bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The long‐Term Dynamics of Societal Problem‐Solving: A Content‐Analysis of British Speeches from the Throne, 1689–1972*
Authors: WEBER ROBERT PHILIP 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTContent analysis of British political documents. 1689–1972. indicates cycles of political issues that differ from the 1689–1795 (Mercantilist) period to the 1795–1972 (Capitalist) period. Within each period there is a long cycle of changing issues whose interpretation is a variation of the Bales‐Parsons A‐G‐I‐L scheme; however, cycle length and issue sequence were found to differ between periods. These issue cycles are explained in terms of the Bales‐Parsons dynamic tension model. Cohort succession and coalition formation/dissolution are hypothesized to be the underlying processes that drive these issue cycles. During the Capitalist period, there is a substantial relationship between the issue cycle and party realignments. The latter being a particular form of coalition formation. Thebe results replicate and extend earlier findings based on American political documents.
Direct Action and Political Culture: The Changing Political Consciousness of the British Public*
Authors: SANDERS DAVID , TANENBAUM ERIC 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTRecent evidence suggests that significant changes in consciousness are occurring in Western democracies. This paper argues that in Britain, at least, the full extent and import of these changes can only be assessed by a panel‐based mass survey which builds upon the ‘Political Action’ research of the 1970s. Such a survey should examine propositions derived from personal risk theory, social learning theory and from a more detailed examination of the individual's ‘objective’ environment.
Rules and Strategy in Negotiations: Notes on an Institutionalist and Intentionalist Approach*
Authors: MIDGAARD KNUT 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTPsychological factors and organizational phenomena play a significant role in negotiations. It is argued that a systematic study of negotiations requires a basic model which is. firstly, institutionalist in the sense that the rules which are constitutive and regulative of the negotiations are taken systematically into account, and, secondly, intentionalist in the sense that intended rationality is assumed. On the intentional aspect, a theoretical framework will be deficient if the strategic aspects are not taken systematically into account. A distinction is made between various types of negotiations, and these are used to illustrate the fruitfulness of game‐theoretic concepts. For the institutional aspect, a case is argued for the fruitfulness for the study of negotiations of the concept of ‘speech act’ as a basis for dealing with commitments in a more nuanced and systematic way: also discussed are official purpose, participants and their roles, time and place, rules of communication, ‘institutional speech act profile’, and procedural rules. The significance of organizing and preparing negotiations so as to increase the chance of a satisfactory process and outcome is emphasized.
Parties and Coalitional Behaviour in Italian Local Politics: Conflict or Convergence?
Authors: PRIDHAM GEOFFREY 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTConventional coalition theories have applied only to formal or executive coalitions and have tended to be very one‐dimensional in their approach. They do not do justice to the strongly informal element in Italian coalitional behaviour, where a multi‐dimensional framework of analysis is required. Because of Italy's system as a partitocrazia the key variables are inevitably party‐political in nature. In this context, there is a strong case for looking at local coalitional behaviour and its relationship with national politics. In particular, it may be examined whether national patterns have simply been replicated locally. or alternatively whether local government has allowed experimentation in new alliance formations as a possible precursor for national politics with implications for policy change. Despite the strong control that national party élites have over local politics, Italy has experienced left administrations sub‐nationally: however, these have made no dramatic impact because of the institutional and political constraints on local government and also because Italy's worsening economy has further reduced policy options at this level. This analysis therefore supports the thesis of that country's ‘ungovernability’, and the answer to the ‘Italian crisis’ must clearly come from Rome and not the provinces. For general comparative purposes, there is nevertheless a strong case for considering sub‐national politics in coalition studies not least because this level of activity invariably enters the strategic considerations of national party leaders.
Normal Vote Analysis: A Methodological Note
Authors: RATTINGER HANS , FALTER JÜRGEN W. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTBy juxtaposing observed voting behaviour and voting expected due to partisan affiliations, normal vote analysis attempts to classify elections at the aggregate level and to estimate the impact of short‐term variables on the vote. Apart from graphical illustrations, this latter task is performed by the effect coefficients proposed by Boyd. This contribution demonstrates that these coefficients under certain circumstances can exaggerate the effect of short‐term influences on the vote, proposes a modified formula, and shows how normal vote analysis can be adapted to comprise the notion of statistically controlling for third short‐term forces. Finally, an attempt is made formally to relate the effect coefficients of normal vote analysis to the decomposition of variance in multiple regression analysis. It is demonstrated that such a formal relationship cannot be established, so that in terms of variance decomposition normal vote analysis is incapable of precisely and numerically comparing short‐term vs. long‐term influences on the vote, or of comparing short‐term effects across different variables or even across different samples.
Changes in Electoral Systems as ‘Interventions’: Another Test of Duverger's Hypothesis*
Authors: SHAMIR MICHAL 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThis paper re‐examines Duverger's hypothesis about the ‘multiplicative tendency’ of the electoral system of proportional representation. The data cover six countries over time, and the change of the electoral system to PR is conceived as an ‘intervention’ whose impact on the party system is assessed by time‐series techniques following the logic of ‘interrupted time‐series quasi‐experiments’. In two countries the results are altogether negative, in one positive. In the three other cases, PR does not increase the degree to which the party system is fractionalized, but increases the number of parties, essentially by adding small ones. The support for the hypothesis is at most partial and, in addition, it is argued that the observed effect is systemically unimportant.
Rational Choice Models and Aggregate Voter Behaviour in the 1929–69 Northern Irish Parliamentary Elections*
Authors: DUTTER LEE E. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTRational‐choice models of voter behaviour are concerned with two basic questions: what stimulates citizens to vote, and, if a citizen votes, for whom does he/she vote? In this study, aggregate voter behaviour is modelled as a system of equations with three endogenous variables related to these questions. The parameters of this system are estimated with pooled cross‐sectional, time‐series data on the 1929–69 Northern Irish Parliamentary elections. After appropriate controls are included and within the constraints imposed by these data, evidence is found which supports the applicability of rational‐choice models to these elections. On the related issue of voter decision rules, evidence is found which supports the calculus‐of‐voting approach, an important component of many voting models (e.g., spatial models of candidate/party competition). Finally, the analysis highlights the major aspects of Northern Irish voter behaviour in these elections and can serve as a paradigm for the examination of similar electoral data from other political systems.
Public Support for Tax Evasion: Self‐interest or Symbolic Politics?*
Authors: LISTHAUG OLA , MILLER ARTHUR H. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThe literature suggests two major theoretical explanations for public resistance to taxation. The first emphasizes a cognitive, instrumental, utility‐maximizing response to objective elements of taxation and government spending. The second treats contemporary tax revolts as the result of more enduring ideological predispositions, disaffection from politics in general and the result of social mobilization by anti‐government protagonists. In this article we confront the self‐interest model and the symbolic politics model with empirical evidence at both the aggregate level and at the micro‐level. In the macro‐analysis we examine the relationship between the level of taxation and the acceptance of tax cheating in twelve Western nations; in the micro‐analysis we perform a more detailed study of Norway, employing survey data. The over‐all results clearly show the strongest support for the symbolic politics model, while the self‐interest explanation is only weakly supported by the data. An important finding is that political attitudes and values have their strongest and most consistent impact among the politically uninvolved. This result further substantiates the symbolic politics model.
Macro‐economic decision‐making in Norway: an analysis of economic decisions within the politico‐economic framework
Authors: SØRENSEN Rune J. 
Published: May 2006

