Carol Mershon - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Carol Mershon
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 5, 2013
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 5, 2013
Westview eBooks, 1995
The Government of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi The Referendum on the Electoral Law for the Senate - Anoth... more The Government of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi The Referendum on the Electoral Law for the Senate - Another Momentous April The 1993 Parliamentary Electoral Reform Reinventing the Left - The Origins of Italy's Progressive Alliance The Last Year of the Christian Democratic Party The RAI - Restructuring and Reform Politics, the Mafia and the Market for Corrupt Exchange Eppure Si Tocca - The Abolition of the Scala Mobile The Italian Intervention in Somalia - A New Italian Foreign Policy After the Cold War?
Journal of Modern African Studies, Jun 1, 2019
ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional lea... more ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional leaders in dual legitimacy systems. We theorise that traditional leaders engage in meta-constitutional bargaining, i.e. bargaining among constitutionally and traditionally defined actors within the meta-constitutional space. This process resembles constitutional bargaining in federations over the institutional balance between the members and centre, and among members. We thus propose a parallel between the theory of federal bargaining, on the one hand, and, on the other, the process of institutional balancing between agents in constitutional and traditional authority structures in dual legitimacy systems. Evidence from narratives of institutional balancing between constitutional and traditional authorities in Southern Africa suggests that actors’ strategies in dual legitimacy systems accord with the framework here. The narratives also disclose that both constitutional and traditional authorities rely on the state's courts for adjudication. The paper enriches social science scholarship on traditional authority, political economy and federalism.
The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2019
ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional lea... more ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional leaders in dual legitimacy systems. We theorise that traditional leaders engage in meta-constitutional bargaining, i.e. bargaining among constitutionally and traditionally defined actors within the meta-constitutional space. This process resembles constitutional bargaining in federations over the institutional balance between the members and centre, and among members. We thus propose a parallel between the theory of federal bargaining, on the one hand, and, on the other, the process of institutional balancing between agents in constitutional and traditional authority structures in dual legitimacy systems. Evidence from narratives of institutional balancing between constitutional and traditional authorities in Southern Africa suggests that actors’ strategies in dual legitimacy systems accord with the framework here. The narratives also disclose that both constitutional and traditional author...
PS Political Science & Politics, Jun 19, 2015
Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2020
The conclusion to the special issue takes stock of both the first and the second generations of r... more The conclusion to the special issue takes stock of both the first and the second generations of research on preferential proportional representation (PR) and electoral personalism. The article uses this appraisal in order to locate this project’s achievements within extant scholarship. It argues that the project not only reevaluates but also challenges the wisdom on preferential PR. In challenging the canon, the project enriches the study of electoral institutions, political parties, legislative politics, comparative politics, and political science more broadly.
In this paper, we view party strategy as fitting the compound imperatives of the entire "pol... more In this paper, we view party strategy as fitting the compound imperatives of the entire "political business cycle"—from one election to the next—and focus on the legislative stage of that cycle. To the extent to which the legislative-stage objectives of the players can be assumed to be autonomous (and we discuss instances when that is indeed the case), we seek to identify the parliamentary switching strategy that emerges as a response to those objectives. For the cases of Italy and Russia, we locate actors in parliaments whose legislative-stage optimization problem can be analyzed in isolation from that of the electoral stage. For those players, we show the presence of behavior consistent with policy objectives (e.g., “hunting the core of policy space”). This policydriven behavior is manifested in the pattern of switching parties in both of our country cases; and in both, it introduces elements of dynamism to the party system during the legislative stage. While we look for...
