Can the hidden hand of the market be an effective and legitimate regulator? The case of animal welfare under a labeling for consumer choice policy approach

In Australia, labeling for consumer choice, rather than higher government regulation, has become an important strand of the policy approach to addressing food animal welfare. This paper illustrates the usefulness of “regulatory network analysis” to uncover the potentials and limitations of market‐based governance to address contentious yet significant issues like animal welfare. We analyzed the content of newspaper articles from major Australian newspapers and official policy documents between 1990 and 2014 to show how the regulatory network influenced the framing of the regulatory problem, and the capacity and legitimacy of different regulatory actors at three “flashpoints” of decisionmaking about layer hen welfare in egg production. We suggest that the government policy of offering consumers the choice to buy cage free in the market allowed large‐scale industry to continue the egg laying business as usual with incremental innovation and adjustment. These incremental improvements only apply to the 20 percent or so of hens producing “free‐range” eggs. We conclude with a discussion of when and how labeling for consumer choice might create markets and public discourses that make possible more effective and legitimate regulation of issues such as layer hen welfare.     

The Effects of Perceived Procedural Justice on Conflict Management between Spouses,and the Mediating Role of Dyadic Adjustment

In this study, we examined the role that perceived procedural justice (PPJ) plays in the conflict management behaviors that intimate spouses adopt and endorse. In this context, PPJ has been defined as the degree to which one perceives that his or her spouse makes decisions fairly, considerately, and in a participatory manner. To test the impact of perceived procedural justice on conflict resolution behavior, we applied the dual‐concern model of conflict management style. In an experiment in which participants read fictional scenarios and predicted spouses’ responses, we found that perceptions of strong PPJ enhanced the prediction of integrating (problem solving), compromising, and, to a lesser degree, obliging behavior. Perceived procedural justice also caused a reduction in avoidance behavior, but no effect we found on dominating (competing) behavior. In a following correlational study, we also found that PPJ positively correlated to enhanced integrating, compromising, and obliging behaviors, and these correlations were partially or fully mediated by the degree of “dyadic adjustment,” which is a measure of relationship health. In addition, in this second study, we found no correlation between perceived procedural justice and dominating or avoiding behavior. In both studies, participants either predicted or chose collaborative behaviors more than non‐collaborative ones. We conclude that the perception that one's partner is behaving in a procedurally just way can enhance active and egalitarian collaboration in marriage and other intimate partner relationships, but that the absence of PPJ does not seem to encourage active non‐collaboration, particularly not highly self‐centered dominating behavior.     

Active resistance to democratic diffusion

Recent research on the international diffusion of democracy has focused on demonstrating how diffusion can change regime outcomes. Although there is still debate within the field of democratization over how important democratic diffusion is relative to domestic factors, autocratic leaders believe that democratic diffusion can be a threat to their rule. It is clear that some countries, such as North Korea, prevent diffusion by severely restricting interactions with foreigners and forbidding access to external sources of information. The more intriguing question is how the states that have economic, diplomatic, and social linkages with democratic states prevent democratic diffusion. In other words, what methods do globally-engaged, autocratic governments use to limit exposure to and reduce receptivity to democratic diffusion?In addition to using coercion and economic patronage, autocratic states utilize two non-material mechanisms to prevent democratic diffusion: 1) restricting exposure to democratic ideas and 2) developing alternative narratives about democracy to reduce local receptivity to democratic diffusion. Sophisticated autocratic leaders can limit receptivity to democratic diffusion if they convince citizens that those ideas are “foreign,” will cause “chaos,” or if they believe they already have their own form of democracy. I explore these methods of establishing firewalls to prevent diffusion by examining the cases of China and Kazakhstan, two countries where a high level of economic linkage coincides with a successful continuation of autocratic rule, despite the global spread of democratic norms. China has developed extensive methods to restrict access to foreign ideas about democracy while Kazakhstan has mainly focused on developing an alternative narrative about democracy. This article contributes to the literature on authoritarian persistence and democratic diffusion by investigating the internal methods autocratic leaders adopt to ensure that democratic diffusion does not threaten their rule.     

