Voters and their representatives: electoral institutions and delegation in parliamentary democracies

Abstract. Of all the links in the democratic delegation chain, the first link (from voters to legislators) may be fraught with the greatest potential for agency losses. Voters — the ultimate principals – may lack the information and resources to select the best legislators and subsequently ensure that they do the public's bidding. This paper uses some of the insights of the principal–agent approach to examine the Voter–MP relationship by focusing primarily on two sets of organisational and institutional rules: methods of candidate selection and electoral laws. Since the emphasis is on direct links between voters and legislators (rather than on the intermediary role of parties), we examine electoral laws in terms of the incentives they provide for candidates to seek a personal vote. Since agency losses are most likely when the MPs' careers do not directly depend on voters, electoral systems are arranged on a continuum from party–centred systems (little or no incentive to seek personal votes), to intermediate systems (limited effectiveness of personal voting) to candidate–centred systems (where personal voting is most effective). One of the arguments is that a trade–off often exists between the directness of the link between voter and agent and the choice of agents that is crucial to voters' abilities to sanction agents. If it is thought desirable that voters have the ability to directly sanction representatives, then an institutional design involving effective preferential voting in districts of moderate magnitude should be optimal.     

An investigation into the presence of petrol on the clothing and shoes of members of the public

First, the clothing and shoes from 29 participants who had recently filled their vehicles with petrol were analysed for any traces of petrol. No traces of petrol were found on any of these items. Secondly, the clothing and shoes from 17 participants who had recently used a petrol-powered lawn mower were also analysed for petrol. Petrol was detected on two pairs of shoes from different participants. Components of petrol were detected on a set of clothing from a third participant, however, there were insufficient components present in this sample to confirm the presence of petrol. No traces of petrol were found on the items from the remaining 14 participants. Thirdly, the clothing from a forecourt attendant, a mechanic and a professional lawn mower were analysed at the end of a number of shifts. Petrol was detected on the upper and lower clothing from the forecourt attendant at the end of one shift. No petrol residues were found on the forecourt attendant after a second shift, or on the mechanic's clothing after two separate shifts or on the professional lawn mower's clothing after three separate shifts. These results can be used to assist the forensic analyst in assessing the chance of finding traces of petrol on clothing and shoes after the wearer has performed common activities that involve petrol.     

Predicting and Preventing the Theft of Electronic Products

The research presented within this paper was conducted as part of a 2-year project (Project MARC) to develop and render operational a mechanism to assess the risk of theft of electronic products. Clarke and Newman (Secured goods by design - a plan for security coding of electronic products. London: Department of Trade and Industry, 2002) proposed the use of two checklists—one to measure vulnerability, the other to measure security—as a means of categorising products according to their vulnerability to theft. Consultation with key stakeholders yielded the common view that such a mechanism was worth pursuing, but that it must reflect the language of those who would use it. An extensive consultation with stakeholders from ten European member states ensued. Participants were asked to rate a range of electronic products in terms of vulnerability and security, and to explain their ratings. Their responses were used to develop two checklists that incorporate a variety of factors, weighted according to the frequency with which they were expressed. The crime vulnerability checklist developed within this paper is judged fit-for-purpose as a provisional measurement but we urge caution in relation to the security checklist.

Effects of offender motivation, victim gender, and participant gender on perceptions of rape victims and offenders

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine whether knowledge of the motivation of an offender can influence participant perceptions of victim and perpetrator responsibility for a sexual assault. In addition, the synergistic influence of victim gender and participant gender with offender motivation was explored. Participants were 171 men and women from a small Northeastern college exposed to a stimulus in which a rapist's motivation was varied as either sexual or violent. Participants were more certain that the stimulus described a rape, recommended a longer prison sentence for the offender, and assigned less blame to the victim when exposed to an offender motivated by violence as opposed to an offender motivated by sex. Offender motivation also interacted with participant gender and victim gender on participants' perceptions of victim blame and offender responsibility. The results suggest that an offender's motivation for rape can influence perceptions of the offender's and victim's responsibility for the assault.     

