Showing papers in "Annual Review of Political Science in 2007"
TL;DR: This paper reviewed recent efforts by political scientists and economists to explain cross-national variation in corruption using subjective ratings, and examined the robustness of reported findings, concluding that highly developed, long-established liberal democracies, with a free and widely read press, a high share of women in government, and a history of openness to trade, are perceived as less corrupt.
Abstract: ▪ I review recent efforts by political scientists and economists to explain cross-national variation in corruption using subjective ratings, and examine the robustness of reported findings. Quite strong evidence suggests that highly developed, long-established liberal democracies, with a free and widely read press, a high share of women in government, and a history of openness to trade, are perceived as less corrupt. Countries that depend on fuel exports or have intrusive business regulations and unpredictable inflation are judged more corrupt. Although the causal direction is usually unclear, instrumenting with income as of 1700 suggests higher development does cause lower perceived corruption. However, controlling for income, most factors that predict perceived corruption do not correlate with recently available measures of actual corruption experiences (based on surveys of business people and citizens that ask whether they have been expected to pay bribes recently). Reported corruption experie...
1,245 citations
TL;DR: State repression includes harassment, surveillance, surveillance/spying, bans, arrests, torture, and mass killing by government agents and/or affiliates within their territorial jurisdiction as mentioned in this paper, and the development of this work has been uneven.
Abstract: ▪ State repression includes harassment, surveillance/spying, bans, arrests, torture, and mass killing by government agents and/or affiliates within their territorial jurisdiction. Over the past 40 years, the systematic study of state repression has grown considerably. The development of this work, however, has been uneven. Though unified in their focus on the problem of order (i.e., trying to ascertain how political authorities wield coercive power amid potential and actual domestic challengers), different scholars tend to emphasize distinct aspects of the topic. Consequently, a great deal of progress has been made in specific areas but others have lagged behind. In this review, I attempt to identify the dominant traditions in the repression literature, the core empirical findings, and some persisting puzzles.
958 citations
TL;DR: A systematic examination of the economic voting literature reveals that economic voting is highly contingent on two critical moderating factors: voters themselves and the political context in which they make judgments.
Abstract: ▪ The predominant normative justification for research on economic voting has been its essential role in shaping democratic accountability. A systematic examination of this literature reveals, however, that economic voting is highly contingent on two critical moderating factors: voters themselves and the political context in which they make judgments. The trend toward a better and more realistic understanding of economic voting produced by almost four decades of empirical research has created what I label “contingency dilemmas” for the field's normative foundations because economic voting does not function as envisioned by advocates of democratic accountability. This essay reviews these empirical findings and critically examines how they affect the economic voting paradigm. It argues that, when viewed from a normative perspective, contingent accountability is clearly problematic, and it calls for a reconsideration of the normative underpinnings of the economic voting paradigm in light of the curr...
446 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify the key questions raised by the treatment of electoral systems not as causal influences on party systems but as effects or byproducts of party systems, and discuss the potential implications when electoral systems are viewed instead as outcomes of party system.
Abstract: ▪ In this review article, I identify the key questions raised by the treatment of electoral systems not as causal influences on party systems but as effects or byproducts of party systems. Framing these questions in the context of the classic consequences-oriented study of electoral institutions, I first review the classic approach, which treats electoral systems as causes, and explore the potential implications when electoral systems are viewed instead as outcomes of party systems. I then survey a variety of principal explanations of the origins and change of electoral laws, followed by a focus on several of the more explicitly defined models of this process. I conclude by discussing—and contesting—the notion that except for exceptional founding episodes of institutional choice, electoral systems eventually stabilize as equilibrium institutions.
151 citations
TL;DR: A review of efforts to study the impact of money in politics in democracies outside of the United States can be found in this article, with a focus on the role of money and sources of funding.
Abstract: ▪ This article reviews efforts to study the impact of money in politics in democracies outside of the United States. In recent years, democracies around the world have begun to publish increasing amounts of data on candidate and party finance. Although much of this information is partial, and some of it is even deliberately misleading, it has nevertheless opened up many new opportunities for researchers to systematically examine the role of money in politics. The development of theories about the origins and impact of political finance regimes and regulations has not kept pace with the newly emerging data. As a result, the field offers increasing scope for researchers to make policy-relevant contributions. Much of the recent research in this area asks how much, and in what ways, the amounts and sources of funding matter. Do either or both of these influence elections or other political outcomes? This article begins by reviewing attempts to answer these questions, then considers some of the promis...
