Stammwähler und die opportunistische Wahl parteipolitischer Programme

This article explains political radicalism by the number of voters who are biased towards a party. With little voters biased in favor of a party, this party has to rely more heavily on its programmatic distance to other parties. Because large parties – i.e.: parties with a high number of biased voters – gain votes when they move to the center of the political spectrum, parties with a lower number of voters that are biased in their favor are forced to the edges of the policy space. We draw on a computational model of political competition between four parties in a two‐dimensional policy space to investigate this relationship. We use panel corrected OLS estimates to analyze the data generated by the computer simulation. Our results substantiate the hypothesis of a negative relationship between the number of biased voters and the inclination of a party to adopt a more extreme policy stance.     

Who's the Boss? Patterns of Perceived Control in Adolescents' Friendships

This study examined the nature and correlates of different patterns of perceived control in adolescents' relationships with their best friends. Participants included firstborn adolescents (M = 14.94 years), their younger siblings (M = 12.44 years) and both their mothers and fathers in 163 families as well as a best friend of each adolescent (M = 15 years). Data were collected from family members during home visits regarding adolescents' family relationships, friendships, and psychosocial adjustment; time use data were gathered during a series of 7 nightly phone interviews. Information was obtained from best friends during a brief phone interview. We developed a typology of 3 different patterns of perceived friendship control based on the combination of adolescents' and their best friends' ratings of relational control. Patterns of control in adolescents' friendships were associated with the distribution of control in both parents' marriages and adolescents' sibling relationships. Further analyses, designed to test developmental predictions, revealed connections between friendship control and other qualities of adolescents' friendships (i.e., intimacy, conflict, perspective-taking).     

Pax Democratica: The Gospel According to St. Democracy

The thaw of the Cold War ended the chess game between the superpowers and seemingly gave new momentum to the revival and spread of liberal democracy and its corollary, capitalism. Just as missionaries once offered Christianity to "save" colonised peoples, democracy has become the new gospel promising "salvation". Both donor and recipient countries appeal to democracy, hoping that it will reverse decades of misfortune. Donor nations and multilateral financial institutions preach democratic governance. "Born again democratic" national leaders in the South who are intent on clinging to power attend to their sermons. None appear to have a genuine faith in democracy. While some nations and NGOs do give altruistically, most use foreign aid as another means of pursuing their national interest. Democracy is an elastic concept. Indeed it seems, at least at this point, that the new gospel of democracy is but a convenient tool used by different players for they own selfish reasons.     

Kapital oder Kompensation? Erwerbsbiografien von Männern und die sozialen Beziehungen zu Verwandten und Freunden

Der Beitrag behandelt die Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Beschäftigungsverhältnisse und berufsbiografischer Erfahrungen auf die Integration in soziale Beziehungen, insbesondere solche zu Freunden und Verwandten. Ein wichtiger Aspekt sind hierbei Erfahrungen von Diskontinuität und Unsicherheit auf dem Arbeitsmarkt, die nach Sennett auf den Bereich persönlicher Beziehungen übergreifen und die Integration in enge, verlässliche Beziehungen erschweren. Dem gegenüber gibt es allerdings auch theoretische Argumente für eine Kompensation berufsbiografischer Unsicherheiten durch eine verstärkte Hinwendung zu engen und stabilen Primärbeziehungen. Empirische Analysen mit den Daten des Familiensurvey 2000 zeigen sowohl negative Auswirkungen als auch kompensatorische Zusammenhänge, wobei letzteres wohl nur dann möglich ist, wenn das Unsicherheitsniveau nicht ein bestimmtes Maß übersteigt bzw. individuelle Bewältigungsressourcen vorhanden sind. Überraschenderweise sind nicht primär die Verwandtschaftsund Familienbeziehungen Basis solcher kompensatorischer Zusammenhänge, sondern Freundschaften.     

The sabotage of patriarchy in colonial Rhodesia,rural african women's living legacy to their daughters

Evidence from a University of Zimbabwe oral history project suggests that many rural women in colonial Rhodesia played an active role in undermining patriarchal customs which they experienced as oppressive. These women defied family norms by choosing their own marriage partners, prioritizing the formal education of their daughters and finding ways to generate income to secure greater degrees of autonomy. This study compliments other research which depicts women's primary form of resistance to be moving from rural to urban areas, by showing what options some women exercised while remaining within rural society.