走到十字路口的日本法科大学院制度

本文介绍了日本借鉴美国法学教育模式建立的日本法科大学院制度和新司法考试制度的背景、理念,重点阐释了日本法科大学院在实施中出现的问题和挑战,对新的法律职业教育模式与旧有制度之间的冲突和矛盾进行了深入分析,并将日本制度和韩国的制度改革作了比较法上的研究,提出了一些值得深入思考的看法。     

The effectiveness of prison for reducing drug offender recidivism: a regression discontinuity analysis

Objectives

An enduring legacy of the 1980s “war on drugs” is the increased use of imprisonment for drug offenders. Advocates anticipated, in part, that prison is more effective than community sanctions in reducing recidivism. Despite the contribution of drug offender incarceration to prison growth nationally, and debates about whether this approach should be curtailed, only limited rigorous research exists that evaluates the effect of imprisonment on drug offender recidivism. To address this gap, this paper uses sentencing and recidivism data from a cohort of individuals convicted of felony drug offenses in Florida to examine the effect of imprisonment—as compared to community sanctions—on recidivism.

Methods

Regression discontinuity analyses are used. These minimize potential selection bias by exogenously assigning cases to conditions based on a rating variable and a cut-off score.

Results

Results indicate that prison has no effect on drug offenders’ rates of reconviction. This finding holds across a range of offender subgroups (racial and ethnic, gender, age, and prior criminal justice system involvement).

Conclusions

Imprisoning individuals convicted of marginally serious drug offenses—that is, those close to a cut-off score for being sent to prison—did not reduce subsequent offending. This finding suggests that curtailing the use of imprisonment for such individuals will not appreciably affect future criminal activity and may have the benefit of reducing correctional system costs.

     

Democratic Representation and the Property Franchise in Australian Local Government

Australia remains one of the last liberal democracies to retain a property franchise at the local government level. This particular feature is both the result of historical particularities and contemporary political arrangements. This article analyses the property franchise in the City of Melbourne, the capital of the Australian State of Victoria, based on democratic theory and an empirical study. It illustrates the tensions between the democratic principles of representation and political equality in defining structures for representation at the local government level. The authors suggest that a more nuanced interpretation of representation can be adopted at a local level based on territorial residency rather than legal citizenship. Despite this, based on analysis of both electoral and non‐electoral mechanisms, the property franchises are found to be anachronistic and indefensible from a democratic perspective and unrelated to the status of capital city. The article concludes that, at a local level, deliberative democracy holds the promise to better represent various interests, including property interests.     

Extremist Outbidding in Ethnic Party Systems is Not Inevitable: Tribune Parties in Northern Ireland

The ethnic outbidding thesis predicts centrifugal polarisation in ethnically divided party systems. We argue instead that the incentives of power-sharing institutions can encourage the development of electoral strategies based on 'ethnic tribune appeals' in which parties combine robust ethnic identity representation with increased pragmatism over resource allocation. We test these arguments in Northern Ireland and show that though evidence of direct vote switching from moderate parties to ostensibly 'extreme' parties is prima facie consistent with the outbidding thesis, attitudinal convergence between the nationalist and unionist communities on the main political issues is not. The recent electoral success of the DUP and Sinn Féin can instead be explained by these parties' 'ethnic tribune' appeals. Many voters simultaneously endorse peace, prosperity and (increasingly) power sharing but also want the strongest voice to protect their ethnonational interests. Identity voting for ethnic tribune parties implies a degree of resolve in advocating ethnic group interests, but does not entail the increased polarisation implied by outbidding models. Like their voters, ethnic tribune parties can be simultaneously pragmatic (with regard to resources) and intransigent (with regard to identity), so that despite appearances to the contrary, the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland incentivise centripetal dynamics that inhibit outbidding.