Suchergebnisse

In most countries, national, inter-party elections are financed and regulated by national authorities, while there is little interference or supervision of intra-party elections. This is especially true in countries with proportional representation or mixed electoral systems. In this article I question the wisdom of ignoring the regulation of intra-party elections and examine the pitfalls created by regulating only one part of the democratic electoral process, i.e. national elections, while leaving the preliminary cycle of leadership and candidate selection, which takes place largely within the parties, open to free, uncontrolled and unsupervised competition.

Die globale Tendenz zur Verrechtlichung der Politik bzw. der Politisierung der Gerichtsbarkeit in Demokratien ist auch in Israel zu konstatieren. Am israelischen Beispiel wird die Entwicklung in einem Land mit demokratischen Strukturen ohne schriftliche Verfassung vorgestellt (in Israel gilt die kompilierte, nicht abgeschlossene Sammlung von Grundgesetzen als Verfassung). Obwohl es keine formalisierte Normenkontrolle gibt, ist der Oberste Gerichtshof vor allem in seiner Funktion als "High Court of Justice" zunehmend mit der gerichtlichen Überprüfung von Gesetzen und Verwaltungsentscheidungen befaßt. (DÜI-Hns)

The relative decline in party membership in West-European countries over the last three decades is an accepted fact in the comparative literature on party organization. However, the bare facts do not explain the reasons for such decline and may leave the feeling that the process is irreversible. A number of scholars relate party membership decline to the introduction of public finance of political parties. They suggest that public financing laws and related arrangements have a negative effect on efforts to mobilize party membership, leading to a decline in political participation. In this article, drawing mainly in the Israeli experience, I argue that public funding does not necessarily lead to membership decline, but that changes in the internal competition rules for electing party candidates to national or local posts may affect party membership more than any other variable. Thus, the decline in membership that has been considered to be irreversible, is in fact highly reversible. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

AbstractThe relative decline in party membership in West‐European countries over the last three decades is an accepted fact in the comparative literature on party organization. However, the bare facts do not explain the reasons for such decline and may leave the feeling that the process is irreversible. A number of scholars relate party membership decline to the introduction of public finance of political parties. They suggest that public financing laws and related arrangements have a negative effect on efforts to mobilize party membership, leading to a decline in political participation. In this article, drawing mainly on the Israeli experience, I argue that public funding does not necessarily lead to membership decline, but that changes in the internal competition rules for electing party candidates to national or local posts may affect party membership more than any other variable. Thus, the decline in membership that has been considered to be irreversible, is in fact highly reversible.

One of the neglected areas in research of civil‐military relations is the perpetual struggle over allocation of manpower resources between the military and other societal sectors. This paper explores the various considerations and the different treatment accorded to various groups and individuals under the universal compulsory conscription law in Israel. The paper evaluates the outcome of applying different rules to the same age groups in relation to three variables: 1) demands of national security, 2) management of intensive national and ideological conflicts within the country, and 3) accommodation of religious‐related norms and social norms in a diversified society. Data presented here show that considerations of national security and of equality before the law are not the only or even the most important considerations taken into account in forming national conscription policy.