The logic of post-communist capitalist collective inaction

The relationship between politics and business is obviously a key feature of policy-making in capitalist democracies, and business associations are an important element of that relationship. A consensus has now emerged that organised business is remarkably weak in East-Central Europe. This article proposes a theoretical synthesis with which to explain that weakness. It shows how the strength of trade unions, varieties of capitalism and interest diversity are specifications of Olson’s logic of collective action, specifications without which the logic itself is too general to explain concrete outcomes. Detailed evidence in favour of the theory is provided from the Polish case. It is argued that the analysis should also apply to other post-communist countries

Rethinking conduct regulation

Conduct regulation has evolved in a manner that lacks coherence. In this article, Professor Iain MacNeil identifies three fundamental characteristics that would need to be addressed in any wholesale reconfiguration

If money talks, what does it say? Varieties of capitalism and business financing of parties

Do business contributions to political parties convey different messages in different countries, and, if so, why? This is the first cross-national study of firm behaviour in political finance. It understands motivations for contributions to parties as either ideological or pragmatic. Motivation is inferred by quantitatively relating the payments of 960 firms to variations in political competition in three countries over periods of between seven and seventeen years. In co-ordinated Germany, a small number of firms make ideological payments. In liberal Canada and Australia, large numbers of firms made pragmatic payments. Australia’s left-right party system created an awareness of policy risk, which motivated ideological payments, but there was no ideological bias in business financing of politics in Canada’s unusually non-ideological party system. The statistical analysis is supplemented by a qualitative investigation of discrete and reciprocal exchanges between businesses and political parties

Call of duty:Modern warfare (series)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (MW) and its sequels Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) and Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) are FPS video games primarily developed by California-based developer Infinity Ward and published by Activision. They are the fourth, sixth and eighth installments of the Call of Duty franchise. The MW story arc marked a significant departure from the initial Call of Duty series roots, in that it moves the setting of the game to the present-day/near-future from the previous iterations that were set in World War II. This shift allowed the developers to tap into the geopolitics post-9/11. In the single-player campaign, the player takes on the roles of various characters, including a United States Marine and a British Special Air Service (SAS) operative. The player’s perspective changes dependent on the character and as the plot evolves through non-playable events and playable missions. Missions typically include objectives based around eliminating enemies, passing checkpoints, securing objectives against attackers or destroying an enemy location. In the multiplayer version, the series utilizes these mechanics for various team-based and deathmatch-based modes across various maps. The multiplayer modes established several features that became the de-facto benchmark for similar games in the genre in that players earn experience points, allowing them to advance in level, unlock new weapons, and open up further customization options, challenges, and gameplay modes. The series also popularized the notion of rewarding players for “Kill Streaks.

Semi-presidentialism and democratisation in Poland

Polish semi-presidentialism evolved from a pacted transition between the leadership of the communist regime and the Solidarity opposition movement. The mechanics of semi-presidentialism, as well as its effect on democratisation, depend upon the constitution, the party system and the personality of the president. Poland has had three semi-presidential constitutions, a variety of relationships between president and government as well as government and parliament, and two very different presidents. In the early years, the absence of the conditions for stable semi-presidentialism had a negative effect on democratisation. Later on, conditions were more supportive, and semi-presidentialism began to play a more positive role. Before the introduction of semi-presidentialism in November 1990, Polish elites had already established a firm consensus on democracy, which was buttressed by consensus on the economic system and international relations. Therefore, the conflicting legitimacies generated by semi-presidentialism delayed but did not prevent, or seriously threaten, democratic consolidation in Poland

Machines of possibility

In the course of this talk, I want to try and address one main question: what is architecture? Implicit within this are also some reflections on what or who is an architectural historian or commentator? And what is an architecture school

The Cypriot banking crisis shows that Europeans have yet to work out the answer to the question, ‘who pays?’

The past week has been a tumultuous one for Cyprus, with negotiations and renegotiations towards a bailout for the country’s embattled banks. While an agreement has finally been struck, Iain Begg writes that the crisis is a direct result of an over-extended banking system: something that also affects other Eurozone members. The solution, to make bank depositors pay, could undermine confidence in the Eurozone’s banking system