Voters,dictators, and peons: expressive voting and pivotality

Why do the poor vote against redistribution? We examine one explanation experimentally, namely that individuals gain direct expressive utility from voting in accordance with their ideology and understand that they are unlikely to be pivotal; hence, their expressive utility, even if arbitrarily small, determines their voting behavior. In contrast with a basic prediction of this model, we find that the probability of being pivotal does not affect the impact of monetary interest on whether a subject votes for redistribution.     

Militarizing Japan’s Southwest Islands: Subnational Involvement and Insecurities in the Maritime Frontier Zone

Abstract

This paper sheds light on a relatively underexplored aspect of Japan’s recent security changes by examining the subnational level where the impact has been far-reaching. It focuses on Japan’s maritime frontier zone: the Yaeyama Islands located at the southwestern end of the Japanese archipelago and administered as part of Okinawa Prefecture. It argues that while Yaeyama militarization has been primarily a national response to China’s portrayed assertiveness in the East China Sea, it has also been facilitated by the strategic actions of local political elites, in cooperation with sympathetic extra-local forces. Political elites from two islands, Yonaguni and Ishigaki, have been motivated primarily by diverging material and ideational factors. Yonaguni elites have viewed militarization largely through the prism of “compensation politics.” Their counterparts in Ishigaki have been driven by more ideological objectives, seeking militarization for deterrence purposes and otherwise transforming the island into a rightist breeding ground in defence of Japanese territory. Yaeyama militarization has not only diminished enthusiasm for seeking autonomy and enhancing economic security through microregional cooperation, but has also enhanced local-level insecurities while creating and exacerbating divisions.     

Associations Between Experiencing and Witnessing Physical and Psychological Abuse and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Yemeni Children

There is little research on how family violence affects children who live the Arab world. This study had three aims. First, to examine the prevalence of family violence in Yemen. Second, to examine the associations between family violence and internalizing and externalizing problems in Yemeni children. Third, to examine participant gender as a possible moderator. A total of 598 children, 11–16 years old, completed measures of experiencing and witnessing physical and psychological abuse in the home, and reported emotional symptoms and conduct problems. Findings indicate that prevalence rates of all forms of abuse are high among Yemeni children (57.5% experiencing physical abuse, 71.2% psychological abuse, 33.6% witnessing physical abuse, and 78.9% witnessing psychological abuse). Boys experienced more physical and psychological abuse in the home than girls, although the level of physical and psychological abuse children witnessed in the home did not differ for boys and girls. The structural equation model indicated that witnessing psychological abuse was associated with emotional symptoms and conduct problems in children. Experiencing physical abuse was associated with conduct problems, whereas experiencing psychological abuse was associated with emotional symptoms. These associations were similar for boys and girls. These findings suggest that living in an abusive home can have harmful effects on Yemeni children.     

Job Stress,Job Involvement,Job Satisfaction,and Organizational Commitment and Their Associations with Job Burnout Among Indian Police Officers: a Research Note

Job burnout can negatively impact individual officers, the organization that employs the burned out officers, citizens with whom these officers directly interact, and the community more broadly. The vast majority of the empirical research on burnout has been based on Western police officers. The present study extends our understanding of the associations that job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, affective commitment, and continuance commitment have with the three dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment) among Indian police officers. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis was used to examine survey data from 827 police officers in the Sonipat and Rohtak districts of the Indian state of Haryana using a systematic random sample. The findings indicate that job involvement and job satisfaction were associated with lower levels of all three dimensions of burnout. Job stress was associated with emotional and reduced accomplishment burnout. High affective commitment was associated with lower levels of a reduced sense of personal accomplishment, while continuance commitment was associated with higher levels of emotional and depersonalization burnout. The results suggest that job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, affective commitment, and continuance commitment have effects on burnout among Indian officers, as has been found among Western officers. As such, police scholars and administrators should focus on reducing job stress and continuance commitment and increasing job involvement, job satisfaction, and affective commitment among officers.     

The Role of Budget and Financial Reform in Making Government Work Better and Cost Less

Budgeting and Financial Management play a crucial role in organizing and disciplining the federal management culture. Consequently, addressing improvements in their practice is essential in the National Performance Review's examination of government-wide management systems. This article briefly describes the recommendations and anticipated implementing actions relating to budgeting and financial management within the context of the National Performance Review's themes of cutting red tape, putting customers first, empowering employees to get results, and cutting back to basics. External factors, such as innovations in private sector management practices, rapid changes in information technology, and statutory reforms such as the Government Performance and Results Act, also influence needed changes in budgetary and financial management practices.