bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Policing Tactics and Perceptions of Police Legitimacy
Authors: Hawdon James E. , Ryan John , Griffin Sean P.
Published: May 2004

Community policing has aimed to restore the legitimacy of the police. Not only must the police have legitimacy to win public cooperation, but also a legitimate police institution fosters more widespread obedience of the law itself. Research indicates that community policing can improve citizen perceptions of the police. However, does community policing improve citizen perceptions of the police or is this improvement simply due to increased police visibility? Survey data from 1,347 residents from 41 South Carolina neighborhoods are used to determine whether policing tactics commonly associated with community policing influence resident perceptions of the police. Regression analysis indicates that police visibility results in improved resident perceptions.
Shedding Light on Police Culture: An Examination of Officers’ Occupational Attitudes
Authors: Paoline Eugene A.
Published: May 2004

Research on police culture has generally fallen within one of two competing camps—one that depicts culture as an occupational phenomenon that encompasses all police officers and one that focuses on officer differences. The latter conceptualization of police culture suggests subcultures (or at least segmentation) that bound or delimit the occupational culture. Using survey data collected as part of the Project on Policing Neighborhoods (POPN) in two municipal police departments, the research reported here examines the similarities and differences among contemporary police officer attitudes in an effort to locate some of the boundaries of the occupational culture of police. Seven analytically distinct groups of officers are identified, suggesting that officers are responding to and coping with aspects of their occupational world in different ways. The findings call into question some of the assumptions associated with a monolithic police culture.
Stress among Rural and Small-Town Patrol Officers: A Survey of Pennsylvani Municipal Agencies
Authors: Scott Yolanda M.
Published: May 2004

Previous studies on police stress have focused mainly on urban officers, and attention afforded to rural and small-town police is virtually nonexistent. To address this gap in the literature, five distinct stress scales were constructed to examine 135 rural and small-town patrol officers’ experiences. The OLS regression results suggest that perceived disruptive administrative changes significantly increased officers’ stress experiences on a number of different dimensions, ranging from perceived maltreatment within the department to inherent aspects of the job. However, changes to the department’s top management positions were most strongly predictive of stress stemming from the organization. Perceived media criticism was positive in its significant effect on two of the five stress scales, general aspects of police work, and danger or violence. Department size was also linked to organizational stress.
Antepartum Bed Rest: Maternal Weight Change and Infant Birth Weight
Authors: Maloni Judith A. , Alexander Greg R. , Schluchter Mark D. , Shah Dinesh M. , Park Seunghee
Published: May 2004

Despite lack of evidence for effectiveness, obstetricians in the United States prescribe antepartum bed rest for more than 700,000 women per year. However, in nonpregnant samples, bed rest treatment produces weight loss. This study assessed maternal weight change (gain) during antepartum hospitalization for bed rest treatment; compared appropriateness of infant birth weights for gestational age, race, and gender; and determined whether maternal weight change predicted infant birth weight. The convenience sample for this longitudinal study consisted of 141 women with high-risk pregnancies who were treated with hospital bed rest. Weekly rate of pregnancy weight change by body mass index was compared with Institute of Medicine recommendations for rate of pregnancy weight gain. Infant birth weight was compared with current US infant birth weights for matching gestational age, gender, and race. Weekly antepartum weight change was significantly lower than Institute of Medicine recommendations (P < 0.001). Infant birth weights were also significantly lower than the national mean when matched for each infant’s gestational age, race, and gender ( P < 0.001). Maternal weight change predicted infant birth weight ( P = 0.05). Bed rest treatment is ineffective for improving pregnancy weight gain. Lower infant birth weights across all gestational ages suggest that maternal weight loss during bed rest may be associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction. A randomized trial comparing women with high-risk pregnancies who are ambulatory with those on bed rest is needed to determine whether bed rest treatment, underlying maternal-fetal disease, or both influence inadequate maternal weight gain and poor intrauterine growth.
Axillary and Thoracic Skin Temperatures Poorly Comparable to Core Body Temperature Circadian Rhythm: Results from 2 Adult Populations
Authors: Thomas Karen A. , Burr Robert , Wang Shu-Yuann , Lentz Martha J. , Shaver Joan
Published: May 2004

