World Political Science Review

Planting the Seeds of Change Inside? Functional Cooperation with Authoritarian Regimes and Socialization into Democratic Governance.

Tina Freyburg — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:15:07 PST

Is functional cooperation with authoritarian regimes a blessing or a curse for democratization? Scholars predominantly view cooperation with authoritarian regimes as counterproductive in terms of democratization because it helps the incumbent government to remain in power by stabilizing the regime. This article presents evidence to suggest that functional cooperation can also be considered a promising way of yielding subtle processes of democratization that have hitherto been overlooked. It explores to what extent state officials become acquainted with democratic governance by participating in transgovernmental policy networks, notably the Twinning Program, set up by the European Union in order to implement functional cooperation with its Southern neighborhood. The study conducts regression analyses based on original survey data on Moroccan state officials’ attitudes toward democratic governance and complements these analyses with a qualitative comparison of different networks. The findings corroborate an optimistic reading of functional cooperation. By significantly shaping the attitudes toward democratic governance of involved state officials, cooperation appears to be able to plant seeds of change inside authoritarian regimes.

Co-Production as a Political Form

Kai Eriksson — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:00:23 PST

The concept of co-production is gaining ground rapidly in the political and administrative sciences. Generally speaking, it is about involving citizens and users in the production of the same services they consume. Although the reforms and initiatives related to co-production have been considered as having many democratizing features, they also have the tendency to narrow and reduce the area of political discussion. This is mainly because individualized and personalized forms of governance seem to make it difficult to discern the structural issues underlying these forms. The article investigates how co-productional practices both open up and close down the opportunities for political deliberation and debate. In other words, how it both politicizes and depoliticizes political and administrative questions.

Sphere Effects: A History of Peter Sloterdijk’s Political Architectures

Jean-Pierre Couture — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:10:23 PST

This article discusses recent work by Peter Sloterdijk, who has developed a phenomenological analysis of human spaces. The aim of my contribution is to put this spatial theorization in relation with political constructions. Sloterdijk’s undertaking presents itself as a long history of the cosmological and architectural elements that shape the very spaces of human-production. He also puts it forward as a new pathway for understanding the human topos which has been subsumed for too long by the metaphysics of the ‘beyond’ and which is currently liquefied by contemporary processes of mobilizing capital.

The New Regional Order and Transnational Civil Society in Southeast Asia: Focusing on Alternative Regionalism from below in the Process of Building the ASEAN Community

Seiichi Igarashi — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:18:58 PDT

Since the end of the Cold War and in the context of the recent spread of economic globalization, Southeast Asian regionalism has steadily deepened and expanded, centering on ASEAN. The concept of the ASEAN Community is one of the most important aspects of this regionalism, and there have been hopes that this will be realized by 2015. The mainstream theories such as neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, and social constructivism have offered competing explanations of this transformation. However, recently, a new phenomenon that cannot be fully explained by these state-centric theories has arisen—the movement toward constructing a regional order from below by transnational civil society actors. By adopting the analytical viewpoint of the New Regionalism Approach, which has maintained a keen interest in civil society in the process of regionalization, this study attempts to empirically analyze still largely unexplored activities undertaken by transnational civil society actors, in particular who has promoted the “alternative regionalism” against the “neoliberal regionalism” in the course of the formation of the ASEAN Community. It also seeks to examine the embryonic change toward the establishment of a new regional order in Southeast Asia from the bottom-up perspective. In conclusion, the article proves that by engaging with transnational civil society actors, ASEAN is gradually moving from an “elite club” to a “people-centered” organization. However, given the predominance of neoliberal discourse, “alternative regionalism” has not had enough influence for this to be fully realized. Nevertheless, the growing number of transnational civil society actors is resulting in improved potential to transform the persistent sovereign state system.

The Norwegian Electoral System and its Political Consequences

Bernt Aardal — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:02:55 PDT

The electoral system is an integral part of any representative democracy, and the choice of system is an important framework for individual behavior and party competition. An electoral system is a result of compromise between parties with vested interests in the system setup. However, no system satisfies all ideal claims. This article is an introduction to the electoral system used in parliamentary elections in Norway; it emphasizes the political consequences of vital elements such as the balance between provincial and compensatory seats, and the geographical distribution of seats and electoral formulae. In sum, the system introduced in 2003 is more proportional in terms of the parties’ share of seats compared with votes, and the geographical distribution has become more systematic and less skewed, although the ideal of one vote-one value has not been achieved. Both the present and previous electoral systems combine elements reflecting different principles and concerns such as increased proportionality, on the one hand, and the fear of a fragmented party system on the other. The analyses show a complex interplay between different parts of the system. One and the same system may have different effects depending on the balance between the parties and between electoral districts. Thus, in order to study the effect of changes in the electoral system one needs to use simulations based on election outcomes over time.

