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This study examines the personality traits of candidates for the Swiss government and how they are related to the candidates' electoral chances. Switzerland as a paradigmatic consensual democracy is an ideal test case to examine the connection between the specific pattern of a democracy and the government personalities that fit it. We argue that the cultural and institutional setting of the Swiss Government increases the electoral chances of kinder and gentler personalities. To test this, we estimate regression models on a new data set of candidates covering all vacancies in the Swiss government between 1982 and 2020. Our results reveal that candidates with a higher level of agreeableness do enjoy an advantage in the electoral process for Swiss consensus government.

Uncorrected proof of Book Chapter 45 in The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence, Edited by Loch K. Johnson, Publication Date: 2010. ; In their path to consolidation, developing democracies strive to ensure the democratic transfer of political power, gain legitimacy with elites and civil society, reform and restructure their legal systems and economy, and, maybe most importantly, develop democratic civil-military relations (CMR)—that is establishing new security institutions (to include intelligence agencies) that are under democratic civilian control, and are effective and effi cient ( Bruneau and Boraz 2007 , 1–24).

There are two contending accounts of cross-national variation in voter turnout rates. One emphasizes the role of institutions and electoral attributes, whereas the other stresses cultural and historical factors. The authors evaluate the merits of these two arguments. They first apply the model developed by R. W. Jackman to turnout rates during the 1980s, expanding the sample of industrial states to include three newer democracies with recent authoritarian histories: Greece, Portugal, and Spain. They then examine the potential impact of cultural variables on voter turnout rates. The authors conclude that the institutional argument outperforms the cultural account of conventional political participation.

The article is dedicated to analyzing patterns of minority governments' stability in European parliamentary democracies, in particular in the European systems of positive and negative parliamentarism (in 1944-2016). The author found that minority governments are relatively less stable than majority governments. However, the researcher argued that the single-party minority governments on average are more stable than minority coalition governments.

The article is dedicated to analyzing patterns of minority governments' stability in European parliamentary democracies, in particular in the European systems of positive and negative parliamentarism (in 1944-2016). The author found that minority governments are relatively less stable than majority governments. However, the researcher argued that the single-party minority governments on average are more stable than minority coalition governments.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically examine the working of the Ombudsman offices in six developing democracies in the Commonwealth Caribbean in order to assess/evaluate the degree or extent of effectiveness of these offices. It aims to look at them from both contemporary and evolutionary perspectives. Although it focuses on the Commonwealth Caribbean, some references to other parts of the world are also made for a better and comparative understanding of the Ombudsman institution.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based mainly on archival research. Original/primary as well as secondary sources – old, recent and contemporary – have been used. Random interviews and observation have also been useful sources of information.FindingsOn the one hand, this study identifies various factors and related issues that make the performance of the Ombudsman institution difficult and problematic in the Commonwealth Caribbean; and, on the other, it also identifies some remedial measures for effectively dealing with these problems. Although the Ombudsman office has a number of inadequacies, it plays a fairly useful role in protecting and promoting human rights, in redressing grievances especially of the "small" people, and thus in contributing to good governance, transparency and democratic values.Research limitations/implicationsThere is considerable dearth of literature on this institution in the Caribbean. This study, at least partially, fills the gap.Practical implicationsThe adoption of the remedial measures identified will improve the performance and the effectiveness of this institution in varying degrees. These measures/recommendations will also facilitate the reform efforts of the policy makers who will find them useful.Originality/valueThe paper, based on original research, makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the Ombudsman institution.

