bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Theorizing the Third Way: Qualified Consequentialism, the Proportionality Principle, and the New Social Democracy
Authors: Mullender Richard
Published: March 2003

The third way (or new social democracy) occupies a place of prominence in the contemporary political landscape. But it requires, according to one of its leading proponents, Anthony Giddens, theoretical elaboration. In this essay, the third way is identified as being informed by a form of moral philosophy to which the name qualified consequentialism is given. Further, the proportionality principle and associated case law are identified as yielding guidance on how to operationalize qualified consequentialist moral philosophy. Qualified consequentialism is also identified as being open to the criticism that it is insensitive to the interests of individuals. Hence, its application in contexts like the criminal justice system and the workplace can be expected to attract criticism. Finally, the third way is distinguished from earlier (classical) forms of social democratic thought. This is because the new social democracy is not, unlike earlier variants, strongly oriented towards the radical alteration of the liberal societies in which it has gained currency.
Cape Fear– Two Versions and Two Visions Separated by Thirty Years
Authors: Thain Gerald J.
Published: March 2003

This essay examines the changes between 1962 and 1991 that occurred in the context within which the two very different versions of Cape Fear appeared. These two versions of the story of a threatened lawyer are emblematic of an altered perspective on law. The essay highlights the tension between art’s role as a reflector of society and its values and its role shaping social views. The inference, from the different portrayals of Sam Bowden, that there has been a systematic decline in the lawyer’s status and public esteem is not, however, borne out in the cinematic field. The situation has become one of moral ambiguity with the lawyer playing a more ambivalent role in society.
A Marx for the Managerial Revolution: Habermas on Law and Democracy
Authors: Fraser Andrew
Published: March 2003

The early work of Jïrgen Habermas stressed the corrosive effects of the state and the market on the socio‐cultural life‐world. There could be no administrative creation of meaning. His more recent work argues that the system can redeem itself without sacrificing the emancipatory interests of humanity. However, this shift does not represent an abandonment of the revolutionary project of critical theory. On the contrary, the communicative model of proceduralist law‐making is designed to promote the revolutionary transformation of Western civilization under the auspices of managerial and administrative elites. The radical ideal of cosmopolitan democracy becomes an essential ingredient in the effective management of a complex socio‐economic system operating on a global scale. The demos in Habermas’s vision of radical democracy is not the people of any particular nation but humanity at large. As a consequence, the proceduralist model of law‐making provides the philosophical justification for a bizarre social experiment which aims to dissociate Western nation‐states from their core ethno‐cultural identities.
A Hard Time to Be a Father?: Reassessing the Relationship Between Law, Policy, and Family (Practices)
Authors: Collier Richard
Published: March 2003

This article seeks to unpack the way in which a constellation of ideas around what it means to speak of ‘good fatherhood’ has come to inform a series of debates, after the election of the New Labour government in 1997, around the content and contours of paternal responsibility. Via a focus on family law and recent developments around the idea of ‘work‐life’ balance, it discusses the concepts underpinning present debates. In questioning the still‐powerful (if frequently unspoken) influence of social constructionist ideas of sex/gender, it explores and question how men's ‘family practices’ have been understood.
Human Rights and Modern Society: A Sociological Analysis from the Perspective of Systems Theory
Authors: Verschraegen Gert
Published: March 2003

This article argues that the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann prepares the ground for a genuinely sociological theory of human rights. Through a presentation of Luhmann’s work on human rights, it describes the historical and sociological processes that make visible why human rights emerge as a central feature of modern society. It is argued that the emergence of fundamental freedoms and human rights can be related to the dominant structure of modern society, that is, functional differentiation. Human rights are considered as a social institution, whereby modern society protects its own structure against self‐destructive tendencies. By giving inalienable and equal rights to all human beings, society ensures that the differentiation between different functional subsystems is maintained and at the same time institutionalizes specific mechanisms to increase stability and protection of the individual. The article first examines some features of the systems‐theoretical framework that are used to describe and analyse the issue of human rights. Next, it presents a brief overview of the semantic evolution of human rights. This reconstruction focuses on the question how the modern semantics of human rights can be linked to a specific structural societal transformation. The second part of the essay is devoted to the social function of human rights. After focusing on the general function, it makes a distinction between ‘fundamental freedoms’ on the one hand, and the ‘rights of equality’ on the other.
Include Me Out
Authors: Murphy Tim
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Fitzgerald, Modernism and the Grounds of Law
Court Awards of Damages for Loss of Future Earnings: An Empirical Study and an Alternative Method of Calculation
Authors: Lewis Richard , McNabb Robert , Robinson Helen , Wass Victoria
Published: March 2003

