Examining the Distinct Effects of Emotive Triggers on Public Reactions to International Terrorism

In recent years, a growing body of research has set out to examine the role that emotions play in shaping political attitudes and behaviors regarding terrorism. However, one major issue that is generally overlooked is whether the thematic relevance of emotive triggers leads to differential effects on people's reactions to international terrorism. Specifically, does anger—regardless of its source—tend to drive people towards supporting an aggressive foreign policy option to counter terrorism, or do the thematic underpinnings of anger (i.e., the specific contents that trigger this particular emotion, such as watching a news story about a recent terrorist attack) matter vis-à-vis the policy choice? To address this gap, this study experimentally examines the impact of anger—induced by thematically relevant versus irrelevant emotive triggers—on people's cognitive processing and foreign policy preferences regarding international terrorism. Overall, we find that the induction of anger via thematically relevant emotive triggers leads to a higher tendency for selecting a military option, a lower amount of information acquisition, and a shorter processing time in response to terror-related incidents.     

Cosmic top secret Europe? The legacy of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and cold war US policy on European Union information policy

As the EU has expanded its authority into areas of high politics such as monetary, defense, and foreign policy, it has simultaneously developed procedures for handling more sensitive and classified information. These critical policy domains require standards regulating secure information and personnel, but the concept of official secrets is in tension with the treaty norms of the EU. Observers allege that the classified information policy of the EU was imposed through the coercion of external actors such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the USA in a significant historical departure from the information security policies of European member states. This article evaluates the content of EU-classified information policies and compares them to the content of European member states, NATO, and the USA, in an effort to clarify the mechanisms of policy diffusion in the area of information security.     

Civic Engagement,Pedagogy, and Information Technology on Web Sites for Youth

Scholars of political socialization are paying increasing attention to how the Internet might help cure the civic disengagement of youth. This content analysis of a sample of 73 U.S.-based civic Web sites for youth introduces a framework for evaluating Web sites' strategies for fostering active communication for citizenship. We offer the first systematic assessment of the extent to which a broad range of Web sites aim to develop young people's abilities to use information and communication technology (ICT) as a vehicle for civic participation and to engage with ICT as a policy domain that encompasses issues (such as freedom of speech and intellectual property rights) that shape the conditions for popular sovereignty online. The study finds low levels of interactive features (such as message boards) that allow young people to share editorial control by offering their own content. In addition, few sites employ active pedagogical techniques (such as simulations) that research suggests are most effective at developing civic knowledge, skills, and participation. We also find little attention to ICT policy issues, which could engage budding citizens in debates over the formative conditions for political communication in the information age. We conclude with suggestions for civic Web site designers and hypotheses for user studies to test.     

Question wording and mass policy preferences: The comparative impact of substantive information and peripheral cues

Understanding the dynamics of mass political behavior requires attention to the mechanisms and processes citizens use in evaluating political affairs. At its structural core, a political appraisal has much in common with most of the other decisions individuals must make each day. Consequently, insight can be gained by examining political judgments from the perspective of those psychological theories concerned with information processing and decision making. More specifically, because the American citizen typically must maximize cognitive efficiency when evaluating political phenomena, those psychological mechanisms that facilitate expedience and simplicity in decision making are likely to operate on a great diversity of political judgments. Hence theoretical perspectives concerning the role of heuristic principles of judgment may be of considerable utility for the study of mass political behavior. One such perspective, the heuristic‐systematic model, is discussed. The tenets of the heuristic‐systematic model guide quasi‐experimental examination of the influence of variance in question wording on public support for the Reagan defense build‐up. Results indicate that source cues enable individuals to apply source evaluations when forming policy assessments but that the impact of source cues is overwhelmed when individuals are simultaneously exposed to relevant policy information.     

Social media and protest mobilization: evidence from the Tunisian revolution

This article explores how social media acted as a catalyst for protest mobilization during the Tunisian revolution in late 2010 and early 2011. Using evidence from protests we argue that social media acted as an important resource for popular mobilization against the Ben Ali regime. Drawing on insights from “resource mobilization theory”, we show that social media (1) allowed a “digital elite” to break the national media blackout through brokering information for mainstream media; (2) provided a basis for intergroup collaboration for a large “cycle of protest”; (3) reported event magnitudes that raised the perception of success for potential free riders, and (4) provided additional “emotional mobilization” through depicting the worst atrocities associated with the regime's response to the protests. These findings are based on background talks with Tunisian bloggers and digital activists and a revealed preference survey conducted among a sample of Tunisian internet users (February–May 2012).     

