Party and Gender Stereotypes in Campaign Attacks

Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of stereotypes. In this study, we argue that the gender and partisan stereotypes associated with traits and policy issues interact with a candidate’s gender and partisanship to shape the effectiveness of campaign attacks. We draw on expectancy-violation theory to argue that candidates may be evaluated more harshly when attacks suggest the candidate has violated stereotypic assumptions about their group. Thus, attacks on a candidate’s “home turf,” or those traits or issues traditionally associated with their party or gender, may be more effective in reducing support for the attacked candidate. We use two survey experiments to examine the effects of stereotype-based attacks—a Trait Attack Study and an Issue Attack Study. The results suggest that female candidates are particularly vulnerable to trait based attacks that challenge stereotypically feminine strengths. Both male and female candidates proved vulnerable to attacks on policy issues stereotypically associated with their party and gender, but the negative effects of all forms of stereotype-based attacks were especially large for democratic women. Our results offer new insights into the use of stereotypes in negative campaigning and their consequences for the electoral fortunes of political candidates.     

Belgian and French Foreign Fighters in Iraq 2003–2005: A Comparative Case Study

Efforts to understand the distinction between foreign fighting and domestic terrorist acts have focused for the most part at the macro level. This study investigates if this difference is observed at the network level. The Iraq foreign fighter mobilization, which was significant, both numerically and, in terms of its visibility, is used for this analysis. The participation of Belgian and French foreign fighters is examined due to the perceived level of threat they posed in the period 2003–2005 and while absolute numbers are relatively low, these two countries may have provided just under a quarter of the all European foreign fighters in this period. Observations are generated and then compared to research on domestic attack networks in Europe and the United Kingdom. The article finds that the two networks were involved in foreign fighter activity and did not engage in domestic attack activity. Involvement in domestic attacks occurred at a later time via individuals who had left the network, individuals on the periphery of the original foreign fighter network or individuals who unsuccessfully attempted to engage in foreign fighter activity.     

Measures of aggression and mood changes in male weightlifters with and without androgenic anabolic steroid use

Supraphysiologic doses of testosterone are associated with increased aggression that is hypothesized to be a function of testosterone serum concentrations, mood, and personality. The study attempted to characterize this relationship among weightlifters who were users (n = 10) and nonusers (n = 18) of anabolic steroids. Participants were interviewed using the Modified Mania Rating Scale and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression to assess mood, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) and Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) to assess aggression, and the Personality Disorder Questionnaire (PDQ-R) to assess personality. Blood samples were obtained for the determination of total, free, and weakly bound testosterone. Comparisons of continuous variables between testosterone users and non-users were performed with a parametric (unpaired t-test) or non-parametric (Mann-Whitney) test where appropriate. Correlations with testosterone were examined separately for testosterone users and non-users, using Spearman rank correlation. The subjective (BDHI) and objective (PSAP) assessments of aggression found that supranormal testosterone concentrations were associated with increased aggression. However, the PDQ-R results suggest that this finding was confounded by the personality disorder profile of the steroid users, because steroid users demonstrated Cluster B personality disorder traits for antisocial, borderline, and histrionic personality disorder.     

“Purpose versus practice in the use of electronically monitored home confinement”

This paper explores differences between the stated purpose and actual practice of electronically monitored home confinement as a prison-diversion strategy. Methods and data are triangulated to examine the difference between the stated purposes of electronic monitoring and its actual usage in two contexts: 1) the decision to imprison/probate; and 2) the actual use of electronically monitored home confinement. Sentencing information, along with data on employment, family, substance abuse, prior convictions, and type of offense, were collected on 391 felony offenders sentenced to probation in 1987–89 from three counties located in two large Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Texas. Information gathered from interviews with probation officials is also employed. This paper presents an analysis of this data and discusses its implications for future use and evaluation of electronically monitored home confinement.     

