Convenient and Inconvenient Truths in Family Law: Preventing Scholar‐Advocacy Bias in the Use of Social Science Research for Public Policy

This is the second of two articles on the risks of advocacy bias in the reporting of research findings when boundaries are blurred between social science research and advocacy in the pursuit of public policy. In the first article we identify common ways in which social science researchers and reviewers of research—wittingly or unwittingly—can become advocates for ideological positions and social policies at the expense of being balanced reporters of research evidence. The first article discusses the difference between truth in social science and truth in law and identifies a range of scholar‐advocacy strategies that bias research evidence, illustrated by recent debates about overnight parenting of infants and toddlers. In this second article we show how biased research evidence by scholar advocates results in increased confusion and controversy that diminishes the credibility of all parties and stalemates progress in the field, using a case illustration of intimate partner violence in family court. We also show how adherence to scientific methods prevents the misuse of research and suggest a number of collaborative, integrative measures that can help transcend the adversarial stalemate. In a look to the future we consider some unbiased, standardized ways of assessing the strength and generalizability of research evidence.     

Anti-immigrant parties in Europe: Ideological or protest vote?

Abstract. In this article we address the question whether or not the votes for anti–immigrant parties can be considered as protest votes. We define protest votes by the motives underlying electoral choices, building on earlier research done by Tillie (1995) and Van der Eijk & Franklin (1996). That research showed that ideological proximity and party size are the best predictors of party preference. On this basis we designed a typology of motives for party choice and how these motives would manifest themselves empirically. Analyzing the 1994 elections for the European Parliament for seven political systems we show that anti–immigrant parties attract no more protest votes than other parties do, with only one exception: the Dutch Centrumdemocraten. Voting for anti–immigrant parties is largely motivated by ideological and pragmatic considerations, just like voting for other parties. In addition, (negative) attitudes towards immigrants have a stronger effect on preferences for anti–immigrant parties than on preference for other parties. Social cleavages and attitudes towards European unification are of minor importance as determinants of preferences for anti–immigrant parties. The overall conclusion is that a rational choice model of electoral behavior has strong explanatory power for party preferences in general, but also for the support for anti–immigrant parties in particular.     

L'affaire Groupaction: un cas de politisation de la Fonction publique fédérale?

Sommaire: l affaire Groupaction met en relief deux formes de politisation de la Fonction publique fédérale: l'une partisane, l'autre structurelle. La politisation de type partisan et I'intégration de personnel politique au sein de la Fonction publique via l'article 39 de laLoi sur la Fonction publique sont devenues des phénoménes plus répandus au cours des demiéres années. La notion de politisation structurelle sou‐ligne comment la Fonction publique canadienne n'est pas politiquement neutre face à ceux et celles qui veulent dé‐faire l'ordre fédéral. Même si elle ne constitue pas une excuse justifiant le type de comportement observé dans l'affaire Groupaction, la politisation structurelle founit le contexte pour comprendre pourquoi certains fonc‐tionnaires ont pené qu'il pouvait être légitime de contourner les régles pour préServer I'unité nationale. Abstract: The Groupadion affair draws attention to two forms of politicization in the federal public service, one partisan and the other structural. Partisan politicization and the integration of political staff within the public service through Sedion 39 ofThe Public Service Employment Act have become more common in recent years. The concept of structural politicization underlines how the Canadian public service is not politically neutral in the face of those wishing to undo the federal order. While it does not constitute an excuse that could justify the type of behaviour observed in the Groupaction affair, structural politicization provides a context for understanding why some public servants thought it could be legitimate to circumvent the rules in order to preserve national unity. L'auteur remercie son assistant de recherche, Michael Dumoulin, pour son efficacité et son esprit de détective.Il remercie également Leslie A. Pal, Herman Bakvis et André J. Béanger pour leurs commentaires sur la premiére version de ce texte présenté au congrés annuel de I'Association canadienne de science politique à Halifax en mai 2003. Il remercie enfin Madame Jocelyne Bourgon et les évaluateurs anonymes de la Revue. L'auteur se dit seul responsable de I'interprétation donnée aux événements entourant cette affaire, qui faisait toujours I'objet d'enquêtes policiéres au moment de la révision finale de cet article. … les hauts fonctionnaires chargéS de la gestion des contrats ont manifesté un mépris flagrant à I'égard de la Loi…ils ont contourné b peu prés toutes les règles. Sheila Fraser, Vérificatrice généraie du Canada     

