The changing political culture of the African National Congress

The early elite of the African National Congress (ANC) embraced values of moral improvement, individual responsibility and a sense of social consciousness. The ANC now governs South Africa, but with what appears to be a different set of principles. The current scourge of corruption, increasing state control, coupled with a general lack of service delivery point to behaviour of the ruling party which is inward-looking, self-seeking and self-preserving. Arguing that political culture and its accompanying values and attitudes is a prime motivator of behaviour, the paper seeks to understand the changing political culture of the dominant party. To understand the political culture of the ANC we use interviews with ANC parliamentarians and ANC supporters conducted in 2006–2007 and 2013 as well as an analysis of the ANC's Strategy and Tactics policy documents. We contend that the liberal values of the early elites were never fully embedded, but in their stead is a liberationist culture, where the state is normatively understood to be extensive and embodying the will of the people. We argue, that through the resulting centralized determination of the interests of the people, patronage networks, and diminishing of accountability, a system conducive to corruption and the pursuit of personal interest is created.     

Target congruence theory and Latino youth victimization

While a number of studies have found that immigrant youth are less likely to engage in delinquency, they are more likely to report victimization. Scholars have traditionally attributed this finding to American cultural norms that may generate marginalization and culture conflict that, in return, increases the likelihood of victimization. However, few studies have applied victimization theories to this study population. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to apply Target Congruence Theory to test its capability to explain victimization among Latino youth. Data collected from the Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) Study shows that a target’s vulnerability, gratifiability, and antagonism modestly predicted their victimization. Results, as well as the study’s limitations and suggestions for future research, are discussed.     

Using DNA-barcoding to make the necrobiont beetle family Cholevidae accessible for forensic entomology

Although many cases of fatal hydrogen sulfide poisoning have been reported, in most of these cases, it resulted from the accidental inhalation of hydrogen sulfide gas. In recent years, we experienced 17 autopsy cases of fatal hydrogen sulfide poisoning due to the inhalation of intentionally generated hydrogen sulfide gas. In this study, the concentrations of sulfide and thiosulfate in blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and pleural effusion were examined using GC/MS. The sulfide concentrations were blood: 0.11-31.84, urine: 0.01-1.28, cerebrospinal fluid: 0.02-1.59 and pleural effusion: 2.00-8.59 (μg/ml), while the thiosulfate concentrations were blood: 0-0.648, urine: 0-2.669, cerebrospinal fluid: 0.004-0.314 and pleural effusion: 0.019-0.140 (μmol/ml). In previous reports, the blood concentration of thiosulfate was said to be higher than that of sulfide in hydrogen sulfide poisoning cases, although the latter was higher than the former in 8 of the 14 cases examined in this study. These results are believed to be strongly influenced by the atmospheric concentration of hydrogen sulfide the victims were exposed to and the time interval between exposure and death.     

Cry,the imagined country: Legitimacy and the fate of Macedonia

Whether or not the future Europe will be characterized as one of constant security dilemmas or a place of integrating security identities may well be linked to the fate of Macedonia. Indeed, Macedonia's survival will depend on ‘external’ forces.1 Yet, to date, the limited responses and commitments on the part of external parties have not been entirely promising. Unlike many other analyses that have focused on the Balkans, and former Yugoslavia in particular, and argued that the causes for conflict and disintegration are markedly similar, we suggest that Macedonia's problems are unique. It remains a too common and crucial mistake to assume that the root causes for disintegration that have plagued Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia‐Herzegovina and Macedonia since 1991 are all linked to a few centrally identifiable factors. And, with the exception of attempting to lessen the disparate economic geographies that continue to spell promise or peril for the entire region, the root solutions for Southeast Europe will prove problematic, and at times seem overwhelming, but will not prove ultimately impossible. However small, a window of opportunity still exists in Southeast Europe.     

Risk Attitudes and the Incumbency Advantage

Explanations for the incumbency advantage in American elections have typically pointed to the institutional advantages that incumbents enjoy over challengers but overlook the role of individual traits that reinforce this bias. The institutional advantages enjoyed by incumbents give voters more certainty about who incumbents are and what they might do when (and if) they assume office. We argue that these institutional advantages make incumbents particularly attractive to risk-averse individuals, who shy away from uncertainty and embrace choices that provide more certainty. Using data from 2008 and 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we show that citizens who are more risk averse are more likely to support incumbent candidates, while citizens who are more risk accepting are more likely to vote for challengers. The foundations of the incumbency advantage, we find, lie not only in the institutional perks of office but also in the individual minds of voters.