Political Districts Research Articles

What explains preferential voting? A field experiment in Portugal

This article analyzes the predictors of preferential voting in flexible list systems, focusing on political sophistication, voting rules and district size. It relies on a field experiment carried out in Portugal on the 2015 legislative election day. Wefound that the effect of district size depends on the nature of the voting rules introduced (optional or compulsory preferential voting). Also, political interest tends to lose its significance when preferential voting is compulsory. Thus, preferential voting does not constitute an obstacle for those with less political sophistication to express a vote, especially when the voting rules make preferential voting compulsory.

Research by Dr. Myron Korduba on the problems of geography of the population of Bukovina

The creative work of Dr. Myron Korduba (1876 - 1947) in the geography of the population of Bukovina in the early twentieth century is analyzed. Scientists are given a thorough comprehensive geographical assessment of the population of the region, studied the levels of education of the inhabitants of Bukovina, the structure of employment and its distribution by major social strata. The boundaries of the Ukrainian and Romanian "ethnographic territories" of Bukovina are clearly delineated as a basis for establishing appropriate state borders. With the arrival of Chernivtsi at the turn of the century and employment in the Second Academic Gymnasium, a young, full of energy Dr. Myron Korduba plunged into the whirlpool of active socio-political life. He had clearly expressed Ukrainian-centric state views, which he vigorously defended and scientifically substantiated. Therefore, it seems quite natural that his increased attention to politico-geographical and geopolitical research, important areas of which we have considered earlier. A significant place in the creative work of the scientist, of course, is also occupied by geographical and pedagogical developments. Studying the work of a scientist in the geography of the population of Bukovina, we should pay attention to the extremely valuable for the study of problems of regional development - analysis-review of Myron Korduba on official census materials published by the regional statistical bureau. It is important, as M. Korduba claims, that the publisher is not limited to information only for 1900, but also provides data for both 1880 and 1890 for comparison. It was necessary to dwell on the most important indicators of the last census of the population of Bukovyna also because neither the Bukovynian nor the Galician communities were acquainted in detail with these materials. First of all, Myron Korduba pays attention to population density and its geographical distribution in the counties of the region. According to the average - 70 people per 1 km² in 1900 Bukovina ranked 9th among the Austrian provinces (in 1890 - 10th place after Istria). Kitsman and Sadagur counties of Bukovina were "most densely populated" - 125 and 123 people per 1 km, respectively. The counties of DornaVatra and Seletyn had the lowest population density in the region (22 and 13 people per 1 km). For comparison, M. Korduba provides data on the average population density in the Czech Republic - 121 people per 1 km². In his analysis of the geography of the region's population, the reviewer focuses significantly on the language issue. He notes that in 1900, Ukrainian was spoken by 41.2% of all residents of Bukovina, Wallachian - 31.7%, German - 22.0%, Polish - 3.7%. Dr. Myron Korduba's brief but extremely informative study "Bukowina / Bukowina v nástinuhistorickémaetnografickém", published in Czech in the series "PoznejmeUkrainu", is of great interest for a comprehensive understanding of the problems of the geography of the region's population. This article by the scholar is all the more significant because it was published during the Paris Peace Conference and, in particular, the preparation of the Saint-Germain and future Sevres peace treaties, which legitimized the transfer of Bukovina to the Kingdom of Romania. Based on the above, Dr. Myron Korduba gives the following generalizations: neither historically nor ethnographically, Bukovyna can be considered as a "purely Romanian land", as Ukrainians make up a relative majority of the region's population; the communities of Zastavna, Kitsman, Vashkivtsi, Vyzhnytsia, and the environs of Selyatyn are purely Ukrainian; the political districts of Chernivtsi and Seret, as well as the Ukrainian parts of the communities of Storozhynets and Kimpolungu, have a Ukrainian majority. It is the relative majority of nationalities in a given area that should be decisive in the "division of Bukovina into regions with different nationalities"; although the region's capital, Chernivtsi, is dominated by Jews, Ukrainians are second only to Jews. The city is surrounded by Ukrainian communities and borders a small "Romanian island of several villages." Therefore, it is natural to "deliver" Chernivtsi to the Ukrainian part of Bukovyna.

