Reviews

Hilary Pilkington, Migration, Displacement and Identity in Post‐Soviet Russia. London: Routledge, 1998, x + 252 pp., £16.99.

Sue Bridger & Frances Pine (eds), Surviving Post‐Socialism: Local Strategies and Regional Responses in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. London: Routledge, 1997; xvi + 224 pp., £45.00.

David Turnock, The East European Economy in Context: Communism and Transition. London: Routledge, 1997, x + 425 pp., £55.00.

Jan Winiecki (ed.), Institutional Barriers to Poland's Economic Development: The Incomplete Transition. London: Routledge, 1997, xi + 114 pp., £40.00.

Ray Taras (ed.), Postcommunist Presidents. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, ix + 250 pp., £14.95.

Mary McAuley, Russia's Politics of Uncertainty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xix + 351 pp., £50.00 h/b, £16.95 p/b.

G. D. G. Murrell, Russia's Transition to Democracy. An Internal Political History, 1989–1996. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 1997, xii + 276 pp.

Karen Dawisha & Bruce Parrott (eds), The Consolidation of Democracy in East‐Central Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xx + 389 pp. $24.95.

Andrew A. Michta, The Soldier‐Citizen. The Politics of the Polish Army after Communism. London: Macmillan Press, 1997, 122 pp., £40.00.

Wolfgang Stadler, Macht Sprache Gewalt: Rechtspopulistische Sprache am Beispiel V.V. Zirinovskijs vor dem Hintergrund der Wandlungen Politischer Sprache in Russland. Innsbruck: Verlag des Instituts für Sprachwissenschaft der Leopold‐Franzens‐Universität Innsbruck, 1997, 207 pp., ÖS480.

Steven L. Solnick, Stealing the State: Control and Collapse in Soviet Institutions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998, xiv + 337 pp., £33.50.

Peter H. Solomon, Jr (ed.), Reforming Justice in Russia, 1864–1996. Power, Culture, and the Limits of Legal Order. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997, x + 406 pp., $82.95.

Jussi Simpura & Boris M. Levin (eds), Demystifying Russian Drinking; Comparative Studies From the 1990s. Helsinki: National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, 1997, 226 pp.

Kieran Williams, The Prague Spring and its Aftermath: Czechoslovak politics 1968–1970. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xiii + 270 pp. £45.00 h/b, £15.95 p/b.

R. W. Davies, Soviet Economic Development from Lenin to Khrushchev. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, xxii + 96 pp., £19.95 h/b, £6.95 p/b.

Jane McDermid & Anna Hillyar, Women and Work in Russia 1880–1930: A Study in Continuity Through Change. London: Longman, 1998, vi + 236 pp., £40.00 h/b, £12.99 p/b.

Roger R. Reese, Stalin's Reluctant Soldiers. A Social History of the Red Army, 1925–1941. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1996, xii + 267 pp.

Thomas Lahusen, How Life Writes the Book: Real Socialism and Socialist Realism in Stalin's Russia. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1997, xii + 247 pp., £23.95.

Oleh S. Ilnytzkyj, Ukrainian Futurism, 1914–1930: A Historical and Critical Study. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997, xviii + 413 pp., $35.00 h/b, $18.00 p/b.

Marcel Cornis‐Pope, The Unfinished Battles. Romanian Postmodernism Before and After 1989. Ia?i: Polirom Press, 1996, 192 pp., $22.00.     

Logics of action and models of capitalism: Explaining bottom‐up non‐liberal change

Recent institutionalist scholarship has theorized the liberalization or “disorganization” of capitalism as the result of shifts in economic actors' “logic of action” towards opportunism. Little attention has been given to the reverse possibility that shifts in economic actors' “logic of action” away from opportunism might contribute to “embedding” or “organizing” capitalism. This paper builds on recent scholarship to theorize this scenario and then demonstrate its empirical validity with an historical institutionalist study of the emergence of such a “non‐liberal” institution in Switzerland in 1961. The theoretical framework links three “logics of action” – opportunism, enlightened self‐interest and strong solidarity – to Höpner's typology of capitalist institutions – organized, coordinated, and liberal. It theorizes the interactions between these logics and the social mechanism – goal signaling – that can explain a shift from one logic of action to another, potentially leading to change from one type of institution to another.     

