Parties in Elections, Parties in Government, and Partisan Bias

Adam Meirowitz Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 e-mail: ameirowi{at}princeton.edu Thomas Romer Department of Politics and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 e-mail: romer{at}princeton.edu Political parties are active when citizens choose among candidatesin elections and when winning candidates choose among policyalternatives in government. But the inextricably linked institutions,incentives, and behavior that determine these multistage choicesare substantively complex and analytically unwieldy, particularlyif modeled explicitly and considered in total, from citizenpreferences through government outcomes. To strike a balancebetween complexity and tractability, we modify standard spatialmodels of electoral competition and governmental policy-makingto study how components of partisanship—such as candidateplatform separation in elections, party ID-based voting, nationalpartisan tides, and party-disciplined behavior in the legislature—arerelated to policy outcomes. We define partisan bias as the distancebetween the following two points in a conventional choice space:the ideal point of the median voter in the median legislativedistrict and the policy outcome selected by the elected legislature.The study reveals that none of the party-in-electorate conditionsis capable of producing partisan bias independently. Specifiedcombinations of conditions, however, can significantly increasethe bias and/or the variance of policy outcomes, sometimes insubtle ways.     

Language, myths and rhetoric

Political language can evoke a set of mythic beliefs in subtle and powerful ways. Murray Edelman is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a consultant to various national and state commissions concerned with economics planning and collective bargaining. He has published widely in the fields of political psychology, labor management relations and public policy. His recent workds include The Symbolic Uses of Politics, Politics as Symbolic Action: Mass Arousal and Quiescenceand American Polities: Public Policy, Conflict and Change.     

Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft in Deutschland — Themen, Konjunkturen, Tendenzen, internationale Einordnung

The sub-discipline of Comparative Politics is characterized by a specific subject-matter, the systematic analysis of political systems and their sub-systems, and the application of specific comparative methods. This overview, therefore, deals with both new developments in comparative methodology and their epistemological foundations and recent substantive concerns and developments. Thereby, the strong linkages within the European and international context are also taken into account. It becomes apparent that increasing international tendencies of “globalization” and the internal dynamics of political systems interact in ways which lead to a blurring of the sub-disciplines of Comparative Politics and International Relations. These tendencies are, so far, not adequately dealt with, neither theoretically nor methodologically. On the whole, this review of German Comparative Politics as a very active and, by now, quantitatively dominating sub-discipline concludes with a moderately positive assessment. In this respect, some personal views of the author, who has been involved in these developments for more than forty years now, are probably inevitable.     

Political Learning from Rare Events: Poisson Inference, Fiscal Constraints, and the Lifetime of Bureaus

David E. Lewis Woodrow Wilson School and Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 e-mail: delewis{at}princeton.edu How do political actors learn about their environment when the"data" provided by political processes are characterized byrare events and highly discontinuous variation? In such learningenvironments, what can theory predict about how learning actorswill take costly actions that are difficult to reverse (e.g.,eliminating programs, approving a risky new product, revisinga security policy, firing or recalling an appointed or electedofficial)? We develop a formal model for this problem and applyit to the termination of bureaucratic agencies. The conventionalwisdom that "the older a bureau is, the less likely it is todie" (Downs 1967, Inside Bureaucracy) persists but has neverbeen properly tested. This paper offers a learning-based stochasticoptimization model of agency termination that offers two counterintuitivepredictions. First, politicians terminate agencies only afterlearning about them, so the hazard of agencies should be nonmonotonic,contradicting Downs's prediction. Second, if terminating agenciesis costly, agencies are least likely to be terminated when politiciansare fiscally constrained or when the deficit is high. We assessthe model by developing a battery of tests for the shape ofthe hazard function and estimate these and other duration modelsusing data on U.S. federal government agencies created between1946 and 1997. Results show that the hazard rate of agency terminationis strongly nonmonotonic and that agencies are less likely tobe terminated under high deficits and divided government. Forthe first 50 years of the agency duration distribution, themodal termination hazard occurs at five years after agenciesare enabled. Methodologically, our approach ties the functionalform of a hazard model tightly to theory and presents an applied"agenda" for testing the shape of an empirical hazard function.With extensions, our model and empirical framework are applicableto a range of political phenomena.     

Aristotle and the Eleatic Stranger on the Nature and Purpose of Political Life

This article argues that Book I of the Politics represents Aristotle's critique of Plato's Eleatic Stranger on the specific character of political rule and the knowledge required for political rule, and that this critique produces a different understanding of the proper division of regimes and the relationship between political theory and practice. These differences can be traced to a more fundamental disagreement about nature: Aristotle sees nature as generally hospitable to human life and argues that the natural end or goal of political association is not mere life but the good life, while the Eleatic perceives nature as hostile and proposes a minimalist politics, aimed primarily at preserving life. Although the Eleatic's view of nature might appear to be closer to and more compatible with modern political thought, the conception of nature Aristotle presents in his Politics offers richer possibilities for political theory and political life.     

