In the context of a general policy-based theory of how parties behave in democratic governments, a specific hypothesis on party factional behaviour is proposed and tested for the post-war period in 20 democracies. The hypothesis is that reshuffles (replacements and transfers of individuals between ministries) are more frequent where Prime Ministers have more freedom of action and decline where they have less freedom. As Prime Ministerial power is greatest in single-party governments, these are expected to produce more reshuffles – an expectation strongly confirmed by the evidence.

A first-order Gaussian autoregressive model is considered. The exact finite-sample joint density of the minimal sufficient statistic is derived, for any value of the autoregressive parameter. This allows us to derive explicitly the exact density of the autocorrelation coefficient and its Studentized t-ratio, whose densities were available only in the asymptotic case and not for all values of the parameter and the statistic. This article also demonstrates how to solve a general problem in statistical distribution theory (well beyond the specific case of autoregressive models), that of inverting confluent characteristic functions in multiple variables.

In March 2000, the Storting was to vote on two issues where the centrist mini-coalition headed by Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik had a clear majority against it. In both cases, the development of the Fornebu IT centre and the gasfired power plant issue, one expected that Prime Minister Bondevik would show the Storting and the Norwegian people that the coalition would not let itself be pushed around. The Bondevik government had had a parliamentary majority against it since its formation on 17 October 1997, and Labour and the Conservatives could have joined forces to topple the Bondevik government at any time. In June 1998, Prime Minister Bondevik had also demanded a vote of confidence, but on this occasion the government was saved by the Progress Party and the Conservatives (See Yearbook 1999, p. 485). In March 2000, when Prime Minister Bondevik (KRF) called for a vote of confidence over the issue of building gas-fired power plants, his government fell. On 17 March, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg formed his first Labour government.

Do more rules improve overall policy performance? To answer this question, we look at rule growth in the area of environmental policy from an aggregate perspective. We argue that impactful growth in rules crucially depends on implementation capacities. If such capacities are limited, countries are at risk of ‘empty’ rule growth where they lack the ability to implement their ever‐growing stock of policies. Hence, rules are a necessary, yet not sufficient condition for achieving sectoral policy objectives. We underpin our argument with an analysis of the impact of a new, encompassing measure of environmental rule growth covering 13 countries from 1980 to 2010. These findings call for ‘sustainable statehood’ where the growth in rules should not outpace the expansion in administrative capacities.

Interest groups differ in the strategies they use to influence public policy. Some mainly try to gain access (i.e., have direct contact with decision makers), whereas others tend to ‘go public’ by launching campaigns that aim to mobilise the broader public. In this article it is argued that group type – namely the distinction between business associations, professional associations and citizen groups – is a major determinant of the choice of strategy. The effect of group type, however, is conditional on the group's endowment with material resources and the issue context: the differences across group types are largest for resource‐rich associations and associations active in distributive policy fields. Original data from surveys of national associations in five European countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Spain) enable the assessment of this argument. The theoretical expectations are supported, with the results having relevance for the normative evaluation of political systems and the positive study of interest group influence.

The country’s financial situation, industrial and party relations, and the Government’s eleven-year old bid to join the European Union formed the web of national politics during the year 2000.

The starting point for the 1999 election campaign was more than interesting. The polarization between SPS and SVP, which were both winners of the election in 1995 with a gain of 3 points each, was noticeable in the cantonal parliamentary elections between 1995 and 1999 and also became apparent in some of the voting of the last few years. The other two government parties (CVP and FDP) intended to correct their results of 1995 – the worst since the introduction of proportional representation in 1919 – and the opposition parties, which in 1995 won approximately a quarter (26%) of the votes, had to fight particularly hard for media attention. In addition, the political campaigners were faced with the effects of a fractionalized party system, even compared to international standards, with electoral volatility and an unstable, low participation rate. However, the state of the media system, the federal party structures and proportional representation, which made image campaigns for top candidates inappropriate, account for the fact that the election campaign did not take on American proportions. Furthermore, professionalization and the financial resources of the parties were important factors as well. Only the SVP managed to conduct a well-aimed, consistent election campaign that was visible nationally as well as locally.

Cyclone Alfred disrupted dialysis services across South-East Queensland. Digital tools, including real-time surveys and AI-assisted analysis, were used to evaluate impact and guide immediate improvements. This low-cost, tech-enabled response demonstrated how agile methods can support disaster resilience and inform planning for vulnerable patient groups during extreme weather events.

