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Since the earlier studies about the voting behavior of the United Nations members during the 1950s, there is no agreement among voting analysts on the best methodology to detect states aggregations & blocs in the General Assembly. Almost every author involved in this topic proposed a new method -- or at least a new application of a previous method -- to better show the map of UN members vote. The aim of this paper is to find some common patterns in the wide universe of voting behavior studies in order to turn out the methodological diversity in cumulative knowledge, & to provide practical paths of analysis for future researches. The first paragraph classifies the researches on voting behavior in the General Assembly by the goals, the object & the method of research. The following paragraph shows the main methods used in the last fifty years & their evolution. Finally, the Conclusion underlines the common aspects of voting behavior analysis in the General Assembly & suggests strategies of researches. Adapted from the source document.

A review symposium on a book by Richard J. Samuels, Machiavelli's Children. Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan (Ithaca & London: Cornell U Press, 2003), with contributions from Michele Salvati, Mauro Calise, & Leonardo Morlina & a reply by author Samuels. The book offers a detailed comparison between Italy & Japan from the Union of Italy & the Meiji Restoration to present days. One hundred fifty years of parallel history reveal that the two countries had similar nation- & state-building experiences. In the 19th Century both countries were forced to fill the economical gap separating them from more developed countries. They also struggled to maintain the general consensus during times of intense structural development that required strenuous sacrifices from their population. In both cases such consensus was never achieved through real democratic participation, until their defeat in WWII. The comparison also shows the deep differences between the pre-fascist, liberal Italian state & the Japanese totalitarian regime. However, after WWII, similarities increase again, especially after the American occupation & its commitment to export democracy. M. Williamson

In this paper the author statistically analyses the main results of the 2004 elections for Italian Members of the European Parliament. Compared to the previous European elections, of 1999, there was an increase in turn out of 1.9 percent, thus bringing to a halt the negative trend which characterized Italian European elections from 1979 to 1999. In terms of the distribution of valid votes among the official lists, there was a significant swing away from Forza Italia & from the Bonino-Pannella list, a minor worsening of the position of the main Centre-left list (Uniti nell'Ulivo), & an improvement for Rifondazione Comunista, Alleanza Nazionale, Unione di Centro, the Lega Nord, Comunisti Italiani & the Greens (Verdi). Finally, it is noted that in terms of preferences in favour of the candidates of the lists voted for, although in each of Italy's five constituencies voters were allowed to express up to three preferences, the number of preferences expressed was in fact lower than in 1999. Adapted from the source document.

This article evaluates the trends of democratization over the last 10 years, focusing on the new transitions to democracy taking place in Central-Eastern Europe & sub-Saharan Africa, the two regions where this political process has lately been more pervasive. The basic question addressed is whether the conditions that favored the democratic wave originating in Portugal in the mid-1970s are still able to explain the political transformations that followed the breakdown of the Berlin Wall. For many, the implosion of communism makes any such comparisons impossible. After summarizing some crucial variables suggested by the literature to explain democratic transitions & consolidation, the author tests this hypothesis in both Central-Eastern Europe & sub-Saharan Africa. Initial findings show that, in many cases, the variables that favored democratic transitions before 1989 continued to operate in similar ways thereafter. A few differences aside, in the most recent cases, a number of basic economic, institutional, & cultural conditions continue, as they did earlier, to favor or frustrate democratization. 8 Tables, 42 References. Adapted from the source document.

While facing the subject of history and politics in books published in Italian for the celebration of 150 years of National Unity, the Author provides an overview of dozens of Italian and foreign authors' texts, primarily dealing with the different interpretations concerning the historiographical debate on "pros" and "cons" the reasons that have characterized the period of the so-called "Risorgimento", and that still fuel an ideological-political debate, often very harsh. But the largest part of this essay, a mainly bibliographical one, examines the various texts devoted to the role played by the nineteenth century's Italian protagonists, beginning with the "big ones" as Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi and Cattaneo, followed by information regarding the contributions of "minor" but important ones, as Mameli and Nievo, while there are appropriate references to the "Feminine Risorgimento", like some recent Anita Garibaldi's, or Jessie White Mario's, works. The end does not lack of appropriate references to political satire texts, which, through an original sense of humor, are often able to captivate and persuade better than, sometimes, pages of detailed historical re-enactments can do. Adapted from the source document.

This is the text of the opening lecture given by the author at the 2004 Conference of Italian Society of Political Science in Padua. In the first section the main definitions of democracy & democratic qualities, as rule of law, vertical accountability, horizontal accountability, responsiveness, freedom & equality/solidarity are discussed to set up the main notions that are necessary to address the key question in the second section: If we would like to explain the qualities of a democracy how much are the previous political traditions of the country relevant? The main other explanatory factors are suggested & complemented by the role of authoritarian legacy & a few key hypotheses are suggested. In the last section the essay does not provide any ultimate general reply, but the analysis of the impact of authoritarian legacy in a few countries of Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, but not Greece where it is not relevant) & of the Southern Cone of Latin America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil) with regard to the quality of contemporary democracies in those countries is suggested. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

Political science, because of its many subdisciplines & multiple approaches, strongly needs a specific vocabulary. This article compares eleven dictionaries -- in three languages & four different political cultures -- to offer a critical overview of the making of a political dictionary. First, the author reviews the editorial & methodological features (number of editors &/or contributors, average length of the entries, method of explanation of the entries, & the system of cross-references). Then he gives an account of the (eleven) different typologies of political concepts provided by the editors, after which he provides a short review of the entry "political science." A dictionary is more interesting when each single entry goes beyond a simple report of definitions, taking the aim -- as Sartori says -- of reconstructing a concept but also forming a concept. New & original classifications & stronger & stimulating linking patterns among concepts are indispensable to a professional political vocabulary as well as to theory making. In the last 15 years, some steps have been taken -- including by these eleven dictionaries -- but much work remains to be done. 3 Tables, 29 References. Adapted from the source document.

