EU issue voting and the 2014 European Parliament elections: a dynamic perspective

EU issue voting in European Parliament elections has been shown to be highly conditional upon levels of EU politicization. The present study analyzes this conditionality over time, hypothesizing that the effect of EU attitudes on EP vote preferences is catalyzed as EP elections draw closer. In contrast to extant cross-sectional post-election studies, we use a four-wave panel study covering the six months leading up to the Dutch EP elections of 2014, differentiating between party groups (pro, anti, mixed) and five EU attitude dimensions. We find that EU issue voting occurs for both anti- and pro-EU parties, but only increases for the latter. For mixed parties we find no effect of EU attitudes, yet their support base shifts in the anti-EU direction as the elections draw closer. The overarching image, however, is one of surprising stability: EU attitudes form a consistent part of EP voting motivations even outside EP election times.     

Sustainable development in Quebec and Flanders: Institutionalizing symbolic politics?

Since the publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987, governments at all levels have been struggling with the concept of sustainable development and its translation into public policy. In some federal countries, subnational governments have presented themselves as pioneers in sustainable development governance. This article critically analyses and compares the sustainable development policies in Quebec and Flanders – self‐declared leaders in the field – and seeks to identify lessons for the broader area of sustainable development governance. The analysis reveals some similarities in the policies and several problems. While certain investments are made at the administrative level, the policies are characterized by symbolic politics, devoid of political significance and not moving beyond cosmetic, rhetorical engagement. A renewed political commitment for sustainable development, as set out by the recent Rio+20 Summit, is urgently needed.     

Evaluating Others If They Stand Up for Their Moral Convictions,and Evaluating Ourselves If We Don't Stand Up

Social Justice Research - Acting on one’s moral principles is not always easy. Upholding one’s moral beliefs may run counter to one’s social environment or situational demands. It...     

Getting Ratees to Accept Performance Feedback: A Relational Approach

This paper seeks to understand the association between ratees’ relational justice perceptions and their feedback acceptance, both directly and through leader–member exchange (LMX). The paper also examines the moderated mediation effect of supervisory trust. The paper presents the findings of two studies. Study 1 utilized two data sets collected through an online survey from 280 part-time students working full-time (Sample 1) and 292 working professionals (Sample 2) in Pakistan. Study 2 utilized data collected from N?=?167 students recruited for a scenario-based experiment that manipulated whether a manager was fair or unfair. Results revealed that relational justice positively predicted feedback acceptance in Studies 1 and 2. LMX positively mediated the above-mentioned relationship in both studies. As expected, supervisory trust negatively moderated the relational justice–feedback acceptance relationship in Study 2. The present study contributes to performance management theory and practice by illuminating that raters can stimulate performance partnership by employing a relational justice approach that increases the likelihood that employees accept performance feedback.

     

“Send Them a Shipload of Rice”: Australia's Food Aid to Indonesia, 1960s–1970s

This paper asks why it took ten years after a major famine in Indonesia in 1957 for Australia's food aid to increase in greater amounts, and why food aid was so significant in Australia's foreign aid to Indonesia during the late 1960s and 1970s. Indonesia's reluctance to apply for food aid under the Colombo Plan is the reason for the delay. A combination of humanitarian, commercial and international relations interests converged to shape Australia's rapidly growing food aid to Indonesia after 1966. Food aid contributed to alleviating food shortages and famines in Indonesia. It also supported Australian firms in regaining their share in the growing market for wheat-based products in Indonesia, and in building market share for Australian rice exports, in competition with United States (US) producers and the US PL480 food aid program. Food aid also allowed Australia to expand its foreign aid program to Indonesia rapidly after 1966, in support of the government of new President Soeharto and improved bilateral relations.     

The chimera of redistribution in post-apartheid South Africa: 'Black Economic Empowerment' (BEE) in industrial fisheries

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is an attempt to marry redistributiveand neo-liberal economic policies. The South African state,however, has differing degrees of power to force redistributionon different sectors of the economy. Fisheries is one of thesectors where state allocation of licenses, exploitation rightsand quotas makes the prospects for BEE promising. In this article,we examine redistributive processes in the hake trawl industry.We conclude that BEE, despite its redistributive intentions,has been doubly conducive to the interests of large-scale SouthAfrican capital. To begin with, it has by and large confirmedthe historical share of fishing rights to incumbent, largelywhite-controlled, operators. Second, it has created a layerof ‘black captains of industry’ to whom incumbentsare increasingly outsourcing primary production in a volatile,high-risk and currently loss-leading sector. While fishing operationsare being outsourced under the banner of redistribution, thefish trade remains under the effective control of white capital.