The 2009 Landtag Election in Saxony

The Landtag election in Saxony was one of three elections for state parliaments, all taking place on 30 August 2009. Out of the three, it was the one where there was little doubt that the CDU would, once again, appoint the next Prime Minister. Aside from the lack of surprise in the election outcome, this election had some historic moments. After the right-wing NPD was able to re-enter the Saxon Landtag, Saxony is the only German state parliament with six party parliamentary groups present. Further, turnout at this election was 52 per cent, an all-time low. The election ended Saxony's grand coalition and established its first CDU–FDP coalition. Within two weeks after the election, the new coalition contract was negotiated and the new government was sworn in so as to present a clear signal to national voters that a black and yellow coalition was a good and workable alternative to the grand coalition in the German Bundestag as well.     

Whole-face procedures for recovering facial images from memory

Research has indicated that traditional methods for accessing facial memories usually yield unidentifiable images. Recent research, however, has made important improvements in this area to the witness interview, method used for constructing the face and recognition of finished composites. Here, we investigated whether three of these improvements would produce even-more recognisable images when used in conjunction with each other. The techniques are holistic in nature: they involve processes which operate on an entire face. Forty participants first inspected an unfamiliar target face. Nominally 24 h later, they were interviewed using a standard type of cognitive interview (CI) to recall the appearance of the target, or an enhanced ‘holistic’ interview where the CI was followed by procedures for focussing on the target's character. Participants then constructed a composite using EvoFIT, a recognition-type system that requires repeatedly selecting items from face arrays, with ‘breeding’, to ‘evolve’ a composite. They either saw faces in these arrays with blurred external features, or an enhanced method where these faces were presented with masked external features. Then, further participants attempted to name the composites, first by looking at the face front-on, the normal method, and then for a second time by looking at the face side-on, which research demonstrates facilitates recognition. All techniques improved correct naming on their own, but together promoted highly-recognisable composites with mean naming at 74% correct. The implication is that these techniques, if used together by practitioners, should substantially increase the detection of suspects using this forensic method of person identification.     

Goal Setting and Performance Management in the Public Sector

ABSTRACT

The public sector in North America as well as parts of Europe is increasingly adopting a performance management system that includes goal setting, coaching, and the evaluation of an employee on goal attainment. The purpose of this article is three-fold. First, the extant literature on goal setting for individual employees is summarized in terms of its applicability to the public sector. Second, the importance of context to goal setting and performance management in the United States and Italy is discussed. Third, coaching techniques, based on theory and empirical evidence, for increasing the probability of goal attainment by public sector employees are examined.     

The liberal character of ethological governance

This paper examines the liberal government of ‘character’ from the perspective offered by those practices, strategies and techniques I term ‘ethological governance’. Ethological governance is neither an ideology nor a tradition of thought, but denotes an orientation to human conduct that is organized by an explicit concern with character and its formation. The paper argues that ethological governance, especially in its Anglo-American strain, subscribes to a developmental notion of human conduct (i.e. character) and serves as a standard for liberal government by judging the responsible exercise of freedom. To this end, the paper examines how ethological governance establishes a context of government that harnesses character as a tool for social and political transformation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by (1) explaining how character establishes a normative scale against which the capacity for individuals to practise their freedom is measured and (2) offering a symptomatic reading of those aspects of John Stuart Mill's work that deal with ethology in order to show how character indexes the judicious limits of government and serves as a basic test of citizenly competence.     

Why the CCM won't lose: the roots of single-party dominance in Tanzania

This paper provides an empirical investigation of the factors contributing to single-party dominance in Tanzania. Despite the fact that Tanzania has had a multi-party democracy since 1995, the party which governed during single-party rule, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), has won the vast majority of seats in the National Assembly in the first four multi-party elections. In order to understand the CCM's grip on power, this article analyses the results of a survey conducted amongst subsistence farmers in Tanzania, which provides information on farmers’ livelihood conditions, access to media and political views, and hence provides insight into the preferences underlying voting behaviour. It discusses the dominant reasons for CCM support, as well as the characteristics of farmers who are more likely to support an opposition party. It concludes by discussing possible policy options for enhancing political competition in Tanzania.     

La’cit Unveiled: A case study in human rights, religion, and culture in France

This paper examines the debate around the headscarf in France with the view to critically examining two central arguments put forward by the Stasi Commission for the restriction of the headscarf in French public schools—that the headscarf imperiled public order and that it jeopardized neutrality in the public sphere. In the case of the first argument, this paper argues that France did not meet the threshold requirement necessary to curtail religious rights in public schools. In the case of the second argument, this paper insists that neutrality in the pulic sphere has always involved some accommodation of religious groups in society and should include the headscarf in public schools. The paper argues that the decision to ban the headscarf is ultimately a controversy about French identity and the values on which the French community is built.     

Juvenile Transfers to Adult Court: An Examination of the Long‐Term Outcomes of Transferred and Non‐Transferred Juveniles

Juveniles who are transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than non‐transferred juveniles, but limited research has examined how transfer can impact other life outcomes like attending college and employment. To examine this issue, data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) were analyzed from 1998 to 2011. It was found that court involvement during adolescence does not harm educational attainment. However, prosecution of juveniles in adult court significantly impairs earning potential well into adulthood. The current study provides further evidence of the long‐term harms caused by transfer and demonstrates how transfer further disrupts the desistance process.     

Correlation of Molecular Expression with Diel Rhythm of Oviposition in Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Implications for Forensic Entomology

This study explored the molecular mechanisms potentially underlying blow fly nocturnal oviposition. A behavioral study revealed that Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) possesses a diel rhythm of oviposition in light under 12:12 light/dark conditions. Reversal to 12:12 dark/light resulted in oviposition behavior changing to align with the adjusted regime in most females, but four of 59 experimental females lacked a diel rhythm of oviposition (were arrhythmic). Real-time PCR was used to monitor the molecular expression levels of known circadian genes per and tim in C. vicina to determine whether gene expression and behavior correlated. As with behavior, reversing light/dark conditions changed rhythmic gene expression to align with an adjusted light regime. This suggests that although it is unlikely that C. vicina will colonize dead bodies at night, arrhythmic females and oviposition in the dark was demonstrated.     

The men with the Mac say you've got to go back...

In a case which illustrates how difficult it is to draft anagreement that works for the future against a background offast-changing technology, Mr Justice Mann held that Apple Computer'suse of its apple logo on the iTunes service did not breach a1991 trade mark coexistence agreement entered into with AppleCorps; Apple Corps intends to appeal.