Federalism As an Ideal Political Order and an Objective for Constitutional Reform

Federalism is first examined as an ideal-type political orderas possibly emergent from initial constitutional agreement amongmembers of a prospective political community. This abstractedand nonhistorical analysis is followed by an examination ofthe possible applicability of the federalist ideal as the basisfor reform in specific historical-institutional settings. Thedirection of constitutional change toward effective federalismis discussed, with the devolution of political authority fromcentralized structures carefully distinguished from the limitedconcentration of authority from previously autonomous politicalunits.     

Books in review

He has also served as research director of the Guggenheim Foundation from 1972–1984. Among his books are Men in Groups; The Imperial Animal(with Robin Fox); The Manufacture of Evil;and The Pursuit of Pleasure.     

The influence of state-level economic conditions on the 1992 U.S. presidential election

Evidence is found that state-level economic conditions played a significant role in the defeat of George Bush in the 1992 U.S. presidential election. Evidence is also found which indicates that the entrance of Ross Perot into the race as an independent candidate was not instrumental in the Bush loss.     

Heterogenous demand for public goods: Behavior in the voluntary contributions mechanism

Numerous laboratory experiments have investigated the performance of several processes for providing public goods through voluntary contributions. This research has been able to identify features of the institution or environment which are reliably likely to produce outcomes “close” to the free riding outcome or “substantially” greater than the pessimistic prediction of standard models. One such feature is the “marginal per-capita return” (MPCR) from the public good. Various authors have altered MPCR between groups or for an entire group at the same time. The experiments reported here address a different question, “What would happen if, within a group, some persons faced a ‘high’ MPCR while others faced a ‘low’ MPCR?”     

An analysis of contributions and contributors to Public Choice and the Journal of Law and Economics; 1973–1987

Several conclusions may be drawn from the information we have presented here. First and without doubt, the University of Chicago is by far the most dominant force overall, and is particularly so with respect to the production of pages and papers published in the Journal of Law and Economics. The George Mason-Virginia Tech influence is strong with respect to Public Choice, but is not, in our opinion, dominant.One does not necessarily need to be located at a large, research-oriented school in order to publish in either journal, but these schools are the source of most contributions. This is particularly true of the JLE but significantly less so for PC. The source of contributions is very broad, but top 50 institutions account for the lion's share. Contributions by persons employed at foreign institutions are important, particularly for PC.     

Executive budget proposal,executive veto,legislative override,and uncertainty: A comparative analysis of the budgetary process

This study examines the roles of the executive budgetary proposal, the executive veto, the legislative override, and legislative uncertainty about the executive's preferences in determining the outcome of a budgetary process. A sequential model of the budgetary process with three institutional agents — a legislature, an appropriations committee, and an executive — is presented. To focus attention on the executive proposal, the veto, the override provision, and uncertainty, simplifying assumptions are made: (1) the appropriations committee has monopoly agenda power, and (2) there is a closed amendment control rule. In order to characterize sequential equilibria of various combinations of veto rules and override provisions, we examine a particular arrangement of agents' preferences and a two item budget. The results demonstrate that the final budget depends critically on the executive proposal, the executive veto rule, the override provision, and the uncertainty. We achieve three striking results. First, the executive proposal may be effective in reducing the frequency of the exercised veto. Second, for a given override provision, a movement from the item veto to the item reduction veto leaves the executive worse off in some cases. Third, with the same change in institutions, the government budget may increase.     

B. Reviews: general

i. SHADOWS ON THE SAND: THE MEMOIRS OP SIR GAWAIN BELL. By (SIR) GAWAIN BELL. London, C.Hurst/New York, St Martins, 1983. pp.xiv, 258, 2 maps and index. El3.50.

ii. THE SUDAN MEMOIRS OF CARL CHRISTIAN GIEGLER PASHA. Edited by RICHARD HILL. Translated from the German by THIRZA KÜPPER. With a foreword by the Pasha's great‐granddaughter, HEIDI GROHA. Oxford, Oxford University Press (for the British Academy), pp. xxxii, 231, 3 maps, 12 plates. £18.00.

