Suchergebnisse

Hypothetical Contingent Valuation (CV) Surveys used to elicit values for environmental and other public goods often employ variants of the referendum mechanism due to the cognitive simplicity and familiarity of respondents with this voting format. One variant, the double referendum mechanism, requires respondents to state twice how they would vote for a given policy proposal given their cost of the good. Data from these surveys often exhibit anomalies inconsistent with standard economic models of consumer preferences. There are a number of published explanations for these anomalies, mostly focusing on problems with the second vote. This paper investigates which aspects of the hypothetical task affect the degree of non-demand revelation and takes an individual-based approach to identifying people most likely to non- demand reveal. A clear profile emerges from our model of an individual most likely to non-demand reveal as one who faces a negative surplus i.e. a net loss in the second vote and invokes non-self interested, non-financial motivations during the decision process.

This monograph studies voting procedures based on the probability that paradoxical outcomes like the famous Condorcet Paradox might exist. It is well known that hypothetical examples of many different paradoxical election outcomes can be developed, but this analysis examines factors that are related to the process by which voters form their preferences on candidates that will significantly reduce the likelihood that such voting paradoxes will ever actually be observed. It is found that extreme forms of voting paradoxes should be uncommon events with a small number of candidates. Another consideration is the propensity of common voting rules to elect the Condorcet Winner, which is widely accepted as the best choice as the winner, when it exists. All common voting rules are found to have identifiable scenarios for which they perform well on the basis of this criterion. But, Borda Rule is found to consistently work well at electing the Condorcet Winner, while the other voting rules have scenarios where they work poorly or have a very small likelihood of electing a different candidate than Borda Rule. The conclusions of previous theoretical work are presented in an expository format and they are validated with empirically-based evidence. Practical implications of earlier studies are also developed.--

Milestone changes are taking place in Europe in which the rights of territories to determine their own future and make democratic choices for devolution are becoming key issues. The referenda in Scotland and Catalonia, in September and November, respectively and – presumably, in the near future - in the Basque Country, bring into are question the issue of democratic representation beyond the level of the nation-state, while legitimating the territories as unique actors by activating city-regional (Herrschel, 2014) devolution processes. Thus, 2014 seems to appear to be a turning-point year regarding city-regional devolution. Here, the author suggests and develops2 an original concept of post-independence in reference to a strategic scenario of city-regional devolution aiming at the right to decide for this hypothetical independent territory of tomorrow and the need to thus prepare, research, implement and disseminate territorial strategies and policies. As Michael Keating (2001) argues, globalisation and European integration have encouraged the re-emergence of nationalisms within established nation-states, a notion that connects directly with strategic city-regional devolution scenarios, to which city-regions are contributing through their own self-governance responses to contemporary global developments. Presenting a comparative analysis of the three cases mentioned, Scotland, Catalonia and the Basque Country, the main conclusion of this paper lays in the different position each nation-state adopts — UK and Spain — and the importance given to anticipating for a better understanding and implementation of the city-regional governance, regardless of whether or not these cityregions do, in fact, finally gain full independence.