Understanding policy change through bricolage: The case of Chile's renewable energy policy

Chile is a country where path dependency made energy policy change extremely difficult by international standards. However, the country has recently become a renewable energy poster child thanks to a gradual process of policy change. How was this possible? This article contributes to discussions about policy change driven by ideas and to explaining the puzzling case of Chilean energy policy change. It does so by discussing the mechanism of bricolage—the recombination of old and new ideas by policy entrepreneurs—and its capacity to produce policy change in contexts of high path dependency. The article develops the political manifestations and consequences of bricolage and problematizes how actors continue to contest and change ideas' meaning after they have been institutionalized, a key question when analyzing processes of bricolage. The analysis is based on an array of data sources including interviews with key actors, newspaper notes, and legislative proceedings.     

Electoral alliances: Party identities and coalition games

Abstract The emergence of electoral alliances competing for plurality seats has been one of the main consequences stemming form the introduction of the new electoral laws for the Senate and the Chamber of deputies in Italy. This paper analyzes the politics of electoral alliances at the general elections of April 1996, focusing on two factors: the making of electoral alliances and their internal arrangements for coalition management. From both points of view, the elections have shown some important new developments, including a simplification in the number of coalitions. But although the centre–left alliance was able to broaden its range, the centre–right lost the Lega Nord and suffered the split of Movimento sociale–Fiamma tricolore on its right. Moreover, the centre–right alliance also suffered from a lack of cohesion, wasting its previous coalitional capability. As in the 1994 elections the politics of electoral alliances proved to be a key factor in the electoral competition.     

A singular case of murder-suicide committed with a homemade firearm

The authors illustrate a peculiar case of murder-suicide committed with a homemade firearm loaded with 12-gauge cartridges (buckshot). The structure and function of this handcrafted firearm were simple but effective: an iron tube did duty as a barrel in this primitive firearm. The cartridges (modified by winding sticky tape around the external surface of the base) were inserted down one end of the tube (serving as the breech). A second iron tube with a larger diameter (so as to be able to run over each of the preloaded barrels) and with a jutting, cone-shaped metal wedge soldered to the base, was used as a rudimental firing pin. After loading the "barrel" with the modified cartridge, the gunman would ram the "firing pin" tube violently down to fire the shot. Autopsy of the woman's body showed the presence of 3 gunshot wounds caused by buckshot, while the man had a single buckshot wound in the head. Subsequent ballistic investigations enabled reconstruction of the event (typical of murder-suicide) and the functioning of the firearm, demonstrating its lethal nature, remarkably easy handling, and simplicity of production.     

Who Gives? Partisan Donations in Europe

Party finance reformers often call for European parties to increase their financial reliance on small donors, but researchers have made few efforts to establish the feasibility of such strategies. This study examines partisan giving in Europe, investigating the potential for parties and policymakers to increase this type of political participation. It also asks whether there are national-level factors that make such efforts more likely to succeed in some countries. The research uses data from the European Social Survey to examine patterns of contributions to political parties in 16 European countries. It finds that the strength of partisanship predicts political giving independent of party membership, which suggests that European political parties may have some scope to increase their number of individual donors. On the other hand, existing tax policies to encourage political giving do not seem to be effective in increasing this type of partisan political participation.