Jumping Ship or Jumping on the Bandwagon: When Do Local Politicians Support National Candidates?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Rosas ◽  
Adrián Lucardi
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Election Outcome ◽  
National Office ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Local Politician

AbstractLocal politicians are often expected to mobilize voters on behalf of copartisan candidates for national office. Yet this requirement is difficult to enforce because the effort of local politicians cannot be easily monitored and the promise of rewards in exchange for help is not fully credible. Using a formal model, we show that the incentives of local politicians to mobilize voters on behalf of their party depend on the proportion of copartisan officials in a district. Having many copartisan officials means that the party is more likely to capture the district, but the effort of each local politician is less likely either to be noticed by higher-level officials or to make a difference on the election outcome, thus discouraging lower-level officials from exerting effort. We validate these claims with data from federal elections in Mexico between 2000 and 2012. In line with the argument, the results show that political parties fail to draw great mobilization advantages from simultaneously controlling multiple offices.

Bürgerbegehren und Bürgerentscheid in Freiberg - 1999 bis 2008

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Legal Foundations ◽  
University Town ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

Saxony is one of Germany’s pioneering states when it comes to direct democracy, introducing public petitions and referendums as early as during the Weimar Republic. After 1990, there was another spate of citizens’ initiatives in a vast number of towns, cities and local communities. Between 1990 and 2008, the university town of Freiberg had vastly differing experiences of a number of public petitions which related to a diverse range of subjects. The groups that initiated these petitions were also equally as diverse: political parties, groups of voters with no strong ties to one political party, lobby groups and citizens’ action groups. In some instances, the petitions were initiated by ordinary citizens and market traders, but in others also by local politicians. Under the guidance of Prof. Dr Christopher Schmidt, students from the University of Esslingen have now embarked on in-depth research into this fascinating chapter in Freiberg’s history, the results of which are published in this book. In addition to depicting the individual public petitions that were initiated, it examines the legal foundations of citizens’ initiatives and referendums in Saxony. With contributions by Christopher A. Schmidt, Juliane de Pay, Janine Lebküchner, Vanessa Mayer and Hanife Tozman

Mitigating violence by solving the commitment problem in post-conflict negotiations

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-166
Author(s):  
Yukako Sakabe Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
State Building ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
Commitment Problem ◽  
Political Groups

Why do some political groups choose to remain militant when they have the opportunity to transform into political parties or become members of state organs? By scrutinizing the power-sharing negotiations held before a country’s first election, this article argues that the group that leads the negotiations faces the challenge of accepting or declining the policy proposed by its counterpart who poses a threat of violence. Even if the counterpart proposes policy that is acceptable to the leading faction, fulfilling the commitment in regard to the political deal is another challenge for the leading faction. Such challenges often fail and consequently cause violence. In contrast, some counterparts can successfully transform themselves into non-violent political agencies regardless of whether they make compromises in policies or not. Third parties can play a vital role in avoiding violence by influencing actors’ decision-making or enhancing the leading faction’s ability to achieve its commitment. The article illustrates this argument by presenting a formal model and then testing the model by examining the case of Timor-Leste. It suggests specific conditions required for negotiations under which armed groups transform into peaceful actors when introduction of democracy and state-building are ongoing.

None past the post

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Election Outcome ◽  
The Political ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Unexpected Outcome ◽  
Political Economic

This book tells the story of the unexpected 2017 British general election and its equally unexpected outcome: the Conservatives’ loss of their parliamentary majority and Theresa May’s return at the head of a minority government. As with previous volumes in the Britain at the polls series, it provides readers with a series of interpretations of the election and expert accounts of the major political parties, including their responses to the 2016 Brexit referendum. Again in keeping with previous volumes, the book does not seek to provide a blow-by-blow account of the 2017 election campaign, nor does it seek to provide a detailed survey-based account of voting behaviour. Instead, it offers readers a broad analysis of recent political, economic and social developments and assesses their impact on the election outcome. It also addresses questions about the state of the political parties and the party system in the wake of the election, and reflects on the future of British electoral and party politics.

Within-Party Sex Gaps in Expenditure Preferences among Flemish Local Politicians

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Caroline Slegten ◽  
Bruno Heyndels
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Stated Preferences ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
Local Politicians

The sex gap in politics is widely documented: women tend to support left-wing parties more than men do. Evidence of this observation was recently supplemented by the identification of a within-party sex gap: within parties, female voters and politicians tend to take more left-wing positions. While this research typically limits itself to one policy area or one political party, we provide more broad-based evidence of within-party sex gaps among Flemish local politicians by covering a broad set of policy domains and six political parties. Our focus is on expenditure preferences. Analyzing stated preferences of 1,055 council members, we find that—across parties—female politicians have more leftist preferences than their male colleagues in six out of eight policy domains. Crucially, sex differences also occur within parties. We identify significant within-party sex gaps in four out of eight policy domains. Female representatives express preferences that are more left wing than their male colleagues with respect to public spending on crime, culture, and welfare. For environmental spending, they take a more right-wing position.

