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Democratic
Kinds of Democratic Terms modified by Democratic Selected AbstractsPolitical Views and Corporate Decision Making: The Case of Corporate Social ResponsibilityFINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2008Amir Rubin G30; P16 Abstract This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and political beliefs in the United States. By analyzing the 2004 presidential election results of communities in which corporate headquarters are located, we establish a correlation between the political beliefs of corporate stakeholders and the CSR ratings of their firms. Companies with a high CSR rating tend to be located in Democratic, or "blue" states and counties, while companies with a low CSR rating tend to be located in Republican, or "red" states and counties. [source] ,New Green' Pragmatism in Germany , Green Politics beyond the Social Democratic Embrace?1GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 4 2004Ingolfur Blühdorn Coalitions with left-of-centre parties have traditionally been regarded as the only viable option for Green parties that have shed their stance of radical opposition. The German Greens are investigated as a case study putting this assumption into doubt. Historical analysis of their relationship with the Social Democratic Party reveals how they slipped into life-threatening dependency on the latter. A survey of consecutive reinterpretations of the positioning formula ,Neither right, nor left but ahead' maps the struggle for an independent Green identity. An appraisal of recent debates about Conservative, Green alliances investigates the basis for Green coalition politics beyond the Social Democratic embrace. [source] Effects of Campaign-to-User and Text-Based Interactivity in Political Candidate Campaign Web sitesJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 3 2005Barbara Warnick This study examined the effects on users of two forms of interactivity commonly found on political candidate campaign Web sites in the 2002 U.S. House election cycle. The first form, campaign-to-user interactivity, focuses on features or mechanisms used to enable or facilitate communication between site users and the campaign. The second form, text-based interactivity, focuses on how site content is verbally and visually expressed. Study participants viewed one of four versions of either a Democratic or Republican campaign website. Both text-based and campaign-to-user interactivity increased the amount of time users spent on the site and their accurate recall of candidates' issue stances. The co-occurrence of both forms of interactivity, however, showed a noticeably lower level of issue recall, confirming earlier findings that too much interactivity can interfere with user recall of site content. [source] Economic development, institutional change, and the political economy of agricultural protection An econometric study of Belgium since the 19th centuryAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2001Johan F.M. Swinnen Abstract This empirical study uses 100 years of annual data on 11 agricultural commodities from Belgium to measure the impact of structural changes coinciding with economic development and changes in political institutions on agricultural protection. The analysis shows that changes in agricultural protection are caused by a combination of factors. Governments have increased protection and support to farmers when world market prices for their commodities fell, and vice versa, offsetting market effects on producer incomes. Other economic determinants were the share of the commodities in total consumer expenditures (negative effect) and in total output of the economy (positive effect). With Belgium a small economy, there was no impact of the trade position. Changes in political institutions have affected agricultural protection. Democratic reforms which induced a significant shift in the political balance towards agricultural interests, such as the introduction of the one-man-one-vote system, led to an increase in agricultural protection. The integration of Belgian agricultural policies in the Common Agricultural Policy in 1968 coincided with an increase in protection, ceteris paribus. Both institutional factors, related to changes in access to and information about the decision-making at the EU level, and structural changes in the agricultural and food economy may explain this effect. [source] Leadership quality and follower affect: A study of U.S. presidential candidatesJOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 4 2008M. David Albritton Using the tripartite model of attitude structure as a conceptual basis, this article investigates voter attitudes toward presidential candidates, including cognitive and affective assessments of these leaders as well as behavioral intentions and voting behavior. Data collected from the seven most recent U.S. presidential elections were used to compare Democratic and Republican Party candidates who were successful in securing votes to those who were unsuccessful. Here, follower perceptions of leader intelligence, feelings of pride and hope, as well as feelings of fear and anger were found to be statistically different between the two groups. Additionally, regression analysis using follower assessments of candidates' leadership quality, as dependent upon certain perceptual traits of that leader, are presented. Candidates perceived to be higher in intelligence, considered to possess stronger degrees of inspirational quality, and judged more "likeable," in terms of generating stronger degrees of positive follower affect and lower degrees of negative follower affect, are considered better quality leaders. Followers' perceptions of these traits are found to be key predictors of whether that follower will consider a leader to be of high quality. [source] Disobeying an Illegitimate Request in a Democratic or