World Political Science最新文献

{"title":"Critical Analysis of Civil Service Politicization in Slovenia","authors":"Marko Čehovin, M. Hacek","doi":"10.1515/WPS-2015-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/WPS-2015-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Even though some level of politicization is pressed into the “genetic material” of administrative systems, the majority of experts agree that a system with high levels of politicization is less efficient, as most individuals do not have the chance to develop their full potential. The weaknesses of politicization are even more devastating in smaller states such as Slovenia, as they have a limited amount of human resources available. Based on a detailed analysis of the politicization of civil service in Slovenia, the authors can confirm that the level of politicization is quite high. After accession into the European Union (2004) and the adoption of austerity laws (2010–2013), politicization increased even further. Despite the formal existence of a meritocratic civil service system, politicians have an increasingly decisive role in the employment and advancement of civil servants, and total control over the appointment and dismissal of senior civil servants. The authors conclude that the predominance of politicians with relationships to senior civil servants can be changed with relatively simple adjustments to formal acts.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"29 1","pages":"133 - 155"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81668866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Nagygate Affair, Corruption and Organized Crime: Corruption Networks and their Potential Impact on the Quality of Democracy in the Czech Republic","authors":"Petr Kupka, Michal Mocht’ak","doi":"10.1515/wps-2015-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2015-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper addresses the influence of organized crime on the performance of democracy in the Czech Republic and seeks to determine which dimensions of its political system (if any) are most endangered. We construe organized crime in terms of corruption networks, questioning in effect the predominant understanding of these two concepts as distinct or even exclusive phenomena. The paper thus construes corruption and organized crime as concepts referring to transgressive acts (i.e., behavior that involves a violation of moral or social boundaries that need not be legally codified), rather than in terms of legal norms. The influence of corruption networks is demonstrated using the “Nagygate” affair, which is analyzed using Maltz’s framework of potential harm. We argue that the debate on organized crime in the Czech Republic is, in fact, inherently tied to the study of corruption, since corruption constitutes an integral part of organized crime activity. Our findings are that transgressive behavior has a mostly negative impact, including loss of trust, the widespread belief that injustice goes unpunished, a weakening of the political system, and degeneration of the democratic regime. Moreover, the Nagygate scandal provides evidence that democratic institutions are not solely victims of organized crime but also a potential source of transgressive acts.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"35 1","pages":"157 - 185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90849535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Campaign-Personalization and Constituency Focus in a Mixed-Member Electoral System. The Case of Hungary","authors":"Zsófia Papp","doi":"10.1515/wps-2015-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2015-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The aim of this paper is to uncover the micro-factors structuring campaign personalization in the case of Hungarian Members of Parliament. It is presumed that in a party-centred environment, the effects of the various independent characteristics are filtered by the parties. Thus, due to the electoral rules, personalization cannot contradict party centeredness. Representatives do not wish to distance themselves from their parties. Personalization is more of the result of the positions they hold or wish to fill in than the desire to defy party lines out of individualistic motivations. Based on the data from the 2010 MP-survey of the Hungarian Election Study, the article unveils the circumstances under which campaign personalization prevails. The international scholarly literature sets several hypotheses with regards to the factors influencing three dimensions of campaign personalization (norms, means and agenda), out of which several will be tested in this article. The analysis concludes that even under party-centred circumstances, the role of individual motivations and habits cannot be overlooked in defining the degree of personalization, nevertheless the interpretation of such effects requires caution.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"38 1","pages":"75 - 95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87252089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Municipality as Negotiator in Multilevel Governance of Health Care","authors":"G. S. Hanssen, M. Helgesen, Ann Karin Tennås Holmen","doi":"10.1515/wps-2015-1003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2015-1003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article focuses on the new role of municipalities–as negotiators in multilevel governance of health services. The 2012 health care coordination reform in Norway involves a partnership between health services at the national and municipal levels. Negotiations in these regional partnerships result in regionally different solutions concerning the provision of health services. What does this new role of municipalities require with regards to political steering and administrative management? From interviews in nine municipalities and two regional health authorities, the authors find that the formal cooperation agreements have affected the interaction between municipalities and regional health authorities, with a shift from professional deliberation to strategic negotiations. The new negotiating role of the municipalities requires political will to clarify the room of maneuver for the negotiating actors and support the negotiating solutions when these are within the defined frames. The negotiations stimulate integration between management and professionals, in order to inform the chief executive officer, who is often the negotiator. The negotiators assume an essential role as bridge-builders between the political and professional world in the municipalities, and the professional world of the hospitals and regional health authorities.