bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Interval-based Constraint Satisfaction (IBCS) Method for Decentralized, Collaborative Multifunctional Design
Authors: Panchal Jitesh H. , Gero Fernández Marco , Paredis Christiaan J. J. , Allen Janet K. , Mistree Farrokh
Published: October 2007

Set-based design has been proposed as a strategy for multifunctional design problems where stakeholders from different disciplines strive to achieve domain-specific objectives while sharing a set of design variables. This strategy involves communicating information about sets of alternatives in contrast to communicating information about a single alternative at a time. The strategy has been developed for collaborative CAD and for selection among design alternatives during conceptual design, it has not been implemented as a computational method for decentralized collaborative multi-objective design problems. In this article, we address this research gap by presenting an Interval-Based Constraint Satisfaction (IBCS) Method for decentralized, collaborative multifunctional design. The method is based on transforming a decentralized multifunctional design problem into a constraint satisfaction problem by using non-cooperative game theoretic protocols. The resulting constraint satisfaction problem is then solved using interval-based consistency techniques. A non-cooperative game theory protocol is utilized in this method because it reflects the level of information exchange possible in a distributed environment. Central to this protocol is the representation of a Rational Reaction Set (RRS) that encapsulates a designer's decision-making strategy as a constraint in the design space. An intersection of all designers' RRSs represents a solution to the overall multifunctional design problem. We use interval-based consistency techniques, specifically box consistency, to sequentially eliminate regions of design space that do not satisfy the individual RRSs, thereby progressively narrowing the design space in order to reduce computational complexity in arriving at a solution. This method stands in marked contrast to the successive consideration of single solution points, as emphasized in existing multifunctional design methods. The key advantages of the proposed method are: (a) gradual reduction of design freedom and (b) non-divergence of solutions. The method is illustrated using two sample scenarios — the solution of a decision problem with quadratic objectives and the design of multifunctional Linear Cellular Alloys (LCAs).
A Rule Based Assembly Sequence Generation Method for Product Design
Authors: Lin Ming-Chyuan , Tai Yuan-Yeuan , Chen Ming-Shi , Alec Chang C.
Published: October 2007

In concurrent engineering, the integration of the designers' knowledge and experience, and computer technology into the design process is very important to improve design quality and production efficiency. A feasible design alternative that follows the design rules for assembly will make product manufacturing and assembly more successful. However, designers seldom consider assembly problems in their product development processes. This drawback often occurs due to conflicts in communication between the design and production departments and will cause severe assembly and manufacturing problems. To assist designers with the assembly issue in the design process this research presents a contact relation matrix (CRM) approach to generate assembly sequences for product design. The procedure developed for the CRM approach is based on the four rules identified from the part contact relations and a matrix representation to match the recommended design alternative with the four rules. A procedure is then employed to identify the assembly priority for the recommended design alternative. The part assembly sequence is generated with a sorting procedure. A hand-held hairdryer and an Italian style coffee maker are used as cases to help explain the feasibility of the CRM approach. The results from this study should help designers to examine the possible part combinations and make the necessary modifications for the recommended design alternative. The CRM approach can also be linked with an existing matrix approach in generating and evaluating design alternatives. By integrating the CRM and matrix approaches, the design quality and efficiency will be greatly improved.
Design and Implementation of a Cooperative Enterprise Selection Mechanism for Allied Concurrent Engineering Environment
Authors: Chen Yuh-Jen , Chen Yuh-Min , Wang Chin-Bin , Chu Hui-Chuan
Published: October 2007

Allied concurrent engineering (ACE), which combines the concepts of virtual enterprise (VE) and concurrent engineering (CE), is a highly promising business strategy for enterprises in facing global competition. ACE is designed to integrate the activities, resources, information, and organization of enterprises via enterprise alliances, thus minimizing cost, increasing competitiveness, and achieving rapid response to customer expectations. However, success of ACE depends on effective and close cooperation among allied enterprises. Selecting cooperative partners in the context of ACE thus becomes pivotal in enhancing the efficiency of ACE.

