The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes’ Steadfast Factual Adherence

Political Behavior - Can citizens heed factual information, even when such information challenges their partisan and ideological attachments? The “backfire effect,” described by Nyhan...     

Forensic Neuropsychology and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Over the last 20 years, the Courts and the legal community have increasingly relied on neuropsychologists to provide opinions, guidance, and expertise in the area of brain–behavior relationships. The purpose of this article is to review issues neuropsychologists commonly face when asked to evaluate cases with suspected mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the civil or criminal legal context. In particular, we will discuss: (a) the neuropsychologist’s role in TBI forensic cases, (b) the attorney’s role in forensic TBI cases, (c) a neuropsychological framework to approach forensic mild TBI cases, (d) establishing working relationships with attorneys, (e) the Daubert and Frye standards, (f) symptom validity, (g) ethical issues, and (h) recommendations to improve the ecological validity of our tests and encourage test developers to provide alternate forms of tests.     

Interagency implementation of government policy: Strategic management of maternal and child health care in texas

Focusing on a joint effort of the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Department of Human Services, this study examined the interagency implementation of maternal and infant health policy in the state. Thompson's typology of implementation⁽¹⁾ was integrated with the Montjoy and O’Toole⁽²⁾ model of overhead influence on intraorganizational factors in public policy implementation for analysis. The findings provide some support to the Montjoy and O’Toole model.⁽³⁾ The data suggested Type A Mandate Effects and Expected Activity for both departmental programs. Reciprocal Operating Interdependence existed between the two state departments.     

论欧盟管辖权:从“纵向”视角看欧盟多层级体系

从一开始,欧洲一体化就是指权力由民族国家层面向欧盟层面的让渡,它演变为各国政府之间在台面上的议价,或是一种渐变。随着欧盟管辖权这一议题被摆上欧盟宪政的议程,一体化过程被再造。现在它涉及到欧盟多层级政体的整体架构,尤其涉及不同层级之间权力是如何配置、界定以及相互关联的。本文总结了关于欧盟和成员国的国家与次国家层面之间相互关系的研究成果,尤其是关于多层级政治体制中管辖权的演变和分割的研究成果。为此,本文概述了管辖权适当配置的规范性理由、用以解释权力的有效结构的实证理论以及相关的实证研究成果。     

Empirical philosophies of mind

Three anthropological contributions within the debates on rationality and modes of thought are considered here: Horton's ‘African Traditional Thought and Western Science’, Gellner's Legitimation of Belief and Needham's Belief, Language and Experience. It is argued that within these texts, seemingly diverse and even opposed in theoretical position though they are, certain anthropological imperatives are common. Various philosophical views are invoked in these works in order to grapple with recurrent problems of social anthropology, a discipline conceived as the ‘empirical philosophy of mind’ and expressing itself as an essentially epistemological discourse. These attempts are unsuccessful but the reasons for their lack of success can be traced to certain constraints within the anthropological problematic itself.     

German expellee organisations in the enlarged EU

This article examines German expellees (Vertriebene) as an interest group in domestic and enlarged European Union contexts. While their background and motivations may be unique, they have similarities to other non-party actors aiming to influence political and/or legal processes. German governments have made rhetorical and financial expressions of support but privileged foreign policy considerations over core expellee demands and sought to contain them as an internal issue. EU enlargement and accession by CEE states to its legal bases has been interpreted as opening new possibilities. A ‘Europeanising’ of ‘justice’ may have unintended implications for relations among European states and peoples.