Institutional professionalization of lawyers in state-socialism and post-socialism: Poland and Russia compared

The paper compares institutional professionalization of advocates (licensed private-practice lawyers) and in-house lawyers during the state-socialist and the post-socialist periods in Poland and Russia. The comparative analysis uses the conceptual framework of the sociology of professions. It shows that: (1) advocates were able to preserve a certain degree of collective autonomy and self-regulation during most of the socialist period in both countries; (2) Polish advocates were better integrated at the national level than their Soviet/Russian counterparts; (3) these institutional path dependencies determined the degree of autonomy and self-regulation in the post-socialist period; (4) the discrepancy between both countries is particularly pronounced in the case of in-house lawyers who were able to establish themselves as a self-regulated profession in Poland, but never made such an attempt in Russia; and (5) there was a process of partial ‘advocatization' of legal professionals who practiced in-house during the state-socialist period. The term ‘advocatization' means a change in the form of professional practice from employment relationship to service-for-fee practice. This process could be observed in both countries, but it took very different forms due to the institutional differences described above.     

Conformity and Individuals’ Response to Information About Aggregate Turnout

Political Behavior - How do voters react to information about aggregate turnout? Do high turnout levels mobilize or discourage citizens to vote? We argue that it depends on individuals’...     

Alphabetic bias in partisan elections: Patterns of voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986

Recent research has suggested that, in partisan elections, candidates derive no special advantage from being placed first or as high as possible on the ballot, and that, consequently, measures to neutralize this alphabetic or positional bias are unnecessary. We warn against these conclusions, and analyse one case of particularly clear alphabetic voting: the 1982 and 1986 Senate elections in Spain. The aggregate alphabetic advantage that candidates enjoyed over their party's next lower candidates on the ballot ranged from 1.7 to 3.7 per cent. And, in both elections, more than 10 per cent of the 188 senators elected in four-member districts can be shown to have been elected as a result of their alphabetic advantage.     

Towards a theory of inter-organizational networking

This article combines inductive and deductive theory building to identify building blocks for a theory of inter-organizational networking, a phenomenon that has gained prominence in international relations, but is largely neglected by IR scholars. Organizational and network theory are identified as the major starting points for theory building. Hypotheses are generated from the network of Euro-Atlantic security institutions, which has become the most sophisticated network of its kind since the early 1990s. The article looks specifically at the genesis of dyadic inter-organizational relations and of entire networks, at the relevance of networking for policy output and at the system effects that networks have on individual organizations. The theoretical findings are presented so as to allow a transfer to other geographical and functional areas of networking.

Individual Ambidexterity and Performance in the Public Sector: A Multilevel Analysis

In this study, we examine individual ambidexterity (i.e., individuals’ balanced pursuit of exploitative and explorative activities) in a public management context. In particular, we combine survey data from junior scholars and secondary data from the Center for Higher Education to investigate the role of individual ambidexterity in an academic context. We conduct multilevel analyses and find that individual ambidexterity is positively related to research performance, indicating that individual ambidexterity positively influences individual performance in the public sector. In addition, we observe a negative relationship between the supervisory ratio and research performance, indicating that having a lower number of employees supervised by a single person leads to lower performance in the public sector.     

High-quality Digital 3D Reconstruction of Microscopic Findings in Forensic Pathology: The Terminal Pathway of a Heart Stab Wound*

High-quality digital three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions of microscopic findings have been used in anatomical and histopathologic research, but their use in forensic pathology may also be of interest. This paper presents an application of these methods to better characterize the pathway of a stab wound of the anterior surface of the heart in a case of suicide. A portion of the heart wall including the stab wound was serially sectioned for microscopic analysis along the full extent of the wound. Histologic sections were digitally acquired, and a 3D reconstruction was created with ImageJ software for 3D computer graphics. This showed a full-thickness wound path extending to the endocardial surface of the left ventricle, curvilinear in appearance. After correction for shrinkage, 3D reconstruction allowed estimation of the dimensions of the myocardial injury and comparison of the appearance of the wound with the suspected knife used. The curvilinear appearance was considered to reflect injury during myocardial contraction. Complete microscopic sectioning and 3D reconstruction may allow virtual sectioning through various orientations and also provide useful forensic information for selected injuries.     

Judicial Self-Governance Index: Towards better understanding of the role of judges in governing the judiciary

The aim of this article is to introduce a novel view on how to evaluate the share of power held by judges in judicial governance. Its contribution to court administration and the regulation of judges is three-fold. First, it provides a novel empirically tested conceptualization of judicial governance that includes 60 competences grouped into eight dimensions (ranging from selection and education of judges to case allocation and publication of judicial decisions). Second, it proposes a new Judicial Self-Governance (JSG) Index that measures how much power domestic judges hold in these eight dimensions of judicial governance. Third, by applying the JSG Index to the longitudinal data for Germany, Italy, Czechia, and Slovakia this article demonstrates that the Judicial Council model is not the only institutional model of judicial governance leading to the empowerment of judges. This means that judges can hold many powers without the existence of judicial councils and even in the Ministry of Justice model.     

Analysis of Luminescent Gunshot Residue (LGSR) on Different Types of Fabrics

The collection of gunshot residue on fabric can be an arduous task due to the microscopic size of particles (blind collection) and sheddability of some fabrics. The introduction of luminescent markers and consequent formation of luminescent gunshot residue (LGSR) can facilitate this analysis. In this study, different fabrics were analyzed in order to verify the persistence of the LGSR on them, the possibility of collecting and analyzing particles by video spectral comparator (VSC) and SEM/EDS. Also, different colored fabrics were used as targets in order to investigate influence of fabric color on LGSR visualization. Furthermore, the influence of the fabric type in the distribution of the LGSR deposited around the projectile´s hole entrance was evaluated. The fabric sheddability did not alter collection of the particles or analysis. It was possible to observe and collect LGSR on all tested fabrics, even after the fabric had been shaken, or in colored fabrics.     

Bilateral Import, Export, and Conflict/Cooperation Simultaneity

A mathematical model of dyadic trade and the level of political conflict/cooperation is developed and empirically tested. The model extends the literature in three ways. First, the bilateral trade quantities and the level of conflict/cooperation are simultaneously determined. Second, the commonly used unitary state actor is replaced by a government, an exporter, and an importer in each country in a dyad. Third, action-reaction conflict/cooperation dynamics are incorporated into the model. The model predicts that the effect of bilateral trade quantity on conflict/cooperation and the effect of conflict/cooperation on the monetary value of trade may be positive or negative, whereas the effect of conflict on trade quantity will be negative. These predictions depend on certain conditions, heretofore unrecognized in the literature. The empirical test employs statistical methods, and the results generally support the model's predictions. Overall, this paper suggests that contemporary trade and conflict theories may miss important elements, pointing out the need for richer, more microfounded models.