Showing papers in "Political Studies in 1982"

Forming coalitions and measuring voting power

Abstract: I N this paper I will present various concepts of coalition formation and power measures and discuss them with respect to the view ‘that situations where minor players possess greater potential for power are not anomalous, but occur rather frequently in real-world situations’.’ We shall see that the analysis of the various concepts of coalition formation will teach us much about the implications of the so-called power indices and the character of a priori voting power. A new index will be introduced which considers the coalition value of a public good and takes into consideration the distinction between power and luck. The values of this index will be calculated for the parties of the Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta) for the period 1948-79.

Is small really so beautiful? is big really so ugly? size, effectiveness, and democracy in local government.*

Abstract: Arguments about the optimum size for units of local government often overlook the fact that small units have some considerable drawbacks while large ones have some advantages. By and large the discussion breaks down into two parts; those about size and functional effectiveness, and those about size and democracy. On the first count, it seems that large units are no less efficient and can be a good deal more effective than small ones. On the question of size and democracy, the evidence suggests that large units of government are no less democratic than small ones, and that in some respects they may be more so.

Chickens, whales, and lumpy goods: alternative models of public-goods provision*

Abstract: The game-theoretic literature on the problem of the provision of public goods has concentrated almost exclusively on one model—the Prisoner's Dilemma game. Several other simple games may be more applicable in certain situations. In particular, the game structure known as Chicken seems to provide a better description of an important sub-class of games where the good is lumpy rather than continuously divisible. Many environmental public goods belong to this category. A distinct paradox of public-goods provision occurs within games of Chicken.

Two strategies for the study of populism

Abstract: The reason why ‘populism’ has remained such a confused notion is that two different strategies can be adopted in trying to clarify it, and the more intuitively appealing of the two does not work. A...

Judging politicians by their faces

Abstract: I T has now become widely accepted, and indeed was demonstrated in the last general election, that the proportion of the electorate who consistently vote for the same political party is relatively small. Since many voters often change the party for which they vote it would seem worthwhile to investigate the bases on which they do this. Useful information of this point can, of course, be gained by asking the people concerned. However, it is an accepted psychological finding that people can by no means always verbalize about the causes of their own behaviour. This point has been made by David Sears, a highly respected American psychologist. * Sears believes that very often people cannot even give a rationale for their voting behaviour and that their opinions about politicians may be an emotional thing which has little to do with their processing of relevant political information. He says that

Ruling elite models: a critique and an alternative

Abstract: The argument that theories of elite rule are ‘unrealistic’ and ‘straw men’, is rejected, and the need for such ideal-type models is demonstrated on methodological grounds. The classic ruling elite ...

The macpherson version

Abstract: C. B . M A C P H E R S O N ’ S considerable reputation as a political theorist (he finds a place among a dozen leading ‘contemporary political philosophers’ in a recent anthology)’ rests on two major intellectual projects. The first is a critical interpretation of English liberalism from Hobbes to James Mill as resting upon an ethically defective ideology of ‘possessive individualism’. This critical thesis is held to have the further implication that contemporary liberal democracy, in so far as it has failed to emancipate itself from its liberal roots, is likewise infected by possessive individualist assumptions. The door is thus opened to Macpherson’s second project, a reconstruction of the foundations of democratic theory, employing an alternative model of man ‘not as a consumer of utilities but as a doer, a creator, an enjoyer of his human attributes’. This model is said to point us towards a society whose economy is socialist, but which none the less embodies many of the freedoms recognized in the liberal tradition. The present essay will confine itself entirely to the first of these projects, though the reader can be referred to several other critical appraisals which have been concerned mainly with the second.2 Macpherson has elaborated his account of classical liberalism over a period of twenty-five years: the whole project was foreshadowed in a short paper published in 1954.3 the main interpretative apparatus was deployed in The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism4 published in 1962, and mopping-up operations have since continued, the last major gap being filled by the newly-published book on Burke. A time-span such as this allows critical responses to accumulate as the project proceeds, and we shall note the main challenges that have been made to Macpherson’s interpretations of particular thinkers, as well as seeing whether these challenges have forced him to modify his interpretative approach in any significant respect. We will then be in a position to assess the general appropriateness of ‘possessive individualism’ as a model for interpreting English liberalism between the mid-seventeenth and midnineteenth centuries. The key characters in the line of descent that Macpherson seeks to characterize in this way are Hobbes, the Levellers, Harrington, Locke, Hume, Burke, Bentham and James

