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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Political Economy Of Polarized Pluralism, Salvatore Babones, Riccardo Pelizzo Dec 2004

The Political Economy Of Polarized Pluralism, Salvatore Babones, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Sartori’s party system typology at least because, as Peter Mair recently pointed out, “there has been very little new thinking on how to classify systems since the seminal work of Sartori” (Mair, forthcoming). The first important party system taxonomy was proposed by Duverger in his Political Parties (1951). Duverger in this classic study identified three types of party systems: the one party system, the two party system and the multi-party system. By the early 1960s Sartori had become quite unhappy with this typology (Sartori, 1982). Sartori thought that both the one-party and …


Development Of Land Rental Markets In Rural Zhejiang: Growth Of Off-Farm Jobs And Institution Building, Qian Forrest Zhang, Qingguo Ma, Xu Xu Dec 2004

Development Of Land Rental Markets In Rural Zhejiang: Growth Of Off-Farm Jobs And Institution Building, Qian Forrest Zhang, Qingguo Ma, Xu Xu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We employ survey data collected in 2001 in Zhejiang province to investigate patterns and determinants of land market development. Previous studies have noted the correlation between growth of off-farm jobs and rental-market development at the aggregate level, but failed empirically to demonstrate mechanisms at the disaggregate level. Our analyses find concrete evidence at the household level connecting developments in labour and land markets. Growth in off-farm jobs allow rural households to transfer labour out of farming and prompt them to relinquish land rights, generating a supply of land that drives rental activities. We also go beyond interactions between factor markets …


Economic Transition And New Patterns Of Parent-Adult Child Coresidence In Urban China, Qian Forrest Zhang Dec 2004

Economic Transition And New Patterns Of Parent-Adult Child Coresidence In Urban China, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study uses national data from the 1996 Life History and Social change in Contemporary China survey (N = 3,087) to gauge the effect of the economic transition on parent-adult child coresidence in urban China. Previous studies find that, thanks to state actions, traditional patterns in coresidence persisted in post-Mao urban China. This study still finds high levels of coresidence. China's aging population, coupled with an underdeveloped social security system, means that the traditional role of family will remain strong. It also uncovers three new patterns, however, best explained as caused by changes in the economic realm. First, the coresidence …


The Changing Political Economy Of Party Membership, Riccardo Pelizzo Nov 2004

The Changing Political Economy Of Party Membership, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A recent survey conducted in a sample of 83 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in collaboration with the World Bank Institute on the “Relations between the Legislature and the Executive in the Context of Parliamentary Oversight” allows cross-national comparison for the role of legislatures in the budgetary process. One of the survey’s most significant indications is that legislatures in presidential systems are generally more involved in the preparation of the budget than legislatures in either parliamentary or semi-presidential systems. The picture, however, is very different when we look at legislatures’ oversight of the budget. Parliaments are generally more involved in …


The Changing Political Economy Of Party Membership, Riccardo Pelizzo Nov 2004

The Changing Political Economy Of Party Membership, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although few scholars would dispute from an empirical point of view the fact that parties change their electoral strategies, ideological stances and organizational structures over time, there is not much agreement on how these changes, above all party organizational change, have to be understood from a theoretical point of view. This is especially true with regard to the transformations that party organizations have undergone from the early 1970s on. In fact, although party organizational changes in the past three decades have generally been considered to be signs of the so called party crisis, the agreement on this analytical perspective is …


The Paradox Of Promoting Creativity In The Asian Classroom: An Empirical Investigation, Aik Kwang Ng, Ian Smith Oct 2004

The Paradox Of Promoting Creativity In The Asian Classroom: An Empirical Investigation, Aik Kwang Ng, Ian Smith

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To shed light on the paradox of promoting creativity in the Asian classroom, the authors conducted 3 studies. The 1st study found that novice teachers classified student behaviors as desirable but uncreative (DBU) versus creative but undesirable (CBU). The 2nd study found that conservative-autocratic teachers were more likely to encourage DBU behaviors in class, whereas liberal-democratic teachers were more likely to encourage CBU behaviors in class. The 3rd study found that cultural individualism—collectivism had a positive impact on liberal—democratic teaching attitude but a negative impact on conservative—autocratic teaching attitude. In turn, liberal—democratic teaching attitude had a positive impact on the …


Legislative Ethics And Codes Of Conduct, Rick Stapenhurst, Riccardo Pelizzo Oct 2004

