Retrospective ideological representation and its impact on democratic satisfaction*

Congruence between government policies and citizen preferences is a key element that increases the quality of democracy. While scholars have shown that governments generally adopt ideological positions and propose policies close to citizen preferences, they have neglected to consider whether citizens respond to promises or to actual enactments. The paper addresses this gap in two ways. First, we propose a new measure that captures how close a citizen is on average to the policies enacted by the incumbent government, namely retrospective ideological representation – the ideological distance between the position of a respondent and the incumbent government at the end of its term in office. We show that this measure captures retrospective information associated with governments’ actions and in particular whether the government increases or decreases social spending during its mandate period. Second, we show that retrospective ideological representation has a substantial impact on citizens’ democratic satisfaction and greater than prospective ideological representation – an established measure of congruence – which is the ideological distance between the positions of a respondent and the elected government after an election.     

Examining the Evolution of the Field of Public Administration through a Bibliometric Analysis of Public Administration Review

In 2015, Public Administration Review celebrated its 75th year of publication. For this milestone, the PAR Editorial Board selected the 75 most influential articles in the history of the journal and invited scholars to “revisit a selection of these articles” in order “to take stock of what these articles meant for the field.” Bibliometrics offers a complementary view of the history of a discipline and the evolution of its research and practice agendas through an analysis of its published literature. This article examines the changes over time in PAR from 1940 through 2013 in authorship: contributions, impact, gender composition, institutional and national affiliation, profession as scholar or practitioner, collaboration networks, and the status of the 75 influential articles. Through an extensive quantitative analysis of scholarly production, this article demonstrates PAR’s centrality to the discipline of public administration and its bridging role between public administration and political science.     

The German Gemeinwirtschaftslehre: Implications for modern nonprofit economics

This article examines the way modern nonprofit economics can be informed by the Gemeinwirtschaftslehre, a strand of public and nonprofit economics that was popular in German‐speaking countries until the 1980s. Despite its present decline, the Gemeinwirtschaftslehre yields a valuable implication that nonprofit firms address market failure by supplanting the pecuniary entrepreneurial motivation with a nonpecuniary one. In this article, this implication is used to reconsider two central and controversial issues in modern nonprofit economics: the rationale behind the nondistribution constraint in nonprofit firms, and the integration between the market failure and supply‐side theories of the nonprofit sector. The article concludes by discussing the emerging prospects for empirical research.     

Simpler is better? Analysis of a codesign session with elders

Prototyping plays various roles in software engineering: it can function in an exploratory way in order to gather requirements, or generate an artifact that, through iterative cycles of development, leads to final delivery of the product or system. According to literature (Beaudouin-Lafon, M., and W. Mackay. 2007. “Prototyping Tools and Techniques.” In Human Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals. CRC Press.; Lim, Y. K., E. Stolterman, and J. Tenenberg. 2008. “The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as manifestations of design ideas.” ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 15 (2): 7.), a prototype can be described as an incomplete but flexible communication tool for a design idea, both manifesting and filtering interesting aspects of the original idea. On this basis, we propose a Peircean definition for this tool: a prototype can be considered as a complex set of signs, or better as a text, because each of its features literally “stands for” corresponding features of the final artifact, foreseeing particular aspects or the overall capacity of the outcome. But what happens when stakeholders involved in a project have no or little competence in tools and technologies discussed? Can they correctly interpret a prototype? To answer this question, we propose a Discourse Analysis (Duranti, A. 1997. Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge, Mass: Cambridge University Press; Potter, J. 2004. “Discourse analysis as a way of analyzing naturally occurring talk.” In Qualitative research: Theory, Method and Practice, edited by D. Silverman, 200–221. SAGE; Schegloff, J. 1989. “Harvey Sacks’ lectures on conversation: an Introduction/memoir.” Human Studies 12: 185–209.) of a co-design session with elders of a daily centre for frail adults in Rome. In this context, we could observe how interactions between the material aspect of the prototype (i.e. the product itself) and its intended meaning (i.e. its significance) can produce distortions, in the form of aberrant interpretations or even a complete lack of comprehension. During this communication breakdown, prototypes lose their connection to the features and behaviors of the product: the relation between representamen and interpretant is lost.     