Alterations of Voting in Lithuania’s Municipal Council Elections: Macrolevel Analysis

Mažvydas Jastramskis — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:58:57 PDT

This article presents a macro-level study of voting in Lithuania’s local elections, with an emphasis on changing electoral support for the incumbent parties. Presented statistical analysis of alterations of voting in two periods between municipal elections (in years 1997-2000 and 2002-2007) aims to explain the success (and failure) of dominant parties in national government and municipal councils (two separate cases). Article is mainly orientated to the search of economic voting, but hypotheses related to other, political-institutional factors are also tested. It discovers that dynamics of changes in unemployment help to explain changes in voting for the party that is dominant in the municipal council, but it is not important when state of economy is worsening. The dominant party in the national government is unanimously punished when unemployment is rising, but when the state of economy is improving, an average change in votes of such a party is not outstanding. The variation of changes in votes in both periods (when dependent variable is the vote change for the dominant party in the national government) is better explained by the political-institutional variables (first of all—change of voter turnout).

Size and Equal Opportunity in the Democratic Process: The Effect of the Danish Local Government Reform on Inequality in Internal Political Efficacy

David D. Lassen et al. — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:15:06 PDT

A classic issue in political science is how the size of political entities affects democracy. We argue that municipal size may affect local internal political efficacy negatively in two ways: first, as existing studies show, greater distance between citizens and politicians in large municipalities may diminish citizens’ belief in their ability to influence politics. Second, it may cause greater inequality in internal political efficacy for different social groups. We use the comprehensive Danish structural reform of 2007 to examine the latter issue in a way that solves various methodological problems associated with cross sectional analysis of size effects. It turns out that there is no unequivocal development in the inequality of different social groups’ sense of efficacy. Hence, although increased size leads to decreased internal political efficacy generally, it does not systematically increase inequality.

Constitutional Barriers and the Privatization of Public Utilities in Rich Democracies

Carina Schmitt et al. — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:36:01 PDT

This paper examines the impact of constitutional barriers on the privatization of public utilities in 21 OECD-countries between 1980 and 2008. We present new and improved indicators for privatization and constitutional barriers. Three empirical findings stand out: first, national privatization trajectories differ across both countries and sectors. Second, there is a significant cross-national variation in terms of constitutional provisions related to public utilities which, thirdly, constitute important impediments to privatization.

Bringing the Olympic Rationality Back In? Coherence, Integration and Effectiveness of Public Policies

Luca Lanzalaco — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:44:37 PDT

The article analyses, from a theoretical point of view, the concept of policy coherence, the processes of policy integration and their relevance for governmental action. Four topics are taken into consideration: a) the different analytical dimensions of the concept of policy integration, b) the conditions under which policy integration, is really needed and when, on the contrary, it is only a “good practice” taken-for- granted and adopted even if it is not useful, c) the costs and benefits of policy integration and d) the politics of policy coordination and integration.

Candidate Choice in Political Advertising: What Determines Who Gets Attention?

Jonas Lefevere et al. — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:57:52 PDT

In the run up to the elections, parties have several ways of communicating with voters. In this article, we focus on one piece of the puzzle: advertisements of political parties in the mass media. More specifically, we are interested in the choice of candidates within these advertisements. In countries where parties are the dominant actor, they are faced with a choice: not all candidates can be promoted in the campaign, as this would be too costly and inefficient. Thus, the first question we want to answer is which factors determine candidate choice in political advertisements? Secondly, does candidate choice in political advertisements have an effect on the subsequent coverage in media as well? Agenda setting research has shown that as far as issues are concerned, advertisements do set the media agenda. We use a content analysis of seven magazines and newspapers that was collected in the run up to the 2009 regional elections in Flanders, the largest region of Belgium. The results indicate that both internal party hierarchy, as well as external visibility of candidates determines candidate choice in political advertisements. Furthermore, the agenda setting effect of political advertisements is confirmed as well.