This article examines the effect upon damages for personal injury of methods used in the United States of America to calculate loss of future earnings. The work of lawyers is examined from the perspective of labour economists. The damages calculated by using these alternative methods are compared with those actually awarded in over a hundred cases determined by courts in England and Wales. This interdisciplinary and comparative study reveals that the tort system fails to satisfy one of its main objectives in that it does not provide recipients of damages with ‘full’ compensation.
Exploring the Conceptual Expansion within the Field of Organizational Behaviour: Organizational Climate and Organizational Culture
Authors: Verbeke Willem , Volgering Marco , Hessels Marco
Published: March 2003

Developments within social and exact sciences take place because scientists engage in scientific practices that allow them to further expand and refine the scientific concepts within their scientific disciplines. There is disagreement among scientists as to what the essential practices are that allow scientific concepts within a scientific discipline to expand and evolve. One group looks at conceptual expansion as something that is being constrained by rational practices. Another group, however, suggests that conceptual expansion proceeds along the lines of ‘everything goes’. The goal of this paper is to test whether scientific concepts expand in a rational way within the field of organizational behaviour. We will use organizational climate and culture as examples. The essence of this study consists of two core concepts: one within organizational climate and one within organizational culture. It appears that several conceptual variations are added around these core concepts. The variations are constrained by rational scientific practices. In other terms, there is evidence that the field of organizational behaviour develops rationally
Explaining Performance Changes in Newly Privatized Firms
Authors: Andrews William A. , Dowling Michael J.
Published: March 2003

Much debate has been generated about whether privatization tends to enhance firm financial performance. The research presented here seeks to identify the strategic choices that differentiated firms with superior post‐privatization performance from those with inferior post‐privatization performance.

Using agency theory as a theoretical foundation, it is hypothesized that superior post‐privatization firm performance will be associated with (1) the government not retaining a significant stock holding, (2) changes in leadership, (3) management stock options being initiated, (4) employee head count being reduced, and (5) the company being restructured financially. The sample draws from 41 privatized firms from six industry classifications and 15 countries. To accommodate comparisons of small subsamples, non‐parametric statistical methods are used. Controlling for size, industry and country (economic/regulatory effects), the hypotheses are generally supported except for the one relating to headcount.
Decentralization, Integration and the Post‐Bureaucratic Organization: The Case of R&d
Authors: Hill Stephen , Martin Roderick , Harris Martin
Published: March 2003

We assess the relevance of theories of increased decentralization in post‐bureaucratic organizations for understanding changes in the organization of the research and development (R&D) function. Analysis of a sample of companies shows that R&D is less decentralized than contemporary accounts suggest, and there are few signs of it becoming more decentralized. We present evidence on the organization of R&D in two sectors (mechanical engineering, and food and drink), which suggests: (1) most firms remain centralized in their approach to R&D, relative to other functions; (2) firms that adopt a more decentralized approach to R&D do so for more complex reasons than have been recognized; (3) inter‐functional integration remains a critical issue, for centralized and decentralized organizations alike; (4) introducing market principles into R&D brings risks of market failure.
Power, Mastery And Organizational Learning
Authors: Blackler Frank , McDonald Seonaidh
Published: March 2003

The topic of power has not featured strongly in debates about organizational learning, a point that is illustrated in a discussion of influential studies of teamworking. Despite the insights that such studies have provided into the nature of expertise and collaboration they have tended not to explore the relevance of issues of hierarchy, politics and institutionalized power relations. The paper addresses the problem by exploring the links between power, expertise and organizational learning. Power is analysed both as the medium for, and the product of, collective activity. The approach emphasizes how skills and imaginations are intertwined with social, technical and institutional structures. While studies of teamworking have concentrated on situations where imaginations and structures are tightly linked, unexpected developments may occur when these relations are loosened. Such situations occur when the needs of the moment overshadow normal routines and relationships and there is no single overview or centre of control. It is suggested that organizational learning can be conceptualized as the movement between familiar and emergent activities and between established and emergent social relations. Events in a two‐year action research project are used to illustrate the approach and explore episodes of decentred collaboration.
Making Strategic Choices
Authors: Nutt Paul C.
Published: March 2003

J. D. Thompson’s model of strategic choice selects a decision approach according to the demands of the decision task. This paper reports on an investigation of the value of the prescriptions in this model. Using strategic decisions made in the United States and Canada, the frequency of use and success realized when analysis, judgement, bargaining, and inspiration were used to make strategic choices were identified. Decisions that followed the prescriptions, such as using analysis when called for, were more apt to be successful. Decisions that did not follow the prescriptions were much less successful and were noted in nearly six of ten strategic decisions. Unsuccessful decisions that were mismatched to the decision task are explored to uncover what went wrong and discover ways to improve the chance of success.
Managing Discursive Tension: the Co–Existence of Individualist and Collaborative Discourses in Flight Centre
Authors: Palmer Ian , Dunford Richard
Published: March 2003