Data from 2 separate studies were used to examine the relationships of axillary or thoracic skin temperature to rectal temperature and to determine the phase relationships of the circadian rhythms of these temperatures. In study 1, axillary skin and rectal temperatures were recorded in 19 healthy women, 21 to 36 years of age. In study 2, thoracic skin and rectal temperatures were recorded in 74 healthy women, 39 to 59 years of age. In both studies, temperatures were recorded continuously for 24 h while subjects carried out normal activities. Axillary and thoracic probes were insulated purposely to prevent ambient effects. Cosinor analysis was employed to estimate circadian rhythm mesor, amplitude, and acrophase. In addition, correlations between temperatures at various measurement sites were calculated and agreement determined. The circadian timing of axillary and skin temperatures did not closely approximate that of rectal temperature: the mean acrophase (clock time) for study 1 was 18:57 h for axillary temperature and 16:12 h for rectal; for study 2, it was 03:05 h for thoracic and 15:05 h for rectal. Across individual subjects, the correlations of axillary or thoracic temperatures with rectal temperatures were variable. Results do not support the use of either axillary or skin temperature as a substitute for rectal temperature in circadian rhythm research related to adult women.
The Effects of Non-Weight Bearing on Skeletal Muscle in Older Rats: an Interrupted Bout versus an Uninterrupted Bout
Authors: Gehrke Alissa Guildner , Krull Margaret Sheie , McDonald Robin Shotwell , Sparby Tracy , Thoele Jessica , Troje Sara Willen , ZumBerge Jaime , Thompson LaDora V.
Published: May 2004

Age-related changes in skeletal muscle, in combination with bed rest, may result in a poorer rehabilitation potential for an elderly patient. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of non-weight bearing (hind limb unweighting [HU]) on the soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) in older rats. Two non-weight bearing conditions were used: an uninterrupted bout of HU and an interrupted bout of HU. Twenty-one rats were randomly placed into 1 of 3 groups: control, interrupted HU (2 phases of 7 days of HU, separated by a 4-day weight-bearing phase) and an uninterrupted HU (18 uninterrupted days of HU). Following non-weight bearing, the soleus and EDL muscles were removed. Fiber type identification was performed by myofibrillar ATPase and cross-sectional area was determined. The findings suggest that any period of non-weight bearing leads to a decrease in muscle wet weight (19%-45%). Both type I and type II fibers of the soleus showed atrophy (decrease in cross-sectional area, 35%-44%) with an uninterrupted bout of non-weight bearing. Only the type II fibers of the soleus showed recovery with an interrupted bout of weight bearing. In the EDL, type II fibers were more affected by an uninterrupted bout of non-weight bearing (15% decrease in fiber size) compared to the type I fibers. EDL type II fibers showed more atrophy with interrupted bouts of non-weight bearing than with a single bout (a 40% compared to a 15% decrease). This study shows that initial weight bearing after an episode of non-weight bearing may be damaging to type II fibers of the EDL.
The Effects of Estradiol and Progesterone on Plantarflexor Muscle Fatigue in Ovariectomized Mice
Authors: Schneider Barbara St. Pierre , Fine Jason P. , Nadolski Timothy , Tiidus Peter M.
Published: May 2004

The aim of this study was to examine specific and interactional effects of estradiol and progesterone on the time-to-fatigue of eccentrically contracted plantarflexor muscles and on the percent of plantarflexor isometric torque remaining immediately after an eccentric contraction (EC) protocol. Ovariectomized 6- to 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice were implanted with 21-day 0.05 mg-placebo, 0.05 mg-17-ß estradiol (OE), 15 mg-progesterone (OP), or estradiol and progesterone pellets (OEP). On the 16th day of hormone treatment, the isometric torque of the left plantarflexor muscles was measured. The left plantarflexor muscles then underwent 1 set of 150 ECs followed by 2 immediate post-EC isometric torque measurements. A group of ovarian-intact female mice of a similar age underwent the same isometric torque measurements and EC protocol. Plantarflexor muscle fatigue during ECs took 30%-41% longer to occur in the OP group (n = 9) than it did in the intact (n =8, P = 0.02), OC (n = 11, P = 0.003), and OEP (n =9, P = 0.007) groups. Peak active isometric torque had decreased immediately after ECs at 2 time points (M1 and M2). The OP group exhibited the greatest percent of isometric torque remaining immediately after ECs (M1, P = 0.03; M2, P = 0.04). These findings suggest that progesterone reduces muscle fatigue in response to ECs and that this progesterone effect is blunted when estradiol also is present. Therefore, ovarian hormone status may need to be considered when evaluating a response to physical activities, especially those activities involving ECs.
Sex Differences in Immune Responses and Immune Reactivity to Stress in Adolescents
Authors: Kang Duck-Hee , Kim Chun-Ja , Suh Yeonok
Published: May 2004