The Politics of M&A Antitrust

ABSTRACTAntitrust regulators play a critical role in protecting market competition. We examine whether the political process affects antitrust reviews of merger transactions. We find that acquirers and targets located in the political districts of powerful U.S. congressional members who serve on committees with antitrust regulatory oversight receive relatively favorable antitrust review outcomes. To establish causality, we use plausibly exogenous shocks to firm–politician links and a falsification test. Additional findings suggest congressional members’ incentives to influence antitrust reviews are affected by three channels: special interests, voter and constituent interests, and ideology. In aggregate, our findings suggest that the political process adversely interferes with the ability of antitrust regulators to provide independent recommendations about anticompetitive mergers.

Temporal variation of stocking rate and primary production in the face of drought and land use change

Rangeland stocking rate is subjected to opposite forces. On the one hand, it is expected to fluctuate with interannual variations of aboveground net primary production (ANPP). On the other hand, it is expected to be stabilized by human interventions aimed at keeping a constant monetary flow. The global drought experienced during the first decade of the current century decreased ANPP in many regions. Argentinean rangelands suffered such drought amid an expansion of crop area. We assessed the relative impact of precipitation trends and human interventions on stocking rate and its components across a wide ANPP gradient in Argentina (from 1000 to 7000 kg.ha−1.year−1). We estimated ANPP through remote sensing, from 2001 to 2009, and gathered data on beef cattle stocking numbers per class and rangeland area (n = 67 political districts of Argentina) from 2002 to 2009. All the significant temporal trends of ANPP were negative (36% of the districts). Fifty-one percent of the districts showed a significant temporal trend of stocking rate. Despite the negative trend of ANPP, stocking rate increased in 76% of these districts. The decrease in the remaining 24% was less than expected from the reduction of ANPP. Positive trends of stocking rate were associated with an increase of total livestock in the same rangeland area, and negative ones with a decrease of total stocking and an increase of total rangeland area. Steers accounted for most of the stocking rate changes. As expected from this decoupling between stocking and ANPP, the interannual CV of stocking rate was about half the CV of ANPP. In the face of drought and strong land use changes, human interventions uncoupled or softened the response of stocking rate to ANPP. These responses were probably driven by economic factors and may have profound negative consequences on ecological sustainability.

PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF KAMPUNG SETU BABAKAN, SOUTH JAKARTA, AS BETAWI CULTURAL HERITAGE REGION

