Markets and democracy: A critique of Charles E. Lindblom

Abstract

Using a 1988 Home Box Office (HBO) series as a point of departure this paper examines the state of mass‐mediated politics. Examples from Tanner ‘88 reveal unmistakable signs of contemporary electoral campaigns ‐ stage management, monitored public opinion, and mythinformation. Pseudo‐events replace actual political circumstances to create politically useful images. The consciousness industry, in creating almost universal commodification, has fused propaganda and advertising in the selling of products and politics. Emphasis on spectacle and happening, immediate delivery, and manipulation of demand represent important changes in the way that capitalism and democracy work. A new mode of information in which social relations are mediated by electronic communication systems is being created. But saturation coverage in the media has not created a better‐informed, more active electorate. Rather, it has reduced the political process to a level of mindless slogans, trivial issues, and meaningless simulations.     

Local Government Structure and Public Expenditures

The ``Law of 1/n'' postulates a positive relationship betweenthe number of democratically electedrepresentative districts and governmentspending. Strong support for thisrelationship exists in legislatures in theUnited States (at both the state andnational level) and across countries. Fewstudies have examined this relationship atthe local level despite the fact that localgovernments operate under constraintssimilar to those faced by representativelegislatures. Using a sample of Georgiacounties we find the number of countycommissioners to be positively correlatedwith county government expenditures,indicating support for the Law of 1/nat the local level.     

Municipal Expenditures Through Thick and Thin

This article examines changes in the revenue and expenditurepatterns of twelve major cities (six fiscally healthy; six fiscallydistressed) from fiscal years 1964 to 1979. The purpose of theexaminatin is to determine whether resource scarcity resultsin significantly different expenditure patterns, especiallyfor essential services (police, fire sanitation, and sewerage),social services (welfare, health, hospitals, and public housing),capital spending, and personal sevices (salaries). The resultsshow that changes inrevenue patterns are not significantly relatedto changes in expenditrue patterns, with the exception of capitalspending. The results support the theory that cutback budgetarystrategies are not significanely different from expansionarybudgetary strategies. Incrementalism (decrementalism) prevails.     

U.S. Foreign Policy and the Complex Factors in the Decision-Making Process

The founding myths and ideals have greatly shaped U.S. foreign policy since the emergence of the young republic. They constitute the framework within which institutional and non-institutional actors try to influence the decision-making process. But to provide a complete picture of U.S. foreign policy making, one has to take into account all the dimensions and parameters at all levels.     

Expenditures on children and child support guidelines

This article examines the literature that estimates parental expenditures on children; describes the types of child support guidelines that are being used by the states; and compares how the child support awards that emerge from each state's guidelines compare to the empirical estimates of expenditure patterns on children. The findings indicate that the states' guidelines appear to be more or less consistent with the estimates of expenditures on children. In a few cases, however, the guidelines require less in support from the noncustodial parent than the parent would have spent on the child(ren) in an average intact family. In many other cases, the guidelines require child support payments that are very close to the lower bound of the estimates of expenditures. This article concludes with a discussion of the difficult value judgments that ultimately must be made in setting child support awards.     

我国职务消费现状分析与改进建议——关于我国当前职务消费制度改革的研究报告

现行公车使用和公款接待制度,浪费巨大,隐藏腐败,必须实行以消费方式货币化、消费行为个体化为阶段目标,以实行公务员年薪制为最终目标的改革.职务消费制度改革要坚持量力而行、逐步完善、上下联动,注重改革的合理性与合法性的统一,妥善处理好现实问题.     

Expenditures and receipts in state and local government finances: Reply

It is worth repeating that causality testing is a very complex task. The diversity of views on interpreting the definition of causality and on the methods for testing causality highlight this issue. In our study, we cite an excellent article which provides a detailed critique of various problems associated with causality tests (see Conway, et al., 1984). It would appear that Chowdhury's comment draws very strong conclusions and fails to consider some of the complex theoretical issues regarding causality tests as well as important data problems pertaining to state and local governments. Moreover, we find it somewhat curious that, given the strong similarities in our two studies, Chowdhury prefers to dwell on the mechanics of an alternative technique rather than concentrate on the fact that his alternative technique yields supporting results to our 1987 paper on the tax-spend hypothesis.The views expressed are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Department of Treasury.     

Expenditures and receipts in state and local government finances: Comment

The aim of this note has been to show that Marlow and Manage's (1987) paper suffers from serious methodological problems due to the non-stationary data series used and the arbitrary lag lengths employed. Use of appropriate stationarity tests and optimal lag lengths of the variables change some of the basic conclusions of their paper. Contrary to their suggestion, the presence of a feedback between local tax receipts and expenditures imply that local governments should be concerned with the implication of their spending and revenue-enhancing decisions on their budget. Decisions to increase current expenditures may lead to higher future taxes. Similarly, efforts to impose higher taxes to reduce budget deficits at the local government level may be futile due to a subsequent increase in spending.     

Controlling Nonconventional Expenditure: Tax Expenditures and Loans

Tax expenditures, credits and guarantees, and other nonconventional expenditures are prominent features of the public finances of the United States and other industrialized democracies. While reliable data on these practices have generally been available only for a decade or less, there is reason to believe that these types of transactions now constitute a larger share of total public expenditure than they did in the past. This article discusses the concepts arid implications of two types of nonconventional expenditures—tax expendituures and loans—as well as recent efforts to bring them within the scope of the budget process. The article deals mostly with American practices, but it also draws on the experiences of other democratic countries.     

Fiscal Rules and the Composition of Government Expenditures in OECD Countries

Since the 1990s many OECD countries have adopted fiscal rules. After the adoption of these rules, the ratio of social transfers to government consumption substantially declined, and it recovered following the global economic crisis. Using a sample of 22 OECD countries, we found a negative effect of fiscal rules on the ratio of social transfers to government consumption. This finding implies that fiscal rules are effective, but not necessarily binding. Our examination reveals that the negative effect of fiscal rules on the social transfers to government consumption ratio is particularly evident in countries with relatively weak legal protection to social rights.     

The Federal, and the State and Local Roles in Government Expenditures

This article compares government expenditures by functional category of the federal government relative to state and local governments and the changes in their respective roles since 1955. The article includes a review of the federal role relative to the state and local role on a function-by-function basis for these three and a half decades. This analysis demonstrates considerable stability in the federal sector and the state and local sector, but also the capacity for change.     

Effects of Constitutional and Political Controls on State Expenditures

State governments have employed various statutory and constitutionaldevices to limit government spending. Many of these devicesare intended to increase executive control over expenditures.The research design employed here suggests that such effortsare ineffective or counterproductive. However, this researchindicates that state legislatures controlled by a single partyare more likely than divided legislatures to limit governmentspending and minimize debt. Thus, political and electoral influencesappear to explain state expenditures belter than legal restrictionson the appropriations process. This study adds to the literatureby simultaneously analyzing multiple restraints on state governmentspending and debt.