This study designs and implements a cooperative enterprise selection mechanism for ACE environment. In designing this mechanism, the model and evaluation indicators for selecting cooperative enterprises for ACE are first established. Subsequently, the evaluation indicators with fuzzy semantics are quantified as the weight value via FAHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process) and made into a hierarchical structure. The TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) technique is then applied to evaluate suitable cooperative enterprises, ultimately select the best cooperative enterprise and consequently increase the cooperation effectiveness of allied enterprises. Finally, an illustrative example is presented and the system is implemented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.
Graph Theory-based Logic Relationship Programming of Product Development Process
Authors: Huang Hong-Zhong , Gu Ying-Kui
Published: October 2007

In order to optimize product development process, essential process improvement or process reorganizing activities are needed. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the relationships among processes when design information is incomplete and imprecise. However, it is very difficult to program and execute the logic relationships among development processes because of the complexity, fuzziness, and dynamic uncertainty of product development processes. In this article, the relationships of product development processes and their properties are analyzed. Based on the analysis results, a novel process net is developed where the processes and the logic constraints are viewed as nodes and verges of the net, respectively. Graph theory is used as a tool to develop the process net. The method of the process net simplification for identifying the core process and its affiliated processes are also presented.
A Study of Parallel Data Mining in a Peer-to-Peer Network
Authors: Guan Huiwei , Ip Horace H. S.
Published: October 2007

In this article, a parallel data mining algorithm in a distributed Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network is designed and proposed. The algorithm has the following advanced features: the implementation of the algorithm for all nodes in a P2P network is the same which satisfies not only the distribution but also the random walking in/out features of a P2P network; it balances the working load of each node in the P2P network well; it is easy for the maintenance and reuse of the codes. All processes of this algorithm are executed in parallel over a P2P network to reach high efficiency, fine scalability and efficient communication. Data mining for large and distributed databases in P2P networks requires more efficient parallel or distributed algorithms. Dealing with a fast changing P2P environment also demands more flexible and scaleable methods. Our parallel algorithm provides a good solution. Parallel P2P data mining applications may play a key role in the next generation of distributed database networks, file sharing networks, and search engines.
Promoting Mental Health in Early Childhood Programs Serving Families From Low-income Neighborhoods
Authors: Breitenstein Susan M. , Gross Deborah , Ordaz Irmaleticia , Julion Wrenetha , Garvey Christine , Ridge Alison
Published: October 2007

Although the majority of young children growing up in low-income communities will not experience mental health problems, a proportion of children will develop problems that can be painful for families and costly to society. There is growing consensus that preventive interventions in the first 5 years of life are the most cost-effective strategy for reducing children's mental health problems. The purposes of this article are to (a) present the case for providing health promotion and preventive interventions to economically disadvantaged parents of young children as standard practice in early childhood programs and (b) describe the feasibility and utility of incorporating mental health promotion services in child care centers serving low-income families using the Chicago Parent Program (CPP) as an example. The CPP is an evidence-based intervention designed in collaboration with low-income, ethnic minority parents to promote positive parenting skills and reduce behavior problems in young children. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 313-320. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307306996
Welfare Shame, Economic Hardship, and Drug Use: Their Relationship to the Psychological Distress Observed in TANF Recipients
Authors: Montoya Isaac D. , Brown Victoria
Published: October 2007

BACKGROUND: Recent studies conducted in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) populations show that TANF recipients are more likely to suffer from persistent psychiatric disorders and mental health problems than are non—TANF recipients. It has been estimated that approximately 35% of TANF recipients have psychological distress symptoms, with depression being the most commonly reported disorder. OBJECTIVE: To determine if drug use may modify the welfare-distress relationship by forming an interaction with shame, economic hardship, or both. STUDY DESIGN: A survey design consisting of 534 female recipients was used. RESULTS: Drug users demonstrated higher levels of anxiety, depression, and lower self-esteem than nonusers. Neither welfare shame nor economic hardship had direct effects on psychological distress; economic hardship significantly modified the effect of drug use. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to previously published reports, welfare shame was not associated with the psychological distress observed in this sample of welfare recipients. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 275-284. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307307256
Economic Vulnerability, Discrimination, and Hurricane Katrina: Health Among Black Katrina Survivors in Eastern New Orleans
Authors: Chia-Chen Chen Angela , Keith Verna M. , Airriess Chris , Wei Li  , Leong Karen J.
Published: October 2007

BACKGROUND : Few works have viewed disaster relief in the context of socioeconomic disparity and racial inequality before Katrina. OBJECTIVE : By using the vulnerable-populations conceptual framework, our study aimed to investigate the relationship among economic vulnerability, perceived discrimination, and health outcomes among 69 Black Katrina survivors in Eastern New Orleans. STUDY DESIGN : A mixed-method approach, including survey and focus groups, was applied to collect data. RESULTS : Our findings suggested that a higher level of perceived racial discrimination during Katrina and financial strain post-Katrina were associated with more posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms; support provided by network members served to enhance mental and physical health. Compared with Black males, female survivors reported more PTSD symptoms and worse mental health. CONCLUSIONS : It is imperative for nursing scholars and public policies to directly address the intricacies of race, class, and gender inequality to deliver interventions tailored to meet the unique needs of vulnerable populations. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 257-266. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307307260
Stigma, Poverty, and Victimization: Roadblocks to Recovery for Individuals With Severe Mental Illness
Authors: Perese Eris F.
Published: October 2007

