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Political Institutions (political + institution)
Selected AbstractsThe Court in England, 1714,1760: A Declining Political Institution?HISTORY, Issue 297 2005HANNAH SMITH Although recent studies of eighteenth-century English politics have moved beyond viewing political activity solely in parliamentary terms and consider the extra-parliamentary dimensions to political life, the royal court has not been included in this development. This article seeks to reassess the political purpose of the court of George I, and particularly that of George II, by analysing how the court functioned both as an institution and as a venue. Although the court was losing ground as an institution, with the royal household declining in political importance, the article argues that the household should not be the only means of measuring the court's political role. Through analysing the court's function as a venue for political brokerage and as a type of political theatre, it is argued that the court retained a political significance throughout the period from 1714 to 1760. The article examines the importance of the court as a place where certain forms of patronage might be obtained, and as a location for political negotiation by ministers and lower-ranking politicians. Moreover, it also analyses how the court was employed as a stage for signalling political opinion through attendance, ceremony, gesture, and costume. [source] Private Investment and Political InstitutionsECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 1 2002David Stasavage Recent research has demonstrated a negative link between macroeconomic and political uncertainty and levels of private investment across countries. This raises the question whether certain types of government institutions might help reduce this uncertainty. North and Weingast (1989) propose that political institutions characterized by checks and balances can have beneficial effects on investment by allowing governments to credibly commit not to engage in ex post opportunism with respect to investors. In this paper I develop and test a modified version of their hypothesis, suggesting that checks and balances, on average, improve possibilities for commitment, but that they are not a necessary condition for doing so. Results of heteroskedastic regression and quantile regression estimates strongly support this proposition. [source] Political Institutions and Constrained Response to Economic SanctionsFOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 3 2008Susan Hannah Allen Institutional constraints within the target state not only influence a leader's ability to resist economic sanctions, but they also affect the decision-making process within the target state and the nature of information that a sender can ascertain about likely response. Autocratic leaders, who are less constrained, send noisier signals about their probable behavior. This lack of constraint also allows more freedom to resist sanctions, as they can shunt the costs of sanctions off onto the general public, who have little influence over policy outcomes or leadership retention. Democratic leaders are more constrained and more susceptible to sanctions pressure. As result, there is less uncertainty for senders about probable response. Using a heteroskedastic probit model to explore potential systematic components of the variation surrounding sanctions response, the impact of sanctions is shown to differ by regime type,both in the response to coercion as well as in the variance surrounding that response. The results presented here suggest that as expected, democracies are more susceptible to sanctions pressure, but the response of mixed and authoritarian systems are more difficult to predict. These findings have implications for the design of future sanctions policy as well as suggesting which states make the best targets for economic coercion. [source] Information, Trust, and Power: The Impact of Conflict Histories, Policy Regimes, and Political Institutions on TerrorismINTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2005Mark Irving Lichbach First page of article [source] Civil Service Law in the People's Republic of China: A Return to Cadre Personnel ManagementPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2007Hon S. Chan Despite the outward appearance of depoliticization, the civil service in China today is actually being repoliticized. This paper compares the 1993 Provisional Regulations on State Civil Servants with the Civil Service Law approved by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in April 2005. The 2005 reform formalized what had been a historical pattern,the Communist Party holds tight control over leadership change and management at various levels. The Civil Service Law has turned the Communist Party of China into a political institution that has become the source of both civil service empowerment and control. Although civil service reform in China differs markedly from approaches adopted elsewhere, China is clearly expanding its political control to ensure greater leverage over the bureaucracy. In this regard, China is in line with the global trend. That said, civil service reform in China has focused on structural elements and formal reorganizations, whereas most industrialized democracies have engaged in a dialectic between individualist and corporate responses to managerial questions. An understanding of the Chinese ability to adopt reforms,while strengthening its traditional hold,provides key perspectives not only on the world's largest nation and a rapidly emerging force in global political and economic relationships but also on the Chinese experience with important