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The local connection: local government performance and satisfication with dem…
In light of extensive decentralization in much of the world, analyses of citizen satisfaction with democracy that treat citizens as subjects of their national governments alone are incomplete. In this article,the author uses regression analysis of unique survey data from Argentina to explore the relationship between local government performance and citizen satisfaction with democracy. She demon…
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- Vol. 41, No. 3, March 2008. Page 285-308
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Who Knows Best what the People Want: Women or Men?:A Study of Political Repre…
The notion of representation lies at the heart of liberal democratic thinking, and over the years considerable effort has gone into defining and measuring the concept. The least common denominator in the voluminous literature is that in a representative political system there should be a certain amount of attitudinal congruence between masses and elites. One much-debated strategy for obtaining …
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- Volume 42, Number 1, January 2009. pp. 31-55
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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The Logic of Historical Explanation in the Social Sciences
Historical explanations seek to identify the causes of outcomes in particular cases. Although social scientists commonly develop historical explanations, they lack criteria for distinguishing different types of causes and for evaluating the relative importance of alternative causes of the same outcome. This article first provides an inventory of the five types of causes that are normally used i…
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- Volume 42, Number 1, January 2009. pp. 114-146
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Ethnic Diversity and Generalized Trust in Europe: A Cross-National Multilevel…
While most current research documents a negative relation between ethnic diversity and generalized trust, it has to be acknowledged that these results often originate from one-country analyses in North America. In this article, attitudinal measurements from the European Social Survey are combined with Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development data on migration patterns, thus examin…
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- Volume 42, Number 2, February 2009.pp. 198-223
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Political Survival and Endogenous Institutional Change
Incumbent political leaders risk deposition by challengers within the existing political rules and by revolutionary threats. Building on Bueno de Mesquita, Smith, Siverson, and Morrow's selectorate theory, the model here examines the policy responses of office-seeking leaders to revolutionary threats. Whether leaders suppress public goods such as freedom of assembly and freedom of information t…
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- Volume 42, Number 2, February 2009.pp. 167-197
- ISBN/ISSN
- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Do Electoral Rules Matter?: Political Institutions and Foreign Direct Investm…
Despite the growing importance of domestic institutions in the political economy literature, few studies explore the effects of disaggregated measures of political institutions, specifically electoral rules and systems, on foreign direct investment (FDI). Building on institutional accounts, this articles tests the effects of electoral rules on FDI inflows for 16 Latin American countries from 19…
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- Volume 42, Number 2, February 2009.pp. 224-251
- ISBN/ISSN
- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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How Do Ideas Matter?: Mental Models and Attention in German Pension Politics
How do ideas affect political decision making? Despite much evidence that ideas matter, relatively little is known about the specific mechanisms through which they influence actors' beliefs, goals, and preferences. Drawing on psychological findings, the article elaborates a cognitive mechanism through which ideational frameworks shape political elites' preferences among options. It argues that …
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- Volume 42, Number 2, February 2009. pp. 252-279
- ISBN/ISSN
- 00104140
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- Series Title
- Comparative Political Studies
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Government Responsiveness and Political Competition in Comparative Perspective
Governments in democratic systems are expected to respond to the issue preferences of citizens. Yet we have a limited understanding of the factors that cause levels of responsiveness to vary across time and between countries. In this article, the authors suggest that political contestation is the primary mechanism driving policy responsiveness and that this, in turn, is mediated by politi…
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- Vol. 41, No. 3, Page 309-337
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- 0010-4140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Understanding Cleavages in Party Systems: Issue Position and Issue Salience i…
There has been considerable debate about the characteristics of political cleavages underlying post-Communist Central and Eastern European party competition, with views ranging from no structure, to unidimensionality, to structured diversity, to entirely sui generis country-specific approaches. Much of the disagreement, the authors argue, results from the failure to take seriously the distincti…
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- Volume 42, Number 2, February 2009. pp. 280-313
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Are Parliamentary Systems Better?