Viewing time measures and sexual interest: another piece of the puzzle

Abstract

The present study compared a viewing time (VT) measure with the Sexual Deviance Card Sort (Laws et al., 2000 Laws, D. R., Hanson, R. K., Osborn, C. A. and Greenbaum, P. E. 2000. Classification of child molesters by plethysmographic assessment of sexual arousal and a self-report measure of sexual preference. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15: 1297–1312. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and past sexual behaviour. Twenty-six adult males who committed a contact sexual offence (19 of whom had child victims and seven with adult victims) each completed the self-report card sort and viewed 640 slides of nude and clothed males and females, ages 5, 9, 13 years and adult. The offenders were unaware that their viewing time was being recorded. VT allowed for greater consistent classification of sexual interest: for gender preference, 79% for individuals with child victims, 86% for individuals with adult victims; for age preference, 84% for individuals with child victims, and 57% for individuals with adult victims. Results demonstrated that a combination of nude and clothed computer-modified imagery can provide accurate sexual interest classification.     

The NHS Information Revolution: ‘Choice of Control’ to ‘Choice’ and ‘Control’

This paper provides a novel and critical analysis of the necessary and important balance between ‘individual privacy’ and ‘collective transparency’. We suggest that the onset of the Information Revolution has created a dilemma for the National Health Service (NHS) in terms of how it addresses its obligation to use information to improve best practice in healthcare for society (‘collective transparency’) whilst also keeping sensitive personal information confidential (‘individual privacy’). There is clearly a need to consider both whether the NHS is balancing this critically important informational relationship and whether its approach is fit for purpose. We argue that the NHS's ‘proxy-individual’ information guardian role could inadvertently mask individuals' intended roles, effectively circumventing autonomy-based laws by limiting the power of individuals to be autonomous. In this article we have identified three issues – first the prevailing ‘Mindset’ (the ‘M’) of ‘privacy’, which is viewed as individualistic, resulting in an overpowering concept of confidentiality; second, the quality and control of Information (the first ‘I’); and third, the concept of innovation (the second ‘i’), which is being used as a ‘solution’ rather than a vehicle for transparency. Indeed, transparency is our target of ‘best practice,’ and we suggest that individual privacy and collective transparency are best embedded within a complementary privacy framework that offers a better fit than the current split of control between the roles of the NHS and the roles of the individual. It is suggested that when facilitated by transparency, ‘control’ and ‘privacy’ form a continuum, aligning through the desire for choice. Therefore, the choice of control could facilitate control and choice. Together, they could replace the concept of privacy by empowering ‘informed patients’ to support the NHS's ‘No decision about me, without me’ pledge.     

劳动能力鉴定中无晶体眼的视觉功能评价

无晶体眼视觉功能的评价是劳动能力鉴定中经常遇见的问题。准确评价无晶体眼的视觉功能障碍程度,有利于保证鉴定意见的科学性和客观性。无晶体眼不仅影响视力,亦可影响视野,引起视野缺损。单眼无晶体者较双眼视力对称性降低更易引起立体视锐度的损害。总结多年劳动能力鉴定中涉及视觉功能障碍评定的实践经验,可以紧紧把握劳动能力鉴定标准中＂依视力递减受损百分比进行比较＂这个关键,利用改进的＂对比相乘法＂对无晶体眼的视觉功能进行有效评价。     

三网融合下广播权与信息网络传播权的重构——兼析《著作权法(修改草案)》前两稿的相关规定

现行《著作权法》中的广播权与信息网络传播权已经存在规范漏洞,而以电信传输网、广播电视传输网、计算机互联网相互融通为代表的三网融合技术使问题进一步加剧,形成“一个传播终端、六类传播行为、三种法律定性”的复杂局面.其直接原因表现为传播技术的发展融合,但深层次分析可追溯到技术主义立法路径的弊端.《著作权法(修改草案)》1稿、2稿的“修补型”方案仍不足以应对三网融合带来的问题,因此应借鉴已有的成熟立法例,将广播权与信息网络传播权整合为一项“远程传播权”.     

党的执政资源建设新举措

党的十八大以来,新一届中央领导集体立足世情国情,对我们党的执政资源建设作出了重要部署,力求实现执政资源的最优配置。主要表现为：坚持群众路线,巩固群众资源;全面建成小康,扩充经济资源;建设文化强国,繁荣文化资源;利用网络媒体,拓宽信息资源。中央的这些新部署,丰富和发展了党的执政资源建设理论,对提高党的执政能力、巩固党的执政地位意义重大。