Our study of the travel agency Flight Centre began as a case study of a company that appears to be a ‘success story’ in what is a highly competitive industry. In the course of our study we found that inscribed in Flight Centre were two, differing discourses which appear to co–exist in creative tension throughout the organization. One discourse is competitive individualism and the other collaborative teamwork. Our paper focuses on how Flight Centre has made use of multiple discourses such as these in the process of achieving competitive advantage, and how people manage the differing discursive logics which confront them on a day–to–day basis. The paper proceeds by identifying the social and textual practices which constitute each discourse. It then establishes the discursive co–existence and tension which exists between the two discourses. Study is made of the conditions under which this discursive co–existence is disrupted. We then identify the interpretative routines and practices through which organizational actors maintain and reproduce discursive co–existence. Our paper concludes by considering a variety of implications of studying multiple discourses in organizations.
Time Series Analysis in Historiometry: A Comment on Simonton
Authors: Velicer Wayne F. , Plummer Brett A.
Published: March 2003

Time series analysis (TSA) is one of a number of new methods of data analysis appropriate for longitudinal data. Simonton (1998) applied TSA to an analysis of the causal relationship between two types of stress and both the physical and mental health of George III. This innovative application demonstrates both the strengths and weaknesses of time series analysis. Time series is applicable to a unique class of problems, can use information about temporal ordering to make statements about causation, and focuses on patterns of change over time, all strengths of the Simonton study. Time series analysis also suffers from a number of weaknesses, including problems with generalization from a single study, difficulty in obtaining appropriate measures, and problems with accurately identifying the correct model to represent the data. While careful attempts are made to minimize these problems, each is present in the Simonton study, although sometimes in a subtle manner. Changes in how the data could be gathered are suggested that might help to solve some of these problems in future studies. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of employing alternative methods for analyzing multivariate time series data, including dynamic factor analysis, are discussed.
Deception and Deception Detection: The Role of Cross‐Modal Inconsistency
Authors: Heinrich Christina U. , Borkenau Peter
Published: March 2003

The authors investigated whether observers infer others’ credibility from the consistency of their visible and audible characteristics, and whether such inferences are justified. In Study 1, target persons were videotaped while reading a standard text; in Study 2, target persons were videotaped while lying or telling the truth. From these videotapes, silent films and audiotapes were produced and presented to independent observers who inferred the targets' personality traits from this information. Measures of cross‐modal discrepancy were derived from differences between personality descriptions based on a silent film or an audiotape. Lying resulted in cross‐modal discrepancies in impressions of Agreeableness, and cross‐modal discrepancies in Agreeableness were related to judgments of dishonesty. Deception detection was substantial if the judges were exposed to acoustic information on the targets, and if the targets faked their curriculum vitae. Deception detection was to some extent, but not entirely, mediated by cross‐modal discrepancies in impressions of Agreeableness.
Defensiveness and Defense Mechanisms
Authors: Cramer Phebe
Published: March 2003

This introduction to the Journal of Personality's special issue on the topic of defense mechanisms raises the question of why defenses have been largely overlooked in personality research. Although defenses were originally discussed in the context of psychopathology, for the past 60 years psychodynamically oriented psychologists have understood that defenses play an important part in normal psychological development. Recently, psychologists outside the field of personality have incorporated the ideas of unconscious mental processes and of defenses into their research programs. In this issue, personality researchers discuss their ideas about defense mechanisms, organized around three topical areas: current conceptualizations of defense, the measurement of defense mechanisms, and the integration of defense mechanisms into personality research. The issue concludes with a commentary on these articles and provides suggestions for future work.
The Fruits of Their Labors: A Longitudinal Exploration of Parent Personality and Adjustment in Their Adult Children
Authors: Solomon Marjorie
Published: March 2003

This longitudinal study of several aspects of parenting examines how children “turn out” as adults. Ratings of adjustment (educational and occupational attainment as well as social and emotional maturity) in young adult children (aged 25–37) were made on the basis of information from 64 mothers who were participants in a longitudinal study of women's lives. As hypothesized, mothers who were demanding yet responsive, sensitive, and psychologically mature at ages 27 and 43 had children with higher overall adult adjustment scores. Other factors correlated with adjustment included the mother's long‐term commitment to being a wife and mother, and the cohesiveness of the home environment. In their 50s, characteristics of parents associated with adult child adjustment were different for men and women (competence in women and forcefulness and individuality in men). Divorce was not a negative factor, and mothers' paid work (after age 27) was positive at a trend level.
A Structured Interview for the Assessment of the Five‐Factor Model of Personality: Facet‐Level Relations to the Axis II Personality Disorders
Authors: Trull Timothy J. , Widiger Thomas A. , Burr Rachel
Published: March 2003

