Ideological dimensions and vote choice: Age group differences in Austria

How and how much are ideological dimensions associated with vote choice among different age groups? Distinct socialisation experiences and life-cycle effects should lead to age group differences in the use of ideological dimensions. We test our hypotheses using a 2009 Austrian cross-sectional survey. We find that the extent of the association between ideological dimensions and vote choice is significant and similar across all age groups. However, the nature of the association depends on the type of party considered. Positions on the socio-cultural dimension are associated with voting for New Politics parties far more than positions on the socio-economic dimension; the latter distinguishes well between support for the two Old Politics parties. Overall, age group differences are surprisingly small in both the extent and nature of the association between ideological views and vote choice: there is only isolated evidence that the use of ideological dimensions differs across age groups.     

Net Gains and GUD Reactions: Patterns of Prejudice in a Neo-fascist Groupuscule

Using the student organization Groupe d'union et de défense (GUD) as a case-study, Griffin argues that the radical-right groupuscule should not be treated as an embryonic or stunted form of the inter-war 'armed party' epitomized by the Italian Fascist and German Nazi parties. Rather it is to be seen as a genus of extra-parlia-mentary political formation in its own right, perfectly adapted to the inhospitable climate of relatively stable liberal democracy and capitalism in which revolutionary nationalism has had to survive since 1945. As such the groupuscule's true significance lies in its existence as one minute entity in a swarm of similar organisms which can be termed the 'groupuscular right'. This takes on a collective force greater than the sum of its parts by conserving and transmitting fascism's diagnosis of the status quo and its vision of a new order despite its acute marginalization from mainstream politics. Having surveyed GUD's history and activities over the years, Griffin focuses on its ideology, which he identifies as a form of Third Positionism theoretically allied to anti-western Arab nations and heavily influenced by the Nouvelle Droite notion of 'cultural war' against the homogenizing effects of globalization and on behalf of a reborn Europe. He then considers the extraordinary network of historical and contemporary radical-right associations emanating to and from this one formation, a process considerably facilitated by the Internet. He concludes by suggesting that the importance of the groupuscular right, apart from its formation of cadres who may be recruited by mainstream parties such as the Front national, lies in its function as a self-perpetuating, leaderless, centreless and supra-national 'energy field' of neo-fascist beliefs, which, like the Web, is unaffected by the weakness or loss of individual nodal points (organizations).     

Legislative Constraints on Executive Unilateralism in Separation of Powers Systems

Can legislatures effectively check unilateral executive power? One prominent and counterintuitive finding in previous work is that executives pursue unilateralism less often under divided government. While executives see greater potential policy gains through unilateral action during divided government, we argue that their likelihood of acting unilaterally depends on an opposed legislature's ability to retaliate. When polarization is high and majorities are marginal, executives are freer to act unilaterally given the difficulties legislatures have in statutorily responding. Unilateralism is also more likely when facing opposition if legislatures lack nonstatutory means of punishment, such as regulatory review. In the largest analysis of gubernatorial executive unilateralism to date, we use a new data set of 24,232 executive orders in the 50 American states between 1993 and 2013 to evaluate this argument and find strong support for its predictions. These results provide insights into how legislative policymaking capacity can influence the functioning of separation of powers systems.     

Stop,Collaborate, and Listen: Women's Collaboration in US State Legislatures

Collaboration plays a key role in crafting good public policy. We use a novel data set of over 140,000 pieces of legislation considered in US state legislatures in 2015 to examine the factors associated with women's collaboration with each other. We articulate a theory that women's collaboration arises from opportunity structures, dictated by an interaction of individual and institutional characteristics. Examining the effect of a combination of characteristics, we find support for an interactive view of institutions, where women's caucuses accelerate collaboration in Democratic‐controlled bodies and as the share of women increases. Collaboration between women also continues in the face of increased polarization in the presence of a caucus, but not absent one. Our findings speak to the long‐term consequences of electing women to political office, the importance of institutions and organizations in shaping legislative behavior, and the institutionalization of gender in politics.     

马克思主义政治文明理论的历史发展

马克思和恩格斯奠定了马克思主义政治文明理论的基础。列宁领导的十月革命和毛泽东领导的中国革命的胜利为建设新型文明创造了前提条件,初步构建了社会主义政治文明观的基本框架。邓小平和江泽民形成了社会主义政治文明建设的系统思想,以新的理论和实践丰富和发展了马克思主义政治文明理论。马克思主义政治文明理论的发展历程,显示了与时俱进的理论品质和实践活力。     

From Machine Politics to the Politics of Technocracy: Charting Changes in Governance in the Mexican Municipality1

Abstract — A typology comprising technocratic rationality versus political partisanship helps to identify several local government structures found in contemporary Mexico: political machines; autonomous-indigenous; technocratic; and modernising party governments. Case study research in over a dozen municipalities for three principal parties suggest a trend towards increasing technocratic and more administratively efficient municipal government and changing patterns of partisanship. This arises from new pressures associated with electoral opening, political alternation, new government actors, growing urban development complexity, and from federal reforms offering greater local government autonomy. However, while improved administration and technocratic governance often leads to positive outcomes, they do not necessarily imply ‘good government’.     

透过"权力的眼睛"的理性批判思想

福柯透过"权力的眼睛"揭示了现代社会的权力的普遍性,并断言现代社会实际上是一个"圆形监狱".通过分析理性霸权地位的发生历史及知识--权力的联系,他批判了理性对他者甚至主体本身的压制,并试图提出一条通过话语政治和生物政治来瓦解、抵抗理性霸权的道路.在主张人的自由和解放问题上,他和马克思有相通之处,但在具体实现道路上,二者又迥然不同.他对马克思的一些批评有不公正的地方.     

发展社会主义民主政治建设社会主义政治文明

党的十六大报告,把发展社会主义民主政治,建设社会主义政治文明,确定为全面建设小康社会的一个重要目标。实现这一重要目标,必须深刻理解政治文明的深刻内涵和重大意义;必须坚定不移地走自己的政治发展战略,积极稳妥地推进政治体制改革;必须发挥我们的政治优势,把坚持党的领导、人民当家作主和依法治国有机的统一起来;必须坚持我国社会主义政治制度的自我完善和发展;必须改革和完善党的领导方式和执政方式,实现党的领导方式、执政方式的现代化和民主化;必须处理好改革、发展和稳定的关系,维护国家统一、民族团结和社会稳定;必须实现整个社会运行机制的制度化、规范化和程序化。     

Public‐private partnerships in international trade: a lobbying effort from passive to aggressive in the USA?

Public‐private initiatives have been the domain of many governments as they try to shape international trade for their countries. The research presented in this paper indicates that US international businesses are not satisfied with the passive role that has been assumed by the US government and current public‐private partnerships. The evidence suggests that US companies desire a more aggressive role for the federal government in the not too distant future. Public‐private partnerships will be less informational and play an active part in stimulating international trade throughout the world. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications     

Central-local state contestations and urban management in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Most scholars agree that the character of the urban governance system in Zimbabwe is a reflection of the dominance of one political party, namely, Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). However, the increasingly prominent role of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in urban governance has heralded, since the early 2000s, a period marked by change, contestation and confusion. Simultaneously, the destabilising effect of contested urban governance politics on urban management in Zimbabwe has become entrenched. This article focuses on the interface between urban governance politics and urban management in Zimbabwe in the post-2000 era. It analyses how central government, through the local government ministry, local government statutes and appointed officials, structures, and even destabilises, the administration of urban affairs. The article concludes that urban governance is not merely a site of political contestation, as it has also profoundly influenced and altered the functioning of urban administration in Zimbabwe.