bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Low hitting time random walks in wireless networks
Authors: Roberto Beraldi , Leonardo Querzoni , Roberto Baldoni
Published: April 2008

Random walks can be conveniently exploited for implementing probabilistic algorithms to solve many searching problems arised by distributed applications, for example, service discovery, p2p file sharing, etc. In this paper we consider random walks executed on uniform wireless networks and study how to reduce the expected number of walk steps required to reach a target, namely the hitting time. The latter is the main search performance metric of a random walk based algorithm, since it determines the average response to a search as well as its cost; thus, the actual convenience of using random walks compared to other solutions depends on achieving a low hitting time. We show how in uniform wireless networks, the natural implementation of a random walk which selects the next node to visit at random among all neighbors is not a good choice, since it has a strong negative effect on the hitting time. This paper studies such a negative effect analytically and proposes two neighbor selection rules aiming at reducing the hitting time. A simulation study confirms the benefits of the proposed solutions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stability‐aware multi‐metric clustering in mobile ad hoc networks with group mobility
Authors: Cheng Hui , Cao Jiannong , Wang Xingwei , Das Sajal K. , Yang Shengxiang
Published: April 2008

Clustering can help aggregate the topology information and reduce the size of routing tables in a mobile ad hoc network (MANET). The maintenance of the cluster structure should be as stable as possible to reduce overhead and make the network topology less dynamic. Hence, stability measures the goodness of clustering. However, for a complex system like MANET, one clustering metric is far from reflecting the network dynamics. Some prior works have considered multiple metrics by combining them into one weighted sum, which suffers from intrinsic drawbacks as a scalar objective function to provide solution for multi‐objective optimization. In this paper, we propose a stability‐aware multi‐metric clustering algorithm, which can (1) achieve stable cluster structure by exploiting group mobility and (2) optimize multiple metrics with the help of a multi‐objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA). Performance evaluation shows that our algorithm can generate a stable clustered topology and also achieve optimal solutions in small‐scale networks. For large‐scale networks, it outperforms the well‐known weighted clustering algorithm (WCA) that uses a weighted sum of multiple metrics. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Aflatoxin control program for Peanuts
Authors: Dickens J. W.
Published: April 2008

Abstract and Summary

Under provisions of a USDA Marketing Agreement, an aflatoxin control program for peanuts produced in the United States is administered by the Peanut Administrative Committee composed of peanut growers and shellers. Regulations of this committee contain provisions about the quality of peanuts acquired from farmers, storage of unshelled peanuts, aflatoxin testing, quality and disposition of processed lots, and indemnification of handlers for losses caused by lots which test over 25 parts‐perbillion aflatoxin. Effects of the control program on aflatoxin concentrations in peanut products are discussed.
A Descriptive Overview of Traditional farms and farm Households in Zaire
Authors: Shapiro David
Published: April 2008

This article provides a descriptive overview of a number of characteristics of farms and farm households in traditional Zairian agriculture. Information is provided regarding household size, farm size, crops cultivated, livestock, participation by men and women in various agricultural activities, overall participation in agriculture and in nonagricultural activities by age and sex, and utilization of nonhousehold labor inputs. In addition, regression analysis reveals that household labor inputs, household size and composition, and geographic location are all important determinants of area under cultivation. At the margin, women's contribution to area cultivated is nearly twice as great as that of men.
Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura: An Analysis of 13 Cases
Authors: Lu Chunlai , Ji Yuan , Shan Fei , Guo Weigang , Ding Jianyong , Ge Di
Published: April 2008

Background

Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura is a rare soft‐tissue tumor. In search of appropriate diagnosis and treatment methods, we present our experience with 13 patients.

Methods

The medical charts of 13 patients treated during the last 5 years were reviewed, as well as pathological records, including immunohistochemical stains. Follow‐up data were obtained. In addition, a literature review with regard to treatment and clinical outcome was performed.

Results

Our series consisted of four men and nine women with a mean age of 47 years. Two were diagnosed before operation with ultrasonography‐guided core needle biopsy. All patients underwent primary surgical treatment, and four of them were resected by video‐assisted thoracic surgery. Seven tumors were malignant and the other six were benign. Immunohistochemical staining showed nestin was positive in three malignant solitary fibrous tumors of pleura (3/7), which were negative for CD34. Except for one, all patients were followed‐up for 3 to 35 (mean, 14.5) months. Among them, one patient experienced a recurrence and one patient died of brain metastasis.