Abstract- Setu Babakan town which is located in Srengseng Sawah political districts, Jagakarsa sub-district, South Jakarta, is a region of settlement that are established as Betawi cultural heritage. This research discusses about representation of Betawi culture physical characters in Setu Babakan town. Culture characters could be faded with the advent of times due to lifestyle that has changes, but it could also be adhere with the awareness of the importance of preserving the existing culture. This study attempts to know how far do the Setu Babakan physical characters as Betawi culture heritage districts reflects the physical characters of Betawi native culture, so it can be found which physical characters that is still retained, that modificated, and that are totally changed. In addition, can also be found how many buildings which is still retaining the whole physical heritage of Betawi culture, which only retaining some of the physical heritage of Betawi culture, and which are not retaining the physical heritage of Betawi culture at all. Scope of this study was conducted throughout the area of Setu Babakan town so that the data be more accurate and to represent the overall condition of the area. The interview and questionnaire distribution was conducted to 21 respondents (20 respondents wich are Betawi ethnic and 1 respondent which is not Betawi ethnic, aged between 23-67 years old, islamist, with 3/4/5/6/10 family members)and the management of Setu Babakan town (Pak Buhori) to complement the data obtained through literature study and field observation about physical characters (buildings and outdoor layouts) and non-physical characters (rituality, social activities, religious, economic, abstinence, lifestyle, and education) of Betawi culture in Setu Babakan town and the physical and nonphysical characters of Betawi native culture. Data from the respondents, interior photo of respondent’s house, and respondents photo have been permitted by the concerned parties to be published. The observation and recovery data was undertaken along January-march 2018. Physical characters data (existing condition) that was obtained through direct observation in the field are strengthened by matching it with the existing condition in google street to avoid mistakes/inadvertence in the process of field observation. Physical characters observation is conducted by seeing one by one building, to know the authenticity level of its physical characters of Betawi culture in every building. All of the observation results were recorded by doing mapping. This research is qualitative-quantitative research approach descriptive and cultural. Analysis is conducted in descriptive and causal comparative approach qualitative-quantitative. The analysis begins by comparing the physical characters of Betawi native culture backed by the non-physical characters with physical characters of Betawi culture in Setu Babakan town backed by the non-physical characters. Then doing macro mapping (showing number of buildings that retained the overall of physical characters of Betawi culture, that retained some of them, and that totally changed) and micro mapping (showing which physical characters that still been retained, modificated, nor totally changed) to know how far did the physical characters of Setu Babakan town as Betawi culture heritage districts reflected the physical characters of Betawi native culture and to know the factors that influence it. The research results show, the physical character application of Betawi culture in Setu Babakan town has faded, so it needs to be developed again. Not until 50% of the buildings retained the physical characters of Betawi culture. Key Words: physical characters, Setu Babakan town, Betawi culture heritage districs, South Jakarta

Developing an integrated indoor built environment–quality of life model for the elderly in public and subsidized housing

Purpose The growth rate of the aging population raises the demand for and challenges of public and subsidized (P&S) housing for the elderly. The decline in elderly ability increases their dependence on the quality of facilities provided by their residential apartment. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated indoor built environment–quality of life model for the elderly in P&S housing estates. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey, including scales for 4 quality of life (QoL) domains (physical health, psychological health, social relationships and overall QoL), and 13 indoor built environment (BE) components were identified. In total, 365 survey data were collected from the elderly in 18 political districts of Hong Kong, while reliability analysis, multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling were adopted in the data analysis. Findings Based on the congruence of results of these statistical analyses, it was revealed that: furniture and fixtures predict all the four QoL domains of the elderly; lighting and color induce social relationships; and overall QoL is predicted by distance and handrails. Originality/value Several recommendations were made in accordance with the research results, such as review minimum spacing requirements to provide walking distance for elderly physical activity, investigate the micro-climate for appropriate building orientation, consider the changing body size of the elderly for supply of furniture, use warm colors with high levels of illumination, and so on.

Goal programming approach for political districting in Santa Catarina State: Brazil

In the Brazilian judiciary, the Electoral Registry Offices (EROs) are responsible for managing the Brazilian electoral districts. Moreover, not only do they organize elections in their district, but they are also responsible for managing the registration of electors and supervising the political parties. Brazil has a multi-party system with more than 35 political parties competing over the 295 cities of Santa Catarina state, which had over 4.98 million voters in 2017. In this context, we present a mixed integer model, with the concepts of goal programming and contiguity graph, to propose a more equilibrated distribution of political districts to Santa Catarina state. The mathematical model considers the political districting criteria (population balance, spatial contiguity, and compactness), and also considers the particularities of the Brazilian electoral system (minimum number of voters in an electoral district, maximum electoral zones per city, and so forth). The objective of the problem is to determine the optimum set of districts for the most efficient use of public resources and best service to the population. Therefore, there must be a balance of workload among the (EROs), i.e., a steady number of electors and nominating petitions per district. The solution proposed succeeded in presenting a set of districts with a better workload distribution while respecting all the districting criteria and the Brazilian legislation. Compared to the current situation, the model shows a reduction in the standard deviation of the electorate distribution per district of 7520 voters. The solution obtained by the proposed model for the Brazilian electoral system in the state of Santa Catarina may be used by any other of the 26 Brazilian states. The proposed model is a particularization of the classic political districting problem since it inserts complementary constraints to this classic problem from the operational research literature.

