This brief essay explains how the Suspense File works, explores its effects on voting patterns and policy outcomes, and outlines options for reform. It draws on evidence from Cox, Kousser, and McCubbins (2010), an article that will appear in a 2010 issue of the leading peer-reviewed Journal of...

The Lamfalussy process was implemented from early 2001, following the report of the Committee of Wise Men on the Regulation of European Securities Markets, chaired by Alexandre Lamfalussy. Four years on, this paper concludes that, while it is too early to assess progress in areas such as...

Use of social media by political parties has become a part of their communication strategies. In Catalonia, where around 20% of Internet users obtain political information through Facebook and Twitter, parties use these channels widely. This article has examined 814 posts, 5,772 comments, 52,470...

This paper directs attention to the use of Instagram by political parties in the Swedish national elections in 2014. It investigates how political parties made use of Instagram – a platform centered around images – when engaging in interaction with their followers on the platform. Therefore,...

Much recent California political commentary stresses the sharp rise in the proportion of voters declining to state a party preference and the supposed increasing importance of political independents. Yet The Myth of the Independent Voter and other political science literature provide grounds for...

The emergence of non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), along with supranational organisations, is probably the most important political development of the post‐Second World War period. Yet it is not easy to explain why they are so numerous today but relatively rare just 50 years ago. By...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the public relations strategies of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and their political wing Sinn Féin, throughout the historical period known as the Northern Ireland “Troubles”. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses...

In seeking to extend rational choice theory from “market” to “political” behaviour, economists have encountered a paradox: namely, that the act of voting itself appears to be inconsistent with the assumption of rationality. This is true not only when self‐interest is assumed, but also...