Trust,vulnerable populations,and genetic data sharing

Recent policies and proposed regulations, including the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Common Rule and the 2014 NIH Genetic Data Sharing Policy, seek to improve research subject protections. Protections for subjects whose genetic data is shared are critical to reduce risks such as loss of confidentiality, stigma, and discrimination. In the article ‘It depends whose data are being shared: considerations for genomic data sharing policies’, Robinson et al. provide a response to our article, ‘The Growth and Gaps of Genetic Data Sharing Policies’. Robinson et al. highlight the importance of individual and group preferences. In this article, we extend the conversation on models for improving protections which will mitigate consequences for individuals and groups that are vulnerable to stigma and discrimination.     

Preliminary evaluation of the childhood experiences of violence questionnaire short form

Despite advances in child maltreatment research, accurate measurement of exposure remains a key issue. In this study, we evaluated a short form (CEVQ-SF) of the Childhood Experiences of Violence Questionnaire (CEVQ) in a sample of adolescents involved with child protection services in an urban city in Ontario, Canada. Focusing on the two most readily defined maltreatment types, physical and sexual abuse, we evaluated the short form's comparability with the full version of the CEVQ. Both versions had good internal consistency and moderate-to-good 2-week test-retest reliability. The criterion validity of the two CEVQ versions in comparison with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was satisfactory. Construct validity for both versions was demonstrated: physically and sexually abused youth had higher odds of reporting clinical traumatic symptoms compared with either type alone. The CEVQ-SF is as reliable and valid as its full version. Implications for its use in large population-based surveys are discussed.     

Targeting the Treatment: The Strategy behind Lyndon Johnson's Lobbying

Lyndon Johnson woke up studying whip counts, went to bed reading the Congressional Record, and invested countless hours in between translating that political intelligence into a lobbying offensive. The result, famously christened “The Johnson Treatment,” remains the archetype practitioners and political scientists cite when appraising presidential leadership on Capitol Hill. Yet Beltway folklore aside, we know little about how LBJ helped forge winning legislative coalitions. Stepping back from the (countless) colorful anecdotes, this study offers a new and systematic look at Lyndon Johnson's lobbying. Specifically, after exploring theoretical models of presidential coalition building, we then investigate their operational tenets using original data on all President Johnson's contacts, with each member of Congress, in both chambers, for every day he was president.     

Introduction: two spaces of subsidiarity?

ABSTRACT

Scholarship on subsidiarity conducted since the nineteenth century has developed two strands of interpretation suggesting competing models of social organisation as far as the potential location of decision-making power is concerned. While this intellectual effort has mainly concentrated on political experiences in continental Europe, and gained further traction with the principle’s recognition in European Union law, the institutional architecture of Commonwealth countries has experienced relative neglect. This collection, however, examines the debates around competing ordering principles with evidence coming from operational problems of Westminster style democracies in four world regions, and considers how a multi-disciplinary perspective can guide comparative analysis.     

The political economy of subsidiarity in labour market reforms: the United Kingdom and Italy in times of crises

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to contribute to the literature centred on the principle of subsidiarity by highlighting the way in which political actors apply different dimensions of subsidiarity, horizontal versus vertical, in the field of labour market policy. It compares labour market reforms in Britain and Italy in the wake of international economic crises, shedding light on the role of subsidiarity dimensions. It shows that Britain applied the principle of horizontal subsidiarity in quasi-market mechanisms while Italy chiefly resorted to the vertical dimension that helped shifting labour market policies from income replacement to welfare-to-work. Additionally, the article explores how the principle of subsidiarity may affect the relationships between the European Union on one side and Britain and Italy on the other in the field of labour market policies.