The Guardian and Press Reform: a Wheel Come Full Circle

In the decade 2008–18, between the eruption of the phone hacking scandal and the cancellation of part two of the Leveson Inquiry, the editorial position of The Guardian on press regulation went from indifference to demanding wholesale reform, and then back to indifference and even active opposition to change. Inevitably, this entailed reversals and contradictions, yet these were not acknowledged to the newspaper’s readers, who are left with a misleading impression of continuity. This study, by an academic and journalist who campaigned for regulatory reform throughout this period, aims to shed light on The Guardian’s 360‐degree progression by reference to its editorials and other published statements.     

Empathetic trappings: Revisiting the nineteenth century in Octavia Butler's Kindred

Octavia Butler's 1979 novel, Kindred, is a postmodern slave narrative that redefines the previous literary constructions of slavery in the United States. Through its rejection of the nineteenth century slave narrative and sentimental novel, Kindred highlights the main problem with nineteenth century narrative empathy: Forging an intimate identification between reader and character to enact empathy is founded through the representation of bodies in pain. In place of this identification tactic, Kindred reveals a new critical apparatus, essential for a mobilization of empathy centered on understanding both history and the process of historical recuperation. This investigation of empathy sheds light on the problematic construction of the early liberal human rights model across the Americas, a model centered on promoting identification with the suffering other.     

Indian Federalism and Democracy: The Growing Salience of Diversity-claims Over Equality-claims in Comparative and Indian Perspective

This article introduces a conceptual distinction between diversity-claims and equality-claims in order to reflect critically on the relation between federalism and democracy in India, which is not adequately problematized and somewhat neglected. Federalism and democracy suggest two different problematics, but in India democracy has often played second fiddle to the claims of diversity. As a result, India's success as a federation has not been paralleled by its record as a democracy in terms of its equality functions. Since the article engages with the issue of accommodation of diversity in the wake of federation-building, and the relation between federalism and democracy, critical references are made to the relevant theoretical literature in order to point out federalism's new problematic and its pitfalls. With the Indian case as a major illustration, it is shown here that the institutional arrangements and governing practices have overwhelmingly been given priority to meet the claims of diversity to the relative neglect of equality-claims.     

Designing stakeholder consultations: Reinforcing or alleviating bias in the European Union system of governance?

Consultations with stakeholders are a policy instrument widely used by policy makers to design policies and prepare legislative proposals across national and supranational systems of government. The European Union has recently reviewed its stakeholder consultation regime and asked for stakeholders’ policy input. This offers an opportunity to examine empirically stakeholders’ own evaluation of the regime and to ask a fundamental question about its democratic credentials: Do stakeholders recognise the EU consultation regime as reinforcing bias in interest representation by benefiting policy insiders, or conversely as an instrument that alleviates bias in supranational policy making? Building on rational choice institutionalism, this article outlines the potential distributional outcomes of the regime and argues that they are likely to vary along the lines of a classic divide in policy making that opposes policy insiders to outsiders. Two competing narratives are discussed in relation to the expected direction of this variation by focusing on insiders’ incentives to support or oppose the regime. The observable implications are tested empirically on an original dataset containing information about stakeholders’ positions on the evaluation of the regime status quo, its proposed further institutionalisation and their recommendations for change. The findings describe a consultation regime that seems to have created conditions alleviating bias in stakeholders’ participation in supranational policy making. This is evident in the lack of systematic, significant differences between insiders and outsiders in the evaluation of the consultation regime. Where differences do occur, they are consistent with the image of a consultation regime that has not reinforced bias in favour of policy insiders. These actors are found to be more critical of the regime status quo, its institutionalisation and more inclined to recommend policy improvements. This supports an optimistic view over the democratic credentials and legitimacy of the EU consultation regime and outlines an additional scenario under which policy actors that are traditionally associated with exerting more power and influence find themselves stripped of their privileged position in the context of European supranational governance.     

