This is the first study that assesses the economic effects of direct democratic institutions on a cross country basis. Most of the results of the former intra-country studies could be confirmed. On the basis of some 30 countries, a higher degree of direct democracy leads to lower total...

Sandy struck a strategically important city in a strategically important country within days of a strategically important election. Climate justice has many synergistic and sometimes competing dimensions. Irrespective of the degree to which climate change contributes to any given weather event,...

Hydraulic fracturing has been a game changer for the energy field, bringing to mind the “nothing in excess” carving at Delphi. Whether heeding ancient oracles or cutting-edge principles of calibration, I argue that dynamic governance innovation can facilitate climate-energy-water balancing...

Heroism is a valued part of any society, yet its realization depends on the decisions of individual actors and a public reward to individuals who undertake heroic actions. Military combat related activities provide a useful starting point for thinking about the empirical nature of heroism....

We construct and estimate an economic model of religious giving. We employ a dynamic consumer optimization model with mortality in which intra-temporal utility stems from both consumption and religious contributions. Individuals also decide how to allocate resources between religious...

Measurement of both federalism and decentralization has been contentious. We introduce three new indicators reflecting important aspects of both federalism and decentralization. The three new indicators are the result of principal component analysis. When we try to identify their main...

This study examines the practice of public policy decision-making by the central government and national regulatory and administrative authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic. Its main focus is the institutional framework of the public policy-making process in various ministries and government...

Over the last decade, the development of rule of law, democratic governance and support for the growth of civil society have been at the heart of efforts to strengthen the political system in the Republic of Tajikistan. It is natural that within the process of ongoing reforms designed to improve...

All regulations are costly and reduce personal freedoms. Some of them bring benefits in excess of these costs, but in recent decades many new regulations have been designed to produce benefits that are ephemeral and highly uncertain so that their value cannot be measured objectively for use in...

Transparency in government actions strengthens the relationship between government and society. The goal of the present study was to ascertain the level of transparency of administrative information in the south of Brazil. This descriptive study, which employed statistical methodology, found a...