Party policy equilibrium for alternative spatial voting models: An application to the Norwegian Storting

Abstract In recent years a lively debate has emerged concerning the empirical status of the traditional proximity spatial model versus a directional model of voter choice. The central reason for this scholarly interest concerns these models' contrasting implications for parties' policy positioning, with the directional model motivating parties to present extreme policies, but the proximity model promoting centrist positions. To this point, however, there exist no studies that compute parties' optimal strategies in historical elections, for these competing models. This article addresses this issue, by examining party policy strategies in a multiparty electorate for three different vote models: (a) the proximity model, (b) a directional model (c) a mixed model which combines proximity and directional components. Each model incorporates past voting history and the random effects of unmeasured variables. Using parameter estimates derived from analyses of survey data from the 1989 Norwegian Election Study we compute — for each of these vote models — the configuration of party policy positions that maximize each party's vote share in relation to those of the other parties. We find that for each model, such a vote–maximizing configuration exists, but — for the proximity model — represents an unrealistic, tightly clustered array. A mixed proximity–directional model, however, provides by far the most convincing account of parties' actual policy strategies with regard to dispersion and vote share.     

Effect of injection on mating behaviour of female house flies

When virgin female flies were injected with 1μ of water in the thorax or had the thorax punctured, the number which subsequently mated was significantly reduced. The effect was not immediately apparent, but increased up to 4 to 6 days after treatment and persisted until at least 14 days post-treatment. Injection of water into the abdomen through the base of the ovipositor did not reduce subsequent mating.

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Zusammenfassung Wenn jungfr?ulichen Fliegen 1 μl Wasser in den Thorax injiziert oder ihr Thorax punktiert wurde, so wurde die Zahl derer, die sich sp?ter paarten, signifikant reduziert. Dieser Effekt wurde nicht unmittelbar offenbar, sondern wuchs an bis zu 4–6 Tage nach Behandlung und blieb mindestens bis 14 d nach Behandlung erhalten. Injektion mit Wasser ins Abdomen durch die Basis des Ovipositors reduzierte nachfolgende Paarungen nicht.

     

Postmortem monocular indirect ophthalmoscopy

Postmortem monocular indirect ophthalmoscopy permits examination of the posterior fundus and peripheral retina even if there is less than perfect anterior segment media such as postmortem corneal clouding. Light directed through the decedent's pupil from a bright focal light source illuminates the fundus and reflected light from the retina is then projected out of the eye. An aspheric condensing lens positioned in front of the eye focuses the retinal image at the focal plane of the lens. The real inverted, laterally reversed image comprises a wide field of view permitting evaluation of the decedent's fundus for retinal hemorrhages and other lesions.     

The economic and demographic determinants of international migration in Rural Egypt

This study uses data collected in rural Egypt to estimate a micro‐level model of the economic and demographic determinants of international migration. This model uses predicted income functions to establish origin incomes (incomes excluding remittances). Three findings are noteworthy. First, the results suggest that education may not necessarily be positively correlated with migration. Second, the data indicate that the relationship between income and migration is that of a flat, inverted U‐shaped curve. Third, when the combined effects of income and land are considered, males from poor and landless households have the highest propensity to migrate. Poverty and landlessness combine to push rural Egyptians to work abroad.     

“…everywhere she went I had to tag along beside her”: Family,life course,and everyday mobility in England since the 1940s

Mobility is one of the most important constituents of everyday life, yet it is rarely studied historically and we know little of how it relates to changing family and life course constraints. Using data drawn from oral life histories, this article examines changes in everyday mobility over the past 60 years focusing both on changes over the life course and on the constraints imposed by family structures. We argue that, like residential migration, daily mobility has been closely related to the life course, with women especially affected by the constraints of motherhood and marriage. However, there is evidence that such constraints have changed over time, and that some older people today enjoy more mobility than they did at earlier life stages. We also argue that the independent mobility of children was closely related to the family structure in which they were situated, but that these constraints have changed much less over the past 60 years. The oral testimonies examined also highlight the variability of mobility experiences and the role of the individual in fashioning mobility behavior.     

The Interdisciplinary Settlement Conference: A Grassroots Alternative for Resolving High‐Conflict Parenting Disputes in Lean Times

This article describes a court‐connected alternative dispute resolution program, the Interdisciplinary Settlement Conference. The key feature of this program is the participation of two volunteer panelists, one a family law attorney and the other a mental health professional experienced in parenting disputes, who assist the judicial officer in working with the parties and their attorneys (if any) to reach a resolution of their parenting dispute. Significantly, in addition to addressing the parties’ legal issues, the panelists also address the parties’ psychological and emotional issues relevant to the dispute on an as‐needed basis. Findings from six years of experience with the program are discussed, including evidence of high satisfaction with the program, a high rate of settlement, a decrease in relitigation, and a concomitant savings of scarce judicial resources.