bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impurity-tuned non-equilibrium phase transition in a bacterial carpet
Authors: Hsiao Yi-Teng , Wu Kuan-Ting , Uchida Nariya , Woon Wei-Yen
Published: May 2016

The effects of impurity on the non-equilibrium phase transition in Vibrio alginolyticus bacterial carpets are investigated through a position-sensitive-diode implemented optical tweezers-microsphere assay. The collective flow increases abruptly as we increase the rotation rate of flagella via Na+ concentration. The effects of impurities on the transition behavior are examined by mixing cells of a wild type strain (VIO5) with cells of a mutant strain (NMB136) in different swimming patterns. For dilute impurities, the transition point is shifted toward higher Na+ concentration. Increasing the impurities' ratio to over 0.25 leads to a significant drop in the collective force, suggesting a partial orientational order with a smaller correlation length.
Bowing effect in elastic constants of dilute Ga(As,N) alloys
Authors: Berggren Jonas , Hanke Michael , Trampert Achim
Published: May 2016

We study the elastic properties of dilute Ga(As,N) thin films grown on GaAs(001) by means of nano-indentation and complementary dynamic finite element calculations. The experimental results of indentation modulus are compared with simulations in order to extract the cubic elastic constants cij as a function of nitrogen content of the Ga(As,N) alloys. Both, indentation modulus and elastic constants decrease with increasing nitrogen content, which proves a strong negative bowing effect in this system in contrast to Vegard's law.
Homoepitaxial growth of β-Ga2O3 thin films by low pressure chemical vapor deposition
Authors: Rafique Subrina , Han Lu , Tadjer Marko J. , Freitas Jaime A. , Mahadik Nadeemullah A. , Zhao Hongping
Published: May 2016

This paper presents the homoepitaxial growth of phase pure (010) β-Ga2O3 thin films on (010) β-Ga2O3 substrate by low pressure chemical vapor deposition. The effects of growth temperature on the surface morphology and crystal quality of the thin films were systematically investigated. The thin films were synthesized using high purity metallic gallium (Ga) and oxygen (O2) as precursors for gallium and oxygen, respectively. The surface morphology and structural properties of the thin films were characterized by atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Material characterization indicates the growth temperature played an important role in controlling both surface morphology and crystal quality of the β-Ga2O3 thin films. The smallest root-mean-square surface roughness of ∼7 nm was for thin films grown at a temperature of 950 °C, whereas the highest growth rate (∼1.3 μm/h) with a fixed oxygen flow rate was obtained for the epitaxial layers grown at 850 °C.
CoFe2/Al2O3/PMNPT multiferroic heterostructures by atomic layer deposition
Authors: Zhou Ziyao , Grocke Garrett , Yanguas-Gil Angel , Wang Xinjun , Gao Yuan , Sun Nianxiang , Howe Brandon , Chen Xing
Published: May 2016

Multiferroic materials and applications allow electric bias control of magnetism or magnetic bias control of polarization, enabling fast, compact, energy-efficient devices in RF/microwave communication systems such as filters, shifters, and antennas; electronics devices such as inductors and capacitors; and other magnetic material related applications including sensors and memories. In this manuscript, we utilize atomic layer deposition technology to grow magnetic CoFe metallic thin films onto PMNPT, with a ∼110 Oe electric field induced ferromagnetic resonance field shift in the CoFe/Al2O3/PMNPT multiferroic heterostructure. Our work demonstrates an atomic layer deposition fabricated multiferroic heterostructure with significant tunability and shows that the unique thin film growth mechanism will benefit integrated multiferroic application in near future.
Nitrous oxide, ammonia and methane from Australian meat chicken houses measured under commercial operating conditions and with mitigation strategies applied
Authors: Wiedemann S. G. , Phillips F. A. , Naylor T. A. , McGahan E. J. , Keane O. B. , Warren B. R. , Murphy C. M.
Published: May 2016

Greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia emissions are important environmental impacts from meat chicken houses. This study measured ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) in two trials from paired, commercial meat chicken houses using standard (control) and mitigation strategies. In Trial 1, emissions from houses with standard litter depth of 47 mm (LD47) or increased litter depth of 67 mm (LD67) were compared. When standardised to a 42-day-old bird, emissions were 11.9 g NH3/bird, 0.30 g N2O/bird and 0.16 g CH4/bird from the LD47 and 11.7 g NH3/bird, 0.69 g N2O/bird and 0.12 g CH4/bird from the LD67. Emissions per kilogram of manure N were 0.14 and 0.11 for NH3-N, 0.003 and 0.005 N2O-N and CH4 conversion factors were 0.08% and 0.05%. Total direct and indirect GHG emissions reported in carbon dioxide equivalents were found to be higher in LD67 in response to the elevated direct N2O emissions. Trial 2 compared the impact of reduced crude protein (CP19.8) and a standard diet (CP21.3) developed using least-cost ration formulation, on emissions. Emissions per bird for the CP19.8 diet were 7.7 g NH3/bird, 0.39 g N2O/bird and 0.14 g CH4/bird, while emissions from birds fed the CP21.3 diet were 10.6 g NH3/bird, 0.42 g N2O/bird and 0.19 g CH4/bird. Significant differences were observed only in the NH3 results, where emissions were reduced by 27% for the low-CP diet. Because of the low emission levels, total mitigation potential from indirect GHG emissions was relatively small in Trial 2, corresponding to 11 t carbon dioxide equivalents/year per million birds.
Methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions from an Australian piggery with short and long hydraulic retention-time effluent storage
Authors: McGahan E. J. , Phillips F. A. , Wiedemann S. G. , Naylor T. A. , Warren B. , Murphy C. M. , Griffith D. W. T. , Desservettaz M.
Published: May 2016

In the Australian pork industry, manure is the main source of greenhouse gases (GHG). In conventional production systems, effluent from sheds is transferred into open anaerobic ponds where the effluent is typically stored for many months, with the potential of generating large quantities of GHG. The present study measured methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3) emissions from a conventional anaerobic effluent pond (control), a short hydraulic retention-time tank (short HRT, mitigation) and from the animal housing for a flushing piggery in south-eastern Queensland, over two 30-day trials during summer and winter. Emissions were compared to determine the potential for a short HRT to reduce emissions. Average CH4 emissions from the pond were 452 ± 37 g per animal unit (AU; 1 AU = 500 kg liveweight) per day, during the winter trial and 789 ± 29 g/AU.day during the summer trial. Average NH3 emissions were 73 ± 8 g/AU.day during the winter trial and 313 ± 18 g/AU.day during the summer trial. High emission factors during summer will be temperature driven and influenced by the residual volatile solids and nitrogen (N) deposited in the pond during winter. Average NH3 emissions from the piggery shed were 0.707 ± 0.050 g/AU.day and CH4 emissions were 0.344 ± 0.116 g/AU.day. The N2O concentrations from both the pond and shed were close to, or below, the detection limits. Total emissions from the short HRT during the winter and summer trials, respectively, were as follows: CH4 10.65 ± 0.616 mg/AU.day and 4108 ± 473 mg/AU.day; NH3-N 1.15 ± 0.07 mg/AU.day and 29.8 ± 2.57 mg/AU.day; N2O-N 0.001 ± 0.00052 mg/AU.day and 5.9 ± 0.321 mg/AU.day. On the basis of a conservative analysis of CH4 emissions relative to the inflow of volatile solids, and NH3 and N2O emissions as a fraction of the excreted N, GHG emissions were found to be 79% lower from the short-HRT system. This system provides a potential mitigation option to reduce GHG emissions from conventional pork production in Australia.
Indole-3-acetic acid-induced oxidative burst and an increase in cytosolic calcium ion concentration in rice suspension culture
Authors: Nguyen Hieu T H , Umemura Kenji , Kawano Tomonori
Published: May 2016

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is the major natural auxin involved in the regulation of a variety of growth and developmental processes such as division, elongation, and polarity determination in growing plant cells. It has been shown that dividing and/or elongating plant cells accompanies the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a number of reports have suggested that hormonal actions can be mediated by ROS through ROS-mediated opening of ion channels. Here, we surveyed the link between the action of IAA, oxidative burst, and calcium channel activation in a transgenic cells of rice expressing aequorin in the cytosol. Application of IAA to the cells induced a rapid and transient generation of superoxide which was followed by a transient increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c). The IAA-induced [Ca2+]c elevation was inhibited by Ca2+ channel blockers and a Ca2+ chelator. Furthermore, ROS scavengers effectively blocked the action of IAA on [Ca2+]c elevation.
Kinesin-8 effects on mitotic microtubule dynamics contribute to spindle function in fission yeast
Authors: Gergely Zachary R. , Crapo Ammon , Hough Loren E. , McIntosh J. Richard , Betterton Meredith D.
Published: May 2016

