Eliciting cues to deception by tactical disclosure of evidence: The first test of the Evidence Framing Matrix

Purpose. Research on real‐life suspect interviews shows that disclosure of evidence is a very common tactic and that it occurs in all phases of the interview. It is therefore remarkable that there is hardly any research on the effectiveness of different disclosure tactics. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of three different disclosure tactics: presenting the evidence early and two versions of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique. Methods. For the SUE‐Basic technique (SUE‐B), the evidence was disclosed late in the interview. For the SUE‐Incremental technique (SUE‐I), we used a stepwise disclosure tactic derived from the so‐called Evidence Framing Matrix. The tactic consists of revealing evidence of increasing strength and precision. A mock‐theft scenario was employed with 195 participants who were randomly allocated to one of six conditions: guilty or innocent suspects were interviewed with one of the three techniques. Two measures of inconsistency were used as dependent variables: statement‐evidence inconsistency and the newly developed within‐statement inconsistency. Results. By interviewing with SUE‐I, strong cues to deception were elicited, especially for the statement‐evidence inconsistency variable. For the SUE‐B, significant but smaller differences between guilty and innocent suspects were obtained. Conclusions. We found that both when and how the evidence was disclosed moderated the effectiveness of disclosure. With respect to when, it was more effective to disclose the evidence late (vs. early), and with respect to how, it was more effective to disclose the evidence in a stepwise (vs. direct) manner. The tactical aspects of evidence disclosure are discussed.     

Ideological Congruence among European Political Parties

Do European political parties represent the ideology of their voters well? This research aims to provide an empirical appreciation of the levels to which Members of Parliament (MPs) ideologically represent their electorate within political parties in 12 European countries. The variable used is left–right self-placement and representation is measured through congruence. Three main hypotheses are tested. First, MPs express greater ideological extremism than voters. Second, MPs have biased perceptions on the positioning of their electorate. Third, New Left parties exhibit higher levels of representation than the other parties. This article's findings reveal that only the second hypothesis can be supported without restrictions.     

EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN MEXICO OF OLDER ADULTS AS A FUNCTION OF THEIR ANTIQUITY

The population grows and ages. Older adults, which is the group of people sixty years of age and older, increasingly represents a numerically larger group. Therefore, the legal rules are issued, and must be of such a nature that adequately protects them. In particular labor standards in Mexico, containing general provisions, but are emissive in relation to work of older adults subordinate.     

Determining Factors of E-government Development: A Worldwide National Approach

ABSTRACT

The implementation of e-government aims at simplifying and improving the relationships and transactions between public administrations and their users or customers. In this vein, the objective of this work is to analyze the factors that promote the development of e-government in the national governments of 192 countries worldwide, differentiating between developed and developing countries. Our findings emphasize that the development of e-government requires that countries have a degree of economic development that enables their citizens to have a certain standard of living, both economic and cultural, as well as important internal government reforms which promote administrative effectiveness. Once these essential factors are fulfilled, the national government's online presence is favored by governments that rule with a majority in their parliaments and with an important fiscal capacity.     

The Ambivalent Character of Reconstruction： Winners and Losers of the Lobito Transport Development Corridor

In Angola where poor and scattered communities extend over great distances, an efficient transport system is very important. Nevertheless, in the post-war context its reconstruction has an ambivalent character. On the one hand, it is an indispensable part of the process of economic reconstruction and development where it is possible to identify complementary linkages influencing the dynamics of road and railway reconstruction that can reduce poverty. On the other hand, the post-war transport economy, like the war transport economy, is a site of private accumulation and change where social stratification goes in parallel with increased socio-economic inequality and unfavourable conditions in the labour transport market. The infrastructural reconstruction process is not fulfilling its potential for generating domestic linkages or multiplier effects through wage employment of Angolans. The creation of employment and other income earning opportunities have been limited, meaning that communities might lack the financial capacity to make use of the transport network. The ambivalent character of the modernisation of the transport system was already a feature in the first half of the 20th century as the transport network＇s creation of regional and national spaces with new centres and peripheries established a new hierarchy of social groups and gave rise to significant cultural changes. The effects of roads, railways, and other new means of transport were experienced in very different ways by different actors （means of wealth as well as poverty; inroads of repression as well as paths to personal liberation; and as tools of fragmentation as well as of unification）.     

Seasonality and Trends in Child Malnutrition: Time-Series Analysis of Health Clinic Data from the Dowa District of Malawi

This article investigates the factors most affecting year-to-year trends and month-to-month fluctuations in underweight among children under five years of age in the Dowa District of Malawi from 2004 to 2012, including both the ability of households to obtain and utilise food and to child-related policy interventions. Time series regressions reveal strong hungry-season effects associated with both food availability and disease transmission, in addition to trends in household health. These findings reveal the complex nature of child malnutrition in the Dowa District and the importance of a food and nutritional security approach in understanding and addressing this phenomenon.     

Fostering Economic Growth through a “European” Debt

Economic growth in the EU area is one of the European Union's tasks and the Union's budget should be used to finance actions aimed at development. It is hard to imagine that an increase in budget revenues or a significant reduction in spending in other areas can provide the resources for this purpose. The proposal put forward is to allow for debt financing of investment spending and to downgrade the current constitutional status of the rule regarding a balanced budget. A “European” debt, it is suggested, could strengthen the international role of the euro. If such a reform were not to find consensus within the Union as a whole, it could, alternatively, be adopted in the Eurogroup.     

Problem based learning in legal education: Intentionally overlooked or merely misunderstood

Abstract

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT is widely considered to be central to student achievement. Unfortunately, however, on modules with large numbers of students, there is not sufficient time for academic staff to provide written feedback to all students on a regular basis. It is proposed that a potential solution to this problem is the provision of online multiple‐choice questions (MCQs) which generate detailed feedback to students who attempt them. This article critically analyses the implementation of online MCQs as a form of formative assessment on an undergraduate level three equity and trusts module. It is argued that MCQs, when prepared in the light of relevant academic theories and implemented appropriately, are a means by which deep learning can be stimulated and tested with sufficient rigour, and are therefore a suitable method of formative assessment at undergraduate level. It is also argued that there are significant advantages to be gained from making the MCQs and feedback available to students online. Analysis and synthesis of available data from the module in question bears out these arguments, suggesting that the provision of online formative assessment in this manner is indeed beneficial to students.     

Does Decentralization Improve Perceptions of Accountability? Attitudinal Evidence from Colombia

Decentralization is argued to create incentives for local and regional politicians to be more responsive and accountable to their constituents, but few studies have directly tested this claim. We use survey data from Colombia to examine individual‐level evaluations of the degree to which decentralization prompts citizens to view department government as more accountable. We estimate the effect of administrative, fiscal, and political decentralization, controlling for participation, political knowledge, confidence in government, education, and income on perceptions of accountability. Our results indicate that administrative and fiscal decentralization improve perceptions of accountability, while political decentralization does not.