The Political Agenda Effect and State Centralization

The Political Agenda Effect and State Centralization PDF Author: Daron Acemoglu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Central-local government relations
Languages : en
Pages : 47

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Book Description
We provide a potential explanation for the absence of, and unwillingness to create, centralized power in the hands of a national state based on the political agenda effect. State centralization induces citizens of different backgrounds, interests, regions or ethnicities to coordinate their demands in the direction of more general-interest public goods, and away from parochial transfers. This political agenda effect raises the effectiveness of citizen demands and induces them to increase their investments in conflict capacity. In the absence of state centralization, citizens do not necessarily band together because of another force, the escalation effect, which refers to the fact that elites from different regions will join forces in response to the citizens doing so. Such escalation might hurt the citizen groups that have already solved their collective action problem (though it will benefit others). Anticipating the interplay of the political agenda and escalation effects, under some parameter configurations, political elites strategically opt for a non-centralized state. We show how the model generates non-monotonic comparative statics in response to the increase in the value or effectiveness of public goods (so that centralized states and public good provision are absent precisely when they are more beneficial for society). We also suggest how the formation of a social democratic party may sometimes induce state centralization (by removing the commitment value of a non-centralized state), and how elites may sometimes prefer partial state centralization.

The Political Agenda Effect and State Centralization

The Political Agenda Effect and State Centralization PDF Author: Daron Acemoglu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Central-local government relations
Languages : en
Pages : 47

Get Book Here

Book Description
We provide a potential explanation for the absence of, and unwillingness to create, centralized power in the hands of a national state based on the political agenda effect. State centralization induces citizens of different backgrounds, interests, regions or ethnicities to coordinate their demands in the direction of more general-interest public goods, and away from parochial transfers. This political agenda effect raises the effectiveness of citizen demands and induces them to increase their investments in conflict capacity. In the absence of state centralization, citizens do not necessarily band together because of another force, the escalation effect, which refers to the fact that elites from different regions will join forces in response to the citizens doing so. Such escalation might hurt the citizen groups that have already solved their collective action problem (though it will benefit others). Anticipating the interplay of the political agenda and escalation effects, under some parameter configurations, political elites strategically opt for a non-centralized state. We show how the model generates non-monotonic comparative statics in response to the increase in the value or effectiveness of public goods (so that centralized states and public good provision are absent precisely when they are more beneficial for society). We also suggest how the formation of a social democratic party may sometimes induce state centralization (by removing the commitment value of a non-centralized state), and how elites may sometimes prefer partial state centralization.

Oriental Despotism

Oriental Despotism PDF Author: Karl August Wittfogel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Civilization, Oriental
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Book Description


The Increasingly United States

The Increasingly United States PDF Author: Daniel J. Hopkins
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022653040X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
In a campaign for state or local office these days, you’re as likely today to hear accusations that an opponent advanced Obamacare or supported Donald Trump as you are to hear about issues affecting the state or local community. This is because American political behavior has become substantially more nationalized. American voters are far more engaged with and knowledgeable about what’s happening in Washington, DC, than in similar messages whether they are in the South, the Northeast, or the Midwest. Gone are the days when all politics was local. With The Increasingly United States, Daniel J. Hopkins explores this trend and its implications for the American political system. The change is significant in part because it works against a key rationale of America’s federalist system, which was built on the assumption that citizens would be more strongly attached to their states and localities. It also has profound implications for how voters are represented. If voters are well informed about state politics, for example, the governor has an incentive to deliver what voters—or at least a pivotal segment of them—want. But if voters are likely to back the same party in gubernatorial as in presidential elections irrespective of the governor’s actions in office, governors may instead come to see their ambitions as tethered more closely to their status in the national party.

The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralization

The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralization PDF Author: James Manor
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Nearly all countries worldwide are now experimenting with decentralization. Their motivation are diverse. Many countries are decentralizing because they believe this can help stimulate economic growth or reduce rural poverty, goals central government interventions have failed to achieve. Some countries see it as a way to strengthen civil society and deepen democracy. Some perceive it as a way to off-load expensive responsibilities onto lower level governments. Thus, decentralization is seen as a solution to many different kinds of problems. This report examines the origins and implications decentralization from a political economy perspective, with a focus on its promise and limitations. It explores why countries have often chosen not to decentralize, even when evidence suggests that doing so would be in the interests of the government. It seeks to explain why since the early 1980s many countries have undertaken some form of decentralization. This report also evaluates the evidence to understand where decentralization has considerable promise and where it does not. It identifies conditions needed for decentralization to succeed. It identifies the ways in which decentralization can promote rural development. And it names the goals which decentralization will probably not help achieve.

