Models of attitude constraint in foreign affairs

A relatively recent innovation in research on attitude constraint is the specification of hierarchical models of mass belief systems, where general orientations are assumed to determine or constrain more specific policy attitudes. But while this research has been able to demonstrate a strong correlation between general and specific idea elements, the causal direction of the relationship has been assumed rather than tested. Using panel data collected during a period of constancy in the international environment, we attempt to untangle the causal ordering of general orientations and specific policy attitudes in the realm of international politics. In accord with hierarchical models, we find, first, that general orientations (e.g., militarism and containment postures) are more stable than many specific policy preferences (e.g., attitudes toward defense spending and U.S. involvement in Central America) and, second, much of the over-time consistency in policy attitudes is generated by these more general orientations. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for studies of attitude constraint, one of which is thegeneral applicability of the procedure for investigating top-down versus bottom-up models of constraint in domains outside the international realm.The order of the authors' names was decided by a coin toss. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1988 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago Hilton and Towers, Chicago, Illinois, April 14–16, 1988.     

A strategy for accelerating the use of energy conserving building technologies

To accelerate the use of energy-conserving building technologies in the farflung, decentralized buildings industry, a strategy for more directed transfer of government research to public- and private-sector users has been implemented. The strategy involves a cycle of four sets of activities: (1) Needs assessment; (2) development of transferable information; (3) outreach activities; and (4) feedback and evaluation. By employing this iterative technology transfer cycle and emphasizing trade and professional organizations as communication channels to and from users, it is hoped that research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Systems Division will be responsive to the industry's needs and accessible to its diverse participants.     

Mitochondrial profiling of dog hairs

In order to make greater use of dog hairs as forensic evidence, we have developed a robust method for duplex amplification of adjacent 306 and 332bp amplicons within the 5' hypervariable region (5' HVR) of the canine mitochondrial control region. In support of this, a 595bp region covering 35 polymorphic sites has been sequenced from the blood of 105 UK dogs. In total, 30 different haplotypes were observed, 13 only once whilst the commonest was seen 14 times; the overall exclusion capacity is 0.929. One animal was heteroplasmic in blood for a single base deletion and showed phenotypes ranging from near complete deletion to a predominance of the base among a sample of 12 hairs. In contrast, no evidence of heteroplasmy was seen in single hairs from 20 dogs which were not visibly heteroplasmic in blood. Phylogenetic analysis and comparisons with other published databases highlighted instances of possible recurrent mutation which may be relevant when interpreting single base differences between samples.     

A Neo-Downsian Model of the Alternative Vote as a Mechanism for Mitigating Ethnic Conflict in Plural Societies

Among those advocating the use of particular electoralmechanisms to reduce the prospects for conflict and strengthendemocracy in societies that are deeply divided in ethnic orreligious terms, there are two main approaches, one associatedwith Arend Lijphart, one with Donald Horowitz. Lijphartadvocates using electoral rules such as list PR thatstrengthen the power of ethnically or religiously definedpolitical elites in the context of implementing power-sharingmechanisms at the elite level that institutionalize norms suchas proportional allocation and mutual veto across ethnies.Horowitz advocates using a preferential voting method, thealternative vote (AV), within constituencies thatare multi-ethnic in character, to allow for voting acrossethnic lines and to increase the likelihood of electingcandidates whose perceived obligations are wider than theirown ethnic group and/or to foster the creation of coalitionsthat are multi-ethnic in character. The main focus of thisessay is the reformulation of Horowitz’s approach in terms ofideas adapted from the neo-Downsian literature on median votermodels. We illustrate Horowitz’s approach with illustrationsinspired by the predominantly biracial political competitionin Fiji between native Fijians and those of Indian descent.     

Enhancing Title IX Due Process Standards in Campus Sexual Assault Adjudication: Considering the Roles of Distributive,Procedural, and Restorative Justice

ABSTRACT

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination—including sexual assault—in higher education. The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights’ 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter” outlines recommendations for campus sexual assault adjudication allowing a variety of procedures that fail to protect accused students’ due process rights and victims’ rights under Title IX. This article reviews two diminished due process rights in campus adjudication: cross-examination and the preponderance of the evidence standard. We use an organizational justice theoretical framework to show that limitations on due process rights reduce fair outcomes for both victims and the accused. We provide recommendations for a restorative justice approach to campus adjudication that operates within this theoretical framework to increase fair outcomes in adjudication, bolster perceptions of adjudicatory system legitimacy, and reduce campus sexual assault.     

The Left's New Urbanism

The idea of suburbia, or the suburban, or the suburbs, can imply a number of different things. Suburbia suggests a physical place, in general the outskirts of a city or large town; suburban can infer a certain lifestyle; and the idea of the suburbs is often used to identify a community or class of people who inhabit a specific territory. In politics, these terms can also retain various meanings in terms of geography, culture or community. Alongside the ideas of the urban or the rural, they are often used to debate questions of political strategy and shifting electoral coalitions. In this article, ideas of urban and suburban places, cultures and communities are used to consider wider debate regarding future coalitions and strategy within the modern left, specifically a renewed urban politics that can be identified. This new ‘urbanism’ suggests a geographical realignment—partly on cultural or lifestyle grounds—which is significant within an overall attempt to redefine the ‘base’ of the left in terms of class and community. This article considers these issues with reference to what historically has been described as the ‘Progressive Dilemma’.     

The Nordic governments' responses to the Covid-19 pandemic: A comparative study of variation in governance arrangements and regulatory instruments

Government responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Nordic states—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden—exhibit similarities and differences. This article investigates the extent to which crisis policymaking diverges from normal policymaking within the Nordic countries and whether variations between the countries are associated with the role of expertise and the level of politicization. Government responses are analyzed in terms of governance arrangements and regulatory instruments. Findings demonstrate some deviation from normal policymaking within and considerable variation between the Nordic countries, as Denmark, Finland, and to some extent Norway exhibit similar patterns with hierarchical command and control governance arrangements, while Iceland, in some instances, resembles the case of Sweden, which has made use of network-based governance. The article shows that the higher the influence of experts, the more likely it is that the governance arrangement will be network-based.