Bomb or build? How party ideologies affect the balance of foreign aid and defence spending

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Wenzelburger ◽  
Florian Böller
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Defence Spending ◽  
International Posture ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Two Sides ◽  
Security Affairs

This article contributes to a growing literature that questions the traditional ‘politics stops at the water’s edge’ paradigm. Left- and right-wing parties hold diverging ideologies and articulate specific party programmes regarding policy priorities in the realm of foreign and security affairs. The impact of partisan contestations over foreign policy priorities can be traced in defence and foreign aid spending. We understand this ‘bomb-or-build’-balance as two sides of a coin which shapes the international posture of democracies. Our quantitative analysis of 21 OECD countries (1988–2014) reveals that the ideological positions of the parties in government influence the relative importance of military expenditures versus foreign aid. The more the ideological position of a government is tilted towards the military (and against internationalism), the more the ‘bomb-or-build’-balance shifts in favour of military spending (and in disfavour of foreign aid).

Housing Prices and Government Approval: The Impact of Housing Booms on Left- and Right-Wing Governments in 16 Advanced Industrialized Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-185
Author(s):  
Sung Min Han ◽  
Mi Jeong Shin
Keyword(s):  
Housing Prices ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Approval Ratings ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this article, we argue that rising housing prices increase voter approval of incumbent governments because such a rise increases personal wealth, which leads to greater voter satisfaction. This effect is strongest under right-wing governments because those who benefit from rising prices—homeowners—are more likely to be right-leaning. Non-homeowners, who are more likely to vote for left-leaning parties, will view rising housing prices as a disadvantage and therefore feel the government does not serve them well, which will mitigate the advantage to left-wing governments. We find support for our arguments using both macro-level data (housing prices and government approval ratings in 16 industrialized countries between 1960 and 2017) and micro-level data (housing prices and individuals’ vote choices in the United Kingdom using the British Household Panel Survey). The findings imply that housing booms benefit incumbent governments generally and right-wing ones in particular.

scholarly journals The populist politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: Comparative conclusions

Politics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea LP Pirro ◽  
Paul Taggart ◽  
Stijn van Kessel
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
National Data ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Face ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cross National

This article offers comparative findings of the nature of populist Euroscepticism in political parties in contemporary Europe in the face of the Great Recession, migrant crisis, and Brexit. Drawing on case studies included in the Special Issue on France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the article presents summary cross-national data on the positions of parties, the relative importance of the crisis, the framing of Euroscepticism, and the impact of Euroscepticism in different country cases. We use this data to conclude that there are important differences between left- and right-wing variants of populist Euroscepticism, and that although there is diversity across the cases, there is an overall picture of resilience against populist Euroscepticism.

Military Expenditures and Income Inequality

2018 ◽  
pp. 192-210
Author(s):  
Buhari Doğan ◽  
Muhlis Can ◽  
Osman Değer
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Unit Root ◽  
Cointegration Analysis ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact

Regardless of their level of developments, the income distribution problem is one of the most important economic and social problems the countries face. In recent years, scholars have performed multiple studies to determine the factors affecting income distribution. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the impact of military expenditures on income inequality in a sample of North American countries (the USA, Canada, and Mexico), within the context of the Kuznets curve. The study covers between 1995-2013. In unit root Peseran approach, in cointegration analysis, Durbin-Hausmann approach were employed. The findings show that the coefficient of the military expenditures series is positive and the coefficient of square of the military expenditures is negative. This situation shows that military expenditures first increase and then reduce income inequality. Findings indicate that there is an inverse “U” relationship between military expenditures and income inequality. Moreover, it has been detected that as economic growth increases income inequality decreases.