PS: Political Science & Politics
South African Journal of Higher Education
How do researchers and administrators in higher education plan and carry out writing retreats for... more How do researchers and administrators in higher education plan and carry out writing retreats for academic staff? This paper presents a distinctive approach to developing creative writing retreats for academic staff in higher education. We distill lessons from our June 2016 writing retreat, which drew participants from the University of Venda and the University of Limpopo. Responding to the South African Journal of Higher Education's invitation to 're-imagine' writing retreats, we specify the shortcomings of linear writing retreats and discuss how to enhance collaboration, participation, and leadership capacity in planning and carrying out writing retreats. We also focus on an oftneglected yet crucial feature of retreats, follow-up. As we show, our approach offers general insights for creative designing and implementing writing retreats.
Presentation at the 2005 Workshop of …, 2005
We owe a large and probably unrepayable debt of thanks to the participants in the summer 2004 Dub... more We owe a large and probably unrepayable debt of thanks to the participants in the summer 2004 Dublin workshop of the Party Switching Research Group. Presentations and discussions at the workshop have been invaluable in helping us hone our own thoughts on party switching. Thanks to John
Journal of Politics, 2005
... Heller and Mershon 2002; McElroy 2003; Mejía Acosta 1999). ... Verzichelli 1996, 1999). In ea... more ... Heller and Mershon 2002; McElroy 2003; Mejía Acosta 1999). ... Verzichelli 1996, 1999). In early 1994, the Christian Democrats (DC) split into the Christian Democratic Center (CCD, 24 MPs) and the Popular Party (PPI, 179 MPs). ...
The American Political Science Review, 1996
Governments in Italy both change and remain the same. From 1946 to 1992 the Christian Democratic ... more Governments in Italy both change and remain the same. From 1946 to 1992 the Christian Democratic Party always held governing power. But almost no cabinet stayed in office more than a few years, and many governments collapsed after only a few months. How can instability coexist with stability in this way? How can governments break up at such low cost and with so little effect on alternation? These questions are rooted in—but not resolved by—the available game-theoretic literature on coalitional behavior. My answer is that politicians' purposive actions can reduce the costs of coalition. I argue that the costs of making, breaking, and maintaining coalitions depend on political institutions and on the array of parties and voters in policy space. Institutional and spatial conditions structure…
Social Science & Medicine
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 5, 2013
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 5, 2013
Westview eBooks, 1995
The Government of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi The Referendum on the Electoral Law for the Senate - Anoth... more The Government of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi The Referendum on the Electoral Law for the Senate - Another Momentous April The 1993 Parliamentary Electoral Reform Reinventing the Left - The Origins of Italy's Progressive Alliance The Last Year of the Christian Democratic Party The RAI - Restructuring and Reform Politics, the Mafia and the Market for Corrupt Exchange Eppure Si Tocca - The Abolition of the Scala Mobile The Italian Intervention in Somalia - A New Italian Foreign Policy After the Cold War?
Journal of Modern African Studies, Jun 1, 2019
ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional lea... more ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional leaders in dual legitimacy systems. We theorise that traditional leaders engage in meta-constitutional bargaining, i.e. bargaining among constitutionally and traditionally defined actors within the meta-constitutional space. This process resembles constitutional bargaining in federations over the institutional balance between the members and centre, and among members. We thus propose a parallel between the theory of federal bargaining, on the one hand, and, on the other, the process of institutional balancing between agents in constitutional and traditional authority structures in dual legitimacy systems. Evidence from narratives of institutional balancing between constitutional and traditional authorities in Southern Africa suggests that actors’ strategies in dual legitimacy systems accord with the framework here. The narratives also disclose that both constitutional and traditional authorities rely on the state's courts for adjudication. The paper enriches social science scholarship on traditional authority, political economy and federalism.
The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2019
ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional lea... more ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the quest for legitimacy conducted by hereditary, traditional leaders in dual legitimacy systems. We theorise that traditional leaders engage in meta-constitutional bargaining, i.e. bargaining among constitutionally and traditionally defined actors within the meta-constitutional space. This process resembles constitutional bargaining in federations over the institutional balance between the members and centre, and among members. We thus propose a parallel between the theory of federal bargaining, on the one hand, and, on the other, the process of institutional balancing between agents in constitutional and traditional authority structures in dual legitimacy systems. Evidence from narratives of institutional balancing between constitutional and traditional authorities in Southern Africa suggests that actors’ strategies in dual legitimacy systems accord with the framework here. The narratives also disclose that both constitutional and traditional author...
