Follow the Candidates,Not the Parties? Personal Vote in a Regional De-institutionalized Party System

This article analyses how personal vote shapes electoral competition and predicts electoral results in a regional de-institutionalized party system. After having analysed the connection between unpredictable political environment and personal vote, we build an original empirical model that explores preferential vote and patterns of re-candidacies and endorsements of the most voted candidates in the Calabrian regional elections. The analysis shows that leading candidates retain a more stable and predictable support over time with respect to parties and that candidates and their system of interactions are able to predict the electoral results better than parties and their alliances.     

Change beneath the surface: the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election

Preceded by a string of institutional crises and sustained political wrangling, the Northern Ireland Assembly election held in May 2016 cemented the grip of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin over the province’s power-sharing institutions, while certifying the impasse of their intra-bloc rivals. Eighteen years after the Good Friday Agreement, the electoral campaign continued to feature emotionally charged ethnic appeals. Nonetheless, socioeconomic issues were at the fore of the political debate, contributing to the limited yet significant advance of non-sectarian actors. Beneath the surface of a mainly unaltered Assembly makeup and unchanged ethno-political geography, the vote resulted in a decline in support for the traditional governing parties, particularly in the nationalist camp. In the aftermath of the vote, the formation of an officially recognized Opposition has opened uncharted political waters.     

The 2015 Catalan election: a de facto referendum on independence?

The 2015 Catalan regional election, held on 27 September, was framed as a proxy for an independence referendum by the pro-independence parties. This was meant to bypass the PP-led central government's opposition to permit an official referendum. After an election campaign clearly dominated by the independence issue, the results delivered a majority of seats but not of votes for the pro-independence camp. However, the reading of the results as a de facto referendum is not straightforward. Growing polarization around the independence issue resulted in the emergence of two main blocs, for and against independence; in the polarization of stances within the blocs; and in substantial changes in the Catalan party system. The lack of agreement between the secessionist parties over the reappointment of Artur Mas as president almost triggered a new election but, in a last-minute move, Mas stepped aside. The new government aims to declare independence in 18 months.     

The Involvement Process Through the Internet in the 2010 Italian Regional Elections

This paper explores Internet tools used for consensus building during the 2010 Italian regional elections, especially focusing on the use of the Internet to involve the electorate in a background of political disaffection. Previous experience from the United States and European countries suggests that the Internet is an interesting tool for the creation and development of consensus and shows an increasing use of Internet-based communication for elections. In this context, the research has two objectives. The first is to measure the degree of use of Internet tools by the main candidates to develop participation in several local areas, more limited than those traditionally investigated in the literature. To this end, we used the technique of analysis of site functionality, properly integrated to make it suitable for measuring the use of tools for participation, to compute for each candidate a reliable index of participation. Second, the work aims to understand how different contexts of electoral competition may encourage or lessen the inclination to use Internet communication tools in a participative sense. The analysis reveals a positive correlation between the affiliation of the candidate for the ruling party and the tendency for this candidate to use tools of participation more than the competitor.     

新国际主义与中国外交

新国际主义是和平与发展时代的国际主义。加入国际体系与国际制度,寻求合作共赢,参与建构地区共同体,是新国际主义的基木理念。中国外交已经呈现出越来越多的新国际主义内涵,促进了中国经济与社会的顺利发展,也有助于巩固中国政治的合法性基础。中国作为迅速发展的国家,需要将爱国主义和国际主义结合起来,摈弃狭隘民族主义思想,担负国际社会成员应尽的责任和义务。     

区域公共产品的界定及分类模型

区域公共产品是跨越不同行政或管理主体,溢出效应超越一个以上地区的公共产品,具有比一般公共产品更为复杂的提供和管理机制。它是解决区域公共问题的主要手段,是区域公共管理的核心概念。区域公共产品既有传统的分类型式,也有从溢出范围和集成技术的不同而分类的型式。     

我国户籍制度改革的构想

近年来,有些地方进行了户籍制度改革试验。但是由于制度上的障碍、利益集团的博弈,资源上的匮乏、政策上的阻碍等,户籍制度改革面临着难点。我国应当建立全国统一的户口登记管理制度,实现公民身份的真正平等,注意改革的力度和顺序,对人事、教育、医疗等制度进行相应的改革,剥离现行户籍制度的社会福利和其它社会功能,促进户籍管理的法制化,建立城乡统筹、行政控制和市场推进相结合的体现平等和实现迁徙自由的户籍制度。     

甘青宁新地区石器时代遗存的地理分布及其自然背景

进入新石器时代,甘青宁新地区史前文化分为两大类型,即广泛分布于甘青宁地区的新石器农业文化和散布于宁夏北部、青海大部和新疆地区波细石器工艺为突出特点的采猎文化。     

跨区域系列犯罪案件证据体系问题的思考

研究跨区域系列犯罪案件证据体系问题,是打击跨区域系列犯罪的重要环节。跨区域系列犯罪案件证据体系存在难以收集证明力强的证人证言等诸多问题。针对证据体系存在的问题,应采取建立健全公安机关的横向联系和协作制度,提高侦查人员的综合素质,加强对证人心理的研究,提高询问的科学性、技巧性和完善相关立法等对策。     

中国社会保障的区域性差异及调整对策

社会保障制度承担着维护、创造社会公平和缩小社会不公平的重大责任,是重要的收入再分配手段。如同区域经济发展不平衡,中国社会保障也存在着明显的区域性差异。该文通过认识中国社会保障的区域性差异及存在的问题,分析其原因所在,并提出建立和完善区域社会保障制度的政策建议。