Still Corporatism in Scandinavia? A Survey of Recent Empirical Findings

This essay surveys empirical research conducted in the 1990s on the influence of organized interests in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The essay consists of five main sections. After a brief introduction, the first three main sections survey the emergence, development and present state of Scandinavian corporatism. Then the question of the impact of corporatism on the Scandinavian societies is discussed, followed by an overview of the state of corporatism outside the traditional areas of the labour market, industry and agriculture. The essay closes with a brief conclusion discussing areas in need of further study.     

Mites (Acari) as a Relevant Tool in Trace Evidence and Postmortem Analyses of Buried Corpses

This report interprets the presence of mite species in three clandestine graves in Europe, evaluating their potential use as trace evidence or markers. Grave 1 (Sweden): Two mite species Rhizoglyphus robini Claparède, 1869 and Parasitus loricatus (Wankel, 1861) were recovered from the surface of a body buried in a shallow grave in an area surrounded by trees, in close vicinity to house gardens. Grave 2 (Germany): Phoretic deutonymphs of Gamasodes spiniger (Trägårdh, 1910) were attached to an adult fly (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae) found within a shallow grave containing two human bodies covered in soil and dung. Grave 3 (France): P. loricatus were recovered from the soil around a body buried in a deep grave (80 cm under). In graves 1 and 3 both corpses were undergoing advanced decay and skeletization, the locations match with the subterranean habit of P. loricatus, highlighting the value of this species as a marker of graves or burials in soil and during late decomposition. R. robini is a soil mite that feeds on decayed roots and bulbs; this mite species confirms the location of the corpse within top soil, agreeing with a more specific type of superficial burial, a shallow grave. In case 2, the presence of both coprophiles, the mite G. spiniger and the carrier fly confirm association of remains with dung or animal feces. The three mite species are reported for the first time in human graves. There are no previous records of R. robini from Sweden.     

Citizenship in the Faroe Islands: Participant,Parochial or Colonial?

This article analyses citizenship and political culture in the Faroe Islands based on a quantitative survey carried out in summer 2004. Located theoretically in the tradition of Scandinavian citizenship investigations and its predecessors in the 'civic culture' tradition of Almond and Verba, four areas of citizenship are analysed: political engagement, democratic participation, political efficacy and democratic identity. The main hypothesis is that the character of citizenship in the Faroe Islands is very similar to that found in the Scandinavian countries in general. While most of the results found confirm this hypothesis, there are a number of special features that demand alternative explanations. Thus, the fact that the Faroese score much below the Scandinavian average concerning 'postmodern' forms of political participation like political consumption or boycott of goods, and that gender differences are bigger than in other Scandinavian countries when it comes to female representation in the Faroese parliament and in government, seems better explained by the relative remoteness of the islands from the Scandinavian political and cultural mainstream (the parochialism hypothesis). Also the fact that the Faroese are much less confident in speaking at public meetings, sending letters to newspapers or complaining to authorities than, for example, Danes in general calls for an alternative explanation. As these features go together with much less knowledge about and confidence in the Danish parliament ('Folketinget') and a lower level of efficacy towards the parliament than among Danes in general, the most likely explanation seem to be found in the way in which Danish supremacy has affected political culture in the Faroe Islands (the colonialism hypothesis).     

Varieties of Reconciliation

In recent years scholars from neighboring disciplines have emphasized the importance of conceptual rigor in designing, administering, and interpreting research in the social sciences. Drawing on this new conceptualism, this article analyzes the much talked about notion of "reconciliation." In an effort at structuring a useful debate on possible departures from historic injustice, the article formulates a systematized concept of reconciliation based on the multitude of meanings contained in theory and practice. It distinguishes varieties of reconciliation, organizing these varieties into types and subtypes. The article argues that while most varieties of reconciliation emanate from the same root concept, the various outer layers of meaning do not overlap. This hampers not only our understanding of reconciliation, but its promotion in the international system as well. In response to this methodological malaise, the article prescribes friendly amendments—conceptual modifications and refinements designed to increase measurement validation of reconciliation as a conceptual variable .     

Meet the critics: Analyzing the EU Commission's Regulatory Scrutiny Board through quantitative text analysis

As part of the “better regulation” agenda, the European Commission created a semi-independent institution, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, to monitor the preparation of policy proposals. The position of this Board is potentially wide-ranging. A proposal that is not given the green light by it cannot proceed in the Commission's internal decisionmaking process. But so far, the Board has only received scant scholarly attention. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board on the Commission's policy preparation. Using machine learning techniques and quantitative text analysis, we study 673 Board opinions and compare almost 100 draft and final policy proposals. Our findings show that the Board is an active watchdog that is taken seriously by the Commission's departments. A full understanding of policy preparation in the EU therefore requires more scholarly attention to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.