Kinesin-8 motor proteins destabilize microtubules. Their absence during cell division is associated with disorganized mitotic chromosome movements and chromosome loss. Despite recent work studying effects of kinesin-8s on microtubule dynamics, it remains unclear whether the kinesin-8 mitotic phenotypes are consequences of their effect on microtubule dynamics, their well-established motor activity, or additional, unknown functions. To better understand the role of kinesin-8 proteins in mitosis, we studied the effects of deletion of the fission yeast kinesin-8 proteins Klp5 and Klp6 on chromosome movements and spindle length dynamics. Aberrant microtubule-driven kinetochore pushing movements and tripolar mitotic spindles occurred in cells lacking Klp5 but not Klp6. Kinesin-8–deletion strains showed large fluctuations in metaphase spindle length, suggesting a disruption of spindle length stabilization. Comparison of our results from light microscopy with a mathematical model suggests that kinesin-8–induced effects on microtubule dynamics, kinetochore attachment stability, and sliding force in the spindle can explain the aberrant chromosome movements and spindle length fluctuations seen.
The Rhetoric of Style
Authors: Brummett Barry
Published: May 2016

Style is in the traditional canon of rhetoric and means the manipulation of language for rhetorical effect. Historically, eras that emphasized style in rhetoric also tended to regard rhetoric as of secondary importance in public discourse, as the window dressing for logic and more substantive modes of invention.

When we think of style more broadly as the use of gesture, clothing, decoration, objects, grooming—in short, of style in the more colloquial sense of “he’s got style”—then we see a wider and more important role for style as a major form of rhetoric. Today, the need of global capitalism to sustain artificially high levels of consumption is largely achieved through a rhetoric of style. The public must be persuaded to churn its clothing, decoration, grooming styles, and so forth constantly to keep consumption up, and the most effective way to achieve that end is through creating in people a preoccupation with style. Once that happens, then style becomes the major way in which we think about presenting ourselves to others. Style becomes the way in which people say who they are, who they want to be, and who they feel opposed to. Style becomes a major expression of political commitment.

In short, style has become a major if not the major rhetorical system at work in the world today. We understand what others mean, and we influence others, through style much more than we do through carefully planned discursive discourses, argument, and expository presentations. Because global capitalism is the engine behind this preoccupation with style, style is a system of communication likely to increase in dominance and importance.
Facework and Culture
Authors: Fletcher Vail
Published: May 2016

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Please check back later for the full article.

Facework represents an important mediation of the intersection between an individual’s private self-conception and the individual’s need to cooperate—or not—in a society, especially at the interpersonal and organizational levels of communication. More clearly, facework builds on the notion of a metaphorical ‘face’, which represents how an individual is viewed—that is, respectfully or not—by others in an interaction. Facework is, then, in its basic form, the interpersonal skills or strategies (i.e., work) needed to maintain or elevate, and in some cases, hinder, others’ perception of an individual’s right to deserve respect. Culture mediates this interaction even further by dictating whose face an individual should be most concerned (i.e., face-concern) with during an interactional exchange. For example, individualistic cultures (e.g., United States, Canada, Germany) prioritize that individuals generally should be most concerned with protecting their own sense of respect (i.e., self-face) while interacting or in conflict, while collectivistic cultures (e.g., China, South Korea, Japan) prioritize the focus on maintaining the other individual’s (i.e., other-face) sense of dignity and respect in an interaction. Yet, individuals in either individualistic or collectivistic cultures may also choose to try to enact concern with both themselves and others in an interaction (i.e., mutual-face).

Other iterations of facework strategies and/or concerns—all at least partially mediated by cultural values and social norms—have emerged, including: face-negotiating, face-constituting, face-compensating, face-honoring, face-saving, face-threatening, face-building, face-protecting, face-depreciating, face-giving, face-restoring, and face-neutral. Notions of face and facework has also given rise to several face-oriented communication theories such as Face-Negotiation Theory (FNT), which aims to examine and predict, generally, how individuals in various cultures might negotiate and manage conflict(s) and conflict styles. Original understandings of face are primarily grounded in Erving Goffman’s sociological work on facework and Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson’s Politeness Theory, works that have been used to examine and compare communication practices in multiple intercultural and cross-cultural contexts.
Drone Journalism, Privacy Law, and Journalism Ethics
Authors: Barclay Courtney , Wesner Kearston
Published: May 2016

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Please check back later for the full article.

Drones armed with cameras have allowed journalists to capture images from new perspectives and in places previously unreachable. Footage of volcanic eruptions, war-torn villages, and nuclear disaster areas have all been made possible with drone technology. However, this same technology presents risks to personal privacy.

