Political and institutional determinants of fiscal policy in the European Community

In recent theoretical and empirical research the variation in political and institutional arrangements which may affect the process of national policy formation is examined, in order to explain cross-country differences with respect to fiscal policies pursued. In this paper we build upon this literature and examine whether and how cross-country differences in debt accumulation and public sector size of Member Countries of the European Community during the 1980s can be explained. We conclude that the growth of government debt is positively related to the frequency of government changes and negatively to sound budgetary procedures. In countries with left-wing governments the growth of the share of government spending in total output generally tends to be higher.     

马克思主义政治经济学的历史演进及现代动态

诞生于19世纪的马克思主义政治经济学,以其严密的逻辑体系和科学的哲学基础揭开了"资本主义生产的神秘面纱"。为了深刻研究并理解马克思主义政治经济学说的科学性和革命性,就必须明确其来龙去脉。任何社会科学都有时代局限性,马克思主义政治经济学也不例外。迎接挑战,再铸辉煌,马克思主义政治经济学的出路与发展前景是超越传统政治经济学固有的范式,跟上时代步伐,实现现代化,以构建起理论现代化的桥梁。而马克思主义政治经济学的现代化,即坚决反对教条主义,突破"传统范式"与"西化范式"。     

Modeling the influence of polls on elections: a population dynamics approach

We propose a population dynamics model for quantifying the effects of polling data on the outcome of multi-party elections decided by a majority-rule voting process. We divide the population into two groups: committed voters impervious to polling data, and susceptible voters whose decision to vote is influenced by data, depending on its reliability. This population-based approach to modeling the process sidesteps the problem of upscaling models based upon the choices made by individuals. We find releasing poll data is not advantageous to leading candidates, but it can be exploited by those closely trailing. The analysis identifies the particular type of voting impetus at play in different stages of an election and could help strategists optimize their influence on susceptible voters.     

The determinants of cross-border corruption

Public Choice - We reconsider the question of what determines corruption at the cross-national level, using new methods and data: observations of occurrences of cross-national...     

Domestic political determinants of inflation

Abstract. Political economists have advanced a variety of diverse and competing hypotheses to explain the domestic political dimension of inflation. With few exceptions, however, these hypotheses have been tested individually without regard to competing explanations. This study uses pooled time-series data on fifteen industrial democracies to examine five prominent political hypotheses that purport to explain either political pressures that cause inflation or institutional arrangements that insulate governments from these pressures. The results indicate that: (1) Central Bank independence provides an effective counterweight to inflation by insulating monetary policy making from inflationary (particularly, partisan) impulses; (2) Government spending increases caused by distributive and redistributive politics intensify inflationary pressures even in countries with independent Central Banks and neocorporatist arrangements; (3) Inflation is determined partially by the ideology of the party controlling government. Leftist governments in pursuit of income redistribution produce higher inflation than conservative governments; (4) Elections do not have significant effects on inflation under any structural circumstances; and (5) Neocorporatism does not consistently reduce inflation or contain the inflationary effects of partisan manipulation and fiscal expansion. However, neocorporatism may stop inflation if wage moderation by labour is accompanied by the government's commitment to pursue restrictive monetary policy.     

政治文明与政治现代化

我们目前讲政治文明研究具有特殊的语境,那就是我国正在进行社会主义现代化建设。政治文明与政治现代化是并行不悖的,但二者并不能等同:政治现代化是政治文明演进的特殊阶段,政治文明是对政治现代化的正向运动的描述,现代化的政治文明是高度分化整合的政治、理性化的政治和民主化的政治。政治文明的特殊语境及其内在规定性决定了我国政治文明建设要以法治为核心,挖掘制度内的政治资源,依法治国,加强和完善人民代表大会制度。     

Political Involvement and the Development of Political Attitudes

Political socialization research so far has focused primarily on the direction of attitudes among children and youngsters. The preconditions for the development of political attitudes among these age groups have been neglected. In theoretical discussions cognitive development has been offered as a major prerequisite. In the article it is posited that political involvement is a second major prerequisite.
The effects of political involvement are examined with respect to four aspects of political attitudes among Danish school children: the ability to express attitudes, the correlation between indicators of a particular attitude, the stability of attitudes, and the correlation between different attitudes. Except for the stability of attitudes, results are clear. Political involvement is related to the formation of attitudes. The effect of political involvement is stronger than the effect of any of the traditional socio-economic variables ordinarily considered in socialization research.     

Why Political Science Needs Political Theory

Normative political theory and empirical social science have a reciprocal relationship. This thesis is illustrated by taking up two topics: one is social exclusion; the other is ethnicity and discrimination.     

