Does additional campaign spending really hurt incumbents?: The theoretical importance of past investments in political brand name

The existing literature ignores the fact that the marginal return to current campaign expenditures depends on the candidate's stock of brand name. This simple observation is then used to provide a possible explanation for the negative empirical relationship observed between an incumbent's campaign spending and how well he does.     

Do volatile voters vote less correctly? An analysis of correct voting among vote (intention) switchers in US presidential election campaigns

The literature on electoral volatility and the literature on electoral campaigns hold contradictory views on voters switching vote (intention) during the campaign. In this note, we shed new light on this contradiction, making two contributions. First, we investigate the extent to which stable and volatile voters choose the correct party. Second, we distinguish levels of correct voting and the impact of the act of switching on the correctness of the vote. Our analyses of vote-switching in American elections show that, while volatile voters are less likely to vote correctly, they are more likely to switch from an incorrect to the correct party than vice versa. Furthermore, we show that following the campaign more closely makes voters more likely to switch vote (intention) towards the correct party.     

State budget periodicity: An analysis of the determinants and the effect on state spending

Much of the public budgeting literature focuses on the institutional rules of budgeting and how those rules affect process and outcomes. This study focuses on a particularly rudimentary rule of budgeting: the length of the budget period. State budgets are dictated (constitutionally or statutorily) to recur over one-or two-year intervals. Statistical analysis of the determinants of state budget periodicity shows that the more states spend, ceteris paribus, the more likely they are to budget annually. I hypothesize that budget periodicity has the opposite effect on spending: Biennial budget states spend more, ceteris paribus, than annual budget states spend. Ordinary least squares analysis does not support the hypothesis, but with instrumental variable methods, biennial budgeting exhibits a positive and statistically significant effect on state spending.     

An examination of the causal relationship between government spending and revenue: A cointegration analysis

This paper tests the validity of the proposition that there is a causal relationship between government expenditure and government revenue for Greece over the period 1957–1993. The empirical analysis employs tests of cointegration as pre-tests for Granger tests of causality. The empirical evidence suggests that there is a long-run relationship between government spending and government revenue and expenditures cause revenues.     

Parties,candidates and issues in the German federal election of 1980: An application of normal vote analysis

An application of the concept of a normal vote to the West German political system is attempted. Normal vote parameters for West Germany are calculated and the 1980 Federal election is analysed by means of this newly established baseline. Furthermore, a modified version of the well-known Boyd formula for the computation of short-term effects will be proposed since under some circumstances Boyd's S may be seriously inflated. Finally, the formula will be extended to multivariate relationships. Applying the resulting partial short-term coefficient shows quite clearly that the outcome of the 1980 German Federal election was more strongly influenced by candidate evaluations than by issue orientations.     

The mobilization of the Swedish vote: An ecological analysis of the general elections of 1928, 1948 and 1968

Abstract. This paper focuses on the floating vote and the floating voter at three critical junctures in modern Swedish political history: the general elections of 1928, 1948, and 1968. The topic is in the mainstream of electoral research, but with one important proviso: it is a study of floating without the benefit of survey data. The analysis is based on Thomsen's (1987) method of ecological inference. The ecological estimates confirm the conventional wisdom that the Swedish elections of 1928, 1948 and 1968 were mobilizing elections, bringing large numbers of new voters to the polls, and marked by considerable mobility between the parties. They were also realigning in that they held out the possibility of a new status quo. In 1928 and 1948 the parties of the right were on the offensive; in 1968 the Social Democrats held the initiative. But the new coalitions were potentially unstable; it was the floating voters, particularly those with a previous history of non-voting, who spelled the difference between defeat and victory. The paper makes an important contribution to the validation of Thomsen's method.     

The crisis of European socialism: Searching for a (really) big idea

After the Fall: The Failure of Communism and the Future of Socialism. Edited by Robin Blackburn. London: Verso, 1991. Pp. xvi + 327. £39.95 (hardback); £11.95 (paperback). ISBN 0–360 320–1 and 540–9. (Henceforth, Fall).

Social Democracy in Transition: Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe. Edited by L. Karvonen and J. Sundberg. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1991. Pp. ix + 321. £35 (hardback) ISBN 1–85521–1114. (Henceforth, Transition).

The Left Unraveled: Social Democracy and the New Left Challenge in Britain and West Germany. By Thomas A. Koelble. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1991. Pp. xii + 162. $34.95 (hardback) ISBN 0–8223–1108–9. (Henceforth, Unraveled).

The Crisis of Socialism in Europe. Edited by Christiane Lemke and Gary Marks. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992. Pp. x + 253. £37.95 (hardback); £12.50 (paperback) ISBN 0–8223–1180–1 and 1197–6. (Henceforth, Crisis).