public sector reforms that have occurred in many other countries over recent decades. [source] Does Familiarity Breed Contempt?AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007The Impact of Information on Mass Attitudes toward Congress Two features of citizen response to Congress can be taken as grounds for concern. First, Americans know relatively little about Congress, and especially about congressional procedures and policy output. Second, Congress typically emerges as the least respected political institution. Although these matters are troubling when viewed individually, more disturbing is the dilemma posed when knowledge and attitudes toward Congress are viewed in tandem. It appears that citizens who know Congress the best like Congress the least. Consequently, a sophisticated polity and a well-respected legislature seem fundamentally incompatible. This article seeks to resolve this dilemma, contending that there is nothing about knowledge per se that leads citizens to view Congress unfavorably. Rather, differences in knowledge levels alter the considerations citizens bring to bear when evaluating Congress, with the best-informed individuals constructing judgments on the basis of the most relevant Congress-specific criteria while less knowledgeable citizens employ readily available but more peripheral criteria. [source] Democratization and State Feminism: Gender Politics in Africa and Latin AmericaDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2002Ihejirika, Philomina E. Okeke This article addresses the link between state feminism and democratization in the global South. The authors use the contrasting cases of Chile and Nigeria to show some of the factors that encourage women to exploit the opportunities presented by transitions to democracy, and link the outcome of state feminism to the strategies and discourses available to women during democratization. Based on evidence from the cases analysed, the authors propose that the strategic options available to women are shaped by at least three factors: (1) the existence of a unified women's movement capable of making political demands; (2) existing patterns of gender relations, which influence women's access to arenas of political influence and power; and (3) the content of existing gender ideologies, and whether women can creatively deploy them to further their own interests. State feminism emerged in Chile out of the demands of a broad,based women's movement in a context of democratic transition that provided feminists with access to political institutions. In Nigeria, attempts at creating state feminism have consistently failed due to a political transition from military to civilian rule that has not provided feminists with access to political arenas of influence, and the absence of a powerful women's movement. [source] A Dual-track Strategy for Managing Mauritania's Projected Oil RentDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2008Richard Auty High rent creates contests for its capture that, unless skilfully managed, degrade political institutions and distort the economy, leading to a collapse of growth if unreformed. Mauritania's projected oil stream risks such an outcome because past rent-driven growth has left a legacy of Dutch disease effects, rent-seeking and dependent social capital. This article proposes a dual-track strategy for deploying the oil rent as a politically practical means of managing social tensions and improving the economic outcome. Track one promotes a dynamic market economy in the hitherto neglected rural areas, while track two gradually reforms the rent-driven urban sector, thus postponing confrontation with established rent-seekers while the dynamic sector drives competitive diversification of the economy and builds a pro-reform political constituency. [source] STOP US BEFORE WE SPEND AGAIN: INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON GOVERNMENT SPENDINGECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 3 2006DAVID M. PRIMO A distributive politics model establishes that the presence of exogenously enforceable spending limits reduces spending and that the effect of executive veto authority is contingent on whether spending is capped and whether the chief executive is a liberal or conservative. Surprisingly, when spending limits are in place, governments with conservative executives spend more than those with more liberal chief executives. Limits are welfare improving, as is the executive veto when it leads to the building of override coalitions. Using 32 years of US state budget data, this paper also establishes empirically that strict balanced budget rules constrain spending and also lead to less pronounced short-term responses to fluctuations in a state's economy. Party variables like divided government and party control of state legislatures tend to have little or no direct effect, with political institutions and economic indicators explaining much of the variation in state spending. [source] Private Investment and Political InstitutionsECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 1 2002David Stasavage Recent research has demonstrated a negative link between macroeconomic and political uncertainty and levels of private investment across countries. This raises the question whether certain types of government institutions might help reduce this uncertainty. North and Weingast (1989) propose that political institutions characterized by checks and balances can have beneficial effects on investment by allowing governments to credibly commit not to engage in ex post opportunism with respect to investors. In this paper I develop and test a modified version of their hypothesis, suggesting that checks and balances, on