The partisan paradox and the U.S. tariff, 1877–1934

1996 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Epstein ◽  
Sharyn O'Halloran
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Empirical Equations ◽  
Foreign Economic Policy ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Subsequent Time ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
The U.S

Whereas historical accounts of U.S. tariff policy from 1877 to 1934 emphasize the pivotal role of parties, previous quantitative studies have failed to identify significant partisan effects. A formal model of policymaking in which strong parties aggregate voters' preferences provides empirical equations to test for partisan effects. Subsequent time series analysis shows that, even after controlling for interest group demands, partisan control of government did significantly affect the tariff. Moreover, during the period under study, the two political parties enacted tariff policies that benefited different sets of producer groups at the expense of others. Thus, political institutions did play a significant role in shaping the interests that influence U.S. foreign economic policy.

scholarly journals When Voters and Parties Agree: Valence Issues and Party Competition

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Green
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Spatial Models ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
Party Strategy ◽  
Limited Application

There has been much talk of valence, consensus or competence politics but little theoretical explanation or empirical investigation of how this has arisen. In this article I argue that British political competition has become competence-based because the major parties and the electorate have converged on the dominant left–right dimension of British voting behaviour. As a result, commonly cited core vote explanations for party polarisation have only limited application. The electorate has converged on left–right issues, narrowing the policy space and the available positional strategies of political parties. A different pattern is found for the issue of Europe, and this is interpreted in light of possible causal mechanisms. The article offers a formal model for a rise in valence politics as parties and voters converge, and the implications are discussed for theories of party competition. I argue in favour of competence and salience-based theories of party strategy in place of a reliance on traditional spatial models.

scholarly journals Le amministrative 2019 a Firenze e le cifre del PD

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-48
Author(s):  
Graziana Corica
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Causal Relation ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Urban Regime ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Five Star Movement ◽  
The City

The 2019 municipal elections in Florence confirm the electoral success of the Democratic Party and the Mayor, Dario Nardella. The center-right candidate, Ubaldo Bocci, an entrepreneur and member of local catholic associations, collected 25% of the votes. The Five Star Movement, with Roberto De Blasi as mayoral candidate, and the left candidate Antonella Bundu got about 7% of the electoral preferences each.In which areas of the city did the PD win? Is it possible establish a causal relation between voting behaviour, the neighbourhood and sociodemographic variables? To answer these questions, the article examines the electoral results through a geographical approach, based on the 72 «elementary areas» of Florence and other variables provided by ISTAT. This analysis identifies four macro-areas, distinguished for the different combinations of the presence of the political parties. Overall, the preferences collected by the PD, more than 50%, make difficult to found a link between the vote and the social background.In order to understand the electoral success of the PD and of local politicians other factors, like political culture or specific contextual features, have to be taken into consideration. Indeed, from a qualitative perspective, this contribution suggests to consider Florence as a «urban regime», composed by several actors who share interests and visions about the growth of the city.

Welfare schemes in India: decentralization dynamics and stakeholder influences

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 154-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjula Gurtoo ◽  
Udayaadithya A.
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Paper Document ◽  
Local Politician

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a background to the special issue on welfare schemes in India. After 25 years of decentralization of governance and structural adjustments implemented in the 1980s and 1990s, have welfare schemes implementation and execution become more accountable and efficient? This paper seeks a critical look at the welfare schemes and its relationship with decentralization and stakeholders’ dynamics. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a review of studies post 1990s. Papers representing all main stakeholders are reviewed, namely, politicians and political parties, bureaucrats, beneficiary, and civil society organizations. The inclusion/exclusion decision for the papers was taken on two criteria: the paper/document had to explicitly investigate decentralization, and had to include welfare scheme as the overall theme under which decentralization was investigated. Findings – The paper summarizes the new complexities in the system. Stakeholder behaviour is driven by several factors external to the traditional social and economic diversities that signify the Indian sub continent. For example, the authors see the lobbying process shifting to the local level, increasing importance of the local politician and the significance of forming local coalitions and partnerships for better resource allocation. Originality/value – The paper attempts to provide an overview by going beyond a critique of development to focus on the perils of operating within a socio-economically complex society.

scholarly journals More than just an experiment? Politicians arguments behind introducing participatory budgeting in Budapest

Acta Politica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dániel Oross ◽  
Gabriella Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Participatory Budgeting ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
The World ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Local Embeddedness ◽  
Political Decision Making

AbstractAs deliberative and participatory practices play a greater role in political decision-making of democratic political systems in many parts of the world, political parties must adapt to demands of an increasingly more cognitively mobilized citizenry. While there is a growing body of literature about the functioning of such procedures in different social and political contexts, little is known about politicians’ reasons behind introducing them. Based on qualitative data collected among Hungarian politicians, this paper brings evidence to empirically assess why local politicians introduced Participatory Budgeting in Budapest, Hungary. Our findings suggest that politicians accept theoretical arguments for promoting citizens’ participation, newly elected local politicians expect to increase their party’s local embeddedness by creating new contact opportunities and emphasize that the introduction of Participatory Budgeting is a ground for experimentation. The article ends with a discussion about arguments that are put forth in the literature on European Participatory Budgeting but missing from the views of politicians, and concludes by highlighting the risks of institutionalizing Participatory Budgeting.

COVID-19 colours Trinidad and Tobago election outlook

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
Election Outcome ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
The Political ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Movement ◽  
National Congress ◽  
The Government

Significance The two main political parties, the governing People’s National Movement (PNM) and the opposition United National Congress (UNC) are jockeying for position, while internal divisions and efforts by smaller parties to make a breakthrough are further muddying the political waters. Impacts The number of small parties will make the election outcome more uncertain, with 19 parties and 150 candidates participating. The short-term ‘bounce’ enjoyed by the government owing to its COVID-19 response may favour the PNM. The outlook for both crime and economic recovery looks uncertain whatever the election outcome.

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