How Second Order Are Local Elections? Voting Motives and Party Preferences in Belgian Municipal Elections

A defining characteristic of second-order elections is that voters base their decision on considerations that were developed for a different policy level. Therefore, this kind of elections does not contribute to the quality of democratic representation. Municipal elections are often considered as second-order elections. In this article, we use data from an exit poll (n = 4,591) held during the 2012 municipal elections in Belgium. Results suggest that although voters predominantly invoke local aspects as determining their vote choice, still three-quarters votes for the same party locally as for federal elections. Among voters who deviate from their federal party preference, knowing local candidates and concern about local policy issues are the main sources of deviation. The conclusion therefore is that local candidates do make a difference and contribute strongly to the salience of electoral decisions on the local level.     

Blogwars,by David D. Perlmutter

Little is known about how elected representatives attempt to manipulate public opinion and news media through their participation on regional open line radio or media straw polls. This article examines the systematic attempts by political actors to engage these media in the small polity of Newfoundland, Canada, where politics is characterized by the hyper-local nature of 590-VOCM radio programming. Our mixed-method study draws from talk radio call-in logs, online straw poll vote results, observation of the production of open line programming, and insights from local media personnel. We draw attention to two clandestine media management techniques. First, we analyze call-ins by elected legislators to talk radio that were timed to coincide with the known field dates of a public opinion polling company. Second, we report that handheld communication devices were used by senior members of the governing party to mobilize legislators and party personnel to repeatedly vote on straw polls on regional media Web sites. Our findings show that there is a substantial and statistically significant increase in the probability that legislators will call talk radio when pollsters are in the field. Furthermore, we document and explore the manner in which political elites mobilize to engage online media straw polls, and discover that straw poll questions which address political topics attract a disproportionately higher number of “votes” than nonpolitical questions. This micro-level study offers perspective for interpreting macro-level knowledge about political talk radio, horse race/game and strategic media frames, and about political elites’ mobilization and media management tactics.     

政府信用评价方法初探

政府信用内含政府诚实 ,政府守信、民众信任三个方面 ,从民众方着眼 ,采用民意测验的方法对政府信用进行测评更具包容性和终极性 ,也更符合我国政府“取信于民”的价诉求 ,并昭示行政改革的方向。     

Popular Interpretations of ‘Corruption’ and their Partisan Consequences

Using a large six-city exit poll from 2000, we examine popular judgments of what constitutes “political corruption” in the United States. We find two distinct evaluative dimensions: corruption understood as lawbreaking, and corruption as favoritism. These judgments are heavily conditioned by the voter’s socioeconomic background and are politically consequential. Subjective understandings of “corruption” shape perceptions of how much corruption actually exists in government. Furthermore, and more importantly, these normative assessments play a significant part in voting decisions. Individuals who judged illegal activities such as bribe-taking to be “corrupt” were more inclined to back one of the major party candidates in 2000; those who believed that favoritism in politics was “corrupt” (e.g., an official recommending an unemployed friend for a government job) were more likely to vote for Al Gore or Ralph Nader.     

台湾民意调查之过去、现在与未来

通过民意调查结果的分析,能够解读民众对于公共事务的偏好、态度、评价或选择,可以作为政策规划制定、执行及评估时的参考。台湾民意调查最早源自《台湾新生报》在1952年2月进行的对日合约民意调查。此后,《联合报》、《中国时报》、TVBS等媒体也相继在20世纪八九十年代成立民意调查部门,适时针对重要的公共议题进行调查。1987年"解严"后,言论更加自由开放,民意调查不仅更加频繁,范围也持续扩大。除大众媒体外,学术机构如"中央研究院"、政治大学选举研究中心、台北大学民意调查中心、金门大学民意调查中心等,"政府单位"如"研考会"、"国科会",以及各县市政府,每年都执行各种议题的民意调查。本文从民意调查之方法讨论起,对台湾民意调查发展及民调机构进行概述与介绍;讨论台湾近几年较重要之公共议题民意测验结果;最后,以2012年大选各种民意调查结果与选举结果进行比对,以分析台湾民意调查的发展趋势及对公共事务之影响。     

累积投票制在中小股东权益保护中的作用

累积投票制的设立，可以通过增加中小股东参与公司决策的机会，弥补直接投票制的不足，实现股东地位的实质平等。防止大股东利用其持股优势控制董事会、侵害公司及中小股东利益。但是，由于累积投票制存在的缺陷，应当扩大其适用范围，进一步完善其适用过程中的具体的程序性规定，增强可操作性，以保障切实可行。同时。累积投票制度应慎重适用，并注重发挥其他配套制度的共同作用。才能更好地实现其保护中小股东权益的立法本愿。