Authoritarian SystemPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Stefano Passini Crimes of obedience in the form of illegal or immoral acts committed in response to orders from authority occur in many contexts. In particular, under some circumstances of threats, people can easily accept restrictions upon democratic procedures. Recent studies have underlined the role of legitimacy in understanding the authority relationship and the importance of evaluating the legitimacy of the request rather than the legitimacy of the authority in preventing the rise of authoritarianism. The purpose of this study was to verify if people respond differently when an illegitimate request is put forward by a democratic or an authoritarian authority. The results on 224 subjects confirmed that people tend to be more obedient when they perceive authorities as democratic, notwithstanding the legitimacy of their requests. [source] Democratic Deepening in Third Wave Democracies: Experiments with Participation in Mexico CityPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2007Imke Harbers After the initial transition to democratic rule the question of how to improve the quality of democracy has become the key challenge facing Third Wave democracies. In the debate about the promotion of more responsive government, institutional reforms to increase direct participation of citizens in policy-making have been put on the agenda. The Federal District of Mexico City constitutes a particularly intriguing case in this debate. This article explores how political participation developed in Mexico City between 1997 and 2003 and what effects this has had on democratic deepening. It develops an ideal-type conceptual framework of citizen participation that outlines the conditions under which participation contributes to democratic deepening. Overall, the case of Mexico City highlights how the promotion of participation can fail to make the aspired contribution to democratic deepening and might even have negative effects on the quality of democracy. [source] Welfare Regimes for Aging Populations: No Single Path for ReformPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 4 2009Mehmet F. Aysan We consider recent trends in pension policies in OECD countries in light of demographic aging associated with welfare regime type (Liberal, Social Democratic, Continental, and Southern European). These regime types represent different responsibilities assumed for social security on the part of the market, the state, and the family. While there are significant differences in labor market characteristics, the demographic similarities in aging bring similar pressures for pension reforms across OECD countries. These reforms address fiscal issues in state pensions, typically by increasing the length of the working life, placing more of the pension responsibility on individuals, or converting to defined-contribution approaches. Our study shows that there is no single path for pension reform. While there are some variations, welfare states tend to follow their traditional paths, which differ across welfare regime types. [source] Polls and Elections: Dixie's Kingmakers: Stability and Change in Southern Presidential Primary ElectoratesPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2009SETH C. MCKEE Recent presidential primaries have taken place against the backdrop of a secular realignment in the South, a shift that carries important consequences for nomination politics. In this article, we use statewide exit polls to trace changes between 1988 and 2008 in the Southern Democratic and Republican primary electorates. We find that the Democratic electorate has grown strikingly more liberal, more racially diverse, and less heavily Protestant over the last 20 years. Meanwhile, the Republican Party has solidified into a conservative, almost exclusively white primary electorate. We also identify a growing partisan gender gap in the region. The findings suggest that it will be increasingly difficult for a centrist white Democrat, such as Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton, to use the South as a launching pad to the nomination. In addition, the growing polarization of the parties' Southern primary electorates will likely continue to widen the ideological distance between the major presidential nominees. [source] Public Administration as Pragmatic, Democratic, and ObjectivePUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2008David L. Hildebrand In the foregoing essay, Patricia M. Shields argues that public administration and administrators should support a much greater incorporation of classical pragmatism than has been the case to date. This paper supports that conclusion by focusing on classical pragmatism's central benefit to public administration: its ability to provide the field with a claim to objectivity that it badly needs, but which Shields barely mentions. It shows how objectivity is closely connected to a pragmatic conception of democracy, and how this conception of democracy is diametrically opposed to one built on a fact/value (or administration/politics) dichotomy. [source] Democratic and Revolutionary Traditions in Latin AmericaBULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2001Alan Knight This article seeks to identify and explain the historical links between democracy and revolution in Latin America. It first defines and analyses ,democratic' and ,revolutionary' traditions in the continent. It notes the precocity of nineteenth-century Latin American liberalism which, stimulated by the independence struggles, carried implications for the subsequent onset of democracy in the twentieth century. It then presents a typology of five twentieth-century political permutations (social democracy, revolutionary populism, statist populism, socialist revolution, and authoritarian reaction), seeking to tease out the corresponding relationships between the two ,traditions'. It concludes (inter alia) that the current triumph of liberal democracy in Latin America, while in part attributable to historical precedent, is also significantly contingent, and dependent on the apparent exhaustion of the revolutionary tradition. [source] Leadership in Democratic and Participatory OrganizationsCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2001Murray Fulton [source] Lawyers, trees and money: British Columbia forest policy and the convergence of international and domestic trade considerationsCANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA, Issue 4 2005Christopher J. Kukucha At the domestic level, the BC government maintains significant control over softwood lumber as a result of provincial land ownership, executive dominance, and the role of the Ministry of Forests. This is reinforced by a close relationship between the bureaucracy and key industry associations. Under the New Democratic Party government of the 1990s, however, the policy relevance of environment, labour, and aboriginal groups increased. The election of the BC Liberals, however, diminished these interests, with the possible exception of First Nations groups. It is also important, however, to acknowledge the significance of international developments. Institutionally, these pressures contributed to bureaucratic restructuring and a changing "culture" within the Ministry of Forests. Industry relations have also been influenced by consolidation of ownership, bilateral lumber disputes with the United States, and the increasing role of non-elected legal representatives. In addition, environment and labour interests were empowered by external funding, high export demands, and a low Canadian dollar. Although these developments have created an increasingly complex policy process, it is apparent that domestic considerations remain dominant, especially traditional participants, such as the Ministry of Forests and other specific setoral interests. Sommaire: Les developements nationaux et internationaux ont des répercussions directes sur la politique forestière en Colombie-Britannique. À l'échelle nationale, le gouvernement de la C.-B. maintient un important contrôle sur le bois d'evre en rai-son de la propriété foncière provinciale, de la dominance de I'exécutif, et du rôle du ministere des ForCts. Ceci est renforcb par des liens étroits entre la bureaucratie et les associations clés de l'industrie. Cependant, sous le gouvernement du Nouveau Parti Démocratique des années 1990, la pertinence des politiques des groupes environne-mentaux, syndicaux et autochtones s'est accrue. L'élection des Libéraux et C.-B. a réduit ces intéréts, a l'exception des groupes des Premières Nations. Cependant, il faut aussi reconnaître l'importance des développements intemationaux. Sur le plan institutionnel, ces pressions ont contribuéà une restructuration bureaucratique et a l'évolution de la « culture » au sein du ministère des Forê Les relations indus-trielles ont aussi été influencées par une consolidation de la propriété, les conflits bilatéraux avec les États-Unis au sujet du bois, et le rde croissant des mandataires légaux non élus. En outre, les intér& environnementaux et de main-d'aeuvre ont vu leurs pouvoirs accrus par le financement externe, les demandes d'exportation Plevees et la faiblesse du dollar canadien. Quoique ces changements aient Créé un processus de politiques de plus en plus complexe, il est évident que les considérations nationales dominent, en particulier celles qui sont préconisées par les participants traditionnels, comme le ministére des Forêts et d'autres intérêts sectoriels particuliers. [source] The Ideological Implications of Using "Educational" Film to Teach Controversial EventsCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2009JEREMY D. STODDARD ABSTRACT Use of media in today's classrooms, from feature and documentary film to news clips streamed via the Web, has grown exponentially. Film can be a powerful medium for teaching and learning, but is often viewed as a neutral source of information. This collective case study focuses on two teachers who use documentary film to teach about controversial events, with the goal of better understanding teacher selection and use of film as part of pedagogy and the experiences of students who are engaged in deliberative activities with film. In this case, teachers utilized film to help students examine two controversial events in U.S. history, the use of atomic weapons against Japan at the end of World War II and the role of the United States in Vietnam. These cases illustrate a tension that many teachers, who want to engage students in deliberative activities but who also want students to adopt particular moral or political stances, face in today's classrooms. The teachers in these cases utilize film as a neutral source for students to use as evidence for taking a position, despite the value-laden perspectives included in the films, perspectives that aligned with the teachers' own political beliefs. Other findings include student inability to recognize the perspectives in documentary films, the epistemic stances of teachers and students that documentaries are accurate and neutral, and the characteristics of students who are better equipped to recognize ideological perspectives. Implications for teachers, teacher educators, and especially democratic and social studies education researchers are explored. [source] Moral Education Between Hope and Hopelessness: The Legacy of Janusz KorczakCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 1 2008SARA EFRAT EFRON ABSTRACT The responsibility for addressing morality and moral education in the current moral climate is a daunting task for conscientious educators. What educational response can extricate us from the debilitating feelings of hopelessness and helplessness as we are confronted by horrific terrorist actions, controversial use of military