Neutrality of what?

In what sense should a liberal state be neutral between the conceptions of the good held by its citizens? Traditionally, liberals have provided two different answers to this question. Some have adopted a conception of neutrality of justification, while others a conception of neutrality of effects. Recently, Alan Patten has defended an alternative, novel and sophisticated, conception of neutrality – neutrality of treatment. In this article I assess whether neutrality of treatment is, in fact, a superior conception of neutrality. I try to show that neutrality of treatment suffers from the very same weaknesses that Patten attributes to its alternatives and that, overall, neutrality of justification, properly construed, provides a more promising account of both the sense in which a state ought to be neutral and of the object of neutrality. Finally, I argue for a broader account of the normative bases of liberal neutrality than the one proposed by Patten. This account includes, beyond considerations of fairness, a relational principle of equal standing.     

Party factions and the politics of coalition: Japanese politics under the “system of 1955”

The Liberal Democratic Party continuously held an absolute majority in the Japanese Lower House, under the Gojyûgonen taisei (System of 1955), from its founding in 1955 until its break-up and temporary fall from power in 1993. Until 1989, it also had a majority in the Upper House. Unlike the Italian DC, the Japanese dominant party never formally entered into coalition with another party — except for a single minor occurrence¹. Despite this continuity at one level, 15 different prime ministers presided over 48 Japanese cabinets formed between 1955 and 1993, whose average duration was 9.4 months. The re-allotment of all cabinet portfolios and party posts took place every year with a metronomic regularity and these realignments were fully-fledged exercises in coalition-building even though only one party was involved. This cabinet instability has provided evidence for the view that the LDP surrendered both policy- and decision-making power to the bureaucracy. But, since the LDP clung to the practice of yearly cabinet reshuffles rather than remedying this by simply changing the party constitution, the consequent weakening of the executive power cannot have been seen as having imposed a heavy cost. And, since the LDP held onto power for such a long time, it is obvious that this cost was successfully managed. The purpose of this paper is to treat the one-party Gojyûgonen taisei system as an important case study for coalition theory, relaxing the assumption of the LDP as an unitary actor and considering the party as a political system in its own right.     

Ideology and Post-structuralism after Bernard Stiegler

What is the objective of ideology critique today? A unique answer to this question can be found in the work of Bernard Stiegler: the object of ideology critique is stupidity. Stiegler’s work will be situated with regard to the study of ideology and post-structuralism, reframed as respective versions of a dichotomy between critical and neutral theories, to show how Stiegler’s conception of ideology encompasses both. How he thinks ideology ‘after’ post-structuralism will be explored through his reading of Deleuze and Guattari. First, by seeing how Stiegler capitalizes upon the theoretical developments of Deleuze and Guattari to rethink the notion of ideology. Second, by seeing how this understanding of ideology is folded back on their work in order to discern how post-structuralism can be critiqued by a theory of ideology that utilizes its views. From the perspective of his reading of desire in Deleuze, Guattari and Freud, Stiegler shows how ideology destroys the desire to rethink ideas, and enforces stupidity. Third, after Stiegler’s theoretical labour, we arrive at a notion of ideology dichotomized between the critical and the stupid, tasking critique with the invention of new forms of desire, and the struggle against stupidity.     

The rise of the constitutional regulatory state in Colombia: The case of water governance

This article interprets the regulatory state in Colombia as the result of a dialectic process between transnational knowledge and domestic politics, which influence, transform, and inspire each other. Such a process results in an interesting constitutional variant of the regulatory state, in which neo‐constitutionalism becomes a counterbalance to the unchecked expansion of neo‐liberal regulatory practices. I, therefore, distinguish between neoliberal and constitutional regulatory states. As a result of neo‐constitutionalism, the domestic judiciary is empowered, and becomes a crucial actor to understand both the specific traits of this regulatory experience, and its interaction with global centers of power.     