The Structured Interview for the Five‐Factor Model (SIFFM; Trull & Widiger, 1997) is an 120‐item semistructured interview that assesses both adaptive and maladaptive features of the personality traits included in the five‐factor model of personality, or “Big Five.” In this article, we evaluate the ability of SIFFM scores to predict personality disorder symptomatology in a sample of 232 adults (46 outpatients and 186 nonclinical college students). Personality disorder symptoms were assessed using the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire‐Revised (PDQ‐R; Hyler & Rider, 1987). Results indicated that many of the predicted associations between lower‐order personality traits and personality disorders were supported. Further, many of these associations held even after controlling for comorbid personality disorder symptoms. These findings may help inform conceptualizations of the personality disorders, as well as etiological theories and treatment.
Probe Vehicle Population and Sample Size for Arterial Speed Estimation
Authors: Long Cheu Ruey , Xie Chi , Lee Der‐Horng
Published: March 2003

Equipping probe vehicles with global positioning system (GPS) receivers is a cost‐effective way of collecting real‐time location and speed information. A large‐scale, nationwide travel speed information acquisition and dissemination system has already been in operation in Singapore, using a large fleet of taxis equipped with differential GPS (DGPS) receivers. This paper discusses the use of simulation approach to study the reliability of estimated average arterial link speed from probe vehicles. This study is based on the road network at the Clementi town area in Singapore. Simulation runs were made with a variety of traffic volumes, and with different percentages of probes in the total traffic volume. The reliability of link speed estimate is analyzed with respect to (1) overall probe vehicle percentages; and (2) number of probe vehicles sampled in a link. Results indicate that for an absolute error in estimated average link speed to be less than 5 km/hr at least 95% of the time, the network needs to have 4% to 5% of active probe vehicles, or at least ten probe vehicles must passed through a link within the sampling period.
‘Dissolving’ the ‘Problem of Linguistic Creativity’
Authors: Fischer Eugen
Published: March 2003

In this article, I develop the so‐called ‘problem of linguistic creativity’ for two object‐languages, one finite, the other infinite. I then employ an approach first outlined by Ludwig Wittgenstein’s collaborator Friedrich Waismann, to ‘dissolve’ that problem, in a sense made precise by working through the example. This is to unsettle the computational picture of linguistic understanding as turning on the generation of semantic information about sentences on the basis of semantic information about their constituent parts, and to provide a reasonably clear conception of to what such ‘philosophical dissolution’ of a problem amounts.
Explaining ‘The Hardness of the Logical Must’: Wittgenstein on Grammar, Arbitrariness and Logical Necessity
Authors: O'Neill Martin
Published: March 2003

This paper explains (in Part A) Wittegnstein’s understanding of the ‘grammar’ of our (or any) language, tracing its origins in the Tractatus’s concept of logical syntax, and then examining the senses in which Wittegnstein, in his later work, viewed grammar as being ‘arbitrary’. Then, armed with this understanding, it moves on (in Part B) to the task of examining how, within the framework of a Wittegnsteinian view of language, we should understand the inescapable ‘compellingness’ of logical necessity – what Wittegnstein calls the “hardness of the logical must”. Whereas it is often thought that Wittegnstein’s views on the nature of the ‘grammar’ of our concpets leads him towards a vitiatingly conventionalist or anti‐realist understanding of necessity, in which its logical ‘superhardness’ becomes problematic, this paper will argue that there is actually no such tension in Wittegnstein’s thought. In fact, it will be argued, an understanding of the ways in which our conceptual grammar is arbitrary casts a great deal of light on how it is that our concepts can nevertheless support a logically superhard, and normatively commanding, notion of necessity. In support of this view, I distinguish Wittegnstein’s views on necessity from the ‘classical’ conventionalism of the Vienna Circle, and from the radical conventionalism of Michael Dummett, and defend Wittegnstein’s view from a powerful recent attack from Quassim Cassam.
Dialogues on Causality and the Limits of Empiricism
Authors: Brenner William H.
Published: March 2003

This paper presents the main lines of reasoning in the Wittgenstein notes entitled ‘Cause and Effect: Intuitive Awareness,’ in the form of a series of dialogues between Wittgenstein, Russell, and a few other philosophical voices. Two of the dialogues relate to what, in Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics, Wittgenstein called ‘the similarity of my treatment with relativity theory.’
Teaching and Learning Politics: A Survey of Practices and Change in UK Universities
Authors: Stammers Neil , Dittmar Helga , Henney Janet
Published: March 2003

