Continuity and Change, Predictability and Change, in the Politics of Presidential Selection

1983 ◽  
Vol 16 (04) ◽  
pp. 648-655
Author(s):  
Byron E. Shafer
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Analytic Framework ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Presidential Selection ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
The Face ◽  
Specific Outcome ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Organized Interest

Political scientists are charged with explaining the recurrent elements in the politics of presidential selection. Journalists are charged with explaining the elements of the moment. The best political scientists are nevertheless able to apply their larger analytic framework to the specific developments of the day. Just as the best journalists are able to frame those developments in some larger theoretical context. Political history, however, has been notably unkind to political scientists and journalists alike, when it comes to predicting the specific outcome of contests over presidential nominations—and elections. Inevitably, then, the year 1984 appears as the next challenge to scholarly, and journalistic, interpretation.The principal sources of change in the contemporary politics of presidential selection, those categories of events which are the meat of working journalists, are themselves comparatively stable and would thus seem ideally suited to the investigations of working political scientists as well. These include the institutional framework for the nomination and then the election. They include the field of contenders which begins the chase for a nomination, and narrows in the conflict over final election. They include major public issues, both those which surface with some regularity and those which really are specific to one presidential year. And they include the organized interest groups, recognized constituencies, and rank-and-file individuals who participate at varying levels and in varying mixes from campaign to campaign. In the face of these regularized elements of change, of course, the strategies and tactics of elite contenders and mass participants also reliably shift. For 1984, every one of these categories shows some further evolution, or at least some new, noteworthy twist.

After the “Master Theory”: Downs, Schattschneider, and the Rebirth of Policy-Focused Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 643-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob S. Hacker ◽  
Paul Pierson
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Partisan Polarization ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Organized Interest ◽  
Government Authority

Drawing on the pioneering work of Anthony Downs, political scientists have tended to characterize American politics as a game among undifferentiated competitors, played out largely through elections, with outcomes reflecting how formal rules translate election results into legislative votes. In this perspective, voters, campaigns, elections, and the ideological distribution of legislators merit extensive scrutiny. Other features of the political environment—most notably, the policies these legislators help create and the interest groups that struggle over these policies—are deemed largely peripheral. However, contemporary politics often looks very different than the world described by Downs. Instead, it more closely resembles the world depicted by E. E. Schattschneider—a world in which policy and groups loom large, the influence of voters is highly conditional, and the key struggle is not over gaining office but over reshaping governance. Over the last twenty years, a growing body of scholarship has emerged that advances this corrective vision—an approach we call “policy-focused political science.” In this framework, politics is centrally about the exercise of government authority for particular substantive purposes. Such exercises of authority create the “terrain” for political struggle, profoundly shaping both individual and group political behavior. More important, because policies can be so consequential, they also serve as the “prize” for many of the most enduring political players, especially organized interest groups. The payoffs of a policy-focused perspective include a more accurate portrayal of the institutional environment of modern politics, an appreciation for the fundamental importance of organized groups, a better understanding of the dynamics of policy change, and a more accurate mapping of interests, strategies, and influence. These benefits are illustrated through brief examinations of two of the biggest changes in American politics over the last generation: asymmetric partisan polarization and the growing concentration of income at the top.

Media in crisis: Blowing hot and cold

1982 ◽  
Vol 72 (6B) ◽  
pp. S19-S28
Author(s):  
Ralph H. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
The Other ◽  
World Views ◽  
Public Controversy ◽  
Earthquake Preparedness ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Individual Household ◽  
The One ◽  
Organized Interest

abstract A 3-yr content analysis of all items dealing with earthquakes in six major Los Angeles newspapers and a review of television and radio treatment of earthquake topics in the same period, coupled with periodic surveys of popular understanding and attitudes toward the earthquake threat following announcement of the southern California uplift (Palmdale Bulge), lead to the identification of four media problems that contributed to the often erratic treatment of earthquake threat. First is the problem of newsworthiness, determining when and how to feature discussions of the continuing earthquake threat in the absence of either dramatic events or mobilized public controversy. Second is the problem of finding sources to provide a steady flow of material for use in preparing news items, in the absence of well-organized interest groups, especially those concerned with individual, household, and neighborhood earthquake preparedness. Third is the dilemma of how to balance the needs for alarm and reassurance, shocking people out of lethargy into action on the one hand versus trying to minimize unproductive anxiety and community disruption on the other hand. The fourth problem is communicating science when nonscientific world views are prevalent and merged to the point of confusion with scientific world views in popular thinking.

