Are parliaments with more parties cheaper to bribe?

We collect data about 172 countries: their parliaments, level of corruption, perceptions of corruption of parliament and political parties. We find weak empirical evidence supporting the conclusion that corruption increases as the number of parties increases. To provide a theoretical explanation of this finding we present a simple theoretical model of parliaments formed by parties, which must decide whether to accept or reject a proposal in the presence of a briber, who is interested in having the bill passed. We compute the number of deputies the briber needs to persuade on average in parliaments with different structures described by the number of parties, the voting quota, and the allocation of seats among parties. We find that the average number of seats needed to be bribed decreases as the number of parties increases. Restricting the minimal number of seats a party may have, we show that the average number of seats to be bribed is smaller in parliaments without small parties. Restricting the maximum number of seats a party may have, we find that under simple majority the average number of seats needed to be bribed is smaller for parliaments in which one party has majority, but under qualified majority it hardly changes.

The Electoral Rise of Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe: Ideological Parameters and Social Motivations

Populist radical right parties have become major political actors in Europe. This paper analyses the path and the different phases that have led them from the fringes of public debate to their present signifi cance, which is based on their capacity to attract electoral support and infl uence the political agendas in their respective countries. Besides, an analysis of the core ideological beliefs of these parties, and of the topics on which their mobilization capacity rests, is provided, as well as of the type of voters that are attracted by them. Finally, the authors discuss the meaning and impact of the growing popularity of the ideas and proposals put forward by the populist radical right parties.

Party Members’ Preferences and the Changing Nature of Party Representation: Does Representation Change when Parties become Mini-Republics?

Giovanni Sartori famously wrote that political parties do not need to be mini-republics, yet today parties in many parliamentary democracies are moving in this direction by giving their members direct votes over important decisions, including selecting party leaders and settling policy issues. This paper explores some of the implications of these changes. It asks whether the addition of membership rights affects the types of members who are attracted: do we find a bigger gap between the preferences of party members and of party voters in parties that are more plebiscitary, as literature on members' motivations might lead us to expect? The paper examines this question both cross-sectionally and longitudinally using opinion data from the European Social Survey and newly-available party organizational data from the Political Party Database project.

Five Prime Ministers : a crisis, a political aberration or the new normal

Política externa chilena e espectro ideológico político-partidário: um estudo sobre a Câmara dos Deputados (2002-2006)

The influence of political parties on decisions made by members of Congress is a hotly debated issue in political science. In foreign policy, which is usually considered nonpartisan, the matter is even more inconclusive. The current study analyzes all the roll-call votes taken on foreign policy issues in the 2002-2006 legislature of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies. After tracing a spatial map of foreign policy preferences among Chilean Deputies using the Nominate statistical package, we concluded that the ideology of the legislator's political party is a predictive factor for his or her foreign policy behavior. Our findings indicate that the way Chilean legislators structure their preferences on foreign policy issues does not differ significantly from the way they shape their domestic policy preferences.

Postmaterialist and economic voting in Australia, 1990-98

Recent research in Australian sociology and political science has debated the extent to which postmaterialist values and economic self-interest shape voting in federal elections. Some researchers have argued that postmaterialist values have partly displaced materialist concerns with physical security and economic well-being in Australian public life. This displacement, coupled with the adoption by major political parties of postmaterialist 'quality of life' issues such as the environment, has meant that voting in Australia has come to be more dependent on postmaterialist values than on perceptions of economic interest. Other research, however, has found no relationship between postmaterialist values and voting behaviour, while economic evaluations remain a strong determinant of voting behaviour. Part of the disagreement reflects methodological differences in the research. But different methodological problems compromise each of the previous studies. In this paper we use data from the 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1998 Australian Election Studies to investigate postmaterialist and economic voting in the Commonwealth House of Representatives and the Senate. Using various statistical methods, we first explore bivariate relationships between key variables and then use multivariate models of postmaterialist and economic voting to adjudicate between the contending positions.

Resenha de estudos sobre o executivo

Este artigo ?? uma resenha da literatura sobre o Executivo que discute o impacto dos sistemas parlamentarista e presidencialista na capacidade governamental de formular e implementar pol??ticas p??blicas. Ao longo do texto, busca-se identificar fatores que permitem ou bloqueiam o exerc??cio de uma fun????o coordenadora e unificadora de a????es, analisando a rela????o entre os poderes Executivo e Legislativo, a estrutura do poder Executivo e as rela????es entre o Executivo pol??tico e a burocracia. Os estudos sobre parlamentarismo enfocam: import??ncia dos partidos, papel dos ministros, extens??o do poder do primeiro ministro e papel coletivo do gabinete. J?? os trabalhos sobre presidencialismo v??o de pesquisas sobre o Congresso norte-americano, envolvendo infer??ncias estat??sticas e an??lises baseadas na teoria institucional a estudos de caso sobre a American Politics (presid??ncia e lideran??a). Apesar das diferen??as entre parlamentarismo e presidencialismo, a literatura indica que mecanismos institucionais de controle de agenda produzem os mesmos efeitos nos dois sistemas.

