Ideology and interests in congressional voting: The politics of abortion in the U.S. Senate

Many studies suggest that personal ideology accounts for much more of congressional voting behavior than does attention to the desires of the electorate. There are two main explanations given for this seemingly robust conclusion: 1) poor measures of constituency preferences compared to those for ideology or behavior, and 2) representatives “shirk” on an inattentive electorate. We argue that existing studies have been biased against the “interest” explanation by ignoring the structure of American Congressional elections, in particular the party primary process. Correcting for the party primary effect, we show, within the context of abortion politics, that constituency interests possess greater explanatory power than previous models would suggest.     

Restoring Tsunami Damaged Coastal Lands in Sri Lanka: Evidence of the Anticommons?

After the 2004 Tsunami, non-governmental organisations and international groups sought permission from government agencies to implement ecosystem restoration projects. Following the logic of the anticommons problem, the likelihood of project implementation is hypothesised to be inversely related to the number of government agencies which have the right to permit use. Our findings are consistent with the anticommons problem: a marginal increase in the number of government agencies, each exercising the right to grant permission to the applicant, reduces the likelihood that a proposed project would ultimately receive permission.     

Crimes Against Caring: Exploring the Risk of Secondary Traumatic Stress,Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction Among Child Exploitation Investigators

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout are debilitating occupational hazards that inhibit helping professional’s overall well-being. Much of the extant scholarship on this topic has focused on mental health and child welfare workers and not law enforcement officials who investigate Internet child exploitation. This study used data from 433 Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force personnel to explore the impact of individual and work-related factors associated with the risk of STS, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. Findings indicated that nearly one in four ICAC personnel exhibited low compassion satisfaction and high levels of STS and burnout. Individual-level protective factors for increasing compassion satisfaction and mitigating symptoms of STS and burnout included having a strong social support system outside of work and the frequent use of positive coping mechanisms. Work-related risk factors such as frequent indirect exposure to disturbing materials, low organizational support, and frequently feeling overwhelmed at work were all associated with higher STS and burnout and lower levels of compassion satisfaction. Policy implications and future avenues of research are discussed.     

Occult aspiration of a nut in an elderly patient: a case report

Occult foreign body aspiration is an uncommon but serious occurrence in the elderly population. A case is presented in which the foreign body, a nut, was uncovered only at autopsy.