bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Must Power Research Be a Political Activity?*
Authors: FALKEMARK GUNNAR 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTSteven Lukes has advanced the bold claim that power research is a political activity. The purpose of this article is to examine the credentials for this claim. The conclusion arrived at by the present author is that Lukes's arguments are wanting, but that power research actually contains political elements. Some of these elements will be unearthed in the article. This operation is performed, time and again, by raising the crucial question: does this particular choice by the power analyst require normative justification?
Decision‐Making Involvement in Norway: The Nature and Scope of Citizen Access in a Social Democratic Polity*
Authors: LAFFERTY WILLIAM M. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThe nature and scope of political participation in Norway has been the subject of considerable analysis and debate. The present study reports new findings from a nationwide sample survey carried out in early 1981. The empirical focus is expanded to cover four major areas of decision‐making involvement: political democracy, workplace democracy, special‐interest democracy and protest. Emphasis is placed on the amount and concentration of involvement within and across these areas. The results are presented and analysed within an instrumentalist perspective which views involvement as a conscious effort to influence personal or group interests. The major conclusion is that there is much more decision‐making involvement in Norway than has been previously presumed or reported.
Change and Continuity in Greek Voting Behaviour*
Authors: FEATHERSTONE KEVIN , KATSOUDAS DIMITRIS K. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThe paper analyses the change and continuity in electoral support from the pre‐dictatorship period to the years following 1974. It analyses the geography of the election results both by region and by type of area, and it also examines the results of a pre‐election opinion survey in 1981 which categorized voters by age, sex, level of education, and social class. It considers the extent to which the recent support given to the Socialists parallels that of the old Centre Union party in 1963 and 1964, and it also examines a similar continuity in voting for the main right‐wing party. It concludes that there are notable parallels, though it also highlights the exceptional uniformity of recent Socialist support.
The Demand Side of Politico‐Economic Models and Politicians' Beliefs: the Italian Case*
Authors: SANTAGATA WALTER 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to test vote and popularity functions in Italy. An alternative model on the demand for macroeconomic outcomes is presented. In addition, some preliminary results from a survey on Italian politicians' beliefs are illustrated. This field of research is shown to be of great interest in explaining the supply of public goods, of macroeconomic outcomes, and the relationships between the polity and the economy.
The Split Between the Established and the Non‐established Left in Germany*
Authors: BÜRKLIN WILHELM P. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThe focus is on the problem of dimensionality of left–right evaluations in mass publics. Starting from findings of earlier research showing that the left–right dichotomy can be interpreted in terms of a partisan and a value/issue component, it is argued here that the latter component has to be further differentiated into a more general value preference and a pro‐/anti‐establishment component. A subsidiary hypothesis maintains that the establishment component shows substantial life‐cycle effects. This differentiation thus can help to clarify conceptually the aging–conservatism thesis. The analysis reveals an age‐specific split on the meaning of Left and Right. While older cohorts interpret these terms predominantly via the traditional partisan frame of reference, in younger cohorts the value‐ and anti‐establishment components overwhelmingly explain left–right evaluations. These effects are strongest in the group of university‐educated younger‐age cohorts. This is a reversal of the traditional alignments of the better educated; in Germany they have had a position closer to the Right. Education thus has become the basis of a new left–right conflict. In addition, in all the younger cohorts, the value components are increasingly detached from the traditional partisan frame. The ‘floating’ New Left has distanced itself from the established Left–Right camps to focus upon the new German party, the Greens.
Markets beyond politics? The state and the internationalisation of financial markets
Authors: UNDERHILL GEOFFREY R.D. 
