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Abstract'We are neither Left nor Right, we are out in front' was the mantra of the environmental movement in the 1970s and early 1980s. This research examines the relationship between the traditional left/right economic cleavage and the environmental cleavage in structuring party competition in advanced industrial democracies. It begins by discussing the theoretical rationale for the separation of environmentalism from the traditional economic cleavage, and utilises new expert data to describe the evolution of party positions between 1989 and 2002–2003. An initially strong relationship between party positions on both dimensions in 1989 has strengthened over time. The convergence occurs largely because of changes by Green parties and by the addition of new parties that define themselves on both dimensions. This points to the ability of democratic party systems to integrate a new political cleavage, and the process of integration. However, leftist parties still continue to diverge with respect to how they respond to the environmental cleavage.

AbstractBy using economics, welfare and social network factors as frames of reference, this study aims to explore the relationship between these three factors and net migration to various US states. Adopting related variables collected from official aggregate data, this study first utilizes Logit Regression analysis to draw out seven variables that best explain net migration to the various states, then employs these variables in LISREL analyses to build a model explaining the factors influencing net migration to the various US states. Concretely, this research obtained the following findings: (1) the seven variables ‐‐ the average rate of net migrants of 2002–2005, Medicaid, federal aid, employment rate, non‐poverty population rate, and SSI subsidy ‐‐ all significantly affected (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) net migration in 2006; (2) the main influences on net migration for the various states are, from highest to lowest, social network, economic, and welfare factors. More specifically, a better explanation is that, through the social network factor, economic and welfare factors exert an increased influence on the net number of migrants; and (3) as for the influence of social network factors on the number of net migrants, the social network factor for the previous year was found to best explain domestic migration flows, while the social network factor for the previous three‐to‐four years best explained international migration flows.

This research analyzes institutions of governance because institutions can constrain or augment the preferences of decision-makers. The objective of this study is to model an important class of regional institutions, namely metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). MPOs are responsible for implementing United States Federal transportation policy at the local level in all areas with a population of 50,000 or more. The primary mission of the MPO is to engage in transportation planning to meet requirements for the receipt of federal funds that number in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

This article uses archival evidence to study in depth the historical policies of Italy as a classic sending state. Most of the mass migrations of a century ago came from multinational empires, but Italy was a recently formed independent state. Ambitious to benefit from emigration while assisting and protecting emigrants, Italy reached out to "Italians abroad" in several ways. For example, the state opened a low-cost channel for remittances through a nonprofit bank; promoted Italian language education among Italian families abroad; supported Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad; and subsidized religious missionary work among emigrants. Italy's historical example of political innovation and diplomatic negotiation provides context, comparisons, and possibilities for rapidly changing sending-state policies in the twenty-first century.