effort to represent the specific interests of their foreign members. In Austria, as in other countries of immigration, former guest‐workers have been permanent residents for many years, but the relevant legislation has been virtually unchanged since 1975 and is still based on a guest‐worker system. However, increasing unemployment and significant changes in the party system could result in foreigners policy playing a more important political role in the near future.
Value orientation, left‐right placement and voting
Authors: VAN DETH JAN W. , GEURTS PETER A.T.M.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In this article we try to disentangle the constraints between traditional lines of political polarization (left‐right placement) and newer distinctions (materialist/postmaterialist values) among mass publics. It is shown that voting or party preference is most clearly related to the left‐right placement of the respondents. However, this placement is directly and strongly dependent on the materialist/postmaterialist orientation, while background variables like education, income and age are linked to voting via this value orientation. The materialist/postmaterialist orientation appears to be the present‐day interpretation of the dominant political conflict in advanced industrial society. Although alignments and orientations count for a substantive part of the variance in voting, the power of these models to predict the actual vote of people turns out to be rather poor.
Factionalism, the French socialist party and the fifth Republic: An explanation of intra‐party divisions
Authors: COLE ALISTAIR M.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This article traces the evolution of factions (the term preferred to that of ‘fraction’) within the French Socialist party (PS) from the early twentieth century until 1981, with special reference to the post‐1971 PS as a party of opposition. It concentrates on the causes and structures of factions, as well as their location in relation to the wider political system and the degree of political space they were able to occupy within the party. It argues that factions were divided by personal rivalries (accentuated by the presidentialised Fifth Republic), ideological and party policy differences, party strategy, power rivalries within the organisation and different historical origins. Factions corresponded more or less to a series of ideal‐types. These were the organisation faction, whose power stemmed from its position within the party organisation; the parallel faction, whose separate factional structures paralled official party ones, and the external faction, which attempted to transform external popularity into internal party strength. Four factions prevailed: Mitterrand, Mauroy, CERES and Rocard. Those headed by presidentiables enjoyed the most success, whereas the others gradually declined. The presidentialism of the French regime set the PS apart from its European counterparts.
The changing politics of women: gender and political alignment in 11 nations
Authors: DE VAUS DAVID , McALLISTER IAN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Although there has been considerable research on the changing politics of women in advanced industrial societies, there has been little consistent, cross‐national research to identify the sources of these changes. This paper uses closely comparable data collected in 11 countries in the early 1980s to examine gender differences in political alignments. The results show that in 10 of the 11 countries, women are more conservative than men, by differing degrees. The exception is Australia, where women are more leftwing than men. The sources of these gender differences are shown to be differential levels of workforce participation and religiosity between men and women. Once these and other factors are taken into account through multivariate analysis, women follow the Australian pattern and emerge as more leftwing than men in six of the 10 countries. In the remaining four countries, greater female conservatism is substantially reduced once these factors are taken into account. Various explanations to account for these patterns are discussed.
Dominant players and minimum size coalitions
Authors: VAN DEEMEN A.M.A.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In this paper we present a result about Peleg's theory of coalition formation in dominated simple games (Peleg 1981). Further, a connection between Peleg's theory and Riker's minimum size theory (Riker 1962, Riker and Ordeshook 1973) is established. This connection leads to a new theory of coalition formation in simple games.
Distribution of income in advanced capitalist states: political parties, labour unions, and the international economy
Authors: MULLER EDWARD N.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Hypotheses about determinants of income inequality in advanced capitalist societies are tested with data from the World Bank for 1975–80 across virtually the complete population. The results support most of the propositions of a model that takes into account differences in partisan control of government, the organization strength of labour, and the openness of the economy to international market forces. Hypotheses derived from global models of income distribution are not supported. The major findings are (1) that labour organization has no direct effect on income inequality; (2) that strong socialist parties have a negative effect on the size of the gap between the rich and the poor but no effect on the gap between the rich and the middle class; (3) that the governmental strength of conservative parties is unrelated to the size of the gap between the rich and the poor but has a very strong positive effect on the gap between the rich and the middle class; and (4) that, regardless of partisan control of government, relatively small trade dependent economies are more egalitarian than relatively large economies which are less dependent on international trade.
Political‐economic aspects of public employment
Authors: CUSACK THOMAS R. , NOTERMANS TON , REIN MARTIN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. An examination of public employment and expenditure data for 17 OECD countries for the period 1963–1983 reveals decelerating growth in public employment after 1970, whereas expenditure growth rates have been accelerating. Two contrary tendencies in public sector employment since the early 1970s are apparent: a general decline in goods and market services, and a significant increase in communal and social services. Comparative empirical analysis, using a pooled cross section‐time series technique, confirms the important contribution of increasing wealth to public employment growth. Similarly, a strong societal position for organised labour and increasing unemployment rates contribute to public employment growth, thereby suggesting the presence of a discretionary stabilization policy. Contrary to expectations, however, increased trade dependence exerts a negative impact. With regard to the relationship between expenditure and employment, a general increase in the employment creation efficiency of spending can be discerned. Empirical estimates again suggest that the importance of labour in political‐economic decision‐making has intensified the employment creation effect of public spending.