scholarly journals Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Gilens ◽  
Benjamin I. Page
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Economic Elite ◽  
Electoral Democracy ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Economic Elites ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Organized Interest

Each of four theoretical traditions in the study of American politics—which can be characterized as theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Economic-Elite Domination, and two types of interest-group pluralism, Majoritarian Pluralism and Biased Pluralism—offers different predictions about which sets of actors have how much influence over public policy: average citizens; economic elites; and organized interest groups, mass-based or business-oriented.A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. We report on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues.Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism.

scholarly journals Uneven balance of power between hypothalamic peptidergic neurons in the control of feeding

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (40) ◽  
pp. E9489-E9498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Wei ◽  
David M. Krolewski ◽  
Shannon Moore ◽  
Vivek Kumar ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Dynamic Balance ◽  
Endogenous Opioid System ◽  
Endogenous Opioid ◽  
Neuronal Projection ◽  
Functional Understanding ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Opposing Effects

Two classes of peptide-producing neurons in the arcuate nucleus (Arc) of the hypothalamus are known to exert opposing actions on feeding: the anorexigenic neurons that express proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and the orexigenic neurons that express agouti-related protein (AgRP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY). These neurons are thought to arise from a common embryonic progenitor, but our anatomical and functional understanding of the interplay of these two peptidergic systems that contribute to the control of feeding remains incomplete. The present study uses a combination of optogenetic stimulation with viral and transgenic approaches, coupled with neural activity mapping and brain transparency visualization to demonstrate the following: (i) selective activation of Arc POMC neurons inhibits food consumption rapidly in unsated animals; (ii) activation of Arc neurons arising from POMC-expressing progenitors, including POMC and a subset of AgRP neurons, triggers robust feeding behavior, even in the face of satiety signals from POMC neurons; (iii) the opposing effects on food intake are associated with distinct neuronal projection and activation patterns of adult hypothalamic POMC neurons versus Arc neurons derived from POMC-expressing lineages; and (iv) the increased food intake following the activation of orexigenic neurons derived from POMC-expressing progenitors engages an extensive neural network that involves the endogenous opioid system. Together, these findings shed further light on the dynamic balance between two peptidergic systems in the moment-to-moment regulation of feeding behavior.

Are Puns Mere? Christine Brooke-Rose's Amalgamemnon

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-545
Author(s):  
Julia Jordan
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Late Modernism ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Jacques Ranciere ◽  
Jacques Rancière ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Secret Knowledge ◽  
The Relationship

This article will explore the relationship between linguistic puns and knowledge, in particular puns in Christine Brooke-Rose's work, and what they tell us about knowledge: secret knowledge; encoded knowledge; latent knowledge that remains latent; and the refusal of knowledge. My title is an allusion to Frank Kermode's 1967 essay ‘Objects, Jokes, and Art’, where he puzzles away at his own difficulty with distinguishing avant garde writing and art, especially what he calls the ‘neo-avant garde’ of the 60s, from jokes. ‘I myself believe’, he writes anxiously, ‘that there is a difference between art and a joke’, admitting that ‘it has sometimes been difficult to tell.’ Brooke-Rose, whose work Kermode admired, is a perfect example of this. Her texts revolve around the pun, the surprise juxtaposition between semantic poles, the unexpected yoking together of disparate elements. Puns, for Brooke-Rose, sit at the juncture between the accidental and the overdetermined. So what is funny about the pun? Not much, I propose, or rather, it provokes a particular sort of ambivalent laughter which becomes folded into the distinctive character and affective potency of late modernism itself: its deadpan silliness; its proclivity to collision and violence; its excitability and its melancholy. Brooke-Rose's humour is thus of the difficult sort, that is, humour that reveals itself at the moment of its operation to be not all that funny. The unsettling laughter, I propose, that exposes literature's own incommensurability with itself. For Jacques Rancière, the novel must illuminate somehow the ‘punctuation of the encounter with the inconceivable’, in the face of which all is reduced to passivity. The pun, in particular, forces the readers’ passivity, and exposes us to limits of what can be known.

Change or Continuity in Cultures?

2019 ◽  
pp. 194-213
Author(s):  
Robert M. Fishman
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Theoretical Question

This chapter poses the large theoretical question of what generates cultural change or continuity, and provides examples of both patterns in the cases examined in the book. The large-scale program of commemorations of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution is treated in depth, taking it as an example of a mechanism providing for cultural continuity in that post-revolutionary polity. Obviously, revolution itself contributed earlier to cultural change in that case. In the Spanish case efforts to promote cultural change during the Zapatero years, in the 15-M movement, and more recently in contemporary politics are taken up. The analysis searches for mechanisms of cultural change but also offers observations on why it is typically difficult for efforts at cultural change to achieve success as broad as that to be found in revolutionary Portugal. Complex combinations of continuity and change are also taken up. Recent developments in both Spain and Portugal are examined.