average, improve possibilities for commitment, but that they are not a necessary condition for doing so. Results of heteroskedastic regression and quantile regression estimates strongly support this proposition. [source] Why the democratic nation-state is still legitimate: A study of media discoursesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2009ACHIM HURRELMANN Focusing on media discourses, this article maps the communicative reproduction of legitimacy in Great Britain, the United States, Germany and Switzerland. It argues that political communication constitutes a distinctive dimension of legitimation that should be studied alongside public opinion and political behaviour. Research on legitimation discourses can help us understand why the legitimacy of established democracies remains stable in spite of the challenges of globalisation: Delegitimating communication tends to focus on relatively marginal political institutions, while the core regime principles of the democratic nation-state, which are deeply entrenched in the political cultures of Western countries, serve as anchors of legitimacy. These democratic principles also shape the normative benchmarks used to evaluate legitimacy, thus preventing a ,de-democratisation' of legitimation discourses. Finally, the short-lived nature of media interest as well as ritualistic legitimation practices shield the democratic nation-state from many potentially serious threats to its legitimacy. [source] Migrant mobilization between political institutions and citizenship regimes: A comparison of France and SwitzerlandEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2004Marco Giugni This article focuses on the political claims made by immigrants and ethnic minorities in France and Switzerland. We look at cross-national variations in the overall presence of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the national public space, and the forms and content of their claims. Following a political opportunity approach, we argue that claim-making is affected both by institutional opportunities and by national models of citizenship. The civic-assimilationist conception of citizenship in France gives migrants greater legitimacy to intervene in the national public space. Furthermore, the inclusive definition of ,membership in the national community' favors claims pertaining to minority integration politics. However, the pressure toward assimilation to the republican norms and values tends to provoke claims for the recognition of ethnic and cultural difference. Finally, closed institutional opportunities push migrants' mobilization to become more radical, but at the same time the more inclusive model of citizenship favors a moderate action repertoire of migrants. Conversely, the ethnic-assimilationist view in Switzerland leads migrants to stress homeland-related claims. When they do address the policy field of ethnic relations, immigration and citizenship, they focus on issues pertaining to the entry and stay in the host society. Finally, the forms of action are more moderate due to the more open institutional context, but at the same time the action repertoire of migrants is moderated by the more exclusive model of citizenship. Our article is an attempt to specify the concept of ,political opportunity structure', and to combine institutional and cultural factors in explaining claim-making by immigrants and ethnic minorities. We confront our arguments with data from a comparative project on the mobilization on ethnic relations, citizenship and immigration. [source] Inclusiveness of identification among farmers in The Netherlands and Galicia (Spain)EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2004Bert Klandermans In this paper we discuss inclusiveness of identification among farmers in Galicia (Spain) and The Netherlands. Identification with three nested categories,farmers in the local community, farmers in the country, and farmers in Europe was assessed among 167 Dutch and 248 Galician farmers at three points in time: winter of 1993/94, winter 1995 and fall 1995. Our findings suggest that inclusiveness reduces the level of identification. However, the observed patterns of identification were more complex than inclusiveness per se can account for. Borrowing from the common ingroup-identity model, functional and socialization models of identity formation, and a model of politicized collective identity we formulated hypotheses about patterns of identification that were to be expected. On the whole our findings supported our theoretical reasoning. Galician farmers appear to identify much less with farmers in their country and Europe than Dutch farmers do. Inclusiveness of identification appears to be linked to experience with national and supranational political institutions. More political knowledge and involvement appear to generate more inclusive patterns of identification. Among Galician farmers evaluation of the agricultural policy of the European Union is negatively related to identification with farmers in Europe, among Dutch farmers the two are positively related. Finally, more inclusive identities seem to be more politicized. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Institutional Environment and Sovereign Credit RatingsFINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2006Alexander W. Butler We use a sample of 86 counties to examine the cross-sectional determinants of sovereign credit ratings. We find that the quality of a country's legal and political institutions plays a vital role in determining these ratings. A one-standard-deviation increase in our legal environment index results in an average credit rating increase of 0.466 standard deviations, even when we control for obvious factors such as GDP per capita, inflation, foreign debt per GDP, previous defaults, and general development. Although part of this effect is due to the legal environment's endogeneity, its relative importance is robust to endogeneity concerns. [source] Foreign Policy Making Under Koizumi: Norms and Japan's Role in the 2003 Iraq WarFOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 4 2009Yukiko Miyagi Japan's policy toward the 2003 Iraq War is a test of the constructivist argument about the weight of norms as opposed to material systemic factors in foreign policy making. Constructions of external threats and interests were contested between a largely realist-minded elite around prime minister Koizumi bent on Japan's remilitarization and those still holding to antimilitarist norms. This contest is traced in an analysis of the policy-making process, including the role of bureaucratic and political institutions, the opposition parties and the public. Indicative of the power of norms, Koizumi was forced to compromise his ambition to use the Iraq crisis to help make Japan a "normal" great power. [source] The Political Survival of Foreign MinistersFOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 2 2009Alejandro Quiroz Flores The survival of governments ultimately depends on the survival of its components. These components are politicians whose goal is to stay in office. There has been extensive research on the survival of leaders, but not on the survival of other politicians in government; and even less on how the survival of one affects the survival of the others. The purpose of this article is to take the first step in this direction by analyzing and precisely measuring the impact of the tenure of leaders on the tenure of foreign ministers. This article provides a systematic and formal investigation of the variables that affect the duration in office of foreign ministers. The investigation is based on a new data base on the tenure of more than 7,500 foreign ministers spanning three centuries. Although evidence shows that political institutions have significant impact on the tenure of foreign ministers, internal coalition dynamics such as affinity and loyalty toward a leader, uncertainty, and time dependence are better predictors of their political survival. [source] Governance for reconstruction in Africa: challenges for policy communities and coalitionsGLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 1 2002Pamela Mbabazi This article seeks to advance analyses and responses to conflict prevention and reconstruction in Africa that go beyond state-centric perspectives to include a range of non-state players. Drawing on examples from both Uganda and Canada, it focuses on the activities of NGOs that have ,partnered' with state-based actors in various peacekeeping and peace-building operations as well as on the increasingly important role played by think-tanks. The latter have emerged in Africa as major contributors to the proliferating literature on the political economy of violence, an approach that recognizes that African conflict reflects imperatives of production and consumption in relations that juxtapose Africa's political institutions and cultures with international and global political economies. The article argues that novel forms of ,security communities' are emerging from the non-state/state/international partnerships and coalitions that have developed around contemporary issues like ,blood' diamonds, small arms, debt and HIV/AIDS, thus drawing attention to connections between conflict and development. [source] After the Public Interest Prevails: The Political Sustainability of Policy ReformGOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2003Eric Patashnik The prevailing political science wisdom is that narrow interests regularly triumph over the general public. Yet the stunning passage of broad-based policy reforms in the face of intense clientele opposition suggests that the U.S. political system has a greater capacity to serve diffuse interests than has often been thought. Some of the most provocative policy-oriented political-science research during the 1980s and 1990s examined how these surprising reform victories occurred. Unfortunately, general-interest reforms do not always stick; reforms may be corrupted or reversed after their enactment. The long-term sustainability of any given policy reform hinges on the successful reworking of political institutions and on the generation of positive policy-feedback effects, especially the empowerment of social groups with a stake in the reform&s maintenance. This paper explores the postenactment dynamics of three canonical instances of general-interest reform legislation: tax reform, agricultural subsidy reform, and airline deregulation. Only in the airline-deregulation case has the self-reinforcing dynamic required for political sustainability been unmistakably evident. For analysts and advocates of general-interest reform measures alike, the clear lesson is to attend far more closely to what happens after reforms become law. [source] ,Civil Society' and the Limits of Democratic AssistanceGOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 3 2005Ivelin Sardamov A correlation between the strength of civil society and democratization is often assumed to imply a causal relationship between the two variables. In fact, this correlation may be spurious, both phenomena being shaped by deeper social processes related to modernization and individualization. An excessive focus on ,civil society assistance' may paradoxically hamper the deeper changes necessary for the development of a vigorous associational life and of democratic representation. It would therefore be