Values and partisanship in left‐right orientations: measuring ideology
Authors: HUBER JOHN D.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This paper analyzes whether left‐right scales provide an interval measure of citizen issue attitudes that is comparable across eight Western European countries. Two commonly held views of left‐right self‐placement are juxtaposed: (1) the theory that issue attitudes are the primary component of left‐right self‐placement, and (2) the theory that partisanship is the primary component of left‐right self‐placement, which entails that left‐right scales will take on different substantive meanings in countries with different types of party systems. Distance measures and least squares regression show that left‐right scales are generally an appropriate instrument for cross‐national tests of theories that have as an explanatory variable the ideological orientations of voters.
Social policy in rich and poor countries: socio‐economic trends and political‐institutional determinants
Authors: SCHMIDT MANFRED G.
Published: May 2006

Abstract.To what extent can the dramatic differences in social policy efforts in rich and poor countries be accounted for by genuinely political explanations? The hypothesis that is advanced in this article rests upon the combination of two schools of thought in comparative social policy analysis: socioeconomic models which focus attention on levels of economic wealth, need and demand for social security, and models of a comparative‐historiographic and political‐institution‐alist nature. Empirical applications of socio‐economic models with lagged dependent variables reveal the existence of two deviant families of nations: overspenders in social policy (such as overspenders of socialdemocratic complexion and of Christian democratic composition) and underspenders (such as the superpowers in East and West as well as Japan and East Germany). The residuals that can be derived from these models are amenable to an explanation which resides in comparative‐historiographic political analysis of social policy.
Locating parties, factions and ministers in a policy space: a contribution to understanding the party‐policy link
Authors: SINNOTT RICHARD
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The article examines approaches to the study of the party‐policy link and argues that two generally held assumptions ‐ the unidimensionality of party political conflict and the party as unitary actor ‐ should be treated as matters for empirical dedermination rather than a priori assumption. Having briefly reviewed interpretations of dimensionality in the Irish party system, the article puts forward an empirical approach to both issues based on multidimensional scaling of preference data from a sample of parliamentarians. The results of the application of such an approach in the Irish case indicate at least a two dimensional policy space and considerable intra‐party factionalism. This evidence is then used to interpret the party‐policy link in three areas: capital taxation, abortion and divorce, and Northern Ireland policy.
Parties and policy in Belgium
Authors: DE WINTER LIEVEN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. An overview of the literature on the party‐policy link suggests a weak, non‐existent or even perverse relationship between parties in government and governmental policies in Belgium. It is argued that this weak relationship could be due to the methodology applied in this type of research, i.e. the treatment of the party variable on a much too high level of aggregation. The relative strength of the coalition parties, the parties’ general ideological profile on a specific moment, the relative strength of the factions within the parliamentary party and in the Cabinet are not taken into account. On the other hand, several organisational factors with regard to the relation between parties, parliamentary groups, ministers and the administration tend to facilitate the impact of parties on policies in Belgium. Interview data with ministers suggest that the policy variable also needs further disaggregation. In particular, the qualitative aspects of policies should be more closely investigated.
Party strategies and the electoral trade‐off of class‐based parties
Authors: SAINSBURY DIANE
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This paper offers a critique and application of Adam Przeworski's ‘dilemma of electoral socialism’by examining the Scandinavian case with a major focus on the Swedish Social Democrats. The critique questions several assumptions underpinning Przeworski's argument and the statistical analysis employed to support the argument. Using data from election surveys, the paper provides an additional test of Przeworski's hypotheses and discloses a number of problems. A major difficulty is that certain axiomatic tendencies in Przeworski's line of reasoning obstruct fully developing the potential of making party strategies and class formation variables in explaining the electoral performance of socialist parties.
Politics do matter, but does unemployment?
Authors: VISSER WESSEL , WIJNHOVEN RIEN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom of the 1950s and 1960s, conservative governments in the 1980s have not been punished by the electorate for rising or enduring mass unemployment. Part of the explanation for this can be found in the specific content and functioning of ideological discourse regarding unemployment. This article develops the idea that parties’electoral strategies can be seen as forms of ideological interpellations. In the empirical part of the article we show that by their ideological discourse government parties succeed in mitigating and making acceptable the unemployment problem.