iii. EGYPT IN THE REIGN OF MUHAMMAD ALI. By AFAF LUTFI AL‐SAYYID MARSOT. (Cambridge Middle East Library) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1984. pp.x, 300. £25.00.

iv. URBAN NOTABLES AND ARAB NATIONALISM: THE POLITICS OF DAMASCUS. By PHILIP S. KHOURY. (Cambridge Middle East Library) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1983. pp.153, 2 maps.

v. VICTIMS OF A MAP. Translated by ABDULLAH AL‐UDHARI. London, Al‐Saqi Books, 1984. pp.165. £4.95.

vi. PALESTINE AND MODERN ARAB POETRY. By KHALID A. SULAIMAN. London, Zed Books Ltd., 1984. pp.240. £6.95.

vii. L'ARABIE DU SUD: HISTOIRE ET CIVILISATION. By JOSEPH CHELHOD and others. Paris, Maisonneuve & Larose, 1984. pp.264. 21 illustrations, maps, tables. FF 94.

viii. THE TWO YEMENS. By ROBIN BIDWELL. Harlow (UK), Longman/Boulder (USA), Westview. 1983. pp.350.

ix. BAHRAIN AND THE GULF: PAST PERSPECTIVES AND ALTERNATIVE FUTURES. Edited by JEFFREY B. NUGENT and THEODORE H. THOMAS. London, Croom Helm, 1985. pp.221, 26 tables, 4 figs., bibliography. £16.95.

x. THE ARABS. New Edition. By PETER MANSFIELD. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1985. pp.510, map, index. £4.95/$6.95.

xi. THE EVOLUTION OF MIDDLE EASTERN LANDSCAPES: AN OUTLINE TO AD 1840. By J.M. WAGSTAFF. London, Croom Helm, 1983. pp.304, 459 maps and figs., 5 tables.

xii. THE GREEK MINORITY OF ISTANBUL AND GREEK‐TURKISH RELATIONS 1918–1974. By ALEXIS ALEXANDRIS. Athens, Centre for Asia Minor Studies, 1983.

xiii. SEX AND SOCIETY IN ISLAM: BIRTH CONTROL BEFORE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. By B.F.MUSALLAM. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilizations). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1983. pp.ix, 176. £17.50.

xiv. TOWARDS A JUST MONETARY SYSTEM. By MUHAMMAD U. CHAPRA. Leicester (UK), The Islamic Foundation, 1985. pp.292. £10.00 (hardback); £4.75 (paperback).

xv. INSURANCE IN AN ISLAMIC ECONOMY. By MUHAMMAD NEJATULLAH SIDDIQUI. Leicester (UK), The Islamic Foundation, 1985. £5.50 (hardback); £2.00 (paperback).

xvi. PARTNERSHIP AND PROFIT SHARING IN ISLAMIC LAW. By MUHAMMAD NEJATULLAH SIDDIQUI. Leicester (UK), The Islamic Foundation, 1985. pp.111. £6.50 (hardback); £2.25 (paperback).

xvii. THE IMMORTAL ATATURK: A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHY. By VAMIK D. VOLKAN and NORMAN ITZKOWITZ. Chicago‐London, Chicago University Press, 1984. pp.xxv, 374. £34.50.

xviii. TURKEY. MERI REPORT. Compiled by MIDDLE EAST RESEARCH INSTITUTE. London, Croom Helm, 198 3. pp.181. £35.00

xix. BORDER AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTES. Edited by ALAN J.DAY. (A Keesing's Reference Publication). Harlow, Longman, 1982. pp.406, 44 maps. £45.00

xx. ‘IF ONLY MY PEOPLE...’ By IMMANUEL JAKOBOVITS. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1984. pp.288.

xxi. L'IMPRIMERIE ARABE EN OCCIDENT (XVIe, XVIIe XVIIIe SIÈCLES). By JOSÉE BALAGNA. (Islam & Occident, 2.) Paris, Maisonneuve & Larose, 1984. pp.153. 68F.