might, displays of corruption and greed and a growing general tension and anxiety? At this demoralizing juncture of uncertainty and doubt, the figure of Janusz Korczak (1878,1942), a Jewish-Polish educator, looms large. For more than 30 years, Korczak devoted his life to educating orphaned Jewish and non-Jewish children. He stayed with the Jewish children to the end as they all perished in a concentration camp. At a time when the surrounding society surrendered to fascism, anti-Semitism, and self-destruction, Korczak encouraged individual autonomy and caring relationships within the context of a community where a vision of justice and trust was an integral part of life. The orphanages he directed were democratic, self-ruled communities, where the children had their own parliament, court, and newspaper. This article describes the principles and the actualization of Korczak's moral education and explores how Korczak reconciled the differences between the ethical world he created in his institutions and the surrounding immoral society. The example set by Korczak's educational praxis serves as an inspiring model of school life across the boundaries of time and place and touches our need to believe in education's responsibility to strive and struggle for a better world, even when it seems an unattainable goal. And the hour shall come when a man will know himself, respect, and love. And the hour shall come in history's clock when man shall know the place of good, the place of evil, the place of pleasure, and the place of pain. (Korczak, 1978, p. 237) [source] Capitalism and Climate Change: Can the Invisible Hand Adjust the Natural Thermostat?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 6 2009Servaas Storm Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. (Robert Frost, ,Fire and Ice', New Hampshire,1923) ABSTRACT Can climate change be stopped while fossil fuel capitalism remains the dominant system? What has to be done and what has to change to avoid the worst-case consequences of global warming? These questions are debated in the six contributions which follow. This introduction to the debate sets the stage and puts the often widely diverging views in context, distinguishing two axes of debate. The first axis (,market vs. regulation') measures faith in the invisible hand to adjust the natural thermostat. The second axis expresses differences in views on the efficiency and equity implications of climate action. While the contributions do differ along these axes, most authors agree that capitalism's institutions need to be drastically reformed and made fundamentally more equitable. This means a much broader agenda for the climate movement (going beyond carbon trading and technocratic discussion of mitigation options). What is needed for climate stability is a systemic transformation based on growth scepticism, a planned transition to a non-fossil fuel economy, democratic reform, climate justice, and changed global knowledge and corporate and financial power structures. [source] Post-conflict Statebuilding and State Legitimacy: From Negative to Positive Peace?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2008David Roberts ABSTRACT This article is concerned with the potential that statebuilding interventions have to institutionalize social justice, in addition to their more immediate ,negative' peace mandates, and the impact this might have, both on local state legitimacy and the character of the ,peace' that might follow. Much recent scholarship has stressed the legitimacy of a state's behaviour in relation to conformity to global governance norms or democratic ,best practice'. Less evident is a discussion of the extent to which post-conflict polities are able to engender the societal legitimacy central to political stability. As long as this level of legitimacy is absent (and it is hard to generate), civil society is likely to remain distant from the state, and peace and stability may remain elusive. A solution to this may be to apply existing international legislation centred in the UN and the ILO to compel international organizations and national states to deliver basic needs security through their institutions. This has the effect of stimulating local-level state legitimacy while simultaneously formalizing social justice and positive peacebuilding. [source] The Political Ecology of Transition in Cambodia 1989,1999: War, Peace and Forest ExploitationDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2000Philippe Le Billon Over the last decade, forests have played an important role in the transition from war to peace in Cambodia. Forest exploitation financed the continuation of war beyond the Cold War and regional dynamics, yet it also stimulated co-operation between conflicting parties. Timber represented a key stake in the rapacious transition from the (benign) socialism of the post-Khmer Rouge period to (exclusionary) capitalism, thereby becoming the most politicized resource of a reconstruction process that has failed to be either as green or as democratic as the international community had hoped. This article explores the social networks and power politics shaping forest exploitation, with the aim of casting light on the politics of transition. It also scrutinizes the unintended consequences of the international community's discourse of democracy, good governance, and sustainable development on forest access rights. The commodification of Cambodian forests is interpreted as a process of transforming nature into money through a political ecology of transition that legitimates an exclusionary form of capitalism. [source] A Model of Inequality and Interest Group PoliticsECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 2 2001Inderjit Kohli In this paper we examine inequality of process and inequality of outcomes in interest group politics. The model has interest groups that compete for rents in a non-cooperative game. It allows for