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WHILE THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKS OF FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS ON VIEWS OF THE POLITICAL WORLD IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED, EMPIRICAL SUBSTANTIATION OF THIS PROCESS HAS BEEN HARD TO FIND. THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES OBJECTIONS TO THE CONTEXTUAL APPROACH AND WAYS IN WHICH THOSE CRITICISMS CAN BE ADDRESSED.

THE AUTHOR ENDEAVORS TO DEVELOP A CONCEPTION OF PARTY BEHAVIOR THAT ENCOMPASSES ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR. HE BEGINS BY DEVELOPING AN EXPLICIT MODEL OF VOTING BEHAVIOR AND A SET OF CONSEQUENCES FOR PARTY BEHAVIOR. THEN HE CONSIDERS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE THAT APPLIES TO BOTH THE VOTING MODEL AND PARTY BEHAVIOR.

MUCH OF THE LITERATURE ON POLITICAL ECONOMICS RESTRICTS ITS FOCUS TO THE SHORT-RUN IMPACTS OF ECONOMIC EVENTS IN STUDYING SUCH TOPICS AS VOTE CHOICE OR EXECUTIVE POPULARITY. IN THIS PAPER, THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC EVENTS UPON LONGER-TERM ASPECTS OF VOTER ATTITUDES AND, IN PARTICULAR, UPON VOTER IDEOLOGIES. HE ALSO CONSIDERS THE SCOPE FOR THE INTERPRETABILITY OF ECONOMIC INFORMATION AT AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL AND PRESENTS STATISTICAL EVIDENCE FROM FOUR EUROPEAN STATES.

Previous survey level research on attitudes towards the economy among European voters has tended to focus on the short-term implications of these attitudes, relating them to vote choice or executive popularity. Examines the links between ideology and the economic information, arguing that they are interdependent to the extent that they can be seen to exist within a reciprocal relationship. (Abstract amended)

Examines whether governments can improve their bargaining position, in the context of the relationship to business posited by Lindblom, by acting as a cartel. Concludes that governments do not seem to be unqualified beneficiaries of European Community membership and that, to the extent that the Lindblom framework is a 'problem', then it is one which seems to be robust in a variety of settings. (CP)

Following approval of a referendum in 1993, New Zealand replaced its first-past-the-post electoral system with proportional representation (PR). Although support for PR was initially high, less than a third expressed support for the new system a year and a half after its implementation. We examine two explanations for this decline. One theory assumes that dissatisfaction with the new system is the result of a growing alienation with politics, exacerbated by an unpopular coalition government that voters neither expected nor desired. Another theory assumes that evaluations of the new system are mediated by a preference for coalition or single party government. Our results indicate that a preference for single party government, guided primarily by partisan self-interest, has the largest impact. Nevertheless, negative evaluations of the performance of the coalition government helped contribute to a loss in support for PR suggesting that government performance can affect citizen's evaluation of political institutions, particularly when systems undergo radical change. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

This article addresses the issue of specialization and committee formation in the European Parliament in the light of the largely US-centred debates on these issues. Clear evidence is found of specialization of behaviour, both with regard to committee assignment and the use of parliamentary questions. This is also accompanied by a trend towards a greater role for the party groups in co-ordinating and controlling behaviour across these specializations. (British Journal of Political Science / AuD)