How do political parties respond to external shocks? Using an original survey of political parties across Europe conducted in June 2020 and Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) data on partisan ideological positioning, we argue that the pre‐existing ideological stances of Europe's political parties shaped their response to emerging Covid‐19 policy issues, including the tension between economic normalization and containment, legal versus voluntary enforcement and the role of science in policymaking. We find that party ideology powerfully predicts how parties, both in government and in opposition, responded to the pandemic.

While a multitude of studies have investigated the link between opinion and policy, we have little knowledge of how and when organised interests affect this linkage. We argue that the alignment of organised interests affects opinion–policy congruence by influencing the weight decision‐makers attach to citizen preferences. Moreover, we propose that alignment between majorities of groups and the public matters the most when status quo bias must be overcome for the public to obtain its preferred policy. We test our theoretical claims drawing on a comprehensive media content analysis of 160 policy issues in Germany and Denmark. Our results present a more sceptical picture of the ability of groups to suppress the opinion–policy linkage than the one frequently presented in the academic literature and public debate. We find that the capacity of groups to affect whether policy is congruent with the majority of the public is restricted to situations where the public supports a change in the status quo. In these cases, policy is less likely to end up reflecting public opinion if the majority of interest groups do not support the public position. In cases where the public is supportive of the policy status quo, the position of interest groups does not affect the likelihood that policy will eventually reflect the preferred position of the public. Our findings expand existing knowledge of organised interests in the study of policy representation and have important implications for understanding democratic governance.

Recent survey research has revealed a ‘devolution paradox’: some citizens who favour stronger regional governments inconsistently desire policy uniformity across regions and state‐wide intervention in policy provision. It is argued and empirically shown that preferences for regional authority can be broken down into preferences for self‐rule – that is, for autonomy for the region – and for shared rule – that is, for collaboration between regional and national governments. Drawing upon the International Constitutional Values Survey, which includes 4,930 respondents from 142 regions in eight countries, it is also shown that preferences for self‐rule and shared rule have different impacts. Preferences for self‐rule translate into a preference for regional reform that strengthens regional autonomy, whereas preferences for shared rule drive preferences for fiscal transfers from richer to poorer regions. These results are important because they can explain why citizens who are in favour of more regional authority may support an apparently ‘paradoxical’ set of policy outcomes.

The politics of representation has become increasingly complex in recent years. Amid weakening traditional political cleavages, the emergence of new political divides and mounting anti-elitism that have helped the rise of radical populist parties, voters face significant cross-pressures when casting their ballots. Despite a wealth of studies on the role of issue preferences in voting behaviour, there are still many unknowns when it comes to understanding how voters trade off competing issue preferences against each other. Studying issue trade-offs is also important against the backdrop of the well-documented preferences of radical left and right voters for redistribution and restrictive immigration policies, respectively. To investigate the strength of issue preferences among radical left, radical right and mainstream party voters and the willingness to compromise on their most important issues, we conducted a conjoint survey experiment with 2,000 participants in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The voting scenario in the experiment featured proposals on salient political issues and different (non)populist stances on political representation. The results from the cross-country study, as well as a large replication study with a sample of 4,000 German respondents, show that voters of radical right parties are willing to accept large trade-offs regarding their other issue preferences as long as their preference for restrictive immigration policies is fulfilled. Differently, radical left, Green and mainstream party voters have a more variegated range of issue preferences, some of them so strong that they are not traded off for their preferred redistribution and European Union integration positions, respectively. The findings shed light on trade-offs related to emerging issues such as climate change and the distinct logics behind support for radical parties. They also have implications for the electoral prospects of mainstream and radical parties when trying to reposition themselves in the diversifying issue space of contemporary democracies. As such, understanding how voters navigate issue cross-pressures helps to explain the broader dynamics that are (re)configuring political conflict and voting behaviour in Europe.