Socialist Parties in Europe. By José Maravall et al. Barcelona: ICPS (Institut de Ciències Politiques i Socials), 1991. Pp. 222. NP, ISBN 84–7794–172–6.(Henceforth, Parties).

A History of Social Democracy in Postwar Europe. By Stephen Padgett and William E. Paterson. London and New York: Longman, 1991. Pp. xii 4 + 290. £24 (hardback); £9.99 (paperback) ISBN 0–582–49173–8 and 49174–6. (Henceforth, History).

Is Socialism Doomed? The Meaning of Mitterrand. By Daniel Singer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Pp. 295. £19.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–195–04925 x. (Henceforth, Doomed).

Moscow and the Global Left in the Gorbachev Era. Edited by Joan Barth URBAN. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1992. Pp. xii + 204. $32.95 (hardback); $14.25 (paperback). ISBN 0–8014–2726–6 and 8008–6. (Henceforth, Moscow).     

The dynamics of issue competence and vote for parties in and out of power: An analysis of valence in Britain, 1979–1997

This article develops the reward‐punishment issue model of voting using a newly collated aggregate measure of issue competence in Britain between 1971 and 1997, revealing systematic differences between governing and opposition parties in the way citizens' evaluations of party competence are related to vote intention. Using monthly Gallup ‘best party to handle the most important problem’ and vote intention data, time series Granger‐causation tests give support to a classic issue reward‐punishment model for incumbents. However, for opposition parties this reward‐punishment model does not hold: macro‐issue competence evaluations are Granger‐caused by changes in vote choice or governing party competence. An explanation is offered based upon the differentiating role of policy performance and informational asymmetries, and the implications are considered for comparative studies of voting, public opinion and for political party competition.     

Innovation at the edges of the metropolis: An analysis of innovation drivers in Sydney's peripheral suburbs

Abstract

This article discusses using the concept of innovation ecosystems to assess innovation intensity in peripheral areas of metropolitan regions. Innovation is a significant driver of prosperity, industrial growth, and job creation. Emergent areas of new technology applications have their roots in entrepreneurial and innovative practices. However, studies have focused on the strengths that cities—and central business districts and inner suburbs in particular— have relative to the industries of the emerging knowledge economy, notably information technology and financial, property, and business services. Most of the time, the peripheral suburbs have been neglected.

The results from a study of innovation drivers in Sydney, Australia, show that peripheral suburbs in metropolitan areas have local innovation processes that require specific planning measures to promote innovation intensity. Some of these processes are linked to local suburban characteristics that might not apply to the entire city or metropolitan region.     

Competition and Monopoly Power in Local Government: An Extension of Caplan (2001)

Caplan (2001) shows that because land is asource of immobile wealth, localgovernments can use the property tax toavoid competitive pressures of the Tieboutmodel, allowing them to deviate fromcitizens' preferences. In this comment Ishow that the property tax is not the onlytax local governments can use to avoidcompetitive pressure. Most taxes placed onproperty owners allow local governments toextract some rents despite perfect citizenmobility.     

An analysis of capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs) involved in promotion of community participation in governance in Kenya

Although civil society organizations (CSOs) often receive attention in development discourse, they are particularly deemed to provide a new way that ensures good governance. Hence, an understanding of their contributions against the backdrop of governance‐related challenges in Kenya calls for fresh and new research. This article gives attention to CSOs' role in the promotion of community participation in governance. Specifically, it looks into capacities of CSOs involved in these efforts on governance. It links persistent poor governance happening at the counties to inadequate capacities of CSOs involved in the fight against the vice. It argues that CSOs lack vital capacities including adequate funds, staff, offices, and equipment, to be able to sustain action against poor governance. The study methodology involved a survey, focus group discussions, and in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews. A variety of tools were used that included a survey questionnaire, focus group discussion guide, and in‐depth interview guide. Some of the recommendations are that it is important for stakeholders including the government to understand CSOs and provide them with required support. CSOs also need to be given training and exposure to programs in other countries that have successfully addressed governance issues.     

The paradoxical meanings of the artifact owls (Athene noctua) at the University of South Africa: An impediment to transformation,decolonization, and Africanization discourse

This paper interprets the expressions embedded in the artifact Owls displayed at the Theo Van Wijk building of the University of South Africa (Unisa) in relation to the university's transformation, decolonization, and Africanization discourse. These artifacts are said to depict Unisa as a space of wisdom; this in terms of Greek mythology and philosophy. The use of Greek mythology and philosophy in a university meant to be promoting African values, systems, and beliefs contradicts the university's transformation, decolonization, and Africanization discourse. Philosophical inquiry was adopted to intellectually interpret what these artifact Owls expressed. The paper found that these Owls are a point of contestation and conflict between Western and African cultures. The perpetual display of these Owls upholds and sustains tendencies of colonialism and apartheid although discarding Africannes. Unisa is reduced into a Western‐centric space of little and irrelevant significance for the postapartheid democratic state. These artifact Owls must be removed and replaced by an African‐friendly symbolism of wisdom. Sankambe could be the best option.     