Roadblocks to recovery of individuals with severe mental illness include stigma, poverty, and victimization. Stigma creates barriers to accessing safe housing, employment, and community integration. Poverty decreases ability to meet needs and increases risk for victimization. Victimization occurs as direct violence, exploitation, neglect, and abuse by care providers. It results in worsening of psychiatric disorders, increased need for care, decreased quality of life, revictimization, and perpetration of violence. Effects of stigma, poverty, and victimization should be included in patient assessment and treatment planning. Psychiatric nurses promote recovery through direct interventions that target victimization and advocacy that targets stigma and poverty. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 285-295. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307307830
Poverty, Mental Health, and Women: Implications for Psychiatric Nurses in Primary Care Settings
Authors: Groh Carla J.
Published: October 2007

Poverty is one of the most consistent correlates of depression as well as other mental health disorders. Although poverty has negative health outcomes for men and women, the greater burden falls to women. Thus, the focus of this article is on the experiences of women and the complex intersection between the social and economic correlates of poverty and mental illness. A case study is presented that illustrates these intersections. The article concludes with suggestions to improve the mental health of poor women. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 267-274. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307308310
Guiding the Hands That Hold the Child: Supportive Strategies for Low-Income Depressed Mothers and Their Children
Authors: Canuso Regina
Published: October 2007

Working in a community setting with depressed low-income mothers and their children provides the psychiatric nurse with an ideal forum to promote mental health of both mother and child by creating and enacting strategies that target the mother's depression and the child's development, enhancing the developmental and mental health trajectory of both. This article describes the work of one advanced-practice psychiatric nurse who built a presence within a community-based early childhood antipoverty program to promote preventive mental health for women and young children challenged by poverty and the effects of welfare-to-work policies. The author highlights the connection between psychiatric nursing's phenomena of concern and the philosophy and the mission of Head Start and Early Head Start. Personal reflections and case study demonstrate that preventive interventions that promote healthy functioning for both mother and child are within the rich and diverse scope of psychiatric nursing's practice. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 304-312. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307308311
Poverty, Child Maltreatment, and Foster Care
Authors: McGuinness Teena M. , Schneider Kristina
Published: October 2007

Child maltreatment occurs at significantly higher rates among those living in poverty. Children in foster care usually come to the attention of child welfare officials because they are neglected by parents who struggle with conditions associated with poverty: homelessness, history of incarceration, HIV seropositivity, and substance abuse. This article reports the disadvantages experienced by young children in foster care (aged 36 months and younger) via a study of records documenting the multiple risks to their health and development. Low birth weight, prenatal substance exposure, and prematurity were commonly encountered risks. Additionally, the child welfare agency had a low rate of documented screening for early intervention (11% of records surveyed) despite multiple risks and mandates for screening. Implications for nurses are offered. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(5), 296-303. DOI: 10.1177/1078390307308421
Watching Television and Civic Engagement
Authors: Hooghe Marc
Published: October 2007

In the debate on the alleged erosion of social cohesion in Western societies, some authors have stressed the negative role of television. Others have argued that some programs like news and current affairs programs could strengthen civic engagement and political participation. In this article, the author uses cross-sectional survey data in an effort to disentangle the possible causal mechanisms between television and political behavior and attitudes. No evidence is found for a time-replacement effect on the individual level, but robust relations are found between television and attitudinal components of social capital. While news programs are positively related with some of these attitudes, consistent negative relations are found with the time spent on television and a preference for entertainment programs and commercial stations. This could imply that commercial stations, especially, cultivate a less civic-minded value pattern among their viewers. The analysis demonstrates that television effects are dependent not only on the time people spend but also on the kind of programs they watch and (at least in countries with a public broadcasting system) on the station they tune in to.
Who Follows Whom?
Authors: Brandenburg Heinz
Published: October 2007

This study provides a first step toward filling a gap in our understanding of the sources of issue salience and of the ability of political actors to manipulate the dimensions of social choice. It investigates how daily issue agendas of political parties and the news media (press and television) affected each other during the 1997 U.K. general election campaign. Using a time-series cross-section design (including data on nine different policy dimensions), ordinary least squares regressions with panel-corrected standard errors show that TV news broadcasts responded systematically to preceding issue selection by both the Labour party and the Conservatives. While the press seemed to respond predominantly to stimuli by the Conservatives, none of the parties were influenced in their agenda choices by any of the media outlets.
Move Over Management
Authors: Ford Jackie , Harding Nancy
Published: October 2007

