Beyond contestation: conceptualizing negotiation in democracy promotion

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analytical framework that guides the contributions to this special issue and, in general terms, aims at enabling a systematic investigation of processes of negotiation in the international promotion of democracy. It first briefly introduces the rationale for studying democracy promotion negotiation, offers a definition, and locates the general approach within the academic literature, bringing together different strands of research, namely studies of negotiation in international relations as well as research on democratization and democracy promotion. The larger part of the article then discusses key concepts, analytical distinctions and theoretical propositions along the lines of the three research questions that are identified in the introduction to this special issue. More specifically, the article (1) offers a typology that facilitates a systematic empirical analysis of the issues that are discussed in democracy promotion negotiations; (2) takes initial steps towards a causal theory of democracy promotion negotiation by identifying and discussing a set of parameters that can be expected to shape such negotiations; and (3) introduces key distinctions and dimensions that help guide empirical research on the output and outcome of negotiations in democracy promotion.     

Living in the Era of Digital Exhibitionism

Digitally mediated communication technologies have fundamentally changed the problem of child sexual abuse. Sexually explicit images of young people that can be found online range from those documenting offline abuse including adult-to-child and peer-on-peer violence, to self-generated images including those taken within the context of a coercive relationship or those that are shared online beyond the taker's control. Online availability of these images can have serious effects on victims. It is vital to identify what victims need, how youngsters are at risk online, how self-generated images may be shared online beyond the taker's control, and how children who have been traumatized by experiences of sexual abuse (offline as well as online) can be taught to stay safe online. This article summarizes the results of four different studies exploring these issues.     

Election outcomes under different ways to announce preferences: an analysis of the 2015 parliament election in the Austrian federal state of Styria

We use preference data from the 2015 parliament election in the Austrian federal state of Styria to analyze different voting rules. An exit poll right after the election collected data on ordinal and cardinal preferences from approximately 1000 actual voters. Our analysis is threefold. First, we determine the hypothetical social outcomes under different voting rules; second, we investigate the stability of the outcomes under those rules. Finally, we provide a categorization of different types of parties and analyze the impact of certain voting rules (Plurality Rule, Plurality Run Off, Hare System, Condorcet Method, Approval Voting, Borda Rule, Evaluative Voting, and Majority Judgment) on the performances of parties in those scenarios.     

Developing and transfering technology in state S&T programs: Assessing performance

By 1996, all states had established a program focusing on the development of technology and technology-based economic development. As more agencies move to performance-based management, state S&T programs are increasingly under pressure to report outcome and output data for their programmatic activities. This paper presents findings on the extent and use of performance measurement and evaluation efforts in state science and technology programs. The 1995–96 study was based on a series of eight case studies and a mail survey of science and technology-based programs in all fifty states. The findings show that three groups of measures emerged as most important to state science and technology programs: employment-related data, leveraged or matching fund data, and anecdotal evidence. State programs are especially pressured to report short-term outcomes, yet show economic benefits. Many state program managers find value in performance data—the reseacch shows that the primary reason that many states assess their performance is the value of performance information as a management tool. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations here are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the National Science Foundation. This research was supported under NSF Grant No. SBR-9422433 from the Program of Research on Science and Technology and through the second author's NSF Independent Research Plan. The research benefited greatly from the contributions of two tireless research assistants, Arlene Allen and Michael Turton.