Conclusion

Ultrasonography‐guided core needle biopsy combined with immunohistochemical analysis might be a safe and rapid method to provide a confirmatory diagnosis before resection. For smaller, pedunculated tumors, video‐assisted thoracic surgery could be a powerful and useful approach. We speculate that CD34‐negative and nestin‐positive might be a malignant marker for solitary fibrous tumor of pleura.
Invasion under a trade‐off between density dependence and maximum growth rate
Authors: Aikio Sami , Valosaari Kata‐Riina , Ranta Esa , Kaitala Veijo , Lundberg Per
Published: April 2008

The invasion of alien species and genotypes is an increasing concern in contemporary ecology. A central question is, what life‐history traits enable invasion amidst populations of wild species and conventional cultivars? In order to invade, the initially rare species must perform better than their resident competitors. We conducted a mathematical analysis and simulation of a two‐species extension of the Maynard Smith and Slatkin model for population dynamics in discrete time to study the role of density dependence as different types of competition in the invasion of new species. The type of density dependence ranged from scramble to contest competition. This led to intrinsic dynamics of the species range from point equilibrium to cycles and chaos. The traits were treated either as free parameters or constrained by a trade‐off resulting from a common fixed strength of density dependence or equilibrium density. Resident and intruder traits had up to ten‐fold differences in all of the parameters investigated. Higher equilibrium density of the intruder allowed invasion. Under constrained equilibrium density, an intrinsically stable intruder could invade an unstable resident population. Scramble competition made a population more susceptible to invasion than contest competition (e.g., limitation by light or territory availability). This predicts that a population which is mainly limited by food (or nutrients in plants) is more likely to be invaded than a population limited by a hierarchical competition, such as light among plants. The intruder population may have an effect on the resident population's dynamics, which makes the traditional invasion analysis unable to predict invasion outcome.
Acupuncture and dry needling in the management of myofascial trigger point pain: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomised controlled trials
Authors: Tough Elizabeth A. , White Adrian R. , Cummings T. Michael , Richards Suzanne H. , Campbell John L.
Published: April 2008

Pain from myofascial trigger points is often treated by needling, with or without injection, although evidence is inconclusive on whether this is effective. We aimed to review the current evidence on needling without injection, by conducting a systematic literature review.

We searched electronic databases to identify relevant randomised controlled trials, and included studies where at least one group were treated by needling directly into the myofascial trigger points, and where the control was either no treatment, or usual care; indirect local dry needling or some form of placebo intervention. We extracted data on pain, using VAS scores as the standard.

Seven studies were included. One study concluded that direct dry needling was superior to no intervention. Two studies, comparing direct dry needling to needling elsewhere in the muscle, produced contradictory results. Four studies used a placebo control and were included in a meta‐analysis. Combining these studies (n=134), needling was not found to be significantly superior to placebo (standardised mean difference, 14.9 [95%CI, −5.81 to 33.99]), however marked statistical heterogeneity was present (I2=88%).

In conclusion, there is limited evidence deriving from one study that deep needling directly into myofascial trigger points has an overall treatment effect when compared with standardised care. Whilst the result of the meta‐analysis of needling compared with placebo controls does not attain statistically significant, the overall direction could be compatible with a treatment effect of dry needling on myofascial trigger point pain. However, the limited sample size and poor quality of these studies highlights and supports the need for large scale, good quality placebo controlled trials in this area.
Hydrologic and climatic implications of stable isotope and minor element analyses of authigenic calcite silts and gastropod shells from a mid-Pleistocene pluvial lake, Western Desert, Egypt
Authors: Kieniewicz Johanna M. , Smith Jennifer R.
Published: April 2008

Authigenic calcite silts at Wadi Midauwara in Kharga Oasis, Egypt, indicate the prolonged presence of surface water during the Marine Isotope Stage 5e pluvial phase recognized across North Africa. Exposed over an area of ∼ 4.25 km2, these silts record the ponding of water derived from springs along the Libyan Plateau escarpment and from surface drainage. The δ18O values of these lacustrine carbonates (− 11.3‰ to − 8.0‰ PDB), are too high to reflect equilibrium precipitation with Nubian aquifer water or water of an exclusively Atlantic origin. Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca of the silts have a modest negative covariance with silt δ18O values, suggesting that the water may have experienced the shortest residence time in local aquifers when the water δ18O values were highest. Furthermore, intra-shell δ18O, Sr/Ca, and Ba/Ca analyses of the freshwater gastropodMelanoides tuberculataare consistent with a perennially fresh water source, suggesting that strong evaporative effects expected in a monsoonal climate did not occur, or that dry season spring flow was of sufficient magnitude to mute the effects of evaporation. The input of a second, isotopically heavier water source to aquifers, possibly Indian Ocean monsoonal rain, could explain the observed trends in δ18O and minor element ratios.
Pleistocene ice and paleo-strain rates at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica
Authors: Aciego S.M. , Cuffey K.M. , Kavanaugh J.L. , Morse D.L. , Severinghaus J.P.
Published: April 2008