Verapamil toxicity: an unusual case report and review of the literature

Verapamil blocks the rapid influx of calcium into the cardiac myocytes of the cardiac conduction system and smooth muscle of the vasculature, resulting in decreased myocardial contractility, prolonged conduction time, and vascular relaxation. A sustained-release form, verapamil SR (or ER), is available that contains higher levels of medication and requires only once-daily dosing. The majority of reported fatal cases of verapamil toxicity are due to massive, intentional overdoses. Herein, we present an unusual case of fatal verapamil SR toxicity in a 57-year-old female that resulted from accidental overdose of only 3 tablets (720 mg), as witnessed by the decedent's daughter. In spite of the low dose ingested, the postmortem cardiac blood verapamil level was clearly toxic (6000 ng/mL, or 6 mg/L). Her preexisting medical conditions included hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, iron deficiency anemia, diabetes mellitus, and associated mild chronic renal failure. Complicating factors, which likely include the decedent's preexisting renal and cardiac disease, and a review of the available literature will be discussed.     

Two-round elections, one-round determinants? Evidence from the French municipal elections

Using a new database of French municipalities that covers 821 towns and two elections (2001 and 2008), we examine how the budget structure, degree of electoral competition and the economic context affect the share of votes for the incumbent. We take into account the institutional details of the two-round structure of the electoral process created by French electoral rules (dual ballot under plurality rules). We show that in the first round of the electoral process, spending on equipment (including infrastructures) can influence the voter, and that electoral competition has a strong impact on the incumbent’s score. In the second round, the incumbent’s vote is affected more by national considerations and local budget variables have no effect. We show that the dynamics between the first and the second rounds are intense. The results suggest that the determinants of each round’s outcome in a two-round electoral process are different.     

Evaluation of the One-Step ELISA kit for the detection of buprenorphine in urine, blood, and hair specimens

A solid-phase enzyme immunoassay involving microtiter plates was recently proposed by International Diagnostic Systems corporation (IDS) to screen for buprenorphine in human serum. The performance of the kit led us to investigate its applicability in other biological matrices such as urine or blood, and also hair specimens. Low concentrations of buprenorphine were detected with the ELISA test and confirmed by HPLC/MS (buprenorphine concentrations measured by HPLC/MS: 0.3 ng/mL in urine, 0.2 ng/mL in blood, and 40 pg/mg in hair). The intra-assay precision values were 8.7% at 1 ng/mL of urine (n = 8), 11.5% at 2 ng/mL in serum (n = 8), and 11.5% at 250 pg/mg of hair (n = 8), respectively. The immunoassay had no cross-reactivity with dihydrocodeine, ethylmorphine, 6-monoacetylmorphine, pholcodine, propoxyphene, dextromoramide, dextrometorphan at 1 and 10 mg/L, or codeine, morphine, methadone, and its metabolite EDDP. A 1% cross-reactivity was measured for a norbuprenorphine concentration of 50 ng/mL. Finally, the immunoassay was validated by comparing authentic specimens results with those of a validated HPLC/MS method. From the 136 urine samples tested, 93 were positive (68.4%) after the ELISA screening test (cutoff: 0.5 ng/mL) and confirmed by HPLC/MS (buprenorphine concentrations: 0.3-2036 ng/mL). From the 108 blood or serum samples screened, 27 were positive (25%) after the ELISA test with a cutoff value of 0.5 ng/mL (buprenorphine concentrations: 0.2-13.3 ng/mL). Eighteen hair specimens were positive (72%) after the screening (cutoff: 10 pg/mg) and confirmed by LC/MS (buprenorphine concentrations: 40-360 pg/mg). The ELISA method produced false positive results in less than 21% of the cases, but no false negative results were observed with the immunological test. Four potential adulterants (hypochloride 50 mL/L, sodium nitrite 50 g/L, liquid soap 50 mL/L, and sodium chloride 50 g/L) that were added to 10 positive urine specimens (buprenorphine concentrations in the range 5.3-15.6 ng/mL), did not cause a false negative response by the immunoassay.     

Is it acceptable for a psychiatrist to break confidentiality to prevent spousal violence?

Study questionWhen is it acceptable for a psychiatrist to break confidentiality to protect the wife of a potentially violent patient?Methods153 lay persons, 13 nursing personnel, 10 physicians, and 10 psychologists in France indicated this acceptability in 48 scenarios. The scenarios were all combinations of 5 factors: gravity of threat (death or beating), certainty of mental illness (certain or not), time spent talking with patient (considerable or little), his attitude toward psychotherapy (rejection, indecision, or acceptance), and whether the physician consulted an expert.ResultsLay people favored breaking confidentiality more than did nursing personnel or psychologists. Consulting an expert had greatest impact. Lay participants were composed of groups that found breaking confidentiality “always acceptable” (22 participants), “depending on many circumstances” (106), requiring “consultation with an expert” (31), and “never acceptable” (27).ConclusionLay people in France are influenced by situational factors when deciding if a psychiatrist should break confidentiality to protect a patient's wife.