Since before Warren and Brandeis penned the oft cited Right to Privacy, newsgatherers have tested the boundaries of society’s notion of privacy. The development of new technologies at the time, such as the snap camera, made photography a faster, more efficient endeavor. Warren and Brandeis recognized that the increased photographic recording of society threatened individual privacy on a scale never before imagined. More than a century later, the use of new technology—drones outfitted with cameras and other imaging devices—has once again ignited debate over how to protect an individual’s privacy while ensuring journalists’ ability to gather news.

The traditional remedy for intrusive journalism has been through tort law, which requires an individual to show that she or he had a reasonable expectation of privacy. By and large, these laws have favored journalists; however, that result is usually based on the fact that the newsgathering activity occurred in a public place rather than any recognition of the importance of newsgathering. State lawmakers have begun to address drone photography with a wide variety of approaches that would move away from this public place exception—from prohibiting photography over private property to prohibiting any photography without someone’s consent, even in a public place.

The press has recognized the cost to individual privacy incurred by use of technologies such as drone photography. Professional codes of ethics instruct journalists to minimize harm to the public, requiring an “overriding” public interest to invade someone’s privacy. The Professional Society of Drone Journalists’ Code of Ethics addresses the additional responsibilities inherent to drone technology. Under this code, journalists should record only public spaces and delete any images of individuals in a private space.

Drone technology represents only one of the latest developments in surveillance used for law enforcement, commercial enterprise, and journalism. However, its growth and the gaps in privacy tort law underscore the importance of strong codes of ethics that serve the interests of both newsgathering and individual privacy.
Transportation Theory Applied to Health and Risk Messaging
Authors: Green Melanie C. , Fitzgerald Kaitlin
Published: May 2016

Transportation Theory: Narrative transportation theory focuses on the causes and consequences of an individual being immersed in a story, or transported into a narrative world. Transportation refers to the feeling of being so absorbed in a story that connection to the real world is lost for some time; it includes cognitive engagement, emotional experience, and the presence of mental imagery. This experience is a key mechanism underlying narrative influence on recipients’ attitudes and beliefs, particularly in combination with enjoyment and character identification. Narrative persuasion through transportation has been demonstrated with a wide variety of topics, including health, social issues, and consumer products. Transportation can occur across media (through written, audio, or video narratives) and for both factual and fictional stories. It is typically measured with a self-report scale, which has been well-validated (Green & Brock, 2000). Transportation is conceptually similar to flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) and presence (Klimmt & Vorderer, 2003), although both flow and presence pertain more to being immersed in an experience, rather than specifically in a narrative. While individuals are transported, their mental systems and capacities become concentrated on events occurring in the story, causing them to lose track of time, lack awareness of the surrounding environment, and experience powerful emotions as a result of their immersion in the narrative. Transported recipients may also lose some access to real-world knowledge, making them more likely to adapt their real-world beliefs and behaviors to be more consistent with the story to which they are exposed. Transportation theory suggests several mechanisms to explain this phenomenon, including reduced counterarguing, connections with characters, heightened perceptions of realism, the formation of vivid mental imagery, and emotional engagement. Personality factors can also affect the extent of transportation: narrative recipients vary in transportability, or their dispositional tendency to become transported; and they may be influenced differently by narratives due to a difference in their need for affect (individuals high in need for affect are more likely to be transported into narratives). Additional factors such as story quality and points of similarity between the reader and the story can also influence transportation.
Journalism, Culture, and Society
Authors: Hanusch Folker
Published: May 2016

Culture is a broad term that is often used in a wide variety of contexts. Its meanings can be anything from very narrow conceptualizations such as the notion of high culture to a much broader view of culture being all-encompassing. In addition, scholars identify different types of cultures, such as regional, national, or even global cultures, as well as sub-cultures or cultures of shared social practices. At the social systems level, culture is often defined as relating to shared social practices, meanings, beliefs, symbols and norms. The relationship between journalism, culture, and society is a symbiotic one. Journalism influences culture, but it is also influenced by it. In fact, as some argue, journalism is culture.

While journalism’s influence on culture has found extensive attention in the cultural studies literature, cultural and societal influences on journalism have been far less researched. When studies examine broader media system influences on journalism, the focus tends to be on political and economic determinants. However, cultural influences also provide substantial explanatory potential when trying to understand why journalism is practiced differently across the globe. Culture as the broader system of beliefs and practices in a given society, as in the case of cultural values, has an established research tradition in cross-cultural psychology. Three key works on cultural values provide guidance for examining cultural influences on journalism, and involving these in research improves understanding of journalism cultures on a variety of levels. Both normative calls for the preferred role of culture in journalism, as well as empirical studies of the influence of cultural values on journalism demonstrate the value such approaches bring to journalism studies.
Mass Media and the Social Amplification of Climate Change Risks
Authors: Mazur Allan
Published: May 2016

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science. Please check back later for the full article.