Self-Control and Academic Achievement

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 373-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela L. Duckworth ◽  
Jamie L. Taxer ◽  
Lauren Eskreis-Winkler ◽  
Brian M. Galla ◽  
James J. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Academic Goals ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Face ◽  
Standardized Achievement Tests ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Moment

Self-control refers to the alignment of thoughts, feelings, and actions with enduringly valued goals in the face of momentarily more alluring alternatives. In this review, we examine the role of self-control in academic achievement. We begin by defining self-control and distinguishing it from related constructs. Next, we summarize evidence that nearly all students experience conflict between academic goals that they value in the long run and nonacademic goals that they find more gratifying in the moment. We then turn to longitudinal evidence relating self-control to academic attainment, course grades, and performance on standardized achievement tests. We use the process model of self-control to illustrate how impulses are generated and regulated, emphasizing opportunities for students to deliberately strengthen impulses that are congruent with, and dampen impulses that are incongruent with, academic goals. Finally, we conclude with future directions for both science and practice.

scholarly journals There are Two Sides to Every COIN

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Ruzza
Keyword(s):  
Turning Point ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
National Union ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
The Face ◽  
Peripheral Areas ◽  
The Government ◽  
Current Transition ◽  
Two Sides

The capacity of Myanmar’s government to effectively rule and administer peripheral areas of the country has been challenged since independence by a vast array of non-state armed groups (NSAGs), and the country is home to the most long-lasting insurgencies still active today. The core interest of this article rests on analysing the degree of continuity and change in the strategy enacted by Myanmar’s government in order to counter, contain and re-absorb insurgencies in the wake of the recent liberalisation process. The government activity vis-à-vis insurgencies is assessed in two core dimensions: economic and military. The analysis is developed in diachronic perspective, spanning three key phases. The first, meant to provide the essential historical background and benchmark, is the post-1989 period, characterised by the implementation of the ceasefires. The other two focus on the current transition, splitting it into two (2008–2011 and 2011–2015), taking Thein Sein’s new peace plan as a turning point. Moving through these three phases the paper assesses how Myanmar’s government achieves a balance between military pressure and economic incentives in the face of three major insurgencies: in Shan state, versus various NSAGs; against the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO); and against the Karen National Union (KNU).

scholarly journals Trauma from abuse, suggestibility and EMDR

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Romana Ficorilli
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Face ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

One of the most complete definitions of Trauma describes it as an "extreme, unsustainable and inevitable threatening experience, in the face of which the individual experiences a sense of helplessness", an event outside the range of usual human experiences, which overwhelm the normal human capacity for adaptation. A modern and current understanding of the concept of Trauma occurs with Bowlby, which places it for the first time in a "relational" context. He argues that the way people react in adverse life situations, particularly to a traumatic event, depends on the type of attachment that has been established between the child and his attachment figures (AFs). The concept of "child abuse and neglect" includes different forms of violence against children, ranging from verbal abuse to rape. Law 66 of 15 February 1996 introduced specific rules on child sexual abuse, in particular the way of listening to children in order to collect good testimony. The theory that today represents the point of reference for most research on the accuracy of memory in testimony, considers memory a "reconstructive" process, and is the result of the interaction between interpretation that is given by the subject in the coding phase, recovery of clues based on the general knowledge possessed by the subject and the context in which it is in the moment in which it must remember. Loftus' studies on false memories affirm that eye witnessing, however bona fide it may be, can be completely unreliable because there are many distortions of memory. The problem of suggestibility in memory is not so much that the momentary account can be modified, but that a distortion of the original episode of what is represented in memory of the event in question takes place, which, from that moment on, will be irreversibly modified. The therapeutic crisis support is the first phase of the therapeutic work following the abuse and has as its privileged recipients the victim and the adult who takes care of them. Currently, a trauma-focused therapy such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), an evidence-based psychotherapy approach, is used, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the elective therapy for the treatment of PTSD and several psychopathologies related to traumatic events, including sexual abuse. Not only because the victims of abuse could in turn perpetrate the cycle of abuse, but also so that victimisation is not considered an unchangeable characteristic of the person.

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