Der Beitrag diskutiert den in der Wahlforschung herrschenden Theorienstreit zwischen Näherung- und Richtungsmodellen aus der Problemperspektive politischer Repräsentation. Aus dieser Perspektive ist die zentrale Frage, wie sich die Parteien zu den ideologischen Positionen ihrer...

A great deal of attention has been given recently to the political culture approach in the form of Putnam's argument regarding the importance of social capital in shaping performance in both the political and economic systems. One implication that can be drawn from his study of Italian regional...

Does the partisan character of governing parties play a role in the formation of fiscal policy? The conventional view is that the left tends toward excessive deficits while the right practices a more prudent and restrictive fiscal policy. However, there is little evidence that would sustain such...

An influential line of argument holds that trade exposure causes economic uncertainty and spurs popular demands for compensatory and risk-sharing welfare state spending. The argument has gained renewed prominence through the recent work of Garrett (1998) and Rodrik (1997; 1998). This paper argues...

The focus of this paper is on citizens satisfaction with the German democratic political system. This paper presents an argument to the effect that the performance records of both the economy and the government in power have substantial impacts on the levels of popular satisfaction with the...

This paper provides an overview of the major macroeconomic problems that have confronted the OECD countries during the last four decades. It also explores some leading arguments regarding the political bases of these problems. An extensive account of the experiences of these countries in terms...

To understand how the welfare state adjusts to economic shocks it is important to explain both the genesis of popular preferences and the institutional incentives of governments to respond to these preferences. This paper attempts to do both, using a general theoretical framework and detailed...

Military spending in the West generally declined after the Cold War. Given the economic pressures that many of these states confronted, they can be said to have experienced a fortuitous conjunction of lessening security demands with stable if not rising pressures to allocate more resources to...

This paper examines the development of tax regimes across the OECD countries in the latter part of the 20th century. It pays particular attention to taxes on labor income. A number of results emerge from this examination. First, not only do taxes on labor income represent a major drain on...