The paper presents the results of a survey of practices and change in respect of teaching and learning politics in UK universities for the period 1991/92–1994/95. It begins by contextualizing the survey; summarizing changes that occurred in higher education in the UK in the early 1990s and reviewing key strands in contemporary British literature on teaching and learning in higher education. Following a methods section, the findings of the survey are then presented. These suggest that, in 1994/95, UK politics departments were struggling to cope with increased student numbers and resource constraints whilst retaining a broadly traditionalist approach to teaching and learning. Implications of these findings are then considered in a short concluding discussion.
Behavioural Decision Theory and the Gains Debate in International Politics
Authors: Mulford Matthew , Berejikian Jeffery
Published: March 2003

The temptation to free ride and the fear of exploitation are traditionally offered as factors explaining individuals' choices under conditions of social dilemma. In two experimental studies of prisoner's dilemma behaviour we demonstrate that the ratio-differences of payoffs are as important as the absolute differences in affecting the likelihood of cooperation. The implications of this additional structural determinant of dilemma choice are developed and applied to the stalled gains debate in international relations theory. By incorporating ratio-differences into the analysis ‘realist’ and ‘liberal’ theories of state behaviour may be reconciled.
‘Dark Matter’: Institutional Constraints and the Failure of Party-Based Euroscepticism in Germany
Authors: Lees Charles
Published: March 2003

The article is built on four propositions. First, there is a latent potential within the German polity for the mobilisation of what remains a significant level of popular unease about aspects of the ongoing process of European integration. Second, at present this potential is unfulfilled and, as a result, Euroscepticism remains the ‘dark matter’ of German politics. Third, the absence of a clearly stated Eurosceptical agenda is not due to the inherent ‘enlightenment’ of the German political class about the European project, but rather is the result of systemic disincentives shaping the preferences of rational acting politicians. Finally, these systemic disincentives are to be found within the formal institutions of the German polity. The key ideas here are of ‘hard’ versus ‘soft’ Eurosceptical narratives, sustained versus heresthetic agendas, and ‘polis constraining’ versus ‘polis shaping’ strategies for their promotion. Political agents' choice of strategy depends on the nature of the institutional setting within which they are operating. The institutional configuration of the Federal Republic provides poor returns for party-based Euroscepticism. The mobilisation of popular unease about aspects of European integration remains an unattractive option for rational acting political agents.
Preferential Policies and the Blurring of Ethnic Boundaries: The Case of Aboriginal Australians in the 1980s
Authors: Hoddie Matthew
Published: March 2003

I argue against the commonly held view that ethnically based preferential policies consistently lead to the construction of well-defined boundaries between collectivities. Using a statistical study of Australia as a case, I demonstrate that preferential programs, under certain conditions, may blur the boundaries between groups. This trend is reflected in the growing number of individuals in the early 1980s who chose to claim an Aboriginal identity in Australian states that increasingly recognized indigenous land claims.
Why is there so Little Strategic Voting in Canadian Plurality Rule Elections?
Authors: Blais André
Published: March 2003

Using the 1988 Canadian Election Study I examine why there was only restricted strategic voting in single-member district plurality elections. In that election 19 percent of Canadian voters preferred the party that actually finished third in their constituency, but among these third party supporters only one in eight decided to vote strategically for one of the top two contenders. Strategic voting was relatively rare for two key reasons. First, many third party supporters had a strong preference for their party over all others and were therefore reluctant to rally to either of the top two contenders. Second, many overestimated their party's chance of winning and as a consequence did not feel that their vote would be wasted.
Responsibility, Luck, and the ‘Equality of what?’ Debate
Authors: Matravers Matt
Published: March 2003

Ronald Dworkin's recently published book, Sovereign Virtue (hereafter SV), appeals to arguments that are popular within, and ideas that are fundamental to, liberal egalitarianism. These arguments and ideas need to be distinguished and unpacked. The purpose of this paper is partly to do this and to cast doubt on the adequacy of various moves made by Dworkin. In addition, and more importantly I argue that the analysis of the ‘equality of what?’ debate reveals a tension at the heart of contemporary liberal egalitarianism between the Kantian aspiration to eliminate luck and the contemporary aspiration to do political philosophy without metaphysics.
The Austrian Parliamentary Election of 1995
Authors: Morrow Duncan
Published: March 2003

The unexpectedly early Austrian elections of 1995 resulted in the first setback for Jor Haider's dynamic far-right ‘Freieitlichen’ movement since he became party leader in 1986. The Austrian Social Democrats managed to overcome early inertia and mobilise the collective fear of many Austrians about the political and economic future and increase their parliamentary strength. Nevertheless, after the elections they used their strengthened position to introduce a programme of sharp cuts in the traditionally generous welfare budget which had been previously demanded by their opponents
Collaborative Research and the Members of Parliament Project
Authors: Baker David
Published: March 2003

