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This article evaluates structural, institutional, and actor-centered explanations of the collapse of the Peruvian party system around 1990 and its surprising partial recovery in 2001. It begins by describing the changes in the dependent variable, the emergence, collapse, and partial resurrection of the 1980s Peruvian party system. The next section examines the argument that the large size and rapid growth of the informal sector undermined the party system and led to its collapse. The author shows that the evidence does not support this argument. The article then examines changes in the electoral system. The author demonstrates that, contrary to theoretical expectations, the changes in the electoral system do not correlate with the observed changes in the party system. The final section shows that performance failure by political elites, including corruption in government, was more important than social cleavages or electoral institutions in the collapse and partial recovery of the party system.

This article empirically explores the impact of symbols of European integration and good or bad news about Europe on individuals' European identity. The analysis is based on a distinction between civic and cultural components of identity, which enables testing of the model in a way that could not be done with existing survey instruments. The model depicts these two components as conceptually and empirically distinct and responding differently to various cues in the environment. The findings showthat many respondents identify with Europe and the EU, mostly in civic terms, and explain how citizens and institutions interact to nurture identities. They show the strong impact of symbols and news on European identity. Other findings include the predominant effect of symbols on cultural identity and news on civic identity. The results have profound implications for our understanding of European integration, political behavior, and minority integration in multicultural societies.

Political pressures exerted by environmental movements have forced governments otherwise committed to neoliberal policies to find reconciliatory policy positions between two contradictory political imperatives -- economic growth & environmental protection. This article explores some ideological means of reconciliation, as with notions of sustainable development, which appear to bridge the impassable divide, & some of the institutional means for dealing with contradiction, as with the displacement of political power upward, away from elected national governments & toward international agreements & nonelected global governance institutions. Through these two strategic maneuvers, the authors argue, environmental concern has been ideologically & institutionally incorporated into the global neoliberal hegemony of the late twentieth century. The global capitalist economy can grow, if not with clear environmental conscience, then with one effectively assuaged. This process of neoliberal deflection is illustrated using the case of the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade & the World Trade Organization. 3 Tables, 15 References. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.]

Decentralized government institutions are doing more of the work of government than ever before, but there is little agreement about (1) what decentralization means, or (2) how it should be measured. To overcome this confusion, this article builds on standard definitions of decentralization that include three core dimensions: fiscal, administrative, & political. It offers an empirical test of that definition using factor analysis of data from 1996 for 68 countries. Factor analysis confirms these three core dimensions & generates a score for each case in each dimension, allowing countries to be measured according to their type & degree of decentralization. In future work, these scores can be used for hypothesis testing about the causes & effects of decentralization on important social outcomes. This exercise demonstrates that conceptual confusion need not hamper research when empirical tests can help verify conceptual categories. 3 Tables, 5 Diagrams, 1 Appendix, 43 References. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this work is to contrast the arguments put forward at two international forums -- the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN & the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- concerning access & exchange of agricultural germ plasma samples, with the aim of portraying the social actors involved & the interests they each promote. Taking these considerations as a starting point, the authors dwell on the meanings related with capital consolidation, trade regulation, governability of the nation-state system, & the role of universities in the context of the commercialization process & innovation of agricultural genes. The ideological discourse on the international development of markets is the driving force in negotiations; it has imposed homogeneous protocols on nation-states to operate global-market oriented goods. As a result, a radical shift in production forms has taken place in the rural culture, the arrangement of agricultural spaces, & the scopes of education & research institutions. 34 References. Adapted from the source document.

The post-Keynesian approach to the nature of money brings some other conclusion to the monetary policy, independence of a central bank, & function of commercial banks. The source money is created by demand of businessmen especially. Loans create deposits, deposits create reserves. Central bank plays two roles: lender of last resort & inflation supervisor. Crediting by commercial banks & their credit policy in post-Keynesian economics is considered as credit rationing. If the role of central bank -- lender of last resort -- is not connected with changes of regulation, which reduce new practice of financial markets to avoid regulation, the influence of central bank to fight with inflation declines. Post-Keynesian economics is not directed against competence & independence of central bank. On the contrary, it welcomes the more direct influence of central bank on commercial banks & other financial institutions, however, with use of alternative limiting facilities. 2 Graphs, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

Beginning in the 1980s, a series of forces conspired to make access to public higher education more difficult for low-income & disadvantaged students. Rising tuition, changes in the federal student aid programs, & the decline of affirmative admissions all played a role. This article shows how, in the decades ahead, these troubling trends are poised to accelerate. The fiscal conditions driving up tuition will continue. The emergence of a new generation of student aid programs will further shift benefits away from the low-income & toward the middle- & upper-income students. Similarly, increased competition will make admission to public colleges even more difficult. The cumulative result will be diminished access for the most needy students. This development is likely to reverse the traditional role of these institutions in promoting equal opportunity. Indeed, public higher education may come to play the reverse role of reinforcing & widening the nation's income distinctions. 10 Tables, 34 References. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.]

The question concerning whether present-day political geography should determine a coherent research focus is addressed; in addition, the extent to which political geography should determine how scholars study the political world is considered. Although some political geographers have identified the state, territory, & territoriality as potential topics for future research, it is asserted that theoretical & topical heterodoxy provide viable alternatives to studying the relationship between state-oriented institutions & the politics of social life. However, it is stated that the state should occupy an important, yet not predominant, place in political geographic research since historical & cultural analyses of states are fruitful. After suggesting that the discipline renew interest in regional developments, the advantages of promoting disciplinary research shaped by political geographic occurrences are noted. Nevertheless, several circumstances that obstruct this understanding of political geography's development are identified. It is also speculated that cross-disciplinary approaches will be embraced by political geographers. 9 References. J. W. Parker

This analysis addresses the question of how different levels of culture were used in the Cold War by political & civil institutions to influence public opinion in Western Europe, &, more specifically, in Germany. It illuminates how what are commonly defined as 'cultural exports' or 'cultural propaganda' refer to a highly heterogeneous & complex group of governmental & nongovernmental agents, actions, & motivations. While governmental exports focused increasingly on highbrow products such as book & art exhibits, manifestations of popular culture were only admitted if they revealed a specific educational purpose. It can be argued that high culture provided the basis for much Cold War propaganda as much as the Cold War manipulated representations of high culture. Competing against communist claims that America had no high culture, US Cold War programs invoked previous instances of high cultural exchange, particularly with Germany. In doing so, they sealed & politicized a cultural partnership that had been in existence for almost 100 years. Adapted from the source document.

Professor Merrill ably demonstrates that Supreme Court decisions should be examined as the product of an inherently political institution. Observers who assert that Justices are best understood as prophets of the law are practicing an intellectual sleight of hand that allows them to ignore the non­ doctrinal factors that affect judicial behavior. Such an effort is understandable. The Court is a much more complicated subject if its rulings reflect nonlegal factors as well as legal ones. The desire, however, to ignore the true character of the Court produces accounts of its behavior that are inadequate, incorrect, or wholly without content. Legal scholars who want to explain court decisions must consider closely the analysis offered by Merrill as well as his methodology. Moreover, scholars who wish to prescribe legal rules without understanding Merrill's arguments risk folly for they fail to consider how rules are adopted and applied by courts.