Why Judicial Control of Price Terms in Consumer Contracts Might Not Always Be the Right Answer – Insights from Behavioural Law and Economics

Regulators everywhere are confronted with the question of how to react to contractual pricing structures that serve to hide rather than reveal the real cost of goods and services and thereby abuse limitations in the cognitive competences of consumers. Given that sellers/service providers systematically make use of insights from behavioural sciences to refine their manipulative pricing techniques, regulators should also integrate scientific findings on human decision making to correct behavioural market failures through more tailored policy choices. A holistic approach regarding similar problems is still missing in the EU and the issue is often disguised behind a discussion on unfair terms control, which does not serve the purpose of finding a lasting solution. The aim of this article is twofold: first, to show the weaknesses of an ex post judicial control of pricing techniques, and second, to discuss policy tools which could counterbalance consumer biases on which the techniques rely.     

The limits of mediation in the Arab Spring: the case of Syria

This article investigates the limits of mediation during the Arab Spring by focusing on the case of Syria. It examines international mediation attempts by states, non-governmental organisation, and regional and international organisations. Drawing largely on Bercovitch and Gartner’s framework of mediation outcomes, the study suggests that the directive strategy applied by Staffan de Mistura through the United Nations–Arab League joint effort has achieved the closest outcome towards a full settlement. Mediation in the Syrian crisis has been limited by disagreement among key actors, lack of commitment and of coordinated efforts, questions of representation and legitimacy, and lack of neutrality and of inclusiveness. Despite its limits, mediation has been able to achieve important gains such as the longest and broadest ceasefire, access to the majority of besieged areas, considerable de-escalation of violence, commitment among key actors towards a resolution, and resolution of incidents of hostage crises. Despite its limits, mediation is likely to play an important role vis-à-vis the Arab Spring.     

Data on the PCR Turkish population based loci: LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and Gc

Allele and genotype frequencies for the five PCR-based loci were analyzed in 157 unrelated Turkish individuals. The five PCR-based loci included LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and Gc. The results of the chi-square and exact tests showed that the genotype distribution at the LDLR, GYPA, D7S8, and Gc loci did not significantly differ from the Hardy-Weinberg Expectation (HWE). However, the genotype distribution at the HBGG locus did not conform to HWE. Moreover, the genotype frequencies calculated in this study were compared with the published genotype frequencies of US African American and US Caucasian populations. The Turkish population was significantly different at the HBGG locus from the US Caucasian population. However, there were highly significant differences at the LDLR, HBGG, and Gc loci between the Turkish and African American populations.     

From one participant cohort to another: Surveying inter-generational political incubation in an Indian University

Several recent studies propose that political choices of Indian youth can hardly be distinguished from those of their parents in many respects. Contrary to this well-established understanding, this article shows that when set apart from the spheres of family and work, students in a flagship Indian university—mostly in the social sciences and humanities—gradually transform their political attitudes in light of prolonged exposure to a campus environment. Through combining ethnographic study with the analysis of a survey of political attitudes of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, we show that time spent in situ fosters participation to political activities, increases chances of joining a student organization and make students more likely to identify themselves as politically radical. The class and caste background of students, on the other hand, are not strongly associated with political attitudes, showing the integrative nature of politicization on the JNU campus.     

Winds of Change? The June 2015 Parliamentary Election in Turkey

Held in an environment of growing social polarisation, fears of emergent authoritarianism, and economic challenges, Turkey’s June 2015 election ended the Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi’s (AKP’s) parliamentary majority, challenging its single-party rule for the first time in 13 years. This article first provides information on the background to the election, focusing on debates about the authoritarian tendencies of AKP, economic conditions, and the competition for the Kurdish vote. Then, a brief overview of the campaign period is presented, followed by an analysis of election results at the sub-national level. The article concludes with some preliminary discussion of the causes of the loss of AKP’s majority.     

Novel O‐propyl,S‐propyl,and N‐propyl substituted 1,4‐naphthoquinones and 1,4‐anthraquinones as potential fingermark development reagents for porous surfaces

Lawsone is a 2‐substituted‐1,4‐naphthoquinone derivative, which has been proposed as an alternative to the reagents currently used for fingermark detection on porous surfaces. 2‐substituted‐anthraquinones, which contain an additional conjugated benzene ring, have a similar chemical structure to that of lawsone. In this study, a new series of 2‐substituted‐1,4‐naphthoquinones and 2‐substituted‐1,4‐anthraquinones were synthesized and completely characterized by¹H NMR,¹³C NMR, IR, and HPLC‐TOF/MS analyses. All newly synthesized 2‐substituted‐1,4‐quinones were investigated for their ability to develop latent fingermarks on porous surfaces, and this ability was compared with that of lawsone. Each fingermark developed was graded using an established method; thus, quantitative data were attributed to each fingermark. It has been demonstrated that the 1,4 ‐ quinones react with amino acids present in latent fingermarks on selected paper surfaces to produce faint yellow‐orange impressions, which exhibit strong photoluminescence when illuminated with a forensic light source at 440 nm and observed through a red filter. None of the compounds caused background darkening. The results obtained were generally similar to those of lawsone, however, 8‐dibromo‐2‐(propylamino)naphthalene‐1,4‐dione and 5,8‐dibromo‐2‐(propylthio)naphthalene‐1,4‐dione yielded better results for copier paper and colored (blue) copier paper used in this analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the role of 1,4‐anthraquinone derivatives as potential fingermark development reagents. The results indicate that 1,4‐quinones have a potential to be used as reagents for enhancement of latent fingermarks.     

The rural roots of the rise of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper puts forward four main arguments regarding the persistence of significant rural support of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi, AKP) in Turkey since late 2002. Firstly, since the previous coalition government implemented the harshest neoliberal measures in the agricultural sector, small farmers do not directly associate neoliberal assault with the AKP administration. Secondly, villagers have utilized both the ballot box and direct action in order to bargain with the AKP. Thirdly, although the AKP government did not fundamentally depart from neoliberalism, the return of agricultural subsidies, significant expansion of social assistance, and rapid infrastructure construction have secured a large rural following for the party. Finally, the AKP government has effectively used coercive methods to prevent the emergence of an emancipatory political alternative.