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The role of politics is particularly difficult to discern in the domain of international financial markets, where the state's capacity to control or direct capital flows, without incurring considerable opportunity (and political) costs, appears so limited. In addressing this question, this paper argues that the process of internationalisation is first and foremost the consequence of political decision‐making (to create open markets) and that many domestic interests linked to the international market have promoted internationalisation both through their policy preferences and economic activity. The paper will then go on to argue that the threat of financial instability and crisis, a consequence of the increased volatility of relatively unregulated capital flows, has prompted political demands for more concerted inter‐state co‐operation to maintain stability. Much of this takes place through transnational agreements among state agencies, such as the central banks, and much through ‘reregulation’ in the guise of ‘harmonisation’ of regulatory and prudential supervisory policies.Some of this process has received considerable publicity, such as the harmonisation of EEC regulations to facilitate freer trade in banking and financial services as part of the preparation for the Single European Market in 1992. Likewise, the current Uruguay Round of GATT trade talks has the liberalisation of trade in financial services on its agenda. Other aspects of the process have been carried on quietly, far from public view, in such forums as the Bank for International Settlements. Such is the case of a recent agreement to harmonise minimum capital adequacy requirements for banks operating in international markets. The paper uses these three cases to support the argument about the role of politics and the state in international finance.
Attitude constraint and stability among elite and mass in Sweden
Authors: GRANBERG DONALD , HOLMBERG SÖREN 
Published: May 2006

AbstractA panel of the Swedish electorate in 1985 and 1988, and a comparable panel comprised of members of the Swedish parliament, were analyzed for constraint and stability of attitudes. It was found that members of parliament showed considerably more constraint among attitudes and more attitude stability than the public. Among the public, members of political parties showed more constraint and stability than other voters who, in turn, showed more constraint and stability than nonvoters. A similar ordering was found in the link between specific issue attitudes and an abstract left‐right dimension. Societal elites responding to the same questions showed more attitudinal constraint than the public but less than members of parliament. Thus, even at the elite level politics matters in the sense that involvement in politics enhances the degree of constraint between attitudes on contemporary issues.
Public financing, party membership and internal party competition
Authors: HOFNUNG MENACHEM 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe relative decline in party membership in West‐European countries over the last three decades is an accepted fact in the comparative literature on party organization. However, the bare facts do not explain the reasons for such decline and may leave the feeling that the process is irreversible. A number of scholars relate party membership decline to the introduction of public finance of political parties. They suggest that public financing laws and related arrangements have a negative effect on efforts to mobilize party membership, leading to a decline in political participation. In this article, drawing mainly on the Israeli experience, I argue that public funding does not necessarily lead to membership decline, but that changes in the internal competition rules for electing party candidates to national or local posts may affect party membership more than any other variable. Thus, the decline in membership that has been considered to be irreversible, is in fact highly reversible.
Constitutional structures and regime performance in 18 industrialized democracies: A test of Olson's hypothesis
Authors: CREPAZ MARKUS M. L. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractAccording to Olson's concept of encompassing organizations, strong two‐party, plurality oriented political systems should create more ‘responsible’ public policies than ‘weak’ multi‐party governments based on proportional representation. An empirical measure of ‘encompassment’, termed popular cabinet support, is developed and tested in a multivariate controlled statistical analysis of 18 industrialized democracies. While Olson's theoretical concept of encompassing organizations appears to hold, his empirical operationalization, namely, strong two‐party systems based on plurality electoral rules, does not. The findings reveal that the alternative measures of ‘encompassment’, popular cabinet support, significantly reduces the rate of unemployment and inflation, indicating that the wider the popular support base of government, the more responsibly these governments behave.
Candidate chances, ideological moderation, and American nomination politics: A simulation approach
Authors: RAPOPORT RONALD B. , STONE WALTER J. , ATKESON LONNA RAE 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThis study employs a decision model to study the effects on popular support of candidate chances and candidate moderation in the American presidential nomination process. The decision model draws upon psychological and rational choice theories of decision making to accommodate both the complexity of choice citizens face in the typical nomination campaign, and the need to keep decision costs in bounds. We use the model to simulate voter decision making under repeated trials of nomination campaigns. The simulation trials vary the chances candidates have of winning their party's nomination, and the ideological moderation of competing nomination candidates. Our results show that increasing a candidate's chances for the nomination can have substantial payoff in support, but that the consequences of moderating a candidate's ideological stand are more muted. Our research speaks to broader guest ions of decision making when information costs are high but cognitive effort remains low, and to the resolution of intraparty conflict in a dynamic and volatile political environment.