There is widespread debate within critical management studies (CMS) as to the possibility of introducing CMS principles and ideas into organizational life. There is similarly a critique of its potential to replace the hegemony of `mainstream' business school thinking with an alternative hegemonic practice. In this article we use a reflexive analysis of our involvement as critical thinkers within the delivery of leadership-development programmes to consider these debates and explore CMS perspectives with participants. Our initial attempts were naive, but a more nuanced understanding given by theorizing our own practices offers some ways of avoiding the substitution of one hegemony with another. Although working as critical thinkers within mainstream programmes will always be problematic, we suggest that using a dialogical approach in leadership training programmes is one way of struggling with the inherent difficulties, while introducing participants to different ways of theorizing their worlds.
Facilitating Management Learning
Authors: Gray David E.
Published: October 2007

The aim of this article is to explore how the practice of critical reflection within a management learning process can be facilitated through the application of reflective processes and tools. A distinction is drawn between reflection as a form of individual development (of, say, the reflective practitioner) and critical reflection as a route to collective action and a component of organizational learning and change. Critical reflection, however, is not a process that comes naturally to many managers and may have to be learned or facilitated, either in formal classroom contexts, or through learning processes such as coaching, mentoring and action learning. The article discusses some of the tools available to learning facilitators, in helping a group or client towards a more critically reflective understanding of their situation and organization. These include processes such as storytelling, and reflective and reflexive conversations, and the use of tools such as reflective metaphors, critical incident analysis, reflective journals, repertory grids and concept mapping. Such tools provide an aid to critical reflection, which is seen as one process that mediates between experience, knowledge and action.
Exploring the Barriers to Learning from Crisis
Authors: Smith Denis , Elliott Dominic
Published: October 2007

This article explores the possible barriers to effective organizational learning from crisis events. A number of themes are considered including learning from crisis, learning as crisis and learning for crisis. One of the key issues to emerge from a systematic study of crises is the striking similarity between the underlying causes of such events. The article outlines the nature of the crisis management process and identifies a number of barriers to the learning process. A key argument developed in the article is that the barriers to learning can themselves serve to generate the conditions which will allow an incident to escalate into a crisis. The article concludes by suggesting ways in which organizations can develop more effective learning capabilities for crisis events.
`Beyond Our Imagination'
Authors: Currie Graeme
Published: October 2007

This article addresses cultural asymmetry experienced by Chinese students during their participation in an MBA at leading UK business schools. It discusses the pedagogical assumptions that underpin MBA education and the behavioural response of Chinese students to pedagogy. It argues that management teachers in UK business schools should be reflexive about the potential ethnocentrism embedded in their pedagogical approach, value cultural assumptions held by incoming Chinese students and explore these in a dialogic fashion, which takes account of power relations underpinning interactions between management teachers in the west and Chinese students.
Time to Learn?
Authors: Allan Barbara
Published: October 2007

This article argues that professional development mediated by a virtual learning community produces new temporal challenges for learners. The study explores the experiences of e-learners using a multi-method approach that includes time vision and metaphor analysis. The results suggest that e-learners develop and use different approaches to time, and this is linked to aspects of different time visions. Further, some e-learners reconstruct their approaches to time management at an early stage in their virtual experiences. They engage in reflective commentaries in their virtual learning communities and this helps them to adjust to the time demands of e-learning. This process of adaptation and change is reflected in the metaphors used by e-learners. It is proposed that if the issues of time are explored with newcomers to e-learning, as part of the explicit curriculum, then this will help e-learners benefit from the flexibility inherent in virtual learning communities.
From Community Theatre to Critical Management Studies
Authors: Beirne Martin , Knight Stephanie
Published: October 2007

Scotland has a distinctive history of participative art making, especially in community theatre where concerns for mutual learning and collective engagement have a radical edge and close correspondence with the agenda set by enthusiasts for critical and reflective management studies. Reporting experiences from student-centred theatre workshops, this article suggests that insights and innovations associated with community theatre can help to promote a critical pedagogy in management education. Participation, in this instance, encouraged management students to draw on a broader range of ideas and reference points and to invest more of themselves in their studies, calling more confidently on personal experience to explore tensions and dilemmas in management activity, to illuminate contested aspects of organizational life, and to reflect upon the controversial assumptions and preconceptions that frequently inform pronouncements and practices in this area. Caution is required when evaluating the wider significance of this approach, however. The scope for realizing these benefits and extending the reach of community theatre innovations is heavily influenced by institutional contingencies and constraints, including conservative assessment and accreditation systems and the pressures on staff, notably from research and other commitments.
Electronic Cash and the Virtual Marketplace: Reflections on a Revolution Postponed
Authors: Knights David , Noble Faith , Vurdubakis Theo , Willmott Hugh
Published: October 2007

