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Comparative Politics: A Policy Approach is a unique text in that it integrates a comprehensive study of eight nations with critical policy issues facing those nations. The individual chapters on the United States, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, Japan, China, Mexico, South Africa and Iraq provide a wide-ranging examination of nations that are representative of the diversity in decision-making frameworks and political development in the international community. Comparative Politics: A Policy Approach is designed to guide the reader through a series of discussions on key political milestones in the nation's history, the structure of government, the relationship of citizen to state, the role played by political parties, groups and elections, the shape and influence of the political elite, the current status of the political economy and the future direction of the nation in a global environment. The author accents the importance of comparative links among the various countries and uses supplementary data to deepen understanding of the governing climate, political conditions, and most importantly the policy challenges facing each of the eight nations. Comparative Politics: A Policy Approach is an up to date, thorough, and readable examination of eight nations that are in the forefront of government and politics in the world today. ; https://vc.bridgew.edu/fac_books/1064/thumbnail.jpg

The present text is, basically, a revision of democratic theory from the perspective of its inadequacies for including into its scope many of the recently democratized countries, as well as some older democracies located outside of the Northwestern quadrant of the world. After warning that it is a first step in a larger and more ambitious endeavor, the paper begins by critically examining various definitions of democracy, especially those that, claiming to follow Schumpeter, are deemed to be minimalist, or procesualist. On this basis, a realistic and restricted, but not minimalist, definition of a democratic regime is proposed. After this step, the connections of this topic with several others are explored, including political, social, and welfare rights; the state, especially in its legal dimension; and some characteristics of the overall social context. The main grounding factor that results from these explorations is the conception of agency, especially as it is expressed in the legal system of existing democracies - although the effectiveness of this system and of its underlying conceptions of agency vary quite widely across cases. The approach of the text emphasizes legal and historical factors, while also tracing, in several comparative excursi, some important differences among various kinds of cases. The main conclusions are stated in several propositions, the major thrust of which entails an invitation toward a theoretically disciplined broadening of the analytical and comparative scope of contemporary democratic theory.

Economists and Political scientists have suggested for a long time that democracy and the environment are linked. What they did not analyze in detail is ifthe way in which politicians are elected influences the environment as well. Thescope of this paper is to fill this gap. Using high quality data on a cross section of countries, coming from previous studies, we find strong results suggestingthat politicians in majoritarian systems are less interested in environmental commitments than those in proportional representations. The consequence is thatenvironmental commitments are lower in the former system than in the latter.

This article offers a revision of democratic theory in light of the experience of recently democratized countries, located outside of the northwestern quadrant of the world. First, various definitions of democracy that claim to follow Schumpeter and are usually considered to be "minimalist" or "processualist" are critically examined. Building upon but clarifying these conceptual efforts, a realistic and restricted, but not minimalist, definition of a democratic regime is proposed. Thereafter, this article argues that democracy should be analyzed not only at the level of the political regime but also in relation to the state—especially the state qua legal system—and to certain aspects of the overall social context. The main underlying theme that runs through this article is the concept of agency, especially as it is expressed in the legal system of existing democracies.

"American republicans," notes Forrest McDonald, "regarded selected doctrines of Montesquieu's as being virtually on par with Holy Writ." But exactly how the French jurist's labyrinthian work, The Spirit of the Laws, with was published in 1748, influenced the eighteenth-century conception of the republic is not well understood by historians or theorists. Anne M. Cohler undertakes to show the importance of Montequieu's teaching for modern legislation and for modern political prudence generally, with specific reference to his impact on The Federalist and Tocqueville. In so doing, she delineates Montequieu's contribution to political philosophy and suggests new ways to think about the formation of the American Constitution. To analyze the comparative politics found in the Spirit of the Laws, Cohler focuses on four fundamental principles underlying Montesquieu's view of government: spirit, moderation, liberty, and legislation. In this endeavor she is guided by the conviction that the philosopher hews to the spirit of the laws rather than to the laws themselves—that is, to internal rather than external principles. Montesquieu, in Cohler's argument, addresses the problem posed by the tendency to see human beings in light o universal abstractions at the expense of particular relationships, distinctions, and forms. To counter this tendency, which can be fostered by religion, Montesquieu develops a theory of prudence designed to support the world of politics and political life, necessarily an intermediate world occupying a space between universal abstractions and individual particularities. Cohler suggest that the Federalists and Tocqueville were most influenced by this preoccupation with spirit and moderation. James Madison and other Federalists, for example, were not drawn to limited government as a principled notion but rather as a consequence of understanding the context within which a moderate government must act not to become despotic. Similarly, Tocqueville extols democracy as self-government as an antidote to the ...

Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-306) and index. ; Research design and the accumulation of knowledge -- Big questions, little answers : how the questions you choose affect the answers you get -- How the cases you choose affect the answers you get : selection bias and related issues -- How the evidence you use affects the answers you get : rigorous use of the evidence contained in case studies -- How the approach you choose affects the answers you get : the uses and limitations of rational choice comparative politics. ; Mode of access: Internet.

We try to demonstrate how economists may engage in research on comparative politics, relating the size and composition of government spending to the political system. A Downsian model of electoral competition and forward-looking voting indicates that majoritarian - as opposed to proportional - elections increase competition between parties by focusing it into some key marginal districts. This leads to less public goods, less rents for politicians, more redistribution and larger government. A model of legislative bargaining and backward-looking voting indicates that presidential - as opposed to parliamentary - regimes increase competition between both politicians and voters. This leads to less public goods, less rents for politicians, less redistribution, and smaller government. We confront these predictions with cross-country data from around 1990, controlling for economic and social determinants of government spending. We find strong and robust support for the prediction that the size of government is smaller under presidential regimes, and weaker support for the prediction that majoritarian elections are associated with less public goods.

A political constitution is like an incomplete contract: it spells out a procedure for making decisions and for delegating power, without specifying the contents of those decisions. This creates a problem: the apponted policymaker could use this power for his own benefit against the interests of the citizens. In democracies, elections are the primary mechanism for disciplining public officials. But elections are not sufficient. Separation of powers between executive and legislative bodies also helps the voters, in two distinct ways. First, it can elicit information held by the appointed officials and not otherwise available to the voters. Second, by playing one body against the other and by aligning the interest of the weaker body with their own, the voters can induce the two bodies to discipline each other. Separation of power only works to the voters' advantage if it is appropriately designed, however, and it can be detrimental if it creates a "common pool" problem. These advantages of separation of powers are present both in Presidential and in Parliamentary democracies. Government appointed rules in Parliamentary democracies must be appropriately designed, however, to prevent collisuon.

OBJECTIVE: To compare Canadian and U.S. policymaking to determine how different health care systems may use health services research differently in responding to the common problem of ineffective medical care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY DESIGN/DATA COLLECTION: Not applicable. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The United States and Canada are making surprisingly divergent responses to the problem of medical ineffectiveness: reinforcement of the solidarity principle and deprivatization in Canada, and reinforcement of market competition and privatization in the United States. In doing so, Canadian policymakers overstate the societal applicability and U.S. policymakers the individual applicability of outcomes research findings. CONCLUSIONS: Probabilistic findings of medical effectiveness are fundamentally ambiguous as they relate to action. They therefore invite divergent policy responses from different policy regimes. Health services researchers must not imagine that research findings are sufficient to determine the course of health policy.

Defence date: 1 December 1995 ; Examining Board: Prof. Maurizio Cotta, Università degli Studi di Siena, Supervisor ; Prof. Giandomenico Majone, EUI, co-supervisor ; Prof. Peter Mair, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden ; Prof. Roger Morgan, EUI ; Prof. Alberta Sbragia, University of Pittsburgh ; First made available online: 5 August 2016 ; Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the limitations of the traditional approaches to parties and politics in the EU, and introduces an alternative framework which combines the theory and method of 'comparative politics'. In Chapter 2, the two theoretical levels are brought together in a "comparative politics theory of parties in the European Union". This theory is subsequently tested in three empirical chapters, each covering a different aspect of party federation behaviour in the EU: party organisational development (Chapter 3); the changing shape of party policy competition (Chapter 4); and the ability of parties to reap policy rewards from the European Council (Chapter 5). A description of the data and the methods used in the analysis is set out in a series of Appendices. Finally, the empirical and theoretical conclusions of the research are drawn together in Chapter 6.

Der vorliegende Beitrag (zuerst publiziert 1969) diskutiert den Nutzen der Umfrageforschung für Studien der vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft. Die Prinzipien des 'survey research', wie sie bei Makroanalysen angewandt werden, werden mit zwei anderen Ansätzen verglichen: dem Aggregatdaten-Ansatz und der Konfigurationsanalyse. Weiterhin werden die Grenzen des traditionellen 'survey research' mit folgenden methodologischen Problemen diskutiert: das Problem der Vergleichbarkeit von multikulturellen Studien; die Auswahl, Messung und Operationalisierung in solchen Studien; die Berücksichtigung struktureller Merkmale im 'survey design'. ; This essay (first published in 1969) deals with the usefulness of survey research in studies of comparative politics. The nature of survey research as applied to problems of macro-analysis will be compared to two other approaches: the aggregate data approach and the configurative approach. The limitations of traditional survey research, the problems of comparability in multi-contextual research (technical problems, problems of conceptualization) and the strategies of comparative research (the selection and measurement of variables that are embedded in their context; the inclusion of structural characteristics into survey design; the inclusion of structural characteristics in the survey analysis) will be discussed.