Global warming was not on public or media agendas prior to 1998. In summer of that year, during an unusual heat wave, The New York Times and other major U.S. news organizations saliently reported warnings by NASA scientist James Hansen that the earth is warming. This alarm quickly spread to secondary media and to the news media of other nations. According to the “Quantity of Coverage Theory,” public concerns and governmental actions about a problem rise and fall with the extent of media coverage of that problem, a generalization that is applicable here. Over the next few years, global warming became part of a suite of worldwide issues (particularly the ozone hole, biodiversity, and destruction of rain forests) conceptualized as the “endangered earth,” more or less climaxing on Earth Day 1990. Media coverage and public concerns waned after 1990, thereafter following an erratic course until 2006, when they reached unprecedented heights internationally, largely but not entirely associated with former Vice President Al Gore’s promotion of human-caused climate change as “an inconvenient truth.” By this time, the issue had become highly polarized, with denial or discounting of the risk a hallmark of the political right, especially among American Republicans. International media coverage and public concern fell after 2010, but at this writing in 2015, these are again on the rise. The ups and downs of media attention and public concern are unrelated to real changes in the temperature of the atmosphere.
Framing of Climate Change in United States Science Education
Authors: Busch K.C.
Published: May 2016

Although future generations—starting with today’s youth—will bear the brunt of negative effects related to climate change, some research suggests that they have little concern about climate change nor much intention to take action to mitigate its impacts. One common explanation for this indifference and inaction is lack of scientific knowledge. It is often said that youth do not understand the science; therefore, they are not concerned. Indeed, in science educational research, numerous studies catalogue the many misunderstandings students have about climate science. However, this knowledge-deficit perspective is not particularly informative in charting a path forward for climate-change education. This path is important because climate science will be taught in more depth as states adopt the Next Generation Science Standards within the next few years. How do we go about creating the educational experiences that students need to be able to achieve climate-science literacy and feel as if they could take action? First, the literature base in communication, specifically about framing must be considered, to identify potentially more effective ways to craft personally relevant and empowering messages for students within their classrooms.
Gender, Law, and Judging
Authors: Haire Susan , Moyer Laura P.
Published: May 2016

Increased diversity among participants in the justice system, particularly judges, has fueled debates about the values and perspectives that women bring to the law. Difference theories advanced by social psychologists and feminist scholars argue for the premise that men and women in the legal system approach questions of justice differently. By contrast, empirical scholarship offers only limited support for the expectation that the sex of the judge is related to behavioral outcomes. Although most research has not uncovered differences in voting between men and women judges, one area in which consistent differences has been found is in sex discrimination cases.

Recent studies suggest, however, that individual differences between men and women judges may emerge if the focus shifts to the litigation process. In one study of trial courts, cases assigned to women judges were more likely to be settled. In another study of appellate courts, women judges were more likely to pen majority opinions that adopted a compromise position. These findings suggest the promise of shifting the analytical focus away from behavioral outcomes to consider whether, and how, women and men in the legal system shape litigation processes. Doing so will require additional data and triangulated approaches that employ both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Additional research is also needed to explore how shifts in the gender composition of the bench affect organizational norms and practices in the legal system at the federal, state, and local levels. Some work suggests that gender diversity affects deliberations on small appellate panels and consensual norms on larger courts. As the number of women and minorities appointed by recent Democratic and Republican presidents has increased, scholars are also now well positioned to conduct empirical research with larger numbers to investigate how women of color on the bench differ from white women and minority men.
Basic Income
Authors: Birnbaum Simon
Published: May 2016

The idea that states should provide a means-tested guaranteed minimum income for citizens who are unable to meet their basic needs is widely shared and has been a central component in the evolution of social citizenship rights in existing welfare states. However, an increasing number of activists and scholars defend the more radical option of establishing a universal basic income, that is, an unconditional income paid to all members of society on an individual basis without any means test or work requirement. Indeed, some political philosophers have argued that basic income is one of the most important reforms in the development of a just and democratic society, and is comparable to other milestones in the history of citizenship rights, such as universal suffrage or even the abolishment of slavery. Basic income or similar ideas, such as a basic capital or a negative income tax, have been advanced in many versions since the 18th century in different parts of the world and under a great variety of names. However, while these were previously often isolated and disconnected initiatives, basic income has more recently become the object of an increasingly cumulative research effort to shed light on the many aspects of this idea. It has also inspired policy developments and given rise to experiments and pilot projects in several countries.
The Founding Treaties of the European Union and Their Reform
Authors: Laursen Finn
Published: May 2016