‘on liberty’ and morality-dependent harms

Abstract: J. S. Mill's ‘On Liberty’, according to Richard Wollheim and C. L. Ten, carries the idea that if a first individual causes harm to a second, but the harm is owed also to the second individual's bel...

On the educational function of political participation: a comparative analysis of john stuart mill's theory and contemporary survey research findings*

Abstract: T H I S essay aims to assess John Stuart Mill’s theory that political participation has an educative effect in light of some relevant findings of contemporary survey research. It begins with a brief review of Mill’s argument, proceeds to a discussion of methodological issues in the estimation of the educational effect of citizen participation in politics, describes the relevant empirical studies of electoral and non-electoral modes of political participation, and concludes with a tentative overall assessment of the degree to which Mill’s argument is realistic. John Stuart Mill’s theory, set forth in Representative Government, focuses on the development of an active character which is defined in terms of three hypothesized effects of democratic participation : a sense of citizenship, practical discipline and a higher intellectual standard, and moral development. Mill’s conception of political participation encompasses several modes, all of which he holds to have educational value, although in varying degree. For example, he writes about electoral participation,

Realignment Theory and British Party Development: A Critique

Abstract: . This article examines the applicability of critical election theory to British party development under the Third Reform Act. Contrary to claims by several authors, the general elections of 1886 and 1906 showed none of the features associated with critical realignments— high rates of participation, electoral instability, durable changes in the social basis of party support. The realignment model, which grew out of distinctive features of the American polity, does not seem appropriate in the British system.

Banana time in british politics

Abstract: One way of manipulating the demands of citizens is by shaping their perceptions of what is possible. An important technique for creating the illusion of impossibility is the familiar political claim that‘the time is not right’for a particular reform. The argument purports to point to objective, immutable constraints. More often, reference is merely to the artificial bargaining routines of politics. Groups are co-opted into issue-specific subgovern-ments, not out of necessity but for sheer administrative convenience. Political time moves quickly or slowly in that sector depending on the number, character and obstinacy of those co-opted groups.

Locke and Nozick on Property

Abstract: In this paper I hope to show that the differences between the Lockian and Nozickian ideas regarding the foundation of private property are far greater than is generally assumed. My purpose is not t...

Party identification and public spending priorities in the american electorate

Abstract: . In a study published in 1980, Alan Lewis found that members of the British mass public tend to have clearly defined preferences on spending in specific policy areas and that these preferences are closely related to party identification. This paper examines Lewis's conclusion in the American setting. Data on eleven spending policies from the 1973 and 1980 General Social Survey are examined via factor analysis and multiple classification analysis. While some change is observed between 1973 and 1980, the preferences of the American public on public expenditures appear to be quite stable and, contrary to Lewis's findings these preferences are unrelated to party identification.

Democratic frustration of vast majorities

Abstract: Although the questions are settled by a yes-no majority vote, a majority of the voters vote in the minority on a majority of the questions. Each question is answered affirmatively by a 3 to 2 majority. However, a majority of the voters are unsatisfied in the sense that each votes unsuccessfully on a majority of the questions. According to Gorman, the crucial issue raised by the paradox is that ‘we have two possible and conflicting criteria for saying “the majority has its will fulfilled” . . . Should there be more successful votes than unsuccessful votes for each question? Or should there be more successful votes than unsuccessful votes for the majority of voter^?'^ Gorman’s table creates a dilemma for the utilitarian since it shows that one cannot always maximize the satisfaction of voters and the satisfaction of their desires simultaneously. His table can also be used to construct another paradox of platform voting. Given that the voters vote for the platform which they find most satisfactory, and supposing they must choose between A & B & C or A & B & C , the latter platform is adopted (since voters 1, 2, and 3 would support it) even though the former would satisfy more desires. Roughly, platform voting maximizes the number of satisfied voters while nonplatform voting maximizes the number of satisfied desires of the voters.