Ice exposed in ablation zones of ice sheets can be a valuable source of samples for paleoclimate studies and information about long-term ice dynamics. We report a 28-km long stable isotope sampling transect along a flowline on lower Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, and show that ice from the last glacial period is exposed here over tens of kilometers. Gas isotope analyses on a small number of samples confirm our age hypothesis. These chronostratigraphic data contain information about past ice dynamics and in particular should be sensitive to the longitudinal strain rate on the north flank of Taylor Dome, averaged over millennia. The imprint of climatic changes on ice dynamics may be discernible in these data.
Younger Dryas to mid-Holocene environmental history of the lowlands of NW Transylvania, Romania
Authors: Feurdean Angelica , Mosbrugger Volker , Onac Bogdan P. , Polyak Victor , Veres Daniel
Published: April 2008

Pollen, micro-charcoal and total carbon analyses on sediments from the Turbuta palaeolake, in the Transylvanian Basin of NW Romania, reveal Younger Dryas to mid-Holocene environmental changes. The chronostratigraphy relies on AMS14C measurements on organic matter and U/Th TIMS datings of snail shells. Results indicate the presence ofPinusandBetulaopen woodlands with small populations ofPicea,Ulmus,AlnusandSalixbefore 12,000 cal yr BP. A fairly abrupt replacement ofPinusandBetulabyUlmus-dominated woodlands at ca. 11,900 cal. yr BP likely represents competition effects of vegetation driven by climate warming at the onset of the Holocene. By 11,000 cal yr BP, the woodlands were increasingly diverse and dense with the expansion ofQuercus,FraxinusandTilia, the establishment ofCorylusand the decline of upland herbaceous and shrubs taxa. The marked expansion ofQuercusaccompanied byTiliabetween 10,500 and 8000 cal yr BP could be the result of low effective moisture associated with both low elevation of the site and with regional change towards a drier climate. At 10,000 cal yr BP,Corylusspread across the region, and by 8000 cal yr BP it replacedQuercusas a dominant forest constituent, with only little representation ofPicea abies.Carpinusbecame established around 5500 cal yr BP, but it was only a minor constituent in local woodlands until ca. 5000 cal yr BP. Results from this study also indicate that the woodlands in the lowlands of Turbuta were never closed.
The Effect of Black Congressional Representation on Political Participation
Authors: Gay Claudine
Published: April 2008

The election of African Americans to Congress is a primary achievement of the post– civil rights transition from protest to politics. I evaluate the link between black congressional representation and political engagement, as measured by voting participation. There are two related objectives: Construct a broader model of participation that takes into account a key component of the political environment since the civil rights era, and more fully appreciate the political significance of minority officeholding by considering its nonpolicy consequences. Using precinct data from eight midterm elections, I demonstrate that the election of blacks to Congress negatively affects white political involvement and only rarely increases political engagement among African Americans.
Resurgent Mass Partisanship: The Role of Elite Polarization
Authors: Hetherington Marc J.
Published: April 2008

For the most part, scholars who study American political parties in the electorate continue to characterize them as weak and in decline. Parties on the elite level, however, have experienced a resurgence over the last two decades. Such a divergence between elite behavior and mass opinion is curious, given that most models of public opinion place the behavior of elites at their core. In fact, I find that parties in the electorate have experienced a noteworthy resurgence over the last two decades. Greater partisan polarization in Congress has clarified the parties’ ideological positions for ordinary Americans, which in turn has increased party importance and salience on the mass level. Although parties in the 1990s are not as central to Americans as they were in the 1950s, they are far more important today than in the 1970s and 1980s. The party decline thesis is in need of revision.
The Hunt for Party Discipline in Congress
Authors: McCarty Nolan , Poole Keith T. , Rosenthal Howard
Published: April 2008

We analyze party discipline in the House of Representatives between 1947 and 1998. The effects of party pressures can be represented in a spatial model by allowing each party to have its own cutting line on roll call votes. Adding a second cutting line makes, at best, a marginal improvement over the standard single-line model. Analysis of legislators who switch parties shows, however, that party discipline is manifest in the location of the legislator's ideal point. In contrast to our approach, we find that the Snyder-Groseclose method of estimating the influence of party discipline is biased toward exaggerating party effects.
Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Authors: Adcock Robert , Collier David
Published: April 2008

Scholars routinely make claims that presuppose the validity of the observations and measurements that operationalize their concepts. Yet, despite recent advances in political science methods, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to measurement validity. We address this gap by exploring four themes. First, we seek to establish a shared framework that allows quantitative and qualitative scholars to assess more effectively, and communicate about, issues of valid measurement. Second, we underscore the need to draw a clear distinction between measurement issues and disputes about concepts. Third, we discuss the contextual specificity of measurement claims, exploring a variety of measurement strategies that seek to combine generality and validity by devoting greater attention to context. Fourth, we address the proliferation of terms for alternative measurement validation procedures and offer an account of the three main types of validation most relevant to political scientists.
Self-Interest, Social Security, and the Distinctive Participation Patterns of Senior Citizens
Authors: CAMPBELL ANDREA LOUISE
Published: April 2008