政治文化与政治文明

政治文明是人类运用国家权力配置自身利益的进步状态,主要包括思想认识、心理意识、价值取向、行为方式等的提升和制度、机制、程序、规则等的完善两大部分。其中,政治文化是政治文明的灵魂,也是判定政治文明由低级向高级演进的重要尺度。忽视甚至离开了政治文化的政治文明,必将在实践中萎缩、退化,直至被人类社会政治发展进程所淘汰。     

Political Star Power and Political Parties

Abstract

Political parties, and more specifically public interest groups, budget extensive amounts of time and money to use celebrity endorsers for their candidate. Do celebrities bring forth enough value to warrant the time, effort, and money expended to make their endorsements public? Using a sample of first-time voters from the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, the authors examine the extent to which celebrities influence voting while specifically assessing whether celebrity influence is greater for Republicans or Democrats. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The determinants of minimum wage rates

This paper attempts to test the degree of responsiveness of Canadian provincial governments to different political groups in establishing their relative minimum wage policies over the 1975–1982 period. It discusses alternative explanations of minimum wage policies and focuses on the political market approach, where women, youth, small business and unions play a role. An econometric model is specified and estimated on pooled annual time series and cross-section data for nine provinces in Canada. The results tend to support most of the hypotheses.     

Socioeconomic determinants of migration in Mexico

"This study examines the socioeconomic influence on migration frequency and transitory movements in four Mexican regions. The analysis is based on data gathered from the [Mexican Fertility Survey] 1976-1977, considering the influences of...education, occupation, literacy, place of residence and fertility. The methods used for this analysis were regression and logistic regression." Aspects considered include patterns of internal migration in Mexico, data sources, analysis of independent variables, migration experiences, and age effects. A comment by Carlos Brambila Paz is included (pp. 179-83). (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

政治文化与政治体制改革的关系

政治文化是在长期的社会历史文化传统的影响下形成的某种特定的政治价值观念、政治心理和政治行为模式。它主要包括政治主体对政治体系、政治过程等政治现象以及自身在政治过程中所处的地位和作用的一种态度和价值倾向。政治文化对一个社会的政治有重要影响 ,政治系统也影响政治文化的形成 ,本文试图从两个方面分析政治文化和中国政治体制改革的互动影响。     

政治资源的优化配置与政治文明建设

政治文明应当是政治资源配置相对合理的政治状态.人类政治文明化的过程本身就是一个政治资源优化配置的过程,政治资源的配置往往形成不同的政治形态与政治文明,政治文明建设与政治资源配置相辅相成.新时期政治文明建设的推进,必须建立在优化政治资源的基础之上,必须优化制度资源和意识形态资源的配置,促进政治参与的有序化.     

Political Information, Political Involvement, and Reliance on Ideology in Political Evaluation

Many studies have focused on the relationship between political information and the use of ideology. Here, we argue that two “evaluative motivations”—general investment of the self in politics and extremity of partisanship—serve as moderators of this relationship. Specifically, we use data from two recent national surveys to test whether the possession of information is more strongly associated with a tendency to approach politics in an ideological fashion among individuals high in both types of evaluative motivation. Results supported this hypothesis, revealing that information was more strongly associated with ideological constraint and with a tendency to give polarized evaluations of conservatives and liberals among those who highly invest the self in politics and those with more extreme partisanship. As such, this study suggests that information and involvement interact to shape the use of ideology.     

中国政治现代化进程中的政治文化追问

在中国 ,相对滞后的政治文化是阻碍政治现代化的“瓶颈” ,因此 ,有必要对它发出“再三”追问。追问一是进行政治文化再批判的必要性在哪里 ,如何在再批判中凸显其指导、整合、铸造、调适政治现代化的价值与功用 ;追问二是必然融入全球化的政治文化能否以及怎样闯过“不被淘汰”、“体面融入”、“成为领先的一员”这“三关” ,用以服务于政治现代化 ;追问三是指导并推进政治现代化的政治文化的基础生态要件是什么 ?它们分别是邓小平的民主政治理论、高科技的迅猛发展、对文化与教育事业的高度关注、着力塑造政治文化精英载体。     

Political Science Research Internships and Political Science Education

This article reports on the evaluation of political science research internships and considers their costs and benefits for a political science education. Students indicated high levels of appreciation of the inaugural Political Science Research Internship Unit at the University of Western Australia in terms of its contribution to their personal development and work experience. A substantial number of interns gained insights into the policy process through this form of experiential learning. Many came to appreciate the contingency and the normative dimensions of knowledge in the policy process. Whereas about half of the students found the transition from the seminar room to the policy world difficult, the other half were more successful in applying their theoretical knowledge to practical experiences. The article also indicates how this evaluation informs future course design.