1,720,979 research outputs found
Replication Data for "Gendered Opportunities and Constraints"
No full textReplication data and code for "Gendered Opportunities and Constraints: How Executive Sex and Approval Influence Executive Decree Issuance
Replication Data for "Gendered Opportunities and Constraints"
No full textReplication data and code for "Gendered Opportunities and Constraints: How Executive Sex and Approval Influence Executive Decree Issuance
Shared rule as a signal of central state commitment to regional self-rule
Get PDFRegional governments, particularly those representing distinct communities, are typically thought to pursue power of self-rule, or the ability to self-govern within their own regional jurisdiction. In contrast, limited attention has been paid to the importance of granting substantial influence via shared rule, or the ability to co-exercise authority over the state as a whole. Yet, central governments who fail to provide some form of guarantee regarding the authority to self-rule may face ongoing challenges to their legitimacy, authority, and ability to govern. As a result, granting shared control over modifications to their legal status may help to pacify demands from restive regions and those geographically separated from the state’s centre. Analyzing the relationship between self- and shared rule across regional governments in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, I examine how the horizontal dimension of multi-level governance can serve as an accommodation strategy by central governments
Electoral Reform, Party System Evolution and Democracy in Contemporary Indonesia
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the links between electoral reform and political party system development in new democracies where iterated reforms are increasingly common, requiring an understanding of their causes and short-term consequences. It examines this relationship in detail in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim democracy. It finds that, although the rules of the game may appear to be in flux during iterated electoral reforms, those reforms often follow a predictable dynamic and consistently demonstrate evidence of seat-maximization. Assessing how a combination of strategic and alternative motivations may affect decision-making, as well as how prior reforms constrain future reform options, is key to understanding how reforms affect the composition and shape of the ensuing party system. The dissertation employs a multi-methods approach, conducting both a large-N quantitative analysis with an original dataset of cross-national electoral reform and a case study of Indonesia. The large-N analysis includes 34 cases of electoral reform from 1950 to 2010; for the case study I draw on in-depth interviews with key reform actors, archival research, and an analysis of election outcomes from 1999-2009 to assess the relationship between electoral reform, party system change and the process of democratization in Indonesia.Doctor of Philosoph
Assessing the Causes and Effects of Electoral Volatility: Party System Fragmentation, Time, and Executive Turnover
Get PDFWhat effect do political parties and the system in which they function have on the amount of electoral instability generated during election periods? This study confirms that party system fragmentation, disaggregated into twin components of party system size and discontinuity, plays a deterministic role on volatility levels and that conceptual disaggregation improves the fit of this model over alternate models. Additionally, the inclusion of a time-sensitive control variable reveals the significant impact of interelection period length which had not been controlled for in earlier analyses. The results of this analysis do not uphold prior findings of region- or time-specific data with respect to alternative explanations of economic voting, institutional characteristics, or class cleavage structures. Finally, examination of the relationship between electoral volatility and executive turnover reveals that party system size and discontinuity, as well as time, can mitigate the negative effect of electoral volatility on executive policy tenure
Civil-Military Relations in Authoritarian Regimes
Get PDFabstract: This dissertation proposes a theory of authoritarian control of the armed forces using the economic theory of the firm. To establish a “master-servant” relationship, an organization structures governance as a long-term contractual agreement to mitigate the vulnerabilities associated with uncertainty and bilateral dependency. The bargaining power for civilian and military actors entering a contractual relationship is assessed by two dimensions: the negotiated political property rights and the credible guarantee of those rights. These dimensions outline four civil-military institutional arrangements or army types (cartel, cadre, entrepreneur, and patron armies) in an authoritarian system. In the cycle of repression, the more the dictator relies on the military for repression to stay in office, the more negotiated political property rights obtained by the military; and the more rights obtained by the military the less civilian control. Thus, the dependence on coercive violence entails a paradox for the dictator—the agents empowered to manage violence are also empowered to act against the regime. To minimize this threat, the dictator may choose to default on the political bargain through coup-proofing strategies at the cost to the regime’s credibility and reputation, later impacting a military’s decision to defend, defect, or coup during times of crisis. The cycle of repression captures the various stages in the life-cycle of the political contract between the regime and the armed forces providing insights into institutional changes governing the relationship. As such, this project furthers our understanding of the complexities of authoritarian civil–military relations and contributes conceptual tools for future studies.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Political Science 201
Underbalancing and State Policies: How China Interacts with its East Asian Neighbors
