The politics of unemployment: Rates of unemployment and labour market policy

This article analyses the claims advanced by Robert McKenzie about the distribution of power in British political parties. It considers McKenzie's mode of analysis (with particular reference to Labour), his definition of terms, selection of evidence and interpretation of it. The major argument is that McKenzie over‐generalised from the events of the 1950s and 1960s and that subsequent events have severely undermined his thesis.     

French capitalism ­transformed,yet still a third variety of capitalism

Rather than one or two varieties of capitalism, this paper argues that there are still at least three in Europe, following along lines of development from the three post-war models: market capitalism, characteristic of Britain; managed capitalism, typical of Germany; and state capitalism, epitomized by France. While France’s state capitalism has been transformed through market-oriented reforms, it has become neither market capitalist nor managed capitalist. Rather, it has moved from ‘state-led’ capitalism to a kind of ‘state-enhanced’ capitalism, in which the state still plays an active albeit much reduced role, where CEOs exercise much greater autonomy, and labour relations have become much more market-reliant.     

The Effects of Human Interest and Conflict News Frames on the Dynamics of Political Knowledge Gains: Evidence from a Cross‐national Study

A well‐functioning democracy needs the news media to provide information to its citizens. It is therefore essential to understand what kinds of news contents contribute to gains in citizens' political knowledge and for whom this takes place. Extant research is divergent on this matter, especially with respect to ‘softer’ news coverage. This cross‐national study investigates the effects of exposure to human interest and conflict frames in the news on political knowledge. Drawing on panel surveys and media content analyses in three countries, the study shows how these two frames contribute positively to political knowledge gain. This relationship is moderated by political interest so that those who are least interested learn the most from this type of easily accessible news coverage. The results are discussed in the light of research on news media and knowledge acquisition.     

A Fatal Case of CO2 Intoxication in a Fermentation Tank

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is an odorless constituent of air. Higher concentrations can be detected in geothermal and automotive emissions, fermentation, and sublimation of dry ice. An unskilled worker entered a fermentation tank to clean it, which had not been done for about 5 months allowing for high concentrations of CO₂ to build up. A second worker entered the tank to rescue the first one. Shortly after both were found the first worker was rescued directly whereas the tank had to be rotated to pull the second worker out. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was successful only for the first worker. Medico‐legal autopsy showed bruises, hematoma, myocardial hemorrhage, and edema of the lungs. The right lung was vacuum degassed in an argon atmosphere and quadrupole‐mass‐spectrometry showed an elevated CO₂ content in lung gases. Thus, CO₂ intoxication/asphyxia in a vitiated atmosphere due to fermentation of wine mash was established as the cause of death.     

Medicolegal assessment of blood transfusion errors--an interdisciplinary challenge

Given a current total incidence of erroneously administered blood transfusions of 1:12,000-1:36,000 (AB0 incompatible 1:38,000), the percentage of lethal outcomes ranges between 2 and 5%; i.e. the sole fact of an erroneous transfusion does not mandatorily result in a causal connection with lethal outcome, which can give rise to problems in the medicolegal assessment. We report on the conception and results of a novel interdisciplinary approach to assess the lethal significance of blood transfusion errors. Besides autopsy, histological investigation and immunohistochemical detection of AB0 incompatible foreign red blood cells in autopsy specimens, transfusion medicine investigations offer the opportunity to assess several immunohaematologic features. We assessed the immunohaematologic gel card ("microcolumn") technique for suitability in the forensic assessment of an AB0 incompatible transfusion incident in a septic patient, who had had no history of previous blood transfusions, with lethal outcome. After such an erroneous transfusion had been simulated in vitro, pre-transfusion and cadaver patient blood samples (p.m. interval: 3 days) were analysed. Amongst other things, IgG-loaded erythrocytes were detected in pre- and post-transfusion samples; the presence of irregular antibodies directed against blood group antigens and anti-A or anti-B isoagglutinins, respectively, especially in the pre-transfusion sample was ruled out. Besides the demonstration of AB0 incompatible red blood cells in the cadaver blood sample, blood group incompatibilities other than AB0 were excluded. With regard to the cause of death, in synopsis with autopsy findings and clinical symptoms, the results did not allow for a final discrimination between the impact of the pre-existing septic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis, respectively, and potential lethal effects of a (haemolytic) transfusion reaction. Besides pre- and post-transfusion compatibility testing in clinical transfusion medicine as required by German National Guidelines, the reported immunohaematologic investigations offer an important supportive tool for the forensic assessment of lethal erroneous transfusions and investigation of blood samples of survivors of transfusion incidents as well. Besides established morphological techniques, they allow for a certain evaluation of the pathophysiological impact of transfusion incidents as well as a diversified assessment of immunohaematologic features beyond the AB0 system.     

