Some effects and noneffects of campaign commercials: An experimental study

This paper addresses the question of how TV commercials can be used to build support for a candidate. Employing experimental methods, the authors tested the independent effects of several advertisement variables. Spot advertisements of an actual congressional candidate were produced by the authors and shown to groups of viewers who had no other information about the candidate. Evaluation of the candidate differed little among experimental groups, and the lack of extreme differences suggests that the extent to which voters can be manipulated by manufactured images is severely limited. The implications of these findings for candidates and campaign professionals are discussed.     

Yours,Mine, or Everyone’s Property? China’s Property Law in 2007

China’s passage of the Real Property Rights Law in 2007 undoubtedly marked a milestone of its economic transition to market economy. It delineates the boundary of property belongings and the authority of disposition by including or excluding specific individual and groups of individuals. The purpose of this paper is to trace the debate, deliberation, and decision of the law-making process to show the process of bargaining and compromise of various political interests in China’s complex and difficult economic transition.     

Validating the components of a taxonomic system for rapists: a path analytic approach

This study was part of a series designed to validate a classification system for rapists developed at the Massachusetts Treatment Center. This system (MTC:R2) determines subtypes according to three major dimensions: the meaning of the aggression in the rapist's offenses (expressive versus instrumental), the meaning of the sexual behavior (compensatory, exploitative, displaced anger, or sadistic), and the degree of general lifestyle impulsivity (low or high). A total of 201 rapists were subtyped using this system. A path analytic approach was used to relate family, juvenile, and adult histories to the main decisions of subtype assignment. The classification of an offender on each of the three dimensions was informed by a developmental perspective. Results provided support for the use of the discriminators used and highlighted the deficiencies in our current knowledge regarding developmental precursors. These results were integrated with the findings from other studies using MTC:R2 and suggestions for revisions to the current classification system were discussed.