Cognizance and Consultation of Randomized Controlled Trials among Ministerial Policy Analysts

Consultation of scientific evidence by policy actors has been the foci of attention of knowledge utilization scholars for decades. The present study questioned the extent to which randomized controlled trials (RCTs)—generally seen as the gold standard of scientific research—are known and consulted by policy analysts in ministerial settings. Using cross‐sectional data collected in 17 ministries in Québec (Canada), our study showed that fairly high levels of policy analysts report never having heard of RCTs, thus possibly hindering effective communication of scientific results to relevant policy makers. Statistical analyses reveal the importance of cognitive factors in explaining both phenomena.     

The political economy of regulatory change: The case of British merger control

This article aims to explain the broader evolution of British merger control. To this end it outlines a novel critical political economy perspective on regulation and regulatory change which differs from established political economy approaches, such as the regulatory capitalism/state perspectives, in three main ways: it places regulatory ideas at the heart of the analysis, it differentiates between different degrees of regulatory change, and it links regulatory change in delineated issue areas with changing power balances between fractions of capital and labor. The application of this perspective to the analysis of the evolution of British merger control provides some important new insights, most notably that the content, form, and scope of merger control in Britain have been deeply transformed in accordance with neoliberal ideas since the 1980s and that this process, which was part of a broader regulatory and ideational shift, was premised on the ascendancy of transnational capital.     

Terrorism and local police

The conflict in Nagorno‐Karabakh, an autonomous region contested by both Azerbaijan and Armenia, began in February 1988 following a series of strikes and demonstrations held by Armenians living there. However, the article shows clearly that the eruption of this conflict was a result of a long and gradual process that goes back to the first quarter of the 20th century.

By utilizing primary sources in various languages, this article exposes, describes, and analyzes the historical background of the events that led to the development of this extended and so far unresolved conflict. In doing so, it aims to examine the nature of this conflict and questions whether or not it is possible that the conflict is at the same time both territorial and national‐religious.

The article maintains that this conflict could have far‐reaching consequences for the future of the region and could ultimately alter constellations of power in Central Asia, in the Middle East, and even globally.     

Konfrontation des gerichtlichen Sachverständigen mit "Privatgutachter" als Verteidigungsrecht

Die Konfrontation von gerichtlichen Sachverst?ndigen mit wissenschaftlich fundierter Meinung privat beigezogener Fachleute ist gesetzlich intendiert. Das Anwenden oder Nichtanwenden einer von mehreren wissenschaftlich anerkannten Untersuchungsmethoden begründet keine Mangelhaftigkeit von Befund oder Gutachten der gerichtlich beigezogenen Sachverst?ndigen. Bei misslungener Entkr?ftung der dagegen vorgebrachten Einw?nde ist aber ein weiterer Experte beizuziehen.     

Ganzheitliche Bewegungen, Transzendenzerfahrung und die Entdifferenzierung von Kultur und Religion in Europa

Ausgehend von der Beobachtung einer religiösen Resakralisierung beschäftigt sich der Beitrag mit der vermeintlichen Sonderrolle Europas. Europa gilt manchen als (letzte) Bastion der Säkularisierung — mithin eine Ausnahme auf globaler Ebene. Dagegen will der Aufsatz zeigen, dass die Entwicklung in Europa sehr große Ähnlichkeiten mit den religiösen Phänomenen hat, die auf weltweiter Ebene zunehmen. Es handelt sich um pfingstlerische, charismatische Bewegungen, die sich durch einen Antiinstitutionalismus und eine starke Erfahrungsorientierung auszeichnen. Diese Erfahrungsorientierung ist auch in der alternativen Religiosität ausgeprägt, die in Europa eine starke Verbreitung gefunden hat. Sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb Europas finden sich also Bewegungen, die das pflegen, was man im Anschluss an Schütz und Luckmann als Erfahrungen großer Transzendenz bezeichnen kann. Sie sind Teil eines Prozesses der Subjektivierung und Betonung der Ganzheitlichkeit, die strukturell zu einer Entdifferenzierung von Kultur und Religion führen.     

On intelligence and crime: a comparison of incarcerated sex offenders and serious non-sexual violent criminals

The impact of low IQ on crime has been a focus of debate for several decades now. Although sociologists have virtually removed it from the list of possible factors influencing crime, the impact of IQ on crime continues to generate a significant amount of scientific research and a substantial number of publications. The purpose of this study is to assess intellectual levels and to compare two groups of incarcerated criminals. Using MANCOVA and ANCOVA procedures, 261 sex offenders and 150 non-sexual violent criminals were compared on IQ subscales. The results show significant differences on vocabulary, comprehension, arithmetic, mental math computations, object assembly, letter-number sequencing, and perception subscales, as well as on performance IQ and total IQ. The impacts of penal filtering and sample composition are hypothesized to explain differences between the two subgroups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Rape trials and jurors' decisions

Recently, many writers have argued that equal protection for victims of rape is not presently offered in the courts since the outcomes of rape trials are frequently influenced by certain victim, defendant, and rape case characteristics. By systematically manipulating the factors of defendant and victim race, victim physical attractiveness, victim sexual experience, strength of evidence presented, and type of rape committed in a legal rape case, the present study sought to examine the effects of these factors on jurors' verdicts. Data collected from a sample of 896 citizens serving as mock jurors for the rape case indicated that these extraevidential factors had significant effects. Furthermore, it was found that the factors did not act independently as a number of significant interactions were identified. These interactions suggested that the impact of extraevidential factors on jurors' decisions is far more complex than what some writers and law reformers have thought. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of discriminatory treatment of plaintiffs and defendants in rape cases and the role of juror selection in introducing fairness in rape trials.