Legislative Ethics And Codes Of Conduct, Rick Stapenhurst, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to discuss why and how ethics reforms have been enacted by many parliaments in the course of the past decade. Our argument is fairly straightforward. Politicians’ perceived irresponsiveness, various forms of misconduct and corruption scandals have eroded voters’ trust in politicians and political institutions. In order to induce a more ethical behavior among politicians as well as to rebuild public trust in political institutions, ethics regimes have been adopted by several legislatures. Such regimes have generally taken two main forms: ethics codes and conduct codes. Ethics codes tend to be fairly general documents: they …


Is The Good Life The Easy Life?, Christie N. Scollon, Laura A. King Sep 2004

Is The Good Life The Easy Life?, Christie N. Scollon, Laura A. King

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Three studies examined folk concepts of the good life. Participants rated the desirability and moral goodness of a life as a function of the happiness, meaning, and effort experienced. Happiness and meaning were solid predictors of the good life, replicating King and Napa (1998). Study 1 (N = 381) included wealth as an additional factor. Results showed little desire for exorbitant (over moderate) wealth, but also a desire to avoid poverty. When effort was operationalized as number of hours worked, respondents desired the easy life, particularly at moderate levels of income. When effort was operationalized as effortful engagement (Study 2), …


The Eu And The Npt: Testing The New European Nonproliferation Strategy, Clara Portela Jul 2004

The Eu And The Npt: Testing The New European Nonproliferation Strategy, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Only a few years ago, the idea that the European Union (EU) could become a significant actor in the nuclear nonproliferation regime would have met with great scepticism. An organisation comprising nuclear weapon states (NWS) along with non-nuclear weapons states (NNWS) - some of who are disarmament-minded - would have been considered incapable of framing any common response to nuclear proliferation. And yet, today we find that the EU is establishing itself as an actor in the field of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and that it has even developed a Strategy to guide its endeavours.This article will …


The Case For Clumsiness, Michael Thompson, Marco Verweij Jun 2004

The Case For Clumsiness, Michael Thompson, Marco Verweij

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Most climatologists agree that by burning fossil fuels and engaging in other forms of consumption and production we are increasing the amount of greenhouse gases that float around in the atmosphere. These gases, in trapping some of the sun’s heat, warm the earth and enable life. The trouble is, some predict, that if we continue to accumulate those gases, over the course of the new century the average temperature on earth will rise and local climates will change, with possibly catastrophic consequences. Will this indeed happen? If so, should we do something about it? And if yes, what and when? …


Emotions Across Cultures And Methods, Christie N. Scollon, Ed Diener, Shigehiro Oishi, Robert Biswas-Diener May 2004

Emotions Across Cultures And Methods, Christie N. Scollon, Ed Diener, Shigehiro Oishi, Robert Biswas-Diener

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Participants included 46 European American, 33 Asian American, 91 Japanese, 160 Indian, and 80 Hispanic students (N = 416). Discrete emotions, as well as pleasant and unpleasant emotions, were assessed: (a) with global self-report measures, (b) using an experience-sampling method for 1 week, and (c) by asking participants to recall their emotions from the experience sampling week. Cultural differences emerged for nearly all measures. The inclusion of indigenous emotions in India and Japan did not alter the conclusions substantially, although pride showed a pattern across cultures that differed from the other positive emotions. In all five culturalgroupsandforbothpleasantandunpleasantemotions,globalreportsof emotionpredictedretrospective recall even …


Behind Closed Doors: Governmental Transparency Gives Way To Secrecy, Ann Florini Apr 2004

Behind Closed Doors: Governmental Transparency Gives Way To Secrecy, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A few years ago, I sat at a table in a Washington think-tank with a group of mid-level Japanese officials. They were spending several weeks in the United States on a study tour, and I was meeting with them to give a talk on governance and access to information. Japan had recently passed, but not yet implemented, a sweeping freedom of information law, and the bureaucrats were puzzled about how they were to implement it. Or even whether they should implement it. After all, as one earnest young woman asked, if the government starts giving people information, they might want …


How To Be Chinese: Ethnic Chinese Experience A 'Reawakening' Of Their Chinese Identity, Chang Yau Hoon Apr 2004

How To Be Chinese: Ethnic Chinese Experience A 'Reawakening' Of Their Chinese Identity, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The post-Suharto era is an exciting period for Chinese Indonesians and other minority ethnic groups in Indonesia. After over three decades of cultural and political repression, Chinese Indonesians are now being given the opportunity to express their identity. The re-emergence of Chinese religion, language, and press in Indonesia since the end of the New Order, has had a significant impact on the development of ethnic Chinese identity. The strongly anti-Chinese sentiment expressed in the May 1998 riots in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia, including the looting of Chinese-owned shops and businesses and the racially-motivated rapes, drastically altered the position of …