This article gives an account of the ‘Members of Parliament Project’ based at Nottingham Trent and Sheffield universities, which reveals something of the team's working practices and intellectual strategy and concludes with reflections on the benefits and costs of collaboration. It also covers the research undertaken: the creation of a database on Conservative Parliamentarians in order to undertake research on a range of socio-economic, ideological and political variables; the use of cohort analysis to study the socio-economic profile of the Conservative elite; the development of a typology of British Conservatism; and the use of attitude surveys to empirically investigate a novel ‘ideological mapping technique.
Etzioni's Communitarianism: Old (Communion) Wine in New Bottles
Authors: Minogue Daragh
Published: March 2003

The renewed interest in civic duty, morals, and family values in British politics owes much to the publicity accorded to Etzioni's communitarian ideas His political philosophy has not however received much critical scrutiny outside the media and there is little consensus on where to locate his ideas in relation to other traditions of political thought. This paper suggests that Etzioni's particular variant of communitarianism exhibits striking parallels with Catholic social teaching and corresponds to the moral and ideological principles that underpin Christian Democracy. Consequently, some of the shortcomings of Catholic social teaching are replicated by Etzioni.
Political Representation of Women in Northern Ireland
Authors: Porter Elisabeth
Published: March 2003

Increasing the political representation of women in Northern Ireland is part of fostering political pluralism. First, the political representation of women requires democratic participation and a justification of ‘women’ as a category. Second, specific factors of culture and the church unique to Ireland hinder women's participation in elected politics, and there are additional factors of class, violence, and nationalism that are peculiar to Northern Ireland. Third, gender quotas are successful elsewhere, but alone will not alter the powerful resistance to feminist change in Northern Ireland. Structures to encourage inclusionary politics must create spaces for political women to be transformative agents.
Political Communication in the UK: A Study of Pressure Group Behaviour
Authors: Smith Paul
Published: March 2003

The main political parties' adoption of ‘soundbites’ and ‘spin-doctors’ has led UK political communication to become dominated by a ‘promotional culture’. This article describes the historical development of this trend and the academic debate it has stimulated over the ‘quality’ of contemporary political communication. The article then argues that by exploring how pressure groups have adopted similar promotional techniques a valuable new dimension can be added to this debate, which focuses on the ability to gain access to media coverage. Finally, this point is illustrated with a case study of Liberty, a civil liberties pressure group.
Still Divided by a Common Language: Discontentment and the Semantics of Power
Authors: Hay Colin
Published: March 2003

In a recent response to an article of mine on the ‘faces of power’ controversy published in this journal (Politics Vol. 18. No. 1), James Doyle provides an important, sophisticated and provocative attempt to rehabilitate Lukes' three-dimensional conception of power from the criticisms of myself and others. He argues, in particular, that Lukes' understanding of power is not compromised by its reliance upon a distinction between subjective and objective interests since such a distinction is, in fact, ‘an integral part of the logical grammar of the concept’. Nor, he suggests, is Lukes wrong to raise the spectre of the concept of false consciousness' since the notion of ‘duping others’ is also ‘internal to the logic of the concept’ of power. Finally, Doyle argues that my chosen reformulation of the concept of power as context- and conduct-shaping unwittingly exposes me to precisely the same criticism(s) which I direct at Lukes. In this brief response I seek to clarify and defend my earlier position in the face of certain obvious misunderstandings in Doyle's reading, whilst re-stating my principal point of departure from Lukes' formulation.
Crisis in Kosovo: A Just Use of Force?
Authors: Orend Brian
Published: March 2003

This article looks at NATO's armed intervention in Serbia from the perspective of international law, and especially just war theory. After explaining the principles by which just war theory permits armed intervention, the crisis in Kosovo is used as a fascinating and relevant case study.
African Anarchy: Is it the States, Regimes, or Societies That are Collapsing?
Authors: Baker Bruce
Published: March 2003

African states have had their functions so weakened that some speak of collapse and anarchy; hence they conflate the collapse of state services with the collapse of a regime and with the collapse of social order. In fact the three are not synonymous. Though the state, defined in institutional terms, may collapse, there are examples that regimes can live on through their retention of juridical status and through the establishment of an informal and parallel state system. Even when all central control evaporates, militia-run structures or more traditional kinship organisations have been found in some circumstances, preventing total social disorder. Surprise that communal organisation exists beyond the state only reveals deep-rooted normative assumptions.
The Idea of a Stake
Authors: Prabhakar Rajiv
Published: March 2003

This paper focuses on illuminating the idea of a stake within stakeholding discourse. To do this involves forming a prior conception of what stakeholding constitutes. Focusing on the individual strand in stakeholding, it will argue that this is best seen as left popular capitalism. Core to this is a developmental view of the self, which occurs through the possession of stakes. This philosophical anthropology conditions the form and content of what stakes are offered.
Incentives and the Natural Duties of Justice
Authors: Farrelly Colin
Published: March 2003

