Mapping fears: the use of commercial high-resolution satellite imagery in international affairs

In October and November 2001, the Pentagon purchased the rights to all images of Afghanistan taken by the Ikonos remote sensing satellite, a high-resolution satellite owned and operated by Space Imaging, Inc. Ikonos is one of a growing number of privately owned and operated remote sensing satellites. It is suggested that Ikonos and other high-resolution satellites carry at least two challenges to national security policy makers. The first is a challenge to operational security – the ability to plan, prepare and carry out military operations in a controlled information environment. Second, commercial remote sensing presents a political challenge to policy makers. Policy makers today face a greater challenge in their efforts to maintain control over the content of debate concerning national and international security priorities and objectives. It is argued here that the nature of the security policy debate itself is in the midst of a fundamental shift in tone and quality as a result of remote sensing satellite technology. It was principally this latter challenge – and not a concern over operational security – that led to the Pentagon's purchase of all Ikonos images during the opening phases of the war in Afganistan.     

Creating impressions: An experimental investigation of political advertising on television

Using an experimental design, this paper addresses a few basic, but important, questions about the influence of televised political advertising. How effective are different kinds of political spots in creating impressions of a candidate among viewers? Do negative ads work better than positive ads in creating favorable impressions? Do spots that focus on issues create more favorable impressions that spots that stress the traits of a candidate? Do two ads work better than one ad in creating impressions? Can the effects of a spot be undercut by a follow-up advertisement from the opposition? This paper offers some tentative answers to these questions.

     

Polls,coalition signals and strategic voting: An experimental investigation of perceptions and effects

Polls and coalition signals can help strategic voters in multiparty systems with proportional representation and coalition governments to optimise their vote decision. Using a laboratory experiment embedded in two real election campaigns, this study focuses on voters' attention to and perception of polls and coalition signals. The manipulation of polls and coalition signals allows a causal test of their influence on strategic voting in a realistic environment. The findings suggest that active information acquisition to form fairly accurate perceptions of election outcomes can compensate for the advantage of high political sophistication. The theory of strategic voting is supported by the evidence, but only for a small number of voters. Most insincere vote decisions are explained by other factors. Thus, the common practice to consider all insincere voters as strategic is misleading.     

Models of attitude constraint in foreign affairs

A relatively recent innovation in research on attitude constraint is the specification of hierarchical models of mass belief systems, where general orientations are assumed to determine or constrain more specific policy attitudes. But while this research has been able to demonstrate a strong correlation between general and specific idea elements, the causal direction of the relationship has been assumed rather than tested. Using panel data collected during a period of constancy in the international environment, we attempt to untangle the causal ordering of general orientations and specific policy attitudes in the realm of international politics. In accord with hierarchical models, we find, first, that general orientations (e.g., militarism and containment postures) are more stable than many specific policy preferences (e.g., attitudes toward defense spending and U.S. involvement in Central America) and, second, much of the over-time consistency in policy attitudes is generated by these more general orientations. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for studies of attitude constraint, one of which is thegeneral applicability of the procedure for investigating top-down versus bottom-up models of constraint in domains outside the international realm.The order of the authors' names was decided by a coin toss. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1988 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago Hilton and Towers, Chicago, Illinois, April 14–16, 1988.     

论公共危机事件管理中的公众参与

近年来,我国公共危机事件频发,对我国政府应对危机的能力提出了严峻的挑战。危机事件的有效解决不仅需要提高政府自身的管理能力,还必须注重社会公众的有效参与。本文针对当前我国危机管理中公众参与的现实困境,从政府、制度和社会公众三方面寻求改善的途径,并提出相应的对策建议。     

An experimental study of expressive voting

In this paper we report results of an initial attempt to test the theory of expressive voting. Our experiment involves requiring subjects to vote between receiving A in cash or havingA in cash or having B donated to charity on their behalf. Across subjects we vary the probability that their vote will decide which disbursement is made. As the probability of being decisive is lowered, the opportunity cost of giving expression to charitable sentiment decreases; hence, the likelihood of voting in accordance with such sentiment is expected to increase. We find weak support for the hypothesis, but the results do not replicate when we alter the parameter settings. Limitations of our design are discussed.This research was supported by the College of the Holy Cross and by a Procter & Gamble grant to the Department of Economics. We gratefully acknowledge the comments and contributions of James Andreoni, Geoffrey Brennan, George Kosicki, Michael Peddle, Tom Rietz, David Schap, James Shepperd, Royce Singleton, Todd Vladyka, Arlington Williams, an anonymous referee, and colleagues in our department research workshop.     