The fragmentation of local government in Scandinavia
Authors: BOGASON PETER 
Published: May 2006

AbstractOver 10 to 15 years, an organizational fragmentation of Scandinavian local government has come about by the introduction of neighbourhood councils, user‐governed public service institutions, contracting out of services and experimental, particularized state grants to the localities. Consequently, users come into focus, territorial democracy is challenged, and new forms of inter‐governmental relations abound. This calls for alternatives to the traditional analysis of local government with less emphasis on formal organizational analysis and more on governance and inter‐organizational links. There are indications that contrary to aspirations, the influence of professionals is not reduced by the changes and consequently increased user influence is not given, but there is a need for more analysis along the lines suggested.
Explaining the rise of racist and extreme right violence in Western Europe: Grievances or opportunities?
Authors: KOOPMANS RUUD 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThis paper investigates the causes of the recent rise in extreme right and racist violence in Western Europe. In the first part, the available data on extreme right and racist violence in eight Western European countries ‐ Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway ‐ are discussed. Contrary to the image presented in the media, Germany is no 'Sonderfall’ as regards the level of violence. Germany belongs to the countries with the highest levels of violence, but Switzerland and Great Britain are roughly comparable in this regard. The second part of the paper attempts to explain cross‐national differences by applying two theoretical perspectives from the social movement literature. The grievance model, which sees the causes of violence in grievances related to the main target groups of the extreme right (foreigners and asylum seekers) and more general feelings of anomie among the socially marginal, finds little support in the data. The opportunity model, which emphasizes the role of political elites in shaping mobilization opportunities for social movements, finds support in an analysis of the relation between the development of extreme right and racist violence and the political debate around asylum legislation in Germany. Moreover, cross‐national comparison shows that the amount of violence also depends on the prior strength of extreme right and racist parties. Contrary to common wisdom, but in line with the expectations derived from the opportunity model, the level of violence tends to be low where extreme right and racist parties are strong and vice versa.
A category of its own? Four PR two‐tier compensatory member electoral systems in 1994
Authors: ELKLIT JØRGEN , ROBERTS NIGEL S. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractAt first sight, the electoral systems in Denmark, Germany, South Africa and Sweden may seem different and an attempt to categorize them together odd. All four, however, belong to the same category, which Arend Lijphart calls ‘proportional representation two‐tier districting systems’, and the effects of these systems on the proportionality of the representation of political parties are, indeed, comparable. The four electoral systems were the basis of their countries’ general elections during 1994. The results of these elections are used for analyses and discussions of the relative importance of the differences which one also finds between them. The paper ends with an examination of the behavioural consequences of these institutional arrangements, which are also found elsewhere, i.e. in Estonia, Iceland, Norway and New Zealand (in the new electoral system currently being implemented there).
Ethanol Actions on Multiple Ion Channels: Which Are Important?
Authors: Harris R. Adron 
Published: May 2006

Background: This review is based on a plenary lecture presented at the 1999 meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism. It provides an overview of the search for sites of action for ethanol in the brain. Initial studies were directed at interaction of ethanol with membrane lipids, but during the past decade, emphasis has been shifted to protein sites, particularly those on ion channels. Molecular biological techniques have provided the opportunity to study isolated channels in cellular expression systems and also provide the opportunity to manipulate these channels in mutant mice.Conclusions: There is now compelling evidence that multiple ion channels are affected by ethanol and growing support for the idea that ethanol interacts directly with specific sites on ion channels. The key, and unanswered, question is which of these channels are responsible for alcohol‐induced behaviors such as intoxication, tolerance, dependence, or craving. Mutant mice will likely give (some) answers to these questions during the next decade.
