Two-stage electoral competition in two-party contests: persistent divergence of party positions

Models of party competition building on Downs (1957) have recognized that there are centrifugal and centripetal forces in party competition; but one such force, the existence of party primaries, has been remarkably neglected in recent literature. We consider party/candidate policy divergence in two-party competition in one dimension where there is a two-stage electoral process, e.g., a primary election (or caucus) among party supporters to select that party’s candidate followed by a general election. We develop a model in which (some or all) voters in the primary election are concerned with the likelihood that the primary victor will be able to win the general election and being concerned with that candidate’s policy position. This model is similar in all but technical details to that given in an almost totally neglected early paper in Public Choice Coleman (1971) 11:35–60, but we offer important new results on electoral dynamics for candidate locations. In addition to accounting for persistent party divergence by incorporating a more realistic model of the institutions that govern elections in the U.S., the model we offer gives rise to predictions that match a number of important aspects of empirical reality such as frequent victories for incumbents and greater than otherwise expected electoral success for the minority party in situations where that party has its supporters more closely clustered ideologically than the supporters of the larger party (in particular, with a concentration of voters between the party mean and the population mean).A much earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Public Choice Society, Long Beach, California, March 24–26, 1995. We are indebted to Dorothy Green and to Clover Behrend-Gethard for bibliographic assistance and to Nicholas Miller and the late Peter Aranson for helpful suggestions.     

Social Class and Opportunity In Canada

Cet article illustre le niveau des differences regionales et provinciates qui existent dans la distribution de classe entre ceux qui sont nés au pays et des immigrants qui arriverent au Canada avant 1946 et durant la periode 1946–1961. En utilisant un index socio-economique compose de trois cent vingt (320) occupations, on etablit six classes sociales. Au Quebec et dans les provinces de l'Atlantique, ceux qui sont nes au pays sont quelque peu sous-representes dans les trois classes superieures, tandis que les immigrants venant des Etats-Unis, du Royaume-Uni, et de l'Allemagne sont sur-representes. Par ailleurs, ceux qui sont nes au Canada sont sur-representes dans la province de 1'Ontario et dans les provinces de 1'Ouest. Les immigrants americains qui emigrerent au Canada durant la periode de I'apres-guerre, sont substantiellement plus sur-representes dans les trois classes superieures que tout autre groupe d'emigrants. lis sont suivis, en cela, par les emigrants d'apres-guerre du Royaume-Uni. Ce sont les principales conclusions de l'auteur. This paper shows the extent to which regional and provincial differences exist in the class distribution of native-born and immigrants who arrived before 1946 and between 1946 and 1961. Using six classes based upon a socioeconomic index of 320 occupations the author shows that in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, the Canadian-born are slightly underrepresented in the three top classes. Immigrants from the United States, tie United Kingdom and Germany are overrepresented. In Ontario and the Western provinces, the Canadian-born are overrepresented. The postwar immigrants from the United States have a substantially higher degree of overrepresentation in the three top classes than any other immigrant group, followed by postwar immigrants from the United Kingdom.     

The development of a CAHPS instrument for Nursing Home Residents (NHCAHPS)

We report on a federal initiative to develop a CAHPS (The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey to measure residents' experiences with quality-of-care and quality-of-life in nursing homes (known as NHCAHPS). We focus on how we created and tested questions for inclusion in the instrument and tested a possible cognitive screener to determine which residents could participate in a NHCAHPS interview. The major lessons learned were: (1) In contrast to other CAHPS surveys, ratings were more useful than reports because of the difficulty that residents had with summarizing over time and people; (2) consistent with other CAHPS surveys, the 0 to 10 response scale appeared to work well with nursing home residents for many of the quality-of-care questions; however, a different response scale was needed for many of the quality-of-life items; and (3) in contrast with typical survey methodology and other CAHPS surveys where explicit time reference periods are used, a non-specific present reference period in questions seemed to work best.     

WORKING CARERS OF OLDER ADULTS

Juggling work and care presents particular challenges to carers and employers. Employers are increasingly under pressure, both from within organizations and from recent government legislation and policy, to develop family-friendly policies to support informal carers in the workplace. Yet existing ‘family-friendly’ schemes and services are still primarily designed for working parents of young children and rarely address the needs of employees who care for older or disabled adults. This paper reports on a study which investigated how working carers and managers in two public sector organizations — a Social Services Department (SSD) and a National Health Service (NHS) Trust — combined their work and caring responsibilities. A multi-method approach was adopted consisting of five phases. First, a profile of the two organizations was established, followed by a short screening questionnaire to all employees to identify who was caring for an older adult over the age of 60. Third, a lengthier postal survey was sent to the 365 carers who had indicated a willingness to participate further. In the fourth and fifth phases, carers and managers were interviewed in depth about their experiences. This paper reports briefly on the survey, but then concentrates in particular on what was said in the interviews about what helps and hinders working carers of older adults. Despite the existence of policies to support carers, our findings suggest that these were far less important than informal support from colleagues and a sympathetic manager in the workplace. Commuting distance between work, home and the older person also posed difficulties for carers, along with inflexible schedules and work overload. Employers are urged to explore these issues further if they are serious about recruiting and retaining employees, and developing the work – life balance agenda to meet the needs of those caring for older and disabled adults.     

The place of South African philosophy in the future of South African philosophy

The title of my paper reads like an oxymoron if not downright confusion. However, it is not meant to be an oxymoron and it does not betray my private confusion. It is deliberate and perhaps a bit political. These two words “South Africa” rightly conjure up an image of things that are either in the south of Africa or things that are African in the south. I find the first image deserving of attention for my purposes. Juxtaposing the concerns of academic philosophy in South Africa (the country) alongside the ordinary reference of the term South Africa (and resultant expectations), I seek to argue that the practice of philosophy in South Africa does not sufficiently show South African characteristics. I specifically argue that the practice of philosophy in South Africa is far removed from the place in which it operates. While there are historical reasons to explain this state of affairs, the future of philosophy in this place can only be secured by an active renunciation of the status quo accompanied by a deliberate responsiveness to the philosophical needs of South Africa. It is incumbent on the dominant philosophers to make this renunciation and foster deliberate responsiveness.     

Skills Laboratories and the New Social Work Degree: One Small Step Towards Best Practice? Service Users' and Carers' Perspectives

The new social work degree has a strong emphasis upon the development of communication skills and upon the requirement for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to assess students' safety and readiness to practise. The GSCC grants to HEIs to develop skills labs to help with this skills development have been widely welcomed, but not enough work has been done fully to evaluate the effectiveness of such skills labs. There has been some previous evidence to suggest that such projects may even be counter‐productive. This article explores the way in which Staffordshire University has called upon its service user/carer group and a team of practice assessors to work with the academic tutor to devise and carry out a programme of skills training in a skills lab environment for first year students on the new degree. An initial evaluation of this project shows encouraging results for this ‘work in progress’, even though it is still early days.     

Causes of Poverty in Old Age,Not a Structural Failing?

The failures of many nations in Africa to include programs on aging into their national and developmental agendas have put more elderly people in the region at risk of poverty. Adult children are in many cases hampered from providing financial support to elderly parents due to waves of economic difficulties in many of the countries. The views of 36 elderly Nigerians were sought on causes of poverty in old age through key informant interviews. Despite awareness of structural causes, the results point to the direction of belief that individuals also have significant roles in determining their own economic fate in old age.