Today’s European Union (EU) is based on treaties negotiated and ratified by the member states. They form a kind of “constitution” for the Union. The first three treaties, the Treaty of Paris, creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, and the two Treaties of Rome, creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) in 1957, were the founding treaties. They were subsequently reformed several times by new treaties, including the Treaty of Maastricht, which created the European Union in 1992. The latest major treaty reform was the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force in 2009. Scholarship concerning these treaties has evolved over time. In the early years, it was mostly lawyers writing about the treaties, but soon historians and political scientists also took an interest in these novel constructions in Europe. Interestingly, American political scientists were the first to develop theories of European integration; foremost among these was Ernst Haas, whose 1958 book The Uniting of Europe developed the theory later referred to as neo-functionalism. The sector on integration of coal and steel would have an expansive logic. There would be a process of “spill-over,” which would lead to more integration.

It turned out that integration was less of an automatic process than suggested by Haas and his followers. When integration slowed down in the 1970s, many political scientists lost interest and turned their attention elsewhere. It was only in the 1980s, when the internal market program gave European integration a new momentum that political scientists began studying European integration again from theoretical perspectives. The negotiation and entry into force of the Single European Act (SEA) in the mid-1980s led to many new studies, including by American political scientist Andrew Moravcsik. His study of the SEA included a critique of neo-functionalism that created much debate. Eventually, in an article in the early 1990s, he called his approach “liberal intergovernmentalism.” It took final form in 1998 in the book The Choice for Europe. According to Moravcsik, to understand major historic decisions—including new treaties—we need to focus on national preferences and interstate bargaining.

The study of treaty reforms, from the SEA to the Lisbon Treaty, conducted by political scientists—including the treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam, and Nice—have often contrasted neo-functionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. But other approaches and theories were developed, including various institutionalist and social constructivist frameworks. No consensus has emerged, so the scholarly debates continue.
The Common Security and Defense Policy
Authors: Duke Simon
Published: May 2016

The European Union’s (EU’s) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is scarcely two decades old, yet a considerable and diverse body of literature has emerged during this time. CSDP can best be thought of as the functional crisis management end of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), of which it is an integral part. It covers both the military and civilian aspects of crisis management, with the majority of overseas missions being civilian in nature. Yet, it is the growth of the military dimension that has spurred extensive debate about the nature of the EU’s actorness and whether it can still be thought of as a civilian power par excellence. Much of the research has been driven by the application of the main theoretical approaches in international relations to CSDP. The result is an extensive, but occasionally cacophonous, body of literature. Given the relative youth of CSDP there are inevitably gaps in the literature, especially the question of how CSDP relates to other policy fields in the external relations of the EU and whether the “D” in CSDP will remain indefinitely silent.
Agenda Setting and the Policy Process: Focusing Events
Authors: Birkland Thomas A. , Schwaeble Kathryn L.
Published: May 2016

Agenda setting is a crucial aspect of the public policy process. Sudden, rare, and harmful events, known as focusing events, can be important influences on the policy process. Such events can reveal current and potential future harms, mobilize people and groups to address the policy failures that may be revealed by such events, and open the “window of opportunity” for intensive policy discussion and potential policy change. But focusing events operate differently at different times and in different policy domains. Although the idea of focusing events is firmly rooted in Kingdon’s “streams approach” to the policy process, focusing events are an important element of most contemporary theories of the policy process. But not every event works as a focusing event. The process by which a focusing event can yield policy change is complex and involves attention to the problems revealed by the event as well as evidence of learning from the event on the part of policymakers. Although focusing events are important, in many ways the concept remains underdeveloped, with few researchers seeking to understand the dynamics of these important events.
Evidence-Based Policy
Authors: Botterill Linda Courtenay
Published: May 2016

Since the late 1990s, increased attention has been given by governments and scholars to evidence-based policymaking (EBPM). The use of the term EBPM appears to have emerged with the election of Tony Blair’s government in the United Kingdom (UK) and a desire to be seen to be taking ideology and politics out of the policy process. The focus was on drawing on research-based evidence to inform policymakers about “what works” and thereby produce better policy outcomes. In this sense, evidence-based policy is arguably a new label for an old concern. The relationship between knowledge, research, and policy has been a focus of scholarly attention for decades—Annette Boaz and her colleagues date it to as early as 1895 (Boaz et al., 2008, p. 234).

