Perspectives in Marxist Anthropology∗

Perspectives in Marxist Anthropology, by Maurice Godelier. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Pp. v+243; £9.20, £3.00 paper. (Translated by Robert Brain.)     

Mediterranean neo‐democracies and the opinion‐policy nexus

This article empirically evaluates the previously unresearched relationship between mass public opinion and public policy in the Mediterranean neo‐democracies. By studying almost 250 issues over the last decade, the nature of contemporary democracy in Spain, Portugal and Greece is revealed in relation to the overall consistency between majority preferences and government action. In addition, the opinion‐policy nexus is explored in regard to the potential impact of alternative institutional structures, landslide majorities, different categories of issues (e.g., redistributive, foreign policy), and the partisan composition of the government (i.e., socialist versus non‐socialist).     

Who has led Russia? Russian regional political elites, 1954 – 2006

Quantitative measures are used to compare the age, tenure, gender and change of political elites in 18 Russian regions from 1954 to 2006. The study finds more similarities than differences between regional elites from the Soviet era and from the post-Soviet Russian era. The Russian regional political elite since 1992 is actually older than the Soviet elite and resembles it quite closely in terms of years in office and turnover, comparing both the total time spans of the elites of each era and at 10-year intervals from 1956 through to 2006. Even in relation to differences by region and gender since 1992, there has been a re-emergence of a regional political establishment in a similar pattern to that of the Soviet era.     

The new consumer and business protection regulations: another string to the brand owner's bow?

Legal context: This article assesses the impact of The Consumer Protectionfrom Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) (implementing theUnfair Commercial Practices Directive) and The Business. Protectionfrom Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (BPRs) (implementingthe consolidated and codified Misleading and Comparative AdvertisingDirective) on areas of marketing and advertising in which IPrights often become involved and the impact of the recent ECJdecisionon their application in the O2 v Hutchison 3G referencebythe Court of Appeal. Key points: The CPRs govern advertising and promotional activities aimedat consumers. Much of the consumer and business protection legislationpreviously scattered amongst various Acts has been repealedand replaced by elements of the BPRs or CPRs. In total, 36 Regulationsand Orders and 41 Acts are affected. The BPRs now govern misleadingmarketing and comparative advertising, previously dealt withunder the Control of Misleading Advertising Regulations 1988.The article looks at how these Regulations may be applied insituations which interested parties currently attempt to resolveusing trade mark or passing off laws. Practical significance: The new Regulations are aimed at the protection of consumersand businesses from unscrupulous marketing and trade promotionpractices which affect their economic behaviour. Thirty-onepractices are specifically identified as automatically fallingfoul of the Regulations. Businesses will need to review theirpractices to avoid the possibility of criminal penalties includingfines and imprisonment for consenting, conniving, or recklessofficers of businesses involved in such practices. Until the ECJ decision in O2 v Hutchison 3G, it had been thought(from Jacob LJ's finding in his reference to the ECJ in thiscase) that trade mark law had no role to play in comparativeadvertising as it was specifically provided for under the ComparativeAdvertising Directive and hence under the BPRs. Since thesedid not provide an individual right of action (the OFT or TradingStandards alone may enforce), it left trade mark owners withlittle muscle in comparative advertising situations. However,the ECJ made clear that where practices fail to satisfy thecriteria set out in the Directive for legitimate comparativeadvertising, trade mark law may be invoked as a remedy. Thiswill be a relief to major brand owners for whom comparativeadvertising is commonly a concern.     

Coping with bullying: The moderating effects of self-reliance

Student responses to bullying have an effect on subsequent outcomes. Dichotomous theories of coping suggest that self-reliance plays a role in responding to stress. In order to investigate the multidimensional nature of coping with bullying, the authors developed the Coping with Bullying Scale for Children. The current study also examined the relationships between bullying experiences (i.e., victimization and perpetration) and coping with bullying, with self-reliance as a potential moderator. Participants who reported higher rates of victimization or engagement in bullying reported greater use of cognitive distancing, externalizing, and self-blame strategies. Victimization was associated with higher reported rates of constructive coping. Self-reliance moderated the relationship between cognitive distancing and both types of bullying involvement. Self-reliance also moderated the relationship between self-blame and bullying perpetration. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are included.     

Facilitators and Impediments to Designing,Implementing, and Evaluating Risk-Based Policing Strategies Using Risk Terrain Modeling: Insights from a Multi-City Evaluation in the United States

The contemporary policing literature contains numerous examples of partnerships between academic researchers and police agencies. Such efforts have greatly contributed to evidence-based policing by increasing the knowledge base on effective strategies. However, research has demonstrated that successful collaboration between researchers and practitioners can be a challenge, with various organizational and inter-agency factors presenting difficulties at various stages of the process. Additionally, applied research can oftentimes face implementation challenges when the time comes to convert research into practice. The current study contributes to the literature by discussing researcher/practitioner partnerships and program implementation in the context of a multi-city risk-based policing project in the United States. We conceptualize police interventions as contingent on four distinct phases: 1) problem analysis, 2) project design, 3) project implementation, and 4) project evaluation. In this project, the research partners were able to successfully complete each phase in certain cities while the project experienced difficulty at one or more phases in other cities. We discuss these disparate experiences, identifying factors that facilitate or impede successful completion of each step. Policy implications and recommendations for future risk-based policing interventions are discussed.     

Misleading by Example: The Effects of a Manager’s Unfair Customer Treatment on Service Employee Performance and Perceived Managerial Trustworthiness

We explore service worker reactions to a supervisor’s fair treatment of customers (i.e., customer-directed fairness), utilizing the group-value model of fairness to formulate two distinct predictions: (1) a status cuing effect, in which employees internalize social cues from the supervisor’s behavior to determine the social value of customers, and adapting their own customer-oriented behaviors to reflect the supervisor’s cue, and (2) a character indictment effect, in which employees use customer-directed fairness to assess the trustworthiness of the supervisor’s character. Results from experimental and field data provide evidence for these dual effects and show how each ultimately affects the employee’s in-role and extra-role customer service behavior. Implications are discussed with regard to the group-value model of fairness, alternative theories of fairness, and practical applications.     

Informed voters and electoral outcomes: a natural experiment stemming from a fundamental information-technological shift

Public Choice - Do informed electorates choose better candidates? While that question is straightforward, its answer often is elusive. Typically, candidate-quality information is neither salient...