The immune system is the body’s major defense mechanism against disease. However, psychosocial factors, such as stress, can modulate various immune responses. Although they have been examined in adult humans and other animals, sex differences in immune responses and immune reactivity to stress have rarely been examined in adolescents, particularly comparing healthy and asthmatic adolescents. In 151 healthy and asthmatic high school adolescents (91 females and 60 males), natural killer cell (NK) cytotoxicity, polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) superoxide release, lymphocyte proliferative responses, and CD subsets were measured twice: once during mid-semester and again during final examinations. There was little difference in these measures between healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Similarly, only sex difference was noted in NK cytotoxicity at a 25:1 effector-to-target cell ratio, with males showing significantly higher responses than females. For PMN superoxide release, females significantly increased their responses during final examinations, whereas males demonstrated no changes. For lymphocyte proliferative responses, both females and males increased their responses during final examinations, but the magnitude of increase was much greater in males. Furthermore, racial comparisons indicated that African American adolescents (n = 16), as compared with Caucasian adolescents (n = 128), had significantly higher responses in PMN superoxide release to N-Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (FMLP) activation during mid-semester and lymphocyte proliferative responses at both time points. Nevertheless, the overall findings indicate limited differences in immune responses and immune reactivity to stress in adolescents between males and females, healthy and asthmatic adolescents, and Caucasians and African Americans. However, further investigations with larger samples are warranted.
Are there Sex Differences in Emotional and Biological Responses in Spousal Caregivers of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease?
Authors: Thompson Russel (Trey) L. , Lewis Sharon L. , Murphy Margaret R. , Hale Jennifer M. , Blackwell Paula H. , Acton Gayle J. , Clough Dorothy H. , Patrick Graham J. , Bonner Peter N.
Published: May 2004

The purpose of this study was to compare emotional and biological responses of men and women who are spousal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Quality-of-life measurements, bioinstrumentation data, and immunophenotype assessments were obtained from female and male spousal caregivers of patients with AD. Spousal caregivers (women, n = 45 with average age 69.7; men, n = 16 with average age 71.4 years) completed questionnaires that assessed psychosocial variables. Blood was drawn and lymphocyte subsets (including natural killer [NK] cell number) were determined using flow cytometry. The degree of relaxation was determined measuring muscle tension (EMG) in the frontalis and trapezius muscles, skin conductance, skin temperature, and heart rate. Male spousal caregivers, as compared to female spousal caregivers, had significantly lower levels of stress, depression, caregiver burden (subjective), anxiety, anger-hostility, and somatic symptoms and higher levels of mental health, sense of coherence, NK cell number, and social and physical functioning. There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups in social support, coping resources, or T, T suppressor, or activated T cells. Women had more T helper cells and fewer NK cells than men. Men had fewer manifestations of a physiological stress response, as indicated by bioinstrumentation parameters. Unique sex-specific issues need to be considered when strategies are implemented to assist the increasing number of caregivers as our society ages.
Lifestyle Practices and Nocturnal Sleep in Midlife Women with and without Insomnia
Authors: Cheek Rita E. , Shaver Joan L. , Lentz Martha J.
Published: May 2004

Relationships between common lifestyle practices important to sleep hygiene (e.g., smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, ingesting caffeine, exercising, bedtimes, getting-up times) and nocturnal sleep have not been documented for women with insomnia in their home environments. This community-based sample of 121 women, ages 40 to 55 years, included 92 women who had experienced insomnia for at least 3 months and 29womenwith good-quality sleep. Women recorded lifestyle practices and sleep perceptions (time to fall asleep, awakenings during sleep, feeling rested after sleeping, and overall sleep quality) in diaries while undergoing 6 nights of somnographic sleep monitoring at home. Compared to women with good-quality sleep, women with insomnia reported greater nightto-night variation in perceived sleep variables, poorer overall sleep quality (M = 2.8,SD = 0.7 vs.M = 1.9,SD = 0.5,P < 0.05), and longer times to fall asleep (M = 25 min,SD = 14.2 vs.M = 12.9 min,SD = 5.8,P < 0.05). Correlations between mean individual lifestyle practice scores and mean perceived or somnographic sleep variables were low, ranging from 0 to 0.20. An aggregated sleep hygiene practice score was not associated with either perceived or somnographic sleep variables. Regression analysis using dummy variables showed that combinations of alcohol, caffeine, exercise, smoking, and history of physical disease explained 9% to 19% of variance in perceived or somnographic sleep variables. Lifestyle practices, and combinations thereof, do warrant consideration when assessing or treating insomnia, but these data fail to support a dominant relationship between lifestyle practices and either perceived or somnographic sleep variables.
New and Emerging Theories of Cardiovascular Disease: Infection and Elevated Iron
Authors: Alpert Patricia T.
Published: May 2004

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in industrialized countries. Despite the tremendous gains made in decreasing the number of deaths due to cardiovascular disease, it still is health care’s greatest challenge. Traditional risk factors account for only 50% of the incidence of cardiac disease. In fact, many individuals who develop heart disease have normal cholesterol and blood pressure levels. This suggests that other less well-studied risk factorsmay also play a role. The purpose of this report is to examine the role that recently suggested risk factors may play in the development of heart disease: coronary artery infection, specifically fromChlamydia pneumoniae, and elevated iron levels. Both initiate an inflammatory response, which might explain the elevated C-reactive protein levels frequently found in those who suffer from cardiac disease.
Physiological and Psychological Correlates of Fatigue in HIV Disease
Authors: Phillips Kenneth D. , Sowell Richard L. , Rojas Michelle , Tavakoli Abbas , Fulk Laura J. , Hand Gregory A.
Published: May 2004