ANALISIS PENYELENGGARAAN PEMERINTAHAN PASCA PEMEKARAN DI KELURAHAN SEMPAJA TIMUR KOTA SAMARINDA

The purpose of this study is to describe and to analyze government implementation after developing in political district east sempaja. This study used descriptive qualitative approach, with data collection technique by observation, interview, and study of documentation, and they were analyzed by using analysis technique of interactive model data, through, step of data condensation, data presentation, and determine conclusion/ verification. Data validity testing used technique of source triangulation credibility test. The result of this study showed that government implementation after developing in political district east sempaja looked from political district function in doing the task government affair implementation, development, and social showed that all of those function have been done but in doing it still got obstacle and obstruction because of lacking coordination and preparation in doing government administration process after developing between government of political district east sempaja and other institution.Keyword: implementation, political distric government, after developing

Inter‐person Separation: A New Objective Standard for Evaluating the Spatial Fairness of Political Redistricting Plans

The fundamental basis for territorial political representation is the presumption that people share greater common interests with others in closer geographic proximity than with people farther away. This principle is found in U.S. legal requirements that districts for the House of Representatives and state legislatures should not needlessly divide “communities of interest” and should be “reasonably compact.” We propose a new objective standard to evaluate spatial fairness of redistricting plans: the extent to which a delineation minimizes total distance between all pairs of people assigned to the same district. To date, the legal standard of compactness has primarily been thought of in terms of the shapes of political districts, but boundary shape may have little correspondence with how populations are actually clustered and dispersed. Inter‐person separation, by contrast, provides a direct, intuitive metric for evaluating the congruence of districting plans with the territorial basis of political representation. To operationalize an inter‐person separation standard, we propose a model and present a heuristic method for delineating comparator districting schemes. We apply the standard to the current U.S. Congressional Districts in the states of Arizona and North Carolina to demonstrate how inter‐person separation could be used to develop and vet future redistricting plans.

Response to Cho and Liu, “Sampling from complicated and unknown distributions: Monte Carlo and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for redistricting”

A question of legal significance is whether an enacted map of political districts is “typical.” Recent work has used Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to produce null distributions of maps in order to answer this question. A recent article by Cho and Liu critiques one particular implementation of MCMC for redistricting, that of Fifield et al. The goal of the present commentary is to draw attention to two facts omitted by Cho and Liu that, if included, would have severely weakened their conclusions. In particular, Cho and Liu point out that Fifield et al.’s algorithm fails to approximate a known target distribution, but neglect Fifield et al.’s use of parallel and simulated tempering, which greatly improves the approximation. Secondly, Cho and Liu argue that it is overly difficult to detect when Markov chains have mixed; they neglect to mention diagnostics used for this exact purpose in Fifield et al.

Developing a Data-driven Approach to inform Planning in County Health and Human Services Departments in the Context of a Case Study on Obesity

Since the 1970s, the obesity rate has steadily increased due to growing availability of food and declining physical activity. The existing environments within a community, including active recreation opportunities, access to healthy food options, the built environment, and transportation options, can moderate obesity. In Virginia, Fairfax County Health and Human Services (HHS) system is interested in developing the capacity for data-driven approaches to gain insights on current and future issues, such as obesity, to characterize factors at the county and sub-county level, and to use these insights to inform policy options. In exploring these questions, we developed statistical methods to combined data from a multitude of different sources including local administrative data (e.g., tax assessments, land use, student surveys), place-based data, and federal collections. Using synthetic data methods based on imputation, we recomputed American Community Survey statistics for non-Census tract geographic regions for political districts and high school attendance areas. We combined this with environmental factors, such as land dedicated to parks and recreation facilities, as well as measures of the density of healthy and unhealthy food locations to create a map of potentially obesogenic factors. Finally, we combined these data sources with Fairfax County’s youth survey and trained a random forest model to predict the effects of the environment on healthy food consumption and exercise. Our analysis highlights the need for (administrative) data at a fine scale and recommends policy changes concerning the recording and sharing of local data to better inform the policy and program development.