Ethanol‐Altered Liver‐Associated T Cells Mediate Liver Injury in Rats Administered Concanavalin A (Con A) or Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
Authors: Cao Qi , Batey Robert , Pang Gerald , Clancy Robert 
Published: May 2006

Background: Recent work from our laboratory implicates T cells in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease. We have studied the role of liver‐associated T cells in acute hepatitis produced in control rats administered Concanavalin A (Con A) after adoptive transfer of T cells from alcohol‐consuming animals. Methods: Liver‐associated T cells from ethanol‐consuming rats were transferred via tail vein to nonethanol‐consuming rats. They then received Con A (20 mg/kg body weight) intravenously. This produced a severe hepatitis. Serum was collected for the assay of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and cytokines. Results: Hepatic necrosis was accompanied by an increase in plasma levels of ALT, interleukin‐6, and tumor necrosis factor‐α. These increases correlated with increased production of interleukin‐6 and tumor necrosis factor‐α in culture of liver‐associated T cells stimulated or unstimulated with Con A. Immunohistology staining showed increased infiltration of inflammatory cells comprised of neutrophils and mononuclear cells, which included greater numbers of CD4+ T cells in the portal tract areas and around the central vein. Focal and lobular necrosis was seen with inflammatory cells in the necrotic area. Hepatocytes isolated from the liver showed increased apoptosis compared with rats that received liver‐associated T cells from nonethanol‐consuming rats. Injection of endotoxin LPS, in the same model, was associated with less hepatocyte injury indicating a distinct role for T cells as opposed to Kupffer cells in this model of liver disease. Conclusions: Chronic ethanol consumption induces a lesion in a pool of liver‐associated T cells which can mediate liver injury after polyclonal mitogen activation.
Influence of Fetal Alcohol Exposure on the GABAergic Regulation of Growth Hormone Release in Postnatal Rats
Authors: Blaine Kelly , Gasser Kenneth , Conway Sonya 
Published: May 2006

Background: Disruption of the growth hormone (GH) axis by maternal ethanol (ETOH) consumption may contribute to abnormalities in offspring. Interestingly, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission, which is vulnerable to fetal ETOH exposure, also regulates the hypothalamic‐pituitary GH axis. This study examines whether GABAergic control of this axis is disrupted by prenatal ETOH exposure.Methods: Pregnant dams were fed either rat chow ad libitum or a 36% ETOH diet (by calories), or wcre pair‐fed an isocaloric control diet. Hypothalami and pituitarics from offspring were copcrfused, in vitro, with muscimol, a GABAAagonist, either alone or in combination with bicuculline, a GABAAantagonist. Perfusatcs werc analyzed by radioimmunoassay for GH, somatostatin (SRIF), and GH‐releasing factor (GRF).Results: Normal development of GABA regulation was evaluated first in control offspring. Sensitivity to muscimol (measured by percent increase in GH above basal levels) occurred at all ages and generally was greater in male compared to female tissue. Furthermore, the efficacy of bicuculline in depressing muscimol‐induced GH secretion increased with age in both sexes. In males, this response correlated with increased SRlF rclease. In females, releasing factor data were highly variable relative to the percent change and are not presented.Maternal ETOH consumption altered the development of GABAergic regulation of the GH axis in offspring. However, because ETOH induced changes in the response of releasing factors to muscimol appcar to offset each other, a disruption in GH release was not evident. More apparent was the reduced capacity of bicucullinc to reverse muscimol‐induced GH release from male tissue. This ETOH effect was evidcnt at 35‐days of age and was associated with reduced SRIF release. In female tissue, a reduced bicuculline response was also suggested at 35 days of age. After puberty no response was elicited by muscimol in either tissue from pair‐fed or ETOH‐exposed female offspring.Conclusion: In summary, fetal ETOH exposure influences the development of GABAergic regulation of the hypothalamic‐pituitary GH axis in an age and gender specific manner. Vulnerability of the male axis is expressed by the reduced capacity of bicucullinc to depress GH rcleasc and altered releasing factor sensitivity to GABAA‐receptor stimulation or inhibition. There is also some suggestion that the female axis is less sensitive to bicuculline during early puberty, and, unlike the male, is insensitive to both muscimol and bicuculline after puberty. The latter, however, may be attributable to stress or nutritional deprivation, rather than to the direct effect of prenatal ETOH.