Fatigue is a frequent symptom reported by persons living with HIV disease and one that affects all aspects of quality of life. To improve quality of care of persons with HIV disease, it is important to address all factors that contribute to fatigue. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations of physiological, psychological, and sociological factors with fatigue in an HIV-infected population. With Piper’s integrated fatigue model guiding selection, factors examined in this study were hemoglobin, hematocrit, CD4+ cell count, HIV-RNA viral load, total sleep time, sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, HIV-related symptoms, anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. The sample (N = 79) for this descriptive correlational study was recruited from a primary health care association in South Carolina and consisted of 42 (53.2%) HIV-infected women and 37 (46.8%) HIV-infected men between the ages of 24 and 63 years (x = 39.9, s = 7.9). Of the participants, 70 (90%) were African American, 5 (6%) were Caucasian, and 3 (4%) were Hispanic. Using Pearson’s r, significant relationships were observed between fatigue and sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, HIV-related symptoms, state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. Sleep quality (F5,65 = 12.02, P = 0.0009), state anxiety (F5,65 = 8.28, P = 0.0054), HIV-related symptoms (F5,65 = 4.87, P = 0.0308), and depression (F5,65 = 7.31, P = 0.0087) retained significance in a 3-step, backward stepwise elimination model and accounted for 67% of the variance in fatigue. These findings underscore the need for addressing psychosocial stressors and sleep quality in developing effective care for HIV-infected individuals who experience fatigue.
Gender, Nationality and Identity
Authors: Stapleton Karyn , Wilson John
Published: May 2004

Personal identity requires agentic mediation of overlapping social structures and categories; and further the maintenance of a coherent self across different life contexts. A central means of achieving/maintaining identity is through self-narratives and modes of discursive positioning. In this article, we examine the intersection of two key identity categories, gender and nationality, in the biographical accounts of two female friends (one English and one Irish). Both categories can be seen to structure the speakers’ identities as particular types of people, and to interact in mutually defining ways. However, the speakers actively negotiate these structures and constraints to produce specific versions of themselves. While, on occasion, they invoke national (gender) stereotypes in constructing their identities, they both counter-position themselves in relation to gendered expectations within their respective national contexts. Drawing on selected extracts, we examine the discursive strategies through which they construct and maintain such identities across different biographical contexts.
The Eclipse of Marriage
Authors: Reed Kate
Published: May 2004

This article explores the influence of marriage on the health choices and status of 30 British Asian mothers in Leicester, UK. While marriage was firmly on the agenda of earlier research on health, it is no longer seen as important due to changes in family formations. Studies that do exist are mainly quantitative in focus. While these are useful, they fail to thoroughly explore women’s social circumstances and also tend to over-generalize, often under-representing ethnic minority women within their research. Taking a qualitative approach and focusing on women from an ethnic minority group, this article aims to explore the influence of marriage and social context on women’s health. The article will show that for many women marriage still matters regarding their health; its effects are diverse, socially embedded and change over time.
Discourses Surrounding Prostitution Policies in the UK
Authors: Kantola Johanna , Squires Judith
Published: May 2004

This article examines discourses invoked in the UK debates about prostitution and trafficking in women. The authors suggest that there are three striking features about these discourses: (1) the absence of the sex work discourse, (2) the dominance of the public nuisance discourse in relation to kerb-crawling and (3) the dominance of moral order discourses in relation to trafficking. At a time when the UK is about to revise its sex laws, it is important to consider the discourses that frame prostitution policies in other European countries, with a view to broadening the range of policy options. In this context, the authors compare the UK with the Netherlands, where a sex work discourse has framed debates. This comparison indicates that UK prostitution discourses could be shaped by discourses other than those of public nuisance and moral order and may open up new policy options.
Perhaps She Was Having a Bad Hair Day!
Authors: Hughes Christina
Published: May 2004

In this ‘Open Letter’ the author raises a number of concerns about the role of critique in feminist writing. She does this by exploring an article that represents, for her, a particularly bad case of the lack of generosity that can arise in the treatment of another’s work. The author argues that, to develop greater generosity in our critical engagement with each other’s work, we should make greater use of our reflexive imaginations in order to take fuller account of the conditions of a text’s production.
‘Immediately I Thought We Should Do the Same Thing’
Authors: Roggeband Conny
Published: May 2004

