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The 2015 United Nations resolution on Financing for Development stresses the importance of effective resource mobilization and use of domestic resources to pursue sustainable development. The first Sustainable Development Goal is to eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030. This paper proposes an accounting exercise to assess whether it is feasible for countries to eliminate poverty using only domestic resources, in other words, by mere redistribution. Moreover, the paper argues that the concentration of resources in the hands of fewer individuals in the society may hinder the feasibility of implementing effective fiscal policies (from the revenue side and the social spending side) to reduce poverty. The paper provides a new tool to assess the capacity of countries to eliminate poverty through redistribution, and a new tool to approximate the concentration of political influence in a country. The new methodologies are applied to the most recent surveys available for more than 120 developing countries. The findings show that countries with the same fiscal capacity to mobilize resources for poverty eradication differ widely in the political feasibility of such redistribution policies.

Domestic Resource Mobilization --- Fiscal Capacity --- Political Influence --- Poverty Gap --- Taxation

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This paper argues that legislative malapportionment, denoting a discrepancy between the share of legislative seats and the share of population held by electoral districts, serves as a tool for pre-democratic elites to preserve their political power and economic interests after a transition to democracy. The authors claim that legislative malapportionment enhances the pre-democratic elite's political influence by over-representing areas that are more likely to vote for parties aligned with the elite. This biased political representation survives in equilibrium as long as it helps democratic consolidation. Using data from Latin America, the authors document empirically that malapportionment increases the probability of transitioning to a democracy. Moreover, the data show that over-represented electoral districts are more likely to vote for parties close to pre-democracy ruling groups. The analysis also finds that overrepresented areas have lower levels of political competition and receive more transfers per capita from the central government, both of which favor the persistence of power of pre-democracy elites.

Democracies --- Democratic regimes --- Economic power --- Elections --- Electoral systems --- Emerging Markets --- Governance --- Labor Policies --- Legislation --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Parliamentary Government --- Political Economy --- Political groups --- Political influence --- Political representation --- Political Systems and Analysis --- Private Sector Development --- Social Protections and Labor --- Voting

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One of the Irish Times' Books of the Year, 2008
Rebellion, partition and a messy peace settlement ensured that Ireland was a constant thorn in Britain's side after 1916. Britain was confronted by the bombs and bullets of militant republicans, the clandestine intrigues of foreign powers and the strategic dangers of Ireland's wartime neutrality - a final, irrevocable step in the country's difficult transition to independence.
Using newly-opened archives, this book reveals for the first time how the British intelligence system responded to these threats. It lifts the lid on the underground activities of Britain's secret agencies - MI5, MI6/SIS and the Special Branch. It puts secret intelligence in the context of the government's other sources of information and explores how deep-rooted cultural stereotypes distorted intelligence and shaped perceptions. And it shows how, for decades, British intelligence struggled to cope with Ireland but then rose to the challenge after 1940, largely because the Dublin government began to share its secrets. The author casts light on characters long kept in the shadows - IRA gunrunners, Bolshevik agitators, Nazi agents, Irish loyalists who acted as British spies. His compelling book fills a gap in the history of the British intelligence community and helps explain the twists and turns of Anglo-Irish relations during a time of momentous change.

PAUL MCMAHON gained his PhD from Cambridge University.

Espionage, British --- Intelligence service --- Counter intelligence --- Counterespionage --- Counterintelligence --- Intelligence community --- Secret police (Intelligence service) --- Public administration --- Research --- Disinformation --- Secret service --- British espionage --- History. --- Ireland --- History --- Great Britain --- Foreign relations --- Anglo-Irish Relations. --- Bolshevik Agitators. --- British Double Agents. --- British Intelligence Community. --- IRA Gunrunners. --- Intelligence Agencies. --- Irish Revolutionaries. --- Nazi Saboteurs. --- Political Influence.

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An exploration of how ©†thelwold and those he influenced deployed the promotion of saints to implement religious reform.

Saints --- Monasticism and religious orders --- Monachisme et ordres religieux --- Friendship. --- Cult --- History --- Histoire --- Middle Ages. --- Cult. --- Aethelwold, --- Friends and associates. --- To 1500. --- England. --- Ethelwoldus ep. Wintoniensis --- Angleterre --- Culte des saints --- To 1500 --- Anglo-Saxon history. --- Bishop Æthelwold. --- early medieval England. --- historical context. --- political influence. --- religious belief. --- religious power. --- religious reform. --- saints' cults.

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Why working-class Americans almost never become politicians, what that means for democracy, and what reformers can do about itWhy are Americans governed by the rich? Millionaires make up only three percent of the public but control all three branches of the federal government. How did this happen? What stops lower-income and working-class Americans from becoming politicians? The first book to answer these urgent questions, The Cash Ceiling provides a compelling and comprehensive account of why so few working-class people hold office-and what reformers can do about it.Using extensive data on candidates, politicians, party leaders, and voters, Nicholas Carnes debunks popular misconceptions (like the idea that workers are unelectable or unqualified to govern), identifies the factors that keep lower-class Americans off the ballot and out of political institutions, and evaluates a variety of reform proposals.In the United States, Carnes shows, elections have a built-in "cash ceiling," a series of structural barriers that make it almost impossible for the working-class to run for public office. Elections take a serious toll on candidates, many working-class Americans simply can't shoulder the practical burdens, and civic and political leaders often pass them over in favor of white-collar candidates. But these obstacles aren't inevitable. Pilot programs to recruit, train, and support working-class candidates have the potential to increase the economic diversity of our governing institutions and ultimately amplify the voices of ordinary citizens.Who runs for office goes to the heart of whether we will have a democracy that is representative or not. The Cash Ceiling shows that the best hope for combating the oversized political influence of the rich might simply be to help more working-class Americans become politicians.

Campaign funds --- Elections --- American politics. --- American workers. --- Americans. --- U.S. elections. --- U.S. politics. --- US elections. --- candidate recruitment. --- cash ceiling. --- economic diversity. --- elections. --- governing institutions. --- lower-income Americans. --- political campaigns. --- political candidate. --- political equality reform. --- political influence. --- political office. --- political representation. --- politicians. --- politics. --- public office. --- underrepresentation. --- upper class. --- working-class Americans. --- working-class candidates.