Bread and Peace Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections

A simple ``Bread and Peace'' model shows that aggregate votes forPresident in postwar elections were determined entirely byweighted-average growth of real disposable personal income percapita during the incumbent party's term and the cumulativenumbers of American military personnel killed in action as aresult of U.S. intervention in the Korean and Vietnamese civilwars. The model is subjected to robustness tests against twenty-two variations in functional form inspired by the extensiveliterature on presidential voting. Not one of these variationsadds value to the Bread and Peace model or significantly perturbsits coefficients.     

Enactment and Implementation of the National Security Personnel System: Policy Made and Policy Unmade

This case study reviews the enactment and implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) in the U.S. Department of Defense. Proponents of reform seized the opportunity to enact reform in the aftermath of 9/11, basing their arguments on national security concerns. However, the policy‐making process did not produce a consensus for reform among key stakeholders in the personnel management policy community. Instead, the NSPS angered and alienated the Office of Personnel Management, the public employee unions, and a number of congressional Democrats. Implementation of the NSPS became problematic as Defense Department officials attempted to move quickly and independently to get the new system online, eventually forcing the department to put the system on hold. In the end, Congress imposed limits on its implementation, advocates for the system disappeared, and a new president supported the repeal of NSPS. This case provides useful insights into the formulation of future strategies for personnel management reform.     

The financing of post-secondary education: basic issues and distribution of costs†

Abstract. The papa- outlines some of the history of recent development in post-secondary education in Ontario, with particular reference to planning mechanisms and finance. Planning questions are related to an outline analysis of some functions of post-secondary education. The question of ‘custody’ as a function is raised, and it is noted that payment for attendance may imply custody as output or function. The relationship of education to certification and employment is discussed. Public/private cost allocation is considered in terms of social accessibility and transfers of resources. The question is raised whether post-secondary education will tend to become ‘universal’ as secondary education has done in the past thirty years. Sommaire. Dans cet exposé, l'auteur décrit certains développements récents de l'enseignement post-secondaire en Ontario, en insistant plus particulièrement sur les mécanismes de planification et de financement. Il établit un rapport entre les questions de planification et une analyse générale de certaines fonctions de l'enseignement post-secondaire. Il soulève la question de la ← garde → en tant que fonction, et note que la rémunération de la présence peut impliquer que la ← garde →est une réalisation ou fonction. Il parle du rapport de l'éducation d'une part et de l'accréditation et de l'emploi d'autre part. Il considère la répartition des coûts entre le secteur public et le secteur privé du point de vue de l'aecessibilité sociale et du transfert des ressources. Il se demande si l'éducation post-secondaire tendra à devenir universelle, comme cela s'est produit depuis trente ans pour l'éducation secondaire.     

Holding Mayors Accountable: New York's Executives from Koch to Bloomberg

How do citizens evaluate the performance of their mayors? Previous studies have examined mayoral performance either with cross‐sectional surveys or by comparing pairs of consecutive elections. In this article, we use 150 surveys conducted in New York City between 1984 and 2009 to carry out the first time‐series analysis of mayoral approval. We show that fluctuations in crime and the economy affect mayors’ ratings and that black and white citizens react similarly to changing local conditions (although their initial evaluations of mayors often diverge sharply). We also show that how New Yorkers rate mayors in the polls is closely related to how they vote for mayors at the polls.     

When Do Voters Support the European Union’s Involvement in Gay Rights?

Commitment to the European Union’s gay rights standards remains weak in new EU members and countries applying for EU membership. If the EU’s standards have minimal consequences, then when do voters support the EU’s involvement in gay rights? The existing research misses a comparison of opinions between those who identify with gay people, and those who do not. Sexuality-based marginalization carried out by state institutions (political homophobia) motivates those who identify with gay people to support alternatives to their state’s authority. Using an original survey of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I find that those who identify more closely with gay people are more likely to support transferring control of gay rights to the EU. Using twenty-one surveys of EU member states, I find that in countries with high levels of political homophobia, those who report discrimination on the basis of sexuality exhibit higher levels of support for the EU.     

The case for increasing aid to Africa*

An excerpt from the Commission for Africa's report spelling out why the commissioners believe the continent needs more aid and how Africa can benefit from the better use of vastly increased amounts of such assistance.