海林市公务员行政伦理状况调研报告

公务员行政伦理对于激励和约束公务员行为具有重要意义。本文以黑龙江省海林市为研究个案,运用问卷调查与个别访谈相结合的研究方法,对基层政府公务员行政伦理状况做了一次专项调研。调研内容包括公务员行政伦理认知状况,公务员自身行政伦理状况,我国行政组织伦理环境,公务员行政伦理困境和行政伦理法治化等五个方面。     

An empirical investigation of interstate AFDC benefit competition

Claims that states which offer generous welfare benefits attract the poor and that some states pay low benefits intending to drive the poor away are neither uncommon nor entirely unfounded. This paper employs a two player (state) generalized game to model states' choice of a benefit level in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Migration by the poor in response to interstate differentials in earnings and welfare opportunities, and the subsequent changes in AFDC caseloads, drive this game. Estimation of the model (using 1979 data) suggests that states within approximately 750 miles of each other do engage in a benefit-setting game. The rival's initial number of poor and preference for non-AFDC consumption appear to be the more influential rival characteristics. These findings, while derived from a different methodological approach, are consistent with previous studies which indicate that welfare recipients tend to move toward higher benefit states. Such migration may impede the efficient spatial allocation of labor. The results also indicate that states will tend to offer lower benefits given recipient migration than would be the case otherwise. State jurisdiction over benefits consequently leads to underprovision of AFDC. Federalization of the AFDC program would improve efficiency in terms of the spatial allocation of labor and the provision of AFDC.     

An investigation on information management issues in Albanian public administration

Political changes in the early 1990s created an opportunity for the Albanians to increase communication with the rest of the world. For the first time Albanians were exposed to technology and tools that had been used so frequently in the neighbor countries decades in advance. Despite the great promise of technological advancement, public sector innovation has tended to be small-scale and gradual. Factors such as institutional arrangements, budget scarcity, group conflict, cultural norms and prevailing patterns of social and political behavior have restricted government actions. This study examines issues caused by a poor information management and looks for some ways to turn into an efficient information system in Albanian public administration. It uses primary data from sample surveys of public administration organizations in local and central level during these transitions.     

公共人力资源管理对电子政务的回应

电子政务的兴起引发政府管理的创新,公共人力资源管理也不例外。电子政务要以公共部门人员为主导,公共人力资源管理需要利用信息技术提高效率。公共人力资源管理要从管理理念、方式、队伍建设等方面作出回应。公共人力资源管理制度要从内在价值、机制、体制、原则等去创新。     

新形势下深化厂务公开民主管理工作研究

中纪委等六部委2013年下发的《企业民主管理规定》,全面具体地规范了厂务公开、职代会、职工董事、职工监事等制度。对于进一步推进厂务公开工作,加强企业民主政治建设指明了方向。当前和今后一段时期,如何深化厂务公开民主管理工作的思考和建议如下:深化对厂务公开工作的认识,增强自信心;强化管理体系,不断夯实厂务公开民主管理的工作基础;创新工作内容和载体,全方位多层次地开展厂务公开工作;健全激励约束和职工民主评价机制,做到奖罚分明。     

An experimental analysis of voting in the Stability and Growth Pact in the European Monetary Union

The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) in the European Monetary Union shall deter countries from running excessive deficits by the threat of punishment, executed conditional on the outcome of a multistage voting procedure. We examine voting behaviour in an experiment which closely resembles the SGP’s design and find that the SGP enables larger countries to block punishment more often than smaller countries. In addition, we study an institutional modification of the SGP by excluding countries with excessive deficits from voting on other ‘fiscal sinners’. Our findings clearly suggest that this innovation would give the SGP sharper teeth than it actually has in reality.