Cross-national traffic of feminist ideas have contributed to a growth of the international women’s movement and has shaped national movements. These processes have only recently become the subject of study and theoretical discussion. The theoretical models that have been developed so far fail to take into account the complex nature of intercultural communication. No attention is paid to problems of interpretation and translation that may occur and how ‘adopters’ use the example of others. Instead, this article proposes an empirically grounded, alternative model of the process, based on the cases of women’s organizations against sexual violence in the Netherlands and Spain. The author’s approach focuses on the processes of communication – the relationship between source and followers and the conditions that facilitate or impede communication – and the conditions that lead to adaptation.
The Adoption of Management Ideas and Practices
Authors: Sturdy Andrew
Published: May 2004

The adoption of new management ideas and practices has become an important and substantial area of study and debate within organizational studies, often under the label of management fads. However, there has been little critical reflection on the range of theoretical approaches used and their problems and possibilities. Moreover, while there has been some overlap with broader issues of management knowledge and learning, debates and literatures remain largely distinct. By way of an overview and as a way of furthering the existing multi-disciplinarity of debates on learning, this article selectively constructs and assesses six broad perspectives on the adoption of management ideas. Rational views are initially contrasted with various psychodynamic, dramaturgical, political, cultural and institutional approaches. However, it is argued that existing perspectives and classifications tend to be dualistic and either idealize or marginalize managerial rationality. This leads to empirical neglect and the possibility for approaches where rational management is acknowledged as necessarily bounded and emotional.
The Use of 360 Degree Feedback Technique in the Evaluation of Management Development
Authors: Tyson Shaun , Ward Peter
Published: May 2004

This article examines 360 degree feedback as both an intervention and an evaluation technique for assessing management learning. An evaluation model is described which was created to distinguish the effects of different interventions for different stakeholders. This is illustrated by reference to management development programmes for 500 managers conducted over three years in a large UK public authority. The article concludes with an analysis of the use of 360 degree feedback in its dual role of evaluation data source and intervention for development.
The Social Foundations of the Bureaucratic Order
Authors: Kallinikos Jannis
Published: May 2004

This article views the bureaucratic form of organization as both an agent and an expression of key modern social innovations that are most clearly manifested in the non-inclusive terms by which individuals are involved in organizations. Modern human involvement in organizations epitomizes and institutionally embeds the crucial yet often overlooked cultural orientation of modernity whereby humans undertake action along well-specified and delimited paths thanks to their capacity to isolate and suspend other personal or social considerations. The organizational involvement of humans qua role agents rather than qua persons helps unleash formal organizing from being tied to the indolence of the human body and the languish process of personal or psychological reorientation. Thanks to the loosening of these ties, the bureaucratic organization is rendered able to address the shifting contingencies underlying modern life by reshuffling and re-assembling the roles and role patterns by which it is made. The historically unique adaptive capacity of bureaucracy remains, though hidden behind the ubiquitous presence of routines and standard operating procedures that are mistakenly exchanged for the essence of the bureaucratic form.
Bureaucracy Re-Enchanted? Spirit, Experts and Authority in Organizations
Authors: Casey Catherine
Published: May 2004

Bureaucracy is challenged and examined from almost all quarters in organizational analysis. As part of wide debate over postmodern cultural theorizations there is now much debate over the viability and retention of bureaucratic forms of organization. It is often argued that bureaucracies have been displaced by more rapid-response entrepreneurial and strategic configurations. Yet we can observe examples of bureaucracy that deliberately select, repress, discard or restore elements of bureaucratic norms and values. This article proposes that there is emergent evidence of a raft of new activities occurring in contemporary bureaucratic organizations, which challenge our conceptions of bureaucratic organization. The article draws attention to some unconventional practices, many of which involve the invocation of alternative sources of authority and legitimacy. It raises questions for the implications of an apparently counter-rational, counter-bureaucratic, re-enchantment impulse. The analytic, interpretive exploration of these questions draws bureaucratic organization back into society and social analysis.
Project Work: The Legacy of Bureaucratic Control in the Post-Bureaucratic Organization
Authors: Hodgson Damian E.
Published: May 2004

Much of the interest in ‘post-bureaucracy’ in both managerialist and critical circles resides in its perceived potential to break with the traditions of bureaucratic, hierarchical control in work organizations. In response to the challenges of the post-bureaucratic form, project management has been put forward by many as a ‘tried-and-tested’ package of techniques able to cope with discontinuous work, expert labour and continuous and unpredictable change while delivering the levels of reliability and control of the traditional bureaucracy. In this article I explore some of the contradictions and tensions within a department where such a ‘hybrid’ mode of control is implemented, embodying both bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic logics. In particular, I focus upon the discursive tactics employed to sell ‘rebureaucratization’ as ‘debureaucratization’, and the complex employee responses to this initiative. I argue that the tensions evident here cast significant doubt on the feasibility of a seamless integration of bureaucracy and the postbureaucratic.
Against ‘Enterprise’ (but not against ‘enterprise’, for that would make no sense)
Authors: du Gay Paul
Published: May 2004