Contextualism Reconsidered: Some Skeptical Reflections, Chandran Kukathas Apr 2004

Contextualism Reconsidered: Some Skeptical Reflections, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A number of theorists have touted the merits of the contextual approach to political theory, arguing that a close examination of real-world cases is more likely to yield both theoretical insight and practical solutions to pressing problems. This is particularly evident, it is argued, in the field of multiculturalism in political theory. The present paper offers some skeptical reflections on this view, arguing the merits of a view of political theory which sees the contextual approach as less distinctive than its proponents imagine, and less useful than many would suggest. It maintains that there are serious limits to what political …


The Impact Of War And Wartime On Transition To Adulthood: Vietnam, 1940-1990, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan Apr 2004

The Impact Of War And Wartime On Transition To Adulthood: Vietnam, 1940-1990, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

During the latter half of the 20th century, Vietnam experienced nearly continuous wars, including the Vietnam War (1965-1975). Wars afflicted young Vietnamese adults most and left profound imprints on the life course of those who survived. Based on the 1995 Vietnam Longitudinal Survey, my study uses the life course approach to document how war affects the timing and sequencing of early life course transitions for the Vietnamese growing up between the 1940s and the 1990s. The life course transitions examined include leaving school and entering labor force and first marriage and first birth. I study the impact of war by …


Is Global Civil Society A Good Thing?, Ann Florini Mar 2004

Is Global Civil Society A Good Thing?, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Washingtons — Tanks in the streets of Seattle in 1999. Molotov cocktails in Prague in 2000. Gunfire in Genoa in 2001. A hundred thousand people gathering every winter in a World Social Forum to talk about how to improve the world. Global agreements on everything from human rights protections to banning weapons systems. Fifteen million people on the streets in cities around the world on a single day in 2003 to protest the Iraq war. These headlines reflect the rise of a force now so potent in world affairs that the New York Times has referred to it as “the …


Cross-Situational Consistency Of Affective Experiences Across Cultures, Shigehiro Oishi, Ed Diener, Christie N. Scollon, Robert Biswas-Diener Mar 2004

Cross-Situational Consistency Of Affective Experiences Across Cultures, Shigehiro Oishi, Ed Diener, Christie N. Scollon, Robert Biswas-Diener

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study examined cross-situational consistency of affective experiences using an experience-sampling method in Japan, India, and the United States. Participants recorded their moods and situations when signaled at random moments for 7 days. The authors examined relative (interindividual) consistency and absolute (within-person) consistency. They found stable interindividual differences of affective experiences across various situations (mean r = .52 for positive affect .51 for negative affect) and cultural invariance of the cross-situational consistency of affective experiences. Simultaneously, the authors found a considerable degree of within-person cross-situational variation in affective experiences, and cultural differences in within-person cross-situational consistency. Thus, global affective traits …


Cultural Geography: By Whom, For Whom?, Lily Kong Feb 2004

Cultural Geography: By Whom, For Whom?, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The "cultural turn," coupled by the "spatial turn" in recent years has drawn significant attention to cultural geography from those in other subdisciplines and disciplines. One might forgive those who sometimes mistake particular research as cultural geography which is in fact conducted by non-geographers or geographers who would not ordinarily identify themselves as cultural geographers. A pointed moment that illustrated this to me was when a sociology colleague insisted that he had read cultural geography, and when asked, indicated that he had read Nigel Thrift and Ash Amin. One interpretation of this is, as Shurmer-Smith (1996) offered through her title …


Parliamentary Libraries, Institutes And Offices: The Sources Of Parliamentary Information, Robert Miller, Riccardo Pelizzo, Rick Stapenhurst Jan 2004

Parliamentary Libraries, Institutes And Offices: The Sources Of Parliamentary Information, Robert Miller, Riccardo Pelizzo, Rick Stapenhurst

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


The Case For Open Immigration, Chandran Kukathas Jan 2004

The Case For Open Immigration, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

People favor or are opposed to immigration for a variety of reasons. It is therefore difficult to tie views about immigration to ideological positions. While it seems obviousthat political conservatives are the most unlikely to defend freedom of movement,and that socialists and liberals (classical and modern) are very likely to favor more openborders, in reality wariness (if not outright hostility) to immigration can be foundamong all groups. Even libertarian anarchists have advanced reasons to restrict themovement of peoples.