The institutional differences between presidential and parliamentary rule are well known, yet the practical effects of these divergent constitutional arrangements within democratic polities have received scant attention. This article employs a global data set to test the relationship between a historical measure of parliamentary rule and 14 indicators ranging across three policy areas: politica…
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- Volume 42, Number 3, March 2009 327-359
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- 0010-4140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Constructing Tolerance: How the Welfare State Shapes Attitudes About Immigrants
Over the past 30 years, the hitherto rather homogeneous welfare states in Europe have been experiencing a dramatic influx of immigrants, making them much more diverse. The central purpose of the early development of the welfare state was twofold: to bridge class divisions and to mollify ethnic divisions in the vast multiethnic empires of 19th-century Germany and Austria. This research examines …
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- Volume 42, Number 3, March 2009. pp. 437-463
- ISBN/ISSN
- 0010-4140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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The Global impact of quotas: on the fast track to increased female legislativ…
Quotas have become an important mechanism through which women today are entering legislatures worldwide. This study shows that the introduction of quotas has helped overcome constraints on women's representation posed by economic underdevelopment, cultural influences, and even electoral systems. This study also demonstrates that the introduction of quotas offers the most explanatory power for w…
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- Vol. 41, No. 3, Page 338-361
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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In the Shadow of Democracy Promotion: Strategic Manipulation, International O…
International efforts to promote democracy can have unanticipated effects. International election observation is perceived to increase domestic confidence in the electoral process and reduce fraud. Conversely, election boycotts are perceived to be more likely as electoral fairness decreases. The authors document a puzzling relationship between monitored elections and opposition party boycotts: …
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- Volume 42, Number 3, March 2009. pp. 392-415
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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From Patronage to Program: The Emergence of Party-Oriented Legislators in Brazil
This article explains the unanticipated emergence of party-oriented legislators and rising party discipline in Brazil since the early 1990s. The authors contend that deputies in Brazil became increasingly party oriented because the utilities of party-programmatic and patronage-based electoral strategies shifted with market reforms that created a programmatic cleavage in Brazilian politics and d…
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- Volume 42, Number 3, March 2009. pp. 360-391
- ISBN/ISSN
- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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On the Duration of Political Power in Africa: The Role of Oil Rents
It is often underlined that African oil-producing countries are politically unstable as a result of the role that this resource can play in political incentives. Based on data documenting the duration in office of heads of state of 26 African countries (North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa), this study reveals a surprising twist on the conventional wisdom: The purported instability of African oi…
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- Volume 42, Number 3, March 2009. pp. 416-436
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- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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A Deeper Look at the Proportionality—Turnout Nexus
Evidence that turnout is higher under proportional representation (PR) than in majoritarian elections is overwhelming. Yet previous research has largely failed to explain why. One line of argument maintains that higher turnout under PR is a by-product of larger party systems. However, a larger number of parties has been demonstrated to depress turnout. Alternatively, it is argued that majoritar…
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- Volume 42, Number 4, April 2009. pp. 527-548
- ISBN/ISSN
- 0010-4140
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- -
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Dominant Party Regimes and the Commitment Problem: The Case of United Russia
This article analyzes the formation of a stable dominant party in an authoritarian regime as a commitment problem between two sides: the ruler and other elites. After defining a dominant party regime and outlining the costs and benefits that such a regime entails for each side, the authors examine the efforts made in Russia to establish United Russia as a dominant party and argue that the Kreml…
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- Volume 42, Number 4, April 2009. pp. 501-526
- ISBN/ISSN
- 0010-4140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Supporters or Challengers?: The Effects of Nongovernmental Organizations on L…
How do nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) affect local politics in developing democracies? Specifically, do NGOs have systematic effects on the fortunes of incumbent political parties in local elections? Existing work predicts starkly contradictory political effects: Some scholars claim that NGOs most likely help incumbents by providing services for which politicians can claim credit, whereas…
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- Volume 42, Number 4, April 2009. pp. 479-500
- ISBN/ISSN
- 00104140
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- Comparative Political Studies
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Learning From Others:The Diffusion of Hospital Financing Reforms in OECD Coun…
The increase in health care expenditures is a major problem of all welfare states. To counter this trend, since the early 1980s, most OECD countries have changed the way hospitals are financed. Although these reforms are certainly linked to country-specific factors, the authors' main argument is that they are in part due to a diffusion process: Policy change in one country is influenced by prev…
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- Volume 42, Number 4, April 2009. pp. 549-573
- ISBN/ISSN
- 0010-4140
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- -
- Series Title
- Comparative Political Studies
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The Armed Forces and Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Explaining the Role…
Studies of transitions from authoritarian rule have shown that militaries play decisive roles in authoritarian breakdowns. The military possesses coercive resources that can suppress any challenge to authoritarian rule. This article explains why and under what conditions militaries in authoritarian regimes, when faced with popular demonstrations, will support the path of political liberalizatio…
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- Volume 42, Number 5, May 2009. pp. 640-669
- ISBN/ISSN
- 00104140
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- -
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- Comparative Political Studies
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