Summary. The aim of the study is to analyze when and why Norwegian governments carry out expansive decisions rather than contractive ones. Following the politico‐economic approach, it is proposed that both the governmental re‐election prospects and economic indicators may influence macro‐economic decision making.The article attempts to employ this framework in an empirical analysis of events data, i.e. in an analysis of 318 decision events spread throughout the period from 1964 to 1984. Unemployment is the major determinant of macro‐economic policies. The hypothesis of political business‐cycle receives only limited empirical support, and there is little reliable evidence of socialist governments responding differently to economic and political factors compared to borgeois governments.
Politicians against parties: Anti‐party arguments as weapons for change in Germany
Authors: SCARROW SUSAN E. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe language of anti‐party arguments provides clues about the likely consequences of upsurges in popular disaffection with political parties. Anti‐party rhetoric helps set the agenda for political action by mobilizing diffuse disaffection and discontent, and channelling it into support for specific reforms. Examining prevailing anti‐party arguments for their normative frameworks and their diagnoses of the causes of pressing problems provides clues about the kinds of political change anti‐party politics is likely to promote. This study develops distinctions between different types of anti‐party arguments and employs them to highlight key differences between past and current anti‐party debates in Germany.
Alcohol Blocks TNFα but Not Other Cytokine‐Mediated Neuroprotection to NMDA
Authors: Gahring Lorise C. , Carlson Noel G. , Wieggel Whitney A. , Howard Jill , Rogers Scott W. 
Published: May 2006

