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This article analyzes the factors explaining voting behavior in the Spanish referendum on the ED Constitution. The three main hypotheses that appear in the comparative literature about referenda are tested: voting considering the contents of the Treaty, second-order voting & the use of heuristic short-cuts, like party cues. Results show that all three factors played a role. However, in a context of limited information about the contents, the power of party cues was especially crucial. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

In the late 20th century, most civil wars occurred in underdeveloped countries. Yet a small number of cases deviated from this pattern, most notably the British province of Northern Ireland. This article is an attempt to integrate this apparently deviant case into the recent comparative literature on civil war through a close examination of the mechanisms that produced variation in the modes & timing of violence over time & across space. It is argued that the violence of Northern Ireland can be best understood via an insurgency theory of civil war. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The goal of this article is to contribute to a burgeoning comparative literature about nationalization of party competition (political parties and party systems), clarifying its terminology and evaluating three different indices of measurement of this phenomenon and used recently in Latin America. This paper argues that despite the confusion in the terminology, the term nationalization should be understood as homogeneity of electoral support across the territory and that a proper measure of nationalization should take into account four basic elements: party presence across the country, number of subnational units where it is measured, its magnitude and the size of the party. The revision of the literature dedicated to Latin American countries reveals that more case studies of long-term evolution of party systems and explanation of its changes and party-centred variables are necessary. Adapted from the source document.

This article presents a discussion of the conceptualization of "government performance" in the Political Science literature & the way this construct is translated in four international studies by the World Bank, the Central European Bank, the Dutch government & the World Economic Forum. The analysis of the four studies shows the difficulties in the empirical development of some of the conceptualization lines & the trend to use public opinion data & aggregated societal results in sectors such as economic growth, health or education. The concern to pursue an objective evaluation of comparative government performance, understood as quality of public management, can be addressed, either substituting this concept by the administrations pro-activity to adopt some public reforms or producing better comparative data at the level of OECD on key processes in the production of some public services. Adapted from the source document.

Many scholars have noted that the literature on policy termination does not include a sufficiently ample number of studies & that, as a result, this area is lacking theoretical propositions. Likewise, there are few comparative policy studies. This paper addresses both of these concerns: it includes a case study of a major policy initiative in Mexico &, using policy termination frameworks in the US, suggests the possibility of research in comparative policy termination. Not surprisingly, it indicates that while termination experiences in Mexico & the US occasionally differ, some useful generalizations can be made, for example, that in both countries exogenous political & ideological conditions play a crucial role in termination initiatives. Adapted from the source document.

What is the effect of political violence on the production of coca in the Central Andes? Does U.S. military aid reduce the amount of drugs that originate from this region? What other factors help explain the production of coca? Are the effects of U.S. military aid the same across the Andean nations? This paper tests the effects of political violence & U.S. military aid in the drug producing nations of Colombia, Bolivia & Peru. Our results are consistent with existing literature that emphasizes the obstacles that governments face as they attempt to suppress markets for prohibited goods. Our comparative analysis sheds new light on the limitations of the current U.S. policy, particularly in Colombia, where political violence has strengthened the global drug trade. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The focus of this paper is on an initial comparative analysis of intergenerational social (class) mobility over birth cohorts in Argentina and Spain. Our objective is to determine the extent to which these two cases of late industrialized countries share similar features of social mobility. Two central questions guide our work: 1) What have been the changes in absolute mobility rates in Argentina and Spain? 2) What has been the comparative evolution over time of the strength of class association? We are guided by two working hypotheses: 1) Given intergenerational changes in labor movements from rural to urban environments, plus the growth of the service class we expect to find a high degree of absolute mobility in both countries; and 2) following international literature, we expect to find a stable net association - controlling for structural changes - of class origins and destinations across birth cohorts in men, and social fluidity in the case of Spanish women.

