Do Leaders Affect Government Spending Priorities?

Since a key function of competitive elections is to allow voters to express their policy preferences, one might take it for granted that when leadership changes, policy change follows. Using a dataset we created on the composition of central government expenditures in a panel of 71 democracies over 1972-2003, we test whether changes in leadership induce significant changes in one measure of policy - spending composition - as well as looking at the effect of other political and economic variables. We find that the replacement of a leader tends to have no significant effect on expenditure composition in the short-run. This remains true after controlling for a host of political and economic variables. However, over the medium-term leadership changes are associated with larger changes in expenditure composition, mostly in developed countries. We also find that in established democracies, election years are associated with larger changes in expenditure composition while new democracies, which were found by Brender and Drazen (2005) to raise their overall level of expenditures in election years, tend not to have such changes.Budget; Political Leaders; Elections; Fiscal Policy; Expenditure Composition

Political Budget Cycles in New versus Established Democracies

Like other recent studies, we find the existence of a political deficit cycle in a large cross-section of countries. However, we find that this result is driven by the experience of new democracies'. The strong budget cycle in those countries accounts for the finding of a budget cycle in larger samples that include these countries; when these countries are removed from the larger sample, so that only established' democracies remain, the political budget cycle disappears. The political deficit cycle in new democracies accounts for findings in both developed and less developed economies, for the finding that the cycle is stronger in weaker democracies, and for differences in the political cycle across governmental and electoral systems. Our findings may reconcile two contradictory views of pre-electoral manipulation, one arguing it is a useful instrument to gain voter support and a widespread empirical phenomenon, the other arguing that voters punish rather than reward fiscal manipulation.

How Do Budget Deficits and Economic Growth Affect Reelection Prospects? Evidence from a Large Cross-Section of Countries

Conventional wisdom is that good economic conditions or expansionary fiscal policy help incumbents get re-elected, but this has not been tested in a large cross-section of countries. We test these arguments in a sample of 74 countries over the period 1960-2003. We find no evidence that deficits help reelection in any group of countries -- developed and less developed, new and old democracies, countries with different government or electoral systems, and countries with different levels of democracy. In developed countries, especially old democracies, election-year deficits actually reduce the probability that a leader is reelected, with similar negative electoral effects of deficits in the earlier years of an incumbent's term in office. Higher growth rates of real GDP per-capita raise the probability of reelection only in the less developed countries and in new democracies, but voters are affected by growth over the leader's term in office rather than in the election year itself. Low inflation is rewarded by voters only in the developed countries. The effects we find are not only statistically significant, but also quite substantial quantitatively. We also suggest how the absence of a positive electoral effect of deficits can be consistent with the political deficit cycle found in new democracies.

Why is Economic Policy Different in New Democracies? Affecting Attitudes About Democracy

When democracy is new, it is often fragile and not fully consolidated. We investigate how the danger of a collapse of democracy may affect fiscal policy in new democracies in comparison to countries where democracy is older and often more established. We argue that the attitude of the citizenry towards democracy is important in preventing democratic collapse, and expenditures may therefore be used to convince them that "democracy works". We present a model focusing on the inference problem that citizens solve in forming their beliefs about the efficacy of democracy. Our approach differs from much of the literature that concentrates on policy directed towards anti-democratic elites, but our model can encompass that view and allows comparison of different apporoaches. We argue that the implications of the model are broadly consistent with the empirical patterns generally observed, including the existence of political budget cycles in new democracies not observed in established democracies.

Technology development, demonstration, and orbital support requirements for manned lunar and Mars missions

An overview of the critical technology needs and the Space Station Freedom (SSF) focused support requirements for the Office of Exploration's (OEXP) manned lunar and Mars missions is presented. Major emphasis is directed at the technology needs associated with the low earth orbit (LEO) transportation node assembly and vehicle processing functions required by the lunar and Mars mission flight elements. The key technology areas identified as crucial to support the LEO node function include in-space assembly and construction, in-space vehicle processing and refurbishment, space storable cryogenics, and autonomous rendezvous and docking

Teaching sleeping dogs new tricks? Transitional justice as identity-building

Transitional Justice (TJ) mechanisms have been applied in several post-conflict spaces and commonly hailed by the academy as a - if not the - route to lasting positive peace. Taiwan has seen bouts of at times violent protest, which has given rise to popular and academic claims that renewed TJ efforts are required to achieve true, lasting peace. Against this backdrop, this text identifies sources of grievances and situates Taiwan's case in the wider TJ literature to then explore Taiwan's most recent TJ endeavours under Tsai Ying-Wen, focusing on its core mechanism, the Transitional Justice Commission. Engaging other readings of Taiwanese TJ mechanisms, this article argues that Tsai's TJ mechanisms should be read chiefly as an identity-building project. Located in a wider drive to develop a positive identity for Taiwan, they are an attempt to establish shared historical narratives and ultimately aim to create a more stable Taiwanese identity independent of China as a pivotal Other or benchmark. This process is directed at both domestic and international audiences. This way, Taiwan negotiates, (re-)constructs and reifies a relatively inclusive positive Taiwanese identity not solely through the memories uncovered and remembered through the TJ process, but chiefly through the process itself

Handbook of Evaluation Methods for Health Informatics

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Factors supporting the learning of retail banking information and communication technology systems : a western Kenyan region perspective

This study identified and empirically investigated individual employee, organisational and information and communication technology (ICT) systems factors to determine the extent to which these factors support employees’ learning of the adopted retail banking ICT systems before undergoing training. Quantitative research approach was followed. A realised stratified random sample of 237 respondents consisting of tellers and customer care consultants (one group) and line managers (second group), working at branches of various retail banks in the western region of Kenya, participated in this study. Descriptive, exploratory factor and inferential statistical analyses were conducted. The results showed: a high level of agreement with the identified factors; significant positive linear relationships between the factors; statistical significant differences (p<0.05) between the respondent groups and between the categories for each demographic variable with regard to the respondents’ level of agreement with each factor. Supportive and directive learning strategies were recommended for retail banking employees before training.Business ManagementM. Com. (Business Management