The political and partisan determinants of patronage in Latin America 1960–1994: A comparative perspective

Abstract. Countries vary substantially in the level of political patronage exercised in their respective political systems. This article examines how hypotheses generated by the literature on economic, institutional-partisan and electoral factors account for variation in the level of political patronage in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Political patronage – operationalized as the proportion of spending on personnel to total spending, both at the central government and ministerial levels – is examined through a pooled cross-sectional time-series regression. Previous spending on personnel has the most consistent effect on political patronage, while the influence of political variables is more ambiguous. In contrast to conjectures that tie personalism and clientelism, it is shown that the presence of personalist parties in the legislature is negatively associated with patronage spending. Subsequently, the evolution of personnel expenditure in Argentina and Peru is traced, based on qualitative evidence and interview data.     

新时代深入实施精准扶贫的政治意义

从2013年习近平总书记在湖南考察时正式提出精准扶贫到十三五规划的制定,不难看出党和国家对扶贫攻坚的决心和希望。2017年召开了党的十九大,报告指出中国特色社会主义正式进入新时代,也意味着中国进入了全面建成小康社会的决胜时期。而扶贫攻坚作为最后的推手也成为检验全面小康社会是否顺利建成的标准。新时代下的精准扶贫战略作为习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的重要组成部分,从加强党的领导、保障民生、决胜全面小康、实现共同富裕四个方面体现了特殊的政治意义。     

Large firms as political actors: A comparative analysis of the chemical industry in Britain,Italy and West Germany

Large firms as political actors are compared in the chemical industry in three countries. In West Germany, co‐ordinated action through the industry associations is important, but firms are developing their own political capabilities. In Italy links with political parties are important, but the operating environment of firms has become less politicised. Britain conforms more to a ‘company state’ model, with the government relations divisions of firms playing a key role. The greatest divergence between the three countries is in terms of relationships with political parties. In general, there is a trend towards greater convergence in government‐business relations in the industry in the three countries, internationalisation being a key factor.     

新时代加强党员政治纪律意识的途径探讨

党的十八大以来,以习近平同志为总书记的党中央反复要求党员干部必须严守"党的纪律"和"党的规矩",并多次强调"党的政治纪律和政治规矩"是事关党的路线、立场和事业兴衰的关键。具体落实,就是要求广大党员增强政治纪律意识。党员的政治纪律意识的强弱关系到党的团结统一、党决策的贯彻落实。从严治党以来,部分党员仍然出现了例如妄议中央、搞小山头等一系列问题,影响恶劣。只有党员干部带头,并且完善党内制度、加强外部监督,才能促进党员政治意识的提高,实现从严治党。     

试论网络时代下大学生思想政治教育

大学生网民是我国网民群体的重要组成部分.网络在给大学生思想政治教育带来新机遇的同时,也给大学生思想政治教育带来了新挑战,可谓机遇与挑战并存.切实做好网络时代下大学生思想政治教育工作,要观念先行,充分认识到网络时代下大学生思想政治教育的重要性与必要性;加强大学生的法制教育,强化其网络道德自律;与时俱进,强化"两课"教育与网络的有机结合;积极构建和谐校园网络文化.     

《共产党宣言》对新时代共产党人的政治要求

《共产党宣言》是世界上第一部无产阶级政党的纲领性文件,也是马克思主义经典著作当中具有里程碑意义的著作。《共产党宣言》对无产阶级政党、共产党人的本质、属性以及奋斗目标做了详细的论述,其中蕴含着衡量共产党人的政治标准。新时代下,《共产党宣言》对中国共产党人提出了基本的政治要求,对我国党员发展工作极具现实指导意义。     

Public protection against misperceived risks: Insights from positive political economy

Citizens often misperceive the nature of risks they face and the impacts of alternative actions on those risks. For example, consumers may underestimate the probability of flood in their area, or they may underestimate the beneficial effect of passive restraints on the likelihood of automobile accident fatality. But recommendations that the government should mandate optimal purchases are often ignored by politicians or rejected in favor of direct public compensation. This paper uses some simple models of public choice to explain why other remedies are used; it explicitly accounts for the fact that the same ignorant consumer whose behavior would have to be constrained are the ones whom the politician must please. In a simple world-of-equals model, such consumer-voters may well favor the alternative devices of implicit mutual insurance and conditional payment. When voters are heterogeneous, the political equilibrium (if one exists) is shown to depend upon the distribution of voters by perceived net benefit of public action and of taxes. Public action may be least feasible exactly when it would do the most good.     

