Academic freedom 1979: The West German case

Abstract

Given the continued significance of ideology as a social and political phenomenon, political science must consider the important contributions made to ideology theory made over the last thirty years by Louis Althusser. In this essay, I offer a critical exegesis of Althusser's views, focusing on the concept of reading, on the various conceptions of ideology held by Althusser, on the distinction Althusser made between ideology and science, and on his theory of the subject. This study of his thought makes three claims: (1) that Althusser's views, billed as a radical break with bourgeois thought, can be assimilated easily into social scientific understandings about ideology; (2) that Althusser's theory has internal difficulties rooted in the tension between positive and negative conceptions of ideology; and, (3) that Althusser left unanswered the key question of the means to ideological liberation.     

The Concealed Information Test is Susceptible to Misleading Information

An approach toward detecting hidden knowledge is the Concealed Information Test (CIT). It relies on the memory of crime‐relevant information. This study investigated whether its validity is susceptible to memory distortion by misleading information. A misleading information paradigm was employed to distort memory prior to an interrogation with a CIT. Forty‐one participants watched a video with specific crime‐related information. After a 1‐week retention interval, misleading information was introduced. Afterward, a CIT was performed, followed by a threefold memory test. When misleading information was presented, memory performance was reduced, and no physiological response differences between crime‐relevant and crime‐irrelevant information were found. Without presenting misleading information, physiological responses differed between responses to crime‐relevant and crime‐irrelevant information. However, responses in all physiological measures also differed between misleading and irrelevant information. The results indicate that the CIT is susceptible to misleading information, which reduces its validity in specific constellations.     

How school influences adolescents’ conflict styles

The willingness to solve conflicts without violence and to strive for a reconciliation of interests is of central significance for the continued existence of democracies. In this paper, we aim to analyze school-related determinants of adolescents’ conflict behaviour. Models predicting the conflict styles of ‘integrating’, ‘dominating’, ‘avoiding’ and ‘obliging’ were developed drawing on different school climate and school development variables. At the individual level, almost all our hypotheses were confirmed. The highest correlations were found between an open classroom climate and the participation in a class council on the one hand, and an integrating conflict style on the other. On the class level however, most of the anticipated effects did not turn out to be significant. We hope that by providing information about different school climate and school development variables’ impacts on adolescents’ conflict styles, we can contribute to a more effective promotion of constructive conflict behaviour in adolescents.     

The United States, Germany and France: Balancing Transatlantic Relations

Relations between the United States, France and Germany significantly determine the content and structure of the broader transatlantic relationship. Relations improved after the changes of government in Germany in 2005 and France in 2007, and they can be expected to improve further after the change of administration in the United States in 2009. Washington is likely to pay more attention to its European allies while these may become more involved in issues beyond Europe's borders. Sharing leadership will be the challenge for the United States, while bringing more intellectual and material input will be the challenge for the Europeans. At the same time, France and Germany will develop and maintain independent views. But if partnership is the aim on both sides of the Atlantic, a more promising relationship can be expected even where differences exist.     

A GC/MS study of the drying of ballpoint pen ink on paper

The determination of the age of an ink entry from a questioned document is often an essential problem and a controversial issue in forensic sciences. Therefore, it is important to understand the aging process of the different components found in ink. The aim of this work was to study the drying process of ballpoint ink, characterised by the disappearance of volatile solvents from the ink entry. Phenoxyethanol is of particularly high interest as it is found in more than 80% of the blue ballpoint pens at different concentrations. Liquid extraction followed by splitless gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the selected ion mode was used to measure the quantitative decrease of solvents from ink entries made with a blue Parker ballpoint pen. Quantities of ethoxyethoxyethanol, dipropylene glycol, phenoxyethanol and phenoxyethoxyethanol were studied in ink entries up to 1.5 years old, thus allowing to calculate aging curves for this particular pen. The low quantities of solvents (in the microgram range for a 1 cm ballpoint entry) were found to decrease quickly after deposition of the ink on paper through the competitive processes of evaporation and diffusion. Losses of up to 75% of solvents were observed after a few seconds. The amount of ethoxyethanol stopped decreasing after about 10 days (quantities reached the nanogram range for a 1 cm ballpoint entry), while the aging curves of dipropylene glycol, phenoxyethanol and phenoxyethoxyethanol level off considerably after 2 weeks. It was observed that ethoxyethanol, dipropylene glycol and phenoxyethanol can also migrate from one sheet of paper to another if placed close enough (e.g. in a book or a stack of papers), therefore contamination from fresh ink strokes from other paper sheets has to be taken into account for those solvents. In this paper we demonstrate that differentiation between fresh ink (<2 weeks) and older inks is possible under laboratory storage conditions. For real cases samples, more parameters have to be studied and other possible pathways have to be considered.     

Terrorism and the Military: International Legal Implications

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Candidate Authenticity: ‘To Thine Own Self Be True’

Political Behavior - In recent electoral contests, political observers and media outlets increasingly report on the level of “authenticity” of political candidates. However, even though...