Decades of participation research show that political activity increases with income, but the participation of senior citizens specifically with regard to Social Security poses an exception to this pattern. Social Security-oriented participation decreases as income rises, in part because lower-income seniors are more dependent on the program. The negative income-participation gradient is especially pronounced for letter writing about the program, but even Social Security-related voting and contributing are less common among higher-income seniors. This is an instance in which self-interest is highly influential: Those who are more dependent are more active. It is also an example of lower-class mobilization with regard to an economic issue, something quite unusual in the United States.
Strategic Parliamentary Dissolution
Authors: STRØM KAARE , SWINDLE STEPHEN M.
Published: April 2008

An important agenda power in parliamentary democracies is the discretion over the dissolution of parliament. We argue that variation in constitutional rules and the political environment will systematically affect the frequency of early elections. We hypothesize that dissolution will be more frequent under single-party governments, when the head of state plays an insignificant role, when neither parliament nor the cabinet can inhibit dissolution, when minority governments are in power, when the head of state can dissolve unilaterally, and later in the constitutional term. Using standard logistic and Cox-proportional hazard techniques, we test these expectations in a pooled time-series setting against observations of most OECD parliamentary democracies for the years 1960–1995. We find that parliamentary dissolutions are more frequent earlier in the constitutional term, under minority governments, when the head of state plays an insignificant role, and when the parliament or the cabinet is not involved.
De-Facing Power By Clarissa Rile Hayward. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 224p. $54.95 cloth, $19.95 paper.
Authors: Digeser P. E.
Published: April 2008

Clarissa Rile Hayward's book begins with the provocative claim that focusing on the relationship between the powerful and the powerless is not the best way to study power. Traditional theories of power have concentrated on the question of what it means for A to have power over B. By seeking to discern who possesses it and how their possession diminishes the freedom of others, researchers have tended to put a face on power. In contrast, Hayward “de-faces” power by arguing that it need not entail a relationship between A's and B's but can be understood entirely in terms of how the field of action of both the powerful and the powerless is defined.
Perfect Deterrence. By Frank C. Zagare and D. Marc Kilgour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 441p. $74.95 cloth, $27.95 paper.
Authors: McGinnis Michael D.
Published: April 2008

For too long, nuclear deterrence theory has been treated as a casualty of the end of the Cold War. During the preceding period of superpower rivalry, debates over the credibility of nuclear deterrence attracted the attention of sophisticated game theorists in diverse disciplines. But with the end of the Cold War, this research tradition virtually ground to a halt. In this important new book, two long-term contributors to this body of research revisit these issues and effectively recast these models as representations of policy dilemmas of long-standing and continuing relevance. For instance, their models of U.S. strategic doctrines of massive retaliation and flexible response prove relevant to any situation in which the parties perceive two levels of conflict to be significantly different, even if neither level involves the use of nuclear weapons.
The Platonic Political Art: A Study of Critical Reason and Democracy By John R. Wallach. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001. 468p. $65.00 cloth, $25.00 paper.
Authors: Tessitore Aristide
Published: April 2008

Not only is the practice of a genuinely Platonic political art compatible with a commitment to democracy, but, according to John Wallach's ambitious book, it furnishes a needed critical resource that can help tap the unfulfilled potential of democracy at the present time. Wallach's unconventional thesis emerges from his critical historicism, a method that attempts to carve a mean between the relatively ahistorical readings of Popper, Strauss, Arendt, Derrida, and Rorty (among others) and the radically historicist readings more typical of classicists and ancient historians (pp. 21–23). Whereas the latter tend to subordinate Plato to the historical and political forces of his time, the widely disparate interpretations of the former cohort view him as either “authoritarian” or radically “self-mocking.” In either case, Plato is portrayed as an antagonist to the freedom and equality of democratic life. To release the Platonic political art from the grip of these influential but debilitating interpretations, Wallach seeks to navigate between the ahistorical elevation of theory (logos) and the historicist subordination of theory to practice (ergon), focusing instead on the dissonance of the logos/ergon relation itself.
Taking Aim: Target Populations and the Wars on AIDS and Drugs By Mark C. Donovan. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2001. 148p. $50.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.
Authors: Peterson Steven A.
Published: April 2008

