The predictive power of the left-right self-placement scale for the policy positions of voters and parties

The left-right self-placement scale is often used in political science as a proxy for the policy positions of voters and parties. Yet studies have suggested that, for voters, this relation is dependent on education level. These studies were, however, hampered by data limitations and restricted statistical analyses. In addition, the extent to which the relation between the left-right self-placement scale and policy positions differs for parties and voters has not been explored. This article looks at the differential relation between left-right self-placement and policy positions for voters with different education levels on an integrated dataset containing over 50 voter and party policy positions. It is found that the left-right self-placement scale is a much better predictor for the policy positions of parties than it is for the policy preferences of voters. Robustness checks show that neither the saliency of the policy positions nor their complexity moderates these findings.     

The Use of Liquid Latex to Recover Latent Fingerprints that are Covered in Debris from Exterior Glass Surfaces of Vehicles

The purpose of this research is to determine if latent fingerprints deposited on the exterior glass surfaces of vehicles, then covered in debris, can be recovered. Past research used liquid latex to lift soot to recover trace evidence. Recently, liquid latex has been used to recover latent fingerprints along the bottom of vehicles. In this study, a total of 216 latent fingerprints were deposited on the exterior windows of three vehicles. Three control and three experimental latent fingerprints were placed on each side window. The vehicles collected debris for either 2, 3, or 4 weeks. After debris collection, liquid latex was applied to the experimental sections. The underlying fingerprints were developed with white granular powder. Control fingerprints were developed directly with white granular powder. A chi-square test revealed a significant difference in fingerprint recovery between the control and liquid latex method (X² = 9.026, d.f. = 1, p = 0.003). An odds ratio determined that the control method increases the probability of latent fingerprint recovery by 2.68. Fisher's exact test indicated that there is no statistically significant difference between the detail of the recovered control and experimental fingerprints (p = 0.065). This study demonstrates that recovery of fingerprints is possible using the liquid latex method; however, the control method recovers more fingerprints on the glass exterior of vehicles. If latent fingerprints are thought to be present on the exterior glass surfaces of vehicles, the control method should be used to improve vehicle processing by investigators.     

Visions of National Service

While national service enjoys broad support across the political spectrum, the actual goals of programs such as AmeriCorps remain somewhat amorphous. Based on a set of interviews with both experienced. practitioners and key thought leaders in the field, four competing visions of national service are detailed. The article suggests that national service has alternatively been seen as a way to promote an active and engaged citizenship, accelerate the personal growth of the young people in the programs, build social capital in communities, and meet critical social needs through public work. These four competing visions can and do coexist in practice, which helps to explain the widespread and enduring popularity of the idea of national service in America.

我国乡镇建制规模、职能定位与机构设置思考

“乡镇”作为国家依法设置的一种地方行政建制,已成为当今世界许多国家管理农村行政事务和为农民提供公共产品服务的通行做法。而我国自秦朝至清末的两千多年,“皇权止于县政”,乡里制度集中地反映了宗法性与行政性的高度整合。进入20世纪的一百年,“乡镇”虽然成为我国县以下的地方行政建制,但是一直存在着政党政治与政府政治互相交叉、国家政权与农民自治互相渗透、乡镇行政体制与财政体制互相脱节的问题。当前,我们应站在政府体制创新与经济市场化进程相适应的高度去认识和把握乡镇改革的基本方向,科学地、审慎地对待“撤并乡镇”的问题,决不能再搞“一刀切”。     

Jurisdiction size and local government effectiveness: Assessing the effects of municipal amalgamations on performance

The optimal jurisdiction size has been debated since Plato and Aristotle. A large literature has studied economic and democratic scale effects, but we have almost no knowledge of the effects of jurisdiction size on the effectiveness of local services. This is due to two methodological problems. First, selection bias and reverse causality often render change in jurisdiction size an endogenous variable. Second, there is a lack of empirical indicators of effectiveness, and most studies therefore focus on spending measures. Extant research thus studies economies of scale, leaving effectiveness of scale unexamined. We address both problems in a quasi-experimental study of public schools. Our findings from the school area indicate that jurisdiction size does not have systematic effects on effectiveness. Our analysis therefore supports recent studies of economic and democratic scale effects that indicate that the search for the optimal jurisdiction size is futile.     

