The Partisan and Policy Motivations of Political Donors Seeking Surrogate Representation in House Elections

Political Behavior - Non-constituent donors constitute an increasingly important fundraising base for members of the U.S. House. These donors are theorized to be seeking “surrogate...     

Development management: Plain or fancy? Sorting out some muddles

This paper explains why development thinking has been caught up in polemical divisions, and cautions against skipping over a sound, basic approach to development management in favour of more complex approaches which in some cases are premature or inappropriate. While we largely recognize the need for better development management, we have not been clear about how to get it. Instead, symbols have been made out of management models and means confused with ends, techniques with goals. Because, for example, the participation of people in their own growth is valued, it is assumed that Western management models that stress this value can be exported, wholesale, to a far less organized Third World contexta perfect example of confusing techniques with goals. When projects are no longer run on rhetoric, and means confused with ends, the need to choose between management models (such as ‘people-centred’ versus ‘blueprint’ management) ends. Instead, actual field conditions can be focused on. Actual conditions often demand nuts-and-bolts skills first. What is needed (and described here) are straightforward, basic management skills to meet equally straightforward, basic weaknesses in organizational structure. Neither fancy nor fashionable, these basics are the forgotten backbone of development management.     

The Time to Give: PAC Motivations and Electoral Timing

There has been much discussion about how members of Congressdesire money early in the campaign season. However, theoreticalmodels of how contributions are allocated during the electoralcycle have been lacking. Our analysis attempts to remedy thisgap by providing and testing a model which specifies how theprocess of bargaining between members of Congress and organizedinterests produces the pattern of donations observed over thecourse of the electoral cycle. Most notably, our results suggestthat strategic incumbents can receive money early in the campaignif they desire but that they are generally unwilling to paythe price of lower aggregate fundraising and greater provisionof access. These findings buttress earlier empirical findingsthat question the instrumental value of early money. In addition,our results highlight that contribution choices are fundamentallyinfluenced by short-term factors, especially electoral conditions,that do not lend themselves to the routinized behavior necessaryfor contributors to invest in incumbents for long-run payoffs.     

大学生委婉语的使用动机研究

对大学生委婉语的使用动机进行了调查。结果表明，大学生委婉语的使用动机主要有：（1）掩饰与自我保护；（2）避讳；（3）幽默；（4）礼貌；（5）策略表达。大学生委婉语的使用动机有性别、年级和专业差异。男生的掩饰与自我保护、幽默、策略表达动机强于女生。大一学生委婉语的使用动机和其他年级学生差异显著。工科学生掩饰与自我保护动机强于文科学生。     

The postal service: Economics made simplistic

The so-called Inverse Elasticity Rule has almost the unanimous support of economists when they prescribe how a regulated firm should price the various products or services it offers. The U.S. Postal Service relied heavily on this rule and its endorsement by professional economists in pricing its various postal services. But the policy produced results of doubtful social value, and a series of court decisions eventually struck it down. This experience illustrates the dangers of narrowly applying the principles of economic theory, as well as the risks of ignoring practical problems of implementation.     

农村社区体制改革模式:比较与进路

农村社区体制改革是我国公共服务型政府建构和城乡统筹发展的战略选择,其实质是通过制度创新理顺乡村社区治理主体间权利关系,推进农村社会结构的合理分化,使农村社区成为管理有序、服务完善、文明祥和的社会生活共同体。农村社区体制改革中创造的村落自组织模式、村社合一模式、村企主导模式、联村建社模式既取得了绩效但也存在限度,其进路是社区事务分类治理。社区事务分类治理要以农民需求为取向、以事务分类为起点、以职能整合为基础、以组织重构为载体、以权利调整为核心、以机制创新为关键、以制度设置为纽带、以技术创新为条件。     

The Chinese Ideology: Reconciling the Politics with the Economics of Contemporary Reform

Political scientists and economists fundamentally disagree in their assessment of ideology in contemporary Chinese reform. Whereas the former emphasize its functional value legitimizing the overall course of reform, the latter warn of indoctrination and negative welfare effects. We argue that ideology is pervasive in China’s political economy of reform—past, present, and future. Moreover, a common assessment is both necessary and feasible. The presented case studies (loyalty signaling, message control, policy learning, and anti-corruption) underline the highly ambiguous role of ideology oscillating between alignment and adaptation. In the end, ideology can unite or divide Chinese society as well as increase or diminish economic efficiency.     