a self-interested rent-setting political decision-maker, and democratic or popular pressure as a check on that self-interest. We consider differences in the effectiveness and pre-commitment abilities of interest groups. We show that: (i) the costs of influence activities may be highest when groups are relatively equal in their effectiveness; (ii) if social welfare incorporates enough concern for equity of outcomes, that ranking is reversed; (iii) depending on voter responsiveness to rent-setting, the political decision-maker may set rents to be higher or lower, when increases in inequality of effectiveness lower the unit costs of rent-seeking. [source] Institutional change and stability in postcommunist countries, 1990,2002EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2008KLAUS ARMINGEON The authors show that institutional change after the institutionalization of the postcommunist regime is limited and lock-in effects are strong. This applies to the more democratic and affluent countries as well as to the more authoritarian regimes. The authors do not find evidence for theories of institutional change that see institutional development as a linear function of socio-economic factors such as affluence or of domestic political power distribution. The European Union and NATO have an effect that is limited to the overall democratic character of the system. [source] Choice versus sensitivity: Party reactions to public concernsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2004Michael D. McDonald Under certain circumstances, however, party convergence on these may preclude electoral choice, thus creating conflict between two democratic ,goods'. We examine possible tradeoffs between choice and responsiveness, and see which actually occur in 16 postwar democracies. Party policy positions turn out to be more strongly related to party ideology than popular concerns, thus privileging differentiation and choice over sensitivity and responsiveness. Implications for democratic theory and practice are considered. [source] Analysing and Assessing Accountability: A Conceptual Framework1EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Mark Bovens But how can we establish the existence of accountability deficits? This article tries to get to grips with the appealing but elusive concept of accountability by asking three types of questions. First a conceptual one: what exactly is meant by accountability? In this article the concept of accountability is used in a rather narrow sense: a relationship between an actor and a forum, in which the actor has an obligation to explain and to justify his or her conduct, the forum can pose questions and pass judgement, and the actor may face consequences. The second question is analytical: what types of accountability are involved? A series of dimensions of accountability are discerned that can be used to describe the various accountability relations and arrangements that can be found in the different domains of European governance. The third question is evaluative: how should we assess these accountability arrangements? The article provides three evaluative perspectives: a democratic, a constitutional and a learning perspective. Each of these perspectives may produce different types of accountability deficits. [source] Security, Social Control, Democracy and Migration within the ,Constitution' of the EUEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005Dario Melossi Such conditions, and the theory thereof, first developed in North America, and then increasingly in Europe after World War II and especially since the 1970s. From such a comparative-historical perspective, the paper then tries to shed light on the debate that was ignited by Dieter Grimm on the very possibility of a ,democratic constitutionalisation' of Europe. The connections between language, social control, and a (democratic) European constitution are then discussed, and specific attention is given to the nexus that has been constructed in today's Europe between migration, criminalisation and security, as a sort of test bench of those connections. [source] The Law beneath Rights' Feet.EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002Preliminary Investigation for a Study of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union This article is meant as a philosophical preface to the study of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. In particular, attention is focused on a particular legal positivistic reading of legislation as a political moment which would not allow for transcendental rights. This view is rejected by pointing out how much the notion of citizenship and consequently of fundamental rights is central for the democratic, and in some case even for the legal positivistic, celebration of legislation. In the last section a few conclusions are drawn as far as the scope of the Charter is concerned. In particular, any interpretation of it in the framework of the so,called regulatory paradigm (which gives up the democratic connection between deliberation and representation) is considered incoherent and self,defeating. In addition the principle of indivisibility of rights is evoked in defence of the validity of social rights within the Charter. [source] The Governance of the European Union: The Potential for Multi-Level ControlEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002Colin Scott In its White Paper on the Governance of the European Union the European Commission has adopted a narrow concept of governance which focuses almost exclusively on public institutions exercising legislative and executive power (in other words institutions of government). The article suggests that a theory of multi-level control in the EU would attend to greater variety both in the available governance institutions and the techniques of control. The deployment of an analysis grounded in theories of control suggests that the European