Effects of Ethnic Classification on Substantive Findings in Adolescent Mental Health Outcomes

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Although most adolescents are healthy, epidemiological studies show that a significant number experience mental health challenges, and that Indigenous and ethnic...     

Legislative Twitter Style: Electoral Vulnerability,Social Media,and Constituency-Building in Large Multimember Electoral Systems

How do legislators use social media to cultivate their constituencies in large multimember electoral districts? Colombia's Senate nationwide district offers a suitable case to examine how lawmakers, through their behaviour on Twitter, geographically target their audiences. We employ microblog user geolocation methods which infer locations using textual content in order to identify where Colombian senators' Twitter ‘home’ is. We find that senators' location targeting on Twitter largely mirrors the geographical distribution of their votes. Deviations from that pattern mostly stem from their vulnerability to intraparty competition and the nature of their parties' organisation.     

Under the quasi-judicial state: H-1B employment rights in an era of judicial retrenchment

Foreign workers holding H-1B visas gained recourse to federal employment rights under the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA) for the very first time when Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT90). This paper examines H-1B employment rights enforcement under the INA as it has intersected with broader features of the American legal system: what political scientists call judicial retrenchment and the quasi-judicial state. I first show how H-1B rights, already limited by the domestic politics that shaped the IMMACT, became subject to judicial retrenchment when the federal courts confined H-1B disputes under the INA to the quasi-judicial state at the Department of Labor (DOL). I then use published data on DOL investigation outcomes, published and unpublished administrative case records, and judicial cases reviewing agency action to examine the extent to which and how H-1B workers can use the quasi-judicial state to solve workplace problems. My empirical findings contribute to a new understanding of the relationship between rights retrenchment, the judiciary, and the rise of alternatives to court in immigration and employment law and point to possible fine-grained changes for future immigration reform.     

Non‐tariff measures and United States' imports of CBERA‐eligible products

Trade coverage ratios are calculated to assess the 1991 incidence of non‐tariff measures (NTMs) on imports of products eligible for duty‐free treatment under the United States’ Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA). Overall, 16 per cent of all CBERA‐eligible products were found to be covered by one or more NTM. Corresponding figures for all eligible products exported from individual beneficiaries range up to 40 per cent. Much higher trade coverage ratios are found for individual product groups. NTMs constitute important deterrents to US imports of CBERA‐eligible products. Heavy reliance on NTMs counters the intent of the CBERA, namely to extend preferential treatment to exports from Caribbean Basin countries.     

Patterns in the lives of ETA members

Abstract

Based on 48 fairly detailed personal case histories, and more limited data on 447 other individuals, this article describes significant patterns in the lives of members of the Basque insurgent organization Euzkadi ta Askatasuna (ETA). The article discusses the age and sex of ETA members, the socioeconomic background of the members and their families, and their ethnic and linguistic characteristics. The article also describes life in ETA, the radicalization of Basque youth, how new members are recruited into the organization, how they live and what they do as members, how ETA members relate to family, friends and loved ones, and how they terminate their relationship to the organization. The study finds ETA members to be not the alienated and pathologically distressed individuals who join other insurgent organizations, but rather they are psychologically healthy persons for the most part, strongly supported by their families and their ethnic community.     

Categorization of Narcomessages in Mexico: An Appraisal of the Attempts to Influence Public Perception and Policy Actions

The current article brings together the conclusions of an exercise carried out in an attempt to analyze and classify narcopropaganda, or “narcomessages” in Mexico. The analysis and classification of narcomessages is able to provide some insights about the motivations underlying the increase of violent attacks in the country; at the same time, the classification of these messages can help in the identification of those groups that are more likely to influence public perception and support public policy measures against them.     

Russia's Indirect Grand Strategy

Modern Russia is a revisionist, if not a revanchist, nation-state. It seeks to end the efficacy of the post-World War II institutionalized rules-based international order, which was created and maintained by the U.S.-led Western alliance. Russia pursues this objective to reclaim great power status and dominate the region and its borders. However, it lacks the strength to achieve this goal directly. To be successful, Russia must devise a strategy for bringing about cumulative changes in the relative power of the United States and Russia. And, it must do so while avoiding direct confrontation. A model for such an indirect approach exists.