摘要:

The discussion of strategic voting and agenda manipulation tends to be highly abstract. Most real‐world examples are either artificial or politically insignificant; the few paradigmatic examples which do exist are discussed again and again. This is one reason why many empirically minded political scientists often ignore the whole social choice approach. The purpose of this article is to focus on a single event ‐ the election of the Finnish President in 1956 ‐ and to show that almost all theoretically interesting phenomena studied in the social‐choice literature were present. The paper is based on empirical material, especially on subjective descriptions provided by the main actors. This kind of approach is recommended as a complement to the deductive‐theoretical

ISSN:0080-6757    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9477.1993.tb00027.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1993

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The combination of extreme religious homogeneity and advanced secularization is a special feature of the Scandinavian societies as compared to the rest of Europe. This difference largely explains why Christian parties have remained small compared to the rest of Europe. This article surveys the creation and popular following of the Christian parties in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The four parties acquired an image of “moral vigilantes” from the beginning. Their best electoral results, however, are a result of a more general political protest. Despite the recent success of the Swedish party, the parties are not likely to reach a position beyond that of a minor party with basically a moralist im

ISSN:0080-6757    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9477.1993.tb00028.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1993

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines the impact of public sector austerity on the budgetary process in local government. We initially propose that resource squeeze influences the criteria of resource allocation. More specifically, we suggest that austerity tends to generate a greater emphasis on performance‐based criteria such as cost‐benefit assessments, while arguments relating to production costs, previous commitments and relative standards of service supply tend to carry less weight. A regression model is developed to test these hypotheses. Response variables, drawn from a survey conducted among Norwegian local government officials, measure the success of a menu of arguments which justify increased appropriations, and we examine whether austerity affects the perceived success of these arguments. Consistent with previous studies, we find no impact of stress on decision‐making behavior in local government. We do not believe that this result can be dismissed as merely a by‐product of our research design. This conclusion leaves us with at least two possible interpretations. One suggests that austerity affects the criteria of resource allocation if, and only if, decision‐makers perceive the squeeze to exert a persistent and inescapable pressure which requires a fundamental redefinition of managerial style. This has hardly been the case in Norwegian local government. The other interpretation suggests that the criteria for resource allocation in fact remain unchanged, even in situations when austerity is believed to be persistent. Inertia can be caused by (a) the disproportional disutility attributed to budgetary cut‐backs compared to the benefits of appropriation increases, (b) the propensity to attribute austerity to “external” rather than “internal” causes, and (c), problems related to aggregating individual preferences and criteria into a coherent organizational policy of

ISSN:0080-6757    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9477.1993.tb00029.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1993

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

When Denmark became a member of the European Community in 1973, political institutions as well as private business had to and did in fact make adaptations to the new and unaccustomed political environment. With the exception of the Common Market Committee ofFolkelinget, however, the Danish polity did not change much with regard to the EC until the late 1980s when the Community gained new momentum. Now, traditionally corporatist patterns of decision‐making are adapting to a European polity much more complex and pluralist by nature. Political and administrative institutions are developing new ways of influencing EC policies, though their lobbying activities still remain basicallyad hocand reactive. As to private interests, agriculture occupies a unique position with its long tradition of aggressive lobbying, while lobbying by manufacturing companies is still in the making. However, an overall weakening of national corporatist patterns of decision‐making in response to the integration process, which one might perhaps have expected, has not taken place. Rather, we observe a strengthening. Thus, our case poses questions as to the relevance of existing corporatist notions for an understanding of the general nature of the policy‐making process in the Community and the prospects for interest organizational centralization at the European

ISSN:0080-6757    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9477.1993.tb00030.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1993

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0080-6757    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9477.1993.tb00031.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1993

数据来源: WILEY