Suchergebnisse

Democracy is often described as a system in which a majority of electors choose one out of a number of competing parties to form a government and carry out its programme. Unfortunately, spontaneous majorities rarely form in support of one party. We generalize from a 'government' to a 'median' mandate, in which the median elector chooses the pivotal party in parliament, which then translates his or her preferences into public policy. To check this we investigate how accurately parliaments and governments represent the left-right position of the median voter in each of twenty parliamentary democracies. Distortions depend on the type of electoral arrangement, being relatively smaller under proportional representation than under single-member districts. Distortions do not equate to biased representation, however. Once we consider how distortions at one step or one time are compensated by distortions in the opposite direction at another, overall representation of the median voter position is reasonably ...

Democracy is often described as a system in which a majority of electors choose one out of a number of competing parties to form a government & carry out its program. Unfortunately, spontaneous majorities rarely form in support of one party. We generalize from a 'government' to a 'median' mandate, in which the median elector chooses the pivotal party in parliament, which then translates his or her preferences into public policy. To check this we investigate how accurately parliaments & governments represent the Left-Right position of the median voter in each of 20 parliamentary democracies. Distortions depend on the type of electoral arrangement, being relatively smaller under proportional representation than under single-member districts. Distortions do not equate to biased representation, however. Once we consider how distortions at one step or one time are compensated by distortions in the opposite direction at another, overall representation of the median voter position is reasonably accurate. 7 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Appendix. Adapted from the source document.

Democracy is often described as a system in which a majority of electors choose one out of a number of competing parties to form a government and carry out its programme. Unfortunately, spontaneous majorities rarely form in support of one party. We generalize from a 'government' to a 'median' mandate, in which the median elector chooses the pivotal party in parliament, which then translates his or her preferences into public policy. To check this we investigate how accurately parliaments and governments represent the left–right position of the median voter in each of twenty parliamentary democracies. Distortions depend on the type of electoral arrangement, being relatively smaller under proportional representation than under single-member districts. Distortions do not equate to biased representation, however. Once we consider how distortions at one step or one time are compensated by distortions in the opposite direction at another, overall representation of the median voter position is reasonably accurate.

The needs of students who are deafblind are unique in that it is not simply the addition of vision loss and hearing loss but the impact of both together. Often times, professionals who work with students who are deafblind face challenges for which they may not be prepared. The purpose of this study was to identify priorities for university programs preparing educators of students who are deafblind in the United States. A total of 205 educators participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete an electronic survey to answer questions related to demographics, professional background, and to rank items related to educational practices and needs when teaching students who are deafblind, from highest to lowest priority. Participants were recruited through electronic announcements sent to major professional organizations in the fields of visual impairments, deafness, and deafblindness. The top three priorities identified by participants when working with students with deafblindness were the following: (a) understanding the unique needs of students, (b) teaching techniques effective with students who are deafblind, and (c) accessibility to resources. Recommendations for personnel preparation programs will be discussed.

Using panel surveys conducted in Great Britain before and after the 1997 general election, we examine the relationship between voting behavior and post-election economic perceptions. Drawing on psychological theories of attitude formation, we argue that those who voted for Labour and the Liberal Democrats perceived the past state of the British economy under the Tory government more negatively than they had prior to casting their ballot in the 1997 election. Similarly, we posit that Labour supporters would view the future state of the national economy under Labour more positively than they had before the election. This indicates that, contrary to many assumptions in the economic voting literature, voting behavior influences evaluations of the economy as voters seek to reduce inconsistencies between their vote choice and evaluations of the economy by bringing their attitudes in line with the vote they cast in the election. It also means that votersâ post-election economic perceptions are, at least in part, influenced by and thus endogenous to their vote choice. This finding has two major implications: First, cross-sectional models of economic voting are likely to overestimate the effect of economic perceptions on the vote. Second, the endogeneity of economic perceptions may compromise the quality of economic voting as a mechanism for democratic ...

Using panel surveys conducted in Great Britain before & after the 1997 general election, we examine the relationship between voting behavior & post-election economic perceptions. Drawing on psychological theories of attitude formation, we argue that those who voted for Labour & the Liberal Democrats perceived the past state of the British economy under the Tory government more negatively than they had prior to casting their ballot in the 1997 election. Similarly, we posit that Labour supporters would view the future state of the national economy under Labour more positively than they had before the election. This indicates that, contrary to many assumptions in the economic voting literature, voting behavior influences evaluations of the economy as voters seek to reduce inconsistencies between their vote choice & evaluations of the economy by bringing their attitudes in line with the vote they cast in the election. It also means that voters' post-election economic perceptions are, at least in part, influenced by & thus endogenous to their vote choice. This finding has two major implications: first, cross-sectional models of economic voting are likely to overestimate the effect of economic perceptions on the vote. Second, the endogeneity of economic perceptions may compromise the quality of economic voting as a mechanism for democratic accountability. 2 Tables, 2 Appendixes, 60 References. [Copyright 2004 Elsevier Ltd.]

We provide a comprehensive analysis of the Portuguese parties and their policy space. We show how and how well the parties have been able to adapt to the changing environment in the party system. Our analyses show that, not only are we able check existing static expert assessments of the Portuguese party and policy space, but we are also able to track the dynamics of the system. In this way, we expand on what little has been said thus far about the Portuguese party system. We conclude with three important ideas. First, we confirm that the Portuguese policy space is unidimensional, with the parties lining up from Left to Right, as some but not all experts, have suggested. Second, we propose that the environment of the Portuguese party system is one of compression, that is, parties have been office-seekers in that they have all been approaching the Centre of the political spectrum for a number of reasons we explore in detail. Last, we learn that only through issue dimensions and how parties pronounce themselves on these dimensions are the smaller parties able to survive and avoid extinction in the compressing environment of the party system. *Mendes and Camões are grateful to the University of Minho. And all of us wish to thank Ian Budge and Andrea Volkens for providing us with updated data of the ...

The purpose of the paper is to question the decline in the Portuguese voter turnout rate and apparent lack of interest in politics. We argue that the decline could lie with methodologically artificially inflated electoral rolls that drive down the turnout rate. We address this issue by examining the components of the turnout ratio and find that the number of persons registered to vote was inflated in all districts in the early 90s, more so than theoretically possible, judging from statistics on the segment of the population that is eligible to register. Our simple analyses show two important ideas. First, the revision of electoral registration policy in the late 90s making updates mandatory deflated the denominator of the turnout rate in the 1999 election year—thus supporting our suspicions of methodological artificiality in the turnout rate. Second, we show that the rolls continue inflated in 2002, thus casting doubt on official statistics on voter turnout in ...

We provide a comprehensive analysis of the Portuguese parties and their policy space. We show how and how well the parties have been able to adapt to the changing environment in the party system. Our analyses show that, not only are we able check existing static expert assessments of the Portuguese party and policy space, but we are also able to track the dynamics of the system. In this way, we expand on what little has been said thus far about the Portuguese party system. We conclude with three important ideas. First, we confirm that the Portuguese policy space is unidimensional, with the parties lining up from Left to Right, as some but not all experts, have suggested. Second, we propose that the environment of the Portuguese party system is one of compression, that is, parties have been office-seekers in that they have all been approaching the Centre of the political spectrum for a number of reasons we explore in detail. Last, we learn that only through issue dimensions and how parties pronounce themselves on these dimensions are the smaller parties able to survive and avoid extinction in the compressing environment of the party ...