Implausible hypotheses in the directional theory of issue voting

Abstract Two implausible hypotheses implied by the directional theory of issue voting were tested using six Swedish national election studies, 1979–1994. The hypotheses that (a) centrists are indifferent toward parties, and that (b) people leaning slightly in one direction prefer an extremely intense party on the same side were not supported. However, alternative hypotheses from proximity theory were also not supported consistently. Self–placement on the left–right dimension and liking for a party form a logistic function. Party set and latitudes of acceptance, rejection, and noncommitment are concepts that may prove useful in understanding this relationship.     

Cutting the bars: thoughts on ‘prisoners and escapees’ in Bangladesh

The idea that problems in governance have deep roots in social structure has been revisited by Geof Wood in a recent article in this journal. His article takes a position in relation to an ongoing debate about how to improve public administration and management in Bangladesh, a debate that seems to be almost as ‘imprisoned’ in incompatible values and premises as, he argues, are the various Bangladeshi actors in society. But behind this debate are some very practical issues about how the administration there might be persuaded to work better. Key to his contribution is the idea of ‘room for manoeuvre’ or conditions for ‘escape’. This article argues that embedded institutions and values matter but that behaviour is also responsive to opportunity. ‘Old’ values can be put together into new institutional complexes if given a chance. The key to successful institutional change is effectiveness. ‘Escape’ is not only, or even primarily, a matter of changing values but of responding to circumstances and changing institutions—cutting the bars. A close look at institutional and organizational reform in any country, including the UK, shows that, whatever moral language and posture inform the reform agenda, it is constructive compromise that produces the structure that works. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental lobbying and political posturing: the role of environmental groups in Ontario's debate over NAFTA

Abstract: This paper examines the involvement of Ontario-based environmental organizations in the debate over NAFTA and their relationship with various ministries at Queen's Park responsible for developing policy on the agreement. More specifically, this study seeks to explain why and how the Ontario government relied on a select group of environmental organizations to advance its anti-NAFTA campaign. The paper concludes by arguing that while a handful of environmental organizations played an important role in increasing public awareness about the potential environmental implications of NAFTA, these organizations also served as effective vehicles for conveying Ontario's opposition to the agreement. Sommaire: Dans cet article, nous examinons la participation des organismes environ-nementaux de I'Ontario au dkbat concernant l'ALENA ainsi que leur rapport avec divers ministères ontariens chargés d'élaborer les politiques relatives à cet accord. Plus particulièrement, cette étude cherche à expliquer pourquoi et comment le gouvernement de l'Ontario a utilisé divers organismes environnementaux dans sa campagne anti-ALENA. L'article conclut que, si certains organismes environnementaux ont joué un rôle important dans la sensibilisation du public au sujet des répercussions environnementales potentielles de l'ALENA, ils ont aussi, par contre, véhiculé l'opposition de l'Ontario à cet accord.     

Jesse Burkhead: An Appreciation

This article is an overview of the distinguished career of Jesse Burkhead, Professor Emeritus, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, and for eight years editor of Public Budgeting & Finance. For forty years he has influenced the field of budgeting through his teaching, articles and books. The article reflects on some of Burkhead's budgetary principles and observations which remain relevant to today's decision making.     

Meech Lake and free trade: studies in Canadian federalism

Canada: Its Framework, Its Foibles, Its Future. By Allan E. Blakeney . 1988 Kenneth R. MacGregor Lecture. Navigating Meech Lake. Edited by Clive Thomson . Federal Leadership in Social and Economic Policy. By Peter M. Leslie . National Citizenships and Provincial Communities: A Review of Canadian Fiscal Federalism and Ethnonationalism in a Federal State: The Case of Canada. By Peter M. Leslie . Research Papers 23 and 24. Canada: The State of the Federation 1987–88. Edited by Peter M. Leslie and Ronald L. Watts .     

Development administration in the context of world economic recession: Some ideas on service provision in southern Sudan

This papers brings together several strains of thought around an outline suggestion for reform of education administration and finance in the Southern Sudan. Administration has to be seen in terms of incentives and disincentives to action. The administration of the Southern Sudan constitutes the largest part of the elite of that part of the country and consumes most public funds as salaries. In political interactions with sections of the public there is a more pressing need to respond to the demands of educated youth for salaries than to make adequate provision for non-salary expenses of services to the public. But the system is not in a stable state and the full contradictions of the situation, for politicians, bureaucrats and public, are revealed by the financial restrictions enforced as a result of national debt and international recession. Politically leaders in government service and disaffected leaders in military opposition in the bush both continue to demand a fairer distribution of central resources. But the possibility of generating, at the grass-roots, both the resources necessary for non-salary costs and the necessary influence to demand services, is something which could be further explored in the interests of all parties. This is a potential new direction for reform in development administration.     

The dynamics of interpersonal attitudinal influence: Some additional evidence

The process by which one individual or group of individuals influences the attitudes of another is an important area of concern for students of political behavior. A few years ago a major political science journal published an article pointing to the salience of perceptual accuracy and issue salience in this regard. Interpersonal affective relationships were also considered but dismissed as lacking independent causal significance.Through parallel analysis of a separate data base, along with additional insights from a social conditioning approach, this report attempts to show that affectis an important variable mediating interpersonal attitudinal influence. It does so in multiplicative interaction with measures of parental cue-giving, such as issue salience. Hence, adding affect to the statistical modelafter removing the effects of cue-giving masks the joint effects.     

Horizontal Accountability in Transitional Democracies: The Human Rights Ombudsman in El Salvador and Guatemala

Postwar El Salvador and Guatemala have undertaken to reform and democratize the state and to support the rule of law. Each country entered the 1990s hobbled by a legacy of authoritarian rule, while a corrupt and politicized judiciary offered virtually no check on the abuse of power. Because the judiciary has performed poorly as an institution of horizontal accountability, this article examines the performance of a new "accountability agency," the Human Rights Ombudsman. The article discusses the context in which the office was established and developed in each country, perceptions of its performance, and political responses as the office began to perform its function of holding public officials accountable in their exercise of power. Unfortunately, this new office may fall prey to the same weaknesses that have plagued older institutions in both countries.