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"11 1","pages":"303 - 324"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82024894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Capacities, Expertise, Empowerment – Rethinking the Anthropology of Participation","authors":"Jean-Louis Genard","doi":"10.1515/wps-2015-1004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wps-2015-1004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Often studied in the context of political developments and the alleged shift from representative democracy to participatory democracy, participation is discussed here in terms of changes in our anthropological coordinates. The exigencies and expectations of participation are found in many areas that go beyond the political sphere, extending from the business world and its quality circles to the production of self-assembly kits calling for the buyer’s assembly skills. This extension of the field of participation is based on a certain number of anthropological presuppositions which ascribe to actors the capacities and competencies they are supposed to have, unless they are invited to enhance them through empowerment strategies in the event that they are failing or insufficient. This paper argues that evaluating people and the configuration of many recent social mechanisms tend increasingly to adjust to this new anthropological paradigm. Such is the case for political participation, new social policies, empowerment training, educational objectives, and development and health policies. Returning more specifically to political participation, the paper shows how these new anthropological coordinates reconfigure by redrawing the division between ordinary and specialized expertise and, in this way, the balance between spaces in which participatory democracy can take place and those that remain confined to technocratic expertise.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"26 1","pages":"227 - 244"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82102190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Japan’s Economic Assistance to the Republic of Korea, 1977–1981: An Analysis within the Framework of the US-Japan Security Burden-sharing Scheme","authors":"T. Ishida","doi":"10.1515/WPS-2015-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/WPS-2015-0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In January 1983, Japan finalized an economic assistance agreement with the Republic of Korea (ROK), pledging to extend $4 billion in economic aid to the country concerned. Prior to the finalization of the agreement, both countries held rounds of negotiation on the aid package conditions, and this led to them entering into a period of growing political friction. Despite this, a political consensus was eventually hammered out in 1983 over their disagreement, and this had a far-reaching effect in stabilizing the political relationship between the countries. Substantial academic research has been carried out on this topic, but the reasons behind Japan’s commitment to rounds of political negotiation with the ROK have yet to be positively analyzed and convincingly substantiated. In light of this fact, the main aim of this article is to analyze the motivational forces that brought Japan to the negotiating table with the ROK. More specifically, it focuses on analyzing the effects of the formalization process of the US-Japan agreement that served to induce Japan to address the ROK-aid negotiation issue conscientiously. The analysis reveals clearly that the major factor that spurred Japan to revisit its ROK’s aid package conditions was Japan’s concern over its security burden-sharing scheme with the United States. It is likely that in July 1981, in his summit meeting with President Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Suzuki Zenkō pledged to initiate official talks with the ROK in response to the ROK’s request for an extended economic aid package. In tracing the course of US-Japan political negotiations from the period between 1977 and the formalization of the ROK’s aid agreement, this analysis reveals that the United States and Japan were of one mind concerning the need for the agreement as one of the critical means of resolving a myriad of their security concerns. It is also shown, however, that the countries arrived at their shared view from different perspectives, which were politically beneficial to their own interests. On the one hand, the United States expected Japan to assume greater responsibilities in security burden sharing, in line with its global economic status. On the other hand, partly because of the political limitations of shouldering a regional security role, Japan’s primary concern was to minimize its share of security burdens as far as possible and in such a way as not to disrupt its harmonious relationship with the United States. On top of this, insofar as the United States was concerned, it seemed to be unwise to request that Japan overshare the bilateral security defense expenditure, which might be detrimental to its political stability at home and at the same time might affect the credibility of their security alliance. In sum, the article shows that the consensus on aid for the ROK was beneficial to both Japan and the United States in terms of resolving their differences in the political operation of their security alliance sche","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"4 1","pages":"279 - 302"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87571672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Formation of the Japan-ROK Security Relationship: The Response to the “Security Crisis” of 1968 under the Divided System of the Korean Peninsular and “Security Economic Cooperation”","authors":"Kyungwon Choi","doi":"10.1515/WPSR-2014-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/WPSR-2014-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The purpose of this article is to clear up the security relation between Japan and Korea which was formed through dealing the “security crisis” of 1968, which became the origin of the Japan-ROK security cooperation later called “Security Economic Cooperation.” The “security crisis” of 1968 has occurred when reunification by all-out war became impossible due to the establishment of the divided system of the Korean Peninsular. North Korea’s purpose was to bring down South Korea from within by armed guerrilla struggle and achieve the peninsula unity. Therefore, what Korea and Japan emphasized in dealing with this crisis was not how to all-out attack, but rather respond to the indirect aggression, such as guerrilla infiltrations. ROK asked Japan for cooperation concerning the enhancement of equipment of the police engaged in counter guerrilla operations. They have explained Japan that the possibility of an all-out war was low, and that even if war happened to occur, they could respond with the mutual defense treaty with the US. They