Do Electoral Risks Moderate the Effect of Partisan and Electoral Cycles on Debt-Financed Local Spending?

Governments’ use of debt as a political instrument has been widely studied from the perspective of partisan and electoral cycles, mainly concerning central government. On the whole, previous studies have attempted to determine the effects of political ideology and the proximity of elections on the opportunistic use of public spending. The current study aims to broaden the scope of attention to the effect of partisan and electoral cycles on debt, by means of a broader consideration of the motives that lead politicians to take on a deficit and that are usually linked to the associated electoral risk. More particularly, we examine whether, during the electoral period, greater confidence in re-election can modify party behaviour concerning the use of public spending, and if so, whether the change is greater or smaller depending on the ruling party’s ideology. The results obtained show that local administrations need to incur debt, although politicians take on more liability than is appropriate to their demographic and economic characteristics, especially in an election year. It was also found that political stability favours a reduction in the public deficit, a pattern that is maintained in electoral periods. This effect was found to be independent of the partisan cycle.     

Variation in poverty and household incomes in the Philippines

This article is concerned with the analysis of the possible causes of variation in the incidence of income-only poverty and incomes across the provinces of the Philippines using cross-section data in 1990 and 1991. Assuming all other things remaining the same, the analysis indicates that the incidence of land ownership, the level of sanitary toilet facilities and the proportion of non-agricultural earners in the labour force explains to a statistically significant degree variations in poverty levels across provinces. In addition, these variables along with the availability of irrigation facilities and being located in the island of Luzon were also found to be statistically significant in explaining variations in the level of household incomes across the provinces. The regression results also indicate that the proportion of non-agricultural earners, in turn, is influenced by the level of access to electricity, the level of urbanisation, the rate of illiteracy, having an academic degree and the availability of paved roads. These latter econometric results suggest, therefore, that the links, or lines of causation between the independent variables and the level of poverty possibly are more complex than may be inferred from the results presented in comparable studies of poverty — studies that do not allow for variables operating in an indirect way, through other variables, on the level of poverty. If the results derived from various regression equations turn out to be robust after using improved data sets, then they have implications for the design of poverty-alleviation programs in the rural areas of the Philippines.     

Members of Parliament representing Barcelona during the rise of the Spanish parliamentary system (1834–54)

SUMMARY

The province of Barcelona became one of the major industrial regions at the outset of the first industrial revolution in Spain. The province of Barcelona had a distinctive place in the Spanish monarchy and it was an area where agriculture was the most important economic activity. This situation coincided with the beginning of liberal parliamentarism in Spain and it determined the profile of the Catalan MPs. For this reason, this article explores the profiles of the 85 deputies elected by the province of Barcelona during the period of liberal parliamentarianism (1834–54). The date and place of birth, profession, parliamentary experience and political militancy are examined, as is the development of cursus honorum, the ladder of political career advancement, based on the ‘course of honours/offices’ that operated in ancient Rome for men of senatorial rank and comprised a mixture of administrative and political posts. A quantitative analysis indicates a characteristic profile that is also aligned to a general European pattern. For instance, liberal professionals and public officials were significant in the professional status of the MPs. Besides, this study also considers the issues and questions which attracted the attention of the Catalan MPs and which were also willingly used by the MPs to mobilize public opinion. Furthermore, the MPs chosen by the province of Barcelona during the rise of the parliamentary system acted in an autonomous manner. Important examples of this autonomous political behaviour include the defence of a unitary position concerning industrial issues, military intervention in the province of Barcelona, and with tax policies.     

Identification of Human Remains by DNA Analysis of the Gastrointestinal Contents of Fly Larvae

Dipterous fly larvae (maggots) are frequently collected from a corpse during a criminal investigation. Previous studies showed that DNA analysis of the gastrointestinal contents of maggots might be used to reveal the identity of a victim. However, this approach has not been used to date in legal investigations, and thus its practical usefulness is unknown. A badly burned body was discovered with its face and neck colonized by fly larvae. Given the condition of the body, identification was not possible. Short tandem repeat (STR) typing was performed using the gastrointestinal contents of maggots collected from the victim and was compared to STR profiles obtained from the alleged father. The probability of paternity was 99.685%. Thus, this comparative DNA test enabled the conclusive identification of the remains. This is the first reported case of analysis of human DNA isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of maggots used to identify a victim in a criminal case.     

