Partisan Politics and Institutional (Re)Creation: Locating and Explaining the Origins of Modern Finance Capitalism

Why do some countries rely more heavily on equities markets, while others depend more on commercial banking? Analyses of the origins of contemporary capitalist institutions usually look back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, this paper demonstrates that financial institutions – regarded as central to the way capitalist systems are organised – changed radically in the mid-twentieth century in many countries. This paper argues that government partisanship in formative moments of institutional (re)creation can better account for their modern manifestation than prominent alternative explanations. A new measure of partisanship that is sensitive to these institutional transformations is presented. Case studies on Germany and France offer evidence consistent with this argument.     

Explaining Variation in the Effectiveness of Transnational Energy Partnerships

This article analyzes the effectiveness of transnational multi‐stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development—also known as “Type II outcomes” of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development—in the sustainable energy sector. We combine quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitatively, we use a database of 340 partnerships, including 46 partnerships that focus on energy. Our qualitative analysis includes case studies of five partnerships that appear as the most effective and five that are operational but only with modest degrees of effectiveness. We study two competing hypotheses. The first, rooted in institutionalism, assumes that variation in effectiveness is related to organizational structures and procedures. The competing hypothesis emphasizes the power of actors and expects partnerships that involve key business actors and powerful Northern states to perform better. We conclude that the level of institutionalization is most important in explaining effectiveness, while powerful partners and the type of internal organization may further enhance effectiveness.     

Explaining the Enhanced HIPC Initiative: A Response to Michaelowa (2003)

Michaelowa (2003, 2002) proposes a political-economy model to explain the re-design of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) debt reliefinitiative in 1999. The principal assumption justifying the adoption of thisalternative approach is an alleged paucity, if not non-existence, of applied economic research on sustainable debt levels. This note challenges that assumption.     

Discursive Construction of territorial disputes: foreign newspaper reporting on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute

Most studies of the news discourse surrounding territorial disputes focus on the domestic newspapers of the conflicting countries from the perspective of “us” and “them”. This study examines how the newspapers of foreign countries discursively construct a territorial dispute within the framework of an intergroup conflict schema. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of articles on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute published online in five newspapers of record (the New York Times, the Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald, Le Monde, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) reveals two main points: First, the articles published by these newspapers share a similar intergroup conflict schema that is based on competition and the pursuit of national interests as interpreted in conformance with the national interests of the respective countries (USA, UK, Australia, France, and Germany). Second, in terms of how news discourse is framed, there are noticeable differences between the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the other four which may reflect the influence of Germany’s socio-historical context on domestic public opinion.     

With an Eye Open and a Round Chambered: Explaining the Afghan Insider Threat and its Implications for Sustained Partnership

This article presents ethnographic data and an analytical framework concerning the recent spike in Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) ‘insider’ or ‘green-on-blue’ attacks on NATO forces. This data was collected as part of an in-depth, multi-level case study of NATO partnering efforts with the Afghan Defence and Interior ministries, the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police and Afghan Local Police. Preliminary findings support the argument that, in addition to ANSF infiltration and coercion by the Taliban and Haqqani network, cross-cultural friction and contextual stress on Afghan troops are strong contributors to the rise in insider attacks. Additionally, emotional intelligence, cultural awareness and conflict resolution skills are shown to be important mitigating factors.     

从公众话语走向政策话语:一项政策问题建构的话语分析

20世纪60年代以来,后实证主义逐渐兴起并演化成为一种潮流。与实证主义所强调的科学主义和工具理性所不同,后实证主义将价值多元和建构主义引入自己的视域。在这种背景下,话语模式也从以前的"实在论"转向"建构论",它要求人们以一种积极的姿态去感受、认知、体验和创建世界。在"建构论"视角下,公共政策的建构与传统的科学理性主义主导下自上而下的创设有所不同,它本质上是一种自下而上的话语建构过程,因此成为一项理解政策问题建构的新路径。那么,现实世界中公众话语是如何建构成为政策话语的?我们寻访了四个方面的理论线索:存在一个话语能量场、公众话语的演进过程、形成话语联盟以及话语自身的价值追求,在此基础上初步勾勒出政策问题话语建构的分析框架。     

