Majoritarian democracy and globalization versus ethnic diversity?

While some types of democracy can sustain ethnic and cultural diversity, others can clearly undermine it. In The Dark Side of Democracy, Michael Mann argues that extreme crimes like genocide and ethnic cleansing tend to occur, or at least be legitimized, within a majoritarian democracy framework. This article broadens Mann's approach in two directions: first, it confirms that majoritarian democracy in plural societies can provide the pre-existing institutional context where conflict, nationalism and exclusion can thrive, eventually degenerating into self-destruction. Second, it focuses on the tendency by some governments to turn to patriotism and populism as sources of legitimacy at a time when the latter appears to be crumbling. In addition, the article questions both the ‘democratic peace’ and the ‘failed democratization’ approaches for their reliance on an ideal type and fixed notion of democracy, arguing that the latter has been weakened by neoliberal globalization, particularly as it interacts with the legacy of pre-existing forms of majoritarianism. The article concludes that these forces need to be studied simultaneously in order to have a broader picture of the contemporary weakening of democratic practices and institutions within some nation-states.     

Living on the edge: Migrant women in Malta

Research on ethnic minorities in Malta is relatively infrequent. Research on ethnic minority women is even scarcer. However, there is consensus in the literature that migrant women can face additional disadvantages when compared with minority men and women in the host country. More specifically, migrant women are at risk of the most extreme forms of poverty and social exclusion, in many if not all dimensions of life: housing, education, employment, health care, and multiple discrimination. This paper presents a critical overview of the socioeconomic situation of migrant women in Malta as a first and crucial step toward a better understanding of the disadvantages and specific needs faced by this vulnerable group. It then goes on to discuss the role of the state for evidence-based decision making and policy responses. I finally argue for active inclusion policies that redress social inequalities, and that encourage the full integration of migrant women living on the edge of Maltese society.     

A Survey of Arts Management Educators' Teaching on Diversity Issues

This study answered two research questions: (1) do arts management educators teach about diversity issues in their courses? If so, how and why? If not, why? (2) Do demographic characteristics impact if an arts management educator teaches about diversity issues in their courses? Most respondents (eighty-six percent) teach about diversity issues in their courses, primarily through discussion (ninety-one percent), and most (ninety-nine percent) believe arts management students should receive education on diversity issues in the arts. This study is significant because no known inquiry into the teaching practices of arts management educators relative to diversity issues in the arts previously existed.     

Y-STR mutational rates determination in South Portugal Caucasian population

Y-STR mutational rate estimation is very important for the correct evaluation of typing results in forensic casework and specially kinship genetic studies. In this work we studied 95 Southern Portuguese Caucasian father/son pairs in order to estimate mutational rates for the 17 Y-STRs multiplex used in routine casework. In a total of 1615 allele transfers three single step mutations were detected in DYS385a, DYS439, and DYS448, with an estimated mutation rate of 10,526 × 10⁻³ (95%CI 0.265 × 10⁻³ to 20.788 × 10⁻³). The estimated average mutation rate is 1.858 × 10⁻³ (95%CI 8.08 × 10⁻⁴ to 2.908 × 10⁻³). It would be important to characterize more father/son pairs in order to estimate more reliable allele specific mutation rates for the most widely used Y-STRs markers in forensic genetics.     

Can Audience Development Promote Social Diversity in German Public Arts Institutions?

Despite generous public funding, arts institutions in Germany are primarily serving a small, educated section of the German population. This article presents findings from arts participation surveys, research from an empirical study on “Intercultural Audience Development” in public theaters and museums, and an analysis of cultural policy debates to reveal the role of audience development in overcoming the social imbalance of audiences in German cultural institutions. Research findings suggest that traditional concepts of audience development do not lead to sustainable changes in the social structure of the audience. More substantial institutional changes are necessary, supported by new cultural policies.     

