Acts of Faith: Churches and Political Engagement

Many observers suggest that white evangelical Protestant churches serve to mobilize their members into politics, while others argue that they encourage withdrawal from political life. This paper reconciles these two claims. I hypothesize that the time members of evangelical Protestant denominations spend in service to their church comes at the expense of participation in the wider community, contrary to the way mainline Protestant and Catholic churches foster civic activity among their members. However, I further hypothesize that the tight social networks formed through this intensive church activity can at times facilitate rapid and intense political mobilization. Data from the Citizen Participation Study supports the first hypothesis, while applying King's method of ecological inference to two elections in Alabama supports the second.     

Corporate interests and public affairs: organised business–government relations in EU member states

The internationalisation of economic and political affairs changes the way in which business interests are brought to bear on public policy. This is a global phenomenon but can, in particular, be observed in Europe. The construction of the European Union, the development of the Single Market and the build‐up of the policy institutions to go with it, together change business–government relations profoundly. This paper answers the question of how organised business interests relate to government agencies and political institutions. By using the example of trade associations in the Netherlands and Germany, the paper shows that, despite the internationalisation of public affairs in Europe, the national political level remains strategically important for the representation of business interests. The paper thus argues that changes in European business–government relations are institutionally embedded at both the European and the national level. The implication for future research is that much of the dynamics of economic and political internationalisation materialises within the domestic arrangements of interest politics. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

Mexicans react to electoral fraud and political corruption: an assessment of public opinion and voting behavior

Despite various electoral reforms enacted in Mexico between 1988 and 1994, large numbers of Mexicans doubted the honesty of elections and the general integrity of their country's policy making process. Such doubts did not automatically lead, however, to support for opposition parties that called for greater democratization. Rather, voter preferences were largely dependent on judgments about the opposition's viability and competence. Widespread suspicions about fraud and corruption in Mexico did affect electoral outcomes by making it less likely that potential opposition supporters turned out to vote. Data are drawn from seven national public opinion surveys conducted in Mexico in 1986, 1988, 1991, 1994 (3 polls), and 1995.     

Money for our people? Decentralisation and corruption in Romania: the cases of the equalisation,infrastructure and pre‐university education funds

In spite of the attempts, in the most recent years, to introduce simple, accountable and rule‐based mechanisms governing the flows of funds for Romanian local governments (LGs) there is evidence showing that deviations from the norms are still widespread and undermine the stated goals of many policies. This article aims to explore to what extent the political factor (party affiliation, i.e. local informal power networks) interferes with the allocation of public funds as far as three main areas of decentralised policy are concerned: (i) the general purpose equalisation transfers; (ii) the Roads Fund grants and (iii) the transfers for financing the pre‐university education. These components represent a relatively large share of the local budgets and are illustrative for two important attributions Romanian LGs perform today: maintaining the local infrastructure and providing essential social services. Through a set of variables—measuring, on the one hand, the real pattern of resource allocation and on the other hand, the intensity of politicisation in the three areas—we tested the hypothesis that intergovernmental financial flows in Romania are to a large extent captured by rent‐seeking groups. It turns out that this is indeed the case with the funds for infrastructure, and much less so with the transfers financing pre‐university education. Some conclusions from these contrasting situations are drawn which reflect on the broader discussion, the link between decentralisation and corruption. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

泰罗的科学管理理论对地方政府危机管理的启示

目前,我国地方政府在危机管理的意识、专业人才、协调机制、制度建设以及社会动员能力等方面均存在较大缺陷。借鉴泰罗的科学管理原理,有针对性地采取各种措施,对提高我国地方政府的危机管理水平具有十分重要的现实意义。     

论我国地方立法存在的问题及其解决

地方立法是我国立法的重要内容,我国地方立法存在缺乏必要性、具体性、越权严重、冲突广泛、操作性差等问题;这些问题导致大量立法资源被浪费,不利于法的价值的实现、社会主义法制的统一、法律作用的实现,法律适用无所适从、地方保护主义合法化。地方立法存在问题的原因主要是地方立法目的不当、立法主体立法技术的欠缺、地方立法主体观念滞后、立法依据不明、相应的国家机关怠于履行立法监督职责。解决地方立法问题的出路在于端正立法目的、更新立法观念、实行立法专业化、明确地方立法依据、强化立法监督责任,建立地方立法“良法”标准等。     

“宪政是民主政治”论对宪政的负面影响

"宪政是民主政治"是一个在我国广为流传的、在理论上有缺陷的、对当代中国的宪政建设实践也有负面影响的传统宪政定义."宪政是民主政治"论在理论上的主要缺陷有:它偏离了宪政的主要价值目标;它不能解释民主"异化"为"多数暴政"的问题;它不能解释"有民主,无宪政"的历史事实;它把民主作为宪政概念的唯一构成要素是理论上的独断."宪政是民主政治"论对当代中国宪政建设实践的负面影响主要是:它阻碍了我国宪政分权制度的确立;它阻碍了我国违宪审查制度的建立;它妨碍了宪政观念在我国社会的传播.因此,中国要建设真正意义上的宪政国家就必须修正或放弃"宪政是民主政治"论.     

论十六大的主旨与宪政的发展

十六大所确立的主题和基本内容 ,为建设以民主政治为核心的宪政国家指引了方向。十六大报告的主旨将在六个方面对宪政的发展产生影响 :小康社会初步奠定宪政的社会基础 ;扩大基层民主是宪政建设的立足点 ;完善财产制是对宪政经济基础的巩固 ;对权力的制约和监督以及推进司法体制改革是宪政必备的两个要素 ;解决“三农”问题和深化分配制度改革是宪政实施的社会环境保障。     

对我国地方立法中职务犯罪预防措施的评价——以《联合国反腐败公约》为视角

《联合国反腐败公约》在强调打击腐败犯罪的同时,更强调对腐败犯罪实施综合预防战略。《公约》设立专章,对预防腐败措施作了系统的规定。目前,我国尚无预防腐败措施方面的中央级专门立法,但是,许多省、自治区、直辖市和较大市都进行了预防职务犯罪的地方立法。以《公约》为参照,借鉴国际经验,检视我国地方立法中职务犯罪预防措施,有利于促进我国预防腐败的制度建设和工作机制的进一步完善。     

It Takes a Coalition: The Community Impacts of Collaboration

Members of Congress frequently collaborate on policy initiatives, reaching out to colleagues in both parties to find common ground on solutions for the problems faced by their constituents. Using a novel dataset of over 30,000 “Dear Colleague” letters sent by members of the 111th Congress, I use the collaborative relationships that exist in the earliest stages of the policy process to measure the social influence of legislators. I demonstrate that districts represented by members of Congress who are better connected to their colleagues receive a greater share of federal grant money. I argue that this is because collaborative legislators are well‐positioned to be influential allies to strategic bureaucrats who want to maintain a broad base of support for their programs in Congress. Thus, devoting resources to building relationships with their colleagues is one way members of Congress can more effectively support the communities they represent.