Negotiating universalism in India and Latin America: Fiscal decentralization,subnational politics and social outcomes

ABSTRACT

This is the introductory paper for a special issue which focuses on an exploration of how vertical inter-governmental political and fiscal bargains and horizontal variation in political, social and economic conditions across regions contribute to or undermine the provision of inclusive and sustainable social policies at the subnational level in Latin America and India. The papers incorporate both federal, as well as decentralized unitary states, pointing to common political tensions across unitary and federal settings despite the typically greater institutionalization of regional autonomy in federal countries. Jointly, the papers examine the territorial dimension of universalism and explore, in greater and empirical detail, the causal links between fiscal transfers, social policies and outcomes, highlighting the political dynamics that shape fiscal decentralization reforms and the welfare state. This introductory essay reviews existing scholarship, and highlights the contribution of the special issue to understanding these issues beyond OECD contexts.     

From a Positive to a Cultural Science: Towards a New Rationale for Political Studies

This article surveys developments in recent social theory in the course of outlining a new rationale for Politics following the subject's own expansion and in the light of developments in post-empiricist thought. It suggests reasons for thinking of Politics as a cultural rather than a positive science. It outlines a number of core or primary political problems which comprise the intellectual foundations of the discipline. It suggests, overall, that Politics is especially concerned with maintaining and improving the viability of human association(s) in the light of conditions created by the rise and expansion of complex societies.     

Searching for a New Politics: The New Politics Movement and the Struggle to Democratize the Democratic Party, 1968–1978

By the late 1960s, the Democratic Party had fallen into crisis. Vietnam, urban riots, and declining electoral fortunes marked a crossroads in the history of the party, raising questions about the meaning and trajectory of postwar liberalism. Amid the political chaos and economic crisis of the 1970s, a distinct political tendency running through the civil rights, feminist, labor, and antiwar movements demanded a new politics. The New Politics movement attempted to reform and realign the Democratic Party to the left. Reformers perceived party rules and structure as constraining progressives’ influence on public policy. Their project to democratize the Democratic Party began in the wake of the 1968 party crisis, and it ended ten years later with the failure to compel a sitting Democratic president and Democratic Congress to implement the party’s program for full employment. While faced with organized intraparty resistance, the failure of the New Politics movement hinged on the contradictory consequences of its struggle to open the party. The successes and failures of the New Politics movement suggest the limits and possibilities confronting progressive forces in the United States today. The New Politics episode can help clarify the goals and tactics involved in realigning American politics in a more progressive direction.     

Martin Luther King's Civil Disobedience and the American Covenant Tradition

Daniel J. Elazar introduced the covenant idea to political sciencein his four-volume work, The Covenant Tradition in Politics.As he showed, American government and society are indebted tocovenant ways of New England Puritans and their doctrine, "federaltheology". Puritan covenants fostered polities whose framesof government and patterns of civil order established a federalmatrix antecedent to modern American federalism. The moral orientationof covenant has also influenced modern American political thought,as evidenced by the public philosophy articulated by the Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement(1954–1968). In such works as "The Letter from the BirminghamCity Jail," King challenged his contemporaries' ideas aboutlaw and justice, Americans with an opportunity to examine moderncovenant practice.     

‘New politics’ in Finland: The greens and the left wing in the 1990s

This article examines the development of two Finnish political parties (the Green Association and the Left‐Wing Alliance) from a ‘New Politics’ perspective, focusing on changes in their electoral, programmatic and organisational profiles, with emphasis on the composition and value‐related features of their electorates in 1991, 1995 and 1999. The results confirm the position of the Greens as the prime representative of New Politics; but the party has moved away from its anti‐establishment role and its supporters increasingly share the social and attitudinal characteristics of the average electorate. The UNA, on the other hand, has moved towards a New Politics profile and a gradual dealignment of its old male‐dominated working class electorate; but its central characteristics and its supporters are still firmly entrenched in an old leftist format.     

The Institutionalist: A Conversation with Hugh Heclo

This interview marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of Hugh Heclo's classic, A Government of Strangers: Executive Politics in Washington. This engaging conversation touches on such wide-ranging themes as Heclo's early mentorship by Aaron Wildavsky; his nurturing apprenticeship at the Brookings Institution, leading to the publication of A Government of Strangers; the increasingly intense partisanship and schism within the executive branch between career federal bureaucrats and political appointees; the conduct of presidential administrations as never-ending political marketing campaigns; the cynical harnessing of religion in the service of policy objectives; public service and institutional commitment; and the need for political leadership to engage the public honestly and responsibly on matters of fiscal concern.     

