How Language Can Influence Political Marketing Strategy and a Candidate's Image: Effect of Presidential Candidates' Language Intensity and Experience on College Students' Ratings of Source Credibility

The present study examines the effects of language intensity on presidential candidates' credibility. We manipulated language intensity levels and experience levels for hypothetical candidates for president of the United States. Manipulation checks confirmed the effectiveness of the experimental conditions. The dimensions of source credibility, character, and authoritativeness were confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Analysis of variance indicated that candidates using low-intensity language received higher scores on character than did candidates using high-intensity language. Experienced candidates received higher scores on authoritativeness than did inexperienced candidates. Implications for political marketing of candidates are discussed.     

Asymmetric federalism and economic voting

Although federal arrangements adopt a multiplicity of forms across and within federations, this article suggests that some models of power division are better than others at enhancing clarity of responsibility and electoral accountability. This conclusion is the result of exploring responsibility attribution and economic voting in a state where decentralisation arrangements vary across regions: the Spanish State of Autonomies. Using electoral surveys and aggregated economic data for the 1982–2012 period, the empirical analysis shows that regional economic voting is most pronounced in regions where decentralisation design concentrated authority and resources at one level of government, whereas it is inexistent in regions where devolution followed a more intertwined model of power distribution. The implication of the empirical findings is that the specific design of intergovernmental arrangements is crucial to make electoral accountability work in federations.     

Who wants to pay more? The European Union's military operations and the dispute over financial burden sharing

In 2014, the European Union (EU) launched the sixth review of the Athena mechanism that finances the common costs of military operations launched in the framework of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). In the run up to the review, there were expectations that it would improve financial burden sharing in CSDP operations by expanding common funding for them. However, these hopes were disappointed; the review became a diplomatic tug of war between France, the strongest supporter of expanded common funding, and the UK, its strongest opponent. In the end, France agreed to the UK's terms to ensure that the existing level of common funding would not decrease. This article analyses the Athena review from a neoclassical realist perspective. It argues that the review's outcome was due to the imbalance of influence among EU member states and the diverging preferences of their Foreign Policy Executives (FPEs). These factors caused the Athena review to remain in the hands of a small group of member states that had diverging utility expectations and ideological preferences. Thus, the article shows that a surprisingly intense burden-sharing dispute has emerged within CSDP.     

Cyberbullying Victimization and Depression in Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Body Image and Cognitive Schemas in a One-year Prospective Study

Cyberbullying, the harassment of others via new technologies, is a growing phenomenon with important consequences for its victims. Despite the growing interest in this new form of violence, only a few longitudinal studies have analyzed the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and psychological problems, such as depression, in adolescents. Furthermore, the mechanisms through which cyberbullying victimization contributes to the development of depressive symptoms remain almost unexplored. The current study assesses whether cyberbullying victimization predicts the increase in depressive symptoms over time and the role of body image and cognitive schemas in the association between cyberbullying victimization and depression. We hypothesized that victims of cyberbullying would develop a negative body image, the belief that others would hurt them and that they were defective to some degree, and that, as a consequence of these cognitions, they would increase their symptoms of depression. A sample of 1015 adolescents (mean age?=?15.43, SD?=?1.09) completed measures of depressive symptoms at three waves (T1, T2, and T3) spaced 6 months apart, measures of body image and cognitive schemas at T1 and T2, and measures of CB victimization at T1. Findings indicated that CB victimization at T1 predicted a worsening of body image and cognitive schemas of mistrust and defectiveness at T2, and those changes in cognitions predicted in turn an increase in depressive symptoms from T2 to T3. Gender differences were also examined. The model was very similar for boys and girls. However, changes in body image acted as a mediator between CB victimization and depression only in girls. Therefore, this study contributes to clarifying the cognitive mechanisms involved in the development of depression among victims of CB. These findings suggest that intervention programs with victims of CB should address the cognitions that are relevant for the development of depression.     

Country level efficiency and national systems of entrepreneurship: a data envelopment analysis approach

This paper tests the efficiency hypothesis of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. Using a comprehensive database for 63 countries for 2012, we employ data envelopment analysis to directly test how countries capitalize on their available entrepreneurial resources. Results support the efficiency hypothesis of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship. We find that innovation-driven economies make a more efficient use of their resources, and that the accumulation of market potential by existing incumbent businesses explains country-level inefficiency. Regardless of the stage of development, knowledge formation is a response to market opportunities and a healthy national system of entrepreneurship is associated with knowledge spillovers that are a prerequisite for higher levels of efficiency. Public policies promoting economic growth should consider national systems of entrepreneurship as a critical priority, so that entrepreneurs can effectively allocate resources in the economy.     

Does media freedom improve government effectiveness? A comparative cross-country analysis

Government effectiveness could be explained by the level of well-informed electorate members, who use the press to learn more about politicians and public servants. Thus, a free press may improve citizens’ accessibility to this information, which in turn will make it more difficult for politicians and public servants to cover up or get away with corrupt behaviour, so the quality of the government could be affected by the media freedom. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to determine the effect of the freedom of the press on government effectiveness, considering additionally environmental, institutional, and political characteristics as factors that could determine the level of government effectiveness. To achieve this aim, we examined 202 central governments and compared them across countries using the World Bank data set of Governance Indicators for 2002–2008. The results show that the media, the organizational environment, and political characteristics may be determinants of the level of government effectiveness, taking countries’ economic development into account.     

Opiate treatment in the criminal justice system: a review of <Emphasis Type="Italic">crimesolutions.gov</Emphasis> evidence rated programs

As drug control policy reform trends toward marijuana decriminalization, focus will shift to opiate enforcement which, in turn, accentuates substance abuse treatment. While the national offender reentry movement has effected widespread implementation of programming for co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders, the practice of Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) is nonstandard throughout the criminal justice system despite its evidence based status. This paper observes MAT delivered within and by the criminal justice system as indicated by evidence rated programs and practices listed in the national criminal justice evidence based registry crimesolutions.gov. Observation of these programs’ treatment orientation, client populations, delivery settings, and operational status inform discussion for additional MAT implementation and program registry augmentation.