By the late 1990s the notion of the `virtual' had become a key term in attempts to render meaningful the changes being brought about by new information and communication technologies on extant forms of enterprise and organizing. Many commentators had already identified the financial services sector as a site where the transformative powers of the new electronic technologies would be most visibly enacted. Drawing upon a two-year ethnographic investigation of a range of financial services organizations, the paper analyses fin de siecle enactments of the `virtual' in terms of three closely interrelated problematics: virtuality as electronic mediation, virtuality as mimesis and virtuality as disposal. The paper uses the case of Mondex—a project to implement a smart card alternative to cash—as a vantage point from which to explore the performance of `virtuality' in social organization.
Agency and Change: Re-evaluating Foucault's Legacy
Authors: Caldwell Raymond
Published: October 2007

Michel Foucault's work marks an important break with conventional ontological dualism, epistemological realism and rationalist and intentional notions of individual action and human agency. In these respects his ideas have had an enormous influence on postmodern organization theory and analysis, as well as related forms of social constructionism. In particular, Foucault's ideas have led to a rejection of agency-structure dichotomies and a move towards process-based ontologies of `organizing/changing', that create new problematics of agency as discourse, talk, text or conversation. While this ontological shift toward nominalism has often provoked a counter-reaction against the `death of the subject' and the corrosive influence of postmodernism, there have been few attempts to explore how Foucault's decentring of agency is related to new, more positive and potentially emancipatory discourses that redefine the relationship between agency and change, resistance and power in organizations and society. Here it will be argued that Foucault's legacy can be re-conceptualized as a theorization of the decentring of agency consisting of four key components: discourse, power/ knowledge, embodiment and self-reflexivity. Redefined within Foucauldian organizational discourses, decentred agency can lead to new possibilities for the exploration of agency as discourse and the broader dispersal of agency in organizations. It will be concluded, however, that Foucault's concept of agency fails as a theorization of change: it breaks the link between the voluntary choice or desire to `act otherwise' and the moral, political and practical possibilities of `making a difference'.
A Biography: Fabrications in the Life of an ERP Package
Authors: Locke Joanne , Lowe Alan
Published: October 2007

This paper provides an account of the way Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems change over time. These changes are conceptualized as a biographical accumulation that gives the specific ERP technology its present character, attributes and historicity. The paper presents empirics from the implementation of an ERP package within an Australasian organization. Changes to the ERP take place as a result of imperatives which arise during the implementation. Our research and evidence then extends to a different time and place where the new release of the ERP software was being `sold' to client firms in the UK. We theorize our research through a lens based on ideas from actor network theory (ANT) and the concept of biography. The paper seeks to contribute an additional theorization for ANT studies that places the focus on the technological object and frees it from the ties of the implementation setting. The research illustrates the opportunistic and contested fabrication of a technological object and emphasizes the stability as well as the fluidity of its technologic.
Liberalist Fantasies: Žižek and the Impossibility of the Open Society
Authors: De Cock Christian , Böhm Steffen
Published: October 2007

In this paper we engage with the liberalist project in organization and management studies. The first `face' of organizational liberalism is expressed through post-bureaucratic discourses which very much define the mainstream of management thought today, highlighting the need for organizational openness which can only come through a liberation of management from the closed structures of the bureaucracy. The second face of organizational liberalism defends the bureaucratic ethos of liberal-democratic institutions and points to the Popperian concept of the `open society' that requires rational, procedural laws to reconcile conflicting values in societies and organizations, thus ensuring the existence of a plurality of ways of life. We point to the limitations of both `faces' of organizational liberalism by discussing key aspects of Slavoj Žižek's work. Žižek displaces the liberal conception of institutionally sanctioned `openness' by claiming this actually constitutes a closure and puts a challenge to us. How can we create real openness? How is a real difference possible?
The Question of Theoretical Excess: Folly and Fall in theorizing Organization
Authors: O'Doherty Damian P.
Published: October 2007