wanted to respond by strengthening their police equipment and this is why they have requested special assistance from Japan. The Ministry of foreign affairs of Japan and the Prime Minister Sato decided to cooperate to Korea. One reason behind this decision was that they had recognized that ROK was not assuming a conventional war, but just seeking to secure national security by dealing with guerrilla activity. However, ROK ultimately withdrew its request. The pressing issue of drought damage inside the country and the “distrust toward Japan” doubting how willing Japan is toward ROK security, were the cause of the change of ROK’s position. The fact that both countries have discussed and found possible areas of cooperation, and security cooperation has been sought, are significant. Its characteristics are as follows. First, it has clarified the political position of both countries to counter North Korean indirect aggressions. Japan and ROK have shared their perception of the internal security situation problem of ROK due to the indirect aggressions from North Korea, and have inserted the sentence “Ministers of both countries recognize that ROK’s security and prosperity have significant impact on Japanese’s ones” to the Joint Statement at the second Korea-Japan regular ministerial summit. Secondly, in order to ensure the internal security of ROK, Japan and ROK have sought for cooperation to enhance the equipment of the police engaged in counter guerrilla operations. ROK and Japan, while premising on the treaty of alliance with the US, identified new threats from indirect aggressions and tried to find areas of possible cooperation. This has showed the potentiality of security cooperation between Japan and Korea. Thirdly, is the fact that South Korea has ultimately withdrawn the request for police equipment cooperation and eventually switched to a request for emergency economic assistance to focus on domestic stability","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"76 1","pages":"237 - 259"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74238174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"E-Government and Corruption: A Cross-Country Survey","authors":"Jin-Wook Choi","doi":"10.1515/wpsr-2014-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wpsr-2014-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article aims to examine the effect of e-Government on corruption. Although e-Government in public administration has been studied in the context of efficiency enhancement, recent research has shed light on the causality between e-Government and corruption. However, the majority of previous studies have focused on one-country or anecdote-based analysis of which the results are not generalizable. Analyzing country-level data, this article attempts to provide a basis for a broader generalization regarding the impact of e-Government on corruption. Through controlling traditional causes of corruption such as the level of economic development, the size of government, and the degree of government regulation, the results of the empirical analysis of this article show that e-Government has a positive influence on corruption reduction. Considering that the notion of e-Government is broad in terms of areas and ranges, this article breaks down e-Government into the three components of telecommunication infrastructure, online participation, and online services. These three components are connected conceptually with ICT infrastructure, and transparency, accountability and empowerment driven by e-Government. Empirical results confirm that these three e-Government dimensions have a statistically significant influence on corruption. Findings suggest that e-Government can be regarded as a pragmatic anti-corruption strategy in the sense that most governments are eager to adopt e-Government systems.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"3 1","pages":"217 - 236"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76708016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Special Majority Cabinet? Supported Minority Governance and Parliamentary Behavior in the Netherlands","authors":"S. Otjes, Tom Louwerse","doi":"10.1515/wpsr-2014-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wpsr-2014-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article studies how the presence of the supported minority government Rutte-I affected patterns of legislative behavior. On the basis of the literature on minority cabinets, one would expect that during supported minority cabinets parliamentary parties cooperate more often across the division between coalition and opposition than under multiparty majority cabinet rule. Examining almost 30,000 parliamentary votes between 1994 and 2012, this study finds that on a host of indicators of coalition-opposition-cooperation, there was less cooperation “across the aisle” during the Rutte-I cabinet than during any cabinet before it. We explain this with reference to the encompassing nature of the support agreement as well as the impact of the cabinets’ ideological composition.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"35 1","pages":"343 - 363"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72894328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Negative and Personalized Campaign Rhetoric: Party Communication and Media Coverage of Danish Parliamentary Elections 1994–2011","authors":"Christian Elmelund-Præstekær, Helle Mølgaard-Svensson","doi":"10.1515/wpsr-2014-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/wpsr-2014-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Danish 2011 national election campaign was allegedly characterized by the toughest political rhetoric ever in contemporary Danish politics. The political parties and the candidates apparently decided to “go negative” to a greater extent than usually. But was the 2011 campaign rhetoric actually the most negative in modern history? We seek the answer by means of quantitative content analysis of parties’ newspaper ads, party leaders’ letters to the editor and statements in party leader debates. We first compare the 2011 campaign with the five preceding campaigns and conclude that it was indeed the least negative of them all. We then compare the parties’ communication and the media coverage of the campaign to discover that the media strongly – and increasingly – emphasize the parties’ negative campaign messages relative to the positive messages. In sum: Danish parties were not especially prone to engage in negative campaigning in the 2011 election, but the media made the parties look more negative than in earlier campaigns.","PeriodicalId":37883,"journal":{"name":"World Political Science","volume":"18 1","pages":"365 - 384"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90763707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}