Public opinion as a dependent variable: A framework for analysis

This paper outlines an approach to examining how public opinion is taken into consideration by political and governmental leaders and reviews recent studies that have followed this approach to evaluate the extent to which public opinion is subject to manipulation by political elites in diverse circumstances. The central idea of this approach is to treat public opinion as a “dependent variable” and to examine the role of the mass media in linking elite initiatives and the public. Instead of starting with polls that presume public opinion is an independent force, we start with elites and presume that they try to manipulate public opinion through the mass media and by other means. First, we look at why the emphasis on the independent nature of public opinion has become so prominent in political science. We argue here that viewing public opinion as a dependent variable is a more promising perspective. Next, we review and evaluate a number of studies that attempt to demonstrate the fruitfulness of our suggested approach. Each of the studies analyzed focuses on the initiatives of political elites and monitors the success of their efforts with targeted groups. These studies demonstrate the conditions that favor elite control as well as the opportunities for citizens to limit such control. In our conclusion, we outline a theory of the role of public opinion in modern mass democracies.     

Studying a negative external actor: Russia's management of stability and instability in the ‘Near Abroad’

The literature on transition and democratization was for long dominated by internal explanatory factors such as economic performance, civil society, institutions, etc. Only recently have external actors' democratizing efforts – like those of the US and the EU – been systematically incorporated. But the perspective remains too constrained, since only ‘positive’ external actors are considered, while possible ‘negative’ actors are left aside. This article attempts to rectify some of the imbalance. First, an analytical framework that can be used to analyse both positive and negative external actors is proposed. Then, the framework is put into use through an analysis of the negative effects of Russia's foreign policy in the so-called ‘Near Abroad’. It is argued that two general effects take shape: the ‘policy of managed stability’ and the ‘policy of managed instability’. Both are weakening the democratic perspectives in the post-Soviet area, so I argue that Russia's foreign policy in the ‘Near Abroad’ is a, hitherto, underestimated and badly understood ‘negative’ factor in the literature on transition and democratization in the post-Soviet space.     

The ambivalence of populism: threat and corrective for democracy

Two images of populism are well-established: it is either labelled as a pathological political phenomenon, or it is regarded as the most authentic form of political representation. In this article I argue that it is more fruitful to categorize populism as an ambivalence that, depending on the case, may constitute a threat to or a corrective for democracy. Unfolding my argument, I offer a roadmap for the understanding of the diverse and usually conflicting approaches to studying the relation between populism and democracy. In particular, three main approaches are identified and discussed: the liberal, the radical and the minimal. I stress that the latter is the most promising of them for the study of the ambivalent relationship between populism and democracy. In fact, the minimal approach does not imply a specific concept of democracy, and facilitates the undertaking of cross-regional comparisons. This helps to recognize that populism interacts differently with the two dimensions of democracy that Robert Dahl distinguished: while populism might well represent a democratic corrective in terms of inclusiveness, it also might become a democratic threat concerning public contestation.     

Parenthood in Murder‐Suicide News. Idealized Fathers and Murderous Mums

In this article I analyse how parents' lethal violence is presented in Finnish murder‐suicide news reports. I explore how gendered ideas of parenthood and violence affect these constructions. The cases that I am interested in are those with child victims where the perpetrator is either the father or the mother. The theoretical frame of analysis is feminist ethnomethodology, and Membership Categorization Analysis is used as the method. One of the starting‐points is that parenthood is gendered in a way that mothers and fathers have different rights, responsibilities and competences in our culture. In other words, moral orders of fathering and mothering exist. Because of this, women's and men's violent actions towards their own children are understood differently. When a man kills his children and himself he can be portrayed as a caring parent. Instead, in a certain context a woman can be ‘a killer mum’, her act ‘a murder’ and her personality described in the light of the deed. The focus of this article is on gender and family categorization used in murder‐suicide news in Finnish newspapers and the moral orders created in them. I explore the differences by mainly using two case examples: 1) a man who killed his three children and himself, and 2) a woman who killed her husband, two children and herself. The consequences of these newspaper constructions are also considered.     

