When Appreciating Nature Makes One Care Less for Human Beings: The Role of Belief in Just Nature in Helping Victims of Natural Disasters

The concept that nature is just and that it can act against its perpetrators is widespread among environmentalists. In the research presented, we show the consequences of sharing just-nature beliefs for reactions toward victims of natural catastrophes. A preliminary qualitative analysis of environmentalist discourse related to victims of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster caused by a tsunami showed that just-nature beliefs were used to justify the Japanese tragedy. In the following three quantitative studies, we demonstrate that the belief in just-nature is related to a diminished tendency to help human beings who suffered from natural catastrophes. Two correlation studies conducted directly after the earthquake in Japan in 2011 on members of ecological organizations (N = 183) and undergraduates (N = 123) showed that just-nature beliefs result in a tendency to help by giving donations for reducing the consequences of nature rather than for human victims of the tragedy. The results were replicated in a correlation study of undergraduates (N = 153) conducted after Hurricane Sandy.     

Consensus and direct democracy:Conceptual and empirical linkages

Abstract The first part of this paper draws a number of theoretical connections between various forms of direct democracy and the two types of democracy outlined by Lijphart. Plebiscites and mandatory referendums without quorums of consent are shown to correspond to majoritarian forms of democracy, whilst optional referendums and initiatives with quorums of consent are shown to share similarities with power–sharing forms. The second part of the paper offers an empirical analysis of the different use of citizen–initiated referendums (optional referendums and initiatives) in Switzerland's consensual systems (i.e., cantons) by examining to what extent the various elements of power–sharing are developed. It is argued that referendums and initiatives are used less frequently when government coalitions have greater strength and local autonomy is more developed.     

Developmental Trajectories of Aggressive and Non-Aggressive Conduct Problems

Modeling the heterogeneous trajectories along which antisocial behaviordevelops in childhood and adolescence may contribute in important waysto understanding antecedents of offending in adult life. This paperexamines the development of aggressive and non-aggressive conduct problemsin the Great Smoky Mountains Study of Youth, a longitudinal study in thesoutheastern United States. Aggressive and non-aggressive conduct problemsof clinical severity, police contact and arrest, and family andenvironmental correlates were assessed in four annual interviews for789 boys and 630 girls aged 9–13 at first interview. The bestfitting latent class model identified three developmental trajectories:stable low problem levels, stable high problem levels, and declining levelsof conduct problems, for both aggressive and non-aggressive behaviors. Boyswere over-represented in the stable high trajectory class on the aggressivetrajectory, but sex differences in non-aggressive trajectories were lessmarked. The overlap between aggressive and non-aggressive trajectory classeswas quite limited. Both classifications showed strong associations withrisks of police contact and arrest in early adolescence, and with measuresof family adversity. The results are discussed in relation to developmentalmodels of conduct disorder and delinquency.     

Mehrheitstyrannei durch Volksentscheide?

The article presents an examination of the question of whether minorities’ rights are somewhat protected or discriminated against by direct democratic decisions. It also delivers an investigation into the decisive factors which have a discriminatory or protective effect in the popular vote. Empirical analyses revealed that direct democracy cannot per se be considered a majority sword with a sharp blade or, conversely, a protective shield for minorities. Rather, the impact of direct democratic devices strongly depends on the degree of integration of the affected minority and the perception as a foreign group.     

Postliberalism: The New Centre Ground of British Politics

Brexit and support for anti‐establishment insurgencies suggest that British politics is moving away from the old left–right opposition towards a new divide between the defenders and detractors of progressive liberalism. As this article suggests, progressive liberalism differs significantly from both classical and new liberalism. It fuses free‐market economics with social egalitarianism and identity politics. Both the hard left and the radical right reject this combination and want to undo a number of liberal achievements. British politics is also moving in a postliberal direction. In the economy, postliberalism signals a shift from rampant market capitalism to economic justice and reciprocity. In society, it signals a shift from individualism and egalitarianism to social solidarity and fraternal relations. And politically, it signals a shift from the minority politics of vested interests and balkanised group identity to a majority politics based on a balance of interests, shared identity and the embedding of state and market in the intermediary institutions of civil society. This article argues that postliberalism is redefining Britain's political centre ground in an age where neither progressive liberalism nor reactionary anti‐liberalism commands majority support. First, it charts the ascendancy of progressive liberalism over the past quarter‐century. Second, it contrasts anti‐liberal reactions with postliberal alternatives, before exploring why earlier iterations of postliberalism failed to gain traction with the political mainstream. Third, it provides a discussion and critique of Theresa May's postliberal conservatism, notably the tension between free‐market globalisation and free trade, on the one hand, and the support for national industry and the indigenous working class, on the other.     

Do the Post-Communist Transitions Offer Useful Lessons for the Arab Uprisings?

In January 2011, when the Arab protest movements were just beginning in Tunisia and Egypt, few experts predicted the speed and extent of their spread. Fewer still suggested that there were significant analogies to the wave of post-communist revolutions that swept through Europe and Eurasia starting in 1989. However, such comparisons have become more frequent as the uprisings have continued. This article examines whether the current uprisings and political ferment in the Arab world have enough in common with the transitions that began two decades ago in Eastern Europe to provide useful analytical and policy comparisons.