Electoral Fraud and Electoral Geography: United Russia Strongholds in the 2007 and 2011 Russian Parliamentary Elections*

Despite United Russia’s (Edinaya Rossiya—UR) dominance in repeated Russian legislative elections, the correlates of the party’s electoral support remain noticeably understudied beyond the influence of electoral manipulation. I pinpoint the specific contours of UR’s strongholds in the two most recent parliamentary elections in Russia—2007 and 2011—focusing on raion- and regional-level correlates of the vote using an original dataset. UR has been undergirded by geographically concentrated ethnic minorities and the countryside, and these patterns of support have persisted even in the absence of fraud, suggesting that the dominant party’s electoral windfalls cannot be attributed solely to electoral malfeasance.     

Family Firms,Transnationalism and Generational Change: Chinese Enterprise in Britain and Malaysia

This article reviews theoretical perspectives about the development of ethnic Chinese-owned enterprises in two major sets of literature. The first school is one that adopts culture as the primary explanatory tool for the dynamism of Chinese enterprise. The second school employs the concept of transnationalism, which has served to create a link between identity and capitalism, to analyse Chinese entrepreneurship. Both sets of literature argue that common ethnic identity facilitates the creation of business networks, which explains the rise of ‘Chinese capitalism’. This study questions the foundations of these theoretical arguments by tracing the evolution of family firms and by employing the concept of ‘generational change’.     

Streams,springs, and stones: Ontario public service reform in the 1980s and the 1990s

Abstract: Since the era of reform triggered by the Committee on Government Productivity during the early 1970s, there has been surprisingly little writing about public service reform in Ontario. This article surveys developments since the early 1980s, reviewing the changes that occurred during the Davis, Peterson, and Rae governments pertaining to the structure and integrity of the public service, human resource development, relocation, accountability regimes, reorganization and restraint initiatives, to name only a few. We review the rise and fall of the Tomorrow Project, and how the Rae government developed an interest in public management issues as part of its policy and restraint agendas. As a frame for our analysis, we invoke the metaphor of “streams, springs, and stones” to convey not only the breadth and complexity of public service reform but also its enduring themes and issues. Sonirnnire: Depuis l'époque des réformes déclenchées par le Comité sur la productivité gouvernementale vers le début des années 1970, curieusement peu d'auteurs se sont penchés sur la réforme de la Fonction publique en Ontario. Cet article s'intéresse à l'évolution qui s'est produite depuis le début des années 1980, examinant les changements survenus sous les gouvernements Davis, Peterson et Rae en ce qui concerne la structure et l'intégrité de la Fonction publique, le développement des ressources humaines, les déménagements, les régimes d'imputabilité, ainsi que les initiatives de reorganisation et d'austérité, pour ne citer que ceux-là. Nous analysons la montée et la chute du Projet “ Demain ” et comment le gouvernement Rae a commencéà s'intéresser aux questions de gestion publique dans le cadre de son programme oû figuraient l'austérité et la définition des politiques. Pour encadrer notre analyse, nous faisons appel à la métaphore des “ courants, sources et pierres ” pour indiquer non seulement l'ampleur et la complexité des réformes de la Fonction publique mais aussi sa probématique et ses thèmes permanents.     

B. Reviews: general

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARl (TA'RIKH AL‐RUSUL WA ‘L‐MULÜK). (An annotated translation] (Bibliotheca Persica) (SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies):

VOLUME II: PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. Translated and annotated by WILLIAM M. BRINNER. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1987. xii, 207pp.

VOLUME IV: THE ANCIENT KINGDOMS. Translated and annotated by MOSHE PERLMANN. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1987. xii, 205pp.

THE FIRST DYNASTY OF ISLAM: THE UMAYYAD CALIPHATE ad 661–750. By G.R. HAWTTNG. London and Sydney, Croom Helm, 1986. xx, 141pp., 4 genealogical tables, 2 maps. £19.95.

