Suchergebnisse

The debate on citizen images of political parties is long standing, but recently it has taken on added importance as the evidence of party dealignment has spread across Western democracies. This article assembles an unprecedented cross-national array of public opinion data that describe current images of political parties. Sentiments are broadly negative, & this pessimism has deepened over the past generation. Then, we demonstrate how distrust of parties decreases voting turnout, contributes to the fragmentation of contemporary party systems & the electoral base of new protest parties, & stimulates broader cynicism of government. Although political parties are the foundation of the system of representative democracy, fewer citizens today trust political parties, & this is reshaping the nature of democratic politics. 7 Tables, 2 Figures, 48 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article analyzes the "dramatizing mobilization" of the electorate that took place in the Italian general elections of 2001. The author suggests that the electoral campaign has been focused mainly on the choice "for" or "against" Berlusconi, which may have somewhat simplified the voting decision. However, it could also have stimulated the electoral participation, since turnout has been greater than expected. In the Center-Left, the "dramatizing mobilization" seems to have mainly favored the new aggregation called "Margherita." In the Center-Right, the same phenomenon helps explain why the "Casa delle Liberta" coalition has received a number of votes in the "plurality" vote significantly lower than the sum of the votes obtained by its individual parties in the "proportional" vote. Finally, the analysis suggests that the "dramatizing mobilization" brought a positive effect for the Center-Left coalition, stimulating mostly the vote "against" Berlusconi. 5 Tables, 4 Figures, 5 References. Adapted from the source document.

Downs is unusual in having been active in economic & political research during the 1950s & 1960s, & then turning to real estate & urban planning for the rest of his career. Focus here is on his first book, An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), which presents not one, but many theories of democracy even if they are all generally couched in economic terms. This paper expounds the argument of the Economic Theory systematically & sequentially covering (a) the general non-spatial model of party competition; (b) the effects of information shortage; (c) party reliability & responsibility; (d) the two-party spatial model; (e) the multiparty spatial model; (f) further consequences of information shortage; & (g) problems of voting turnout. Evidence from quantified election programs is used to show that the models leading to limited party policy movement & non-convergence are the more realistic ones. Despite its defects, the book laid down the agenda for mathematical political theory & empirical research over the last 50 years & has a fair claim to being the most influential single book written on politics in that period. 1 Table, 6 Figures, 1 Appendix, 38 References. Adapted from the source document.