This article explores different conceptions of ‘enterprise’ and seeks to indicate the extent to which they are non-reducible. Its main focus is on one particular conception of enterprise that has underpinned a powerful critique of public sector organizations and which has been translated into a variety of specific organizational strategies for restructuring or modernizing the public services. This conception, it is argued, is very different from that informing much of the prescriptive and descriptive literature on entrepreneurship within management studies, for instance. The article also attempts to question the opposition between ‘bureaucracy’ and ‘enterprise’ that frames this self-styled ‘entrepreneurial’ approach to organizational reform. This epochal ‘bureaucracy/enterprise’ dualism, it is argued, is best viewed as a rhetorical move in a political polemic, but one with real effects.
Alternative Perspectives on the Role of Text and Agency in Constituting Organizations
Authors: Putnam Linda L. , Cooren François
Published: May 2004

Organizational discourse analysis, as an area of research, has grown in the past decade. Most scholars posit that language, regardless of the discursive form, is critical to the very nature of an organization. This article contends that discourse is more than an artifact or a reflection of an organization; rather it forms the foundation for organizing and for developing the notion oforganization as an entity. The articles in this volume present different perspectives on the role of text and agency in contributing to the constitution of organizations. Although the concept of text has different meanings in these articles, it refers, in general, to the medium of communication, collection of interactions, and assemblages of oral and written forms. Whether influenced by interaction analysis, structuration theory, text/conversation analysis or textual agency, these essays demonstrate how textuality in all its various forms participates in the production and reproduction of organizational life.
Text, Agency, and Organization in the Light of Structuration Theory
Authors: McPhee Robert D.
Published: May 2004

This article argues for three linked conceptions. First is a conception of ‘a text’ as characterized by three features: a text is symbolic; it is inscribed as symbols on a relatively permanent, ‘readable’ medium such as paper or CD; and it has a coherent enough structure to be dealt with by interpretive processes or technologies such as financial processing. The second conception is that of an organization as a stable relational system grounded in the capacity to ‘“bracket space–time”... via the reflexive monitoring of system reproduction and the articulation of discursive history’ (Giddens, 1987b: 153). I argue that this capacity depends on the specific properties of ‘a text’ mentioned above. Third, ‘agency’ is conceptualized in line with Giddens’ ‘internalist’ model of agentive powers, which are ones necessary to engage with a text as organization members do. The paper argues that other conceptions risk blinding us to the features and relationships shown to be crucial here.
Textual Agency: How Texts Do Things in Organizational Settings
Authors: Cooren François
Published: May 2004

Research on organizational discourse typically reduces it to what members do when producing and using texts in organizational contexts, but fails to recognize that texts, on their own, also seem to make a difference. This essay shows that one way to approach discourse is to analyze the active contribution of texts (especially, but not only, documents) to organizational processes, that is, to what extent texts such as reports, contracts, memos, signs, or work orders can be said to be performing something. After reviewing what other scholars have been saying on the question of textual agency, I show how it is possible to ascribe to texts the capacity of doing something without falling into some modern form of animism. Having done that, I explore systematically the different types of action that texts can be said to be performing by taking up Searle’s well-known classification of speech acts. This review then leads me to address questions related to the constitution of organizations, that is, to what extent this reflection on textual agency enables us to redefine the mode of being of organizational forms.
Politics and International Legal Obligation
Authors: Reus-Smit Christian
Published: May 2004

Why do states recognize an obligation to observe the rules of international law? Existing accounts of international legal obligation suffer from the problem of ‘interiority’. They first ground obligation in some internal feature of the international legal system — such as consent, fairness or dialogue — but when these turn out to be insufficient, they fall back on assumptions about the legitimacy of the international legal system itself, for which they cannot account. The roots of this problem ultimately lie in flawed conceptions of politics that underlie these accounts. To overcome this problem, this article proposes an alternative, ‘interstitial’ understanding of politics that locates politics at the intersections of idiographic, purposive, ethical and instrumental forms of reason and action. This understanding of politics enables us to rethink the nature of institutional rationality, and in turn the bases of international legal obligation. Furthermore, it provides us with a conceptual framework that illuminates the relationship between historically grounded modes of politics and the legitimacy of particular institutional forms, including the modern system of international law. This argument is illustrated through an explanation of the sacral logic of obligation that undergirded the international legal system in the Age of Absolutism.
Institutionalization, Policy Adaptation and European Foreign Policy Cooperation
Authors: Smith Michael E.
Published: May 2004