In modern societies, particularly the societies of the liberal democratic West, cultural diversity poses a challenge not only to the makers of government policy, but also to the philosopher looking to understand how it might be possible-in principle-for people of different ways to live together. The challenge is posed because society's institutions have been challenged, as the members of different groups have demanded "recognition." They have demanded not simply recognition of their claims to a (just) share of the social pie but, more important, recognition of their distinct identities as members of particular cultural communities within society. The persistence and, in some cases, the ferocity of demands for recognition have led many to concede that recognize them we must. The problem that arises for a liberal society, however, is that there quickly emerges a conflict between two demands: on one hand, that the dignity of the individual be recognized (by respecting certain fundamental rights); on the other hand, that the claims of the gr or cultural communities to which individuals belong be recognized. Philosophers such as Charles Taylor, who have viewed the problem in this way, also see that no simple solution to this conflict is available. A more complex, and nuanced, answer must therefore be given to the problem posed by the politics of recognition; and that answer must acknowledge the need for institutions that facilitate public deliberation and for attitudes of openness a

Locating Africa on the global stage, this book examines and compares external involvement in the continent, exploring the foreign policies of major states and international organizations towards Africa. The contributors work within a political economy framework in order to study how these powers have attempted to stimulate democracy, peace and prosperity in the context of neo-liberal hegemony and ask whom these attempts have benefited and failed.

Over the last few decades the number of cases of multiple nationalities worldwide has increased rapidly, and for various reasons this is being tolerated by more and more sovereign states. This is astonishing when one considers that a few decades ago citizenship and political loyalty to a state and, in particular, a specific national political community, were still considered inseparable. Despite the fundamental challenges raised by dual citizenship, the empirical evidence suggests that most immigration states have successfully adapted to problems of sovereignty and legitimacy. State authorities in many immigration countries in Europe and North America have gradually come to see dual citizenship neither as evil nor as an intrinsic value desirable as such. Nonetheless, the degree to which dual nationality is tolerated by states differs widely. Since immigrants themselves have developed manifold strategies to use dual nationality ? states and citizens have been engaged in processes of mutual accommodation. The questions deal with are: What are the factors encouraging the increasing tolerance towards multiple nationalities? How can cross-national differences regarding de jure and de facto tolerance towards dual nationality be explained? And what are the consequences of the growing tolerance towards dual nationality for statehood and immigrant policies? Based on the findings of postnational, national and transnational perspectives the analysis proposes to analyze tolerance and resistance towards dual nationality as a path-dependent process.

http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/heiwa/JNL/25/HOFFMANN.pdf ; This article illustrates a new style of politics, the New Political Culture (NPC), which began in many countries in the 1970s. It has become dominant in some locations. It defines new rules of the game for politics, challenging two older traditions: class politics and clientelism. Advocates of the New Political Culture include Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and Francois Mitterrand. They revolutionized the politics of their countries by embracing NPC issues. These include citizen democracy, environmentalism, gay rights, and abortion—generally consumption and lifestyle issues, with less emphasis on workplace and jobs than in the past. Leadership comes less from parties, unions, and ethnic groups in coalitions of rich versus poor, or high- versus low-status persons. Rather, leadership shifts from issue to issue; leaders on abortion are distinct from leaders on environmental issues. Issue-specific leaders are thus more active, as are citizens and the media. This NPC emerges more fully and forcefully in cities and countries with more highly educated citizens, higher incomes, and high-tech service occupations. Political parties critically constrain elected officials who take positions and act. We present here the most comprehensive synthesis to date of past research on local party structures around the world including Japan, US, Canada, France, Finland, Norway, Australia, and Israel. We documents major differences in party penetration of government: minimal in Australia and Canada, deep in France and Italy. Parties also substantially vary in their openness to citizens and organized groups—of business labor, and others, as well as to new social movements concerning ecology and women. Parties founded on traditional class cleavages and unions, or clientelism and patronage by padrone, resist NPC developments—which can drive citizens to alienation, to protest, or to embrace new parties or organized groups.