Running on Fear: Immigration,Race and Crime Framings in Contemporary GOP Presidential Debate Discourse

This analysis explores the use of “race-baiting,” known herein as “racially divisive appeals” (RDAs), and crime frames in Republican (GOP) presidential debate discourse during the 2008 and subsequent election cycles. RDAs which mobilize images of minorities as criminals, terrorists, or as populations engaged in voter or welfare fraud, are analyzed. While the strategic exploitation of racial animus in American politics has tended to be associated with the “Southern Strategy,” wherein GOP politicians wooed southern whites by fueling anxieties about blacks, this research finds that modern RDAs focus more on appealing to fears about immigrants. Reasons for this shift, as well some of the varied discursive techniques and narrative content of contemporary RDAs, are explored.     

Avoidant But Not Avoiding: The Mediational Role of Anticipated Regret in Police Decision-making

Police officers make significant stress-inducing decisions daily. Given the influence of emotions on police work, we examine the impact of anticipated regret on the decision-making process using a cross-cultural sample. Officers were asked to hypothetically make one of two job-related decisions of varying degrees of severity: shoot a threatening suspect (or not), or issue a speeding ticket (or not). Participants’ avoidant decision-making style, feelings of anticipated regret and predicted actions were analyzed. Results supported the mediated influence of anticipated regret on the relationship between avoidant decision-making style and avoidant decisions. Decision quality was also explored as an outcome which revealed a similar mediating influence of anticipated regret. While we found no significant cross-cultural outcome differences, we did notice differences regarding the use of avoidant decision-making style between the two samples. Implications are discussed.     

AN ERA OF IMPLEMENTATION

<正>The Communist Party of China leads the nation’s development with a people-centered approach The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC)has concluded in Beijing and the new CPC leadership was elected.What are the core objectives that the Party with its new leadership after     

Student,Expert, Peacekeeper: Three Versions of International Engagement

Three figures — the student, the expert and the peacekeeper — have provided influential frameworks through which Australians have conceptualised their relations with the world since 1945. Each has defined points of intersection between prevailing values in Australian civil society and understandings of international change as offering opportunities and challenges in articulating national interests. This article places each of these figures in their context, and in a sequence which suggests that each served to resolve uncertainties regarding international engagement while also generating new tensions. Tracing these effects illuminates the cultural transitions that have selectively determined how international issues have been comprehended and the roles Australians have perceived for themselves in relation to them.     

Armed mobilisation and the nexus of territory,identity, and authority: the contested territorial aspirations of the Banyamulenge in eastern DR Congo

The closely intertwined notions of territory, identity, and authority are at the heart of conflict dynamics in the eastern DR Congo. Focusing on the territorial aspirations of the Banyamulenge community in South Kivu, this article looks at the ways in which the nexus of territory, identity, and authority shapes and is shaped by armed mobilisation. Excluded from a customary chiefdom in the colonial era, the Banyamulenge, a community framed as ‘migrants’, have been striving for a territory of their own for decades. These aspirations have fed into armed activity by both Banyamulenge and Mai-Mai groups linked to opposing communities, providing deeply resonating mobilising narratives that are employed to justify violent action. Yet, as this article demonstrates, the links between armed mobilisation and the nexus of territory, identity, and authority are both contingent and reciprocal, as violent conflict also impacts the meanings and boundaries of identities, authority structures and territory.     

The Changing Face of Music in China

Having recently seen the LA thrash metal band Metallica in Shanghai,I’ve come to reflect on the fact that I’ve been in China for seven years,and I need to be honest—the live music scene here is pretty small.Having said that,I guess that I was spoiled in my native land of Australia,where I had a smorgasbord of live acts to see on any given night,and nothing short of an avalanche of national and international artists descending on Melbourne every summer.But here?Well,during seven years,I’ve seen only four bands.Let me elaborate.When I say"bands"I mean seeing people who write and perform their own music,opposed to those playing     

FAMILIES,COURTS, AND THE END OF LIFE: SCHIAVO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM

The article discusses a proposed universal adoption of comprehensive family law subject matter jurisdiction, inclusive of end‐of‐life (EOL) cases, as articulated in the unified family court (UFC) concept. It posits, using the Schiavo matter to illustrate the difficulties inherent in EOL disputes, that contested EOL cases are unlike other civil court cases in that they involve intimate facts and emotionally laden family dynamics. As such, these cases pose a distinctive challenge for the courts. The article suggests that contested EOL cases should be heard in a UFC because UFCs include alternative dispute resolution (ADR) protocols to deescalate family strife with the goal of facilitating out‐of‐court settlements and that litigation is an imperfect solution for an EOL dispute. It is also noted that judges presiding in UFCs are more experienced in handling fractious family matters and thus they are more likely to avert protracted litigation if the matter is not settled via ADR.