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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Spatial Analysis Of The Xiii Italian Legislature, Massimiliano Landi, Riccardo Pelizzo Nov 2005

A Spatial Analysis Of The Xiii Italian Legislature, Massimiliano Landi, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We present a spatial map of the Italian House of Deputies during the XIII Legislature obtained by applying the Poole and Rosenthal methodology to roll call data. We estimate coordinates for almost all the 650 Deputies that were on the House’s floor at the time, and we aggregate them according to parties. We find that voting patters generate basically a two dimensional political space. The first dimension represents loyalty to either the ruling coalition or the opposing one. The second dimension is represented by the European Union. These findings are consistent with the exceptional case of the party Northern League, …


From Academia To Diplomacy And Back, Eng Fong Pang Aug 2005

From Academia To Diplomacy And Back, Eng Fong Pang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Prof Pang talked about his experiences as a diplomat in South Korea and Europe during the period 1994-2002.


Neither Proximity Nor Directionality: A Subjective Approach To Issue Voting, Riccardo Pelizzo Feb 2005

Neither Proximity Nor Directionality: A Subjective Approach To Issue Voting, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Spatial theories of voting have provided one of the leading frameworks for the analysis of electoral competition and electoral behavior. Spatial theories assume that : (1) voters and parties have policy preferences, (2) these preferences can be represented by points in the policy space and (3) voters’ electoral choice is affected by the disposition of their own preferences and of those of political parties. For almost four decades proximity theory has been the most popular spatial theory of voting. Proximity theory suggested that voters value parties on the basis of how proximate they are to their own personal position. This …


Pierre Bayle's Philosophical Commentary On The Words Of Jesus Christ: Compel Them To Come In, John Kilcullen, Chandran Kukathas Jan 2005

Pierre Bayle's Philosophical Commentary On The Words Of Jesus Christ: Compel Them To Come In, John Kilcullen, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this defence of religious toleration, Bayle discusses the words attributed to Jesus Christ in Luke 14:23, “And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.” Bayle contends that the word compel cannot mean “force.” From this perspective, he constructs his doctrine of toleration based on the singular importance of conscience. Bayle argues that if the orthodox have the right and duty to persecute, then every sect will persecute since every sect considers itself orthodox. The result will be mutual slaughter, something God …


Trust (And Social Capital) In Cultural Theory, Marco Verweij Jan 2005

Trust (And Social Capital) In Cultural Theory, Marco Verweij

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Analysis And Insights From A Dynamical Model Of Nuclear Plant Safety Risk, Stephen Hess, Alfonso M. Albano, John Gaertner Jan 2005

Analysis And Insights From A Dynamical Model Of Nuclear Plant Safety Risk, Stephen Hess, Alfonso M. Albano, John Gaertner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we expand upon previously reported results of a dynamical systems model for the impact of plant processes and programmatic performance on nuclear plant safety risk. We utilize both analytical techniques and numerical simulations typical of the analysis of nonlinear dynamical systems to obtain insights important for effective risk management. This includes use of bifurcation diagrams to show that period doubling bifurcations and regions of chaotic dynamics can occur. We also investigate the impact of risk mitigating functions (equipment reliability and loss prevention) on plant safety risk and demonstrate that these functions are capable of improving risk to …


Scrutinizing Public Expenditures - Assessing The Performance Of Public Accounts Committees, Rick Stapenhurst, Vinod Sahgal, William Woodley, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2005

Scrutinizing Public Expenditures - Assessing The Performance Of Public Accounts Committees, Rick Stapenhurst, Vinod Sahgal, William Woodley, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


A Subjective Approach To The Study Of Oligopolistic Party Systems, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2005

A Subjective Approach To The Study Of Oligopolistic Party Systems, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to present a new theory of the cartel party. My argument is straightforward. Assuming that parties are the political analog of firms, that party systems are the political analog of markets, that the shares of the electorate are the political analog of the market shares that firms control, Western European party systems share with oligopolistic markets some structural features. Yet, to know whether Western European party systems resemble oligopolistic markets, we need to know whether Western European party systems are non-competitive political markets exactly in the same way in which oligopolistic markets are not …