The plurality vote: a reappraisal

Abstract: A R G u M E N TS in favour of the adoption of proportional representation in Britain have been advanced far more extensively in recent years than the case favouring the retention of the present system of the plurality vote.’ In this paper I wish to help redress the balance by indicating some misconceptions within the critique of the plurality vote and to point out some neglected advantages of the present electoral system in Britain. The principal objection to the plurality vote is that it distorts the number of seats won in proportion to votes cast to such an extent that government frequently falls into the hands of a single party receiving the support of a minority of the electorate. Thus Lakeman contends that an ideal electoral system should promote ‘government according to the wishes of the electorate’,2 whilst S. E. Finer maintains that ‘for a government to claim a mandate to carry out its policies it ought to be elected by at least half the voter^'.^ These principles and the subsequent critique of the plurality vote are based on a perception of the democratic function of an electoral system as the establishment of governments that represent the views of the electorate at the time that an election takes place. In the second half of this paper I shall point out that this is an inadequate view of the role of elections within a democracy and that the effectiveness of a voting system must be made with reference to further criteria. The contention of Finer and Lakeman that an electoral system must produce results that represent as closely as possible the demands of the electorate cannot however be doubted. The first section of this paper will therefore consider the rival merits of the plurality vote and proportional representation (PR) in the promotion of representative governments.

Resurrecting the Dismal Parson: Malthus, Ecology, and Political Thought

Abstract: Although a familiar figure in the history of ideas, Malthus has been trivialized, misunderstood and ignored, particularly as a political thinker. Yet his most famous work, the Essay on Population, was conceived and gained recognition as a contribution to a passionate political debate. His major feat—the powerful introduction of an ecological viewpoint into political and social theory—was later over-shadowed by the theory of evolution and the eventual decline of biologically oriented ideology. With the current resurgence of biology as a basis for social science and political ideology his work has a new relevance. In its content and development Malthus's thought is both rich and complex, while his argument provides a useful eighteenth-century parallel to the modern ‘ecological’ debate. The ‘dismal parson’ deserves resurrection as a major figure in the history of political theory.

Human needs, human wants, and political consequences

Abstract: . If human need is to serve as a political norm, it must first have the status of ascertainable fact. Its proponents hold that it has that status: that genuine needs can be ascertained, by reference to the circumstances in which human beings normally flourish. Some of the recent writing on human needs and politics has been marked by excessive confidence, and has been justly criticized as naive and tendentious. But the critics have not shown, and seem to have thought it unnecessary to show, that a reasoned choice among models of human excellence is impossible. Consequently, the consideration of human needs in politics cannot be regarded as a dead end, notwithstanding the poor showing of its best-known recent protagonists.

Obstacles to equality: government responses to the gay rights movement in the united states

Abstract: The Gay Rights movement in the United States, like other social movements, may achieve its goal of full equality before the law through actions by the legislatures or courts. Generally, action by the latter opens the door to concessions by the former. But the Gay Rights movement has not progressed as its adherents have wished for four reasons: (1) the unpopularity of homosexuals; (2) the disjointed nature of American government(s); (3) the absence of cohesiveness of the movement itself, possibly as a result of a lack of economic deprivation among homosexuals; and (4) most significant, the unwillingness of the Supreme Court to accord to homosexuals the same rights it has extended to other minority groups, thereby giving a lead to legislatures as they did in the area of civil rights for Blacks.

Liberalism, democracy, and development: philosophical dilemmas in third world politics*

Abstract: In Western societies, the democratic franchise came after the liberal state was firmly established. In Third World countries, the imposition of liberal democracy may generate contradictions between the market and traditional sectors of the polity. Furthermore, liberalism favours restrictive authority in order to safeguard individual rights against the state. In Third World contexts, the more urgent need may be for an interventionist state that will create conditions of minimum democratic equality for all. A government subject to constitutional checks and judicial review may cut across the developmental requirement of permissive authority. These abstract issues of political philosophy can be profitably discussed with respect to recent controversies in India.

