Suchergebnisse

Many scholars suggest that proportional representation increases party mobilization by creating nationally competitive districts that give parties an incentive to mobilize everywhere. This paper provides theoretical and empirical arguments that bring this claim into question. I propose, unlike earlier scholars, that the positive effect of district competitiveness on party mobilization efforts increases as electoral districts become more disproportional, arguing that disproportionality itself encourages mobilization by exaggerating the impact of competitiveness on mobilization. Individual-level survey data from national legislative elections show that competitiveness has a much larger positive effect on parties' mobilization efforts in single-member districts than in proportional districts. Contrary to prior literature, these results suggest proportional electoral rules give parties no strong incentive to mobilize anywhere. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

"Perspectives on the role of NGOs in development and poverty reduction have been changing along with the shifting architecture of global aid and development since the last decade or so. In the post Washington consensus era, official sources have seen NGOs as service-deliverers that could stop-gap state failures especially in the field of education and health care. On the other hand there is a counter view that NGOs should be located in a critical space engaging governments on behalf of their constituencies. Furthermore in the post 9/11 scenario, aid has been securitized so that poverty reduction is now often linked to the war against terrorism. In this backdrop how do NGOs perceive their programs on poverty reduction? I intend to review some of the ways in which European NGOs respond to the various discourses on poverty at the global, national and local level with a specific focus on some of these strategic issues and discursive practices." (author's abstract)

The concept of party identification is central to our understanding of American electoral behavior. This research builds upon the functional logic of party identification and asks what occurs if citizens become better able to manage the complexities of politics without relying on habitual party cues. Using the data from the American National Election Studies, we track the distribution of party mobilization and cognitive mobilization within the American electorate. Then, we demonstrate the importance of these alternative mobilization patterns by documenting strong differences in the content of political thinking, voting choice, and electoral change. The results suggest a secular transformation in the characteristics of the American public since the classic images of The American Voter, leading to a more differentiated and dealigned electorate. [Copyright 2006 Elsevier Ltd.]