Background: We have investigated the effects of ethanol/alcohol (ETOH) on the pro‐inflammatory CNS cytokine network that mediates neuroprotection to an excitotoxic challenge with the glutamate receptor agonist N‐methyl‐D‐aspartic acid (NMDA). Methods: Cultured murine cortical neurons were incubated with either TNFα, IL‐1α, IL‐1β, or IL‐6 in the presence or absence of 20 mM ETOH, maintained in an alcohol equilibrated humidified chamber, and the effects of these cytokines on neuronal survival after a chronic 20 hr exposure to NMDA was quantified. Results: Neuroprotection induced by TNFα, but not IL‐1α, IL‐1β, or IL‐6, was inhibited by a concentration of alcohol (20 mM) that alone did not neuroprotect. Alcohol also affected the paracrine/autocrine induction of cytokine transcripts in neuronal cell cultures, which included enhancing the ability of TNFα to stimulate IL‐6 transcripts. This result supports distinct cytokine‐modulated neuroprotective pathways of which only TNFα is sensitive to low alcohol concentrations. We have shown previously that nicotine, acting through an α‐bungarotoxin sensitive receptor, is also neuroprotective, but it too specifically abolishes TNFα‐mediated neuroprotection. However, alcohol did not affect nicotine‐induced neuroprotection. Conclusions: We suggest that the effects of low concentrations of alcohol on neuronal cytokine networks proceed through antagonism of neuroprotective pathway(s) unique to TNFα.
Breakpoint Determination and Ethanol Self‐Administration Using an Across‐Session Progressive Ratio Procedure in the Rat
Authors: Czachowski Cristine L. , Samson Herman H. 
Published: May 2006

Background: Progressive ratio schedules are used to determine the “breakpoint” or limit to the amount of “work” that a subject is willing to perform to obtain a reinforcer. Reinforcing efficacy is inferred from the breakpoint values, which are typically measured in a single session by increasing the number of responses required for successive reinforcer presentations. This procedure is not feasible, however, when assessing the reinforcing efficacy of a substance that can change as a function of its physiological actions during self‐administration, as in the case of ethanol. Methods: The present study made use of a procedure that increased the response requirement across single daily sessions rather than within a session. Completion of the response requirement in each daily session resulted in the presentation of a drinking tube that allowed for self‐administration of ethanol for a 20‐min period. This procedure made possible the assessment of ethanol‐directed appetitive (number of lever presses) and consummatory (number of licks and intake volume) behaviors. Reliable responding for 10% ethanol was initiated using sucrose‐substitution on a fiwed ratio (FR) 4 schedule in male Long Evans rats. Then four successive breakpoint determinations were made which were separated by a return to the FR4 schedule to re‐establish baseline responding. Results: The results indicated that there was an increase in breakpoint values from the first to the second determination, which was then stable over the following three determinations. Individual rats reached breakpoints as high as 240 lever presses to receive access to 10% ethanol and maintained ethanol intake over sessions in the 1.0 g/kg range. Ethanol intake (g/kg), however, was stable across all four determinations (mean 0.86 ± 0.06 to 1.01 ± 0.10). Moreover, ethanol intake was not related to the preceding appetitive responding, as no differences between intake on the session before a breakpoint (high FR) and the following baseline period (FR4) were observed. Conclusions: This model provides an assessment of the distinct mechanisms that mediate ethanol‐seeking versus ethanol consumption in subjects that drink measurable amounts of ethanol, with the appetitive behaviors not altered by the pharmacological effects of ethanol.
Alcohol and Fatal Injury: The Use of Routinely Collected Fatality Data in Community Prevention Evaluation
Authors: Treno Andrew J. 
Published: May 2006

Background: This study analyzed patterns of alcohol involvement among coroners’cases (which typically include blood alcohol content information) to develop a method for weighting death‐certificate cases (which typically do not include blood alcohol content information) for likelihood of alcohol involvement for purposes of alcohol‐involved injury intervention evaluation. Methods: The coroners’ data analyzed here were collected from four California communities and correspond to all injury coroner cases between 1987 and 1996 in those communities. The death‐certificate data were provided by the State of California, Department of Health Services, and correspond to all injury deaths occurring in that state between 1980 and 1996. Each injury fatality in the death‐certificate data was assigned a probability of alcohol involvement based upon the coroners’ data. These were then summed to provide an estimate of, or “surrogate measure” for, the total number of alcohol‐involved fatal injuries per 10,000 California residents aggregated across the state of California by month for the period from January 1980 to 1996. As a test of this estimate, we examined its responsiveness to an intervention designed to reduce alcohol‐involved injuries which was implemented in California in 1990 using a time series analysis technique (ARIMA) that corrects for serial autocorrelation typically found in time ordered data. Results: This analysis found an effect during the postintervention period (p= 0.046). An alternative model testing for intervention effects on all injury fatalities did not find an effect. Conclusions: This surrogate measure seems responsive to intervention effects and may provide a useful tool for interventions designed to reduce alcohol‐involved injuries.
Reduced Gene Expression for Dopamine Biosynthesis and Transport in Midbrain Neurons of Adult Male Rats Exposed Prenatally to Ethanol
Authors: Szot Patricia , White Sylvia S. , Veith Richard C. , Rasmussen Dennis D. 
Published: May 2006