This paper is comprised by four sections. The first tries to explain why Mexico eventually turned into a full Rentier State (i.e. a State which intensively and consistently depends upon oil crude to finance its activities). The second section traces back, using public finance detailed data, the trajectory and rationale for rentier policy. The third and fourth sections analyze the gains and costs of maintaining such policy. Finally, this paper sets forth a theoretical and methodological refinement of the available literature on the resource curse thesis and rentier States upon a comparative quantitative exercise (n = 30). Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on books by (1) Henry E. Brady & David Collier [Eds], Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004); (2) Alexander L. George & Andrew Bennett, Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004); (3) Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts: A User's Guide (Princeton: Princeton U Press, 2006); & (4) James Mahoney & Dietrich Ruieschemeyer [Eds], Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences (New York: Cambridge U Press, 2003). Qualitative methods have recently experienced a revival in political science, with a rich literature developing them & disseminating its many uses in the field. This article describes the trajectories & analyzes the contributions of four recent books in qualitative methods. The common issues binding all these publications include case selection, timing & sequence in political processes, & the debate between qualitative & quantitative methods. The article argues that although much of this literature provides valuable tools for pursuing rigorous research, at the same time it continues to be differentiated & underdeveloped vis-a-vis quantitative methods. These books under review perform a valuable service to social scientists, both for the problems they raise but leave unsolved, as for the solutions they offer.

This article presents the results of the first search of clear, operating & measurable criteria that allow the objective & comparative consideration of the development of the different associations. In order to achieve this, it begins with the identification of some meaningful variables that depend on the capacity of the associations to successfully face the different challenges in the search of the fulfillment of its objectives & the satisfactions of its requests (relationship with authorities, formulation of politics, creations of nets, fulfillment of goals, innovation & change). In the quest of these criteria & variables they explore the contributions & findings that come from the collective action sociology & the sociology of the organizations. In both theoretical literatures we can identify some useful concepts & models of analysis that allow an analytical approach to the diverse forms of association & its practices. Adapted from the source document.

This research estimates the candidates' positions in the axis right-left for six Chilean presidential elections between 1970 and 2009, by using the Comparative Manifesto Project's (CMP) methodology. The aim is to test several hypothesis claimed by the mainstream literature in regards to the ideological evolution within political parties, and also to measure ideological distance among parties and coalitions. The results show that in 1970 there was a relevant ideological distance between the Left and the Center with respect to the right wing candidacy. Also, it confirms that after 1989 the Right-Wing Coalition (Alianza) and the Center-Left (Concertacion) presented a greater moderation in the distance, being stable until 2000 and further reduced since then. In that same line, the research shows that the extreme left (mainly the Communist party) also shows more moderate positions than those shown by Allende in 1970. Adapted from the source document.

Offers a schematic presentation of political periods in the historical development of the state in Argentina, summarizing conflictive functioning & the "perverse" relationship between the state & the market starting from WWII. The link between variables of political institutions & economic reforms is examined, trying to place recent political & economic changes in Argentina within the frame of comparative academic literature on structural adjustment in Latin America. It is argued that the political & institutional factors that made possible the rapid change in the economic orientation beginning in 1988 during the Carlos Saul Menem administration (particularly the concentration of political power not subject to an effective control of Congress & the inorganic leadership of Menem), have left a trail of problems that hinder the complex phase of the reconstruction of the productive profile of the country & the no less complex challenge of the "second generation" of state reforms. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of the article was to examine the role of information technologies in the formation of symbolic politics through the prism of mass media, communications and new Internet technologies. The methodological basis of the study is formed by legislation and historical literature, using dialectical and comparative methods, as well as general methods of scientific analysis. Symbolic politics is one of the mechanisms of information interaction between society and the political elite; in a new form, it allows solving social and socio-political problems. It has been established that full communication between the political elite and the population is impossible without elements of symbolic politics, such as public relations agencies, Internet blogs and social networks, etc., whose purpose is not only to form a positive image of politics and leaders, but also, it serves to establish an agreement of understanding in society. The authors conclude that new mechanisms of interaction between the elite and society, such as e-receptions, destination portals and digital government, lead to greater government transparency and increased efficiency of its activities.

The object of the research was to consider the methods of protection of people's rights according to the administrative-procedural order and also in administrative judicial proceedings. A number of normative legal acts regulating the use of tools for the protection of subjective public rights were considered. Attention has been drawn to the following methods of protection of people's rights, according to the administrative-procedural order and in administrative judicial proceedings: administrative procedure; administrative mediation; administrative appeal; subjecting guilty public administration officials to special disciplinary liability; compensation for damage caused by unlawful actions (inaction) of public administration entities; means of self-defense and legal means of protest. The methodological basis of the research was presented as comparative-legal and systematic analysis, formal-legal method, method of interpretation, hermeneutic method, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis. It was concluded that in the scientific literature it is very often the case that protection methods are not used, but tools, means and forms. The authors also examine the methods of protection of rights, freedoms and interests of individuals in the sphere of public administration.