Conditional Cash Transfer Programs and Electoral Accountability: Evidence from Latin America

Do conditional cash transfer programs reduce voters' incentives to hold their government accountable for its performance? Studies show that these programs generate considerable electoral returns for the governments responsible for them. One important and unexplored question is whether these popular programs have also changed the landscape of accountability in Latin America. Survey data from 16 Latin American countries that have adopted CCT programs do not offer support for the claim that such programs have a detrimental effect on electoral accountability for corruption and for the economy. Only in countries where CCT programs do not follow strict rules do beneficiaries attribute relatively less weight to the government's economic performance, but this effect is marginal. These findings fill an important gap in the literature and offer reassuring evidence that cash transfers can alleviate poverty while preserving voters' incentives to exercise electoral accountability in crucial areas of government performance.     

The institutionalisation of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the institutional development of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (BCD) from 1826 to the present. Legislature careers, the internal organisation of the BCD, the current system for filling positions within the committees and electoral rules are the objects of this study. The process of development of the BCD should be understood in light of the dynamics of the Brazilian political system, which has undergone significant ruptures of regime, and also in light of the nearly permanent fragility of the democracy, especially of its representative components. It is an institution with legislature career patterns that vary through time, but always point towards opportunities out of the BCD, a stable, hierarchical and complex mode of organisation that currently values parties as distributors of opportunities. It is, above all, an institution that is subject to external influences from other parts of the political system, which diminish its autonomy and self-determination, as shown by the example of the rule for the adjudication of terms. With its 190 years, the BCD has evolved along with Brazilian democracy and today, although boasting a great structure and large resources, it still needs to establish itself as a decisive and permanent actor in driving public policies and communication (parties and government projects) with voters.     

奥运安保背景下的民用爆炸物品管理工作研究——以绍兴市为例

通过对绍兴市民用爆炸物品管理工作历史沿革的回顾、实践的总结和现状的分析,指出在奥运安保日趋紧张、反恐形势日益严峻的背景下,要紧紧抓住“五大”工作机制建设,即警务协作机制、排查控制机制、打击查处机制、责任追究机制和涉爆处置机制建设,最大限度地做好民用爆炸物品管理工作。     

上市公司股权集中度与经营绩效关系的行业特征分析

本文利用上海证券交易所采掘、电力和煤气行业的40家及批发、零售贸易业,电子信息产业的91家上市公司的数据,在进行适当的筛选和剔除之后,对它们2003年至2005年三年的数据进行了实证研究。结果表明,在不同的行业特征条件下,股权集中度对公司经营绩效的影响是不同的:在竞争性行业的上市公司中,股权相对集中,且有若干个大股东的股权集中度有利于公司绩效的提升;在垄断性行业的上市公司中,则是较高的股权集中度有利于公司绩效的提升,无论是第一大股东、前五大股东或前十大股东的持股比例都应保持较高水平。这些实证结果为完善我国的上市公司治理提供了有益的启示。     

北京城市贫困人口与现行最低生活保障制度研究

本依据实证调查的数据和资料,描述北京城市贫困人口这一社会弱势群体生活的诸方面（贫困家庭成年人和后续劳动力的下岗失业与再就业,子女教育,家庭人口结构,伤残病人口等）遇到的困境,分析致贫的主要原因及社会救助的相应对策,分析现行最低生活保障制度及实际运作中存在的问题,探索改革和完善这一制度的思路和对策。     

基本公共服务均等化视阈下的政府间转移支付制度——从法治视角的分析

政府间转移支付制度是实现基本公共服务均等化的重要途径。从促进基本公共服务均等化的目标来看,政府间转移支付制度需要实现从政治模式向法治模式的转变。本文从基本公共服务均等化与政府间转移支付制度的关系入手,分析了政府间转移支付的传统运作模式及其不足,并从法治的视角提出了政府间转移支付制度的发展方向。     

个人信息侵权行为现状及保护措施研析

近年来,人们在享受科技发展与网络信息技术普及带来的便利的同时,也正经历着个人信息侵权的困扰。个人信息侵权行为具有侵害手段的技术性、侵害方式的隐蔽性、侵害领域的无地域性、侵害后果的严重性的特点,而相对于个人信息侵权行为,个人信息保护的立法却相对滞后,个人信息的界定狭窄,个人信息的法律保护无系统、比较零散,法律保护范围比较狭窄,而且保护手段比较单一,因此,必须完善个人信息侵权行为的保护,加快个人信息保护的立法进程和行业自律建设。     

东亚安全:合作模式与结构

在安全体簇生的东亚地区,并存有美国主导的东亚联盟体系式安全合作、东盟地区主义式安全合作、中国倡行的多边协治式安全合作等三种安全合作模式,其中,美国的东亚联盟体系式安全合作模式在复合型的东亚安全结构中占据主导地位,而东盟和中国所倡行的安全合作模式,还停留在安全合作观念倡导和通过集体联合来尝试性建构地区制度性安全纽带的层面。东亚地区所存在的三种安全合作模式之间,是一种不平等的权力相互制衡关系。再加上地区范围内大国间的结构性对抗和潜在冲突,东亚安全困境的产生和存在成为必然。东亚目前不具备建构地区多边安全合作机制的可能,三种安全合作模式的共存仍将是地区安全结构的主要内容,复合型的安全结构态势将长期存在。     

Mitochondrial DNA Extraction from Burial Soil Samples at Incremental Distances: A Preliminary Study

Preservation variance of soil DNA is neglected in the literature, and exceptional cases exaggerate amplification capabilities. This study sought to amplify a short mitochondrial fragment (212 bp) specific to Sus scrofa domesticus from the soil surrounding decomposing pig remains from an open‐air locale. Samples collected above the body at incremental distances after 145 days of initial placement yielded pig DNA. A secondary sampling was collected in 2017, approximately 768 days after burial. Inhibition tests corroborated that pig DNA was no longer present in the soil resulting in a loss of original DNA between 145 and 768 days. The results provide evidence that genetic material leaches out radially from the source and DNA fragments longer than 200 bp do not persist in soil for a relatively short timeframe in western Montana. The conclusions support the collection of soil in crime scene investigation procedures within the first few months of decomposition.