Does the Charter Form Improve the Fiscal Health of Counties?

The public administration literature has paid attention to the relationship between the structure of a government and its ability to provide public services, reflected by its fiscal health. Although this literature has provided a useful understanding of government structures, it has largely ignored the charter form of government. As a formal written document that grants counties the power of self‐governance, a charter frees the county from state control. Included in this freedom is the ability to establish its own tax policies and services. In this article, the effects of charter adoption on fiscal health are tested using Florida county data from 1980 to 2012. The results show that the presence of a charter can improve the fiscal health of a county, which, in turn, can affect overall service provision.     

‘An Internal Housekeeping Matter’:1 Whitehall and the BBC Monitoring Service

For over 65 years the BBC Monitoring Service has been providing Whitehall and its diplomatic, intelligence and security communities with a rich seam of ‘open‐source’ information mined from the word's media. However, while the continued importance of this work remains undisputed, in 2003 the future of the Monitoring Service was brought into serious doubt as a result of a proposed major reduction in its government funding. The source of this problem was a decade old dispute between sponsoring government departments over where the burden of responsibility lay for the costs of the service. The ensuing deadlock led the Intelligence and Security Co‐ordinator, Sir David Omand, to commission a Review of BBC Monitoring by Sir Quentin Thomas whose recommendations formed the basis of a new funding and governance regime for the Monitoring Service. This is the story of that dispute and the means used to achieve its eventual resolution.     

Sudpolitik: the political economy of Taiwan's trade with Southeast Asia

Abstract

In December 1993 the Taiwan government adopted a policy called nanjin zhengce or sudpolitik, a policy aimed at diverting part of Taiwan's trade and investment flows from China to Southeast Asia. This paper addresses the following questions: what is sudpolitik? why adopt such a policy? what are the economic, political, and strategic considerations in the pursuit of this policy? which countries are its specific targets? how do the countries directly affected by this policy respond to it? The paper also discusses the issue of Taiwan's aid in connection with sudpolitik. While the effectiveness of the policy is far from clear at present, the paper concludes with four observations: Taiwan's trade and aid are beginning to intertwine; Taiwan's diplomacy is largely economically or commercially led; Taiwan has achieved some positive results in improving its relations with Southeast Asian countries; and, Taiwan has reached a new stage in its economic development whereby it needs to invest overseas in order to sustain its economic growth. Overall, sudpolitik represents a novel step in Taiwan's diplomatic practice.     

Taiwan and the geopolitics of late development

Abstract

Through a case study of Taiwan, this paper seeks to address recent debates surrounding the transformation of developmental states in East Asia. Whilst a number of authors have cited the Taiwanese state as being both cautious and resilient in the midst of global restructuring, this paper seeks to critically engage with such arguments by highlighting the dynamic and mutually constitutive relations between the forms of social relations that underpin late development and the wider geopolitical system in which such development occurs. Specifically, Taiwanese industrialisation can be viewed as an outcome of the US intervention in the Chinese civil war and subsequent exclusion of China from the regional political economy in the period between the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The Kuomintang (KMT)'s retreat to Taiwan established the basis for the autonomous developmental state, and the US underpinned this state through military protection, aid and access to its own domestic market. However, the relative decline of US hegemony and the readmission of China into the international system have posed significant challenges to Taiwan's developmental state. The US sought to redress its trade imbalance with East Asia by placing pressure on Taiwan to liberalise its political economy. Furthermore, the very process of development itself served to undermine the autonomy of the state as it came under pressure from new social forces. Taiwan has more recently been faced with a dilemma of closer integration with the mainland or the maintenance of its de facto economic and political independence at the risk of becoming isolated from the global trading system.     

