Bringing the Past Back in: How Attitudes towards the Democratic Transition Influence the Portuguese Voter

Abstract

This article analyses the way in which attitudes towards the transition to democracy explain party identification and ideology in Portugal. This question is important because the transition to democracy in Portugal was a turbulent process marked by a rupture with the past and institutional fluidity. It has also conditioned the main political parties’ relationships with the electorate and each other since 1974. I compare the same explanatory model results from two surveys, conducted in 2004 and 2014, respectively, to understand the extent to which perceptions about the transition help characterise the Portuguese voter over the last decade.     

The Effect of Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol®) on the Development of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and its Implications for Forensic Entomology

This study investigated the potential effects of flunitrazepam (known as “date rape drug”) on the developmental cycle of Chrysomya megacephala, an important forensic species, and their possible implications for the calculation of the PMI. A 1050 C. megacephala eggs were divided into five groups with seven replications each. The eggs were placed on artificial diet prepared with four drug concentrations of flunitrazepam (4, 8, 16, and 32 ng/g), besides the control group (prepared with water). Were evaluated the potential effects on development time, weight gain, and mortality during the cycles. The drug had no significant effect on development time or mortality although it did affect the weight of the pupae and adults (Kruskal–Wallis, p < 0.05). The result can be deduced that the determination of the postmortem interval is not affected.     

Death penalty attitudes and conviction proneness

Attitudes toward the death penalty are consistently predictive of jurors' verdicts in criminal trials. Two studies were conducted to find out why. In Study 1, eligible jurors viewed a videotape showing conflicting testimony by a prosecution and defense witness in an assault case. Death-qualified subjects (those permitted to serve on capital juries) interpreted testimony in a manner more favorable to the prosecution than excludable subjects (those excluded from serving on juries in capital cases due to their opposition to the death penalty), suggesting that differing interpretations of evidence may mediate the relationship between attitudes toward the death penalty and verdicts. In Study 2, the same jurors indicated their reactions to a number of hypothetical situations in which a jury had convicted an innocent defendant or acquitted a guilty one. Death qualified subjects expressed less regret concerning erroneous convictions and more regret concerning erroneous acquittals than excludable subjects. Theoretical interpretations of this pattern of results suggest that death qualified subjects may have a lower threshold of conviction than excludable subjects; thus the relationship between attitudes toward the death penalty and verdicts may also be mediated by differing thresholds of conviction.During the course of this research, William C. Thompson was supported, in part, by a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship.     

Brazil as ‘Southern donor’: beyond hierarchy and national interests in development cooperation?

This article analyses Brazil's growing role in external development assistance. During Lula da Silva's presidency, cooperation with developing countries grew dramatically. While the official position is that Brazilian development assistance is moved not by national economic or political interests, but by international ‘solidarity’, and does not reproduce the North–South traditional aid relations, we suggest that it is not completely divorced from national, sub-national or sectoral interests and cannot be viewed apart from Brazil's broader foreign policy objectives. Brazil does pursue political, economic and commercial interests and, concomitantly, has made a positive difference in the recipient countries. However, more empirical research and field investigation are needed to better gauge the impact of Brazil's assistance initiatives and their contributions to South–South cooperation more broadly. During Lula's terms (2003–2010), Brazil could be classified as a ‘Southern donor’, which expresses the country's own novelties, and tensions, of simultaneously being a donor and a developing country.     

Influencing public policy: an embedded criminologist reflects on California prison reform

Criminologists bemoan their lack of influence on U.S. crime policy, believing that the justice system would be improved if their research findings were more central in decision making. I had an opportunity to test that notion as I participated in California’s historic attempt to reform its prisons over the past 4 years. I became an embedded criminologist, where I was able to observe and contribute to the inner workings of state government. This article reports on my accomplishments with respect to fostering research activities and shifting the department’s focus towards prisoner reintegration. It discusses some of the lessons I learned, including the personal toll that such work entails, the importance of the timing of policy initiatives, and the power of rigorous methodology and clear communication. I conclude by recommending that other policy-oriented criminologists seek out similar experiences, as I believe our academic skills are uniquely suited and ultimately necessary to create a justice system that does less harm.

Heteroplasmy in Hair: Study of Mitochondrial DNA Third Hypervariable Region in Hair and Blood Samples*†

Abstract: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis has proved useful for forensic identification especially in cases where nuclear DNA is not available, such as with hair evidence. Heteroplasmy, the presence of more than one type of mtDNA in one individual, is a common situation often reported in the first and second mtDNA hypervariable regions (HV1/HV2), particularly in hair samples. However, there is no data about heteroplasmy frequency in the third mtDNA hypervariable region (HV3). To investigate possible heteroplasmy hotspots, HV3 from hair and blood samples of 100 individuals were sequenced and compared. No point heteroplasmy was observed, but length heteroplasmy was, both in C‐stretch and CA repeat. To observe which CA “alleles” were present in each tissue, PCR products were cloned and re‐sequenced. However, no variation among CA alleles was observed. Regarding forensic practice, we conclude that point heteroplasmy in HV3 is not as frequent as in the HV1/HV2.     

A new technology in mtDNA sequencing: Success rates vs time

Study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region is a current practice in forensic genetics. In our service, mtDNA analysis is performed in many evidentiary specimens. Evaluation of this methodology is important to improve quality, increase efficiency and decrease artefacts, in order to reduce costs and time consuming.A case with 12 reference samples (bucal swabs) and 190 telogenic hair specimens extracted with DNA IQ™ System Tissue and Hair Extraction Kit (Promega) is reported. HVS-1 and HVS-2 control regions were sequenced with BigDye^® Terminator v1.1 Kit (Applied Biosystems), using BetterBuffer (Microzone Limited), followed by a simple bead purification method (XTerminator) to remove unincorporated terminators. Application of this procedure had success in 180 hair samples within a very short time comparing to dRhodamine/ethanolic precipitation sequencing strategy and also demonstrated that better results are achieved with clean sequence data closer to the primer.The quality of data produced by the BigDye/BetterBuffer/XTerminator (BDX) procedure has been demonstrated to be very high. Besides that the BDX procedure can significantly reduce overall processing time and cost per reaction. This new methodology has additional advantages like fewer reagent transfers and smaller amounts of DNA.     

The citizen of empire

In this paper, the authors imagine a Citizen of Empire. This is a conceptualization of global citizenship as it might appear in Hardt and Negri's global social order of Empire. The article draws on Hardt and Negri's Empire as the model of global society to imagine what citizenship might look like on a global scale. Hardt and Negri's conceptualization of Empire offers a palette of new and emerging social relationships from which a vibrant conceptualization of citizen and citizenship can be imagined and new democratic politics practiced. First, the authors examine the concept of Empire to unearth foundational concepts upon which a notion of Citizen of Empire can be built. Second, the authors imagine a citizen who ‘calls Empire into being' rather than participating in the ready-made political, cultural, and economic institutions of the nation-state. Without institutional support, citizenship in Empire must be highly generative and creative, and it will operate on a virtual and poetic terrain by enacting mechanisms of deterritorialization, networking, and communication.