The Turkish army at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s: from left-wing conspiracy to right-wing coup

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-221
Author(s):  
Malika Sh. Tovsultanova ◽  
Rustam A. Tovsultanov ◽  
Lilia N. Galimova
Keyword(s):  
Military Coup ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Socialist System ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Military ◽  
Turkish Society

This is the first paper in Russian historiography dedicated to the struggle of left and right groups in the Turkish army on the eve of a military coup on March 12, 1971. By 1970, an alliance of leftist intellectuals and officers was formed, led by the editor of the Devrim newspaper, Dogan Avjioglu and one of the organizers of the 1960 coup, a retired lieutenant general Jemal Madanoglu, received the conditional name of the organization of national revolutionaries. The members of the organization sought to approve the socialist system of the bassist type in the country and outlined the number of military coups March 9, 1971. However, the death of one and the opportunist position of two other leaders of the military wing led to the failure of the attempt of a leftist coup. On the contrary, on March 12, 1971, a right-wing military coup took place in Turkey. In the course of subsequent repressions, a powerful blow was dealt to the left groups in the army and in Turkish society as a whole. In an effort to end the repression and achieve consensus in society, moderately leftist forces led by B. Ejevit entered into a coalition with their opponents religious conservatives led by N. Erbakan.

scholarly journals Populism and Environmental Performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Tobias Böhmelt
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Combine Data ◽  
Executive Leaders ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Level Performance

Abstract This article examines the impact of populism on environmental politics, focusing on countries’ outcome-level performance. I develop the argument that populist leadership likely undermines environmental quality. First, populist leaders tend to reject and refrain from implementing “green” policies, as these are usually promoted by “corrupt elites.” Second, populism erodes democratic institutions, thus offsetting a series of mechanisms that are related to better environmental outcomes. Empirically, I combine data from the Global Populism Database covering sixty-six countries and more than two hundred executive leaders with information on environmental performance at the outcome level. The findings suggest that populist leadership is strongly linked to lower environmental performance—also when controlling for a series of alternative influences and distinguishing between left- and right-wing populism. This research greatly adds to our understanding of the determinants of environmental policies, the role of regime type and ideology, and the literature on populism.

scholarly journals Burden-sharing for global cooperation on safety and security

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Bogers ◽  
Robert Beeres ◽  
Myriame Bollen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
The World ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
The Military ◽  
Sharing Behavior

Across the world, the perceived common ground regarding global safety and security is changing. Facing divergent threats, in addition to their cooperation on defense states will increasingly need to collaborate on additional dimensions to protect their citizens. Hence, next to the military burden-sharing debate, questions as to whether states are contributing their fair shares in other arenas as well will be subject to debate also. This article analyzes national contributions by 28 NATO states to five dimensions connected to today’s safety and security situation, namely military expenditures, foreign aid, combating terror financing, carbon dioxide reductions, and refugee protection. We find that states vary in their contributions to safety and security, each preferring to fund some dimensions more than others. We suggest that acknowledging and allowing for a certain degree of complementarity among states could help transform the debate on burden-sharing, which is cost-focused, to include benefit-sharing behavior. Thus, it may become possible to value every country’s contributions and, building on national strengths, to further cooperation for safety and security along all necessary dimensions.

Homeschooling in the USA

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton Gaither
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Internal Conflicts ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Left Feminism ◽  
Political Radicalism ◽  
Conservative Protestants

This article first examines why the homeschooling movement in the USA emerged in the 1970s, noting the impact of political radicalism both right and left, feminism, suburbanization, and public school bureaucratization and secularization. It then describes how the movement, constituted of left- and right-wing elements, collaborated in the early 1980s to contest hostile legal climates in many states but was taken over by conservative Protestants by the late 1980s because of their superior organization and numerical dominance. Despite internal conflicts, the movement’s goals of legalizing and popularizing homeschooling were realized by the mid-1990s. Since that time homeschooling has grown in popularity and is increasingly being utilized by more mainstream elements of society, often in conjunction with public schools, suggesting that ‘homeschooling’ as a political movement and ideology may have run its course.