This paper traces and distils crisis in theory and organization that threatens to generate what we call here a cacophony of voices—a `dada' of incoherence and contradiction; but it is babble with `real world' consequences and effects. To explore this we consider organization studies as a machine that is out of control, an `ambulatory automatism' (Hacking, 1999) that is symptomatic of the end, or perhaps the impossibility, of `the social'. Theory can respond to this crisis, however, if it can recover its capacity for `theorizing', a practice that can help navigate and understand contemporary organization, but only insofar as it is able to embrace its absurdity and surrealism and learn to accept that truth may be error, and fact, fiction. `Pataphysical experiments and the practice of theory as θεωρia , as travel and adventure, provide some suggestive modes of theorizing that welcomes and admits the necessity and inevitability of theory as a `deterritorialising activity' in the struggle to respond to the challenge of organization today.
Developing Inclusion and Critical Reflection in Information Systems Planning
Authors: Córdoba José-Rodrigo
Published: October 2007

Information systems (IS) planning is a developing field, and currently organizations plan and implement systems that enable them to transcend traditional boundaries. However, the issue of how individuals and groups can influence the process and outcomes of organizational IS planning with their own concerns still needs further attention. This paper presents an approach to IS planning that facilitates inclusion and participation of people. The focus of planning remains the organization, but critical thinking is developed through reflection on wider (e.g. individual and societal) concerns. Using Critical Systems Thinking (CST) and the theories of boundary critique and autopoiesis, the approach in this paper emphasizes continuous inclusion of, and reflection on, different issues of concern, values and interests that groups of stakeholders have about their situation prior to the selection, design and implementation of planning methods. Reflections from practice can lead practitioners to consider the importance of ethics in information systems planning.
Different Kinds of Openings of Luhmann's Systems Theory: A Reply to la Cour et al
Authors: Helge Becker Kai , Seidl David
Published: October 2007

Various researchers have called for an `opening up' of Luhmann's systems theory. We take this short paper as an occasion for a critical reflection on the necessity, existence and possibilities of such an opening. We start by pointing out the inherent openness of Luhmann's theory, and, based on this, discuss three kinds of openings: the international opening, the theoretical opening and the empirical opening. With regard to the latter, we distinguish three general options of using Luhmann's theory for empirical research.
The Fate of Phaeton: Baroque Art for Management's Sake?
Authors: Hjorth Daniel , Pelzer Peter
Published: October 2007

In this paper we inquire into the relationships between the Greek myth of Phaeton and Volkswagen's project to produce a luxury car (named Phaeton). Volkswagen apparently felt that the lack of a luxury car opened the possibility to question their `son-of-God status', just like Phaeton in the Greek story. This inquiry is contextualized in the emergence of a more and more direct art—management relationship, and we approach the relationship through what the VW-Phaeton case suggests are central tendencies: (1) a taming of passion; (2) an aesthetization of business and (3) an effort of make believe. The purpose is to inquire into the baroque, the creative/pathological sides of this relationship, and we do this, drawing on Deleuze and de Certeau in particular, through the concepts of affect (singular sensation, an opening of the context towards the anomalous), passion/desire (a power to become, to produce and invest in images, anticipations of the future) and wonder.
Electoral Systems, Party Systems
Authors: Pappalardo Adriano
Published: October 2007

The article provides a systematic test of the consequences of electoral rules for the format of party systems and the frequency of single-party majority cabinets. The test is based on Lijphart's 1994 dataset (extended to 1 November 2002), but excludes some of his cases and introduces an additional indicator of number of parties. Thanks to these changes in research design, the variance explained by multivariate regression is much higher than Lijphart's results, especially in respect of elective parties. However, the post-1990 data reflect a decline in the predictive power of the main independent variable (`effective' threshold). In explaining this decline, the author argues that account should be taken of a previously neglected factor, i.e. the growing destructuration of Western parties and party systems since the late 1980s. Indeed, entering an indicator of such a process into regressions (total net volatility) compensates for all the threshold's lost explanatory power, thus suggesting that structural consolidation is a crucial condition for the operation of electoral systems.
Divided Government in Taiwan's Local Politics
Authors: Wu Chung-li , Huang Chi
Published: October 2007

Divided government exists where different political parties control the executive and legislative branches in a political system. This has become a common feature of Taiwan's national and local political landscape. In the literature, scholars tend to disagree with each other concerning whether divided government leads to dysfunctional politics. This study attempts to shed some light on the issue by exploring the effects of divided government at the city/county level on the public's perceptions of their mayor/magistrate's performance in Taiwan. We take advantage of a 2002 survey of the public's evaluations of government performance and examine whether different forms of divided government affect residents' responses. Our findings indicate that residents in cities or counties under divided government express more negative views, although their party identification seems to be an important intervening variable in shaping their opinion.
Coalition-Formation and Centre—Periphery Relations in a National Political Party
Authors: Laffin Martin
Published: October 2007

