Voting on Low-Skill Immigration under Different Pension Regimes

Depending on the design of the domestic pension system and thetype of immigrants, voters will decide differently onimmigration policy. In this paper, we investigate the votingoutcome of three groups of heterogeneous voters (skilledworkers, unskilled workers, and retirees) under Beveridgian orBismarckian pension systems which are either of the fixedcontribution rate or the fixed replacement ratio type. We findthat while the use of a Beveridge or Bismarck system does notchange the results qualitatively, the fixed contribution ratevs. fixed replacement ratio distinction leads to substantialchanges in the optimal choices of different groups.     

The Role of Aggressive Peer Norms in Elementary School Children’s Perceptions of Classroom Peer Climate and School Adjustment

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Although prior research has indicated that peer norms for aggression enhance the spread of aggression in classrooms, it is unclear to date how these norms relate...     

Europeanization, Whitehall Culture and the Treasury as Institutional Veto Player: A Constructivist Approach to Economic and Monetary Union

This article examines Europeanization in Whitehall, using EMU as a case study. It argues that how the EMU policy community has developed within Whitehall, and its outcomes, cannot be captured using a narrow, rationalist game-theoretic frame-work. Although strategic behaviour is important, as Dyson and Featherstone (1999) argue, the primary question is how Whitehall players have defined British interests, formed a collective identity and given a specific meaning to the EMU game. The article applies a cultural approach to Whitehall, focusing on the macro structures of belief within which EMU policy is made.     

The politics of corporate crises in West Germany

This article examines the experience of corporate crisis in the major industrial economy of Western Europe. West Germany's experience of corporate crisis is analysed by reference to its legal framework, political context and economic history. Particular attention is given to two modes of crisis management: ‘bank‐led’ rescue and ‘the crisis cartel’. Case studies include AEG, Grundig, the steel corporations of the Ruhr and the Saar, shipbuilding corporations and Krupp. The argument draws on the evidence of mounting problems of corporate crisis management to assess the prospects for the theory and practice of the social market economy in West Germany.     

Using the Nondonor Distribution to Improve Communication and Inform Decision Making for Low LRs from Minor Contributors in Mixed DNA Profiles

The reporting of a likelihood ratio (LR) calculated from probabilistic genotyping software has become more popular since 2015 and has allowed for the use of more complex mixtures at court. The meaning of “inconclusive” LRs and how to communicate the significance of low LRs at court is now important. We present a method here using the distribution of LRs obtained from nondonors. The nondonor distribution is useful for examining calibration and discrimination for profiles that have produced LRs less than about 10⁴. In this paper, a range of mixed DNA profiles of varying quantity were constructed and the LR distribution considering the minor contributor for a number of nondonors was compared to the expectation given a calibrated system. It is demonstrated that conditioning genotypes should be used where reasonable given the background information to decrease the rate of nondonor LRs above 1. In all 17 cases examined, the LR for the minor donor was higher than the nondonor LRs, and in 12 of the 17 cases, the 99.9 percentile of the nondonor distribution was lower when appropriate conditioning information was used. The output of the tool is a graph that can show the position of the LR for the person of interest set against the nondonor LR distribution. This may assist communication between scientists and the court.     

Public pensions and return migration

In a median-voter framework with pensions and immigration we show that only few unskilled immigrants are allowed into the country because the unskilled native median voter is concerned with negative effects on his or her wage, but not with the positive effects to other groups in society. When return migration is allowed for, the median voter is more willing to accept immigration because he or she can shift some of the burden to future generations.     

“More Symbolic—More Political—Than Substantive”: An Interview with James R. Clapper on the U.S. Designation of Foreign Terrorist Organizations

ABSTRACT

This article considers the status and value of the U.S. Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) list via an extended and annotated interview with James R. Clapper, U.S. Director of National Intelligence during the administration of President Barack Obama from 2010–2017. In this interview,¹ Clapper reflects on the role and effectiveness of blacklisting for U.S. national security strategy. The article frames the interview within debates in recent political science and law literatures on blacklisting to situate Clapper’s views. Drawing on recent controversies—including the fraught relationship between the U.S., Pakistan, the Taliban regime, and the Haqqani network—Clapper speaks to the a) symbolism and foreign policy drivers of FTO listing; b) implications of the FTO list for peace negotiations; and, c) the cohesion of terrorist groups and the effectiveness of FTO listings. In reporting the interview thus, the article offers a rare direct insight to the causal reasoning of an elite security official with respect to a process that has, since its inception in 1997, been shrouded in ambiguity and controversy.