Language as Criticism: Assessing the Merits of Speech Acts and Discursive Formations in International Relations

Much has been written of late about language as a critical tool of research in international relations. Among critical international relations scholars, constructivists and poststructuralists have been the main proponents of using of language as a challenge to structural realist assumptions about world politics. Yet, it is not always clear why these critical scholars decide to turn to linguistic methodologies. This article reveals that there are compelling reasons for choosing language as a critical tool of analysis. But, contrary to current beliefs, it is important to note that constructivist and poststructuralist strategies of language are not always equivalent and compatible. This essay sorts out the divergent epistemological and political stakes involved in one's choice of a linguistic strategy. Different uses of language offer different critiques of mainstream international political practice. To illustrate this argument, the April 2001 US-China diplomatic crisis over the collision between a surveillance plane and a fighter jet is showcased. It is shown that constructivist and poststructuralist linguistic analyses provide challenging but not always complementary interpretations of the policies, diplomatic procedures, and verbal exchanges that took place during this confrontation.     

Policy Responsiveness and Electoral Incentives: A (Re)assessment

Political Behavior - Competitive democratic theory predicts that electoral factors enhance policy makers' responsiveness to public opinion. Yet findings on the effects of electoral...     

(Re)Drawing the Lines on Marriage and Sexuality

The campaign for same‐sex marriage is animated by two, contradictory impulses: a libertarian‐egalitarian strain that continually expands the boundaries of what is publicly legitimate; and a conservative one that seeks to reinforce traditional boundaries. Democratic polities would benefit from public discussion on whether to retain normative, sexual boundaries, and if so, what they should reasonably be. I outline a moderately conservative agenda that would limit public legitimacy to sexually exclusive monogamy (heterosexual or homosexual), but informally tolerate most, consenting, nonconventional sexual practices. A spirit of humility, empathy and tragedy will help us to exercise reasonable judgement as we redraw the lines on marriage and sexuality.     

价值·困境·路向：廉洁教育实效性评价的整体性建构

实效性评价是廉洁教育的重要组成部分,是廉洁教育过程体系的重要环节,起到承上启下的衔接与反馈功能,具有重要的理论意义和鲜明的实践价值。在实践工作中,廉洁教育实效性评价客观存在"五大困境"即价值困境、转型困境、标准困境、效益困境和技术困境。新形势下,科学建构和全面拓展廉洁教育实效性评价的路径,必须遵循"三坚持、三结合"的方法原则,即坚持以定性评价为主,定性评价与定量评价相结合;坚持以动态评价为主,动态评价与静态评价相结合;坚持以隐性评价为主,隐性评价与显性评价相结合。     

相对剥夺与相对满意:群体性事件的动因分析

群体性事件——部分群众与行政当局或强势社会集团的对抗性冲突，是一种典型的集群行为。2004年发生的重庆万州事件，可看作群体性事件的里程碑：原本普通的民事或治安纠纷，行政执法人员一介入处理，冲突矛头立刻转向行政当局，众多与诱发事件无关的旁观者卷入冲突；提出宽泛而模糊的政治诉求。这些新特征表明，群众普遍积蓄着不满情绪。在整个社会生活水平提高的今天，这种社会不满情绪只能用相对剥夺来解释。相对剥夺指与参照群体相比，个体对自身所处的不利地位的一种感知；相对满意是其反面，即与参照群体相比，个体对自身所处的有利地位的一种感知。相对剥夺一满意则整合了上述两个概念。本研究通过模拟实验模拟群体性事件中的冲突矛头转向，考察相对剥夺与相对满意对集群行为的影响。实验为单因素被试间设计，招募大学在校男生60名。研究发现：相对剥夺的个体比相对满意的个体更有可能参与集群行为；群体相对剥夺一满意部分中介了个体相对剥夺一满意与集群行为的关系；集群认同对相对剥夺一满意与集群行为的关系具有调节作用。     

An Experiment Testing the Relative Effectiveness of Encouraging Voter Participation by Inducing Feelings of Pride or Shame

Prior experimental research has demonstrated that voter turnout rises substantially when people receive mailings that indicate whether they voted in previous elections. This effect suggests that voters are sensitive to whether their compliance with the norm of voting is being monitored. The present study extends this line of research by investigating whether disclosure of past participation has a stronger effect on turnout when it calls attention to a past abstention or a past vote. A sample of 369,211 registered voters who voted in just one of two recent elections were randomly assigned to receive no mail, mail that encouraged them to vote, and mail that both encouraged them to vote and indicated their turnout in one previous election. The latter type of mailing randomly reported either the election in which they voted or the one in which they abstained. Results suggest that mailings disclosing past voting behavior had strong effects on voter turnout and that these effects were significantly enhanced when it disclosed an abstention in a recent election.     