THE ADVENTURES OF IBN BATTUTA, A MUSLIM TRAVELLER OF THE 14TH CENTURY. By ROSS E. DUNN. London, Croom Helm, 1986. xvi, 357 pages, 12 maps. £22.50

TRADE AND CIVILISATION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. AN ECONOMIC HISTORY FROM THE RISE OF ISLAM TO 1750. By K..N. CHAUDHURI. Cambridge, C.U.P., 1985. xiv + 269 pp. £25.00 Hardback, £8.95 Paperback.

MAMLUK JERUSALEM: AN ARCHITECTURAL STUDY. By MICHAEL HAMILTON BURGOYNE and DONALD S. RICHARDS. London, World of Islam Festival Trust for the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 1987. xii, 623pp. £115.00

ISLAMIC TECHNOLOGY: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. By AHMAD Y. AL‐HASSAN and DONALD R. HILL. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press/Paris, Unesco, 1986. xiv, [ii], 304pp. 165 illustrations, 1 map. £25.00.

OIL, INDUSTRIALISATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARAB GULF STATES. By ATIF A. KUBURSI, London, Croom Helm, 1984. 144 pp. Paperback.

BRITAIN'S INFORMAL EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A CASE STUDY OF IRAQ 1929–1941. By DANIEL SILVERFARB. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. xii + 200 pp. $24.95 cloth.

IRAQ BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS: THE CREATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A NATIONALIST IDEOLOGY. By REEVA S. SIMON. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986. xviii + 233 pp. $30.00 cloth.

SADDAM'S IRAQ: REVOLUTION OR REACTION? London, Zed Press, 1986, for CARDRI (Committee against repression and for democratic rights in Iraq). 254pp. Paper.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SHATT AL‐ARAB BOUNDARY DISPUTE. By RICHARD SCHOFIELD, London, MENAS Press, 1986. 111 pp. Paper.

JORDAN IN THE 1967 WAR. By SAMIR A. MUTAWI. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1987. 228pp. £22.50.

UNDER SIEGE: P.L.O. DECISIONMAKING DURING THE 1982 WAR. By RASHID KHALIDI. New York, Columbia University Press, 1986. 241 pp.

EMPIRE ON THE NILE. THE ANGLO‐EGYPTIAN SUDAN, 1898–1934. By M.W. DALY. Cambridge University Press, 1986. xv + 524 pp. + Map and 21 illustrations. £40.00.

ISLAM AND THE THIRD UNIVERSAL THEORY: THE RELIGIOUS THOUGHT OF MU'AMMAR AL‐QADHDHAFI. By MAHMOUD MUSTAFA AYOUB. London, KPI Ltd., 1987. 155pp.

APPROACHES TO ISLAM. (World Religions in Education Series.) By RICHARD TAMES. London, John Murray, 1982. 264pp. P/B £4.95

MORALS AND MANNERS IN ISLAM. By MARWAN IBRAHIM AL‐KAYSI. Leicester, The Islamic Foundation, 1986. 200pp. H/B £9.50 P/B £4.50

REMEMBRANCE AND PRAYER. By MUHAMMAD AL‐GHAZAALI. Translated by Yusuf Talal de Lorenzo. Leicester, The Islamic Foundation, 1986. 232pp. H/B £10.00 P/B £4.95

THE ISLAMIC WAY OF LIFE. By SAYYID ABUL A'LA MAWDUDI. Edited by Khurshid Ahmad and Khurram Murad. Leicester, The Islamic Foundation, 1986. 80pp. H/B £6.50 P/B £2.00

ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE. By A. AL‐BURAEY. London, KPI Ltd., 1985.470pp.

ARAB SOCIETY. Edited by SAMIH K. FARSOUN. London, Croom Helm, 1985. 125pp.

WOMEN OF SAUDI ARABIA. By SORAYA ALTO'RKI. New York, Columbia University Press, 1986. 183pp. $30.00

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY ARABIC DRAMA 1847–1900. By MOHAMED A. AL‐KHOZAI. London, Longman, 1984. ix, 245pp. £7.95.