Is there an economic incentive for farmer participation in a uniform health standard for aquaculture farms? An empirical case study

The growth of aquaculture, both in terms of the volume of production and the diversity of species and production systems, has created challenges for effective animal health policies. This paper presents results of a case study of the costs to a sector of U.S. aquaculture in which producers raising fish that are sold and shipped live contend with widely differing requirements for testing and certification of aquatic animal health. These are compared to related costs under a proposed uniform standard. The uniform standard scenario assumes adoption by the majority of the industry of a non-regulatory surveillance and biosecurity program with veterinary oversight, as an alternative to the current complex regulatory environment based on administrative political districts rather than on risk of disease transmission. Farm-level cost data were obtained through a survey that captured 74% of the national volume of baitfish and sportfish production in the U.S. Reflecting recent joint industry/federal efforts to develop a non-regulatory national U.S. program to set and verify a uniform standard for aquatic animal health, seven scenarios were modelled to determine the potential benefits and costs of such a program. Results showed that the net benefit of a uniform standard, if adopted nationally, could result in an estimated annual savings of $6.6 million to the U.S. baitfish and sportfish industry, and an average savings of $81,175/farm (with a range of $17,851/farm to $265,968/farm). Such cost savings provide an incentive for producers to support the program. Moreover, development of a uniform standard has potential to move aquatic animal health policies from the current framework of political administrative units to one based on epidemiological approaches and sound science.

Long-term oncologic outcomes after laparoscopic vs. open colon cancer resection: a high-quality population-based analysis in a Southern German district

BackgroundOver 20 years after the introduction of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer, many surgeons still prefer the open approach. Whereas randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have proven the oncologic safety of laparoscopy, long-term data depicting daily clinical routine are scarce.MethodsThis population-based cohort study compares 5-year overall, relative, and recurrence-free survival rates after laparoscopic and open colon carcinoma surgery. Data derive from an independent German cancer registry encompassing all tumor patients within a political district of 1.1 million inhabitants. The final analysis included 2669 patients with major elective resection of primary non-metastatic colonic adenocarcinoma between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2013. Survival rates were compared using Kaplan–Meier analyses, relative survival models, and multivariate Cox regression. Sensitivity analysis quantified selection bias.ResultsThe proportion of laparoscopic procedures increased from 9.7 to 25.8% in 2011 and dropped again to 15.8% at the end of observation period. Laparoscopy patients were younger, had a lower tumor stage, and were more likely to receive postoperative chemotherapy. Overall, relative, and recurrence-free survival was significantly superior or equivalent in Kaplan–Meier analysis (5-year overall survival rate open vs. laparoscopic: 69.0 vs. 80.2%, p < 0.001). The superiority of laparoscopy mostly remained stable after adjusting for confounders, although significance was only reached in T1-3 patients without lymph node metastases (overall survival: hazard ratio (HR) 0.654; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.446–0.958; p = 0.029).ConclusionLaparoscopy is a safe and promising alternative to the open approach in daily clinic practice. These favorable outcomes require future confirmation by high-quality studies outside the setting of RTCs.