In this paper I explore a possible response to G.A. Cohen's critique of the Rawlsian defence of inequality-generating incentives. Much of the debate on this topic has neglected the importance Rawls places on the principles that apply to individuals. I explore two possible strategies. First, to argue that self-seeking high-fliers fail to fulfil the natural duty to uphold justice; secondly, to argue that such individuals fail to fulfil the natural duty of mutual respect. These two strategies allow Rawlsians to argue that justice as fairness does require an ethos that is violated by the market behaviour of self-seeking high-fliers.
Australian Democracy and Priveleged Parliamentary Speech
Authors: Hill Lisa
Published: March 2003

This article responds to recent cases of parliamentary speech which reflect the ascendancy of a totalising ‘mainstream’ approach to public discourse and a political leadership that may, at times, be overly attentive to the majority-rule dimension of democracy. These developments spark a more general discussion of the phenomenology of privileged parliamentary speech, the role of speech freedoms in liberal democratic orders and the duties of parliamentary representatives within them. I make two general conclusions. First, the ways in which we normally argue and think about free speech will not generally apply to the speech of parliamentarians because their speech rights cannot be universalised. Secondly, even if parliamentary speech could be treated as standard speech there would be no legitimate defence (from a liberal democratic point of view) for a strictly populist approach to its use since this could undermine the deliberative function of parliament and lead to the violation of other important liberal democratic principles.
A Defence of Sceptical Authoritarianism
Authors: Brooks Thom
Published: March 2003

Vittorio Bufacchi argued in this journal that democracy was under threat from two extreme philosophical positions: totalitarianism and nihilism. Sandwiched between these polarities is liberal democracy. Bufacchi believes that one of liberal democracy's distinctive properties is an endorsement of scepticism, which he then attempts to illuminate. In contrast, this article will argue that an authoritarian government bound by a constitution permitting civil liberties might also adopt political scepticism. This removes the aforementioned distinctiveness of liberal democracy in this regard and, in addition, leads us toward a rethinking of the possibility of a more plausible consideration of democracy.
Quentin Skinner on the Proper Meaning of Republican Liberty
Authors: Shaw Carl K.Y.
Published: March 2003

This article examines Quentin Skinner's revisionist project of reconciling republican liberty and negative freedom. His conceptualisation is analysed in the contexts of both contemporary political theory as well as a historiographical interpretation of Machiavelli. Skinner advances two claims: first, that Machiavelli's idea of liberty is negative freedom, and second, that republicanism shows that liberty is best maintained by the coercive use of the law. I argue that there are two conflicting concepts of the law underlying Skinner's theory. One regards the law as an invisible hand, while the other takes the law to be a liberating agency. Skinner's influence on the emerging juristic paradigm in republicanism is also considered.
A Critical Test of the Waist-to-Hip-Ratio Hypothesis of Female Physical Attractiveness
Authors: Tassinary Louis G. , Hansen Kristi A.
Published: March 2003

Recent research has led to increasingly sophisticated conjectures as to the roles that genetic heritage, prior experience, and environmental context play in the production and maintenance of complex behaviors. The field of evolutionary psychology was born of such conjectures (Stanley, 1895) and now serves as a niche for a growing number of researchers (Buss, 1995; Kenrick, 1994). One of the more provocative lines of experimental research to emerge from this alembic derives from the linkage of evolutionary theories of human mate selection with definitions of physical attractiveness based on somatic characteristics that simultaneously signal attractiveness and predict reproductive potential (Buss, 1989). The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) has been purportedly demonstrated to be a robust example of just such an invariant perceptual cue (e.g., Henss, 1995; Singh, 1993a). Here, we report that judgments of attractiveness and fecundity can be either unrelated or related, positively or negatively, to the WHR depending on waist size, hip size, and weight, and are thus inconsistent with the evolutionary argument that human physical attractiveness is fundamentally a sign of mate value.
Face Perception During Early Infancy
Authors: Mondloch Catherine J. , Lewis Terri L. , Budreau D. Robert , Maurer Daphne , Dannemiller James L. , Stephens Benjamin R. , Kleiner-Gathercoal Kathleen A.
Published: March 2003

Previous studies of face perception during early infancy are difficult to interpret because of discrepant results and procedural differences. We used a standardized method based on the Teller acuity card procedure to test newborns, 6-week-olds, and 12-week-olds with three pairs of face and nonface stimuli modified from previous studies. Newborns' preferences were influenced both by the visibility of the stimuli and by their resemblance to a human face. There appears to be a mechanism, likely subcortical, predisposing newborns to look toward faces. Changes in preferences at 6 and 12 weeks of age suggest increasing cortical influence over infants' preferences for faces.
“What” Effects on “Where”: Functional Influences on Spatial Relations
Authors: Carlson-Radvansky Laura A. , Covey Eric S. , Lattanzi Kathleen M.
Published: March 2003

