Special Issue 2019: European and American Political Parties: Becoming More Similar?

ABSTRACT

For theories to be useful across systems requires a fundamental similarity of the things theorized about. In the 1980s, it was easy to question whether European and American political parties were sufficiently of the same “genus” for a single theory of parties to be relevant in both contexts. This paper asks whether that is still the case, identifying several respects in which European and American parties have become more comparable, but also a dimension on which they have become more different.     

Pragmatic implication in the interrogation room: a comparison of juveniles and adults

Journal of Experimental Criminology - Pragmatic implication is the phenomenon that individuals process information “between the lines” and hear things that are implied but not asserted....     

Disrespect for Human Rights and Contentious Participation: Evidence from China

Journal of Chinese Political Science - This study examines the relationship between the perception of human rights conditions and individual participation in contentious political activities in...     

What affects technology transfer in emerging knowledge areas? A multi-stakeholder concept mapping study in the bioeconomy

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Technology transfer in emerging knowledge areas such as the bioeconomy is strongly challenged. The related challenges are attained to the differences in...     

Implicit attitudes toward violence among male perpetrators of intimate partner violence: a preliminary investigation

Whereas cognitive variables are hypothesized to play an important role in intimate partner violence (IPV) etiology and intervention, cognitive assessment methods have largely targeted offenders' explicit, controlled cognitive processing using paper-and-pencil questionnaires prone to social desirability biases. Using an implicit measure of attitudes (the Implicit Association Test [IAT]), we assessed attitudes toward gender, violence, and the association between gender and violence among 50 men enrolled in an IPV treatment program and a comparison sample of 40 nonviolent (NV) men. Although no group differences were noted on explicit attitudinal measures, men in the IPV group showed more positive implicit attitudes regarding violence, and a more rapid association between women and violence. Among men in treatment for IPV, the attitudes toward violence IAT was significantly correlated with self/partner-reported IPV frequency. In accordance with social information processing models of aggression, these results suggest that aggressogenic attitudes are likely to operate automatically and with little conscious deliberation. As a result, clinicians and researchers must adapt assessment and intervention strategies to capture both implicit and explicit aspects of cognitive processing.     

Situated Justice: A Contextual Analysis of Fairness and Inequality in Employment Discrimination Litigation

A substantial body of sociolegal scholarship suggests that the legitimacy of the law crucially depends on the public's perception that legal processes are fair. The bulk of this research relies on an underdeveloped account of the material and institutional contexts of litigants' perceptions of fairness. We introduce an analysis of situated justice to capture a contextualized conception of how litigants narrate fairness in their actual legal encounters. Our analysis draws on 100 in‐depth interviews with defendant's representatives, plaintiffs, and lawyers involved in employment discrimination lawsuits, selected as part of a multimethod study of 1,788 discrimination cases filed in U.S. district courts between 1988 and 2003. This article offers two key empirical findings, the first at the level of individual perceptions and the second at the level of legal institutions. First, we find that neither defendants' representatives nor plaintiffs believe discrimination law is fair. Rather than sharing a complaint, however, each side sees unfairness only in those aspects of the process that work to their disadvantage. Second, we demonstrate that the very notion of fairness can belie structural asymmetries that, overall, profoundly benefit employers in employment discrimination lawsuits. We conclude by discussing how a situated justice analysis calls for a rethinking of empirical research on fairness. Audio recordings of respondents quoted in this article are available online. ¹      

Ambiguity of the embryo protection in the Human Rights and Biomedicine Convention: experiences from the Nordic countries

Until 1998 research on in vitro human embryos concentrated on the issues related to assisted reproduction. The situation changed dramatically when the first scientific report on the laboratory culture of human embryonic stem cells was published. This scientific breakthrough with new therapeutic promises put human embryo into a new, more vulnerable position. Combined with creation of embryos via somatic cell nuclear transfer, it inveigles into mass production of embryos, first for scientific purposes, but later perhaps for the healing of people. This article examines the efficacy of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine in protecting embryos in this new era of embryo research. The interpretative latitude of Article 18 of the Convention is demonstrated, and legislation in three Nordic countries with highly variable approach to embryo research regulation is analysed. I examine how this divergence is possible in the light of the Convention text. In the end, potential reasons for variation in regulation in the otherwise similar Nordic countries are discussed, as well as under what conditions harmonisation of regulation on embryo research, a highly value-charged matter, could be possible at the European level.