The Concept of Historical Landscape Design at Watugong Archaeological Site Area in Malang City

Malang city has the high historical value. It showed by many archaeological situses found, such as: The Dutch Colonial Building until kingdom era on classical history period. Generally, it could be seen at urban affairs like government building even the ancient house. But the last kingdom archaeological site only found at the village. The oldest archaeological site in Malang city was found on Kanjuruhan Kingdom, which is concentrated in Tlogomas. The Watu Gong Hamlet that was located in Tlogomas Political District had an archaeological site. It was a big stone in which the stone looked like a traditional music instrument, it was called Gong. As the archaeological site in megalithicum, before the Hindu and Budha came in from India, that stone was predicted as the foundation structure of the big building. The Watu Gong Hamlet was located in Tlogomas archeological site area, also Merjosari and Karang Besuki. Three of them are the archeological sites for Kanjuruhan Kingdom at eigth century, until Kahuripan Kingdom around the eleventh century, as the heir of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom. The urban government has a program to improve the village required to their region potential and it was possible to revitalize the Tlogomas village, so that the historical character can be seen well. The modernity of a hamlet has impact on the local identity blured. In which, they did not think about economic only and it can be minimized, also the hamlet will be a characterized tourism object. The revitalization purposed to continuing the past, then it’s connected to present. It’s performed as corridored garden planning. The landscape development appropriated to promote about the characters of Kacapiring flower, Rose, Jasmine and Puring. They are the special plants from Kanjuruhan Kingdom, beside the other furniture street model. This research was descriptive explorative and discussed about the concept with architecture design approach, started from data collecting, precedent study, programming until the developing concept of the historical landscape. The historical landscape concept for Tlogomas at present is recommended to Watu Gong as the village tourism object.

Relationships between indoor facilities management components and elderly people's quality of life: A study of private domestic buildings

The rate at which the population is ageing increases the magnitude of the challenge of providing private domestic buildings with facilities meeting those needs of the elderly occupants that arise from their changing health condition. This study aims to examine the relationships between indoor facilities management (FM) components and the quality of life (QoL) of elderly people residing in private domestic buildings. A questionnaire based on an extensive literature review was distributed among elderly respondents in order to assess their level of satisfaction with 13 indoor FM components and five QoL domains – namely overall QoL, physical health, psychological health, social relationships and their living environment. In all, 348 questionnaires were completed by elderly respondents drawn from the 18 political districts of Hong Kong; the data were analyzed using reliability tests, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. The results reveal that (1) the respondents' overall QoL was significantly affected by ventilation and space; (2) their physical health was predicted by space, doors and windows, and temperature; (3) their psychological health was affected by furniture and fixtures, lighting, acoustics, and doors and windows; (4) their social relationships were influenced by furniture and fixtures and space; and (5) their level of satisfaction with the living environment was affected by space, lighting, furniture and fixtures and acoustics. It is recommended that architects, interior designers, building services engineers and facilities managers include adequate turning spaces in the design of flats for the elderly; and that they pay attention to the brightness and hue of lighting, consider the micro-climate in the orientation of new buildings, incorporate sound insulation materials in walls, install on doors and windows lever handles that require minimal force and increase the width of doors in flats for elderly residents.

Political Influence and Merger Antitrust Reviews

Antitrust regulators play a critical role in protecting market competition. We examine whether the political process affects antitrust reviews of merger transactions. We find that acquirers and targets located in the political districts of powerful U.S. congressional members who serve on committees with antitrust regulatory oversight receive relatively favorable antitrust review outcomes. To establish causality, we use plausibly exogenous shocks to firm-politician links and a falsification test. Additional findings suggest congressional members’ incentives to influence antitrust reviews are affected by three channels: special interests, voter and constituent interests, and ideology. In aggregate, our findings suggest that the political process adversely interferes with the ability of antitrust regulators to provide independent recommendations about anti-competitive mergers.

KAJIAN KEBISINGAN DAN DAMPAKNYA TERHADAP MASYARAKAT DI JALAN BASUKI RAHMAT KABUPATEN TABALONG

This research has the purpose to know the relation among age variable, stay duration, distance between house and the road, house area , material of house wall, roof, ceiling/plafond, number of inhabitant, environment condition (patron tree), noise level about noise complaint. Analytical research method with design of Cross Sectional, implemented in three political district administration, they are Tanjung Subdistrict, Agung Subdistrict, and Hikun subdistrict. The result of research refers that there are relations among stay duration, distance between house and the road, environment condition (patron tree), traffic noise level about noise complaint for people. Patron tree and traffic noise level have a big contribution toward the complaint of people, they are easy to be angry, disturb a concentration in doing something, sleepless, disturb a rest if the door is opened. Concluded that the people in along of Basuki Rahmat street, Tanjung subdistrict, Tabalong regency have noise complaint cause of traffic.