Get PDFabstract: East Asia in the aftermath of the Cold War might provide the most favorable case for realist theory due to historical rivalries, territorial disputes, economic competition, great power politics and deep-rooted realist beliefs among politicians in the region. Yet the fundamental realist prediction of balance of power in the region has not materialized. Neither internal nor external balancing in their original senses is explicitly present. This poses a serious challenge to realism and more broadly, western international relations theories for understanding regional dynamics. Several explanations have been put forward in previous research, such as a total rejection of the applicability of realism for explaining East Asian politics, modifying realism by adding new variables, and focusing on domestic variables. Using a neoclassical realist term, underbalancing, this dissertation goes beyond neoclassical realist theory of underbalancing by reintroducing the distinction between external and internal balancing, which has direct implications for the resources needed for a balancing policy and external reactions to balancing policy. In particular, this approach emphasizes the effect of interaction between states on underbalancing. By doing so, it also highlights what is omitted by realism, namely, the agency of the targeted state at risk of being balanced. In other words, the policy of the state that is aware of its risk of being balanced could draw upon foreign policy tools it possesses to neutralize the balancing efforts from others. This notion of state policies influencing the outcome of balance of power is tested with post-Cold War East Asian politics. The cases included China-Japan and China-ASEAN strategic interactions after the Cold War. Based on materials from public media outlets, official documents and recently leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, this dissertation argues that China's policies towards neighboring states- policies expressed variously through cultural, diplomatic, economic and security initiatives- are indispensable to explain the fact of underbalancing in the region.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Political Science 201
Legislating for Gender Equality in Korea: The Role of Women and Political Parties in Shaping the Timing of Legislation
Get PDFabstract: This study examines the factors that shape the timing of a passage of a piece of controversial gender equality legislation by conducting a case study of the abolition of the family-head system in South Korea. This study draws on the method of process tracing with the data collected from the archives and the interviews. The case study mainly compares the legislative processes for the bills on the abolition of the family-head system in 16th and the 17th National Assemblies, in which the bills resulted to opposite outcomes.
This study argues that the institutions of the legislative process mediate the impact of relevant actors for gender equality policymaking. In the bill initiation stage, only a small number of the elected officials are required to introduce a bill, and women representatives serve a vital role as they are more likely to introduce feminist bills than their male colleagues. This study argues that 1) the background of the women influencing their commitment to feminist agendas, 2) strong women’s movements contributing to issue saliency, and thereby the policy priorities of the issue, and 3) the resources and constraints inside the party for feminist policymaking influenced by party ideology, shape how active women representatives will be in advocating controversial gender equality agendas.
In the later stages of policymaking, the efforts of a small number of women members are offset by that of political parties. Emphasizing the positive agenda control of the majority party and the negative agenda control of the minority parties, this study suggests that party issue positions are critical for the outcome of the bill. To explain the party issue position (re)shape, this study underlines 1) public opinion, 2) the emergence of new voter groups leading to the decline of the cleavage politics, 3) new party entry, and 4) women in the party and the party leadership. The findings highlight that the major parties’ issue positions shift in the 17th National Assembly greatly contributed to amplifying the bargaining power of the key allies and weakening the institutional leverage of the opponents, leading to the successful legislation of the bill.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Political Science 201
Governing Well after War: How Improving Female Representation Prolongs Post-conflict Peace
No full textPrevious studies suggest that women’s access to political power often increases following the termination of civil conflicts, particularly those ending in negotiated settlement. However, the effect of these changes has received limited attention. We argue that the proportion of female representatives in a national legislature prolongs peace following a negotiated settlement. Moreover, we highlight two mechanisms through which greater female representation reduces the risk of conflict recurrence: 1) by prioritizing social welfare spending over military spending, and 2) by improving public perceptions of good governance and the credibility of political elites. We further argue that legislative independence and authority conditions this relationship, implying that greater female representation is more likely to promote peace in states with nominally democratic political institutions. Our empirical analyses of peace duration following negotiated settlements between 1946 and 2011 provide robust support for our general argument and the underlying mechanisms we believe drive this relationship
Governing Well after War: How Improving Female Representation Prolongs Post-conflict Peace
No full textPrevious studies suggest that women’s access to political power often increases following the termination of civil conflicts, particularly those ending in negotiated settlement. However, the effect of these changes has received limited attention. We argue that the proportion of female representatives in a national legislature prolongs peace following a negotiated settlement. Moreover, we highlight two mechanisms through which greater female representation reduces the risk of conflict recurrence: 1) by prioritizing social welfare spending over military spending, and 2) by improving public perceptions of good governance and the credibility of political elites. We further argue that legislative independence and authority conditions this relationship, implying that greater female representation is more likely to promote peace in states with nominally democratic political institutions. Our empirical analyses of peace duration following negotiated settlements between 1946 and 2011 provide robust support for our general argument and the underlying mechanisms we believe drive this relationship
- …
