Empirical evidence of paradoxes of voting in Dutch elections

In this paper we analyze four national elections held in 1982, 1986, 1989 and 1994 in the Netherlands on the occurrence of the Condorcet paradox. In addition, we investigate these elections on the occurrence of three so-called majority-plurality paradoxes. The first paradox states that a party having a majority over another party may receive less seats. The second states that a Condorcet winner may not receive the largest number of seats and even may not receive a seat at all. The third says that the majority relation may be the reverse of the ranking of parties in terms of numbers of seats.     

Injustice and Employees' Destructive Responses: The Mediating Role of State Negative Affect

The focus of this study was employees' destructive behavioral intentions (i.e., exit, neglect, and aggressive voice) as a result of perceived injustice. In order to get an indication of the generalizability of the results, two studies employing different methodologies were conducted among different samples: a survey study (Study 1) among 244 female maternity nurses from The Netherlands, and a vignette study (Study 2) among 71 male and 43 female employees from an international company in South Africa. Furthermore, the second study tested whether the effects of injustice on destructive behavioral intentions were mediated by state negative affect. Two models appear to fit the data well. The first model suggests that interactional injustice gives rise to negative behavioral reactions through an increase in state negative affect. The second model shows that procedural justice can buffer the negative effects of low distributive justice. Specifically, employees report more negative affect and, subsequently, a stronger tendency to leave the organization only when both distributive and procedural justice are low. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Flemish population data using the AmpF/STR Profiler PCR amplification kit

Population frequency data for nine short tandem repeats (STR) (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820) were determined from 280 unrelated Caucasians from the North region of Belgium (Flanders). The data were obtained using the AmpF/STR Profiler kit from Applied Biosystems.     

Gasoline on hands: preliminary study on collection and persistence

The identification of an arsonist remains one of the most difficult challenges a fire investigation has to face. Seeking and detection of traces of gasoline could provide a valuable information to link a suspect with an arson scene where gasoline was used to set-up the fire. In this perspective, a first study was undertaken to evaluate a simple, fast and efficient method for collecting gasoline from hands, and to assess its persistence over time. Four collection means were tested: PVC, PE and Latex gloves, as well as humidified filter paper. A statistical assessment of the results indicates that Latex and PVC gloves worn for about 20 min, as well as paper filter rubbed on hands, allow an efficient collection of gasoline applied to hands. Due to ease of manipulation and to a reduced amount of volatile compounds detected from the matrix, PVC gloves were selected for the second set of experiments. The evaluation of the persistence of gasoline on hands was then carried out using two initial quantities (500 and 1000 microl). Collection was made with PVC gloves after 0, 30 min, 1, 2 and 4h, on different volunteers. The results show a common tendency of massive evaporation of gasoline during the first 30 min: a continued but non-linear decrease was observed along different time intervals. The results of this preliminary study are in agreement with other previous researches conducted on the detection of flammable liquid residues on clothes, shoes and skin.     

Fostering Dialogue or Monologue? Estonian Party Websites During the 2009 European Parliament Elections

This paper presents data from the analyses of political party web pages during the 2009 European Parliament elections in Estonia. It examines the presence and absence of web 2.0 features on the sites and aims to find out whether interactivity-based applications are used by parties to increase participation and to foster deliberative politics. Estonia as a small ex-Soviet country has emerged after the Soviet Union collapse as one of the most advanced e-societies in the world. Therefore, Estonia is chosen as a case study to explore whether and how decision makers use web 2.0 elements for fostering Habermasian dialogue between the citizens and the power holders in the society where technical obstacles for deliberative politics do not exist any longer. The results show that the Estonian parties still focus on the one-sided or top-down model of communication, based on web 1.0 features, even though all conditions for deliberation from the technical and infrastructural side in Estonia are fulfilled. The paper concludes with a discussion on the possible reasons parties might not be interested in using web 2.0 elements in their web campaign and how it might be linked to the conditions where citizens’ participation and interest in politics is low. There is also emphasis on the need for further systematic comparative research in order to draw conclusions on the changes in the online campaigning and political communication process in the era of cyber-democracy.     

How to get the snowball rolling and extend the franchise: voting on the Great Reform Act of 1832

This paper suggests a new approach to analyzing the causes of franchise extension. Based on a new dataset, it provides a detailed econometric study of the Great Reform Act of 1832 in the United Kingdom. The analysis yields four main results. First, modernization theory receives limited support. Second, the reform enjoyed some measure of popular support. Third, the threat of revolution had an asymmetric impact on the voting behavior of the pro-reform Whigs and the anti-reform Tories. While the threat might have convinced reluctant reformers among the Whig politicians—and among their patrons—to support the bill, it seems to have hardened the resistance to reform among the Tories. Fourth, ideology played a critical role. Nevertheless, it also appears that self-interest and political expedience explained the votes of many Members of Parliament.     

Understanding the Relationship Between Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty: The Racist Punitive Bias Hypothesis

Many studies have shown that there are significant racial disparities in the application of death penalties. In this paper, three studies (N = 484, 94% female), conducted in France, test and explore why racial prejudice and support for the death penalty (SDP) are strongly and positively related. First, prejudice against Arabs remains a significant predictor of SDP, even when ethnocentrism/authoritarianism (Study 1) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA; Study 2) are statistically controlled. Second, the attribution of criminal traits to Arabs (Study 1) or criminality-based prejudice (Studies 2 and 3) significantly mediates the relationship between racial prejudice and SDP. Finally, a path analysis illustrates that two relatively independent processes could explain the relationship between prejudice towards Arabs and SDP: criminality-based prejudice leading to specific SDP for Arabs and Social Dominance Orientation (Study 3). Together, these results provide support for the racist punitive bias hypothesis. When racist people think about questions of crime and punishment, they frame the issue in racial terms, leading them to support a punitive law which in their minds will mainly punish minority racial groups.     

Beuvant,Hugo, Thérence Carvalho and Mathilde Lemée (edd.), Les traductions du discours juridique. Perspectives historiques,Préface de Francesco di Donato

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Subjective Proximity to Crime or Social Representations? Explaining Sentencing Attitudes in Switzerland

Lay sentencing attitudes are considered in the light of two theoretical perspectives. The first perspective views sentencing attitudes as parts of broader sets of social representations anchored in one’s position in the social structure. The second perspective explains sentencing attitudes by their subjective experiences of crime. This paper tests both theories by performing a series of multiple regressions on two dimensions of sentencing: punishment goals and severity of punishment. Empirical data comes from a quantitative survey conducted in Switzerland. Findings reveal that indicators of subjective proximity to crime largely account for sentencing attitudes. Nevertheless, social representations of crime measured by causes of crime also have a significant impact on sentencing attitudes. Implications of these findings for sentencing in Western democracies are discussed.