Schism on the Left: the Motivations and Impact of Ralph Nader's Candidacy

In the United States there is noticeably less controversy over the third party candidacy of Ralph Nader in this year's election than there has been in the previous two. Nader was blamed by many on the left for the Democratic Party's loss of the 2000 election. He has further provoked the ire of the Democrats by claiming that there is no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. This article will focus on addressing several of the emergent questions from the Nader candidacies, namely: is there a difference between the two parties in the United States? Did Ralph Nader cost the Democrats the election in 2000? Are citizens better off voting for the ideal candidate or settling for the best candidate who has a chance of victory?     

关于侦查措施分类的思考

侦查措施是侦查机关依据法律、法规规定所进行的各种侦查活动。在现行的侦查学论著及侦查实践中,常见的分类标准有:根据措施是否公开使用,根据措施是否采用强制手段,根据措施是否紧急重大,以及根据措施的内容、形式、作用、运用时机进行的混合分类。笔者在分析评判这些分类法意义的基础上,提出了两种分类建议:依据是否是刑诉法规定为标准和以措施内容为基础、以形式为补充的分类法。     

The Voting Motivations of Conservative Parliamentarians in the Conservative Party Leadership Election of 2001

This article examines the voting motivations of Conservative parliamentarians in the final parliamentary ballot of the Conservative party leadership election of 2001. By constructing a data set of the voting behaviour of Conservative parliamentarians in the final parliamentary party ballot, this article seeks to test a series of hypotheses relating to the ideological disposition and political characteristics of the candidates vis-à-vis their electorate. The article examines how and why the eliminative parliamentary ballot ensured that the party membership was presented with a face-off between the europhile, Kenneth Clarke, and the eurosceptic, Iain Duncan Smith, and why the modernising and socially liberal Michael Portillo was rejected. It will demonstrate that while arguments based on ideological factors are valid, the political characteristics of age and career status were also significant motivational influences that contributed to the rejection of Portillo and the delaying of the modernisation of the Conservative party.     

Rape as Genocide: The Group/Individual Schism

This paper discusses, within the context of analytical theory, some of the implications when rape is subsumed within the international crime of genocide and concludes that this type of enquiry is essential for creating a clearer framework to address and understand this violation. From the analysis undertaken, two critical questions become apparent: a) Does compatibility exist when rape is subsumed within the category of a group violation (genocide), if rape is constructed as a violation of an individual’s sexual autonomy? ⁱ b) Is the link between rape and genocide necessarily problematic within this notion of autonomy for the individual victim of rape? The process unfolds within an analytical theoretical approach that touches upon the current concept of human rights with its focus on the individual. Although the key element is the individual, the concept of human rights also creates a space, albeit limited and at times controversial, for the group. As such, this paper identifies some of the theoretical implications that emerge once rape is subsumed within the international crime of genocide, which is defined as a violation committed against particular groups.     

The Constitutional Economics of Autocratic Succession

The paper extends and empirically tests GordonTullock's public choice theory of the nature of autocracy. A simple model of the relationship between constitutional rules governing succession in autocratic regimes and the occurrence of coups against autocrats is sketched. The model is applied to a case study of coups against monarchs in Denmark in the period ca. 935–1849. A clear connection is found between the specific constitutional rules governing succession and the frequency of coups. Specifically, the introduction of automatic hereditary succession inan autocracy provides stability and limits the number of coups conducted by contenders.     

The Methodology of Contractarianism in Economics

The paper explores the methodology of hypotheticalcontractarianism as a means of justifyingrules of social conduct. Formally, thecontractarian argument has the logicalstructure of a familiardeductive-nomological (rational choice)explanation. It necessarily requires,however, that at least some premises usedin its explanans be empiricallyfalse. It is argued that, in contrast toordinary explanatory arguments, thecontractarian thought experiment would bepointless if all assumptions wereempirically true. As a consequence, even inthe case that a given contract theory canbe proven to be logically consistent, itfails to justify binding obligations ofreal individuals due to an insurmountablelogical problem of induction.