Centre parties and coalition cabinet formations: a game theoretic approach
Authors: VAN ROOZENDAAL PETER
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The centre is an interesting concept for formal models of, for instance, political coalition formation, but also for European party systems. In this article, the focus will be on centre parties and their impact on coalition cabinet formation. Using game theory, we describe one concept of the centre, the central player, and we introduce a concept of a strong centre, the dominant central player. With these concepts of the centre, we will predict what kind of coalitions will be formed. These prediction principles will be confronted with data of cabinet formations in France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Ireland and The Netherlands (1945–1988). We show that these centre‐oriented prediction principles of coalition formation perform well in our data set.
Institutionalizing professional political science in Europe: A dynamic model
Authors: ROSE RICHARD
Published: May 2006

Abstract. A dynamic model is set out of the historical process by which political science in Europe has developed from the sporadic writings of insightful and cosmopolitan individuals, often more or less isolated within their own country, into a profession with well defined standards for training and employment; institutionally based in national university systems; and with substantial transnational links between individuals and institutions throughout Europe. The paper concludes with a review of dynamic trends within political science and in the world of politics that may affect political science up to the year 2000.
The limits of deregulation: Transnational interpenetration and policy change
Authors: CERNY PHILIP G.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Deregulation became a major cross‐national trend in the 1980s. Proponents of deregulation have included neoclassicists, pragmatists and certain analysts on the Left and Center‐Left. Deregulation has a number of unintended or unforeseen consequences. A major issue is the development of new, market‐oriented regulations and regulatory structures – the first category of ‘reregulation’. Another is the cross‐national knock‐on effect of regulatory changes. And a third is the emergence of new forms of market stabilization and control, whether by the state or at the transnational level. A crucial feature of deregulation is the change in the wider pattern of state intervention from the ‘welfare state’ model to that of the ‘competition state’. A number of competing explanations for deregulation can be identified – market explanations, institutional/technological explanations and political explanations – each of which has significant variants. These explanations can be seen to apply in the real world at four different levels: the ‘global’ level; that of various intermediary transnational political structures; the state level; and the level of ‘self‐regulation’ of a neo‐corporatist kind.
Problems of transnational policymaking: Environmental policy in the European Community
Authors: LIBERATORE ANGELA
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Environmental protection is inherently a cross‐border issue, which might be thought to create opportunities for transnational regulation. This has significant potential consequences for European integration. However, two contrasting trends can be identified. On the one hand, the increasing magnitude of environmental problems, along with growing public and elite awareness of these issues, are generating responses which put the European Community at the centre of a process of ‘regulation’. It is intended that this role should grow in the twin contexts of the Single Market and of increasing interaction with Eastern Europe with its vast pollution problems. On the other hand, however, the kind of ‘political’ policy intervention which environmental protection requires has not really developed. EC environmental policies have thus far been rather weak in both formulation and, especially, implementation, and even existing gains are likely to come under increasing pressure from the trend towards economic deregulation characteristic of the Single European Market project. Probably the most significant impact of Community efforts in the environmental field has been to encourage the convergence and strengthening of national regulation among member states, more than to create distinct European policy processes and institutions.
Regulatory change and environmental protection in the British and German chemical industries
Authors: PATERSON W.E.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Business interest associations in the European chemical industry have traditionally been well organized and enjoyed a harmonious relationship with governments of various complexions. This very favourable balance for the industry has been disturbed by the salience of the environmental issue. This has led to a certain deregulation, or breakdown of existing regulatory mechanisms. Increasing concentration on the European Community level as the locus of environmental policymaking has led to a dual response on the part of business interest associations, reflecting an older contrast between national styles of government/business relations. The British chemical industry has preferred the national route, is much more hostile to environmental regulation than its German counterpart, and often finds itself isolated, depending on the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure that its viewpoint is articulated by the British Government in EC negotiations. The German industry still clings to self‐regulation, but, given the high level of environmental consciousness in the Federal Republic, has developed a reluctant preference for action at the European level. This has been manifested both in the Europeanisation of its links with the German Economics Ministry and in its support for the European Council of Chemical Manufacturers Associations; the latter is well placed to exert influence on both the EC Commission and the European Parliament.
Pharmaceutical regulation in Denmark and the UK: Reformulating interest representation to the transnational level
Authors: GREENWOOD JUSTIN , RONIT KARSTEN
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Common elements are recognised across Denmark and the UK in regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, which are attributed to the impact of associational action at the sector level. Our examination of arrangements for regulating medicine prices and information displays many of the hallmarks of neo‐corporatism – namely negotiation with state agencies, compliance seeking among members, and policy implementation through acting as a Private Interest Government. During a period of economic internationalisation and directive international agencies, we show how business interests have reformulated to transnational levels, with associations, despite facing a greater complexity of interests to represent, having a strong impact upon regulatory outcomes. These have been neither wholly deregulatory or reregulatory, but partly reflect events at national levels. This may predict regulatory developments at the European level in other sectors.