Commission is substantially holding to a long-held preference for instruments of government premised on the exercise of hierarchical power. This reform path sits uneasily with revived concerns to render the governance of the EU more democratic. Equally it inhibits the generation of more efficient governance arrangements which place greater dependence on communities, competition, and design as alternative bases of control to hierarchy. Control theory suggests that the assertion of different reform agendas and institutional structures by other actors can check the more wayward (and arguably illegitimate) tendencies within the Commission plan, whilst drawing in alternative bases of control which, when combined, may yield technically superior governance solutions. [source] Democratic place,making and multiculturalismGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2002J. Nicholas Entrikin Multiculturalism has become a defining characteristic of late modern societies. For some, multiculturalism is at the forefront of democratizing processes, and for others, it undermines the possibility of democratic political community. Normative political theory offers several models of the democratic, and these models differ significantly in terms of the role given to culture. These models also suggest ideal geographies that become evident when considering democratic political community formation and multiculturalism as a form of place,making. [source] Centralization and Decentralization in Administration and Politics: Assessing Territorial Dimensions of Authority and PowerGOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2001Paul D. Hutchcroft Throughout the world, diverse countries are implementing programs of decentralization as a means of promoting both democratic and developmental objectives. Unfortunately, however, scholarship has yet to offer a comprehensive framework within which to assess and reform central-local relations. This article seeks to overcome the "division of labor" that has long separated analyses of administrative and political structures, and to provide stronger conceptual vocabulary for describing and analyzing the complexities of centralization and decentralization in both administration and politics. After developing two distinct continua of administrative and political centralization/decentralization, the paper then combines them in a single matrix able to highlight the wide range of strategies and outcomes that emerge from the complex interplay of the two spheres. Depending on where a country lies within the matrix, it is argued, strategies of decentralization may do more harm than good. Strategies of devolution are especially problematic in settings with strong local bosses, and should never be attempted without careful analysis of the preexisting character of central-local ties. [source] Institutionalization of Party Systems?GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 2 2007Fluidity among Legislative Parties in Africa's Democracies, Stability Using Sartori's and Mainwaring and Scully's work on consolidation and institutionalization of party systems as touchstones, this article analyses the evolution of party systems with regard to stability and fluidity of legislative party configurations in Africa's democratic states. It examines the key issue of whether there is any stabilization of party systems in Africa today, and if so, under what circumstances such stabilization occurs. This article questions previous studies, arguing that we have not yet sufficiently solved the question of whether party systems as stable interactions exist in Africa. Providing a detailed analysis of elections in Africa's established and emerging democracies, and making a distinction between democratic and undemocratic countries, this study classifies Africa's 21 electoral democracies as fluid, de-stabilized, or stable party systems. A key finding is that institutionalization of these party systems has not occurred over an extended period, but rather, institutionalized party system configurations have been stable from the onset of multiparty elections. Conversely, the other large group of countries with non-institutionalized party systems seems to be perpetually fluid systems despite, in many cases, several successive multiparty elections. [source] The Myth of International Delegation: Limits to and Suggestions for Democratic Theory in the Context of the European Union1GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 1 2007Hans Agné This paper presents an argument as to why democratic states are unable to delegate authority to international organizations. Influential attempts to justify democratically such international bodies as the European Union by means of delegation are found to be untenable. At a more general level of theorization, it argues that the theory of delegation as involving the recoverability of delegated authority leaves us unable to identify democratic reforms for international organizations. As a remedy to the latter problem, the article proposes an alternative theory of democratic ,delegation', one that applies equally well to national and to international politics. [source] Forecast-Based Monetary Policy: The Case of SwedenINTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2003Per Jansson Central banks are dominant players in financial markets and economic policy. For both democratic and efficiency reasons, it is important that central banks' actions can be understood, predicted, and evaluated. Inflation-targeting central banks that publish their forecasts provide unique opportunities for detailed studies of monetary policy based on real-time data. This paper demonstrates how a central bank's forecasts can be used to identify two different forms of discretionary monetary policy: ,policy shocks' (deviations from systematic policy) and ,judgements' in forecasting. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||