English

Understanding the pattern of genetic variability is an important component of germplasm collection and conservation as well as the crop&rsquo;s improvement process including the selection of parents for making new genetic recombination. Nine hundred seventy four sorghum landraces from North Eastern (NE) Ethiopia were evaluated for agro-morphologic characters to assess geographic patterns of phenotypic diversity and to identify whether there are specific areas of high diversity for particular traits. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H&prime;) for qualitative traits ranged from 0.30 to 0.93 (mean = 0.67) for grain covering and grain color, respectively. The landraces also displayed highly significant differences (p&lt;0.01) for all the quantitative traits with days to flowering ranging from 64 to 157 days (range = 93), days to maturity from 118 to 215 (range=97) days, plant height from 115 to 478 cm; 1000-seeds weight from 18 to 73 g, and grain number from 362 to 9623. The first five principal component axes captured 71% of the total variation with days to flowering and maturity, leaf number and length, panicle weight, grain weight and number per panicle, panicle length, length of primary branches, 1000-seeds weight and internode length accounting for most of the variability. Cluster analysis grouped the landraces into ten clusters. The clustering of zones and districts revealed close relationship between geographic locations based on proximities and agro-ecological similarities. Differentiation analysis showed that most of the landraces variability was within rather than between geographic origins of the landraces, indicating weak genetic differentiation among landraces from predefined geographic origins such as political administrative zones and districts. The weak differentiation might be due to frequent gene flow across the study area because of seed exchanges among farmers. Key words: Differentiation, diversity, landraces, traits, zones.

The Economics of Politics: Patronage and Political Selection in Italy

This article investigates the patronage phenomenon in the italian, so called, Second Republic. In particular, the analysis argues that (ex) members of parliament are appointed to managerial boards in italian (partially) state-owned enterprises responding to political selection rationales. Indeed, direct political connections could be conceptualize as an instrument to control and reward politicians’ loyalty throughout a legislature. Especially in a majoritarian electoral system, where the interests of political parties and districts may diverge, the formers would need patronage resource to assure themselves members of parliament loyalty when casting ballots. The results of the empirical investigation suggests that parliamentarians’ loyalty does play a role in patronage appointments as well as the electoral result in the next electoral competition.

Disclosure of historical spatial and statistical data of districts in Czechia in a GIS environment

This article presents a methodology for the creation and reconstruction of historical borders of chosen spatial units, especially political and judicial districts in Czechia for the specific years of population censuses within a GIS environment. Since an ethnic, language, demographic, social and cultural composition of a population is one of the main features of national and regional identity, the main objective of the article is to introduce new method for the creation of spatial-statistical databases which will make these historical data sources accessible to both experts and the public for general use. For this purpose, district borders from 1921, 1930, (1947), 1950, 1961, 1970, 1991, 2001 and 2011, which represent the years of the population censuses in Czechia, were digitized. Our method is based mainly on historical maps, which correspond with the censuses’ statistical datasets. The proposed methodology for the creation of GIS layers (digitalization, geo-referencing, vectorization, accuracy assessment, and spatial identification), their connection with censuses statistical data (creation of spatial codes), metadata creation, and web publication is described in this article along with examples of some of the difficulties encountered during the process. We also bring attention to several case studies of problematic areas where the reconstruction of borders was particularly complicated. Finally, spatial and statistical data in the format of ESRI shapefile and ESRI Geodatabase offer possibilities for a retrospective analyses of quantitative data to current researchers from a range of scientific disciplines. Files in both formats are publicly available at webpage www.historickygis.cz.