PS Political Science & Politics, Jun 19, 2015
Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2020
The conclusion to the special issue takes stock of both the first and the second generations of r... more The conclusion to the special issue takes stock of both the first and the second generations of research on preferential proportional representation (PR) and electoral personalism. The article uses this appraisal in order to locate this project’s achievements within extant scholarship. It argues that the project not only reevaluates but also challenges the wisdom on preferential PR. In challenging the canon, the project enriches the study of electoral institutions, political parties, legislative politics, comparative politics, and political science more broadly.
In this paper, we view party strategy as fitting the compound imperatives of the entire "pol... more In this paper, we view party strategy as fitting the compound imperatives of the entire "political business cycle"—from one election to the next—and focus on the legislative stage of that cycle. To the extent to which the legislative-stage objectives of the players can be assumed to be autonomous (and we discuss instances when that is indeed the case), we seek to identify the parliamentary switching strategy that emerges as a response to those objectives. For the cases of Italy and Russia, we locate actors in parliaments whose legislative-stage optimization problem can be analyzed in isolation from that of the electoral stage. For those players, we show the presence of behavior consistent with policy objectives (e.g., “hunting the core of policy space”). This policydriven behavior is manifested in the pattern of switching parties in both of our country cases; and in both, it introduces elements of dynamism to the party system during the legislative stage. While we look for...
PS: Political Science & Politics
South African Journal of Higher Education
How do researchers and administrators in higher education plan and carry out writing retreats for... more How do researchers and administrators in higher education plan and carry out writing retreats for academic staff? This paper presents a distinctive approach to developing creative writing retreats for academic staff in higher education. We distill lessons from our June 2016 writing retreat, which drew participants from the University of Venda and the University of Limpopo. Responding to the South African Journal of Higher Education's invitation to 're-imagine' writing retreats, we specify the shortcomings of linear writing retreats and discuss how to enhance collaboration, participation, and leadership capacity in planning and carrying out writing retreats. We also focus on an oftneglected yet crucial feature of retreats, follow-up. As we show, our approach offers general insights for creative designing and implementing writing retreats.
Presentation at the 2005 Workshop of …, 2005
We owe a large and probably unrepayable debt of thanks to the participants in the summer 2004 Dub... more We owe a large and probably unrepayable debt of thanks to the participants in the summer 2004 Dublin workshop of the Party Switching Research Group. Presentations and discussions at the workshop have been invaluable in helping us hone our own thoughts on party switching. Thanks to John
Journal of Politics, 2005
... Heller and Mershon 2002; McElroy 2003; Mejía Acosta 1999). ... Verzichelli 1996, 1999). In ea... more ... Heller and Mershon 2002; McElroy 2003; Mejía Acosta 1999). ... Verzichelli 1996, 1999). In early 1994, the Christian Democrats (DC) split into the Christian Democratic Center (CCD, 24 MPs) and the Popular Party (PPI, 179 MPs). ...
The American Political Science Review, 1996
Governments in Italy both change and remain the same. From 1946 to 1992 the Christian Democratic ... more Governments in Italy both change and remain the same. From 1946 to 1992 the Christian Democratic Party always held governing power. But almost no cabinet stayed in office more than a few years, and many governments collapsed after only a few months. How can instability coexist with stability in this way? How can governments break up at such low cost and with so little effect on alternation? These questions are rooted in—but not resolved by—the available game-theoretic literature on coalitional behavior. My answer is that politicians' purposive actions can reduce the costs of coalition. I argue that the costs of making, breaking, and maintaining coalitions depend on political institutions and on the array of parties and voters in policy space. Institutional and spatial conditions structure…
Social Science & Medicine