Porque Sá Carneiro queria integrar o PSD na Internacional Socialista?

Tal como na ascensão do nazismo, não será que a social-democracia portuguesa e europeia estará a subestimar agora de novo a presente ascensão da “social” extrema-direita racista europeia ao desprezar os mais fracos, sejam estes países ou pessoas? Bem tinha razão, Francisco Sá Carneiro!; § Abstract:As the rise of Nazism, is not that the Portuguese and European social democracy is to underestimate now again this rise of "social" racist European extreme right to despise the weak, be they countries or people? Well he was right, Francisco Sá Carneiro!

CONTAS, CORRUPÇÃO E BRANQUEAMENTO

Caso prático: das coisas mais fáceis que há para aí, seja em entidades colectivas públicas, seja em pessoas privadas – empresas, partidos políticos, sindicatos, associações e por aí afora -, é falsificar e manipular contas – sabem bem os contabilistas. Outra das coisas que também se faz com facilidade, são leis-alfaiate à medida ou por encomenda, sobretudo num país onde os chamados lóbis nem sequer estão regulamentados – sabem-no bem os juristas. § Case study: of the easiest things is there to there, whether in public legal entities, whether private persons - companies, political parties, unions, associations and besides there - it is falsifying and manipulating accounts - know and accountants. Another thing that also makes easily, are tailor-laws as or to order, especially in a country where so-called lobbyists are not even regulated - are well aware of the jurists.

Partidos políticos e direito de oposição a Pirro

Art. 114º da Constituição da República Portuguesa: “1. Os partidos políticos participam nos órgãos baseados no sufrágio universal e directo, de acordo com a sua representatividade eleitoral. 2. É reconhecido às minorias o direito de oposição democrática, nos termos da Constituição e da lei. 3. Os partidos políticos representados na Assembleia da República e que não façam parte do Governo gozam, designadamente, do direito de serem informados regular e directamente pelo Governo sobre o andamento dos principais assuntos de interesse público, de igual direito gozando os partidos políticos representados nas Assembleias Legislativas das regiões autónomas e em quaisquer outras assembleias designadas por eleição directa relativamente aos correspondentes executivos de que não façam parte.”. § Article 114 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. "1. Political parties shall participate in organs based on direct and universal suffrage, according to their electoral representation. 2. It is recognized minorities the right to democratic opposition, under the Constitution and the law. 3. Political parties represented in Parliament and not forming part of the Government shall, in particular, the right to be informed regularly and directly by the Government on the progress of the main matters of public interest, equal rights enjoying the political parties represented in Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions and any other assemblies formed through direct elections with respect to the corresponding executives who are not part. ".

O uso que os partidos políticos fazem do facebook

A dissertação que ora apresentamos é um requisito para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Gestão Estratégica das Relações Públicas, pelo Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa - Escola Superior de Comunicação Social. Intitulado ‘O Uso que os Partidos Políticos Portugueses fazem do Facebook’, este estudo foi desenvolvido para tentarmos analisar e perceber o que os partidos políticos comunicam pelas suas páginas oficiais e nacionais na maior rede social. Inserido num contexto altamente relacional, ideológico e informacional, num mundo global em constantes mutações, que papel dão as organizações políticas à ferramenta de comunicação que se tornou o Facebook? Dos resultados obtidos, percebemos que dos seis partidos políticos portugueses com assento parlamentar – PSD, PS, CDS-PP, PCP, BE e PEV – nem todos detinham páginas oficiais e nacionais no Facebook, sendo que aqueles que as detêm ainda não retiram total partido das potencialidades da ferramenta de comunicação directa, imediata e interactiva que é a rede social. Apesar do transversal reconhecimento da sua importância, os partidos portugueses relegam a importância da criação de relações duradouras com o público através do Facebook.

Definição de conjuntos de freguesias tipo para estimação eleitoral: eleições legislativas no período 1983 - 2005

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciência e Sistemas de Informação Geográfica

Patterns of Associational Life in Western Europe, 1800-2000

Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of Political and Social Science of the European University Institute