A basic proposition of 'agency theory' is that output-based performance incentives encourage greater effort. However, studies find that incentive schemes can distort effort if rewards for performance are discrete or non-linear. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Community Rating System (CRS) is a flood mitigation programme with a non-linear incentive design. Under this programme, …
This paper analyses, by using a constructivist methodology, how sustainability is perceived by Russian urban and regional planners and how environmental planning is understood on a discursive level. The planning discourse, which was reconstructed primarily with the help of 14 thematic interviews undertaken in St Petersburg, is positioned on the axes of the triangle of planning contradictions. T…
Are economic incentives and regulatory relief useful tools for encouraging reuse of abandoned or under-utilised urban sites with historic buildings? Answering this question is of key importance for many European cities and for older US cities, and has important implications in terms of urban sustainability and “smart growth” initiatives. This study uses conjoint choice experiments to explore th…
While economic research on environmental policy is mainly concerned with instruments, political science concentrates on actors. The issue of centralisation needs to be analysed using a multidisciplinary approach because it is connected with both actors and instruments. Linking the Advocacy Coalition Framework with an economic approach, the paper first develops an innovative model in order to un…
Drawing on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour, this paper analyses whether there is a relation between management's behavioural intentions toward an environmental problem and the company's specific actions in this area, and also considers the impact of the company size on these actions. For the data, a questionnaire was sent to 184 managers employed in industrial companies located in Spain whi…
Changes in landownership associated with amenity migration are affecting the demographic, cadastral and ecological conditions of rural landscapes. These changes and concerns about their impacts on natural resource management, including ecological conservation, relate to both the structural consequences of landownership change, land subdivision and to the motivations, management ability and atti…
To assess changes in human understanding and decision making, the paper examines (1) the influence of visual information on perceptions about groundwater management in Phoenix, Arizona and (2) the correlates and dimensions underlying people's views about water scarcity and mitigation strategies. While perceptions entrenched in ideologies are difficult to change, different types of information (…
This study examines the perceptions and coping strategies of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which is surrounded by 'Chemical Valley', the largest complex of petrochemical plants in Canada. Analysis of in-depth interviews showed that residents perceive 'Mother Earth to be sick'; however, a strong level of community cohesion prevails, with 'place' as a significant anchor to the culture and history…
Extratropical cyclones have attracted some attention in climate policy circles as a possible significant damage factor of climate change. This study conducts an assessment of economic impacts of increased storm activities under climate change with the integrated assessment model FUND 3.5. In the base case, the direct economic damage of enhanced storms due to climate change amounts to US$2.8 bil…
The second round of the Local Transport Plan (LTP2) process in England presents unique challenges and opportunities for integrating Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) within current transport planning policy. Using content analysis of LTP2 documents from nine English authorities, and results from a questionnaire survey of local government officers undertaken in late 2007, this paper charts the…
This paper explores the extent to which Western approaches to public involvement in environmental impact assessment (EIA) have been transferred to Vietnam, constraints on their use, and their appropriateness for the Vietnamese context. The research is based on an analysis of the public involvement content found in 26 EIA reports from development banks and interviews with 26 key informants. The …
New developments in information and communications technology (ICT) have the capacity to transform the working lives of politicians and to restructure the relationships between elected representatives and electors in a parliamentary democracy. They also give more meaning to the process by which principals (electors) hold their agents (MPs) to account by enhancing the quality and quantity of inf…
It is the argument of this article that interpreting the UK in instrumental terms, while highlighting important issues of policy and institutional coordination, is inadequate for a full understanding of the British question. Tracing the instrumentalist thesis in historical, constitutional and political argument, the article points out the limits of this style of thinking and suggests that there…
This article offers a reappraisal of the performance of Iain Duncan Smith as Conservative Party leader between 2001 and 2003. The rationale for the paper stems from the relative neglect of his leadership by political scientists. The paper argues that to disregard his party leadership tenure is to fail to understand the evolution of Conservative Party politics in the era of New Labour hegemony. …
Thirty years on, and in the context of a new crisis, it is time to return to the Winter of Discontent and to the mythology that it has generated. In this paper, I show that the Winter of Discontent was in many respects a manufactured crisis—lived, experienced and responded to through a very particular construction of the events. And I show that such a construction of events is difficult to reco…
Elected representatives in numerous democracies have adopted blogging as an additional mode of communication with their constituents. In the UK and other advanced democracies, this development has stimulated scholarly optimism as a potential remedy to the estrangement that citizens feel between themselves and their representatives. This article looks at the blogging practices of legislators in …
This article evaluates the success of the Australian Democrats, a minor party that gained parliamentary representation in federal politics from 1977 until 2008. The party's contribution to Australian democracy is analysed in three areas: electoral, organisational and parliamentary, according to a broader notion of success that incorporates a party's longer term impact on the processes and cultu…
This interpretive study of the meaning of politics for Dutch citizens offers a distinct contribution to the debate about political disaffection. Politically disaffected citizens interviewed understand politics in terms of a lifeworld-politics clash, and they espouse a policy-oriented ideal of politics that puts their lifeworld at the centre. Although their approach suggests that they turn away …
Existing comparative research suggests that women candidates have better opportunities for electoral success when standing in (i) second-order elections and (ii) proportional representation elections—the 2009 European Elections provide an example of both criteria. This paper examines the 2009 results to build upon earlier work on the 1999 and 2004 elections by considering (i) regional patterns …
Courtesy of a little-noticed reform in the autumn of 2006, Westminster's legislative process has been revitalised. Changes to the House of Commons committee stage of the consideration of bills, have made legislative scrutiny more effective. The reform also has the potential to contribute to a cultural shift in the attitude of all Members of Parliament to accepting the importance of holding the …