FROM NATIONALISM TO REVOLUTIONARY ISLAM. Edited by SAID AMIR ARJOMAND. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1984. 256pp.

OCCIDENTOSIS: A PLAGUE FROM THE WEST. By JALAL AL‐I AHMAD (translated by R. CAMPBELL, edited by HAMID ALGAR). Berkeley, Ca, Mizan Press, 1984. 160pp. $5.95.

THE RISING OF AL‐HUSAYN: ITS IMPACT ON THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSLIM SOCIETY. By SHAYKH MUHAMMAD MAHDI SHAMS AL‐DIN (translated by I.K.A. HOWARD). London, Muhammadi Trust (distributed by Routledge and Kegan Paul), 1985. 218pp.

IRAN SINCE THE REVOLUTION: INTERNAL DYNAMICS, REGIONAL CONFLICTS AND THE SUPERPOWERS. Edited by BARRY ROSEN. (Brooklyn College Studies on Societies in Change, No. 47.) New York, Columbia University Press, 1985. 187pp., 27 plates, 4 maps.

IN IRAN: STUDIES IN BÁBÍ AND BAHÁ'Í HISTORY. Volume 3. Edited by PETER SMITH. Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1986. 237pp. HC $19.95.     

Treaty Federalism in Northern Canada: Aboriginal-Government Land Claims Boards

Treaty federalism in North America encompasses not only governanceimplications of the historic treaties signed with Aboriginalpeoples, but also the modern-day treaties known as "comprehensiveland claim agreements." This article explores how treaty federalismis realized in Northern Canada through claims-mandated jointgovernment-Aboriginal boards dealing with wildlife management,land-use planning, and environmental protection. These boards,existing at the intersection of the three orders of government-national,federal/territorial, and Aboriginal—are found to be uniquegovernance institutions, with substantial independence fromgovernment. They have significantly enhanced Aboriginal peoples'influence over land, wildlife, and resource decisions, but theextent to which they bring Aboriginal culture and worldviewsto bear in decision-making remains an open question.     

Distributive and Procedural Justice in Seven Nations

The paper examines the impact of distributive justice and procedural justice variables on judgments in seven countries (Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Spain, and the United States). Subjects were presented with each of two experimental vignettes: one in which the actor unsuccessfully appeals being fired from his job and one in which the actor unsuccessfully goes to an employment agency to seek a job; they were asked to rate the justness of the outcome and how fairly the actor had been treated. The vignettes manipulated deservingness and need of the actor (distributive justice factors) and impartiality and voice in the hearing (procedural justice factors). Four hypotheses were tested: first, a distributive justice hypothesis that deservingness would be more important than need in these settings; second, a procedural justice hypothesis that the importance of voice and impartiality vary depending on the nature of the encounter and the forum in which it is resolved; third, because of their recent socialist experience, Central and Eastern European respondents make greater use of need information and less use of deservingness information than Western respondents; and fourth, that distributive justice and procedural justice factors interact. The distributive justice hypothesis is supported in both vignettes. The procedural justice hypothesis receives some support. Impartiality is more important in the first vignette and voice is more important in the second vignette. The interaction hypothesis was not supported in the first vignette, but does receive some support in the second vignette. The cultural hypothesis is not supported in either vignette. The implications for distributive and procedural justice research are discussed.     

An insurer's perspective on reform

Individual health insurance markets differ from state to state, and as a result approaches to individual market reforms need to be different. In evaluating approaches, policy makers need to remember that since the decision to purchase health insurance coverage is voluntary, the potential for adverse selection exists. In addition, rather than putting the focus of individual market reforms almost exclusively on access to health insurance for a small number of persons with high-cost health conditions, more attention needs to be put on how to decrease the number of uninsured persons. This includes making the premiums paid for individual health insurance 100 percent tax deductible, similar to those of employer-based health insurance. Finally, market reforms need to treat all types of coverage issued in the individual market the same, whether they are purchased direct for the insurer or through an out-of-state association.