140 citations
TL;DR: Recently, a number of studies have examined how economic globalization influences domestic politics as discussed by the authors, specifically electoral politics, and argued that international economic integration influences seemingly domestic political processes, and that these studies constitute considerable evidence.
Abstract: ▪ Studies of how economic globalization influences domestic politics have disproportionately focused on questions of policy rather than politics. Recently, however, a number of studies have examined how economic globalization influences politics—specifically electoral politics. This article surveys these new studies, which have often appeared in disparate research areas, and argues that they constitute considerable evidence that international economic integration influences seemingly domestic political processes.
84 citations
TL;DR: This article reviewed comparative research in political science on immigrant integration in Western Europe and discussed multiculturalism and assimilation, party politics, antidiscrimination policy, and policy at the European Union level.
Abstract: ▪ Most European countries are examining how they have sought to integrate immigrants in the past and how they might change their policies to avoid some of the problems exhibited in immigrant and minority communities today. Discrimination and issues of racism, including the rise of anti-immigrant radical right parties, have become important, as evidenced in part by the passage of the European Union's Racial Equality Directive in 2000. This essay reviews comparative research in political science on immigrant integration in Western Europe. It discusses multiculturalism and assimilation, party politics, antidiscrimination policy, and policy at the European Union level.
78 citations
TL;DR: A growing literature assumes that courts must be studied from an inter-branch perspective, which holds that American politics and policy making emanate from interaction among overlapping and diversely representative forums as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: ▪ Understanding the role of law and courts in American politics and policy making is inherently complex. The dominant response to this problem has been to specialize narrowly in Supreme Court decision making. The problem is that American politics and policy making are inherently interactive and thus cannot be easily parsed into component parts. Consistent with this observation, a growing literature assumes that courts must be studied from an interbranch perspective, which holds that American politics and policy making emanate from interaction among overlapping and diversely representative forums. The result is studies that analyze how law and courts fit into broader political and policy-making processes and reveal the political significance of seemingly technical legal matters. By redescribing courts and judicial decision making in political terms, interbranch analysis not only enriches the study of judicial behavior but also promises to bring law and courts back into the mainstream of the study ...
55 citations
TL;DR: This paper surveys the rationales for and effects of legislative bicameralism and finds that the existence of a second chamber provides a forum for bargaining over policy and, in the process, creates a need for policy bargains within parties as well as across chamber majorities that would be unnecessary in a unicameral legislature.
Abstract: ▪ This article surveys the rationales for and effects of legislative bicameralism. At heart, second chambers facilitate representation for groups or interests that otherwise might be ignored. They do so not only by making more legislative seats available to legislators elected from different districts and possibly by different rules, but more importantly by giving more legislators a voice in the legislative process. Traditional views of bicameralism hold that second chambers can matter because their members have the authority to veto or at least delay bills, so that whether they do in fact affect legislative content depends on whether and to what extent majority preferences differ across chambers. A new current of legislative research focuses on how the existence of a second chamber provides a forum for bargaining over policy and, in the process, creates a need for policy bargains within parties as well as across chamber majorities that would be unnecessary in a unicameral legislature.
46 citations
TL;DR: For instance, the authors argued that political scientists should move beyond territorial questions of geography and begin thinking about the intrinsic spatiality of all political action, events, and events, a concept called new institutionalism.
Abstract: ▪ Political geography is one of the most exciting subdisciplines to emerge from the “spatial turn” in the social sciences. Arising largely within the discipline of geography, political geography has deep implications for political science, and yet these implications have not yet been widely recognized among political scientists. Conversely, political geographers have not yet profited enough from the rich field of political science. Political geography has the potential to dramatically transform many areas of established political science research. We focus on two: (a) the study of “contextual effects” on political behavior and (b) the study of governance by applying the “new institutionalism.” By spatializing the basic premises of these political science subfields, researchers can find new ways of looking at old questions. We conclude that political scientists should move beyond territorial questions of geography and begin thinking about the intrinsic spatiality of all political action, events, a...