Watching the World: Seeing,Feeling—Understanding?

Books reviewed in this article:
Luc Boltanski, Distant Suffering: Morality, Media and Politics
Department for International Development, Viewing the World: A Study of British Television Coverage of Developing Countries     

International Patent Strategies of Small and Large Firms: An Empirical Study of Nanotechnology

The aim of this article is to investigate to what extent small‐firm foreign patents differ from those of their larger counterparts. The research setting consists of the population of U.S.‐owned small and large businesses with patent applications at the World International Patent Organization during 1996–2006 in the emerging field of nanotechnology. Findings reveal a significant and growing contribution of small firms to the globalization of patents. The analysis also suggests that small‐firm patents tend to be more novel and embedded in domestic innovation networks than large‐firm patents. Policy implications are multiple, including putting international patenting on the policy agenda and helping highly innovative small companies to explore foreign commercial opportunities in new markets of capital and technology.     

Internal constraints on the process of industrialization in Gaza

This paper examines the internal constraints on Gaza's manufacturing sector during the Israeli occupation. Manufacturing development was constrained by the Israeli occupation, but the authors chose to look at the situation from Gaza's point of view, and examine the attitudes and the effects of the lack of industrial experience on manufacturing.

Internal constraints include the ‘lack of an adequate skills base’, ‘a misunderstanding and distrust of marketing’, ‘unsophisticated attitudes towards finance and the value of time’, ‘price being seen as more important than quality’ and ‘authoritarian attitudes to management practice’. Local education and training are struggling to remedy aspects of this situation but they presently lack the resources.

There was a widespread lack of understanding of the concept of a company as a separate entity.     

Marketing good works: new trends in how interest groups recruit supporters

Charities or interest groups need to attract supporters, who offer both financial support and participation, to achieve their overall goal of influencing public affairs. They can use political marketing to help them attract and retain such supporters. Existing literature indicates they use marketing techniques such as direct mail to communicate to potential new supporters, but new research has discovered that the influence of political marketing is much more comprehensive. The most effective groups are now using political marketing to design the package they offer to supporters. They go through a four‐stage process. First, they conduct market intelligence to understand what supporters want from the organisation and second, they design their product accordingly. Third, they communicate this to potential supporters and then finally deliver campaign progress and they communicate this to existing supporters. They use marketing concepts: they adopt a market orientation and build an organisation designed to take account of its users' needs and wants. Although such charities are often associated with non‐business behaviour, the most successful groups are adopting the concepts and techniques of comprehensive political marketing as the means to increase their influence on government and public affairs. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

POWER LEARNING OR PATH DEPENDENCY? INVESTIGATING THE ROOTS OF THE EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY

A key motive for establishing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was restoring public confidence in the wake of multiplying food scares and the BSE crisis. Scholars, however, have paid little attention to the actual political and institutional logics that shaped this new organization. This article explores the dynamics underpinning the making of EFSA. We examine the way in which learning and power shaped its organizational architecture. It is demonstrated that the lessons drawn from the past and other models converged on the need to delegate authority to an external agency, but diverged on its mandate, concretely whether or not EFSA should assume risk management responsibilities. In this situation of competitive learning, power and procedural politics conditioned the mandate granted to EFSA. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council shared a common interest in preventing the delegation of regulatory powers to an independent EU agency in food safety policy.