Space Matters: Designing Better Electoral Systems for Emerging Democracies

Although the holding of founding and subsequent elections is essential for any transition from authoritarian to democratic rule, the comparative literature on electoral system design is limited on the experience of "Third Wave" democratizers. This is especially true with respect to the interactive effects between the choice of electoral system and the spatial, i.e., geographic, distribution of the vote—a critical factor that shapes electoral outcomes in all societies, but particularly in emerging democracies because many are plural and agrarian societies. Political elites in these countries have also rarely considered the impact of alternative electoral systems when selecting a system for their country. This article addresses these gaps in the literature and practice by presenting a computational model known as a spatial decision support system or SDSS that both explores these interactive effects and facilitates electoral design. The utility of the model is then demonstrated with data from Kenya and South Africa—two emerging democracies where issues posed by the spatial distribution of the vote have given rise to demands for redesigning or modifying the electoral system.     

NEGOTIATING TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE COMMONWEALTH BANKING CORPORATION

Abstract: In May and June 1981 Automatic Telling Machines (ATMs) were introduced into sixty-one branches of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. In contrast to union bans which had been imposed on ATMs in the private banking sector, the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association (CBOA) actively supported the use of this new technology. After outlining the industry industrial relations system this paper examines the three-way process of negotiations, involving the union, management and the federal government, which led to the introduction of ATMs. The terms of the agreement reached — a 19 day working month, early voluntary retirement after age 55 and a joint consultative committee on technological change in return for supports for ATMs — are analysed and the factors which contributed to the absence of industrial conflict during the negotiations are discussed.     

Public health‐care provision in the Canadian provinces and American states

Abstract: While there are broad differences between the health‐care systems in Canada and the United States, sub‐national variation is significant in both countries (though more notably among American states), both in terms of the role of government in the provision of health‐care as well as outputs of the health‐care system such as access and cost‐control. Although this variation is rarely considered in comparisons of health‐care policy in the two countries, the value of using the United States as a comparative reference in contemporary policy debates in Canada would be considerably greater if such variations were utilized to augment the analytical leverage resulting from such comparisons. Sommaire: Alors que les différences entre les systèmes de soins de santé au Canada et aux États‐Unis sont importantes, l'écart infranational est considérable dans les deux pays (bien que plus notoire parmi les États américains) aussi bien en ce qui concerne le rôle joué par le gouvemement dans la prestation des soins de santé, que les extrants du système de soins de santé comme l'accès et le contrôle des coûts. Même si cet écart est rarement pris en compte dans les comparaisons de la politique de soins de santé des deux pays, le fait de recourir aux États‐Unis comme point de référence comparatif dans les débats aduels sur la politique au Canada aurait beaucoup plus de valeur si un tel écart était utilisé pour accroître le levier analytique résultant de telles comparaisons.     

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Politics in the Developing World

The proliferation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the developing, as well as the developed, world, has triggered an 'associational revolution'. Political scientists, however, have made a relatively minor contribution to the contemporary NGO literature which has evolved since the mid-1980s. This article examines some of the main political themes addressed in the NGO literature, as well as related themes in other political studies. NGOs, the article argues, make significant contributions to political life and to political change in developing countries, revealing a fertile, and hitherto neglected, research agenda.     

Bureaucratic politics versus institutional norms: Alberta,FIGA, Social Services, 1973–79

Abstract: In conjunction with the image of Alberta's Department of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs (FIGA) as a strong, interventionist central agency, the argument that federal-provincial matching cost-sharing pits provincial line departments against central agencies raises the expectation that Alberta's position regarding reform of cost-sharing for welfare and social services in the 1970s was likely the result of bureaucratic wrangling. However, relations between FIGA as a central agent and Social Services, the respective line department, were highly cooperative. There are two possible explanations which both point to difficulties in employing the bureaucratic politics model. First, Social Services, for reasons specific to the Alberta context (i.e., Alberta's fiscal strength and the strong political leadership under Lougheed), did not perceive matching cost-sharing to be in its interest. This demonstrates the tenuous assumptions about the interests of central agencies and line departments made by Canadian students of intergovernmental relations and the broader problem of how to conceive of departmental interests. Secondly, broadly shared institutional norms acted to constrain self-serving departmental behaviour. In the Alberta context of shared norms governing intergovernmental relations (i.e. a commitment to an “Alberta first” strategy), the assumption of bureaucratic parochialism underlying the bureaucratic politics model was not valid. Sommaire: Alliéà l'image du ministère des Affaires fédérales et intergouvernementales (AFI) en tant qu'organisme central à la fois puissant et interventionniste, l'argument voulant que le partage de coûts des programmes fédéraux-provinciaux oppose les ministères provinciaux concernés aux organismes centraux donne à penser que la position de l'Alberta, en ce qui concerne la réforme du partage des coûts de l'assistance et des services sociaux dans les années 1970, était probablement le résultat de marchandages conflictuels entre fonctionnaires. Cependant, les relations entre l'AFI en tant qu'agent central et le ministère des Services sociaux concernéétaient très harmonieuses. Il y a au moins deux explications possibles qui soulignent la difficultéà croire au modèle de la politique bureaucratique: 1) Le ministère des Services sociaux, pour des raisons particulières au contexte albertain (la puissance financière de l'Alberta et le fort leadership politique sous Lougheed), ne percevait pas le partage de coûts en contrepartie comme éant dans son intérêt. Cela démontre la fragilité des hypothèses concernant les intérêts des organismes centraux et des ministères responsables, postulées par ceux qui étudient les relations intergouvernementales au Canada, ainsi que le problème plus vaste de la définition des intérêts des ministères. 2) Des normes institutionnelles reconnues ont freiné le comportement intéressé des ministères. Dans le contexte albertain de normes généralement acceptées pour les relations intergouvernementales (c'est-à-dire une attitude de stratégic de “ l'Alberta d'abord ”), l'hypothèse des partis-pris bureaucratiques dissimulés derrière le modèle de politiques bureaucratiques n'était tout simplement pas valable.     

Roe v. Wade is constitutionally unprincipled and logically incoherent: a brief in support of judicial restraint

This "amicus curiae" brief was submitted by the Center for Judicial Studies and 56 members of Congress. They were concerned that "Roe" expands powers that belong to Congress and the states into the realm of federal government. Part I of the brief dealt with Missouri's claim that the laws that were at issue in "Webster" were permitted under "Roe" and shouldn't have been made invalid by lower courts. Most of the brief was in Part II. The thrust of it was that "Roe" was not based on any principle and is incoherent internally; "Roe" said that a privacy right existed under the US constitution. However, "Roe" didn't define this right of personal privacy. "Roe" cited a "line of decisions" to prove this point. However, none of the cases that "Roe" cited pretended to be based on the "right to privacy." They dealt with other issues. "Botsford" was said to be the beginning of the constitutional privacy right. It dealt with a "common law rule of evidence," not a right that was in the constitution. Therefore, it did not define the privacy right. "The process by which "Roe" moved from privacy to abortion was unfounded by judicial fiat." "Roe" said that it was protected by "the compelling interest standard," but did not give a reason why this was so. In "Roe," the woman';s interest in getting an abortion was analyzed in medical terms. But when talking about the State's interest in protecting potential human life, medical considerations were not controlling. Part III of the brief asked that "Roe" be overturned because it said that "a privacy right to abortion" was "devoid of any linkage to the text or history of the constitution." "Roe" should be abandoned because its "inadequacies" are "basic".     

Culture,institutions and democratization*

Public Choice - We construct a model of revolution and transition to democracy under individualistic and collectivist cultures. The main result is that, despite facing potentially more challenging...