On monarchy

Monarchy is liberalism’s little secret. Given the number of articles and books appearing every year dealing with liberal democracy as the hallmark of contemporary Western societies, it is astonishing that monarchy is rarely ever mentioned despite the fact that monarchy, and not a republic, is the constitutional form of quite a number of Western liberal states. I argue that considering the political reality of the established monarchies in Europe leads into a dilemma: either contemporary liberalism is not the kind of theory it claims to be or it has to reconsider its central tenets. In conclusion, I show that the dilemma cannot be solved or avoided but needs to be embraced by conceiving liberalism not as a applied moral theory but as a political theory that leaves room for various symbolic self-understandings and acknowledges the crooked timber of historical realities.     

Special Issue Introduction: The Meaning and Measurement of Thriving: A View of the Issues

We introduce this special issue on the foundations and functions of adolescent thriving by summarizing the developmental systems theory-based, positive youth development (PYD) perspective. The PYD perspective frames much of contemporary research about health and positive development across the adolescent period and, more specifically, frames the 4-H Study of PYD, the data set from which the empirical work in this special issue is drawn. We discuss the different ways in which the articles in this special issue elucidate different facets of the PYD perspective. In addition, we summarize the implications of this research for future scholarship and for applications aimed at improving the life chances of diverse adolescents.     

Adolescents’ Social Network Site Use,Peer Appearance-Related Feedback,and Body Dissatisfaction: Testing a Mediation Model

Previous correlational research indicates that adolescent girls who use social network sites more frequently are more dissatisfied with their bodies. However, we know little about the causal direction of this relationship, the mechanisms underlying this relationship, and whether this relationship also occurs among boys to the same extent. The present two-wave panel study (18 month time lag) among 604 Dutch adolescents (aged 11–18; 50.7 % female; 97.7 % native Dutch) aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge. Structural equation modeling showed that social network site use predicted increased body dissatisfaction and increased peer influence on body image in the form of receiving peer appearance-related feedback. Peer appearance-related feedback did not predict body dissatisfaction and thus did not mediate the effect of social network site use on body dissatisfaction. Gender did not moderate the findings. Hence, social network sites can play an adverse role in the body image of both adolescent boys and girls.     

Correction to: Taxing Higher Incomes: What Makes the High-Income Earners Consent to More Progressive Taxation in Latin America?

Political Behavior - The article Taxing Higher Incomes: What Makes the High-Income Earners Consent to More Progressive Taxation in Latin America?, written by Sarah Berens and Armin von Schiller,...     

Highly reliable quantification of proteins such as members of the HSP70 superfamily based on the grey scale index via immune detection stained bands on a Western blot

The HSP70 superfamily is a reliable biomarker for hyperthermia, hypothermia and hypoxia. The Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) respectively immunohistochemically staining methods are the typically used techniques for the quantification of those proteins. As the costs for reagents and devices as well as the work schedule of these methods are immense it was the goal of our study to develop an easy and reliable method to quantify the concentration of specific proteins. We established a procedure to measure the relative concentration of proteins fixed on ROTI(?) PVDF membranes via Western blot, calculating the relative protein concentration in dependency to the grey scale index of the normalized and digitalized pictures of the bands on the blots.     

The Rebirth of Water as a Weapon: IS in Syria and Iraq

The so-called Islamic State (IS) has increasingly used water as a weapon in order to further its political and military aims in Syria and Iraq. In this water-scarce region, IS has retained water and cut off crucial supplies, flooded large areas as well as contaminated resources. The capture of large dams in the Euphrates and Tigris basin has made it possible to deploy the water weapon even more effectively and in a frequent, systematic, consistent and flexible manner. Measures to counter this weaponisation effectively have been limited to military means. However, several internal constraints create a dilemma for IS as its state-building ambitions conflict with the consequences of the weaponisation of water. The rebirth of using the water weapon in Syria and Iraq raises questions about protecting water infrastructures in conflict and post-conflict settings.     

Agricultural Growth Linkages in Guatemala: New Insights from a Value Chain Approach

The agricultural growth linkage debate substantiates that agriculture contributes to economic growth through its linkages to other sectors. This paper contributes to the debate by combining a value chain approach with input-output-analysis. Results for Guatemala show that the sectors linked to agriculture are predominantly informal sectors and that these sectors create less value added, but more employment than formal sectors. It is also demonstrated that forward linkages are more important than backward linkages. In conclusion, agricultural linkages to forward sectors have a high potential to generate employment and value added and therefore should be supported by development policies.