Indirect Effects of Attributional Style for Positive Events on Depressive Symptoms Through Self-Esteem During Early Adolescence

Research on adolescent depression has overwhelmingly focused on risk factors, such as stressful negative events and cognitive vulnerabilities, but much important information can be gained by focusing on protective factors. Thus, the current study aimed to broaden understanding on adolescent depression by considering the role of two positive elements as protective factors, attributional style for positive events and self-esteem, in a model of depression. The sample included 491 middle school students (52 % female; n = 249) with an age range from 12 to 15 years (M = 13.2, SD = .70). The sample was ethnically/racially diverse, with 55 % White, 22 % Hispanic, 10 % Asian American, 3 % African American, and 10 % Biracial/Other. Correlational analyses indicated significant cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between an enhancing attributional style (internal, stable, global attributions for positive events), self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Further, prospective analyses using bootstrapping methodology demonstrated significant indirect effects of an enhancing attributional style on decreases in depressive symptoms through its effects on self-esteem. These findings highlight the importance of considering attributional style for positive events as a protective factor in the developmental course of depressive symptoms during early adolescence.     

Comparative Perspective of the Brazilian and Indian Space Programs

In the early 1960s, India and Brazil started developing space capabilities covering three major complementary areas: (1) satellites; (2) launch vehicles; and (3) ground systems. More than 50 years later, India is among the most active and successful spacefaring countries and is developing cost-effective space technologies. On the other hand, Brazil still does not possess a launch system and has put into orbit only small and non-commercial satellites, several of them built with Chinese cooperation and launched on Chinese launch vehicles. The goal of this article is to compare Brazilian and Indian space programs, which present different levels of accomplishments. This analysis contains three elements. The first part discusses the two space programs’ evolutions and their contemporary features. The second part compares the space programs’ models from two observation variables: (1) the state administrative organization; and (2) international cooperation in the space sector. Finally, the third part of the article compares the strengths and challenges of each program, highlighting that an international partnership between Brazil and India in space opens a window of opportunity for Brazil to take part in a much wider range of projects than is possible if funded alone.     

An Organization of the Theoretical Perspectives in the Field of Civic and Political Participation: Contributions to Citizenship Education

This article provides a review of the theoretical perspectives on civic and political participation. Four distinct views were identified in the literature: (a) The orthodox view: “Civic and political participation are always positive”; (b) The broad view: “Civic and political participation are multidimensional”; (c) The qualitative view: “Civic and political participation are not always good”; and (d) The nonconformist view: “The need to redeem the political dimension of participation.” This article intends to sophisticate simplistic assumptions about civic and political participation and to provide an original organization of the theoretical perspectives in this field. Based on this analysis, this article presents suggestions for an alternative approach to citizenship education.     

Affordable Rental Housing Development in the U.S. For-Profit Sector: Implications of a Case Study of McCormack Baron Salazar

The question of how to build decent housing that is affordable to lower income households has challenged policymakers in the United States for decades. In response, the federal government has developed a variety of partnership approaches that involve private for-profit developers. Although these entities are currently the major producers of affordable housing in the United States, they have received relatively little attention from the academic and policy communities. This inquiry is aimed at filing a small portion of this gap by presenting a qualitative case study of one of the country’s leading for-profit developers that has a longstanding commitment to affordable housing, McCormack Baron Salazar. Using a modified version of the quadruple bottom line framework as the starting point, this exploration discusses the complexity and challenges facing the affordable housing sector and offers programmatic and policy recommendations that are applicable to both for-profit and nonprofit developers. In view of the results of the 2016 presidential election, and the likely continued retreat by the federal government from supporting affordable housing, the need to better understand, and form productive working alliances and collaborations with, private for-profit affordable housing developers is more compelling than ever.     

Real Solutions for Fake News? Measuring the Effectiveness of General Warnings and Fact-Check Tags in Reducing Belief in False Stories on Social Media

Political Behavior - Social media has increasingly enabled “fake news” to circulate widely, most notably during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. These intentionally false...     

Curriculum Reform in The Common Core Era: Evaluating Elementary Math Textbooks Across Six U.S. States

Can a school or district improve student achievement simply by switching to a higher-quality textbook or curriculum? We conducted the first multi-textbook, multi-state effort to estimate textbook efficacy following widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated changes in the textbook market. Pooling textbook adoption and student test score data across six geographically and demographically diverse U.S. states, we found little evidence of differences in average achievement gains for schools using different math textbooks. We found some evidence of greater variation in achievement gains among schools using pre-CCSS editions, which may have been more varied in their content than post-CCSS editions because they were written for a broader set of standards. We also found greater variation among schools that had more exposure to a given text. However, these differences were small. Despite considerable interest and attention to textbooks as a low-cost, “silver bullet” intervention for improving student outcomes, we conclude that the adoption of a new textbook or set of curriculum materials, on its own, is unlikely to achieve this goal.