One recent approach to the study of public policy has been policy design. And one component of this is the concept of target populations. Perhaps the strongest case for the importance of target populations as a focus for research has been advanced in the work of Anne Schneider and Helen Ingram. They have argued that target populations help to shape the construction of public policies. If target populations are politically weak and have negative constructions (for instance, drug users and drug dealers), then policies will tend to be harsh and punitive—penalties rather than benefits. In part, this serves political purposes, since one would get “political points” for being harsh with those who have little power and are perceived as “bad” people. In the process, bad policy may result, since the construction of target populations and policies aimed at them may have little to do with actually solving complex social problems.
Elements of Reason Edited by Arthur Lupia, Matthew D. McCubbins, and Samuel L. Popkin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 344p. $64.95 cloth, $22.95 paper.
Authors: de Marchi Scott
Published: April 2008

Rarely is one invited to see the ingredients that go into the sausage, and if one plans only to eat sausage, this is an ideal situation. But the only way to make sausage is to take a close look at these ingredients, blemishes and all. Despite modeling shortcomings and disagreements that are evident among the authors, Elements of Reason is a remarkable book, both for its instructional value and the insight it offers into one of the most important problems in the social sciences.
Learning by Voting: Sequential Choices in Presidential Primaries and Other Elections By Rebecca B. Morton and Kenneth C. Williams. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001. 184p. $55.00.
Authors: Atkeson Lonna Rae
Published: April 2008

While most elections in the United States are simultaneous (with all voters casting their ballots on the same day), there are elections, such as the presidential primary system, in which voters cast their ballots over an extended period of time. Sequential voting poses an interesting puzzle for scholars of voting behavior, particularly given the information flow of elections, but also the strategic considerations of what is effectively an iterated process over time. Presidential primaries are essentially a sequence or series of state party races that begin in early February and last until June of a presidential election year. Although not precisely the same as the presidential primary process, mail-in balloting or early voting, whereby some voters, especially stronger partisans, choose to cast their ballots prior to election day, offers another example of sequential voting in the United States.
Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Edited by Peter A. Hall and David Soskice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. 560p. $72.00 cloth, $24.95 paper.
Authors: Coates David
Published: April 2008

The volume and quality of the scholarship generated of late on the question of the “varieties of capitalism” has been truly outstanding. We now know far more than we ever did about the internal workings of particular national economies, and about the determinants of what Angus Maddison once termed the “proximate” causes of their competitive strengths and weaknesses. That knowledge has come in part from the work of a talented set of comparative political scientists and industrial sociologists, many of whom participate in this collection. It has also come from the work of a set of economists and economic historians with sufficient professional courage and intellectual integrity to operate at (or even beyond) the edge of their notoriously narrow and institutionally blind discipline. But because that knowledge has come from so many sources, and because so much of it has entered the public domain in the form of discrete case studies or collections of relatively disconnected essays, what the subfield now needs, more than anything else, is the consolidation of a set of organizing frameworks and governing concepts designed to go beyond proximate causes to a fuller understanding of the dynamics of competitive advantage. This is why Peter Hall and David Soskice's much-heralded collection of essays, Varieties of Capitalism, is so important a milestone in the development of the subdiscipline of comparative political economy. At long last it gives us what Pepper D. Culpepper calls here an “analytical tool kit” (p. 303): a collection of essays built around the powerful conceptual devices of “comparative institutional advantage” and “institutional complementarities”—concepts deployed to explain “how the institutions structuring the political economy confer comparative advantages on a nation, especially in the sphere of innovation” (p. v).
The Politics of Elite Transformation: The Consolidation of Greek Democracy in Theoretical Perspective. By Neovi M. Karakatsanis. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001. 224p. $59.95.
Authors: Featherstone Kevin
Published: April 2008

This is an ambitious and innovative study of the processes of democratization evident in Greece after 1974. It has two major distinctions. Firstly, it is based on an extensive range of personal interviews with some of the protagonists involved, as well as on archival searches. Secondly, the empirical analysis is placed within relevant theoretical frames, and these are used to draw out relevant comparisons with other European states. The book serves, therefore, as both a general introduction to the turbulent history of the period and a useful source for comparative analysis of democratization processes. The book is highly accessible and readable. With these qualities, it is likely to become the definitive account of the transition to democracy in Greece. Many scholars and students will benefit from it.
Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China. By Judith Shapiro. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 287p. $59.95 cloth, $18.95 paper.
Authors: Bachman David
Published: April 2008

Judith Shapiro has written the first overview of environmental history of the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong (1949–76). It is a grim history indeed. Instead of employing a more common temporal approach, Shapiro identifies four major themes leading to environmental degradation, and uses compelling case studies to illustrate those themes. The four themes are political repression and suppression of dissenting opinion; utopian urgency; dogmatic uniformity; and war preparation and forcible relocation of the population to remote areas.
Politics after Neoliberalism: Reregulation in Mexico. By Richard Snyder. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 268p. $60.00 cloth.
Authors: Cook María Lorena
Published: April 2008