论交通事故中的车体痕迹

交通事故司法鉴定中车体痕迹的鉴定至关重要,但目前对车体痕迹的概念、分类等尚见仁见智,存在一定差异,特别是对车体痕迹外部特征的表述,没有形成统一的标准。论文从车体痕迹的概念着手,分析了车体痕迹在司法鉴定中的应用,对广泛存在的车体痕迹从外部特征进行了详细分类,即附着物痕迹、移位痕迹、变形痕迹、刮擦刺剪痕迹、折叠痕迹、破裂破损爆裂痕迹、断脱脱落缺失痕迹、孔洞洞穿类痕迹、塌陷状痕迹、粉碎性痕迹等十种。希望引起讨论,形成统一的标准。     

司法鉴定立法比较之法理研判——以新《刑事诉讼法》与新《民事诉讼法》为视角

2012年修改并通过的《刑事诉讼法》和《民事诉讼法》已于今年1月1日实施。两大新诉讼法对证据制度,包括证据种类、证明标准等内容进行了重大改革。其中,对于司法实践中证据地位凸显的鉴定意见,两大诉讼法也做了调整,包括完善鉴定人出庭制度、专家辅助人制度、鉴定人保护、鉴定人选任等。但因两大诉讼法性质不同,新刑诉法和新民诉法对相关内容做了不同规定,对于其是否符合立法统一性、是否具有合理性、是否与其诉讼性质相一致,有必要从法学理论角度层面予以释明与检视。     

列宁发展农业的思想探析

列宁在领导苏俄革命和建设过程中,高度重视农业问题,并在实践中形成了较为系统的发展农业的思想,即大力发展农业具有重要战略意义,发展农业的核心任务是提高生产率,发展农业必须从内部条件入手,通过国家帮助和工业支援为农业发展提供外部保障。重温和借鉴列宁的发展农业的思想,对我国当下的现代农业建设具有重要的现实指导意义。     

The critique of language and its economy

Abstract

This paper draws upon and develops Paul Rabinow's concept of biosociality to analyse how the field of gambling research, the facts about gambling addiction and the politics of gambling regulation are in the process of transforming one another as the US gambling industry has begun to provide large amounts of funding for scientists and clinicians working on gambling problems. In particular, the paper focuses on the political economy of research that suggests that the negative consequences associated with gambling are not just social problems, but neurobiological ones. The paper introduces the notion of ‘biopolitical capital’ in order to describe how the gambling industry invests in particular kinds of research which are more likely to yield results that can be mobilized to support particular kinds of approaches to dealing with the social and personal problems associated with gambling.     

BALANCING RESEARCH AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING IN FRONT‐END PROJECT DESIGN: EXPERIENCES FROM DANIDA'S ENRECA PROGRAMME

North–South research capacity building (RCB) partnerships have attracted considerable academic attention during the last two decades, especially with regard to issues related to partnership governance. Less attention has been given to the management aspects of partnership implementation, but in order for partnerships to comply with general governance‐level recommendations, a better understanding is needed of how specific context‐dependent factors influence the development and execution of projects. In this article, we aim to contribute to the understanding of factors influencing the design phase of RCB partnerships and examine how they influence the balance between performing collaborative research and developing general organizational capacity. Data collection was based on a survey (n = 25), and individual interviews and focus group discussions with 17 Danish project managers from the Danish Bilateral Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity in Developing Countries. Our results lead to rejection of the proposition that RCB projects are either focused on building capacity for research or conducting merit‐based research. Because of the ‘politics’ of the front‐end process, reality is more complex. We identify 11 specific factors influencing front‐end project management related to structure, process and relationship, and we theorize about how these factors influence the choice between research and more general capacity development activities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

External dimensions of European environmental policy: An analysis of environmental treaty ratification by third states

The European Union has become an important leader in international environmental affairs – particularly through the negotiation of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) with favourable terms. In this article, EU environmental leadership is studied from a new perspective, focusing on the ratification stage of environmental regime formation. Specifically, it investigates whether the EU is also capable of motivating third states to join its preferred MEAs. It is argued that third states join the EU's preferred MEAs to signal their compliance with EU environmental standards in an effort to become eligible for various rewards that the EU could potentially offer, including a credible membership perspective, access to its lucrative markets, and aid and assistance. The argument is tested by examining the ratification behaviour of 25 non‐EU Member States with regard to all 21 MEAs negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The results provide robust support for the theory that EU rewards motivate third states to ratify these treaties. The results withstand a number of statistical tests, even when alternative explanatory factors such as trade intensities, transnational communication and geographic proximity are controlled for. The study is the first large‐scale demonstration of the EU's external influence at the ratification stage of environmental regime formation. By identifying three different channels of EU influence, the research permits a more refined understanding of the EU's role as a promoter of environmental protection standards.