The Effect of Social Conformity on Collective Voting Behavior

This article investigates the effect of social conformity onvoting behavior. Past research shows that many people vote toconform with the social norm that voting is a civic duty. Thehypothesis here is that when conformity motivates people tovote, it also stimulates conformist behavior among some voterswhen they decide which party to vote for. This produces a distinctiverelationship between voter turnout and the distribution of votesamong parties—a relationship not anticipated by rationalchoice theory. I test a mathematical model of this behaviorwith linear and nonlinear regression analyses of state-leveldata for presidential elections in the United States from 1904to 1996, longitudinal data on parliamentary elections in WesternEurope over most of the twentieth century, and cross-sectionaldata for recent elections in Western Europe, Eastern Europe,and Russia. The results generally validate the model.     

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.     

Personality differences between women police recruits, their male counterparts, and the general female population

Presently police manager and their recruiting staff are using an increasing number of screening tools including psychological testing during the hiring processes. Prior research suggests that gender is often ignored in the review of testing results. This could lead to problems in the interpretation of results. This research investigates the existence, if any, in the pre-socialization personality differences between male and female police recruits as well as between female police recruits and the general population of females. Subjects (N=104) were from a multi-agency training facility in a southern state. Subjects completed the MMPI-2 at the beginning of their police academy training to control for any socialization effects the training may have. The diagnostic clinical scales, the content scales, and the gender scales of the MMPI-2 were subjected to independent discriminant function analyses to determine if differences between male and female recruits exist. Scale 5 (Mf), GM, and GF were analyzed via t-tests to determine if differences between the female recruits and women in the normative sample exist. All discriminant functions were significant at the .05 level. Scales that differentiated male and female recruits were: Ma (Scale 9), ASP, FRS, BIZ, Mf (Scale, 5), and GF. Female recruits differed from the female normative sample on only GF (recruits were lower). It is suggested that future research focus on the predictive power of the content scales for continuation in the police field. It is also suggested that future research investigate the flexibility of the gender constructs throughout the policing career. Author Notes: Send all enquires to Larry A. Gould, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona Univerity, Box 15005, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5005. 1. A special thank you is given to Northern Arizona University for providing the funding of the parent project from which this research was accomplished. I also wish to extend my gratitude to those whose time and effort went into the collection and computer entry of the data—Dr. Larry Gould and Rachel Rowland. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Clay Moore for the statistical “chats”.     

People and Performance: Challenges for the Future Public Service— the Report from the Wye River Conference

What are the key challenges for the public sector at present, and what will the future public service look like if it is to meet these challenges? These questions were put to public‐sector leaders at a conference at the Wye River Plantation in June 1999. The leaders agreed on aspects of a broad vision for the future and the urgent need for a detailed debate on the transition questions that arose.     

Post-Soviet Civil Society Development in the Russian Federation: The Impact of the NGO Law

The passing of the Russian NGO Law in mid-2006 set clear parameters for Russian NGO activity and civil society development. In this paper we assess the impact of the NGO Law on both NGOs and Russian civil society. Our findings illustrate that the NGO Law has led to a reduction in NGO activity and curtailment of civil society development. We conclude that Russian civil society appears to be dominated by groups funded and thus controlled by the state. This has implications for Russia's on-going democratic development.     

Untimely Economies of Survival

This article takes the recent turn against hope in breast cancer activism as a point of entry into a broader examination of speculative economies of science that creatively imagine, materialize, and manage futures in the present. It argues that untimeliness – anticipatory, simultaneous, porous, and prognostic in its articulation – captures these alternate arrangements of life and action as they are mobilized in cancer research that hails healthy women as experimental subjects to participate in clinical studies.