Chinese Foreign Aid to Fiji: Threat or Opportunity

China Report ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-258
Author(s):  
Saber Salem
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Island States ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Us ◽  
Diplomatic Recognition ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact

China’s political, economic and cultural influence is steadily rising in Fiji and the Pacific region as a whole. The Sino–Fiji cooperation deepened at multiple levels after the Fijian military assumed power through a coup d’état and removed the civilian government from power in late 2006. This ‘undemocratic behaviour’ infuriated the two regional powers—Australia and New Zealand who then applied sanctions on Fiji, particularly the military brass, and encouraged their counterparts as well as multilateral aid organisations to ‘punish’ Fiji’s military ‘regime’. The military government in order to derail the impact of sanctions from its traditional donors adopted the ‘Look North Policy’, which was opening cooperation with China and attracting Chinese investment in Fiji. China welcomed the friendship gesture and furnished Fiji with financial assistance. This Chinese friendship was also due to Taiwanese involvement in the region, which was providing aid for diplomatic recognition and support at the UN. The ‘microstates’ hold about 7 per cent of UN votes. Both China and Taiwan need their votes at multilateral organisations and given that these microstates are mostly aid-dependent economies, initiated an era of Chequebook diplomacy, which is basically money for diplomatic recognition in the case of Taiwan or acceptance of One China Policy in the case of China. The microstates have time and again switched between China and Taiwan and played one against the other to get more aid money out of their diplomatic rivalry. The Sino–Taiwan aid competition in the Pacific forced US to make a strong comeback and ensure that China under the pretext of denying Taiwan space in the region actually spies on the US activities in the region. As a result, the US and its regional allies have significantly increased their foreign aid to the island nations in order to coax them to diminish their level of financial dependence on China. So far, they have not been successful enough and China’s aid package has gone far beyond the level US is giving. Today, China is the second largest donor to the region and largest financier to Fiji. Fiji has become the ace in this game as it is the regional hub of the Pacific Island states. Bearing the current high level of aid competition between traditional and emerging donors in mind, it is too early to judge whether Chinese aid will cause more harm to Fiji than benefit or vice versa. It also entirely depends on the Fijian government as to how much it relies on Chinese aid and how clean Chinese are with their soft loans. China has been blamed for not being clear and specific about the terms and conditions of its concessional loans. This vagueness and secrecy that is associated with Chinese aid been a cause for concern, especially among traditional donors.

scholarly journals The Military Expenditures of the NATO Members

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. p250
Author(s):  
Herman Matthijs
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Treaty Organization ◽  
Press Release ◽  
Member States ◽  
Military Organization ◽  
Defence Spending ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
The Military

This study examines the defence expenditures of NATO’s member countries over the recent years. It makes use of the original budget figures of the states as verified by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and published by this military organization. There search of this study is to examine the following points: -            How has defence spending by the member states evolved in the period under consideration (2010-2019);-            Which states already meet the targets of the 2014 Wales summit? (2% GDP for defence and 20% of this budget for investment);The current figures are based on the primary budgetary sources as published by NATO, namely: the latest year report of 2018 (NATO, AR) and especially the most recent figures in the NATO yearly press release (NATO, PR-CP).

Military expenditures and health: a cross-national study, 1975-2000

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (13/14) ◽  
pp. 755-772
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kentor ◽  
Andrew Jorgenson
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
National Study ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Capital Intensive ◽  
Cross National

Purpose Recent sociological research highlights the growth of military expenditures in hi-tech, capital-intensive armaments and technology. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of these capital-intensive expenditures on two related health outcomes: under-five mortality and life expectancy. Design/methodology/approach This research utilizes a series of cross-national panel models estimated for a diverse sample of developed and less-developed countries from 1975 to 2000. Findings The authors find that hi-tech military expenditures increase under-five mortality and reduce life expectancy over the period studied, by reducing the number and type of soldiers able to take advantage of increased health-related resources obtained in the military and indirectly, by increasing income inequality, which negatively impacts these health outcomes. Research limitations/implications This cross-national study should be supplemented by case studies to better understand the processes being examined. Practical implications The increase in capital-intensive military expenditures found worldwide reduces the total number of soldiers in the military and raises their enlistment requirements. This makes it difficult for people with limited human capital to take advantage of the military’s traditional pathway for upward mobility. New pathways for mobility will have to be developed to avoid the creation of a new permanent underclass. Social implications There are significant social policy implications for the findings. Hi-tech military expenditures have a significant negative impact on the short- and long-term health outcomes of children and adults, in both developed and less-developed countries, which must be addressed by public policy planners. Originality/value This is one of a handful of sociological studies on the impact of military establishment on society. These findings highlight the importance of “bringing the military back in” to the forefront of sociological research.

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