The politics of other citizens

In all kinds of political action, citizens are confronted with the performances of other citizens. An important guide to political behaviour is therefore likely to be the assumptions people make concerning how others can be expected to behave. This article explores common sense ideas about other citizens as potential political participants, drawing on a series of group interviews conducted with taxi-drivers in Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic. I argue the expectations voiced of other citizens tend to be pessimistic in nature, casting them as ill-informed, apathetic, passive and unduly self-interested, notwithstanding the appearance of a more optimistic view which holds they can be expected to follow the lead of those who ‘take a stand’. These empirical observations lead to a discussion of the theoretical issues they raise, notably where to locate the origins of such views, and how to appraise their implications for democracy.     

Memory Landscapes and the Labor of the Negative in Berlin

Focusing on the case of Berlin, this article explores the function of memory landscapes using the concept of the labor of the negative. Through three Berlin cases—the memorialization of the Berlin Wall, recent counter-memorials to the Holocaust, and the urban appropriation of voids through temporary projects—the article suggests that the labor of the negative constitutes Berlin’s memory landscape out of the interplay between absence and presence.     

Compensating for the ‘Authoritarian Advantage’ in Crisis Response: A Comparative Case Study of SARS Pandemic Responses in China and Taiwan

Why do some countries more effectively respond to crises than others? This paper compares China??s relatively effective response to the 2002?C3 SARS outbreak with Taiwan??s relatively ineffective response, focusing on three variables that constitute China??s ??authoritarian advantage?? - centralized decision making powers; public support; and, relations with the mass media. The paper rejects a fourth explanatory variable specific to the Taiwan case ?C membership in international organizations. Drawing heavily on the Taiwan example, the paper concludes by suggesting options for overcoming the authoritarian advantage in pandemic response.     

British Statewide Parties and Multilevel Politics

The article addresses how Britain's major statewide politicalparties—Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats—adaptedto political devolution in Scotland and Wales. It explores partyorganization, programs, and policymaking. It argues that theLabour Party experienced the most territorial intraparty conflictbut fairly rapidly achieved a new balance between British andScottish/Welsh party interests. The Conservative Party struggledafter its 1997 UK election defeat and failed to adapt to multilevelpolitics with any consistency. The Liberal Democrats experiencedthe smoothest adjustment, largely on account of their own federalparty constitution. The article concludes that the findingsprovide some backing to "rational choice institutionalist" hypothesesof party change but that a "historical institutionalist" approachcan provide a fuller understanding of how parties adapt to devolutionreforms.     

Recent developments in employee benefits law

The first part of this article highlights important judicial developments involving employee benefits and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), as amended, during the latter part of 2003 and the first part of 2004, including the most significant U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit court decisions. The second part covers recent legislative and regulatory developments in employee benefits law. This article is not meant to be exhaustive, but discusses the more important developments during 2003-2004, with particular focus on issues of concern to the insurance industry.