From bureaucratic centralism to self‐regulation: The reform of higher education in Spain

Theories of self‐regulation in higher education claim that autonomous institutions are better able to fulfil their educational and scientific goals. The reforms initiated in Spain in thel970s and which finally crystallised in the Ley de Reforma Universitaria (University Reform Act) in 1983 have taken this path, granting autonomy to the universities and acknowledging that the policy network has been enlarged through the incorporation of new actors (students, junior lecturers, regional political elites), and that this is no longer the exclusive domain of the university professors. However, this article argues that the reforms have not had the expected results insofar as quality is concerned: deregulation has been introduced without establishing the conditions for the institutions to become fully responsible for their decisions, so encouraging the persistence of self‐interested and often anti‐scientific attitudes among many academics.     

开展“轮训轮值”备勤文化建设的思考

＂轮训轮值＂备勤文化是警营文化建设范畴内的一种特殊形式。如何坚持以人为本,结合＂轮训轮值＂工作实际,采取各种措施,开展行之有效的文化建设活动,从而有效增强轮值备勤学员做好＂轮训轮值＂工作的自觉性、积极性,充分发挥警营文化建设的导向功能、凝聚功能、激励功能、传播功能,已成为提高＂轮训轮值＂培训效能、激发人民警察战斗力与工作激情的主要课题之一。     

Credibility,source identification and message acceptance: The case of political persuasion

Abstract

This paper addresses questions related to effects of source credibility on message acceptance. More specifically, we look at (a) the effects of attributed credibility of the source on message acceptance in situation of source identification versus non‐identification, and (b) the effects of attributed credibility of two competitive sources on the acceptance of their respective messages in positively versus negatively predisposed audiences.

Source identification and source competition relate to the more general problem of persuasion and inoculation. Political parties often strive to persuade partisan, hostile, or politically neutral audiences while simultaneously trying to inoculate them against the message of opposing parties. These processes of persuasion can take place in situations where the source is either identified (e.g., a well‐known politician clearly linked with a political party) or not identified (e.g., a journalist who presents a politician's point of view without naming him/her). In cases where the source has been identified, the audience may remember the message itself and yet forget who had advanced the message. This raises the question of the extent to which communicators should concern themselves with the attributed credibility of the source in situations of either source identification or non‐identification? And how important is credibility in reinforcing the support of partisans or in persuading neutral and hostile audiences? These are some of the issues we examine experimentally in this article.