The Kingmaker is Dead,Long Live the Kingmaker: Examining the Degree of Influence of Small Parties in the Coalition-formation Process in Germany

This article examines the role of small parties in the German party system. It thus attempts to make a contribution to a largely under-researched topic in the existing literature. The goal is to determine the influence and ultimately the pivotal role of small parties over time both federally and in each Land (1949–2010). For that purpose we develop a five-point ‘opportunity structure’ scale. During the heyday of West Germany's two-and-a-half-party system (from the early 1960s to the early 1980s) the FDP was not just the main small party but the pivotal kingmaker at least federally, deciding which of the major parties (CDU/CSU or SPD) would be in government. Since then the Greens and later the PDS/die Linke have also become durable small parties and play an important role in the government formation process. The analysis shows that based on our measure the Greens have at least equalled if not surpassed the FDP as the country's most influential small party since they emerged on the political scene in the early 1980s.     

Rent-seeking in the classroom and textbooks: Where are we after 50 years?

In this paper, we provide an overview of the influence of Tullock’s work on rent-seeking in the area of economics education. After summarizing the basic rent-seeking model in both a domestic and international context, we conduct an analysis of undergraduate and graduate textbooks in public economics. We find a majority of undergraduate texts cover rent-seeking in depth, but two texts provide zero coverage. No graduate textbook surveyed mentions rent-seeking. We conclude by summarizing the economic education literature on rent-seeking, which can be divided into either classroom experiments or popular culture examples.

     

Impact of Pain on Cognitive Function in Forensic Neuropsychology Context

Chronic pain is a biopsychosocial condition with a complex neuroscientific and neuropsychological literature. Common types of pain that are seen in the medicolegal context include headaches and musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain, all of which are known to affect neuropsychological test results. Differentiating between the cognitive impact of pain and the effects of traumatic brain injury and other factors, such as emotional distress or fatigue, is often challenging, especially in forensic determinations. Cutting through the polarization of forensic examiners’ opinions on the significance and nature of chronic pain impact on neuropsychological function with research evidence can make neuropsychological assessments more objective and defensible in court. This review focuses on surveying and integrating the available vast empirical evidence from neuroscience and neuropsychology regarding the cognitive impact of chronic pain. Our critical review will emphasize the implications of the new evidence for the forensic assessment determinations regarding causality, diagnosis, impact on function, and prognosis and treatment. To this end, electronic search engines, including PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar (up to January 2018), have been screened and reviewed both for the neuroscience and neuropsychological literature related to chronic pain, and subsequently updated for content and referencing.