Non-Partisan Candidates and Lists at Slovenian Local Elections, 1994-2010

Simona Kukovic et al. — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:25:56 PDT

The paper focuses on a lesser-known political phenomenon observed in Slovenia since the country gained its independence in 1991. At every local election since then, non-partisan candidates and lists—often called independent in the media—have been gaining more votes and increasing support. By analyzing the results of the last five local elections, we manifested that there are three origins of the success of these non-partisan candidates and lists. We also try to ascertain whether non-partisan candidates and lists are truly a product of an anti-party political culture, climate and movements, or whether they are simply another way for political parties to gain political power at local levels of government.

The Electoral System as a Factor in Striking a Balance between Governmental Stability and Representation

Fany Yuval — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:24:06 PDT

The relevant literature provides substantial empirical evident supporting the fact that the ability to govern weakens as the degree of representation increases. Democracies use various mechanisms to maintain the balance between stability and representation. Using simulation analysis, this work seeks to understand to what extent the various structures of electoral systems affect the level of governmental stability without excessively undermining the principle of representation. Can electoral systems be differentiated from one another, and which system is most advantageous? To clarify these questions, this work processed the actual results of the three last elections in Israel, for 2003-2009, using the format of various electoral systems. A comparative review of the simulations leads to the conclusion that a mixture of nationwide and regional elections, a small number of constituencies and the single-seat method will moderate the results, providing a better balance between the two democratic—the ability to rule and the degree of representation. The total representation (T.R.) system seems to be best for striking a reasonable balance between regional and national issues. It also offers a simple solution for resolving the disadvantage of majority systems in single-seat constituencies, the lack of representation for the losing votes in the constituencies. In the total representation system, the winners' votes are counted to determine the regional winner, while the losers' votes are totaled on the national party level and awarded proportional representation. This procedure makes the total representation system seem fairer than its competitors.

The Impact of International Politics on Commercial Flows in the Age of Globalization

Stefano Costalli — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:22:16 PST

The debate between realists and liberals in the field of International Relations concerning the causes and effects of economic interdependence among states has led to a remarkable branch of empirical literature. However, hardly any research has studied those dynamics in the period following the Cold War, which is so often defined “the age of globalization.” This article is based on a quantitative analysis of the influence of international politics on commercial flows in the post-bipolar period and it performs such analysis on two sets of data. The first one includes all countries of the system for which data is available and the second one focuses on the countries that previous similar studies have identified as great powers. The results show that the contemporary international system is marked by a high degree of complexity and by the simultaneous action of different and even contrasting logics. Liberal variables such as democracy and economic international institutions exert a remarkable influence on international trade, especially at the global level, but international security and even power politics issues are still relevant, particularly for the great powers in their reciprocal relationships.

Office Allocation in the Czech Government and Chamber of Deputies in Light of Coalition Theory

Petra Svačinová et al. — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:34:01 PST

The article presented is theoretically grounded in the office-seeking approach to the study of coalitions. It takes the most influential theories of portfolio distribution in the executive and legislature (voting weights, proportionality, formateur) and tests it on the data pertaining to coalition negotiations in the Czech Republic between 1992 and 2010. We follow the distribution of portfolios in the government, in the presidium of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as in the presidiums of permanent parliamentary committees. The approach based on voting weights seems best for studying portfolio distribution in the Czech Republic, although it is not entirely satisfactory. In the theoretical discussion of the results, we also point out that the voting weights approach is somewhat less rigorous than others. At the same time, we show that even ostensibly exact approaches to the study of coalitions can lead to arbitrariness on the part of the researcher, as theoretical assumptions about portfolio distribution operate with decimal numbers, whereas in reality one operates with natural numbers.

Failing Policies or Failing Politicians? Policy Failures in Hungary

Gyorgy Hajnal — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:19:02 PST

Existing research results concerning governments’ failure to run effective policies mainly concern, and emanate from, Western democracies. Therefore, it is not surprising that problems of the so-called transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are little discussed and understood. The article’s aim is to narrow this gap in knowledge by analyzing policy failures from one of the region’s countries, Hungary. The article proposes three, possibly novel, types of policy failure. The first one originates from an unusually strong imbalance between policymakers’ personal interests and the formal policy goals, reflecting the lack of even a minimum level of the (party) political elites’ ability to counteract centrifugal forces driven by individual interests. The second type of failure — coined “regulatory impotence” — is related to a dysfunctionally strong protection of lawbreakers’ right to fair procedure vis-à-vis the state. Finally, the third factor of policy failure, “implementation bargain,” emerges when key implementation actors, even in the lack of a proper legal mandate, set out to bargain and strike deals among themselves about the extent to which they are going to implement the given policy.

