Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Liberalism And Postliberalism In Bolivarian Venezuela, Tony Petros Spanakos

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In the last half-decade, the “rise of the left” in Latin America has been studied extensively by many scholars. Whether framed as one, two, or many lefts, its various party leaders have been vocal in opposition to neoliberalism, although the orientation of their policies and governments toward neoliberalism has been mixed (Panizza 2009). The most influential and visible case of an anti-neoliberal government is that of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez Frías.

The five books reviewed here, drawing on research on Venezuela, share a common scholarly interest in liberalism, pluralism, and account- ability, although some defend liberalism (Brewer-Carías, Corrales and Penfold), …

Unexpected Winners: The Significance Of An Open-List System On Women’S Representation In Poland, Sheri L. Kunovich

Sociology Research

Scholars have debated the impact of open-list systems on women's representation. While some argue that open lists provide a unique opportunity for voters to overcome parties' bias against women, others argue that they create additional barriers. I examine several mechanisms that impact women's representation within Poland's open-list system. Results suggest that 1) voters shift women's original list placements positively across all parties over three elections; 2) these shifts are more pronounced when women's overall presence on the list and list placement are lower, regardless of party; and 3) positive shifts often result in the election of substantially more women than …

Organised Labor And Health Reform, Laurence Weil

Laurence Weil

By the summer of 1993, the AFL-CIO had endorsed in principle President-elect Bill Clinton's "managed competition" approach to comprehensive health reform, and committed itself to a multi-million dollar effort on behalf of the Administration's proposal. By February 1994, labor's promised commitment had grown to $10 million, although it had thus far spent only about $500 thousand (2,3). In the end the labor movement anted up between $5 and $10 million (about two-thirds in direct expenditures, the rest in in-kind contributions), an effort that proved wholly inadequate in the face of the mammoth sums of money and aggressive tactics deployed by …