From issues to goals: a novel conceptualisation,measurement and research design for comprehensive analysis of electoral competition

Abstract

The analysis of issue politics has long suffered from a fragmentation between valence and positional conceptualisations, preventing the effective development of a general model of issue-based party competition. Building on an overview of the evolution of party competition in the Western world in recent decades, this article offers a theoretical development that builds on ‘issue yield’ theory to provide a conceptualisation of political goals that generalises across positional and valence issues. This in turn allows a common measurement strategy, offering the possibility to comparatively assess various characteristics (including the electoral potential) of both positional and valence issues. Finally, it describes the specific research design derived from this framework and its implementation in comparative perspective in six West European countries during 2017–2018.     

The groupuscularization of neo-Nazism in Germany: the case of the Aktionsbüro Norddeutschland

Since the beginning of the 1990s, in the aftermath of a series of brutal attacks on foreigners and asylum-seekers, seventeen neo-Nazi organizations have been banned in Germany. In addition, public events such as the yearly marches in honour of Rudolf Hess have been prohibited. It is for this reason that some members of the neo-Nazi movement have turned to the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany), which, under a new leadership, has opened its ranks to neo-Nazi skinheads. Another part of the violent far right has developed new organizational modes of operation, without central, rigid or formal structures. Small, locally based groups—the so-called freie Kameradschaften (free fellowships) have been set up and are operating mainly at a local or regional level. Co-operation between them is ­guaranteed by regular meetings and by longstanding contacts between their leaders. If the freie Kameradschaften are analysed as a social movement, one can identify numerous groupuscules within the German neo-Nazi scene that contribute, each in its own specific way, to its continuity, development and diversification. One of the more relevant of these groupuscules is the Aktionsbüro Norddeutschland (Northern Germany Action Bureau), whose ideology is openly neo-Nazi. Its main field of activity is its Internet website, from which it appeals to its supporters to take part in neo-Nazi demonstrations and virtually organized campaigns.     

To Build A “Harmonious World”: China’s Soft Power Wielding in the Global South

This study attempts to answer a new but important question in China’s foreign policy— how Beijing has wielded its soft power to construct its ideal of international order in the age of China’s rise. Before empirical analyses, this study tries to set up a conceptual framework on the relations between the idea of “harmonious world” and China’s soft power wielding in its rising process. Within this framework, this study examines a rising China’s foreign policies towards three targeted regions in the global south—Africa, East Asia, and Latin America. On the one hand, due to Beijing’s carefully-designed and soft power-based foreign policies, the global south has become an increasingly harmonious environment for Beijing to cultivate a favorable national image, exert its political influence on regional affairs, benefit its own domestic economic developments, etc. On the other hand, some problems such as the so-called “China’s New Colonialism” and the increased vigilance from the other powers have already began to challenge Beijing’s harmony in those regions. Sheng Ding is assistant professor of political science at Bloomsburg University. He received both his masters and doctoral degrees from Rutgers. His research interests include soft power in international relations; transnational identity in globalization; information technology and world politics; politics in Pacific Asia; Chinese politics and foreign policy; U.S.-China relations, etc. His research articles have been published by Pacific Affairs, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics and East Asia: An International Quarterly. The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on the draft of the paper.     

Friendship,Recognition and Social Freedom: A Sociological Reconstruction

In Freedom’s Right, Axel Honneth articulates the social freedom of friendship with reference to its institutionalised norms. These action norms, however, are not specific to friendship; they apply to modern intimacy per se. Such non-specificity cannot adequately account for the experience of social freedom in friendship. Addressing this issue, I evaluate friendship as a form of recognition and identify a generative recognition deficit functional to its relational autonomy. Then, taking Honneth’s institutional approach to friendship as a point of departure, I ascertain an institutional deficit that both sustains friendship’s autonomy and constrains the generalisability of its social freedom by way of institutional connectivity to heterosexuality. I suggest that only a differentiating approach to friendship that fathoms its extraordinary position among interpersonal relationships can yield new insights. That done, friendship can in turn provide a prism through which to assess the conceptual approaches deployed in its analysis.