The electoral models based on the early work of Hotelling (1929) and Downs (1957) essentially suppose that the motivation of parties is to win a majority of the votes or seats. A very considerable literature developed in the period up to 1973 (ably summarized by Riker and Ordeshook, 1973), focusing on two party competition and the existence of convergent equilibrium at the electoral median. McK...

Historically and contemporaneously, persons with disabilities have been excluded from exercising their human rights, including the right to political participation. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities responds to this circum­ stance and provides a holistic solution. Article 29 addresses the design and imple­ mentation of an electoral process that is non-discriminatory, ...

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PYSCHOLOGICAL EVALUATIONS INELECTORAL RISK: FURTHERING THE EXPLANATION OF THEGENDER GAP IN CANDIDATE EMERGENCEbyJENNIE SWEET-CUSHMANMay 2014Advisor: Dr. Ewa GolebiowskaMajor: Political ScienceDegree: Doctor of PhilosophyDespite decades of movement towards gender parity in other aspects of American society(e.g. education, busi...

War-reporting often has to deal with contradictory information: there might especially be some good news about the enemy-side, its actions or intentions, and there might be some criticism about one's own side, its actions or intentions. Even war-reporting that can be characterized as war-propaganda cannot ignore this information, but has to ward it off by other means: by using two-sided message...

As is widely accepted by scholars, much of the Western philosophies have roots in ancient Greece. Among the most influential ancient Greek figures is the “Father of History,” Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who chronicled the history of the Persian Wars. Herodotus used the Histories as a medium for discussing the political trends of his time, specifically those in Athens. Herodotus shared his views...

We are used to considering engineering ethics largely a critical enterprise. By pointing out ethical issues and by raising concerns about a technology, ethicists usually criticise rather than promote the technology in question. Of course, from a utilitarianist perspective, an ethicist might come to the conclusion that a certain technology is better than another one or than doing without. Howeve...

It would be absurd to deny that many Austrians responded to some extent to the Nazis’ racial propaganda; however, when they saw how antisemitism was actually put into practice, they were cured. One could safely say that sympathy for the persecuted Jews eradicated antisemitism in Austria. I do not believe that this issue will ever again assume even the slightest importance (Leopold Figl, the fir...

It has been a standard result of the stochastic, or probabilistic, spatial model of voting that vote maximizing candidates, or parties, will converge to the electoral mean (the origin). This conclusion has appeared to be contradicted by empirical studies. Here, a more general stochastic model, incorporating ‘exogeneous’ valence, is constructed. Contrary to the standard result, it is shown in Th...