Talking the talk,but not walking the walk: A comparison of self-reported and observed prosocial behaviour

The claim that Public Service Motivation (PSM) is an antecedent of prosocial behaviour has often been empirically tested and supported. However, closer inspection of this literature reveals large disparities in relating the two constructs. One reason that could explain such differences is that the relationship between PSM and prosocial behaviours has been primarily tested using self-reported cross-sectional, single-rater and same-survey data. While all of these are widely used methodological approaches in social sciences, they are also susceptible to potential biases. We conduct two comparative studies to re-examine this relationship. Study 1 utilizes self-reported cross-sectional, single-rater and same-survey data linking PSM and prosocial behaviour, revealing a positive relationship with PSM's Compassion dimension. Study 2 involves observing actual prosocial behaviour in a real-life setting. Then, the correlation between PSM and prosocial behaviour disappears. We conclude by discussing the possible reasons that could lead to the differences found across the two studies.     

Can Charitable Donations Compensate for a Reduction in Government Funding? The Role of Information

Are private donors willing to replace cuts in government funding? The authors conducted a survey experiment (n = 2,458) to examine how information about government funding affected decisions to donate money to a large charitable organization in the Netherlands. Providing information about actual budget cuts increased the number of donors. Most new donors were recruited among respondents who had processed the information correctly, underlining the importance of effective communication. The magnitude of the information effect was stronger for citizens with lower levels of empathic concern, who are less likely to donate but can be converted into donors. The authors conclude that policy information shapes not only attitudes but also civic engagement outside the political sphere.     

The internal and external constraints on foreign policy in India: exploring culture and ethnic sensitivities

The main argument of this contribution is that the distinction between internal and external is at best blurred and in reality does not make much sense in the case of India’s foreign policy. It may start and end at the border and be determined by negotiations, diplomacy or brute force but there is no conclusive evidence in the literature to decide what determines what. There are important dynamics and interplays across the thin line between the domestic and international spheres, especially in terms of understanding the reciprocal challenges related to how factors of culture and ethnicity relate with the legitimacy of the state. The aim of the paper is to serve four purposes. To unpack and give a critical overview of the debates concerned with the internal and external aspects of India’s foreign policy; to situate the literature dealing more specifically with domestic issues related to culture and ethnicity and outline the main approaches involved; to give an overview of how external factors impact foreign policy conduct and relate to India’s role in defining international norms and regulations; and, finally, to give some theoretical markers, suggestions and concluding remarks.     

Democracy and Discourse in an Integrating Europe and a Globalising World

Globalisation and Europeanisation represent challenges not only to national economies and institutions but also to national legitimating discourses. This paper first outlines the theoretical requirements for such discourse, by considering it along two dimensions: ideational, which encompasses cognitive and normative functions, and interactive, which encompasses co-ordinative and communicative functions. The paper illustrates these through empirical discussions of the post-war construction of discourses in France, Britain and Germany. It then examines how the discourses have responded to the challenges to traditional conceptions of economic organisation, social welfare, and political democracy from European and globally-related economic and institutional changes. The paper concludes that while France remains in search of a legitimating discourse, Britain is in the process of renewing its Thatcherite discourse, and Germany is in the process of recasting its post-war liberal social-democratic discourse.