Tax and Spending Limits in Colorado

In 1992, Colorado voters approved the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR), which severely limits the growth of revenues and spending by state and local governments. TABOR was layered over two earlier revenue-restricting measures. Throughout the 1990s, the state enjoyed a robust economy and the effects of these restrictions were largely masked. However, government funding for several basic services in Colorado was rapidly slipping. When Colorado went into recession, the effects of these restrictions were fully felt for the first time, but neither the governor, legislature, nor policy nonprofits have been able to find a way out of the budget bind.     

Reaching the Millennium Development Goals: equality and justice as well as results

Though less than expected, resources are available for simple, cheap interventions that can accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Results-based management has been the key to increasing access to education and health care, but it does little to change the political, social, and economic conditions that make people poor. Unless there is a better balance between the drive to achieve measurable impact, investments in long-term poverty-eradication measures, and the creation of space where poor people can discuss and develop strategies for achieving equality and social justice, it will not be as easy to make poverty history as many people think.     

Factors in Estimating Potential Response Costs of Spills and Releases

This article provides a discussion of the categories of response costs associated with releases of hazardous substances or petroleum into the environment and the factors to be considered in developing response cost estimates. To understand and estimate the costs of responding to sudden and accidental releases of hazardous materials or petroleum into the environment, a number of key factors must be considered. Detailed cost estimating approaches developed through the study of catastrophic marine oil spills are discussed for purposes of illustration, and then generalized for application to other types of spills. It is recognized that many practitioners will have access to detailed information on releases based on their own experience and it is anticipated that this article will provide additional insight, ideas, and a framework for estimating response costs.     

Formal human capital attainment of career legislators in the U.S. Congress: Modeling legislatures as unions

The present paper employs a human capital modelthat examines, among other things, the educationalattainment of career politicians/legislators. Statistical evidence is presented which suggests thatthe formal educational levels differ systematicallybetween career and non-career politicians/legislatorsat the federal level (i.e., in the U.S. Congress) –a result consistent with the implications of thelegislative pay union model developed by McCormick andTollison (1978). Any adverse selection consequencesare potentially significant regarding the quality offederal legislation and the social cost of governmentactivities.     

How do established voters react to new parties? The case of Italy, 1985–2008

The Italian party system largely collapsed in the early 1990s, providing us with a natural experimental situation in which voters were confronted with new parties – indeed, with an entirely new party system. How did they react? This paper develops a number of expectations on the basis of existing theory and tests these expectations using a dataset consisting of election studies conducted in Italy between 1985 and 2008. We find that a new party system causes confusion as to where parties stand in left-right terms, making it difficult for voters to make their choices on the basis of ideological cues. The confusion is greatest among older voters – those already set in their habits of voting, but only the very oldest cohorts (containing voters over 60 years old) are significantly debilitated.