In its more recent form, EBPM has been the subject of much debate in the literature, particularly through critiques that question its assumptions about the nature of the policy process, the validity of evidence, the skewing in favor of certain types of evidence, and the potentially undemocratic implications. The first concern with the concept is that the EBPM movement runs counter to the lessons of the critique of rational-comprehensive approaches to policymaking that was launched so effectively in Lindblom’s article “The Science of ‘Muddling Through’” and never really refuted, in spite of attempts by advocates of the policy cycle and other rational models.

The second problem is that the rhetoric of evidence-based policy does not recognize the contested nature of evidence itself, an area that has been the subject of a large body of research in the fields of the sociology of science and science and technology studies. These studies draw attention to the value-laden nature of scientific inquiry and the choices that are made about what to research and how to undertake that research.

Third, the emphasis has been on particular types of evidence, with particular methodologies being privileged over others, running the risk that what counts as evidence is only what can be counted or presented in a particular way. The choice of evidence is value-laden and political in itself.

Finally, attempts to take the ideology or politics out of policy are also potentially undemocratic. Policymaking is the business of politics. In democratic systems, politicians are elected to implement their policies, and those policies are based on particular sets of values. Leaders are elected to make collective decisions on behalf of the electorate and those decisions are based on judgments, including value judgments. Evidence surely must inform this process, but, equally, it cannot be decisive. Trade-offs are required between conflicting values, such as between equity and efficiency, and this can include deciding between solutions that the evidence suggests are optimal and other societal priorities.
Party Movements
Authors: Schwartz Mildred A.
Published: May 2016

Party movements are organizations that have attributes of both political parties and social movements. Like parties, they desire a voice in the decisions of legislative bodies. Like social movements, they challenge existing power and advocate change, often using non-institutionalized means for expressing their message. They appear in the space left open by the failure of existing political parties and social movements to adequately represent their interests and achieve their goals. They may become independent parties or work within existing parties. Party movements can be found in most political systems. Their impact is felt whenever they are able to introduce new issues onto the political agenda, force traditional political parties to take account of their grievances, or change the contours of the party system.
Referendums
Authors: Qvortrup Matthew
Published: May 2016

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Please check back later for the full article.

Referendums are puzzling because they are ubiquitous. Described in the theoretical literature as “veto-player institutions,” referendums are used as frequently by autocratic dictators as they are employed in constitutional democracies. As an institution championed by both Hitler and Churchill, as well as Augusto Pinochet and Woodrow Wilson it is not surprising that political scientists of an earlier generation felt that they defied all attempts to develop testable hypotheses and that referendums—in the words of Arend Lijphart from his 1984 book Democracies—“fail to fit any clear universal pattern.”

More recently, beginning in the 1990s, however scholars from both historical institutional as well as rational choice schools have begun to develop testable propositions as well as they have advanced explanations as to the origins, practice and consequences of the increased use of referendums. Further, in addition to general theories of voting behaviour in referendums, an emerging literature has been established, which has investigated the policy consequences of referendums. These consequences include, lower levels of inequality, higher levels of trust in government and lower levels of public spending. Compared to an earlier period characterised by ideographic single country studies, and a general pessimism regarding the prospect of developing general theories, the study of referendums has entered a ‘revolutionary’ phase in the Kuhnian sense of the word. While no general paradigm has emerged, scholars are increasingly confident that general recurrent patterns exist and that it is possible to develop law-like statements about the emergence, use, and implications of the use of the referendum.
Ageism in the Workplace
Authors: Cadiz David M. , Pytlovany Amy C. , Truxillo Donald M.
Published: May 2016

The population is aging in most industrialized nations around the world, and this trend is anticipated to continue well into the future. This demographic shift impacts the workforce in that the average age of workers is increasing, and the workplace is becoming more age diverse, meaning different generations of employees are working side by side now more than ever before. Increasing age diversity can be problematic if misguided age-related attitudes, biases, and behaviors lead to ageism—the stigmatization of, and discrimination against, people based on age. Evidence of the impact of ageism in the workplace is being observed in increasing age-related discrimination claims as well as increased time for older people to find employment.