The expansion of European Union (EU) foreign policy cooperation since 1970 presents a number of puzzles for theorists of regional integration and International Relations. It is not directed by supranational organizations, does not involve bargaining over policy alternatives, and is not dominated by the largest EU states. Nor do the EU’s common foreign policy decisions reflect ‘lowest common denominator’ preferences. Instead, cooperation has been achieved through decentralized institutional mechanisms, involving processes associated with both intergovernmental and social constructivist theories. This article first explains how changes in institutional context — in terms of intergovernmental, transgovernmental and supranational procedures — affect the propensity for cooperation. It then links processes of institutionalization to an expansion of foreign policy cooperation among EU member states. Finally, it explores three policy areas (the Middle East, South Africa and nuclear non-proliferation) where EU states have adjusted their national foreign policies in line with EU foreign policy norms.
International Governance as New Raison d’État? the Case of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy
Authors: Koenig-Archibugi Mathias
Published: May 2004

Various scholars have suggested that at times national governments use international cooperation to gain influence in the domestic political arena and to overcome internal opposition to their preferred policies. Klaus Dieter Wolf has argued that this practice represents the latest embodiment of a longstanding raison d’état and has provided theoretical foundations for its systematic study. This article assesses the usefulness of this ‘new raison d’état’ thesis as a source of empirical hypotheses about the origins and persistence of international institutions. On the basis of the general logic of the argument, I develop one crucial implication that may be corroborated by cross-national research. In the light of this, the preferences of European governments regarding the institutional depth of the European Union’s common foreign and security policy are examined. Overall, the findings presented in this article confirm that ‘collusive delegation’ can be a significant factor in the creation of international governance arrangements.
The Political Authority of Secularism in International Relations
Authors: Hurd Elizabeth Shakman
Published: May 2004

Secularism is an important source of political authority in International Relations theory and practice. Secularists identify something called ‘religion’ and separate it from the domains of the state, the economy and science. This separation facilitates a consensus which is sustained by a powerful yet historically contingent set of beliefs, including secularism as the realization of God’s will, secularism as the natural evolution toward universal morality and secularism as a normal consequence of economic modernization. Despite these aspirations, secularism is unequipped to serve as a universal model of public life, either domestically or internationally. The creation of the category of religion and its demarcation from politics is a highly politicized decision that is not subject to a final settlement, and the pretense of a final settlement exacerbates international conflict rather than diminishing it. The religion/politics negotiation is a fluid site of authority with complex relations to the state system, the global economy, international ethics and other more heavily theorized locations of power in international relations.
Political Parties, Party Communication and New Information and Communication Technologies
Authors: Römmele Andrea
Published: May 2004

The article provides a theoretical overview of how parties in modern democracies are using the Internet to perform a range of key functions, such as opinion formation, interest mediation and party organization. Drawing on the party goals’ literature and classic party typologies, the central argument of the article is that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are utilized in different ways by different types of political parties. While some parties stress the downward dissemination of information via new ICTs, others emphasize their interactive and targeting possibilities. The findings of the articles included in this Special Issue are profiled and assessed for the extent to which they provide empirical support for the strategies outlined.
Preaching to the Converted?
Authors: Norris Pippa
Published: May 2004

In this study, it is theorized that party websites play a distinctive role in two regards: (i) they function as a pluralistic civic forum by facilitating the voice of oppositional challengers and increasing the visibility of minor and fringe parties, so that attentive citizens can learn more about the range of electoral choices; (ii) in addition, party websites function as a channel for political participation by facilitating interactive linkages between citizens and parties. The debate about the function of the Internet for pluralism and participation is laid out in Part I. The supply-and-demand research design, including content analysis of 134 websites (supply) and surveys of the public using party websites (demand), in the 15 European Union member states, drawn from the Spring 2000 Euro-barometer, is outlined in Part II. The evidence for patterns of party competition in European party websites is examined in Part III and in Part IV the use of party websites among West Europeans is analyzed. Compared with traditional mediated channels, substantial evidence is presented that party websites play a distinctive role in the process of political communications.
The Political Role of the Internet in Societies in Transition
Authors: Semetko Holli A. , Krasnoboka Natalya
Published: May 2004

Our research investigates the opportunities provided by the Internet for political parties to communicate to the electorate, and the extent to which party websites are used versus other information sources on the Web. We find that parties in Parliament, major parties and newly created parties are more prominent online than others, and, based on standard quality indicators, that parliamentary parties and new parties have better quality websites. This confirms some of the findings concerning parties online in established democracies. On comparing party with news websites, however, we find that sites of online-only newspapers are the most popular; that online versions of offline news outlets are of secondary importance, in contrast to what has been found in established democracies; and that party and politician websites are of least importance to users, based on the number of hits to these websites. The political role of the Internet in Russia and Ukraine is discussed in conclusion.
The End of Silent Elections
Authors: Caramani Daniele
Published: May 2004

