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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Reconsidering Accountability For Environmental Inspectors: Trading 'Compliance By Computer' For Relationship Building, Michelle C. Pautz
Reconsidering Accountability For Environmental Inspectors: Trading 'Compliance By Computer' For Relationship Building, Michelle C. Pautz
Political Science Faculty Publications
Demands for government accountability extend into all the aspects of government service and the environmental realm is no different. Environmental inspectors — the front-line workers in environmental protection agencies — are among the many civil servants who face demands for accountability. Unfortunately, although accountability is desirable normatively speaking, in practice it is not so simple. Accountability for environmental inspectors frequently involves measures such as the number of inspections completed, the efficiency of data entry in agency databases, and the turnaround time on inspection reports. Such measures leave environmental inspectors, who ideally want — and practically need — to be in …
Government Ideology, Democracy And The Sacrifice Ratio: Evidence From Latin American And Caribbean Disinflations, Tony Caporale
Government Ideology, Democracy And The Sacrifice Ratio: Evidence From Latin American And Caribbean Disinflations, Tony Caporale
Economics and Finance Faculty Publications
This study uses a sample of 34 disinflations undertaken by thirteen Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations to test if political institutions impact the cost of policy induced disinflations. We find, after controlling for several of the most important covariates in the literature, that disinflations are less costly for right vs. left governments and that sacrifice ratios are lower for more democratic vs. authoritarian governmental regimes. This is robust to different measures of government ideology as well as to alternative ways of computing the sacrifice ratio and lends support for political economy literature which argues that political institutions have significant …
In The Eye Of The Beholder? Motivated Reasoning In Disputed Elections, Kyle C. Kopko, Sarah Mckinnon Bryner, Jeffrey Budziak, Christopher J. Devine, Steven P. Nawara
In The Eye Of The Beholder? Motivated Reasoning In Disputed Elections, Kyle C. Kopko, Sarah Mckinnon Bryner, Jeffrey Budziak, Christopher J. Devine, Steven P. Nawara
Political Science Faculty Publications
This study uses an experimental design to simulate the ballot counting process during a hand-recount after a disputed election. Applying psychological theories of motivated reasoning to the political process, we find that ballot counters’ party identification conditionally influences their ballot counting decisions. Party identification’s effect on motivated reasoning is greater when ballot counters are given ambiguous, versus specific, instructions for determining voter intent. This study’s findings have major implications for ballot counting procedures throughout the United States and for the use of motivated reasoning in the political science literature.
Network Legitimacy And Accountability In A Developmental Perspective, Richard K. Ghere
Network Legitimacy And Accountability In A Developmental Perspective, Richard K. Ghere
Political Science Faculty Publications
Public networks typically function beyond the lines of the hierarchical authorities that hold bureaucracies accountable, as is shown here in the case of a business-dominant network that exhibited ethically questionable behaviors at the expense of its community credibility. Public networks can build external legitimacy by engaging in critical organization learning processes, much the way some nongovernmental organizations respond to a diversity of stakeholders.
The Vice Presidential Home State Advantage Reconsidered: Analyzing The Interactive Effect Of Home State Population And Political Experience, 1884-2008, Christopher J. Devine, Kyle C. Kopko
The Vice Presidential Home State Advantage Reconsidered: Analyzing The Interactive Effect Of Home State Population And Political Experience, 1884-2008, Christopher J. Devine, Kyle C. Kopko
Political Science Faculty Publications
Previous research has found that presidential tickets perform particularly well in a vice presidential candidate's home state when that state is relatively low in population. In this article, we argue that selecting a vice presidential candidate from a small state is not sufficient to produce a large vice presidential home state advantage; rather, state population should matter only insofar as the vice presidential candidate has extensive experience within that state's political system. Analysis of presidential election returns from 1884 through 2008 demonstrates the statistically significant interactive effect of home state population and political experience on the size of the vice …
Religion, Politics, And Polity Replication: Religious Differences In Preferences For Institutional Design, Joshua D. Ambrosius
Religion, Politics, And Polity Replication: Religious Differences In Preferences For Institutional Design, Joshua D. Ambrosius
Political Science Faculty Publications
This article presents a theory of polity replication in which religious congregants prefer institutions in other realms of society, including the state, to be structured like their church. Polities, or systems of church governance and administration, generally take one of three forms: episcopal (hierarchical/centralized), presbyterian (collegial/regional), or congregational (autonomous/decentralized). When asked to cast a vote to shape institutions in a centralizing or decentralizing manner, voters are influenced by organizational values shaped by their respective religious traditions‘ polity structures. Past social scientific scholarship has neglected to explicitly connect religious affiliation, defined by polity, with members‘ stances on institutional design. However, previous …