Background: Prenatal ethanol exposure affects brain dopaminergic neuronal systems, and many of these alterations are permanent. Methods: The primary objective of this study was to determine the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on adult mRNA expression for two key regulatory proteins in the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic cell groups which mediate behavioral responses to alcohol and other drugs of abuse: tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine transporter (DAT) in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). To also address the effects on noradrenergic regulation, we quantitated mRNA expression for TH and norepinephrine transporter (NET) in the noradrenergic loci of the locus cocruleus (LC). Results: Daily dietary ethanol consumption by female Sprague‐Dawley rats for 3 weeks before, and continuing throughout, pregnancy decreased both DAT (∼ 68%, p < 0.002) and TH (∼ 45%, p < 0.002) mRNA expression in the VTA of adult male offspring. This prenatal exposure also suppressed DAT mRNA expression in the SNpc (∼ 81%; p < 0.03), although TH mRNA expression in this region was not significantly altered. Prenatal ethanol exposure did not alter significantly either TH or NET mRNA expression in the LC of adult male offspring, which suggests that this brain catecholaminergic response may be limited to DA neurons. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that prenatal maternal ethanol consumption suppresses mRNA expression for important regulatory proteins in the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic systems of adult male rat offspring. These persistent prenatal ethanol‐induced changes in mRNA expression may thus contribute to the persistent effects of fetal ethanol exposure on the diverse behavioral and/or metabolic responses meditated by the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic systems in the adult.
A Pilot Study of a New Chicken Model of Alcohol‐Induced Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Morris Nancy , Kim Catherine S. , Doye Angelia A. , Hajjar Roger J. , Laste Nancy , Gwathmey Judith K. 
Published: May 2006

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption is recognized as a common cause of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. It is currently thought that 36% of all cases of dilated cardiomyopathy are due to excessive alcohol intake. Suitable animal models are needed to study the pathogenic mechanisms of ethanol‐induced LV dysfunction. We have therefore created a new model of ethanol‐induced LV dysfunction in the chicken. Methods: For 12 weeks, adult chickens were given, twice a day, by gavage, 73% of their total calculated daily water intake containing a 20% ethanol concentration. Twenty percent ethanol also was placed in the water and provided ad libitum. Control chickens received the same volume of water by gavage twice a day without ethanol. Water without ethanol was given ad libitum to control birds. Results: Our study shows that after a relatively short duration of ethanol ingestion, chickens developed LV dilatation and LV dysfunction. The serum concentrations of ethanol attained in this new model were similar to those reported in humans. Furthermore, unlike other currently available animal models of ethanol‐induced cardiac disease, this model demonstrates myocyte hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and myocytolysis, similar to observations in human ethanol‐induced cardiac dysfunction. Conclusions: We conclude that this new avian model should provide a useful tool for investigating the mechanism(s) and pathophysiology of ethanol‐induced dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure.
Ethanol Decreases Glial Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) Protein Release but Not mRNA Expression and Increases GDNF‐Stimulated Shc Phosphorylation in the Developing Cerebellum
Authors: McAlhany Robert E. , Miranda Rajesh C. , Finnell Richard H. , West James R. 
Published: May 2006

Background: Ethanol exposure during development leads to substantial neuronal loss in multiple regions of the brain. Although differentiating Purkinje cells of the cerebellum are particularly vulnerable to ethanol exposure, the mechanisms underlying ethanol‐induced Purkinje cell loss have not been well defined. Our previous research indicated that exogenous Glial‐Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) attenuated ethanol‐induced Purkinje cell loss in cerebellar explant cultures, which suggests that ethanol, in turn, may decrease endogenous trophic factor‐mediated survival mechanisms. Methods: The present experiments used an explant culture model of the developing rat cerebellum to test the hypothesis that ethanol decreases endogenous trophic support by limiting the availability of trophic factors, such as GDNF, or by altering the activation of key adapter proteins such as Shc (Src homology domain carboxy‐terminal) that couple GDNF binding to multiple intracellular signaling pathways. GDNF mRNA and protein levels were measured by reverse northern blot analysis and sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay respectively, whereas Shc phosphorylation was measured by immunoprecipitation/western immunoblot analysis. Results: The developing cerebellum expresses both GDNF mRNA and protein in vitro. Ethanol exposure (68, 103, or 137 mM) had no effect on cerebellar levels of GDNF mRNA. However, ethanol (68 and 137 mM) decreased levels of GDNF protein released into culture medium. In addition, ethanol itself had no effect on Shc phosphorylation. However, in the presence of the highest dose of ethanol (137 mM) GDNF did stimulate Shc phosphorylation. Conclusions: Together, these results suggest that ethanol decreases GDNF‐mediated trophic support of Purkinje cells in the developing cerebellum. However, GDNF in turn activates intracellular signaling pathways throughout the developing cerebellum as part of its Purkinje cell‐selective neuroprotective response to ethanol exposure.