Spatial relations indicate the location of an object by specifying its direction with respect to a reference object whose location is known. It has been largely assumed that specific features of these objects are generally ignored in descriptions of spatial location. Within such a view, spatial relations can be described in terms of geometric or topological features that are not dependent on object details such as function. We demonstrate in two experiments that a geometric feature (center of mass) is not sufficient. Using two different tasks, we show that the function of the reference object and its relationship with the other object significantly influence the way in which vertical spatial relations (“above” and “below”) are applied to spatial configurations.
Money, Kisses, and Electric Shocks: On the Affective Psychology of Risk
Authors: Rottenstreich Yuval , Hsee Christopher K.
Published: March 2003

Prospect theory's S-shaped weighting function is often said to reflect the psychophysics of chance. We propose an affective rather than psychophysical deconstruction of the weighting function resting on two assumptions. First, preferences depend on the affective reactions associated with potential outcomes of a risky choice. Second, even with monetary values controlled, some outcomes are relatively affect-rich and others relatively affect-poor. Although the psychophysical and affective approaches are complementary, the affective approach has one novel implication: Weighting functions will be more S-shaped for lotteries involving affect-rich than affect-poor outcomes. That is, people will be more sensitive to departures from impossibility and certainty but less sensitive to intermediate probability variations for affect-rich outcomes. We corroborated this prediction by observing probability-outcome interactions: An affect-poor prize was preferred over an affect-rich prize under certainty, but the direction of preference reversed under low probability. We suggest that the assumption of probability-outcome independence, adopted by both expected-utility and prospect theory, may hold across outcomes of different monetary values, but not different affective values.
Perceptual Load and Visuocortical Processing: Event-Related Potentials Reveal Sensory-Level Selection
Authors: Handy Todd C. , Soltani Maryam , Mangun George R.
Published: March 2003

Behavioral evidence suggests that the processing of parafoveal stimuli decreases as the perceptual demands of a task at fixation increase. However, it remains unclear whether or not this effect of perceptual load occurs during initial sensory-level processing at early stages of visuocortical analysis. Using event-related potential measures, we found that increasing the perceptual load of foveal targets led to a significant decrease in the sensory-evoked response to parafoveal stimuli. Moreover, these effects were observed using two different operational definitions of perceptual load. This result indicates that perceptual load affects the flow of information during the initial stages of visuocortical processing.
The Roles of Body and Mind in Abstract Thought
Authors: Boroditsky Lera , Ramscar Michael
Published: March 2003

How are people able to think about things they have never seen or touched? We demonstrate that abstract knowledge can be built analogically from more experience-based knowledge. People's understanding of the abstract domain of time, for example, is so intimately dependent on the more experience-based domain of space that when people make an air journey or wait in a lunch line, they also unwittingly (and dramatically) change their thinking about time. Further, our results suggest that it is not sensorimotor spatial experience per se that influences people's thinking about time, but rather people's representations of and thinking about their spatial experience.
Emotional Facilitation of Sensory Processing in the Visual Cortex
Authors: Schupp Harald T. , Markus Junghöfer , Weike Almut I. , Hamm Alfons O.
Published: March 2003

A key function of emotion is the preparation for action. However, organization of successful behavioral strategies depends on efficient stimulus encoding. The present study tested the hypothesis that perceptual encoding in the visual cortex is modulated by the emotional significance of visual stimuli. Event-related brain potentials were measured while subjects viewed pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. Early selective encoding of pleasant and unpleasant images was associated with a posterior negativity, indicating primary sources of activation in the visual cortex. The study also replicated previous findings in that affective cues also elicited enlarged late positive potentials, indexing increased stimulus relevance at higher-order stages of stimulus processing. These results support the hypothesis that sensory encoding of affective stimuli is facilitated implicitly by natural selective attention. Thus, the affect system not only modulates motor output (i.e., favoring approach or avoidance dispositions), but already operates at an early level of sensory encoding.
Hearing But Not Listening: The Local Government Review Process
Authors: Stoker Gerry
Published: March 2003

This article presents a study of the local government review process in West Sussex. As in any local government reorganization the career and status concerns of individuals and broader positions of coalitions dominant in different organizations provide the dynamic to a ‘play of power’ which is in turn conditioned by external events and contextual factors. Underlying the analysis is a concern to assess whether in particular the presence of an independent commission facilitated the application of an element of policy analysis and learning into the process. It is concluded that little in the way of a reflective and deliberative process occurred. Equally it is noted that to achieve such qualities in public decision‐making is a challenging and daunting task when major organizational interests are at stake.