44 citations
TL;DR: The role of competition, natural monopolies, information asymmetries, externalities, incentives, and federalism in promoting or undermining efficiency has been emphasized by both economists and political scientists as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: ▪ Both economists and political scientists have made important contributions to the field of public policy analysis. Economists have stressed the roles of competition, natural monopolies, information asymmetries, externalities, incentives, and federalism in promoting or undermining efficiency. Political scientists, in contrast, have focused more on the mechanics of agenda change, the likelihood of nonincremental policy change, and how the policy-making process varies across issue areas. Economists have influenced government decisions that led to the creation of public utility commissions, emissions trading, revenue sharing, and health maintenance organizations. Political scientists have influenced government decisions on the design of political institutions (environmental impact statements, legislative redistricting) and on the choice of public policies (criminal justice strategies, welfare reform). In general, the presence of a scholarly consensus facilitates the use of policy analysis. However,...
TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which electoral systems affect different aspects of parties and party systems is investigated, and it is shown that standard electoral system variables fail many empirical tests that try to tie them to any facet of parties or party systems.
Abstract: ▪ With a focus on Latin America, this literature review considers the extent to which electoral systems affect different aspects of parties and party systems. We find that standard electoral system variables fail many empirical tests that try to tie them to any facet of parties or party systems. Still, methodological considerations regarding interactions with party strategies, party organization, and many contextual variables loom large, so we cannot reject the hypothesis that electoral systems are influential. Analyses, therefore, must go far beyond formal electoral rules generally or a simple focus on single aspects of electoral rules (such as the district magnitude) when trying to explain political behaviors.
TL;DR: Several alternative accounts of the political identity of the United States have been proposed, including the multiple traditions thesis, the liberalism as exclusion, and the liberal multiplicity thesis as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: ▪ Louis Hartz's “liberal tradition” thesis, which argued that the United States was born and has remained essentially “liberal,” has been the subject of vigorous and sustained criticism in recent years. Prominent among that criticism has been the charge that the thesis cannot explain “the politics of exclusion”: the process whereby members of particular social groups (especially racial groups) have been denied equal access to the rights enjoyed by other Americans. As such, many scholars have sought to replace the thesis with alternative accounts of the political identity of the United States. This review critically analyzes these new accounts. Three in particular stand out from the field: the “multiple traditions” thesis, the “liberalism as exclusion” thesis, and the “liberal multiplicity” thesis. I describe and criticize each in turn before concluding that the thesis closest to the original Hartzian view offers the most to future students of American politics.
TL;DR: In the following decades, the American parties appeared to weaken still further in all aspects, but this apparent party decline in fact signified a transition to a contemporary American party system with more polarized parties similar to those envisaged by the 1950 report as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: ▪ Among advanced democracies, the United States has traditionally been unique owing to the absence of ideological mass political parties. American parties’ scholars have nevertheless traditionally viewed stronger and more ideologically distinct national parties as essential to improve the quality of the American democratic process, a view reflected in the 1950 APSA report, Toward a More Responsible Party System. In the following decades the American parties appeared to weaken still further in all aspects, but this apparent party decline in fact signified a transition to a contemporary American party system with more polarized parties similar to those envisaged by the 1950 report. It remains doubtful, however, that American democracy has been enhanced by these developments. Ironically, the advent of more ideologically coherent parties has also made party scholars more aware of the potentially unhealthy side effects that may attend such a development in a separated governing system.
TL;DR: The reissue of Schmitt's most important works, Political Theology and The Concept of the Political, offers the opportunity for reflection on Schmitts pervasive influence over myriad fields of political and legal studies and for re-evaluation of the basic tenets of his thought as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: ▪ The reissue of Carl Schmitt's most important works, Political Theology and The Concept of the Political, offers the opportunity for reflection on Schmitt's pervasive influence over myriad fields of political and legal studies and for re-evaluation of the basic tenets of his thought. In these works, the conservative Weimar jurist unveiled his theory of ”the exception,“ put forth his ”friend/enemy“ thesis of politics, and insisted that Enlightenment rationality had undermined the European state, leaving it vulnerable to the forces of atheism, anarchism, and socialism that were taking root in Soviet Russia. Among other issues, this article explores Schmitt's Janus-faced critique of liberalism: For Schmitt, liberals are either not worthy to be considered enemies because they deny the inevitability of mortal combat, or they are, in fact, consummate enemies because they successfully punish and destroy adversaries under the cover of universal, humanitarian principles. The article also interrogates the...