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Two decades of turnover data were collected for the national legislature of 25 industrialized countries. After a discussion of turnover's significance, we compare turnover rates across countries. A set of variables expected to influence turnover rates is described & multiple regression is used to test the hypotheses developed. Results show that frequency of elections, opportunity for double listings, electoral volatility, & legislative institutionalization have statistically significant effects on turnover. In addition the type of electoral system (majoritarian vs proportional representation) is shown to have a statistically & substantively significant effect, with turnover much greater in the latter. Possible explanations for this effect are explored. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix. Adapted from the source document.

The 1990s, which can be characterized as a decade of disinflationary growth & austerity policies for most developed market democracies, was the decade of stagnant growth & policy complacency for Switzerland & Japan. Based on a framework that emphasizes the structure of policy choices available to governments at economic crossroads (or crisis), I show Switzerland & Japan are unique in that (a) disinflationary fundamentals spared the countries from speculative or inflationary pressure that required drastic responses & (b) the governments paradoxically maintained conservative economic policies despite room for expansion in order to continue policies based on the compromise between export & domestic sectors. The policy crossroads perspective stresses the importance of endogenous coalitions even in a world of economic globalization to explain concerted politics & conservative policies, & to assess the true impact of international finance on domestic changes. 6 Tables, 4 Figures, 1 Appendix, 72 References. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on a book by Richard Lynn & Tatu Vanhanen, IQ and the Wealth of Nations (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002). 11 References.

The political role of the modern media and the impact on public opinion has come under intense scrutiny. The arguments in the scientific dispute have been structured under the optimistic 'cognitive mobilisation' and pessimistic 'media malaise' banners. For obvious reasons the role of television has been most intensely discussed. TV has the widest reach and is believed to have to the strongest impact. So far, much of the exchange of arguments has been based on data from the United States. In many European countries, public broadcasting is far more prominent than in the United States, and one can argue that the ideals underlying public broadcasting have put their mark on the TV industry in many European countries. Norway is such a case. The interesting question is, of course, whether this matters. Does public broadcasting foster a 'virtuous circle' of increased political competence, whereas commercial TV creates 'media malaise'? Data from the Norwegian 1997–2001 election survey panel is used in this study to overcome the main methodological problem in the many studies based on cross‐sectional data: the question of causality. Too often researchers have based their inferences about the link between media exposure and political knowledge on cross‐sectional correlations. The empirical results do little to support the optimistic view of TV as the great political educator. On the contrary, neither exposure to the state‐owned public broadcasting NRK nor the commercial TV2 help to increase the general level of political knowledge. However, NRK seems to be the preferred channel among the politically well‐informed.

American, Spanish, French, Japanese, & Italian newspaper articles published 1993-1999 are comparatively analyzed to determine how frequently corruption terminology & its equivalents in other languages appeared. Findings demonstrate that "corruption" & "bribery" & their foreign-language equivalents appeared approximately 90% of the time. Despite this significant similarity, several differences are noted: whereas most world newspapers use "corruption" twice as often as "bribery," French newspapers use the two terms equally; the number of articles containing corruption terminology was twice as high in American newspapers than in the European ones; & the world language newspapers were dominated by terms with different meanings. The need to further examine linguistic & conceptual differences in different nations' corruption terminology before changing the direction of corruption discourse is expressed. 1 Table, 10 Figures. J. W. Parker

Research on electoral systems and their effects is subject to great controversies. This article aims to present and analyze the different positions in the debate, as closely as possible to the original text and its explanatory approach. It deals with the differences in particular scientific interests, research methods, definitions of concepts and assumed causal relationships between the variables involved, discussing finally the particular thesis about the effects of electoral systems and the options among them. The article systematically analyzes the theory of electoral systems from a historical perspective by assessing the controversial contributions of five important social researchers from five countries, making a difference at national and international level: Maurice Duverger, Stein Rokkan, Douglas W. Rae, Giovanni Sartori, and Arend Lijphart. A sixth author is somewhat hidden, but undeniably present; the author of these observations. His own comparative studies on electoral systems -- where the analysis of the transcendental contributions of his colleagues is based on -- have also obtained a controversial acceptance in some of the referred works. Adapted from the source document.

Using data from the World Values Survey, this article examines a series of strongly held values & beliefs concerning the political & wider social world, on a cross-nationally comparative basis. Orientations such as political outlook, attitudes toward religion, political participation, social movements, women's roles, & satisfaction with life are examined. Tentative groupings of young people by country are attempted, revealed a commonality of values among the old & young in certain clusters of societies. Within these clusters, the relative magnitude of gender & age differences in attitudinal positioning are analyzed, to show how nationality & youth interact differently when examining different attitudes. It is found that young people do have common values cross-nationally, but only within certain supranational limits. 4 Tables, 10 Figures, 34 References. [Copyright 2002 Sage Publications, Inc.]

Elections recently took place in the US, GB, France, Germany, Poland, & Romania. An investigative study discusses voter responses to political TV programs broadcast during these elections. In particular, the differences that existed in the attitudes of male & female respondents are examined. It is concluded that though significant attitudinal differences between male & female respondents were evident during each election, the trends were not consistent across the different countries studied. 2 Tables, 24 References. K. A. Larsen