Profiling candidate images in televised political spot advertisements for 1984: Roles and realities of presidential jousters at the height of the Reagan Era

Continued growth in the use of televised political spot advertisements in presidential campaigns justifies the increasing attention given to analyzing the role and content of such messages in the larger political system. The 1984 campaign offered a unique opportunity for theorists to investigate the potential for such messages either to reflect accurate images of candidates, or to evoke more dissonant themes between the images of candidates fabricated for the electorate, and the substantive candidates those images are intended to represent. This study analyzed the character attributes presented for ten presidential hopefuls in 201 televised spots, produced for 1984's primary and general election campaigns, and finds that while political spots can offer accurate portrayals of presidential candidates, the role of such messages can be nullified by perceived dissonance in the images they convey about their subjects.     

Seeking Sovereignty: Gaining Understanding through Critical Analysis

The field of international relations has traditionally been dominated by a state-centric analysis of world politics, in which sovereignty is unequivocally tied to the Westphalian State. In recent literature, many international relations scholars have begun to question the primacy of the state and its relevance for understanding global politics. What remains to be analyzed is, if the Westphalian State is declining, where will sovereignty reside in the emerging post-Westphalian order? In order to address this question, this article will attempt to disaggregate sovereignty from the nation-state. The goal of this deconstructive exercise is to provide future international relations scholars with a more relevant conception of sovereignty and its possible impact on international relations studies. Only by engaging in this type of critical analysis can international relations scholars break out of their state-centric cocoon and progress towards a better understanding of the transforming global system.     

How the Need for Cognition Scale Predicts Behavior in Mock Jury Deliberations

The role of Need for Cognition (NC) in mock jury deliberations was examined. Study 1 showed that when groups of 4 (2 high and 2 low in NC) deliberated together, high-NCs spoke significantly longer than low-NCs and were perceived as more active and more persuasive. High-NCs were not, however, viewed as generating arguments that were more valid or more logical. In Study 2, participants deliberated in dyads with a confederate who delivered either strong or weak arguments against the participant's position. Contrary to expectation, low-NCs were more responsive to differences in argument quality. The findings suggest that, in mock jury deliberations, high-NCs are the active participators whereas low-NCs are the quiet contemplators. Implications for legal practice and policy are discussed.     

Medical care of individuals residing in substance abuse and recovery homes: an analysis of need and utilization

The current study examined medical care need and utilization patterns among a substance abusing and recovering population (n = 876), investigating factors such as employment and drug use categories (e.g., pharmaceutical use, cocaine use, heroin use, alcohol use). It was found that those who were unemployed needed and utilized greater medical care than those who were employed. Results indicated that heroin, cocaine, and/or alcohol use was not predictive of medical care need or utilization, whereas pharmaceutical drug use was predictive of medical care need and utilization. Trauma and risky use of substances were not significant predictors of medical care need or utilization whereas the suicide severity composite was significant. Potential implications for misuse of medical services (e.g., to obtain pharmaceutical drugs of use) and federal medical care expenditure allocation are discussed.