Subnational Politics Research Articles

The politics of redistribution in local government

Abstract. This paper deals with the politics of redistribution in local government. Traditionally, it has been assumed that redistributive policies are crucial in electoral competition and party politics, both in national and local political systems. From this perspective, differences in local competition and party systems are essential to an explanation of local redistributive efforts. Peterson (1981), however, claims that redistributive policies are excluded from the local agenda because they impair local economic prosperity. These policies are therefore not conceived as instruments in the vote‐maximizing strategies of local political parties. In this paper, hypotheses on the impact of party competition and party politics on local redistribution are formulated and tested on data for 342 Dutch municipalities. The results show that, contrary to what would be expected from Peterson's perspective, municipal redistributive efforts were related to electoral competitiveness and the party system. The proposed model, however, proved to be unsatisfactory in accurately predicting the direction of the effects of these explanatory variables. These results suggest that, rather than abandoning the study of local redistribution as a non‐issue in subnational politics, an effort should be made to develop a better theoretical understanding of the ways in which competition and party politics shape these policies.

Transboundary relations and acid rain: New York's memoranda of understanding with Quebec and Ontario

The role of subnational jurisdictions such as states in the United States and provinces in Canada in foreign policy-making has grown in recent years. A number of political scientists are analyzing subnational governments and their diplomatic activities (often referred to as paradiplomacy), the underlying causes and the effect such subnational transnational activities might have on the politics between the respective national governments (Duchacek 1986a, Soldatos 1986). This article will explore the subnational policy-making objectives of New York State with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario with regard to acid rain. The focus will be an examination and comparison of the various Memoranda of Understanding signed by these parties bilaterally since 1982 (i.e., Quebec and New York and Ontario and New York). After a brief review of some of the conceptual work done by two political scientists in the area of transnational subnational politics, an overview of the politics of acid rain will be presented. An analysis of the acid rain agreements and current developments will follow. The article will conclude with a discussion of how these subnational activities between New York and Quebec and New York and Ontario shed light on the theoretical work and what questions might be pursued in the future.

Tourism politics and political science: A case of not so benign neglect

Tourism is today the second largest item of world trade. It is a source of bitter controversy and yet a topic of intense regional collaboration in both international and sub-national politics. It is a policy area infused with the most optimistic projections and the most vitriolic criticism. It is also almost totally ignored by political science. This paper presents a case for examining the politics of tourism by illustrating its intrinsic relevance to nearly every facet of the discipline. The paper also argues that in the absence of political science interest, important dimensions of the political costs and advantages of tourism have been neglected. As a consequence, the developmental potential of tourism has frequently collided unnecessarily with the public interest and even the long-run interests of the tourism industry.