Progesterone and Prostaglandin H Synthase‐2 Involvement in Alcohol‐Induced Preterm Birth in Mice
Authors: Cook Jocelynn L. , Zaragoza Dean B. , White Nancy M. , Randall Carrie L. , Olson David M. 
Published: May 2006

Background: Recently, an association between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and shortened gestational length has been reported, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Progesterone (P4) and prostaglandins have been shown to play important roles in parturition in both human and animal models. Recently, it has been suggested that prostaglandin H synthase‐2 (PGHS‐2) is responsible for prostaglandin changes associated with term and preterm labor. It is possible that alcohol induces preterm birth by altering P4 or PGHS‐2 levels. These studies were designed to determine the role of P4 and PGHS‐2 in alcohol‐induced preterm labor in mice.Methods: Experiment 1: Pregnant dams treated with either vehicle or alcohol (6 g/kg, intragastrically) on gestational day (GD) 16 were killed at various times in gestation up to the time of delivery. Plasma P4 levels were measured by radioimmunoassay and uterine PGHS‐2 mRNA expression was measured by Ribonuclease Protection Assay. Results indicated that alcohol treatment was associated with an earlier decline in plasma P4 levels and an earlier rise in uterine PGHS‐2 mRNA levels during gestation. Experiment 2: Pregnant C57BW6J females were treated with either P4 (2.0 mg, subcutaneously) or vehicle (sesame oil) 2 hr before receiving either 6 g/kg alcohol (intragastrically) or vehicle (isocaloric sucrose) on gestational day (GD) 16. Results indicate that P, pretreatment effectively antagonized alcohol‐induced preterm delivery. Experiment 3: On GD16, pregnant dams received either 100 mgkg nimesulide (a specific PGHS‐2 inhibitor) or vehiclc (saline) subcutaneously, 2 hr before treatment with either 6 g/kg alcohol (given intragastrically) or isocaloric sucrose. Nimesulide was effective in antagonizing alcohol‐induced preterm labor.Conclusions: Together, these data suggest that both P4 and PGHS‐2 may play roles in alcohol‐induced preterm birth.
Serum and Saliva Levels of Sialic Acid Are Elevated in Alcoholics
Authors: Pönniö Maritta , Alho Hannu , Heinälä Pekka , Nikkari Seppo T. , Sillanaukee Pekka 
Published: May 2006

Background and Methods:Recently, sialic acid has been suggested as a potential marker for alcohol abuse. In this study, social drinkers and alcoholics were analyzed with a modified version of Warren's method for sialic acid and traditional markers of alcohol abuse in serum (n= 38; n= 87), saliva (n= 36; n= 29), and urine (n= 37; n= 83), respectively. The alcoholics were participating in an alcohol dependency treatment program and were followed in this study for 5 weeks.Results:The sialic acid concentrations in female and male alcoholics were significantly higher in serum (p < 0.001; p < 0.001 respectively) and saliva (p < 0.05; p < 0.05) but not in urine, compared with social drinkers. The diagnostic efficiency of serum sialic acid was higher than that for traditional markers: 77% for female subjects and 64% for male subjects. The corresponding results for saliva were 72% and 53%. The sialic acid concentrations were significantly decreased during the alcohol dependency treatment program (after 5 weeks of treatment) in both females and males.Conclusions:This study confirms that serum sialic acid is a valuable marker for detecting and monitoring alcohol abuse. This work also indicates that sialic acid in saliva could be used possibly as a noninvasive marker for alcohol abuse.