Faces of Federalism: From Bullinger to Jefferson

This study argues that the eighteenth-century political philosophyof federalism found its roots in covenant theology of earlyReformed Protestantism in Zurich. It contends that there wasa progression covenant or federal thought from the first publishedarticulation of the theological covenant by Bullinger in 1534,through the use of the covenant notion in defense of tyrannicideby Philippe Mornay, to Johannes Althusius's political philosophyof federalism, as well as the political theories Thomas Hobbesand John Locke, to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutionof the United States. These different faces or variations offederalism shared several common elements over the 250-yearspan.     

Federalism and Compounded Representation: Key Concepts and Project Overview

Interested in bringing together federalism and political representationas two distinct areas of research in comparative politics, thisedition of Publius: The Journal of Federalism introduces a collaborativeresearch project that raised questions about the impact of institutionalarrangements on strategies for political representation. Definitionsof the project's two key concepts of federalism and compoundedrepresentation are briefly addressed initially. Summaries arepresented of how these two concepts are empirically appliedin the studies by the five scholars presented in this volume.     

Federalism at the American Founding: In Defense of the Diamond Theses

Vincent Ostrom's analysis of The Federalist's understandingof federalism fails to consider the historical and theoreticalcontext of The Federalist's arguments. Ostrom takes certainrhetorical devices of The Federalist too much at face value.He correctly sees that the authors of The Federalist view eighteenth-centuryfederalism as bad government. He incorrectly concludes thatsince it is bad government, that understanding could not havebeen the true meaning of federalism. The Federalist understandseighteenth-century federalism to be "the true meaning" of federalismas established by the political discourse of the times. TheConstitution departs radically from eighteenth-century federalism,but The Federalist seeks to conceal how radical the departureis, in part, by offering a looser definition of federalism thatwill allow the Constitution to be characterized as a federalsystem. A consideration of the writings of the opponents tothe Constitution suggests the limited success of this attemptat redefinition.     

论政治与冲突的内在关系

政治源于冲突，冲突是政治生活的内在属性，政治与冲突有着不可分割的内在联系。无论是从人类社会历史的发展进程，还是从具体政治系统运行过程来看，冲突都是政治生活中不可避免的现象，冲突与政治如影相随。因此，和谐社会并非是没有冲突的社会，它是成功实现从冲突到秩序转化的社会。     

Federalism and Education Planning in the Federal Republic of Germany

In 1969 demands for greater rationality in education planninggave rise to new institutionalized forms of cooperation betweenthe federation and the Länder. Conflicts between the federaland Land governments, partisan conflicts, and financial conflictsoverlapped this cooperation. Despite the fact that the formalcapacity for dealing with conflicts had many shortcomings, ajoint general plan for education was issued in 1973 as a resultof favorable economic and political conditions. However, in1978 the federal government failed in its attempt to utilizethe dissatisfaction with the existing system of cooperationto extend its responsibilities for education. The deteriorationin economic and political conditions led to an end of effortsto formulate a general plan for education in 1982 and reducedthe scale of joint activities. Forms of educational cooperationbetween the federation and the Länder still exist, butthey no longer fulfill their original purpose. The centralizationof decisionmaking, which was originally expected, never cameinto being.     

Change in Dutch political culture: A silent or a silenced revolution?

Dutch political culture is often regarded as an important example of the rise and spread of ‘New Politics’ since the late 1960s. Recently, some authors have argued that such expectations about changes in political values, political interest, political participation, and the party system would not survive empirical testing. However, by taking rates of change rather than absolute levels, by re‐examining the evidence in the light of more recent data, and by distinguishing short‐term period effects from a long‐term trend, it is shown that tremendous changes in Dutch political culture have taken place, and are still taking place.     

“一体双权”:中国政治学的一个分析框架——与景跃进教授商榷和对话

在《中国政治学的转型:分化与定位》一文中,景跃进教授将政治共同体确立为中国政治学的逻辑起点,揭示维系中国大一统的集权逻辑,搭建了一个国体、政体和政治共同体“三位一体”的中国政治学分析框架。景跃进教授提出的问题及所做出的分析极具启发性,但仍有进一步商榷和对话的空间。中国政治学研究的逻辑起点是现代性的国家共同体;现代性国家共同体既服从统一逻辑,又遵循共和逻辑。在“一体双权”的中国政治学分析框架中,“一体”是指现代国家共同体以主权独立、领土完整、国族一体等为核心内容的一体格局和统一状态,体现统一逻辑;“双权”则包括“民权”和“国权”,处理二者之关系的制度安排事关共和逻辑能否得到实现。相对于“三位一体”的中国政治学分析框架,“一体双权”有一定的理论优势,有可能拓展中国政治学的学术研究范围,为中国政治学和西方政治学的对话提供更加开放的交集空间。