An Essay on Officialism (Guanben Zhuyi): A Political Analysis of Chinese Traditional Society

This paper formulates a new paradigm, ‘officialism’ (Guanben Zhuyi or 官本主义), and uses it to analyse China’s traditional society. The author argues that officialism is an official based doctrine and a political culture and socio-political system which takes official power and authority as its core element. Under this culture and system, relationships of official power and authority are the most important social relationships. They become the basic standard for measuring a person’s social value, and they are the determining factor influencing a person’s social status and social attributes. In traditional China, monarchism (Junzhu Zhuyi) (君主主义) was the highest form of officialism. Despotism is the representative characteristic of officialism. People-based doctrine (Minben Zhuyi or 民本主义) is the political ideal that is the antithesis of despotism. Democracy with the rule of law is the only way of smashing officialism and of spurring traditional political civilization to head towards modern political civilization.     

Assessing the (eco)macroeconomic performance index of India: A data envelopment analysis approach

The prime objective of this article is to construct a robust macroeconomic performance (MEP) index of the Indian economy using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Seven major macro indicators, namely, economic growth, employment rate, terms of trade, inflation rate, fiscal deficit, pollution, and climate change are used to compute MEP and Eco‐MEP indices of the Indian economy from 1980–1981 to 2018–2019. Overall, both the MEP and Eco‐MEP index scores have quite similar best performing years worst performing years, and have also captured the major events that affected adversely the Indian economy during the past decades. The trend in the overall performance of the Indian economy was better in the 1980s and the 1990s but has deteriorated since 2000. The autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approaches to cointegration methods are used to test the robustness/utility of these indices. The estimated results show that MEP and Eco‐MEP have a positive impact on private investment, foreign investment inflows, foreign direct investment, and a negative effect on the current account deficit. Hence, the suggested composite MEP index is stable, robust and truly captures the economic performance of India. The constructed MEP composite index may be used by foreign investors, rating agencies, private investors, and policymakers for their planning and decision‐making processes.     

Maximizing Policy Learning in International Committees: An Analysis of the European Open Method of Coordination (OMC) Committees

In the voluminous literature on the European Union's open method of coordination (OMC), no one has hitherto analysed on the basis of scholarly examination the question of what contributes to the learning processes in the OMC committees. On the basis of a questionnaire sent to all participants, this article demonstrates that valuable lessons can be learned about policy learning, in practice and theoretically, by analysing the cooperation in the OMC committees. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework as the starting point of analysis, 15 hypotheses on policy learning are tested. Among other things, it is concluded that in order to maximize policy learning in international committees, empirical data should be made available to committees and provided by sources close to the participants (i.e. the Commission). In addition, the work in the committees should be made prestigious in order to attract well-qualified and engaged participants, and a neutral presidency should be present in order to act as an authoritative persuader.     

Why triggers fail (and what to do about it): An examination of the unemployment insurance extended benefits program

During periods of high unemployment, many workers exhaust their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits before regaining employment. To help alleviate this problem, Congress created the extended benefits (EB) program, expanding the number of weeks of benefits available to UI recipients in high unemployment states. The EB program operates by “triggering on” additional weeks of benefits in states where unemployment and UI benefit receipt are above federally established thresholds. We analyze the performance of the EB program by creating a series of policy simulations using weekly UI claims and unemployment data from the program's inception in 1970 through the most recent economic expansion in 2005. Overall, we find that EB triggers, as currently constructed, fail as a policy tool for extending UI benefits. Minor adjustments to the triggers are unlikely to be effective. We develop an alternative set of “fix point” triggers that allow the EB program to trigger on and off in a more timely fashion. These triggers outperform all previously legislated triggers as well as other commonly proposed triggering mechanisms on criteria of timeliness, breadth, and duration. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management     

Survival at the Intersection of Government and Business: The Unique Case of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) is a government organization whose responsibility is to promote Australian exports and investment facilitation in global markets. It has a unique position of being a government agency and at the same time working alongside and with business in assisting exporters enter overseas markets. This relationship is often strained both for reasons of changing government preferences in terms of assisting exporters as well as pressures on the government budgets. Yet Austrade has been able to remain a steadfast intersection between government and business despite the competing strategies of its two main stakeholders – government and business. This paper assesses Austrade as a case of organizational survival maintaining its equilibrium through sound management and serendipity.