The ultimate goal of this work is to contribute to the contemporary debate over the crisis of nowadays Western liberal democracies. We approach the debate from the perspective of political philosophy. We contend that in order to provide a more helpful and insightful contribution to the topic, we must focus on providing a deeper understanding of the present situation. We put forth the idea that the conception of political order changed altogether during modernity, with John Locke as its main theorist. In order to justify this assumption, we first review what we hold to be the theoretical foundation for the typically modern natural rights liberal approach politics, i.e., that of John Locke. Following that, we open a new chapter in our dissertation in which we begin to focus on the United States of America's founding. We labeled this specific way of making politics, this combination of liberal and Lockean theory and practice, as the "liberal-lockean approach politics". First we look at Thomas Jefferson through the Declaration of Independence of 1776 to discover those revolutionary elements that were appealing to the entire humanity and were not restricted only to the American patriots. We try to disclose the essential role that man's rights played in the Jeffersonian political thinking and we then analyze in which exact way were those rights of man different to any other rights prior to that time. Lastly, we examine the Declaration in terms of the Lockean connections we discover within it. We review concepts such as government, property, inalienability… that have a crucial role in the constitution of America and can be traced, from our point of view, directly to the liberal theory of John Locke. Once we believed to have exposed the nature of the political-philosophical development in modernity, i.e., liberal democracies, we turn to observe the political-philosophical understanding of those concepts in the present time. We take the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and inspect those concepts that are most relevant for ...

AbstractStudies of party system size have looked at institutional and sociological factors in their attempt to explain what determines the number of parties. While some recent studies contend that party laws, beyond the district magnitude, have a significant impact on, among others, new party entry, we know very little about whether certain rules matter more in some societies than they do in others. In this paper, we study the extent to which various party finance rules affect party system size and differentiate the effect between new and established democracies. Specifically, we focus on direct and indirect public subsidization and limits on private donation and campaign expenditure. We hypothesize that compared to established countries, new democracies tend to have a larger party system size when the political finance rules create more equal conditions for electoral competition. Using data from 43 Europe democracies, the empirical analyses support our hypothesis.

Many citizens across the liberal democratic world are highly critical of their elected representatives' conduct. Drawing on original survey data from Britain, France and Germany, this paper offers a unique insight into prevailing attitudes across Europe's three largest democracies. It finds remarkable consistencies in the ethical priorities of British, French and German citizens: although there is some individual-level variation, respondents in all three countries overwhelmingly prioritise having honest representatives. It also finds differences in the types of behaviour that cause most concern in each country. The paper then examines how individuals' preferences shape their concerns about prevailing standards. The findings are consistent with the idea that citizens' predispositions have an 'anchoring' effect on perceptions of political integrity. Finally, the paper considers whether established democracies are susceptible to an 'expectations gap' between citizens' expectations of conduct and what 'normal' politics can realistically deliver.

Public media's contributions to democracy are well established. Less widely known are the specific policies that make these contributions possible. This study finds that professional autonomy and civic accountability in public media are supported by (1) funding established for multiyear periods; (2) legal charters that restrict partisan government influence while also mandating the provision of diverse, high-quality programming; (3) oversight agencies, whose "arm's length" independence from the government in power is bolstered through staggered terms and the dispersal of authority to make appointments; and (4) audience councils and surveys designed to strengthen links to diverse publics. Public media governed by policies that continue and extend, rather than depart from, these best practices will likely be the most successful in maintaining their civic mission online.

In this paper, we show that education, health and social security expenditures did not increase during elections. Based on a panel of fifteen Latin American democracies from 1973 to 2000, we show that there are important increases in social spending in the inaugural year of a new presidential administration. We argue that social policy is used by Latin American democracies as an instrument to reward voters after winners enter office and not as a tool to manipulate outcomes before elections as commonly argued in the literature.

Why have advanced democracies experienced a retreat of the interventionist state since 1980? This article provides evidence that in all relevant policy indicators (spending, subsidies, state-owned enterprises, regulation, capital taxation) government intervention has been scaled back across the OECD. An overview of the results of 130 quantitative studies analysing at least one of these indicators is provided. Focusing on five main explanatory variables – globalization, Europeanization, learning and emulation, socio-economic problems, and political parties – only limited agreement in the literature is found. The reasons for this disagreement are discussed. Ways forward are suggested for the theoretical models on which studies are based, how the dependent variable is chosen, the empirical approaches that may be applied, and how quantitative research and comparative case studies may be combined.