Market-Oriented Economic Policies and Political Repression in Latin America

Previous articleNext article No AccessMarket-Oriented Economic Policies and Political Repression in Latin AmericaJohn SheahanJohn Sheahan Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 28, Number 2Jan., 1980 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/451172 Views: 10Total views on this site Citations: 32Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1980 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Marcus J. Kurtz, Sarah M. Brooks Embedding Neoliberal Reform in Latin America, World Politics 60, no.0202 (Jun 2011): 231–280.https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.0.0015KAREN L. REMMER, ERIK WIBBELS The Subnational Politics of Economic Adjustment, Comparative Political Studies 33, no.44 (May 2000): 419–451.https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414000033004001Charles H. Blake Economic Reform and Democratization in Argentina and Uruguay: The Tortoise and the Hare Revisited?, Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 40, no.33 (Jan 2018): 1–26.https://doi.org/10.2307/166198JAMES FRANKLIN IMF Conditionality, Threat Perception, and Political Repression, Comparative Political Studies 30, no.55 (Jul 2016): 576–606.https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414097030005003Vanita Shastri The politics of economic liberalization in India, Contemporary South Asia 6, no.11 (Mar 1997): 27–56.https://doi.org/10.1080/09584939708719804 Problems of international Money, 1972-85, (Aug 1996).https://doi.org/10.5089/9780939934584.071Ziya Önis The Limits of Neoliberalism: Toward a Reformulation of Development Theory, Journal of Economic Issues 29, no.11 (Jan 2016): 97–119.https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.1995.11505643Michael T. Rock “Twenty-five years of Economic Development” revisited, World Development 21, no.1111 (Nov 1993): 1787–1801.https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(93)90083-LJohn Lodewijks, Diane Enahoro, George Argyrous Structural Adjustment Issues in Papua New Guinea, The Economic and Labour Relations Review 2, no.11 (Jun 1991): 154–171.https://doi.org/10.1177/103530469100200109John Lodewijks, Diane Enahoro, George Argyrous Stabilising Developing Economies: Challenging the IMF in PNG, Pacific Viewpoint 32, no.11 (May 1991): 43–65.https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.321003Kurt Martin Modern Development Theory, (Jan 1991): 27–73.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12625-5_2Gi-Wook Shin The Military, State Involvement in the Economy, and Economic Growth (1960–1975): A Cross-National Analysis, Sociological Perspectives 33, no.22 (Jun 1990): 219–233.https://doi.org/10.2307/1389044Mick Moore Economic Liberalization versus Political Pluralism in Sri Lanka?, Modern Asian Studies 24, no.22 (Nov 2008): 341–383.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X00010350Karen L. 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Looney The Impact of Political Change, Debt Servicing and Fiscal Deficits on Argentinian Budgetary Priorities, Journal of Economic Studies 14, no.33 (Mar 1987): 23–40.https://doi.org/10.1108/eb002646Paul Burkett Financial "Repression" and Financial "Liberalization" in the Third World: A Contribution to the Critique of Neoclassical Development Theory, Review of Radical Political Economics 19, no.11 (Aug 2016): 1–21.https://doi.org/10.1177/048661348701900101Gustav F. 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Kaufman Democratic and authoritarian responses to the debt issue: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, International Organization 39, no.33 (May 2009): 473–503.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300019159Stephan Haggard The politics of adjustment: lessons from the IMF's Extended Fund Facility, International Organization 39, no.33 (May 2009): 505–534.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300019160Joan M. Nelson The political economy of stabilization: Commitment, capacity, and public response, World Development 12, no.1010 (Oct 1984): 983–1006.https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(84)90025-1Richard L. Bernal The IMF and Class Struggle in Jamaica, 1977-1980, Latin American Perspectives 11, no.33 (Jul 1984): 53–82.https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X8401100304Aysebugra Trak A Decade of Dependency and Two Controversial Books, Review of Radical Political Economics 16, no.2-32-3 (Aug 2016): 241–247.https://doi.org/10.1177/048661348401600216DAVID PION-BERLIN Political Repression and Economic Doctrines, Comparative Political Studies 16, no.11 (Apr 1983): 37–66.https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414083016001002Carlos F. Diaz Alejandro Open Economy, Closed Polity?, Millennium: Journal of International Studies 10, no.33 (Jun 2016): 203–219.https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298810100030301Alejandro Foxley, Laurence Whitehead Economic stabilization Latin America: Political dimensions - editor's introduction, World Development 8, no.1111 (Nov 1980): 823–832.https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(80)90078-9

Urban Policy in Africa: A Political Analysis

One of the main purposes of much recent work in subnational politics in Africa has teen to find levels and categories of action that are both meaningful and persistent. The study of politics at the local level may avoid some analytical difficulties associated with earlier macro-level studies (for a critique of earlier work, see Zolberg 1966), hut the problem of nonreproducibility begins where macro-analysis leaves off. One result of this dilemma is that few of the increasing number of local studies in African politics either build on previous research or relate theoretically to other work. While this random quality in the literature may be partially overcome as more local research is undertaken, for the moment one of the safest generalizations we can make about local politics in Africa is that there is great variety in social formation and political process in local political arenas. This suggests that the problem of focus in the study of contemporary African politics cannot easily be resolved merely by shifting the research effort from the national to the subnational level. Both macro- and micro-level studies present their own challenges of validity and interpretation. What both approaches have tended to share, however, is an almost exclusive orientation to politics as the influences on, and the processes of authoritative decision-making. In fact, this orientation largely characterizes political science as a discipline; it is not confined to the study of African politics. But it is equally as important for political scientists to develop categories to analyze the substantive performance of African political systems as it is for them to analyze how the systems operate. Such categories will certainly involve the notion of public policy, to which we now turn our attention.