Nationalism And Multiculturalism, Chandran Kukathas Jan 2004

Nationalism And Multiculturalism, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

If any issue dominates contemporary political theory, it is how to deal with cultural diversity and the claims –moral, legal, and political – made in the name of ethnic, religious, linguistic, or national allegiance (Kymlicka,2001: 17). Today, governments are confronted by demands from cultural minorities for recognition, protection,preferential treatment, and political autonomy within the boundaries of the state. Equally, international societyand its political institutions, as well as states themselves, have had to deal with demands from various peoplesfor political recognition as independent nations, and for national self-determination. The turbulent politics ofthe contemporary world may account in part for this development: …


Revisiting The Asian Values Argument Used By Asian Political Leaders And Its Validity, Chang Yau Hoon Jan 2004

Revisiting The Asian Values Argument Used By Asian Political Leaders And Its Validity, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Does The Parliament Make A Difference? The Role Of The Italian Parliament In Financial Policy, Carolyn Forestiere, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2004

Does The Parliament Make A Difference? The Role Of The Italian Parliament In Financial Policy, Carolyn Forestiere, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A recent survey conducted in a sample of 83 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in collaboration with the World Bank Institute on the Relations between the Legislature and the Executive in the Context of Parliamentary Oversight allows cross-national comparison for the role of legislatures in the budgetary process. One of the survey’s most significant indications is that legislatures in presidential systems are generally more involved in the preparation of the budget than legislatures in either parliamentary or semi-presidential systems. The picture, however, is very different when we look at legislatures’ oversight of the budget. Parliaments are generally more involved in …


Tools For Legislative Oversight: An Empirical Investigation, Riccardo Pelizzo, Rick Stapenhurst Jan 2004

Tools For Legislative Oversight: An Empirical Investigation, Riccardo Pelizzo, Rick Stapenhurst

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Parliaments are the institutions through which governments are held accountable to the electorate. They have a wide range of tools with which to carry out this oversight function, but until recently little analysis had been undertaken on the characteristics or use of such tools. This paper uses data for 83 countries that was collected in 2001 to investigate whether the oversight potential relates to three variables, namely the form of government (presidential, semi-presidential, or parliamentary), per capita income levels, and the level of democracy. The paper finds that oversight potential is greatly affected by the form of government, per capita …


A Regional Approach To Human Security In East Asia: Global Debate, Regional Insecurity And The Role Of Civil Society, James T. H. Tang Jan 2004

A Regional Approach To Human Security In East Asia: Global Debate, Regional Insecurity And The Role Of Civil Society, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The concept of human security as a new paradigm presents a particular challenge for East Asia. While the region experienced dramatic political, economic and social transformations in the last few decades, much of the region’s key security concerns are state-focused. In fact East Asian regional security structures that are products of the Cold War era have remained largely intact.


From Principle To Practice: Constitutional Principles And The Transformation Of Party Finance In Germany And Italy, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2004

From Principle To Practice: Constitutional Principles And The Transformation Of Party Finance In Germany And Italy, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The paper investigates the development of party finance and party finance legislation in Germany and Italy. The main claim of the paper is that the differences between German and Italian party finance reflect differences in the party finance legislation enacted in the two countries, which, in their turn, are a result of how the German and the Italian constitutional principles were translated into practice.


The Effects Of Perceived Identity And Justice Experiences With An Adr Institution On Managers’ Decisions, Shu-Cheng Chi, Hwa-Hwa Tsai, Ming-Hong Tsai Jan 2004

The Effects Of Perceived Identity And Justice Experiences With An Adr Institution On Managers’ Decisions, Shu-Cheng Chi, Hwa-Hwa Tsai, Ming-Hong Tsai

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study samples 78 business decision‐makers whose cases were part of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, i.e., the Public Construction Commission (PCC), which operates under the government in Taiwan, between 1997 and early 2000. The authors propose an interaction between two variations of trust—category‐based trust and experience‐based trust—and hypothesize that decision‐makers’ perceived identity with new versus old government ideology and past justice experiences (with the PCC) would jointly affect their decision preferences. The results partially support these hypotheses. The authors emphasize the critic role of trustworthiness of the third‐party ADR providers. We conclude with a discussion of the implications …


Trends In Parliamentary Oversight: Proceedings From A Panel At The 2004 Southern Political Science Association Conference, Riccardo Pelizzo, David Olson, Rick Stapenhurst Jan 2004

Trends In Parliamentary Oversight: Proceedings From A Panel At The 2004 Southern Political Science Association Conference, Riccardo Pelizzo, David Olson, Rick Stapenhurst

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.