Rapid quantification and sex determination of forensic evidence materials

DNA quantification of forensic evidence is very valuable for an optimal use of the available biological material. Moreover, sex determination is of great importance as additional information in criminal investigations as well as in identification of missing persons, no suspect cases, and ancient DNA studies. While routine forensic DNA analysis based on short tandem repeat markers includes a marker for sex determination, analysis of samples containing scarce amounts of DNA is often based on mitochondrial DNA, and sex determination is not performed. In order to allow quantification and simultaneous sex determination on minute amounts of DNA, an assay based on real-time PCR analysis of a marker within the human amelogenin gene has been developed. The sex determination is based on melting curve analysis, while an externally standardized kinetic analysis allows quantification of the nuclear DNA copy number in the sample. This real-time DNA quantification assay has proven to be highly sensitive, enabling quantification of single DNA copies. Although certain limitations were apparent, the system is a rapid, cost-effective, and flexible assay for analysis of forensic casework samples.     

Towards the Post-Corporate State?

Many studies of the relationship between the state and interest organizations conclude that the state is captured by sectoral interests. The state is not autonomous in a capitalist society. However, does the neo-corporatist practice necessarily imply a captured state? The author examines the dependencies of the state on functional groups and proposes that corporatism in fact makes it a stronger and more autonomous state. Further, different criteria of autonomy are discussed. The public interest is explored through the concept of communicative action. Finally, the author tries to delimit the concept of autonomy in analysing some recent trends of development in Norwegian public policy.     

Symbols,Stratagems, and Legitimacy in Political Analysis*

This article evaluates the new conception of symbols and rhetoric in organization theory (March and Olsen). It is a perspective that departs from the traditional instrumental view in political science (cf. Edelman}. This reorientation postulates the close connection between legitimacy and symbols, viewing symbolic language as a way of producing social integration. However, this perspective neglects the crucial aspect of legitimacy, i.e., a moral justification of power. Legitimacy concerns the cognitive and rational aspect of political argumentation rather than the expressive and symbolic aspect. Symbols, then, raise distinct analytical problems that refer to the authenticity and sincerity aspect of behaviour. Politics has to do with the just allocation of welfare, and symbols signify meaning and loyalty Thai governmental policy is merely symbolic, then, denotes that it does not produce any real effects.     

Causes, forms, and consequences of sectoral policy-making: some Danish evidence

Abstract. The article reviews policy-making patterns with respect to the importance and limits of sectorization and adds new analyses of the involvement of interest groups and bureaucrats in the legislative process. The pattern of sectoral policy-making appears to vary according to types of actors involved, stages of the process, party in government, and policy area in question. Basically however, it is a process of affected interests in action. While the findings fit well with some democratic principles they also give reason for some concern.     

Gender and Homosexuality as a Major Cultural Cleavage

In post‐modern society cultural cleavages are becoming at least as relevant as socio‐economic ones. They can only be properly researched by the survey method, which opens up a whole new area for both micro and macroanalysis. So, first, we pinpoint some of the main problems of research into value orientations. Second, we suggest a new analysis of attitudes towards gender and homosexuality, employing both micro and macro data. One key finding here is that attitudes towards gender and homosexuality are linked at the micro level, which explains some of the saliency of gender and homosexuality as a new emerging cleavage in advanced societies. At the macro level, the main finding is that attitudes towards gender and homosexuality are strongly embedded in cultural or civilisational differences among countries. The evidence suggests therefore that these attitudes do constitute a new cleavage in advanced societies.     

Public–Private Partnerships: Organisational Hybrids as Channels for Local Mobilisation and Participation?1

The article focuses on new forms of governance involving partnerships between public and private actors. As several scholars have noticed, organisational hybrids at the intersection of the public and private sectors play an important part in the implementation of collective action. Local economic development in particular has provided a fertile ground for building coalitions across traditional divisions, and encouraging partnerships. This applies to Norway as well as to other liberal Western democracies.
Obviously, the formation of partnerships reflects efforts to design more efficient and flexible instruments for founding new firms and for supporting local entrepreneurs. The article, however, raises the question of whether these arrangements may entail a far more expanded role and domain, opening up new channels for participation and mobilisation. By expanding their agenda and integrating new segments of the local community, public–private partnerships appear to be an innovation in local democracy.
Analytically, the article utilises elements of regime theory. Although the partnerships studied hardly constitute stable coalitions dominating local politics, they nevertheless illustrate how the building of coalitions including both private and public actors is crucial to coping with the problems and challenges of local restructuring and revitalisation. Case studies carried out in Norwegian municipalities provide the main empirical source. The article does, however, build on experience from other European countries.     

Deliberative Democracy and the Deliberative Poll on the Euro

Focus on the concept of deliberative democracy has increased rapidly within recent decades. However, the concept is weakly defined, if at all. 'Deliberation' is defined as an unconstrained exchange of arguments that involves practical reasoning and potentially leads to a transformation of preferences. Throughout the 1990s several innovative democratic experiments have flourished focusing on citizens' involvement and deliberation. The Deliberative Poll in focus here is, according to many parameters, the most ambitious one. The article presents the results from the Danish National Deliberative Poll on the single currency. In August 2000, 364 repres-entative Danish citizens assembled to deliberate on Denmark's participation in the single currency. The Deliberative Poll is described as a quasi-experiment set out to explore the empirical potentials of deliberative democracy. The focus is whether the claimed potential of deliberative democracy is present in the experimental setting. The participants' answers reflect a deliberative process dominated by considerable changes in opinion, an increase in knowledge and an improved ability to form a reasoned opinion. Mutual understanding among the participants prevailed. At the same time, self-interest and domination were also part of the deliberative process. Thus, this article encourages the development of deliberative democratic theory in order to incorporate these features of politics.     

Analyzing Roll Calls with Perfect Spatial Voting: France 1946–1958

A recent methodological advance in legislative roll-call analysis is especially relevant to the study of legislative behavior outside the setting of the United States Congress. We argue that Poole's (2000) optimal classification method for roll-call analysis is preferable to parametric methods for studying many legislatures. This is because the nature of party discipline, near-perfect spatial voting, and parliamentary institutions that provides incentives for strategic behavior lead to severe violations of the error assumptions underlying parametric methods. The robustness of the nonparametric method to the stochastic nature of the data makes it an ideal candidate for studying strategic behavior in legislatures. We illustrate these points with an analysis of data from the French Fourth Republic (1946–1958) .     

Institution Building and Spillovers

This paper investigates the importance of institution building for economic growth in transition economies of Eastern Europe and CIS‐States. Using recent data, it shows that even in a Guardian State, institutions like property rights protection, administration efficiency, and general rule of low matter. They appear to be even more crucial for economic take‐off than standard economic factors like for example macroeconomic policy. Moreover, this paper finds that there are important spillover effects in institution building, and that countries which get one specific institution right, have also better chances to succeed in making other specific institutions work properly.