Suchergebnisse

This paper seeks to address the political participation of the press in the Northern Cameroon after the beginning of the democratic process which led to the institutionalization of freedom of speech in 1990. Through a Political Economy of Communication perspective, it aims at focusing on L'Harmattan and L'OEil du Sahel -which are the main newspapers in Northern Cameroon- to question the political capital of the press in this area where there is an hegemonic competition between ethno-tribal communities. The paper provides a venue to unveil the contribution of L'Harmattan and L'OEil du Sahel to rivalries between elites in sight of their positioning on the political chessboard at local and national levels. It arises from the analysis of the publications of those newspapers that they have a partisan position in the political opposition between the Fulbe who are Muslims and the Kirdi who are non-Muslims. L'Harmattan supports the first while L'OEil du Sahel has affinities with the others.

Programme doctoral en Sciences économiques ; In the first chapter (« Optimal Vote Buying » coauthored with Leon Musolff, Princeton University), we analyze a vote buying problem. We show that bribing a supermajority can be cheaper due to pivotal considerations. When a large number of committee members receive a bribe, they do not expect to be pivotal in the election. As a result, it is sufficient to offer them a small amount of money in exchange for their vote. Due to this mechanism, it turns out that the vote buyer generally prefers to bribe a supermajority.In the second chapter (« Voting and contributing when the group is watching » coauthored with Emeric Henry, Sciences Po) we study the interaction between the way members vote on rules and their subsequent behaviors. This analysis applies to groups who choose their own rules and who care about their image. We study how players' considerations depend on the visibility of the process. We show that multiple norms can emerge. We discuss the problem of a social planner and the implications for welfare.The last chapter (« Military service and political participation » coauthored with Etienne Fize) investigates the impact of the French military service on political behaviors. Exploiting the suspension of mandatory conscription for French men, we find a significant and positive impact of military service on turnout. This effect ranges from 3.6 percentage points for the first round of the presidential election of 2012 to 8.9 percentage points for the second round of the legislative elections. We also investigate the impact of conscription on political preferences and we find that former conscripts are significantly more nationalist and conservative. ; Le premier chapitre de cette thèse, intitulé « Optimal Vote Buying » (co-écrit avec Leon Musolff, Princeton University) s'intéresse à la corruption de comités. Il s'agit d'une contribution théorique dans laquelle nous montrons qu'il est généralement peu onéreux de corrompre une large majorité de membres du comité. En ...

Programme doctoral en Sciences économiques ; In the first chapter (« Optimal Vote Buying » coauthored with Leon Musolff, Princeton University), we analyze a vote buying problem. We show that bribing a supermajority can be cheaper due to pivotal considerations. When a large number of committee members receive a bribe, they do not expect to be pivotal in the election. As a result, it is sufficient to offer them a small amount of money in exchange for their vote. Due to this mechanism, it turns out that the vote buyer generally prefers to bribe a supermajority.In the second chapter (« Voting and contributing when the group is watching » coauthored with Emeric Henry, Sciences Po) we study the interaction between the way members vote on rules and their subsequent behaviors. This analysis applies to groups who choose their own rules and who care about their image. We study how players' considerations depend on the visibility of the process. We show that multiple norms can emerge. We discuss the problem of a social planner and the implications for welfare.The last chapter (« Military service and political participation » coauthored with Etienne Fize) investigates the impact of the French military service on political behaviors. Exploiting the suspension of mandatory conscription for French men, we find a significant and positive impact of military service on turnout. This effect ranges from 3.6 percentage points for the first round of the presidential election of 2012 to 8.9 percentage points for the second round of the legislative elections. We also investigate the impact of conscription on political preferences and we find that former conscripts are significantly more nationalist and conservative. ; Le premier chapitre de cette thèse, intitulé « Optimal Vote Buying » (co-écrit avec Leon Musolff, Princeton University) s'intéresse à la corruption de comités. Il s'agit d'une contribution théorique dans laquelle nous montrons qu'il est généralement peu onéreux de corrompre une large majorité de membres du comité. En effet, lorsque le comité est largement corrompu, les membres considèrent que l'option soutenue par celui qui corrompt le comité sera probablement plébiscitée. Aucun vote ne peut alors faire basculer l'élection et les membres du comité sont prêts à accepter un pot-de-vin modeste en échange de leur vote.Dans le deuxième chapitre (co-écrit avec Emeric Henry, Sciences Po) nous étudions les interactions entre le vote et les normes sociales. Nous analysons un modèle dans lequel un groupe choisit sa propre règle. Dans une première étape, chaque membre vote pour ou contre une règle. Une fois le règlement établi, les membres du groupes choisissent une action dont les conséquences dépendent de la règle choisie. Nous étudions comment le vote et le comportement ultérieur interagissent.Enfin, le dernier chapitre (co-écrit avec Etienne Fize) traite de l'impact du service militaire obligatoire en France sur les comportements politiques. Nous trouvons d'une part que les individus ayant fait leur service militaire sont plus enclins à voter. Pour les élections de 2012, nous estimons que l'effet est de l'ordre de 4 points de pourcentage pour les élections présidentielles et atteint les 9 points pour le second tour des élections législatives. Nous étudions également les conséquences sur les préférences politiques. Nous trouvons que les anciens conscrits sont plus à droite.

It is generally recognized that Adam Smith argued in The Wealth of Nations in favor of independence for the American colonies. The explicit grounds on which Smith based this argument have not been held to close
scrutiny, however. In recent years, Donald Winch has attempted to right the
balance between studies of Smith's economics and his politics. Which raised
the following questions : Did Smith favor independence of the American
colonies on political or economic grounds ? Since Smith was not always
explicit in this regard, what particular grounds can be inferred from what is
generally known about Smith's politics and/or his economics ?
This paper analyzes and explains the grounds for Smith's argument in favor or American independence. It adopts a holistic approach that seeks to integrate Smith's political and economic thought, and utilizes a benefit-cost framework to explicate Smith's final position on the question of American independence.