简易精神症状自陈量表对主观夸大精神症状的测试分析

目的 应用简易精神症状自陈量表检测法医精神鉴定中主观夸大精神症状的情况,并分析其测试结果。方法 对206名不同类型的法医精神鉴定的被鉴定人用该量表进行检测．并由两名鉴定专业人员对被鉴定人是否有主观夸大精神症状分别进行评定。结果 （1）以该量表判断主观故意或夸大精神症状的划界分（13分）对测试的被鉴定人进行检测,206例被鉴定人中有71例被判定为主观夸大精神症状（34．5％）。与专家评定的结果相比,量表评定的假阴性为19．8％,假阳性率为1．7％;总准确率为90．8％。（2）工伤和交通事故精神伤残理赔鉴定案例主观夸大精神症状的比例较高（51％）。结论 简易精神症状自陈量表是检测主观夸大精神症状的有效评定工具。     

The Political Economy of Competitiveness and Continuous Adjustment in EU Meta-Governance

This article asserts that attempts to resolve the crisis through recent changes in European meta-governance are just the latest phase in a project to secure “continual adjustment” in European societies to the systemic demands of competitiveness. The structural pressures experienced at the scale of European societies are located in the process and scale of world market integration. This New Materialist scalar-relational approach sees adjustment to the systemic demands of competitiveness as likely to continue into the future and suggests that the scope for alternative more Keynesian programs of reform through EU meta-governance is highly constrained.     

Scale economies in local public administration

A renewed interest in decentralisation has profoundly affected local public governance around the world. Faced with an increasing number of tasks, Dutch municipalities have recently sought physical centralisation, merging into larger jurisdictions in order to target new policy areas more effectively and cost efficiently. Is such a policy of physical centralisation wise? We study economies of scale in local public administration, and find – given transfer payments from central government and current cooperation between municipalities and after controlling for geographical, demographic and socioeconomic variables – substantial unused scale economies of 17% for the average municipality. Between 2005 and 2014 the optimum size of municipalities increases from around 49,000 to 66,260 inhabitants, pointing at an increased importance of fixed costs relative to variable costs in local public administration.     

针刺肌筋膜疼痛触发点治疗神经根型颈椎病临床疗效观察

目的 评价针刺肌筋膜疼痛触发点对神经根型颈椎病的临床疗效。方法 选取60例神经根型颈椎病患者,按随机数字表法分为观察组与对照组各30例。观察组采用针刺肌筋膜疼痛触发点治疗,对照组采用传统针刺手法治疗。两组患者均每次治疗30 min,每周治疗5次,疗程为2周。分别于治疗前后观察两组患者的临床疗效,颈椎病症状量表、简易McGill疼痛问卷（short form McGill pain questionnaire,SF MPQ）、颈椎功能障碍指数（neck disability index,NDI）评分及不良反应;酶联免疫吸附法测定血清前列腺素E2（prostaglandin E2,PGE2）、白细胞介素（interleukin,IL） 1β、IL 6水平。结果 观察组疗效优于对照组（P＜0.05）。与治疗前比较,两组治疗后颈椎病症状量表评分均显著增加（P＜0.05）,SF MPQ评分、NDI评分均显著减少（P＜0.05）;两组各量表评分差值比较,差异均有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。与治疗前比较,治疗后两组患者血清PGE2、IL 1β、IL 6水平均显著降低（P＜0.05）;治疗后观察组血清PGE2、IL 1β、IL 6水平降低程度显著大于对照组（P＜0.05）。两组在治疗期间均未发生不良反应。结论 针刺肌筋膜触发点能明显改善患者症状,促进颈椎功能恢复,同时抑制炎症反应。