Policy responsiveness to all citizens or only to voters? A longitudinal analysis of policy responsiveness in OECD countries

A close connection between public opinion and policy is considered a vital element of democracy. In representative systems, elections are assumed to play a role in realising such congruence. If those who participate in elections are not representative of the public at large, it follows that the reliance on elections as a mechanism of representation entails a risk of unequal representation. In this paper, we evaluate whether voters are better represented by means of an analysis of policy responsiveness to voters and citizens in democracies worldwide. We construct a uniquely comprehensive dataset that includes measures of citizens’ and voters’ ideological (left–right) positions, and data on welfare spending in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries since 1980. We find evidence of policy responsiveness to voters, but not to the public at large. Since additional tests suggest that the mechanism of electoral turnout does not cause this voter-policy responsiveness, we outline alternate mechanisms to test in future research.     

控制股东义务基础的比较法研究

控制股东义务基础的考察有两个法律视角,一是信托关系视角,二是合伙关系视角.信托关系的视角是美国法上分析控制股东义务基础的主要路径,其缺陷在于其强迫控制股东承担了"利益冲突防范"的受托义务,这是对作为内部利益参与者的控制股东的非理性歧视,压迫控制股东应有的比例权利;合伙关系的法律视角缺陷在于该关系只适用于封闭公司的控制股东,不具有普适性.英美国家新近开始了用客观违法行为标准作为认定控制股东压制行为的法律尝试,而德国、日韩国家则主要用权利行使的一般边界--诚信义务来规制控制股东的压迫性行为.     

Measuring youth and college student voter turnout

Young adulthood is a critical period in civic development. However, measuring electoral participation among this group generally—and the many young people who go to college in particular—is fraught with potential pitfalls stemming from a reliance on survey-based measures of voting. In this note, we compare patterns of youth turnout in two large-scale, survey-based datasets commonly used to measure voting, the Current Population Survey and the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, to two voter-file based datasets: the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) and a comprehensive nationwide voterfile provided by the Data Trust. We find high levels of concordance between measures in the NSLVE, Data Trust, and the CPS. However, despite linking their sample to validated voter records, the CCES does not mirror these benchmarks. We conclude by discussing the challenges and opportunities that shape the study of youth turnout.     

Measuring ‘closeness’ in 3-candidate elections: Methodology and an application to strategic voting

Past research suggests that voter behavior is influenced by perceptions of electoral competitiveness. For example, when an election is perceived to be close, voters will be more likely to turnout and/or cast strategic votes for their second-most preferred candidate. Operationalizing electoral competitiveness in three-candidate elections presents previously unrecognized methodological challenges. This paper first shows that many past strategies for measuring ‘closeness’ in three-candidate contests have violated at least one of three basic properties that any such measure should satisfy. We then propose a new measurement grounded in probability ratios, and prove formally that ratio-indices satisfy these axiomatic criteria. Empirical analyses using this new index provide novel and nuanced findings on the extent and causes of strategic voting in the 2010 British general election. The paper's operational strategy should be generally applicable to research on voting in elections, legislatures, and organizations.     

Who votes for mayor? Evidence from midsized American cities

Who, or what, governs the mosaic of the almost 39,000 general purpose local governments across the United States? While the determinants of voter turnout in both national and sub-national elections have been well studied, there is a dearth of empirical literature examining voter turnout at the municipal level. Utilizing an original dataset of 356 midsized US cities drawn from the Midwest, South, and Northeast regions, this paper ponders the drivers of mayoral turnout, and asks if electoral timing, competitiveness, or characteristics of the electorate best predict turnout. Sequenced hierarchical linear models and OLS regressions are employed to control for sub-national effects, and model results indicate that election timing greatly dictate who governs midsized American cities. While local competitiveness and characteristics of the electorate also matter, their explanatory value is greatly over-shadowed by timing.     

Army and Monarchy in Morocco: Rebellion,Allegiance and Reforms

The study of the complex relationship between army and monarchy in Morocco provides support for the argument that coup-proofing and institutionalisation enable civil leadership to enhance and maintain civilian control over the military. Through a strategy of coup-proofing implemented by the monarchy to protect itself from coups d’état, the army had been depoliticised. Through institutionalisation the Moroccan army is now governed by a clear set of constitutional and legal norms, principles and procedures with a system based on meritocracy. This approach is helping to stabilise relations between state and society and avoid power struggles between civilian leaders and the armed forces.     

从一项"职工承诺"研究看中国工会的基本特征——再论中国工会是社会功能组织

理论界对中国工会的研究,大多在于说明其利益代表性的增强。我们以往的研究则表明,社会功能性仍然是中国工会的基本特征。我们通过一个新的视角,从企业职工对公司和对工会承诺的认知和行为继续研究中国工会的基本特征。研究表明,职工对企业和工会具有"双重承诺",甚至"双重忠诚"。这是中国工会具有社会功能性基本特征的重要基础。     

公平理论在终端营销中的应用

营销中的顾客管理和企业管理中的人员管理有着相似之处,员工希望管理人员能够公平地对待他们;同样,顾客在消费和接受服务的过程中也希望享受企业及其员工给予的公平待遇。借鉴公平理论从结果和过程两个角度分析影响顾客在消费或接受服务过程中公平感知的因素,可以为增强顾客购买中公平感知和促进顾客忠诚提供一定的解决策略。     

Liberal nationalism,immigration, and the problem of multiple national identities

ABSTRACT

Critics and defenders of liberal nationalism often debate whether the nation-state is able to accommodate cultural and political pluralism, as it necessarily aspires for congruence between state and nation. In this article, I argue that both sides of the debate have neglected a second homogenising assumption of nationalism. Even if it is possible for the nation-building state to accommodate multiple political and cultural communities, it is not obvious that is possible or desirable for it to accommodate individuals belonging to more than one nation. With the rise of international migration, and the growing number of multinational individuals, this flaw is a serious one. I advance an internal critique of liberal nationalism to demonstrate that, from within its own logic, this theory must either reject multiple national identities, or accommodate them at the cost of the normative justifications of nationalism it provides. By analysing David Miller’s influential analysis of national identity in divided societies, I demonstrate how this framework is unable to support an accepting attitude towards multiple national identities.