This article explores empirically the competitive strategies of political parties aimed at maximizing electoral support in the early years of democratic elections. By spreading through geographical space in search of votes, candidates and parties challenged adversaries in their strongholds - a process that led to a reduction in the number of safe seats and uncontested constituencies. Evidence covers eight European countries from the early nineteenth century until World War I and is based on constituency-level data. The increasing competition among parties is described, and the impact of the ‘massification of politics’ evaluated: (1) the extension of voting rights; (2) the challenge to conservatives and liberals by mass parties (mainly social democrats after the Industrial Revolution) and the supremacy of the left-right cleavage over cultural resistances; and (3) the change from a majoritarian to PR formula as an incentive for parties to spread across constituencies. The analogy between competition in the geographical and ideological space is illustrated.
Legislative Party Fragmentation in Swiss Cantons
Authors: Vatter Adrian
Published: May 2004

The determinants of party fragmentation in the two dozen cantonal parliaments of Switzerland are examined. Empirically, it is shown that the number of legislative parties in the Swiss member states is on the one hand a function of the religious heterogeneity of the cantons, and on the other a function of the effective threshold. Finally, socio-structural characteristics (urbanization, population density) are linked to the number of legislative parties in Swiss cantons.
Transformation of Political Islam in Turkey
Authors: Taniyici Saban
Published: May 2004

The recent changes in the Islamist party’s ideology and policies in Turkey are analysed in this article. The Islamist Welfare Party (WP) was ousted from power in June 1997 and was outlawed by the Constitutional Court (CC) in March 1998. After the ban, the WP elite founded the Virtue Party and changed policies on a number of issues. They emphasized democracy and basic human rights and freedoms in the face of this external shock. The WP’s hostile policy toward the European Union (EU) was changed. This process of change is discussed and it is argued that the EU norms presented a political opportunity structure for the party elites to influence the change of direction of the party. When the VP was banned by the CC in June 2001, the VP elites split and founded two parties which differ on a number of issues but have positive policies toward the EU.
Determinants of Candidate Selection
Authors: Lundell Krister
Published: May 2004

The purpose of this article is to examine whether party characteristics and contextual variables explain varying degrees of centralization of intra-partisan candidate selection methods. By means of statistical analyses and a larger dataset than in earlier studies, possible associations are studied. In order to carry out the study, an index of the degree of centralization is constructed. Of the party characteristics, only party size affects the dependent variable: large parties tend to apply more centralized selection methods than small parties. None of the institutional variables determines the degree of centralization of candidate selection. For instance, earlier assertions about the importance of the electoral system and territorial organization are falsified. However, some distinct regional patterns emerge: Southern European parties apply centralized selection methods, whereas candidate selection in Nordic countries is decentralized.
Why Parties Fail to Learn
Authors: Norris Pippa , Lovenduski Joni
Published: May 2004

Multiple factors can be offered to explain the Labour victory, and Conservative defeat, in the 2001 British general election. Here we pursue an explanation based on the idea that rational vote-seeking politicians may fail to learn from electoral defeat due to selective perception. In Part I we outline the theoretical premises and in Part II consider how this framework can be applied to the context of British elections. Evidence is drawn from the 2001 British Representation Study1 (BRS) involving 1000 parliamentary candidates and MPs. Comparisons are made with the British Election Study (BES). We focus on two measures of ideological change in British politics, namely tax cuts versus spending and European integration versus independence. The evidence is laid out in Part III. The analysis supports three main conclusions: (i) on the key issues of public spending and Europe, Labour politicians remained close to the centre ground of Westminster party politics, along with the Liberal Democrats, with the Nationalist parties further towards the left, while the Conservatives remained on the far right; (ii) as a result of this pattern the Conservatives were the party furthest away from the median British voter; and (iii) one important reason for this pattern was ‘selective perception’, so that more Conservative politicians ‘missed the target’. In concluding, we discuss the reasons for this phenomenon and the broader lessons explaining why parties fail to learn and adapt in the face of repeated massive electoral defeats.
Head Start in Politics
Authors: Hooghe Marc , Stolle Dietlind , Stouthuysen Patrick
Published: May 2004

It has been claimed that the current decline in party membership indicates the demise of mass-based parties. Despite the fact that youth organizations within parties traditionally played an important role in the recruitment of party members, these organizations have never been studied systematically. A survey among city councillors in Belgium (Flanders) demonstrates that youth sections of political parties serve as crucial recruitment channels: 41 percent of all councillors started their political career in a youth organization. We provide evidence that youth membership offers substantial advantages in building a political career. Youth organizations lose members much more rapidly than parties in general, which might further contribute to the demise of political parties. This implies that in the future political parties will have to rely on alternative mechanisms to recruit members. The current crisis of youth organizations could imply that the downward trend in the number of party members will continue.