The genus Alloophistolecithum was recently created and comprises species that were previously included in the genus Lecithaster. The two genera form the subfamily Lecithasterinae. The genera includes species that predominantly parasitize marine fish, and occasionally those inhabiting fresh or brackish water. This study describes a new species of Alloophistolecithum, which is a parasite of the Argentinian silverside (Odontesthes bonariensis), a fish species that inhabits brackish waters. Alloophistolecithum magaliae n. sp. is characterized by smooth, unnotched testes; a uterus extending to the posterior end of the body; and short caeca that do not reach the anterior edge of the vitellary. As genetic analyses are currently limited to a few species within the genus, it is premature to establish clear relationships between them. The Argentinian silverside is considered to be of great economic importance, having spread not only within Argentina but also to other countries for commercial exploitation. The anthropogenic spread of silversides outside their natural range could pose a risk of biological invasion, so studying their parasitological fauna is important.

The year 2000 was important for Portuguese diplomacy. Portugal held the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of the year. From the beginning of January to the end of July the Portuguese government was preoccupied with this unique opportunity for international importance. National politics became secondary during this period, and the opposition parties were asked to support the government in successfully completing this event of national and international importance. Throughout this period, Prime Minister Antonio Guterres concentrated his attention on the management of the presidency, and European issues dominated the agenda of Portuguese politics. As early as 5 January, the Portuguese government exposed itself to a general debate on the forthcoming presidency in the national parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. Although all opposition parties supported the government, the main criticism was that the presidency was not used to defend issues of national interest. This very vague criticism by the opposition parties was not considered very important by the government. In reality, the government could refer to the fact that Portugal has been successful in securing the flow of structural funds until 2006 as agreed in the Berlin European summit in 1999 (DAR, 6.1.2000). The criticism was repeated throughout the six months of the presidency by all parties, but in particular by Manuel Durao Barroso, leader of the social democratic party (Partido Social Democrata-PSD), the main opposition party (Diario de Noticias, 21.3.2000; Diario de Noticias, 13.6.2000).

What is the association between partisanship, individual views and behaviours towards the pandemic? This research note explores this question empirically using two datasets collected before and during the Covid‐19 pandemic: a daily survey covering nearly 100,000 individuals and county level mobility matched to UK 2019 general election results. At the individual level, our findings show that partisanship is strongly correlated with differences in both views and behaviours. Conservative voters were less likely to perceive Covid‐19 as dangerous and less likely to stay home during the national lockdown. At the county level, the effect of the national lockdown on mobility was negative and statistically significant only in less Conservative counties. Thus, partisanship is associated with different individual views and behaviours towards the pandemic even when there is broad consensus among the main political parties and the government about the nature of a public health problem and the appropriate policy response.

A growing body of literature investigates whether legislators show biases in their constituency communication contingent upon constituent traits. However, we know little about whether and how findings of unequal responsiveness generalize across countries (beyond the United States) and across different traits. We address both issues using a pre‐registered comparative field experiment conducted in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, in which fictitious citizens (varied by ethnicity, social class and partisan affiliation) inquired about legislators’ policy priorities regarding the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our pooled analysis reveals that co‐partisanship and class both increase the responsiveness of legislators while we find no effect for ethnicity. The effect sizes we find are small, but comparable to earlier studies and also noteworthy in view of our hard test design. Our exploratory analyses further corroborate the lack of discrimination against ethnic minority constituents in showing no intersectionality effects, that is, interactions between ethnic‐minority and low‐class identities. This exploratory step also addresses the country specific differences that we find. We speculate about plausible underlying party system effects that we, however, cannot substantiate due to statistical limitations. This important issue requires further attention in future research.

On 17 April, local elections were called for 15 of the 20 Italian regions. For the first time following the November 1999 constitutional reform of articles 121, 122, 123 and 126, the presidents of the regional executives were to be elected directly using a first-past-the-post majoritarian system. Under the electoral law approved in 1995, the regional councils are elected using a dual electoral system: 80% of the seats are allocated with a PR system (Droop formula with a threshold of 3% at the provincial level or 5%at the regional level) with a number of constituencies equal to the number of provinces in the region, and 20% are elected using a plurality system with a single constituency covering the entire region. This second part of the electoral system provides a ‘bonus’ for the winning list in the PR section as it assures a minimum quota of 55% of the seats to the winning list. The party lists in the PR and plurality sections must be clearly tied: i.e., party A in the PR section must be present in the plurality section as well or it must specify the party in the plurality section with which it is affiliated. The voter can split his or her vote, but if he or she votes only in the PR section the same party preference is in the other section attributed by default. But the reverse does not apply: a vote cast only in the plurality section is not attributed to any party lists in the PR section.