According to Russell Hardin, the rational choice approach to politics offers "devastating theoretical claims for any conception of democracy that implies a minimum degree of coherence of collective choice, information & participation." This essay argues that such conclusion is misplaced. The author discusses two classes of results, derived respectively from social choice theory & game theory, both of them pointing to a gap between individual & collective rationality. These theoretical results are better understood as benchmarks against which comparing alternative explanations of political outcomes. For instance, disequilibrium results from social choice theory imply that political outcomes cannot be explained only on the basis of individual preferences, but also on the basis of the rules aggregating them. The downsian paradoxes -- complete convergence of candidates/parties, voters' rational abstention & rational ignorance -- are a starting point for more complete explanations of electoral competition & electoral participation. Finally, the game theoretical analysis of collective action problems can provide useful insights in order to understand classic problems in democratic theory, such as transition to democracy & democratic stability. In short, while many results of the rational approach to politics are better interpreted as limitative theorems, ignoring them would make analysis of democracy much poorer. References. Adapted from the source document.

The only case of a Prime Minister directly elected by the voters can be found in the recent Israeli political experience. The system has not worked satisfactorily & after three elections has been abandoned. Even the most powerful of the Prime Ministers, ie, the British Prime Minister, derives his/her powers not from a direct popular election, but from his/her being the leader of the political party that has won an absolute majority of parliamentary seats. For this reason, he/she may be replaced by his/her parliamentary party, as has been the case, in the postwar period, for Anthony Eden, Harold MacMillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, & Margaret Thatcher. In this article, the author criticizes the recent Italian proposals for an elective Prime Minister as a solution to the problems of the weak & noncohesive political coalitions & of the difficult relationship between government & Parliament. The major contention of this article it that most of the problems derive not from the lack of formal institutional powers in the hand of the Prime Minister, but from the imperfect electoral law that does not reduce the number of parties & gives much leverage to small parties. 3 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article provides a systematic test of the consequences of the electoral system for the format of the party system & the frequency of single-party majority cabinets. The test is based on Lijphart's 1994 data set (extended from 1990 to 1 Nov 2002), but excludes some of his cases, & introduces an additional indicator of the number of parties. Thanks to these changes in the research design, the variance explained by multivariate regression is much higher than Lijphart's results, especially as long as the elective parties (ie, the psychological effects of the electoral system) are concerned. At the same time, the post-1990 data show a decline of the predictive power of the main independent variable ("effective" threshold). In order to explain this decline, the author argues that the growing destructuration of Western parties & party systems occurring since the early 1990s should be taken into account. Indeed, entering into the regression an indicator of such a process (total net volatility) compensates for most of the threshold's lost explanatory power, thus suggesting that destructuration is a far more significant variable than previously recognized by the relevant literature. 11 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.

Analyzing seven recent books on British politics following the 2001 general elections, the author identifies & evaluates the main features of the Westminster model. Characterized by the preeminence of the prime minister, the model entails a close relationship between the premier & his/her parliamentary majority. It is based on the cohesion & discipline of the parliamentary group & the expectations of the MPs to be promoted to ministerial office. Often met, these expectations help the MPs to perform several important tasks: above all, the task of scrutinizing the activities of the government; &, second, though not least, the task of keeping a working & satisfactory connection with their constituencies. Though the role of the British prime minister has been significantly changed by Tony Blair's spinning & search for visibility outside the parliamentary arena, the Westminster model retains its most important, defining feature. In the words written by Walter Bagehot about a century & a half ago, the efficient secret of the British Constitution is the fusion of the executive & legislative entities. This fusion continues to allow the British prime ministers, no matter their personality, if they so desire, to govern effectively. 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

This essay examines the outcome of the elections in single-member districts, with special attention to changes in the structure, level, & different arenas (plurality & proportional) of electoral competition. The main thesis is that, following the renewed alliance between the Polo & the Lega Nord & the divisions of the Ulivo, the disastrous results of the Center-Left coalition were expected. However, because of increasing bipolarity & competitiveness in single-member districts & in parliament, there is a tendency toward reequilibrium. In fact, the Ulivo's performance has been most ineffective because it has gained votes in the North, where it was useless, & has lost votes in the competitive districts of the South. This article explores the perspectives of the electoral competition according to the persistent instability of the political offer, new changes of alliances & the fluid structure of the parties. The last section deals with the "mysterious" question of the difference between plurality & proportional votes, which seems to assign a bonus to the Center-Left coalition, but is an indication of the extreme weakness & destructuration of the Ulivo's parties. The author concludes by discussing some hypotheses about this phenomenon. 16 Tables, 3 Figures, 23 References. Adapted from the source document.