Richard Snyder's well-crafted study substantiates what most political scientists suspected all along: that neoliberal reforms lead to new institutions of market governance, rather than to unregulated markets. Snyder sheds light on this understudied topic by examining the reregulation of the coffee sector by four state governments after the Mexican government dismantled the Instituto Mexicano del Café (INMECAFE), the state-owned enterprise that dominated the coffee industry during the 1970s and 1980s. By the late 1980s, when deregulation began, INMECAFE was providing production supports, price controls, and government-managed marketing channels for nearly 200 thousand small coffee producers. Most of these producers were located among the poorest states in southern Mexico.
Identities, Border, Orders: Rethinking International Relations Theory. Edited by Mathias Albert, David Jacobson, and Yosef Lapid. Minneapolis: University of Minnestota Press, 2001. 328p. $57.95 cloth, $22.95 paper. Bridges and Boundaries: Historians, Political Scientists, and the Study of International Relations. Edited by Colin Elman and Miriam Fendius Elman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. 431p. $50.00 cloth, $24.95 paper.
Authors: Onuf Nicholas
Published: April 2008

The editors of Bridges and Boundaries asked contributors—nine political scientists and eight historians, all of them North American—to reflect on their respective disciplines and the way they go about “the study of international events” (p. 1). We should notice a positivist disposition here. While contributors “share an interest…in the state, politics and war” (p. 2), events are the stuff of international relations. That the state, politics, and war are complex institutional phenomena perhaps not reducible to events points to conceptual issues that this volume fails generally to address. Instead, contributors discuss the many problems attending generalized explanation and empirical fit—theory and science—as if their shared interests imply a common stock of core concepts.
The ThirdDemocracy:Tocqueville's Views of America after 1840
Authors: CRAIUTU AURELIAN , JENNINGS JEREMY
Published: April 2008

Tocqueville'sDemocracy in Americaoffered the image of an accomplished and successful democratic regime. Although Tocqueville never wrote a third volume, he continued to be interested in American political events and exchanged a number of important letters with his American friends after 1840. Did Tocqueville change his views on America outlined in the two volumes published in 1835 and 1840? If so, did the evolution of his views of America affect his theory of democracy? The paper answers these questions by examining Tocqueville's unduly neglected correspondence with his American friends. It seeks to reconstruct what Volume Three ofDemocracy in Americamight have looked like if it had ever been written. In these letters, Tocqueville addressed important topics such as the instability of the market and the immaturity of American democracy, issues that didnotloom large in the two published volumes. The paper shows that in the last years of his life Tocqueville became very disenchanted with American political life and reassessed some of his previous views of American democracy.

I, who am half Yankee.

Tocqueville (1986, 185)
Presidentialism and Accountability for the Economy in Comparative Perspective
Authors: SAMUELS DAVID
Published: April 2008

To what extent do the institutions of presidentialism allow voters to hold governments accountable? Powell and Whitten (1993) suggested that voter capacity to sanction is strong when “clarity of government responsibility” for outcomes is clear, and vice versa. I argue that clarity of responsibility functions differently under presidentialism and that presidentialism generates particular forms of accountability. In general, electoral sanctioning is weak in nonconcurrent elections, which do not occur under parliamentarism, but is stronger in concurrent elections. In concurrentexecutiveelections the clarity of responsibility does not attenuate the economy's impact on the vote. Yet in concurrentlegislativeelections both partisan and institutional variables diffuse responsibility for economic performance. Thus under many common institutional and partisan formats, voters sanction presidents to a greater degree than legislators for the same phenomenon. These findings elucidate the conditions under which we might observe accountability similar to what we find in some parliamentary systems or a more uniquely presidentialist “dual democratic legitimacies” of the kind Linz (1994) imagined.
It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, but How You Play the Game: Self-Interest, Social Justice, and Mass Attitudes toward Market Transition
Authors: DUCH RAYMOND M. , PALMER HARVEY D.
Published: April 2008

To explore systematic differences in economic reasoning and what might account for them, we investigate how sociocultural conditions affect transitions to market economies in the West African country of Benin. We probe the importance of several factors: basic economic norms, utility maximization behavior, individual-level personal capital, and individual-level social capital. The evidence, based on experiments embedded in an opinion survey, indicates that Beninese citizens widely share commitments to the basic foundations of economic interaction, e.g., property rights. The nature of social capital varies across cultural and political contexts and accounts for cross-contextual variation in the costs associated with cooperative behavior and in utility maximization behavior.
The Dynamics of the Partisan Gender Gap
Authors: BOX-STEFFENSMEIER JANET M. , DE BOEF SUZANNA , LIN TSE-MIN
Published: April 2008