Workplace ageism manifests from cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Age stereotypes are associated with the cognitive component, age-related prejudice is related to the affective component, and age discrimination is aligned with the behavioral component. There is an abundance of research identifying age-related stereotypes and it is thought that these stereotypes influence how workplace decisions are made. Age-related prejudice research indicates that older workers are generally viewed more negatively than younger workers which can result in lower performance appraisals or older workers’ receiving harsher consequences for lower performance. Finally, age-discrimination research has identified that older workers struggle to find employment, to receive training and development opportunities, and to advance their careers. Although the majority of research on workplace ageism has focused on older individuals, younger workers also face challenges related to their age and this is a line of research that needs further exploration. Nevertheless, the accumulating evidence supports claims that workplace ageism has wide-ranging effects on individuals, groups/teams, organizations, and society.
Guilt or Innocence: Lessons About the Legal Process in American Courtroom Films
Authors: Bergman Paul
Published: May 2016

American courtroom films depicting criminal trials have long resonated with audiences around the world, including viewers in countries whose legal systems are very different from those portrayed in the films. Three principal factors account for the broad popularity of these films.

1. Flexibility of the genre: The crimes with which defendants are charged can be carried out in an infinite number of ways and for an infinite variety of motives. Stories can be comedies or dramas; real or fictional; and “who-dunits,” “why-dunits,” or “how-dunits.”

2. The adversary system of trial: The American adversary system of trial is made to order for screenwriters. The question-and-answer format produces verbal duels between lawyers and witnesses that often result in surprise evidence, sudden plot twists, and in-your-face comeuppances. While the nominal targets of the testimony and the arguments are the jurors who are frequently present, the jurors are proxies for the writers’ ultimate targets, the viewers.

3. Subject matter: Defendants in courtroom films are typically charged with murder or other forms of serious crime, topics to which viewers in all countries can easily relate.

For individual courtroom films, the “moment of truth” typically occurs when viewers find out whether a defendant is innocent or guilty. But for the courtroom genre as a whole, “moments of truth” consist of the “macro lessons” that courtroom films “teach” to viewers about the American system of criminal justice. Most viewers, regardless of where they live, have had little or very little exposure to actual criminal trials. For most people, what they think they know about American criminal justice is based on the images of law, lawyers, and criminal justice portrayed in courtroom films.
Critical Race Theory
Authors: Groves Price Paula
Published: May 2016

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Please check back later for the full article.

Race has historically been, and continues to be, a significant issue in all aspects of American society. In the field of education, racial inequality is prominent in the areas of access, opportunity, and outcomes. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a framework that offers researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers a race-conscious approach to understanding educational inequality and structural racism to find solutions that lead to greater justice. Placing race at the center of analysis, Critical Race Theory scholars interrogate policies and practices that are taken for granted to uncover the overt and covert ways that racist ideologies, structures, and institutions create and maintain racial inequality.

In the field of education, CRT is a helpful tool for analyzing policy issues such as school funding, segregation, language policies, discipline policies, and testing and accountability policies. It is also helpful for critically examining the larger issues of epistemology and knowledge production, which are reflected in curriculum and pedagogy. As education is one of the major institutions of knowledge production and dissemination, CRT scholars often push the field to critically examine the master or dominant narratives reproduced in schools and the counter-narratives that are silenced. CRT is a theoretical framework that provides education researchers, policy makers, and practitioners with critical lenses to deconstruct oppressive policies and practices and to construct more emancipatory systems for racial equity and justice.
Education and the Essence of Technology
Authors: Hudak Glenn M.
Published: May 2016

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Please check back later for the full article.

Martin Heidegger’s conceptualization of Gestell—the essence of technology—is a useful notion that can help educational researchers to “frame” and understand the role of digital technologies within the context of education and schooling. As C. A. Bowers argues in The Cultural Dimensions of Educational Computing (1988), “Heidegger’s thinking about technology, . . . his way of approaching the question of what constitutes the ‘essence of technology’ in relation to human existence was to be more useful [for researchers] in developing a vocabulary for revealing how our relationships are framed . . . by the essential nature of technology” (p. 31). Likewise, as Norm Friesen states in The Place of the Classroom and the Space of the Screen (2011), Heidegger “insisted that [the essence of] technology frames our experience and understanding in particular ways . . . [Heidegger names this] totality in which it is manifested by using the German word Gestell” (pp. 11–12).

As such, an understanding of Gestell—the essence of technology—is foundational, and is essential in unpacking the interface between education and technology. For what is at stake is not the use of technological equipment in classrooms per se, rather it is the very way in which Gestell “frames” the way in which we encounter educational situations by amplifying instrumental thinking at the expense of more relational forms of thinking. Here Heidegger calls for a new form of thinking: Gelassenheit, a way of thinking outside the domain of techno-discourse. Can one fully break free of Gestell? Can educators actually stand outside the dominant discourse of technology, especially as schools integrate curricula with digital technologies? An in-depth understanding of the dynamic power of the essence of technology is necessary in order to address these and other related concerns.