Isolation in Times of Epidemic: Reflections for our Present from a Smallpox Epidemic in Concepción (Chile)

This article seeks to put in historical perspective the implementation of isolation measures such as quarantines, widely used today to tackle COVID-19. Based on an epidemic that affected the city of Concepción (Chile) in 1789, I analyse the isolation measures adopted by the authorities, the difficulties they had to face in their implementation, and their reception by the local population. It is concluded that lessons from history should take into consideration the dynamic interaction of the public and the private spheres that characterise the experience of the disease in any given epidemic.     

Sometimes Less Is More: Censorship,News Falsification,and Disapproval in 1989 East Germany

Does more media censorship imply more regime stability? We argue that censorship may cause mass disapproval for censoring regimes. In particular, we expect that censorship backfires when citizens can falsify media content through alternative sources of information. We empirically test our theoretical argument in an autocratic regime—the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Results demonstrate how exposed state censorship on the country's emigration crisis fueled outrage in the weeks before the 1989 revolution. Combining original weekly approval surveys on GDR state television and daily content data of West German news programs with a quasi-experimental research design, we show that recipients disapproved of censorship if they were able to detect misinformation through conflicting reports on Western television. Our findings have important implications for the study of censoring systems in contemporary autocracies, external democracy promotion, and campaigns aimed at undermining trust in traditional journalism.     

Effects of Institutional Reforms on Women's Representation in Colombia, 1960–2014

Starting in the 1990s, reforms aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of women have been implemented in Colombia. However, research on the consequences of these reforms has been inconclusive. This article analyzes the influence of institutional variables on the proportion of nominated and elected women in Colombia between 1962 and 2014, at both the national and local levels of government, in three different institutional environments. Results confirm the influence of institutional change, indicating that decentralizing reforms and the introduction of the gender quota have had a positive impact on the proportion of women's candidacies and elections, but that the adoption of the open list negatively affected the percentage of elected women.     

Argentinian Myths: Semiotics and Cultural Identity

This paper offers a semiotic reading of certain aspects of Argentinian culture and identity. We will analize some of the fundamental myths that are held by tourist when they visit the city of Buenos Aires. Tourists assume the existence of an Argentinian identity and believe it can be found by doing certain things. However cultural identities are nowadays defined by a tension between the local and the global consumption.     

A cost comparison study of using global positioning system technology (electronic monitoring) in a medium secure forensic psychiatric service

‘Electronic Monitoring’ (EM) uses devices to monitor individuals’ whereabouts. In 2010, South London and Maudsley medium secure unit introduced EM to monitor individuals on leave. Analysis after two years revealed EM was associated with increased unescorted leave and reduced leave violation; however, comparative costs were not established. This study aims to compare costs of EM for patients on leave by comparing average total cost per patient with and without EM. Costs were compared before and after implementation of EM. Total cost of leave for each group was divided by number of patients to generate average total cost per patient. The average total cost per patient without EM was £1702; £1617 with EM. Although cost decreased, this was not statistically significant. The results showed no significant difference between average total costs per patient before and after EM. The finding of EM being cost-neutral is cautiously optimistic. Further trials are recommended.     

Symbolic racism in candidate evaluation: An experiment

The authors explored the symbolic racism construct to determine whether discrimination in the evaluation of political candidates can be attributed to a combination of traditional values and antiblack affect as suggested by Sears. Using an experimental design where candidate race was manipulated in three conditions, they found that differential racial attributions do operate in the evaluation of political candidates. Contrary to expectations, however, no antiblack affect was found to be at work in the evaluation of the black candidate. Findings are discussed in the framework of contemporary assumptions of research on racial reasoning.     

AGENDA SETTING AND "NONDECISIONMAKING": DECOMMISSIONING NUCLEAR GENERATING STATIONS

The final point in the nuclear fuel cycle has always been the eventual retirement, decommissioning, of the 81 commercial nuclear power reactors presently in existence. This eventual retirement has been thought to be an issue of the future, because the large plants, built in the 1960s and 1970s. were assumed to have an expected operating life of 30 to 40 years. However, the reality is that several commercial reactors already have been decommissioned, and numerous others will soon reach maturity. This article examines decommissioning of nuclear power plants from a public policy–rather than a technical–perspective. A number of questions are addressed concerning the policy implications associated with decommissioning. The findings of the study are based on survey data from the utilities, an examination of NRC documents, interviews with NRC staff scientists, and site visits to several decommissioned plants.