Evolutionary psychology and politics

Like its predecessor sociobiology, evolutionary psychology has distanced itself from political discourse. In so far as evolutionary psychology can contribute towards an understanding of politics, it claims to do so only as a potential explanation for political behaviour. However, I argue that evolutionary psychology - like sociobiology - is itself a political phenomenon. It proceeds from a conception of the political - drawn from the Hobbesian social contract tradition - which crucially informs its theoretical trajectory. A recognition of the political character of evolutionary psychology, in this respect, should be the starting point of its critique.     

Green Shoots in a Barren World: Recent Developments in International Investment Law

Netherlands International Law Review - This article begins from the observation that there have been a number of developments in international investment law-making and the jurisprudence of...     

The End of Domestic Violence

In this article, I examine the rationales that have been given for extending domestic violence legislation to associated persons. I argue that the empirical and principled rationales are unfounded and that the ideological rationale is reactionary. With regard to the empirical rationale, the extent of violence that the aggregate of associated persons suffers is not high enough to justify privileging associated persons over other citizens with regard to protection from violence. In relation to the principled rationale, the impetus for domestic violence legislation was based on isolation and inequality, which are not experienced in particular by the category of associated persons when taken as a whole. With regard to the ideological rationale, it is worrying that intimacy and equality are emerging as the touchstones of a newer rationale for domestic violence legislation, which rightly has more to do with isolation and inequality than intimacy and equality.     

Keeping promises: A systematic review and a new classification of gang control strategies

Purpose

We argue that inadequate frameworks to compare similar gang control strategies, and the scarcity of well-designed evaluations have hindered our ability to determine the effectiveness of existing programs. This article proposes a new typology of gang control strategies to use with logic models as tools to improve gang program evaluation.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of gang control strategy evaluation reports and created a typology from the studies identified. Studies were selected on the basis of methodological quality in order to reflect only rigorous evaluations with credible research findings.

Results

Forty-five studies were selected and reviewed. Studies were classified in homogeneous categories based on the targeted population and the objective of the strategy. We infer logic models that consider the activities, outputs, and outcomes of each type of strategy.

Conclusion

A better framework for the comparison of similar studies may allow meta-analyses to be conducted, thereby improving our knowledge of what works. Logic models can move the field forward by allowing researchers to understand why some programs work and others do not. The improvement, both in quality and quantity, of program evaluation in gang research is crucial in order to move beyond claims of promising approaches.     

Judicial approaches to combating ‘revenge porn’: a multi-jurisdictional perspective

This article aims to provide a nuanced articulation of the challenges and complexities associated with the various judicial approaches countenanced across multiple jurisdictions to date toward combating the phenomenon colloquially referred to as ‘revenge porn’. The article’s central argument is that although the scope of several civil causes of action, such as breach of confidence, defamation, copyright and invasion of privacy, have been expanded in recent years to accommodate the evolving dynamics of revenge porn, a number of theoretical and practical issues nonetheless arise, which courts across various jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada, the UK, the USA, New Zealand and the Commonwealth Caribbean, have struggled to treat with. The article concludes by asserting that notwithstanding the important role played by civil causes of action in vindicating the rights of victims of revenge porn, legislative intervention remains invaluable.     

Novel Classification System of Rib Fractures Observed in Infants

Rib fractures are considered highly suspicious for nonaccidental injury in the pediatric clinical literature; however, a rib fracture classification system has not been developed. As an aid and impetus for rib fracture research, we developed a concise schema for classifying rib fracture types and fracture location that is applicable to infants. The system defined four fracture types (sternal end, buckle, transverse, and oblique) and four regions of the rib (posterior, posterolateral, anterolateral, and anterior). It was applied to all rib fractures observed during 85 consecutive infant autopsies. Rib fractures were found in 24 (28%) of the cases. A total of 158 rib fractures were identified. The proposed schema was adequate to classify 153 (97%) of the observed fractures. The results indicate that the classification system is sufficiently robust to classify rib fractures typically observed in infants and should be used by researchers investigating infant rib fractures.     

The Role of Party: The Legislative Consequences of Partisan Electoral Competition

We examine the proposition that incentives for legislative organization can be explained by the nature of electoral competition. We argue that legislators in environments where parties are competitive for majority status are most likely to have delegated power to their leadership to constrain individualistic behavior within their party, which will in turn increase the spatial predictability of individual voting patterns. Using roll‐call votes and district‐level electoral data from the U.S. state legislatures, we show empirically that increased statewide interparty competition corresponds to more predictable voting behavior overall, while legislators from competitive districts and those in the minority party have less predictable behavior.     

The impact of licensed-knowledge attributes on the innovation performance of licensee firms: evidence from the Chinese electronic industry

In this article, we provide a compelling case for demonstrating “learning-by-licensing,” and we further investigate the moderating effect of specific licensed-knowledge attributes on the innovation performance of licensee firms. This case is based on a unique dataset from the China State of Intellectual Property Office regarding technology-licensing activities and spanning the years 2000–2010. Using this dataset we make a longitudinal analysis of the lagging learning effect that transferee firms experience when they in-license technology. The empirical results from 71 Chinese electronic-industry firms reconfirm the concept of “learning-by-licensing.” Moreover, the results also indicate that both technology complexity and technology generality, which are attributes of licensed knowledge, have positive moderating effects on the relationship between technology in-licensing and the subsequent innovation performance of licensee firms. However, such a positive moderating effect was not found for the newness of technology.