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Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness In The Midst Of Fighting, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon Nov 2014

Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness In The Midst Of Fighting, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.


Bargaining Power And The Arbitration And Adjudication Of Territorial Claims, Stephen E. Gent, Megan Shannon Jun 2014

Bargaining Power And The Arbitration And Adjudication Of Territorial Claims, Stephen E. Gent, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.


Ngos, Political Protest, And Civil Society, Carew E. Boulding Jun 2014

Ngos, Political Protest, And Civil Society, Carew E. Boulding

Carew E Boulding

This book argues that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have an important effect on political participation in the developing world. Contrary to popular belief, they promote moderate political participation through formal mechanisms such as voting only in democracies where institutions are working well. This is a radical departure from the bulk of the literature on civil society that sees NGOs and other associations as playing a role in strengthening democracy wherever they operate. Instead, Carew Boulding shows that where democratic institutions are weak, NGOs encourage much more contentious political participation, including demonstrations, riots, and protests. Except in extreme cases of poorly functioning …


Political Competition And Local Social Spending: Evidence From Brazil, Carew E. Boulding, David Brown Jun 2014

Political Competition And Local Social Spending: Evidence From Brazil, Carew E. Boulding, David Brown

Carew E Boulding

Electoral theories of democracy imply electoral competition insures accountability. Using data on local elections, socioeconomic factors, and municipal budgets from more than 5,000 municipalities in Brazil for the years 1996, 2000, and 2004, we find that municipalities with more competitive elections allocate less to social spending compared to municipalities with little political competition. We argue that previous theory on political competition and public goods obscures the critical role that financial resources play in shaping the dynamics of social spending and political competition. Municipalities with small budgets lack the resources necessary to engineer convincing electoral victories. Where resources are negligible, voter …


Civil Society And Support For The Political System In Times Of Crisis, Carew E. Boulding, Jami Nelson-Nunez Jan 2014

Civil Society And Support For The Political System In Times Of Crisis, Carew E. Boulding, Jami Nelson-Nunez

Carew E Boulding

How does civil society affect support for the political system during times of political crises? Some argue that civil society strengthens support for political systems by increasing trust and participation. Yet recent scholarship demonstrates that civil society can also facilitate mobilization and dissent, which may undermine support for the political system especially in times of crisis. We test these competing claims using individual level data from a country in the midst of a major political crisis: Bolivia in 2004. We find that membership in civil society organizations leads to higher levels of diffuse support for the political system even during …


A Note On Monitoring Costs And Voter Fraud, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Gary Galles Jan 2014

A Note On Monitoring Costs And Voter Fraud, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Gary Galles

PHILIP E GRAVES

Election fraud can threaten democracy if many ineligible people are allowed to vote. The usual policy prescription is to increase monitoring cost. However, this is very costly. This paper proposes a more cost effective strategy: substitute tougher and consistent statutes across states against voter fraud.


The Critical Difference Between Republicans/Conservatives And Democrats/Liberals, Philip E. Graves Jan 2014

The Critical Difference Between Republicans/Conservatives And Democrats/Liberals, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There are, of course, a great many specific differences between the political positions of the two dominant political parties in America. After an introductory section characterizing those, section two suggests that the demarcation of critical importance between the parties relates to how they view the income distribution. Those self-identifying as Republican/Conservative tend to view the income distribution as an artifact of a host of individual work/leisure decisions with little policy relevance; those characterizing themselves as Democrat/Liberal tend to view the income distribution as a pure public good—in this view, private sector outcomes are expected to provide a non-optimally small amount …


Productive Complements: Too Often Neglected In The Principles Course?, Gary Galles, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton Jan 2014

Productive Complements: Too Often Neglected In The Principles Course?, Gary Galles, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton

PHILIP E GRAVES

Many great economic thinkers, including Alfred Marshall and William Stanley Jevons discussed the importance of joint production, or productive complements, and there are important applications. Yet many students today could complete an economics major and never be introduced to this important concept.