Policy Studies

Policy Studies PDF Author: Fouad Sabry
Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Why read "Policy Studies"? Understanding policy-making is crucial in our dynamic world. "Policy Studies," part of the "Political Science" series, offers a comprehensive look at how policies are formulated, implemented, and their global impact. This book provides valuable insights across various topics, ensuring a thorough understanding of contemporary governance. Chapter Overviews: 1. Policy Studies - Core concepts of policy studies and their relevance in modern governance. 2. Political Science - Foundations and intersection with policy studies. 3. Public Policy - Processes and principles of policy formulation and evaluation. 4. Foreign Policy - Dynamics and theories guiding countries' external actions. 5. Social Statistics - Role in providing empirical evidence for policy-making. 6. Master of Public Policy - Academic pathway and its significance. 7. Policy - Broader understanding and implications on society. 8. Development Communication - Impact on policy implementation in developing nations. 9. Public Administration - Role in policy implementation and effective governance. 10. Policy Analysis - Methodologies and tools for evaluating policies. 11. New Public Management - Focus on efficiency and performance in public administration. 12. Political Agenda - Role in shaping policy priorities and public debate. 13. Public Administration Theory - Theoretical underpinnings in real-world contexts. 14. University of Maryland School of Public Policy - Contributions to the field. 15. List of Master's Degrees in North America - Educational opportunities in policy-related fields. 16. Sociology - Intersection with policy studies and societal impacts. 17. Arthur MacMahon - Contributions to public administration and policy studies. 18. Master of Science in Development Administration - Focus on developing effective development policies. 19. Representative Bureaucracy - Significance in creating inclusive policies. 20. Policy Entrepreneur - Role in driving innovation within the policy landscape. 21. Carol Weiss - Influential work in policy analysis and evaluation. By reading "Policy Studies," you will gain a profound understanding of policy-making, equipping yourself with the knowledge to navigate and influence contemporary governance.

Public Service Performance

Public Service Performance PDF Author: George A. Boyne
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139460455
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
The performance of governments around the globe is constantly in the spotlight, whether as a celebration or indictment of their activities. Providing evidence on strategies to improve the performance of public agencies is therefore essential to the practice of public management. Originally published in 2006, this important contribution to the debate explores issues of measurement, research methodology, and management influences on performance. It focuses on three key questions: what approaches should be adopted to measure the performance of public agencies? What aspects of management influence the performance of public agencies? As the world globalizes, what are the key international issues in performance measurement and management? In examining these questions, the contributors debate both methodological and technical issues regarding the measurement of performance in public organizations, and provide empirical analyses of the determinants of performance. The book concludes with groundbreaking work on the international dimensions of these issues.

Nation Building

Nation Building PDF Author: Andreas Wimmer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691177384
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
A new and comprehensive look at the reasons behind successful or failed nation building Nation Building presents bold new answers to an age-old question. Why is national integration achieved in some diverse countries, while others are destabilized by political inequality between ethnic groups, contentious politics, or even separatism and ethnic war? Traversing centuries and continents from early nineteenth-century Europe and Asia to Africa from the turn of the twenty-first century to today, Andreas Wimmer delves into the slow-moving forces that encourage political alliances to stretch across ethnic divides and build national unity. Using datasets that cover the entire world and three pairs of case studies, Wimmer’s theory of nation building focuses on slow-moving, generational processes: the spread of civil society organizations, linguistic assimilation, and the states’ capacity to provide public goods. Wimmer contrasts Switzerland and Belgium to demonstrate how the early development of voluntary organizations enhanced nation building; he examines Botswana and Somalia to illustrate how providing public goods can bring diverse political constituencies together; and he shows that the differences between China and Russia indicate how a shared linguistic space may help build political alliances across ethnic boundaries. Wimmer then reveals, based on the statistical analysis of large-scale datasets, that these mechanisms are at work around the world and explain nation building better than competing arguments such as democratic governance or colonial legacies. He also shows that when political alliances crosscut ethnic divides and when most ethnic communities are represented at the highest levels of government, the general populace will identify with the nation and its symbols, further deepening national political integration. Offering a long-term historical perspective and global outlook, Nation Building sheds important new light on the challenges of political integration in diverse countries.

The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy

The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy PDF Author: Jeffery A. Jenkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019761860X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 985

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Book Description
This Handbook presents chapters that explore the causes and consequences of politics within economic history using social-scientific theory and methods.The first section summarizes the state of the field and provides an overview of the data and techniques typically used by HPE scholars. Subsequent chapters survey major HPE research areas in political economy, political science, and economics, as well as the long-run economic, political, and social consequences of historical political economy

Patterns of Democracy

Patterns of Democracy PDF Author: Arend Lijphart
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300189125
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
Examining 36 democracies from 1945 to 2010, this text arrives at conclusions about what type of democracy works best. It demonstrates that consensual systems stimulate economic growth, control inflation and unemployment, and limit budget deficits.

Barriers to Democracy

Barriers to Democracy PDF Author: Amaney A. Jamal
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400830508
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Democracy-building efforts from the early 1990s on have funneled billions of dollars into nongovernmental organizations across the developing world, with the U.S. administration of George W. Bush leading the charge since 2001. But are many such "civil society" initiatives fatally flawed? Focusing on the Palestinian West Bank and the Arab world, Barriers to Democracy mounts a powerful challenge to the core tenet of civil society initiatives: namely, that public participation in private associations necessarily yields the sort of civic engagement that, in turn, sustains effective democratic institutions. Such assertions tend to rely on evidence from states that are democratic to begin with. Here, Amaney Jamal investigates the role of civic associations in promoting democratic attitudes and behavioral patterns in contexts that are less than democratic. Jamal argues that, in state-centralized environments, associations can just as easily promote civic qualities vital to authoritarian citizenship--such as support for the regime in power. Thus, any assessment of the influence of associational life on civic life must take into account political contexts, including the relationships among associations, their leaders, and political institutions. Barriers to Democracy both builds on and critiques the multifaceted literature that has emerged since the mid-1990s on associational life and civil society. By critically examining associational life in the West Bank during the height of the Oslo Peace Process (1993-99), and extending her findings to Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, Jamal provides vital new insights into a timely issue.