Gender differences in vote choice, opinion, and party identification have become a common feature of the American political landscape. We examine the nature and causes of gender differences in partisanship using a time series approach. We show that gender differences are pervasive—existing outside of the context of specific elections or issues—and that they are a product of the interaction of societal conditions and politics. We find that from 1979 to 2000, the partisan gender gap has grown when the political climate moved in a conservative direction, the economy deteriorated, and the percentage of economically vulnerable, single women increased. The gender gap is likely to be a continual feature of the American political landscape: one that shapes everything from elite political behavior to election outcomes.
When Moderate Voters Prefer Extreme Parties: Policy Balancingin Parliamentary Elections
Authors: KEDAR ORIT
Published: April 2008

This work develops and tests a theory of voter choice in parliamentary elections. I demonstrate that voters are concerned with policy outcomes and hence incorporate the way institutions convert votes to policy into their choices. Since policy is often the result of institutionalized multiparty bargaining and thus votes are watered down by power-sharing, voters often compensate for this watering-down by supporting parties whose positions differ from (and are often more extreme than) their own. I use this insight to reinterpret an ongoing debate between proximity and directional theories of voting, showing that voters prefer parties whose positions differ from their own views insofar as these parties pull policy in a desired direction. Utilizing data from four parliamentary democracies that vary in their institutional design, I test my theory and show how institutional context affects voter behavior.
An Explanation of Anomalous Behavior in Models of Political Participation
Authors: GOEREE JACOB K. , HOLT CHARLES A.
Published: April 2008

This paper characterizes behavior with “noisy” decision making for models of political interaction characterized by simultaneous binary decisions. Applications include: voting participation games, candidate entry, the volunteer's dilemma, and collective action problems with a contribution threshold. A simple graphical device is used to derive comparative statics and other theoretical properties of a “quantal response” equilibrium, and the resulting predictions are compared with Nash equilibria that arise in the limiting case of no noise. Many anomalous data patterns in laboratory experiments based on these games can be explained in this manner.
Flexing Muscle: Corporate Political Expenditures as Signals to the Bureaucracy
Authors: GORDON SANFORD C. , HAFER CATHERINE
Published: April 2008

Regulatory agencies impose costs and benefits tailored to individual firms through their discretionary enforcement activities. We propose that corporations use political expenditures in part to “flex their muscles” to regulators and convey their willingness to fight an agency's specific determinations in the political arena. Because the signaling function of political expenditures is strategically complex, we derive a formal model wherein we demonstrate the existence of an equilibrium in which (1) large political donors are less compliant than smaller ones, but the bureaucracy monitors themless, and (2) firms with publicly observable problems reduce their political expenditures. We test the empirical implications of the model using plant-level data from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the inspection of 63 privately operated nuclear power plants and the political expenditures of their parent companies. We find strong evidence for the first prediction and qualified support for the second.
Policy and the Dynamics of Political Competition
Authors: LAVER MICHAEL
Published: April 2008

This paper proposes a model that takes the dynamic agent-based analysis of policy-driven party competition into a multiparty environment. In this, voters continually review party support and switch parties to increase their expectations; parties continually readapt policy positions to the shifting affiliations of voters. Different algorithms for party adaptation are explored, including “Aggregator” (adapt party policy to the ideal policy positions of party supporters), Hunter (repeat policy moves that were rewarded; otherwise make random moves), Predator (move party policy toward the policy position of the largest party), and “Sticker” (never change party policy). Strong trends in the behavior of parties using different methods of adaptation are explored. The model is then applied in a series of experiments to the dynamics of a real party system, described in a published opinion poll time series. This paper reports first steps toward endogenizing key features of the process, including the birth and death of parties, internal party decision rules, and voter ideal points.
Correction to Gerber and Green (2000), Replication of Disputed Findings, and Reply to Imai (2005)
Authors: GERBER ALAN S. , GREEN DONALD P.
Published: April 2008

This essay corrects the results reported in Gerber and Green 2000 and replies to Imai (2005). When data-processing errors are repaired, the original substantive findings from the New Haven experiment remain unchanged. As previously reported, brief phone calls do not increase voter turnout. The “correction” that Imai (2005) offers, which purports to show that these phone calls produce large, significant, and robust increases in voter turnout, is shown to contain statistical, computational, and reporting errors that invalidate its conclusions about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of phone calls and mail. A replication of the New Haven experiment reproduces both the findings reported in Gerber and Green 2000 and the biases of Imai's statistical analysis.
Campaign Finance and Voter Welfare with Entrenched Incumbents
Authors: ASHWORTH SCOTT
Published: April 2008