more prudent to focus democratic assistance on the establishment of stable and efficient social and political institutions, and on the maintenance of key social infrastructures crucial to political legitimacy. [source] Can Presidentialism Work Like Parliamentarism?GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 1 2005Josep M. Colomer Inter-institutional cooperation between the congress and the presidency may be the best way to promote good governance in a regime of separation of powers. In order to evaluate the performance of different political institutions, especially the different frameworks associated with ,presidentialism' and ,parliamentarism', we adopt the criterion that policy outcomes coinciding with the median voter's preference can produce the highest satisfaction or social utility. From this perspective, proportional representation in congress can be very appropriate since it tends to establish a close correspondence between the median party's and the median voter's preferences. Likewise, cooperation , rather than conflict or mutual checks , between the median party in congress and the presidency for both legislative decisions and cabinet formation can favour socially efficient outcomes. A survey of some recent institutional reforms in democratic presidential regimes in Latin America shows that ,parliamentarization' of presidentialism is gaining acceptance, although intermediate formulae may be more conflictual than a global, more coherent institutional reform. [source] Why politics needs marketingINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 2 2003Article first published online: 12 JUL 200, Roger Mortimore This paper examines the survey evidence for the low standing of politics, politicians and political institutions in the mind of the British public, and discusses its consequences. Present public opinion about political parties in Britain, and about politicians in general, is predominantly negative. Politicians are distrusted, to a considerably greater extent than can be explained solely by their bad press. Nor is the public very familiar with politicians or political institutions. Yet it can be shown that in general (and not only in the political field) ,familiarity breeds favourability, not contempt'. This may be feeding through into hostility towards the entire sector,not only the strictly ,political', but other institutions such as public services which the public associates with politics or government. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications [source] Evaluating Migrant Integration: Political Attitudes Across Generations in Europe,INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Rahsaan Maxwell This article engages debates about migrant integration by analyzing political trust and satisfaction in 24 European countries. The evidence suggests that first-generation migrants have the most positive attitudes, while native-origin and second-generation migrant-origin individuals have similar political trust and satisfaction scores. To explain these outcomes, I focus on the importance of subjective integration factors related to the stages of migration. I claim that first-generation migrants, who have gone through the disruptive process of changing countries, will have lower expectations and be more likely to have positive evaluations of the host society. In comparison, native-origin and second-generation migrant-origin individuals have been raised in the same society and are likely to share perspectives toward that society's political institutions. [source] The Right of National DefenseINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 1 2007DAVID R. MAPEL This article argues that there are two justifications of the right of national defense. First, some states possess the right as a means of protecting legitimate domestic political institutions. Second, all states possess the right within a morally defensible form of international law. Critics have argued that the first justification does not explain why one legitimate state should have the right not to be attacked and conquered by another legitimate state. Critics have argued that the second justification does not recognize that current international law is too flawed to justify a right of national defense for all states. This article defends the right against both criticisms. It then considers the scope of the right, focusing on the issue of proportionality. The article also argues that the two justifications of the right express potentially conflicting principles of justice, which can sometimes lead to hard choices, as illustrated by the NATO intervention in Kosovo. [source] Market Structure, Electoral Institutions, and Trade PolicyINTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Daniel Yuichi Kono The view that intra-industry trade is politically easier to liberalize than inter-industry trade is widely held and potentially explains key features of the global trading system. This view, however, rests on weak theoretical and empirical foundations. I argue that intra-industry trade can in fact lead to higher protection, but only where electoral institutions privilege narrow protectionist interests. I support this hypothesis with an analysis of trade barriers in 4,400 sectors in 65 countries and an analysis of lobbying in the US. My results imply that scholars should stop invoking intra-industry trade as an explanation for low trade barriers in wealthy countries and advanced manufacturing sectors. They also have important implications for the more general relationship between political institutions, collective action, and policy outcomes. [source] Unipolarity, Globalization, and the War on Terror: Why Security Studies Should Refocus