Competence and ambiguity in electoral competition

The level of competence that voters attribute to different candidates is an important determinant of election results. In addition, it is observed that some candidates tend to be more ambiguous in their campaigns regarding future plans, while others commit to specific policies. We offer a model where politicians who vary in their level of competence compete by making costly campaign declarations. We show that a separating equilibrium exists in which the ambiguity of a candidate’s campaign declaration reveals her level of competence. The model explains how politicians may use an “issue”-based campaign to create a competent image, and provides an additional explanation for different levels of campaign ambiguity.     

Radicalizing Religion? Religious Identity and Settlers' Behavior

Does religious identity prompt radical action? This article presents a model of individual-level radical action. Drawing mostly on collective action theory the article posits that organizational membership drives the effect of religious identity on individual-level radical action. Using survey data the article assesses the behavior of Jewish settlers in the West Bank in the face of the 2005 Gaza withdrawal. The article finds that contra the prevailing view, which holds that religious identity alone is sufficient to trigger violence, evidence suggests that organizational membership is a mechanism bridging religious identity and radical action. Longstanding arguments tying radical actions solely to religion may require substantial revision.     

“Ecoterrorism”: Terrorist Threat or Political Ploy?

This article examines the phenomenon of “ecoterrorism” from a conceptual and empirical perspective. We explore the political and academic debates over the meaning and use of the term ecoterrorism, and assess the validity of the concept of “ecoterrorism” and of the alleged threat of the Radical Environmentalist and Animal Rights (REAR) movement by analyzing the characteristics of both the movement and its actions. Our analysis shows that the term ecoterrorism should only be used for a small proportion of the actions of REAR movement. Consequently, counterterrorist measures should only target these terrorist minorities, rather than all groups and the broader movement.     

Two of a kind? Voting motivations for populist radical right and religious fundamentalist parties

Over the last two decades a number of theoretical perspectives have emphasized the growing phenomenon of extremist political challenges. These challenges come from two main sources: largely secular radical right-wing populism and religious fundamentalism. Yet the relationship between the two is still theoretically and empirically limited. Researchers have usually limited their discussion to only one of the phenomena, ignoring the fact that despite the basic distinction between the two (i.e., secular versus religious orientation), the literature points to many commonalities. This article takes up the challenge by analyzing the predictive power of socioeconomic, ideological, and security threat factors on voting behavior for populist radical right (PRR) parties and for religious fundamentalist (RF) parties. Data collected following the Israeli parliamentary election of 2003 (N = 808) offer a challenge to the conventional, secular wisdom of right-wing extremism. The radical right party family is multifaceted with at least two flanks – a hawkish nationalist flank on the one hand, and a ‘faith-based’ radical flank on the other. Implications of these distinctions for voting behavior scholars and radical right-wing scholars are discussed.     

Defense System in Israel: The State Comptroller's Perspective

The compliance of audited bodies to the recommendations published by the State Comptroller is very important while evaluating the effectiveness of the state audit process. To measure the effectiveness of the State Comptroller's audit the rate of deficiencies' rectification has been taken into account. Audit frequency is defined as the number of audits in audited bodies in a given period. The effectiveness of the State Comptroller's audit carried out in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) characterized by a rigid hierarchy was compared with that of the State Comptroller's audit carried out in the Ministry of Defense (MOD) characterized by a less rigid hierarchy.