Why Berlusconi’s landslide return? A comment on the 2008 Italian general election

At the Italian parliamentary election of April 2008 the centre-right coalition, led by media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, prevailed with 3.3 million votes over the centre-left coalition, led by Walter Veltroni, former mayor of Rome. This commentary analyzes the electoral results by looking at three factors which affected the vote: the institutional context, the electoral campaigns of both coalitions, and the voters’ behaviour. The article claims that the electoral outcome originated from an asymmetrical abstention of centre-left voters who did not turn out, and from a high-level of swing-voting which favoured the centre-right. It is argued that this election hardly signals a political realignment. Rather than value changes, valence politics and government performance are at the basis of the centre-right victory.      

How Initiatives Don’t Always Make Citizens: Ballot Initiatives in the American States, 1978–2004

Advocates claim that when citizens can make law through voter initiatives, they become better citizens. This paper puts that claim into context. Using data from the Current Population Survey November Supplement and American National Election Studies for each election between 1978 and 2004, it demonstrates that voter initiatives in the American states have limited effects on turnout, and on political knowledge and efficacy. Initiatives increase voters’ likelihood of turning out to vote in six of seven midterm elections under study, but show no effect on turnout at presidential elections. For knowledge among non-voters and for political efficacy among all respondents, the results show null effects; for knowledge among voters, they indicate modest effects. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

从关联理论看非言语行为在课堂上的语用功能

交流在人类的各种活动中起重要作用,是所有联系的基础。非言语行为,作为交流中传递信息和揭示感情态度不可缺少的工具之一,在课堂中起着重复、否定、替代、补充、强调、调整等作用。从认知的角度看,在课堂这个特定的语境下,教师和学生也是从关联的基础出发,互相理解双方的非言语行为。     

政府行为对企业技术创新风险影响路径

采用实证方法研究了政府行为对企业技术创新风险的影响路径问题。以某高新技术开发区为实证对象验证结构方程模型,检验调查问卷结构效度及量表数据信度,应用多种拟合优度指标评价模型并计算相关参数。结果表明:政府强化知识产权保护会降低企业政治及市场环境风险,政府采购及市场扶持会降低企业市场环境风险,财税及融资支持会降低企业经济环境风险,加强软硬件环境建设会降低企业软硬件条件及人文环境风险;而企业市场环境及经济环境风险的降低会导致技术创新项目需求风险的下降,技术创新项目需求风险及企业政治环境风险的降低会导致技术创新立项决策风险的减轻,企业人文环境风险的降低会导致企业员工能力风险的下降,企业员工能力风险的下降则会导致企业管理水平风险的减轻。     

Intérêts spécifiques et formation de l'opinion politique des Suissesses (1999-2005)

L'existence “d'intérêts spécifiques” qu'on pourrait naturellement attribuer à la catégorie des femmes est amplement débattue dans la littérature contemporaine. Ainsi, selon certains, les femmes en tant que catégorie sociodémographique seraient traditionnellement plus portées à s'intéresser à certains sujets (l'enfance, la parité entre les sexes, l'avortement, etc.) qu'à d'autres. Or, bien que la littérature sur la définition des intérêts des femmes soit assez étoffée, peu d'études essaient, de mesurer leurs effets sur le comportement politique des citoyennes. Ainsi, aucune analyse n'a été proposée jusqu'à maintenant pour mesurer si la présence d'enjeux particulièrement parlants pour les citoyennes augmente leur engagement intellectuel (notamment dans des enjeux de démocratie directe). A travers l'analyse des votations populaires pour la période 1999-2005 (VOX), nous nous proposons de voir dans quelle mesure le niveau d'intérêt spécifique qui caractérise l'objet soumis au vote influence les stratégies cognitives que les femmes activent lors du processus de formation de l'opinion. En partant de modèles dualistes développés en psychologie cognitive, nos analyses montrent que les citoyennes sont davantage prêtes que les hommes à activer des stratégies cognitives plus exigeantes d'un point de vue intellectuel lorsque le projet soumis au vote les touche de près.     

Studying the New Communication of Politics

A research agenda set forth in the 1975 book Political Communication is well suited for study in an era when conventional mass communication gives way to less centralized channels. Features of this approach include a focus on behavior and cognitions rather than inferred attitudes, close attention to measurement of media experience, conceptualization of curvilinear processes that occur over time, comparative theorizing that can be tested across different national systems, and reconceptualization of communication as a process defined more by its functions than whether it occurs via mass media or interpersonal channels.     

Young Offenders Speak About Meeting Their Victims: Implications for Future Programs

Victim–offender mediation (VOM) programs have gained considerable popularity in juvenile courts, yet little is known about how these programs actually influence offenders. This paper explores young offenders’ subjective experiences of voluntary participation in a county‐run VOM program in Minnesota. The authors conducted in‐depth, qualitative interviews with seven young offenders (aged 15–24), and four sets of their parents, who had recently participated in a VOM session with their crime victim(s). Data analysis revealed varying motivations for the offenders’ participation in the sessions, a range of emotional consequences, and some potential for enduring behavior change. Based on these findings, the authors propose guidelines for future practice and research with young people involved in mediation, conferencing, and restorative justice programs.     

Contextual Effects on Individual Voting Behavior: The Case of Taiwan

This study investigates the voting behavior of the Taiwanese electorate in two different levels of election by taking into account two aggregate-level effects, namely the political and economic contextual effects. Using both individual-level and aggregate-level data to study the 2008 legislative election and the 2012 presidential election in Taiwan, this paper not only confirms that the valence politics explanation outperforms other individual-level voting models in the legislative election and in other elections in Taiwan, but also demonstrates how the two contextual effects influence individual voting behavior. Specifically, the political contextual effect had influence on the individual electoral choice in both the 2008 legislative election and the 2012 presidential election, whereas economic contexts only affect voters’ decision when choosing a president. The multilevel analysis reveals that different individual-level voting models could provide partial explanation for voting behavior; however, the findings also show that we may overlook how contextual effects may affect the electoral choice.     

From Top-Down to Trickle-Up Influence: Revisiting Assumptions About the Family in Political Socialization

A growing number of theorists are calling for a revival of research on political socialization based on the premise that children are active in their own civic development. We advance this argument a step further by proposing a model of family communication that reverses the roles of parents and children as conventionally understood in political socialization. Adolescent children are not merely receptive to political stimulation; they possess the power to transform patterns of family communication in ways that benefit themselves and their parents. We first challenge a series of interrelated assumptions about the nature and direction of influence in the family. We then document evidence of "trickle-up influence," in which child-initiated discussion--stimulated by a civics curriculum--prompts the parent to increase her civic competence via increased news media use, knowledge gain, and opinion formation. The parent's response reflects her desire to maintain a leadership role in the family, and more important from a theoretical perspective, it reveals the intrinsic forces of family adaptation that can make the home a powerful incubator of citizenship. Political growth occurs when the family system adjusts to reestablish equilibrium in response to exogenous factors or developmental needs that propel change. The ultimate purpose of this essay is to propose a functional model of family political communication. We apply theoretical perspectives from developmental literature to illustrate how political communication serves the family goals of autonomy and cohesion during various stages of the family life cycle.     

论合作作品的认定

合作作品是二人以上合作创作的作品,认定合作作品的标准一般采主观共创意图和客观共创行为“二要件说”,但是主观共创意图的要求与著作权法原理相悖,在实践中也没有实益,因此应当以客观的共创行为作为认定的唯一标准。