A Critical Look at Critical Realism: Some Observations on the Problems of the Metatheory

Juha Käpylä et al. — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:31:26 PST

International Relations as a scientific discipline can be considered elusive and, in a sense, “under debate.” A distinctive feature of the theoretical debates of the discipline has been the various calls for different kinds of theoretical and metatheoretical “turns.” In this atmosphere, the return of ontologically oriented IR theorizing based on Critical Realism has increased in influence. The aim of this article is to problematize some of the formulations of Critical Realist metatheory, especially in relation to the notions of correspondence, retroduction and emergence. The article will argue that in the context of the social sciences, two things are highly problematic. The first problem is the quest for establishing “heavy ontological furniture” as a backbone for scientific research. The second problem is the attempt to combine the fallibility of human knowledge with the “getting things right” attitude based on correspondence-like concepts of truth. The article concludes with a recommendation for a healthy caution towards the Critical Realist aspiration for the “ontological turn” in the social sciences.

Interdependence and Political Ideology: The Conditional Diffusion of Cigarette Taxation in U.S. States

Christian W. Martin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:32:06 PST

This paper presents inquiries into the interdependence of cigarette taxation in U.S. states between 1971 and 2006. It is argued that diffusion influences emanating from the tax policies of other states have an effect that is conditional upon the government ideology in a focal state. Specifically, it is shown that only those state governments that are not positioned on the far right end of an ideology continuum use an environment of high cigarette taxes to pursue their fiscal and health policy goals. At the same time, interventionist ideology can only be effective if it operates within a favorable policy environment. I argue that casting policy diffusion as conditional allows for empirically more accurate and theoretically richer models.

History of the Word “Democracy” in Canada and Québec: A Political Analysis of Rhetorical Strategies

Francis Dupuis-Déri — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:40:50 PDT

An examination of the speeches of modern Canada’s “founding fathers” reveals that they were openly antidemocratic. How did a regime founded on anti-democratic ideas come to be positively identified with democracy? Drawing on similar studies of the United States and France, this analysis of the history of the term democracy in Canada shows that the country’s association with democracy was not due to constitutional or institutional changes that might have justified re-labelling the country’s political regime. Rather, it was the result of discursive strategies employed by the political elite to strengthen its ability to mobilize the masses during the World Wars.

The Globalization of the U.S.-Style Regulatory State and Domestic Institutional Diversity: A Comparative Study of the Financial Services Sector and the Communications Sector in Britain and Japan

Hironori Wada — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:52:08 PDT

The adoption of U.S.-style independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) such as the FCC and the SEC has become increasingly pervasive in advanced nations. Much recent political analysis of public regulation tends to regard this worldwide spread of the American model, or “regulatory state,” as a typical example of a policy diffusion mechanism, such as emulation or regulatory competition. After critically examining that view, this article develops an alternative framework that combines international structural forces, such as techno-economic changes and ideational factors, and domestic institutional factors, in particular, path dependence of historical institutions. The cross-national and cross-sectoral case analysis (the financial services and communications sector in Britain and Japan) demonstrates that while apparent convergence on the American model is due to international structural forces, national and sectoral differences with respect to the extent of organizational changes depend largely on domestic institutions. This finding suggests that, facing complex dynamism between international structural forces and domestic institutions, each national government chooses the feature of regulatory organization independently from other nation’s decisions, rather than interdependently as assumed in the policy diffusion approach.

Political Dilemmas and the Institutional Foundation of Economic Development

Mogens K. Justesen — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:20:18 PDT

Differences in property rights institutions are often thought to contribute to explaining cross-national differences in economic development. If secure and universally enforced property rights help produce collectively beneficial economic results, the question is why there is so much variation in the institutions and rules that regulate property rights. Based on institutional analysis, the purpose of this article is to analyse why some states and governments establish and enforce property rights that are good for growth while others do not. The argument is that the incentive to enforce and protect property rights is shaped by particular political institutions, namely those that relate to the size of a government’s supporting coalition and the extent of power sharing among veto players. The empirical analyses show that coalition institutions are strongly related to property rights while the impact of power sharing is less robust.