AJPS — 2026-03-19
Original Using large language models to analyze political texts through natural language understanding
Kenneth Benoit, Scott De Marchi, Conor Laver, Michael Laver, Jinshuai Ma
AJPS — 2026-03-19
Original Rulers on the road: Itinerant rule in the Holy Roman Empire, AD 919–1519
GOV 39/2 2026-03-15
Original Beyond Democratic Backsliding: Bureaucracy, Elite Dynamics and Administrative Change in Authoritarian Transitions
Kutsal Yesilkagit, Johan Christensen
Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper examines how political and administrative elites shape regime transformations under authoritarian rule, proposing an elite‐centered analytical perspective that complements prevailing accounts of “democratic backsliding.” We show how embedding political–administrative relations within a broader elite‐theoretical framework clarifies the mechanisms through which elite reconfiguration underwrites institutional erosion. Drawing on classical and contemporary elite theory, we argue that shifts in elite coalitions among politicians, bureaucrats, and economic actors drive regime changes more than institutional erosion or ideological movements. Through comparative historical analysis of interwar Italy and Germany, we illustrate distinct elite‐driven pathways to authoritarian consolidation: Mussolini's Italy involved strategic alliances with traditional elites, while Hitler's Germany pursued radical elite replacement. Our findings highlight the critical role of elite realignments in transforming institutions and economic policies, often maintaining a façade of electoral legitimacy. This elite‐theoretical approach offers nuanced insights into contemporary shifts toward autocratic governance, emphasizing the importance of analyzing elite networks and interactions to comprehend the deeper mechanics of political transformation. Our findings thus contribute to public administration scholarship by theorizing how elite realignments transform bureaucratic structures and alter the nature of political‐administrative relationships under authoritarian conditions.
JCC — pp. 1-18 2026-03-11 Original Trust Chains and the Resilience of Patronage Networks :The Use of Indirect Guanxi Under Anti-Corruption
Ji Ruan, Yuanyuan Lu, Shizhan Ruan
GOV 39/2 2026-03-11
Original Feeding the Coalition: How Presidents Use State Banks to Buy Legislative Support for Governability
Rodrigo B. DeMello, Carlos Pereira
Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper develops and tests a theory of how presidents use government agencies to manage legislative coalitions in multiparty presidential systems. We argue that agency decisions—particularly subsidized credit from state‐owned development banks—function as retail coalition goods that sustain legislative support. Legislators are more likely to back the president when agency resources benefit subnational politicians who are both partisan allies and vital to their reelection networks. Using a regression discontinuity design based on close mayoral elections in Brazil and loan‐level data from the National Development Bank (BNDES), we find that municipalities governed by coalition‐aligned mayors receive significantly more favorable loan terms. Linking these data to roll‐call votes, we show that legislators become more supportive of the president after loans are granted in their electoral strongholds managed by co‐partisan mayors. These findings reveal how distributive agency decisions translate into legislative support, integrating bureaucratic discretion into theories of coalition management.
PSJ 54/2 2026-03-10
Original Repeated Modifications in Policy Diffusion: Evidence From River Management Regulations in China's Cities
Hu Xi, Hongtao Yi
Abstract
ABSTRACT Why do local governments repeatedly modify policies after their initial adoption? While policy diffusion research has focused on adoption, far less is known about why and how policies are revised over time. This study analyzes a city–year dataset of 293 Chinese prefecture‐level cities from 1986 to 2022, tracking both the adoption and subsequent modifications of River Management Regulations (RMR). A two‐stage modeling strategy combining a Probit model and a Prentice–Williams–Peterson Cox model is employed to analyze repeated modifications. The findings reveal three patterns. First, policy modifications at the provincial level and amendments to superior laws significantly increase the likelihood of local RMR revisions, whereas central‐level modifications do not exert a direct effect. Second, while neighboring jurisdictions' policy modifications do not significantly affect local revisions, adoption by neighboring late adopters generates a positive effect, indicating a form of “reverse diffusion.” Third, policies issued by local legislative branches are more likely to be modified than those issued by executive agencies, highlighting the role of institutional structure and procedural constraints. By shifting attention from adoption to repeated modification, this study extends policy diffusion theory and contributes to a broader understanding of post‐adoption policy dynamics in hierarchical and decentralized political systems.
PAR 86/4 pp. 1141-1159 2026-03-08 Original Connected Yet Distinct: The Evolution and Role of Korean Public Administration in Bridging Theory and Practice
Jinsol Park, Hyungjo Hur, Sangmook Kim, Keon‐Hyung Lee, Donwe Choi
JCC — pp. 1-20 2026-03-06 Original Serve the People: Public Service Information and Communication Strategies of Local Governments in China
Jianjun Yu, Shuyuan Shen
Abstract
While ideological propaganda remains central to Chinese political communication, public service information is a vital yet underexamined component. We argue that public service information enhances service visibility, strengthens government credibility, and fosters affective proximity between local authorities and citizens, boosting government satisfaction and conferring greater legitimacy. Its practical utility also attracts a broader audience and increases engagement with government accounts. Combining a survey experiment and computational analysis of over one million articles from local governments’ WeChat accounts, we find that public service information increases citizens’ support for local governments and draws readers to both government accounts and ideological propaganda. These findings underscore the significance of public service information in legitimation and audience acquisition, warranting greater scholarly attention to public service information in China.
APSR — pp. 1-15 2026-03-06 Original Reconfiguring the Global Color Line: The Paradoxical Discourse of Race in Zou Rong’s Revolutionary Army
AJPS — 2026-03-05
Original Politics transformed? Electoral competition under ranked choice voting
Peter Buisseret, Carlo Prato
Abstract
Abstract We compare multicandidate elections under plurality rule versus ranked choice voting (RCV). We examine a widely held presumption that RCV more effectively incentivizes candidates to pursue broad campaigns that can appeal to all voters, rather than targeting a narrow segment of the electorate. That presumption is correct when preference transfers are competitive, that is, when multiple candidates have a reasonable chance of securing voters' second‐choice support. However, when transfers are uncompetitive due to partisan, ethnic, or cultural alignments, that presumption is reversed: RCV can strengthen candidates' incentives to pursue targeted campaigns.