Controlling Jury Composition in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Difficulties in securing convictions in nineteenth-century Ireland led the authorities to resort to various methods of ensuring that petty juries delivered guilty verdicts in cases where this was clearly warranted by the evidence. This article examines some of the ‘stratagems’ put forward by David Johnson and suggests a number of other practices which were used, arguing that many of these mechanisms centred around controlling the composition of trial juries. Examples included altering the property qualifications for jurors, the system of asking jurors to ‘stand by’, and the use of fines to compel attendance. While some of these were the legitimate exercise of established procedures, it will be seen that the Crown on occasion abused or over-used its powers.     

Dimensions of antisocial behaviour in juvenile delinquency: A study of personality variables

The discrepancy among operational definitions of delinquency is one of the main causes of the fragmentation in this area of research. In this paper, we defend the need to analyse juvenile delinquency as a multidimensional construct rather than as a dichotomous variable. This approach allows one to identify homogeneous classes of behaviour, to take into account the frequency and seriousness of such behaviour, and to investigate the variables related to each separate class. In this work, the relationship of certain personality variables (sensation seeking, impulsivity, empathy and self-esteem) to various types of self-reported delinquent activity was investigated in two samples of male adolescents, one composed of institutionalized juvenile delinquents and the other drawn from the general population. Our results confirm the relevance of the personality variables considered and support their differential association with offence groups.     

香港、澳门、新加坡行政主导比较

适应社会发展和高效决策的需要,行政主导已成为国际社会普遍的政治现象。由于社会条件的差异,各国各地区行政主导的类型和表现不同,绩效不一。本文对香港与澳门、香港与新加坡的行政主导作比较研究,从政治制度、政府运作、社会条件等不同角度探求了不同形式行政主导的共性与差异。     

俄罗斯大部制改革及其评析

俄罗斯从2003年至2008年进行了一场以联邦权力执行机构大部制和行政三分制改革为核心内容的行政改革运动,这是俄罗斯自上世纪九十年代初转轨以来在政治和行政管理领域最重要的事件之一。本文运用中外最新的资料和数据全面、细致地描述了俄罗斯俄罗斯大部制改革的过程和制度安排,深入分析了改革的效果及其背后的原因,并结合我国的实际情况提出了推进大部制改革需要注意的几个问题。     

Victims’ Rights and Distributive Justice: In Search of Actors

The aim of this article is to discuss the role that victim groups and organizations may have in framing and supporting an accountability agenda, as well as their potential for endorsing a distributive justice agenda. The article explores two empirical cases where victims' rights have been introduced and applied by victim organizations to promote accountability—Colombia and Peru. It will be argued that if transitional justice in general and victim reparations in particular are to embark in a quest for distributive justice, it cannot do so without considering victims as political actors, and putting forward demands in terms of victims’ rights.     

The Impact of Homeless Prevention on Residential Instability: Evidence From the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program

ABSTRACT

Millions of individuals and families in the United States do not have access to stable housing. Recent policies in the United States and the rest of the developed world emphasize programs intended to prevent homelessness through temporary financial assistance. This article explores the impact of the largest homelessness prevention program in U.S. history, the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP), on residential instability, using a national sample of families with children enrolled in school. The identification strategy exploits variations on the location of HPRP providers. Using data on the ratio of K–12 students experiencing homelessness in school districts, we find that HPRP is associated with reductions in the percentage of homeless students for districts closer to an HPRP provider. However, the impacts of HPRP fade out when program benefits end, bringing into question whether homeless prevention can help families achieve self-sufficiency in the long run.