Power without Responsibility

Abstract: T H I S note takes as its starting point an apparently recent development in the discussion of power, namely the use of the notion of responsibility to discriminate between examples of the possession or exercise of power and other actions or potentialities. Briefly, the question used to be raised-is intention necessary to power’? Dissatisfaction with the difficulties experienced in answering this question has led to a formulation which stresses not intention, but responsibility. Two recent examples of authors who have given attention to the notion of responsibility in defining power are Dennis H . Wrong’ and William E. Connolly.2 Both suggest that intention is but part of the idea of responsibility applied in law, and hence both wish to move beyond intention in defining power. Wrong, unlike Connolly, regards this point as a footnote to a definition which mentions intention; Connolly, however, wishes to integrate responsibility into the definition of power. This note is concerned with the consequences of this move. It is worthwhile considering first why the move from defining power by reference to intentions, to defining power by reference to the responsibility of the power-holder, looks attractive. Clearly, when Russell formulated the proposition that power was the production of intended effects, he wished to isolate and express the element of control with which power is as~ocia ted .~ Of the effects an individual happens to produce in the world, only those which he intended, Russell thought, can provide evidence of his control over the environment in which he operates. Later definitions, like Dahl’s, were interested in the relation between actors, not between an individual and the world. Dahl focused on the power of A over B, the extent to which one actor could get another to do something he would not otherwise have done.4 The

Oakeshott and the impossibility of philosophical politics

Abstract: Oakeshott offers a radical version of the thesis that philosophy cannot evaluate or recommend political ideas. We criticize each stage of his argument that practical life excludes philosophy's desire for ultimate truth and demands a distinctive form of reasoning. Believing that practice is not susceptible to philosophical guidance because it is composed of actions, subject to change and necessarily inconsistent and uncritical of assumptions, he exaggerates its contrast with theory. Moreover, he wrongly supposes that philosophy has no practical aspect, arguing that while all practical thought must be in terms of certain concepts, philosophy transcends those which it analyses. We contend that the distinctiveness of philosophy and practice does not imply they are separate; rather philosophy is a necessary part of any reasoned evaluation of political concepts.

The measurement of central control in england and wales

Abstract: I N a recent paper Page’ has made a stimulating contribution to the literature on British central-local relations. With specific reference to the agency model of the role of British local authorities he develops a critique of earlier works by Boaden’ and A ~ h f o r d , ~ which claimed to test the validity of the agency model. The key point made by Page is that a necessary prior condition to such tests is that the objectives of central control are correctly specified. Thus, although Boaden claimed that ‘central control is less apparent in policy outcomes than might be supposed’ because of the wide variation he found in expenditures per capita in five services in England and Wales, Page points out that the centre may welcome diversity in such expenditures per capita. For example, with respect to the phenomenon of variations in expenditures per capita Page produces some evidence that the Scottish Office has placed pressure on Glasgow District to spend funds in a manner which would increase its deviation from the national average of expenditure per capita on housing. However, Page’s main conclusion is that the Scottish Office, via the instrument of expenditure guidelines issued to each Scottish local authority since December 1975, is ‘more concerned at present with controlling overall expenditure rather than individual items of local budget^'.^ Thus Page concludes that, because this is the dominant objective of central control in Scotland, the best measure for testing the validity of the agency model with respect to Scottish local authorities is the extent to which these authorities’ expenditure was influenced by the expenditure guidelines. The extent of this influence is measured by means of a regression model with two independent variables-GLG, the percentage rate of growth between 1975/76 and 1977/78 in Scottish District Council expenditure implied in guidelines, and HLS, a dummy variable reflecting the stringency of the guidelines. In this paper we attempt to evaluate to what extent a similar claim can be made with respect to the system of central-local relations in England and Wales, not only for the period covered in Page’s article but also with respect to the changes introduced since the election of the Conservative government in

Hobbes and the right of self-defence

Abstract: . The weakness of the Hobbesian sovereign which arises out of what the individual can do in his own defence is well established. What has not been examined is the attempts Hobbes makes to counter this and that is the concern of this article. He appeals to the individual to exercise caution on three distinct grounds: on grounds of gallantry, on grounds of‘reasonability’and finally by reference to theology. Each appeal is examined and each is seen to fail. Such is Hobbes's insistence on Passion and Will as the basis of society that he finds it impossible to appeal to Reason and Nature to temper its exercise.