The case of the British Liberal Democrats provides important evidence of the operations of national parties in devolved systems, the dynamics of sub-national coalition-formation and the impact of national parties on public policy in devolved systems. In their participation in coalition governments in Scotland and Wales, the Liberal Democrats have acted as a nationalized but not a centralized party, despite the devolved nature of their federal constitution. The Liberal Democrat elites at the national and sub-national levels have coordinated themselves informally through links between their three parliamentary parties rather than through the traditional mechanisms of party discipline. Thus, as a party, despite lacking the traditional discipline and party solidarity of a party like Labour, they have been able to ensure that their policies are implemented across the devolved, sub-national governments of Scotland and Wales.
Voter Support for Minor Parties
Authors: Borisyuk Galina , Rallings Colin , Thrasher Michael , van der Kolk Henk
Published: October 2007

The context of support for a range of minor parties in the United Kingdom is identified using ward-level aggregate data from the 2004 European elections in London. Four parties in particular, namely Respect, Green, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the British National Party (BNP), which collectively obtained 3 in 10 of all European votes cast in London and performed well at the subsequent general election in 2005, are considered. Bivariate and multivariate analyses, employing socio-economic and political variables, show that for each of the four parties there is an identifiable and reasonably welldefined ward-level context of support. Regression models help to explain around three-quarters of variance in vote support. Strong similarities are found in the context of support for the anti-European Union UKIP and the far-right, anti-immigrant BNP. Close study of the geography of support shows that while the spread of votes for minor parties is fairly homogeneous across some boroughs, in others there is a fair degree of heterogeneity.
Democratization Effects of Campaign Contribution Limits in Gubernatorial Elections
Authors: Eom Kihong , Gross Donald A.
Published: October 2007

Campaign contribution limits have become a common feature of campaign finance reform efforts in most states. The use of contribution limits has been seen as an important mechanism by which to lessen the influence of so-called `special interests' and to encourage citizen participation. Contribution limits could `democratize' the system of contributions by forcing candidates to rely on a larger number of smaller contributions, thereby reducing the value of any single contribution. In this article, we focus on the alleged `democratization' effects of campaign contribution limits. We examine 58 gubernatorial elections in 42 states during the period 1990 to 2000. Analyses of the number of contributors, the total dollar amount of contributions and the average amount given by contributors suggest that contribution limits do have a democratization effect. The nature of the effect, however, depends upon whether one examines all contributors, just particularistic contributors or just individualistic contributors.
Lost in Translation: Sex and Sexuality in Elite Discourse and Everyday Language
Authors: Tsang A. Ka Tat , Ho P. Sik Ying
Published: October 2007

This article questions our own use of language in representing, articulating, and communicating Chinese-speaking people's experiences associated with the words `sex' and `sexuality' in the English language. We notice that whenever the elite discourse fails to fully represent the lived experiences of `the people', their own utterances will demonstrate the creative and subversive potentials of the everyday language. Our research has transformed our understanding of an ever-evolving domain we once tried to capture with the western language of sexuality, and led us to rethink our theoretical positions and methods. We finally arrive at a better understanding of the value and significance of research that engages with people's articulation of their lived experience that might contradict our original position, assumptions and arguments. We wish to caution against the unquestioned privileging of elite discourses produced and distributed from sites of power, and the risk of theoretical imperialism.
'Alternative' Narratives of Young People's Heterosexual Experiences in the UK
Authors: Maxwell Claire
Published: October 2007

Thirty-eight young men and women from contrasting social locations were interviewed in depth about their sexual relationships, with a focus on gender roles and attitudes, romantic relationship expectations and sexual experiences. Analysis of young people's narratives revealed that these moved relatively easily between `normative' and `alternative' frameworks when situating and accounting for attitudes and heterosexual practices. Despite some evidence for the existence of `nonhegemonic' narratives, young people often reverted to more normative models of heterosexual experience and expectations. Gender and prior negative (childhood) experiences appeared to influence young people's ideas about and expressions of `alternative' identities and practices while, within the context of this small-scale study, the impact of socio-economic status seemed relatively insignificant.
Approaches to Penetration — Theoretical Difference in Practice
Authors: Bolsø Agnes
Published: October 2007

This article questions the sometimes over-polarized debates about theoretical perspectives within feminist academia. What differing effects do apparently conflicting theoretical approaches have on the empirical analysis of cultural phenomena and on our understanding of sexual politics or possibilities for change? The author gives an account of two contrasting understandings of the (bodily) symbolic, and applies these differing perspectives to the often problematical analysis of sexual penetration. One approach could be seen as the classical semiotic one, as found in the work of the Norwegian anthropologist, Jorun Solheim, the other, understood as poststructuralist or queer, is exemplified in the work of the American philosopher, Judith Butler. Both are feminists working for changes in traditional gender symbolism, but they otherwise start from seemingly quite separate theoretical premises.
Coming Out, Coming Into What? Identification and Risks in the 'Coming Out' Story of a Norwegian Late Adolescent Gay Man
Authors: Hegna Kristinn
Published: October 2007

