Electoral-system change in Latvia and the elections of 2010

Latvia’s highly distinctive proportional electoral system owes its origins to Latvia’s 1922 Constitution and the new democracy’s electoral legislation of 1919 and 1922. Latvia’s unique feature lies in its preference system, offering the voters the opportunity to judge each candidate on their party’s list. Although the system appears to maximise responsiveness to voters’ preferences, in practice this promise remained unfulfilled and the representative quality of parliament was questionable. This was in large measure because of the capacity of candidates to stand in multiple constituencies. In 2009 amendments to the electoral law altered this key provision. This change clearly made a difference, but it could not resolve fundamental problems of Latvia’s political process in general and its political parties in particular.     

Past and Future Budget Classics: A Research Agenda

This article summarizes the content of four classic articles on budgeting that have appeared in Public Administration Review, outlines some of the major changes in budgeting that have occurred since those authors wrote, and, based on those changes, offers a research agenda for the next set of budget classics.     

The Practice of One Ombudsman

This essay delineates the influences and constraints upon theauthor's practice as an ombuds in two different Canadian universities overmore than twenty years. My hope is that an account of my practice as itevolved day by day will help to shed light on the divergences in practiceamong particular groups of ombuds practitioners, notably government orlegislative ombudsmen; corporate ombudsmen; and academic ombudspersons inboth Canada and the United States.