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy enables confirmatory detection of dyes on hair submerged in hypolimnion water for up to twelve weeks

Difficulties in the localization of bodies of homicidal or drowning victims in natural water result in their submergence for weeks if not months. Water insects and microbes drastically change the body's appearance, which significantly changes the determination of a victim's identity. DNA analysis is commonly used for identifying the decedent; however, this PCR-based approach is time-consuming and destructive of the evidence. Considering that nearly half of the people in the world dye their hair with a variety of permanent and semi-permanent dyes, one can expect that confirmatory identification of dyes on the body's hair can be used to shed light on the victim's identity. A growing body of evidence suggests that surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can be used to detect and identify hair dyes. In this study, we investigated the extent to which SERS could be used to detect black and blue, permanent and semi-permanent dyes on hair submerged in hypolimnion water for up to twelve weeks. We found that SERS enabled 100% accurate identification of analyzed dyes on hair submerged in hypolimnion water for up to 8 weeks, whereas, on average, 87% accurate identification of the hair dyes could be achieved on hair exposed for 10 weeks and 50% for hair exposed 12 weeks in hypolimnion water. We also found that the aqueous environment caused progressive fading of some dyes, whereas other dyes showed substantial spectral transformations after prolonged submergence. Finally, we found that changes in the intensity of vibrational bands of dyes could be used to predict the duration of submergence of colored hair in hypolimnion water.     

全球化背景下中国公共行政本土研究:动力、内涵与进路

中国公共行政学者对于公共行政身份危机的反思为公共行政本土研究提供了契机。在本土研究过程中,对推动本土研究的动力、本土化内涵及其进路的分析是进一步开展本土研究的前提。文章试图在全球化背景下审视中国公共行政的本土研究。从中国改革开放的历史背景入手探讨和分析推动中国公共行政本土研究的动力;从全球化与本土化关系角度分析了公共行政本土化的内涵;最后从学者的学术自觉、本体论、知识论和方法论角度分析了进行本土化研究的进路。     

Stop,Collaborate, and Listen: Women's Collaboration in US State Legislatures

Collaboration plays a key role in crafting good public policy. We use a novel data set of over 140,000 pieces of legislation considered in US state legislatures in 2015 to examine the factors associated with women's collaboration with each other. We articulate a theory that women's collaboration arises from opportunity structures, dictated by an interaction of individual and institutional characteristics. Examining the effect of a combination of characteristics, we find support for an interactive view of institutions, where women's caucuses accelerate collaboration in Democratic‐controlled bodies and as the share of women increases. Collaboration between women also continues in the face of increased polarization in the presence of a caucus, but not absent one. Our findings speak to the long‐term consequences of electing women to political office, the importance of institutions and organizations in shaping legislative behavior, and the institutionalization of gender in politics.     

Avoiding blame when violating traffic rules: the development and validation of the justifications of traffic violations scale

Traffic norms violations are the most common form of law breaking. Our aim was to investigate a factor that might contribute to the massive disobedience to traffic laws, namely drivers’ use of self-legitimization strategies that allow them to transgress them without paying the psychological costs that would follow, such as regret or shame. Using the framework of the self-exoneration mechanisms described by the Social Cognitive Theory, we developed a measure assessing drivers’ strategies of justification of their traffic violations. Across two studies, we tested the psychometric proprieties of the Justifications of Traffic Violations scale (JTVs), its factorial structure, and its construct, external and incremental validity. Results showed that drivers self-exonerate when transgressing traffic laws predominantly through four strategies (Minimizing risks, Displacement of responsibility, Personal needs and Outcome – based justification) that are addressed by the JTVs and that construe one’s refraining from committing deviant driving behaviours as unnecessary, impossible or undesirable. The JTVs and each of its four specific cognitive mechanisms were found to be positively related to the most maladaptive driving styles, as well as to self-reported traffic offences and accidents, suggesting that these self-exonerating strategies favour the instilment and maintenance of habitual deviant behaviours on the road.     

Practice and Model of China's Participation in the World's Human Rights Development

China started to participate in the world's Human Rights (HR) development from the time when it began to reform and open up. The efforts over the past 30 years have made China one of the countries that are the best in respecting and protecting HR in the world. Not only has China made     

They See Dead People (Voting): Correcting Misperceptions about Voter Fraud in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

The 2016?US Presidential election was unique for many reasons, especially the widespread endorsement of falsehoods about the candidates and the electoral process. Using a unique experiment fielded the week prior to the election, we examine whether correcting information can overcome misperceptions about election fraud. We find that providing counter information is generally ineffective at remedying misperceptions and can, depending on the source, increase endorsements of misperceptions among Republicans. Although information from a fact-checking source is generally unconvincing, when given with evidence from an unlikely source – in our experiment, Breitbart News – both Republicans and Democrats decrease beliefs in voter fraud.