Suchergebnisse

Present:Helen Barrett, Julie Bennett, Tomas Campbell, Diane Clare, Clair Clifford, Adrian Coyle (Chair), Peter Hegarty, Ian Hodges, Laura Markowe, Martin Milton, Carol Pearson, Elizabeth Peel, Ian Rivers, Fiona Tasker, Graham Thomas, Patti WallaceApologies:Victoria Clarke, Sonja J. Ellis, Alan Frankland, Patricia Hudson, Celia Kitzinger, Darren Langdridge, Lyndsey Moon, Brian Solts, Sue Wilkinson

Discusses the centrality and urgency of the demand for proportional representation, and the need for the left to seize the opportunities offered by the post-Maastricht phase of European integration. Sees PR as the best means to achieve a consensus of the left, and as the most democratic of the available electoral systems. (RSM)

Clemens Jürgenmeyer untersucht in diesem Beitrag, inwieweit das indische Regierungssystem als Westminster-Modell (Mehrheitsdemokratie) nach britischen Vorbild angesehen werden kann. Dabei stützt sich der Autor auf die von Arend Lijphart formulierten Merkmale einer Mehrheitsdemokratie. Da sich ein solcher Demokratietyp jedoch zumeist in homogenen und nicht oder wenig föderalen Staaten herausgebildet hat, kann Indien nicht als Westminister-Demokratie gesehen werden. Vielmehr osziliert das indische Regierungssystem zwischen Mehrheits- und Konsensdemokratie und wird dabei entscheidend von den handelnden Akteuren beeinflusst.

The entry of the 1997 cohort of Labour women into public life offers a test case of whether, and under what conditions, women politicians have the capacity to 'make a substantive difference'. We outlines the theory of the politics of presence and discuss how to operationalise this in a testable model. We, use the British Representation Study survey of 1,000 national politicians (including parliamentary candidates and elected Members of Parliament) conducted in the 2001 general election. The analysis centres on the impact of gender on five scales measuring attitudes and values on issues that commonly divide British party politics.Once we control for party, there are no significant differences among women and men politicians across the value scales concerning the free market economy, Europe, and moral traditionalism. Yet on the values most directly related to women's interests – namely the affirmative action and the gender equality scales – women and men politicians differ significantly within each party, even after controlling for other common social background variables that explain attitudes, such as their age, education, and income. The conclusion considers why these findings matter for the composition of parliament, the public policy agenda and for women's roles as political leaders.

The UK political system has long exemplified 'majoritarian' or 'Westminster' government, a type subsequently exported to many Commonwealth countries. The primary advantage of this system, proponents since Bagehot have argued, lie in its ability to combine accountability with effective governance. Yet under the Blair administration, this system has undergone a series of major constitutional reforms, perhaps producing the twilight of the pure Westminster model. After conceptualizing the process of constitutional reform, this paper discusses two important claims made by those who favor retaining the current electoral system for Westminster, namely that single-member districts promote strong voter-member linkages and generate greater satisfaction with the political system. Evidence testing these claims is examined from comparative data covering 19 nations, drawing on the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. The study finds that member-voter linkages are stronger in single member than in pure multimember districts, but that combined districts such as MMP preserve these virtues. Concerning claims of greater public satisfaction under majoritarian systems, the study establishes some support for this contention, although the evidence remains limited. The conclusion considers the implications of the findings for debates about electoral reform and for the future of the Westminster political system.

The UK political system has long exemplified "majoritarian" or "Westminster" government, a type subsequently exported to many Commonwealth countries. The primary advantage of this system, proponents since Bagehot have argued, lie in its ability to combine accountability with effective governance. Yet under the Blair administration, this system has undergone a series of major constitutional reforms, perhaps producing the twilight of the pure Westminster model. After conceptualizing the process of constitutional reform, this paper discusses two important claims made by those who favor retaining the current electoral system for Westminster, namely, that single-member districts promote strong voter-member linkages & generate greater satisfaction with the political system. Evidence testing these claims is examined from comparative data covering 19 nations, drawing on the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. The study finds that member-voter linkages are stronger in single-member than in pure multimember districts, but that combined districts such as MMP preserve these virtues. Concerning claims of greater public satisfaction under majoritarian systems, the study establishes some support for this contention, although the evidence remains limited. The conclusion considers the implications of the findings for debates about electoral reform & for the future of the Westminster political system. 7 Tables, 51 References. Adapted from the source document.