The Prevalence of Female Representation in Supervisory and Management Positions in American Law Enforcement: An Examination of Organizational Correlates

Increasing gender diversity in American policing has long been a focus of reform efforts since the 1960s. Although the proportion of women in the profession improved initially and research has focused on the gender breakdown of police organizations in general, less scholarly and empirical attention has been directed to female representation in positions of power (i.e., supervisory and management roles). Using data from the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, the current study examined the prevalence as well as the organizational correlates of female representation in supervisory (e.g., sergeants), mid-level management (e.g., lieutenants) and chief executive roles in departments across the United States. The findings indicate a number of factors associated with female representation in supervisory and mid-level management positions, including the size and type of agencies, geographic region of the country, and potential indicators of professionalism. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Evaluation of rapidly mutating Y-STRs in Pakistani population

Y-chromosomal Short Tandem Repeats have been widely used in forensic investigations, identification of males for criminal justice purpose and population genetics. Commercially available Y-STRs kits allow the identification of male pedigrees and has a limited application in forensic genetics because of its limitation in differentiating closely related male individuals. Recent research with the Rapidly Mutating Y-STRs (RM Y-STRs) have revealed that these loci deliver significantly higher discrimination capacity and haplotype diversity in worldwide populations when compared with the conventional Y-STRs. Although a number of RM Y-STRs have found their way in most updated commercial kits, there are still some loci that are not yet used in such kits. The aim of this study is to develop RM Y-STR haplotypes frequency database for the Pakistani population, in order to appraise the resolution power of these loci. A total of 212 unrelated males from the Pakistani population were typed with 13 RM Y-STRs which comprise DYF399S1, DYF387S1, DYS570, DYS576, DYS518, DYS526a + b, DYS626, DYS627, DYF403S1a + b, DYF404S1, DYS449, DYS547 and DYS612. 211 unique haplotypes were identified, out of which 1 haplotype was shared between two individuals, accounting for 0.9952 discrimination capacity (DC). Haplotype diversity was found to be 0.999925. Gene diversity (GD) values of all the loci were higher than 0.5, where the highest GD values were observed at DYF399S1, DYF403S1a and DYF404S1; with values of 0.99419, 0.98252 and 0.93061 respectively. Results of our study revealed that these 13 RM Y-STRs produced significantly stronger discriminatory power in Pakistani populations.     

Public Employment in the Economic Downturn: The Case of an Australian State

Employment has been severely affected by the global financial crisis (GFC). This research considers the effects of the GFC on an Australian state public service workforce, reviewing trends before, during, and in the aftermath of the GFC. The workforce continued to grow, but at a slower pace, and with changes in inflows and outflows of employees. The workforce profile changed, with some decrease in the proportion of more vulnerable groups and some retention of stronger groups perhaps seeking a refuge during the GFC. Significant decentralization of workforce responsibility has meant comparatively little central effort to effect change during the GFC.     

云南民族文化发展报告

在实地考察的基础上 ,作者对近年来云南民族文化发展的成就与经验进行了系统的梳理和总结 ,分析了云南民族文化发展面临的问题并提出了有针对性的对策和建议。文章认为 ,民族文化多样性是云南在全球化和可持续发展进程中具有突出的比较优势的宝贵资源 ,是云南实现全面、协调、可持续发展并最终能够在西部乃至全国后来居上的坚实基础。社会主义时期是民族文化多样性发展繁荣的时期 ,发展繁荣民族文化多样性是建设中国先进文化和实践“三个代表”重要思想在民族地区的具体体现。     

中国省域法制现代化进程非均衡差异及其相关社会影响因素的实证研究——基于计量经济分析法学的中国法制现代化进程演化模拟

中国的法制现代化是一个从传统人治社会向现代法治社会的转型过程,是中华法律文明的成长与跃进过程。通过构建由地方立法、诉讼、律师和地方法学教育等4方面组成的中国省域法制现代化进程实证评价指标体系,采用主成分分析与层次聚类分析相结合的综合集成评估方法,对中国省域法制现代化进程进行评估与比较,将中国31个省域的法制现代化进程分为领先型、挑战型、追赶型和后进型4个集团,并通过采用灰色相关度分析的方法,将4项法律指标分别与人均GDP、城市化、城乡差距、教育指数等4项社会指标进行灰色相关分析与比较。研究发现我国各省域的法制现代化进程在东中西部地区之间是极端不均衡的。在中国省域法制现代化进程各法律指标的相关社会影响中,影响的效果从强到弱的排序依次是人均GDP、城市化、城乡差距、教育指数。从各省域法制现代化进程的层面和影响省域法制现代化进程的各个因素层面出发,我们应采取缩小我国各省域法制现代化进程非均衡差异的相应对策。