Party-cluster formations in multi-party systems

Abstract: An examination of the multi-party system in Israel and to a large extent also in France during the last two decades reveals the emergence of three distinct types of party clusters. These approximate to a limited extent to Kirchheimer's catch-all thesis, but reveal motives and conditions other than those he postulated. The party clusters are distinguished as Conglomerate Blocs, Proportionally Amalgamated Parties and Unitary Amalgamated Parties. An analysis of the party systems in at least these two countries show the conditions likely to foster the formation of such party configurations, their modes of operation, and the internal stresses they generate.

Jeremy Bentham: Recent Interpretations

Abstract: The day for the commencement of this code [in England] with the stamp of authority on the first page of it, is the day which will give commencement to the hundred and first year, reckoning from the day on which the author will have breathed his last. In the meantime, to those who have the faculty of extracting amusement from dry matter, it may serve as a second Utopia, adapted to the circumstances of the age.1

Ethnic nationalism in western europe

Abstract: T H E twentieth century is often characterized as an age of ideology. Yet nationalism has proved a more powerful force than any ideological construct. Doctrines such as socialism, communism, and liberalism have claimed universality but have found themselves conditioned by the national histories of the societies in which they are applied. This is particularly apparent in the continuing conflict between nationalism and communism. Communism

Marx's politics—the tensions in the communist manifesto

Abstract: I N an article in the December 198 1 issue of this journal Michael Levin seeks to demonstrate that the strategy for Germany presented in Part IV of the Manifesto is incompatible with the general theory presented in Part I of that work.* Whereas the one allows for the introduction of Communism in a backward country, the other restricts its introduction to advanced countries. This claimed incompatibility is rightly said to raise ‘crucial questions concerning not just the coherence of the Communist Manifesto itself but also of Marxist theory as a ~ h o l e ’ . ~ These questions have been examined in two recent books on Marx’s politics, both of which deny for entirely different reasons the claimed tension between the general theory and the particular strategy. Richard Hunt adopts an ‘economic determinist’ interpretation of the general theory similar to Levin’s: on this interpretation, the strategy presented in the Munijesto is a problem because it calls for a ‘premature’ revolution in backward Germany. Although Levin accepts this inconsistency, Hunt denies it. According to .Hunt, there is a marked contrast between the strategy presented in the Munijesto and Marx’s actual strategy. Just as the former contradicts the ‘economic determinist’ nature of the general theory, so the latter confirms it. In the actual strategy there would be no ‘premature’ revolution in Germany. Indeed, the revolution would be delayed until capitalism was mature. Alan Gilbert, in contrast, finds such ‘arcane’ arguments superfluous as a means to reconciling the general theory and the particular strategy. The one is sufficiently flexible to accommodate the other at face value. In the general theory, ‘politics’ is not reduced to some merely secondary role, and the constraints of ‘economic’ conditions are drawn very loosely. It is argued by Gilbert, moreover, that particular strategies are not simply deduced from the general theory, but are the product of a conjunction between that theory and the appropriate set of ‘auxiliary statements’. These are elicited from the study of the specific setting, using the insights of the general theory to capture particular and salient features. This conjunction between the general theory and auxiliary statements

Further Considerations on the Referendum: The Evidence of the Welsh Vote on Devolution:

Abstract: Developments during the 1970s, suggest that the referendum might become a more permanent feature of British politics. The Welsh referendum provides additional evidence as to its operational characteristics, which indicates: that organized interests can play a significant, if not crucial, role; that the polarization of issues on a ‘Yes-No’ axis promotes confusion; that external events and, in particular, the government's standing, intrude on the central issue; and that it fails to resolve problems, sometimes even in the short run. Despite this the referendum is likely to be used as and when party political expedients require.