Explaining the effective number of parties: Beyond the standard model

This study casts new light on the conditions determining the effective number of parties in elections. The state-of-the-art mostly considers the interaction between the permissiveness of the electoral system and social heterogeneity, labelled the standard model. This study argues that we should move beyond the standard model and also consider voters’ short term ideological preferences as well as the diversity of issues on the party system agenda. Moreover, the effects of these variables are expected to be conditioned by electoral system permissiveness. The hypotheses are examined on the basis of a longitudinal dataset containing information on 696 elections that took place in 79 countries between 1945 and 2011. Importantly, the hypotheses could only be confirmed on institutionalized party systems.     

In the shadow of sunshine regulation: Explaining disclosure biases

Performance reporting in sunshine regulation is subjected to disclosure biases, because agents may game the regulation or encounter difficulties in complying. These biases limit the appraisal of the impact of sunshine regulation on performance. We investigate the behavioral causes of such disclosure biases by focusing on transaction cost economizing and opportunism. We provide an original methodology to take into account information asymmetries in principal–agent relationships. We focus on water utilities management in France. Our data set includes 795 observations covering water utilities and performance indicators characteristics. It allows for comparisons of revealed and observed performances and identifies different types of disclosure biases. Findings indicate that opportunism is a significant motivation for disclosure biases, while, unexpectedly, transaction costs are not a direct trigger of disclosure biases.     

Beating the Clock: Strategic Management under the Threat of Direct Democracy

This article explores public sector responsiveness to voter‐led initiatives, specifically, the degree to which public managers attempt to lock in resources before they are constrained by a particular initiative. The authors posit that such behavior, which they term “beating the clock,” is a function of the potential impact of the proposed initiative, the degree to which managers can react to the initiative's central issues, and the perceived likelihood of passage. Although scholars have explored different responses to voter‐led initiatives, this particular form of strategic behavior has yet to be studied. Using longitudinal data on public debt issuance, hypotheses are tested in the context of a reform proposed through the initiative process in Colorado in 2010. Results show that the number of debt issues increased by roughly 150 percent in advance of a potentially binding election, indicating the ability to preempt formal initiative efforts in certain policy areas.     

Prices,Devices, People,or Rules: The Relative Effectiveness of Policy Instruments in Water Conservation1

Water conservation policy is a natural laboratory for addressing general issues of relevance to policy analysis and public administration, particularly the relative effectiveness of policies in changing human behavior. Using multivariate regression analysis of a dataset comprised of more than 200,000 monthly observations of more than 19,000 household accounts over six years, this paper makes three main contributions. First, it contributes to the substantive area of water conservation policy by analyzing what works. Second, it contributes to our understanding of generic policy instruments. Third, it raises an important issue regarding standard assumptions about selection bias. The results support earlier work warning that offsetting behavior can negate engineering solutions to policy problems, but further indicate that adding communication to engineering solutions can create cooperation that overcomes offsetting behavior. They also provide evidence that appropriate regulation can be effective, and that pricing can be effective even when price elasticities of demand are low.     

Explaining the electoral success of the new right: The German case

Immigrants are blamed for economic and social problems throughout Europe. This article explores the theoretical argument that electorates support new right parties because they are placing more emphasis on specific issues like immigration. The findings provide evidence that immigration explains much of the electoral support for the new right parties in Germany. Areas with larger immigrant populations provide fewer votes, while areas where immigrants ‘commit more crime’ provide greater support. This suggests the problems associated with immigration explain the new right's support, rather than simple xenophobia. As long as such problems continue, the potential for new right success will remain.