A.m. 17.871 Spring 2009 Group Projects Assignment summary Working with your assigned group, answer the question posed to you with regression analyses. You will give a 10-minute presentation on your work on Monday, March 9. Your group will also turn in a 10-page written report on your project on Friday, March 13. (Please e-mail a copy to me by 5:00 pm. in one of the following formats: doc or pdf.) The 10-page limit includes tables, figures, and bibliography. The report should be in the form of a (mini) term paper meaning, among other things, that it should follow the format described by Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. The paper should do the following: 1. State, or re-state, the question, and discuss to whom the question is important and why. 2. Review any relevant literature you can find in journals, press accounts, or books. 3. Describe your method, including, how you measured the variables of interest (dependent and independent variables) and where you gathered the data. 4. Summarize your findings, using the appropriate figures and tables. In doing so, show that you have learned the techniques in class by, for example, interpreting the relevant regression coefficients and the SER, and explaining differences between bivariate and multivariate findings. Data requirements The data set you create must have least 30 cases and at least three explanatory variables. Statement about collaboration You are encouraged to seek and extend as much help as you can, both within and between groups. I expect you to be meticulous in citing the written work of others that you use. Grading I will assign a letter grade to each group's project. That will be the grade you receive, plus or minus an adjustment that will be determined as follows: I will ask each member of the group to indicate the relative amount of effort each person contributed to the successful completion of the project. If someone in the group stands out as being a conspicuous over-contributor or under-contributor to the group effort, that person's letter grade will be adjusted upward or downward as appropriate.Project 1: Government corruption and press freedom Group: Carrie, Raphael, Daniel Question: Why are some governments more corrupt than are others? Possible explanations - Free Press. More snooping reporters may mean less corruption. - Level and length of democracy. Democracy may reduce corruption by allowing voters to reject corrupt politicians. - Colonialism. Some scholars have argued that the British established institutions in their colonies that lower corruption. - Income. Poverty probably leads government officials to take a more bribes. Data sources - Transparency International collects data on corruption. - Przeworski et al, Democracy and Development. Book with detailed information about regime types for 141 countries. - World Bank collects data on newspaper circulation. - International Federation of Newspaper Publishers also collects data on newspaper circulation, which they publish in World Press Trends. Comments/hints Although researchers have investigated the determinants of corruption, the role of the press is under explored. You will need to determine the best approach to measuring corruption and press freedom. You might also attempt to look at overtime change, such as comparing early 90s with more recent corruption levels. You should also consider what factors might increase the effect of press freedom on corruption.Project 2: Women in Parliaments Group: Monica, Tess Question: What explains the variation in women's representation in parliaments around the world? Possible explanations - Duration of democracy. Young democracies struggle with the most basic implementation of democratic rules, therefore these countries might treat women's representation, and other minorities' rights, as a second order concern. - Regime type. Presidential regimes are characterized by their lack of flexibility and “winner takes all" nature. Access points to power are determined by the president and the leading political parties making it difficult for women to survive in a male dominated environment. Parliamentary systems are more flexible and governing coalitions are more likely to be formed. Therefore women should have more political representation in parliamentary regimes. - Electoral rules. Countries where voters have to support one candidate in a single member districts may place more weight on the candidate's gender. Countries where voters choose among party lists in multimember districts may give more importance to the party and not to each candidate's gender. - Ethic fragmentation. Countries with more than one social cleavage may find difficulties in enforcing equality of representation for all groups. The higher the ethnic fragmentation in a country the less priority will be given to women’s representation. Stage of development and inequality. In countries where all the material needs of its citizens have been fulfilled other non-material issues, such as gender equality, are welcome in the political debate. Wealthy countries should have more women in their parliaments. In the same line of reasoning, income inequality should be negatively correlated with women's representation. - Religion. Some religions believe in the equality of women and men more than others. These perceptions of equality may be reflected in the political opportunities forewomen. If this is true, countries with tolerant religions should have more women in parliaments. Data sources - United Nations Statistic Division. Social, political and economic statistics and indicators. WIDER World Income Inequality Dataset. www.wider.unu.edu - Przeworski et al, Democracy and Development. Book with detailed information about regime types for 141 countries. - The Freedom House website (www.freedomhouse.org) contains country reports with data about civil rights, political rights, some demographics and a "freedom" index. - The Inter-Parliamentary Union website (www.ipu.org) contains information about legislatures around the world including electoral rules and results of the most recent elections. Comments/hints The trick here is, first, finding reasonable measures of things like "ethnic fragmentation," and then finding comparable measures across a bunch of countries. You will find numerous reference books from international organizations that report on economic and