Two candidates compete for elective office. Each candidate has information she would like to reveal to the voters, but this requires costly advertising. The candidates can solicit contributions from interest groups to finance such advertising. These contributions are secured by promises to perform favors for the contributors, should the candidate win the election. Voters understand this and elect the candidate they like best, taking into account their expectations about promises to special interests. There is an incumbency advantage in fundraising, which is sometimes so great that the incumbent faces no serious opposition at all. Introducing partial public financing through matching funds improves voter welfare in districts that have advertising under the decentralized system, while it can reduce welfare in other districts. The optimal policy must strike a balance between these two effects.
Economic Backwardness in Political Perspective
Authors: ACEMOGLU DARON , ROBINSON JAMES A.
Published: April 2008

We construct a simple model where political elites may block technological and institutional development, because of a “political replacement effect.” Innovations often erode elites' incumbency advantage, increasing the likelihood that they will be replaced. Fearing replacement, political elites are unwilling to initiate change and may even block economic development. We show that the relationship between blocking and political competition is nonmonotonic: elites are unlikely to block development when there is a high degree of political competition or when they are highly entrenched. It is only when political competition is limited and also when their power is threatened that elites will block development. Blocking is also more likely when political stakes are higher, for example, because of land rents enjoyed by the elites. External threats, on the other hand, may reduce the incentives to block.
Electoral Incentives in Mixed-Member Systems: Party, Posts, and Zombie Politicians in Japan
Authors: PEKKANEN ROBERT , NYBLADE BENJAMIN , KRAUSS ELLIS S.
Published: April 2008

How do electoral incentives affect legislative organization? Through an analysis of Japan's mixed-member electoral system, we demonstrate that legislative organization is strongly influenced not only by the individual legislators reelection incentives but also by their interest in their party gaining power and maintaining a strong party label. Electorally vulnerable legislators are given choice legislative positions to enhance their prospects at the polls, whereas (potential) party leaders disproportionately receive posts with greater influence on the party's overall reputation. Members of Parliament elected from proportional representation (PR) lists and in single member districts also receive different types of posts, reflecting their distinct electoral incentives. Even small variations in electoral rules can have important consequences for legislative organization. In contrast to Germany's compensatory mixed-member system, Japan's parallel system (combined with a “best loser” or “zombie” provision) generates incentives for the party to allocate posts relating to the distribution of particularistic goods to those elected in PR.
Legitimizing Dispute Settlement: International Legal Rulings as Domestic Political Cover
Authors: ALLEE TODD L. , HUTH PAUL K.
Published: April 2008

We develop and test a general argument about the conditions under which state leaders are most likely to choose legal dispute resolution over bilateral negotiations as a means to settle international disputes. Our central claim is that leaders who anticipate significant domestic audience costs for the making of voluntary, negotiated concessions are likely to seek the “political cover” of an international legal ruling. In such cases, it will be easier for leaders to justify the making of concessions if they are mandated as part of a ruling by an international court or arbitration body. We test a series of domestic-level hypotheses using a dataset comprised of nearly 1,500 rounds of talks concerning disputed territorial claims. Our multivariate analyses indicate that state leaders opt for legal dispute resolution when they are highly accountable to domestic political opposition, as well as when the dispute is highly salient to domestic audiences.
Neighborhood Information Exchange and Voter Participation: An Experimental Study
Authors: GROßER JENS , SCHRAM ARTHUR
Published: April 2008

We study the effect of social embeddedness on voter turnout by investigating the role of information about other voters' decisions. We do so in a participation game, in which we distinguish between early and late voters. Each late voter is told about one early voter's turnout decision. Cases are distinguished where the voters are allies (support the same group) or adversaries (with opposing preferences) and where they are uncertain about each other's preferences. Our experimental results show that the social embeddedness matters: this information increases aggregate turnout by approximately 50%. The largest effect is observed for allies. Early voters strategically try to use their first mover position and late voters respond to this.
“Drawing the Line of Equality”: Hannah Mather Crocker on Women's Rights
Authors: BOTTING EILEEN HUNT , HOUSER SARAH L.
Published: April 2008

Hannah Mather Crocker was the leading American political theorist between 1800 and 1820 to engage the controversial question of sex equality. In the wake of the postrevolutionary backlash against political radicalism, she became a subtle rhetorician of women's rights. She accepted how her cultural context placed limits on the realization of women's rights, yet she did not analytically conflate these temporal limits with women's capacities to contribute to their polity. She sought to normatively defend and gently extend American women's ongoing informal political participation in the postrevolutionary era and challenged the separate spheres discourse that aimed to restrict it. Through the first comprehensive study of Crocker'soeuvre, this article provides new insight into the political role and rhetorical style of women's rights discourse and women's activism in the early republic and uncovers Crocker's philosophical legacies for scholars who seek to reconcile the standpoints of equality and difference feminism.