The main aim of this article is to describe the identification process of a 19-year-old Norwegian gay man. The analysis focuses on becoming a gay subject to discourse, articulation of identities and risks related to such subjectivation. Four discourses of gay identities are identified: a possibly heteronormative homosexual identity related to anal sex with men; an essentialist gay identity based on an idea of a stable homosexual core; a constructivist gay subjectivity related to a gay lifestyle where being happy and beautiful are central demands; and a self-understanding echoing a `queer' rejection of identity labels. These identities may be related to certain types of psychosocial risks for gay young people: risk of sexual abuse; pressure to come out of the closet; anti-gay harassment; illegal drug use or problems related to mental health and social support.
'At Least I'm Not Gay': Heterosexual Identity Making among Poor Black Teens
Authors: Froyum Carissa M.
Published: October 2007

This ethnographic study examines the ways in which a group of American low-income Black teenagers construct affirming identities through heterosexuality. The youth undertake a number of strategies to create and protect their heterosexual identities, including adopting heterosexist ideologies, conflating heterosexuality with gender nonconformity, disassociating from gay-coded behaviors, and threatening nonconformists. These strategies allow girls and boys to fashion themselves as moral, legitimate, and superior to others: benefits they otherwise lack. While previous research suggests that policing sexuality is a way to construct masculinities, this study finds that policing gender is a way to affirm heterosexuality.
Review and Commentary: News and corporate governance
Authors: Nordberg Donald
Published: October 2007

The outcomes of near simultaneous bids for the news organizations Reuters Group plc and Dow Jones & Co. Inc. in 2007 hinged on mechanisms of corporate governance put in place at each company to protect the integrity and independence of the editorial operations. Neither company is a particularly good model of good governance, since the restrictions — super-voting shares at Dow Jones, veto-power by the trustees of the Founders Share Company at Reuters — almost completely rule out an open market for corporate control. This article looks at Reuters — and in even greater detail at Dow Jones, where the private actions of the board and shareholders came into rare public view. It suggests that stewardship theory plays a large role in protecting a perceived social value of the integrity of the news, figuring more heavily in crucial board decision-making than shareholder value. But the outcome of both cases means that the tension between the two is not easily resolved.
The culture of arts journalists
Authors: Harries Gemma , Wahl-Jorgensen Karin
Published: October 2007

This article examines the self-image of arts journalists, or journalists who work in the criticism and coverage of theater, classical music, opera and dance. It is based on interviews with 20 arts journalists in the United Kingdom, including classical music DJs, arts reviewers, arts reporters, and arts and music editors for print and broadcast media. This occupational group within journalism is worthy of study because of its distinctive professional and cultural role: while arts journalists share aspects of their professional cultures with other newsworkers, their work is intrinsically linked to the project of improving `public appreciation of the arts'.

Our argument is that while many arts journalists see themselves as part of the larger professional category of `journalists', they also lay claim to an arts exceptionalism, insofar as they suggest that: (1) the ideal arts journalist is better and more extensively qualified than a conventional news reporter; (2) arts journalism is qualitatively different from news journalism; and (3) arts journalism has the responsibility of communicating the transformative nature of the arts. Drawing on such a discourse, arts journalists take on a crusading role, and describe their work as infused by a passion which is otherwise frowned upon within journalism. We also demonstrate how, within the specialist group of arts journalists, there are distinctive subcultures of freelance critics, arts reporters, and arts editors — professional categories which greatly influence these newsworkers' self-understandings.
Personalizing current affairs without becoming tabloid
Authors: Bonner Frances , McKay Susan
Published: October 2007

The television programme Australian Story is located in the News and Current Affairs section of the Australian public broadcaster, yet it does not follow a conventional current affairs format. Each week, it presents a personal profile of either a high-profile or an ordinary Australian, and it does so without the on-screen presence of an interviewer. The paper argues that this more documentary approach represents a feminizing of the current affairs format rather than a shift into a tabloid approach. It considers a number of examples to demonstrate the persistence of themes such as altruism, perseverance and the importance of family, but also human weakness. It demonstrates that Australian Story is able to operate as a current affairs programme both by augmenting contemporary news coverage and being a rich site for working through a range of issues.