on Comparative Defense,INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2007Damon Coletta Changes in the international environment such as the shift toward unipolarity, the rise of globalization, and the expansion of terrorist networks have redefined the sorts of problems confronted by policymakers and military practitioners in the arena of national security. With most of its fundamental concepts and frameworks rooted in the study of international relations (IR), the field of security studies has failed to keep up. Highly educated soldiers and diplomats sent to help rebuild failed or fragmented states are still poorly equipped to identify major obstacles or formulate solutions for accomplishing their missions. The safety of states and societies today depends less exclusively on blocking the military, economic, and ideological initiatives of a foreign power and more on supporting the integrity of members that can participate in an international system regulated by generally agreed-upon rules and conventions. The need to help various types of states under a variety of cultural and economic conditions build legitimate, durable political institutions and functioning societies should push security studies toward a broader examination of comparative politics. Beyond the balance of power and modalities of interstate competition, the new security studies should embrace fundamentals found outside of IR to make more robust intellectual contributions to the examination of comparative defense. [source] Bringing Geography Back In: Civilizations, Wealth, and Poverty,INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2003Dwayne Woods This essay focuses on how we can account for the gap between rich and poor nations. The literature is organized under two subsuming analytical categories: space (geographical environment) and culture. At issue is the primacy of environmental factors versus culture in explaining the development of civilizations and their divergence. If geographical environment is primary, then development is determined by natural endowments and constraints. If culture is dominant, then geography can be overcome with luck, effective political institutions, determination, and inventiveness. The literature in this essay is intended to help to sharpen and focus this debate. [source] Obfuscation through Integration: Legitimating ,New' Social Democracy in the European Union,JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 1 2005DAVID J. BAILEY Social democratic parties are increasingly supportive of European integration. Existing explanations view this as either a reassertion of social democracy at the supranational level, an adaptation to contemporary political institutions, or part of a general ideological moderation. This article argues that support for the EU enables social democratic parties to proclaim the possibility of social democracy at the supranational level, despite the absence of a substantive social democratic agenda. Thus, European integration enables social democratic parties to achieve legitimation by obfuscation through integration. This is illustrated in the cases of Sweden, the UK and France. [source] Conceptualising dimensions of quality of life in poverty,JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Suzanne M. Skevington Abstract Are existing health-related quality of life (QoL) measures adequate for use in poverty? Focus groups of development researcher-practitioners were convened to discuss QoL in the low,middle-income countries of Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Peru and Thailand. Newly elicited themes were mapped onto the QoL concept consisting of 25 original facets from the WHOQOL-100, plus 24 additional facets derived from five subsequent WHOQOL modules (49 facets) organized in seven domains. Qualitative themes and importance ratings were used to identify seven novel themes that relate to poverty in these countries. Most are not included in QoL instruments: physical fitness & survival, social status, community relations, family life, work opportunity and environment, fairness and equality, and perception of political institutions. Community relations extended the social domain, and a political rights and freedoms domain was consolidated as a seventh domain. This cross-national study provides a new conceptual foundation for the international assessment of QoL in poverty. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [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] The political economy of public research investment and commodity policies in agriculture: an empirical studyAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2000Johan F.M. Swinnen Abstract The paper tests a political economy theory of simultaneous government decision-making on income redistribution through commodity policies and on public research investment in agriculture. We use data from 37 countries on agricultural protection and public agricultural research expenditures (PARI). The empirical results are consistent with the political economy hypotheses. The analysis suggest that structural changes in the economy have important effects on the political incentives for governments not only to subsidize or tax farmers, but also to invest in public agricultural research. Furthermore, the analysis supports the hypotheses that the impact of such structural changes on government decision-making on PARI is non-linear and conditional on other factors. Regarding the impact of political institutions, the results suggest that more democracy neither leads to more distortionary transfers (agricultural protection), nor to lower investment in public goods (PARI). ©2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||