The development of political science in Bulgaria: A discipline in transition

Abstract. After the radical political changes of 1989, new possibilities for the development of political science appeared in Bulgaria. The discipline went through its own transitional periods. The first was the legitimisation of political science and its institutionalisation in the major academic institutions. The second, which remains at an early stage, is the establishment of a community of scholars and university staff with the necessary theoretical knowledge and resources for assuring its development. Of the major challenges which political science is facing today, one is the need to ensure the expansion of the community of scholars who are sufficiently familiar with recent developments in the discipline. Another is the need to overcome the politicisation of the discipline which was typical of many social scientists (and especially political scientists) at the beginning of the period of change. To an increasing extent, political science is not merely a product of democracy but also one of the major scientific resources for achieving its consolidation.     

The motives of political party activists: A factor-analytic exploration

Students of political motives have had difficulty relating operational indicators to the conceptual framework (associated with Clark and Wilson) that has dominated the field. The present analysis suggests that since this framework is concerned with organizational incentives rather than with individual motives, some fine tuning of the three dimensions included in the original typology may be in order and two additional dimensions need to be added. While this revised framework does not lend itself to the tangible versus nontangible motives overlay conventionally associated with the original framework, a perhaps more useful overlay is suggested which may contribute to a better understanding of what distinguishes party activists from those persons who restrict themselves to more elementary forms of political expression.     

The political economy of distribution in developing countries: A rent-seeking approach

Economic development in many Third World countries after independence has been biased in the sense that some, mainly urban, social groups have gained much more than the majority of the population who lives in rural areas or urban shantytowns. That bias is to a large extent caused by government policy and, accordingly, by an uneven distribution of political influence. This paper contains an analytical model reflecting the bias in the distribution of the benefits and costs of public sector activities, where those activities are determined by the distribution of political influence. The main elements of the distribution of political influence are determined in a rent-seeking game between society' different social groups.     

Symposium: Part I: Public Intellectuals Then and Now

The French political thinker Raymond Aron (1905–1983) provides the imitable model of the political philosopher as civic educator. Writing in an age of extreme ideological polarization, he aimed at a truly balanced approach to historical and political understanding. In a series of writings from the late 1930’s onward, Aron defended a principled middle way between Machiavellian cynicism and the “abstract moralism” so evident in the public engagement of modern intellectuals. Aron argued for the renewal of liberalism on the foundation of a broad-based “democratic conservatism” and displayed remarkable lucidity regarding the totalitarian temptation. This paper explores this distinctive notion of “democratic conservatism”—equally distant from revolutionary romanticism and reactionary nostalgia—that guided Aron’s public engagement over a fifty-year period and that was central to his idea of the political responsibility of intellectuals.

Achieving optimal fines for political bribery: A suggested political reform

Allowing appropriately high fines for political bribery would eliminate: (1) the large and allocatively arbitrary bribes paid to our most senior, retiring, politicians (2) the more moderate, but ubiquitous and still allocatively arbitrary bribes paid to less senior, but strategically successful, politicians, and (3) the permanent loss, through censure or expulsion, of some highly proficient, but strategically less successful, legislative representatives. Moreover, with fines appropriately set, the incentives theoretically describing the entire political system would be elevated from allocative arbitrariness to approximately Pareto optimal levels. However, to create legislatures generally willing to support these wholesale political-economic improvements, legally trained individuals must be exorcized from the legislatures.     

简析新时代高校思想政治教育的文化自觉

高校是培养人才的重要场所,肩负培养新时代青年人才的重任。党的十九大报告指出:"青年兴则国家兴,青年强则国家强。"加强新时代高校思想政治教育培养青年人才的作用,吸收、借鉴中华优秀传统文化,推进高校思想政治教育进程,弘扬中华优秀传统文化,为实现伟大的中国梦而努力奋斗。