Studying the influence of national parliaments in EU affairs: reconnecting empirical research and the Principal-Agent approach

The relationship between presidents and cabinets has attracted less scholarly attention than the prime minister/cabinet relationship. The relationship is typically captured in the theoretical and conceptual terms of the principal-agent framework. In presidential systems, cabinet is the agent of the president, as it is the agent of parliament in parliamentary systems, but in semi-presidential systems, and especially in the president-presidentialism variety, cabinet has two principals. This has resulted in hypotheses for empirical research into the powers of the president over cabinet, and the level of conflict between president and cabinet. With regard to the dominance of the president, the proportion of non-partisan ministers in the cabinet has been shown to be an important indicator. However, the chapter ends with the suggestion to look beyond regime-level differences. The category of presidential systems in particular hides considerable variety, and the study of presidential systems, especially in Latin America, has important potential in this regard.

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Multi-Level Relations in Political Parties

Party Politics ◽

10.1177/1354068808099978 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 137-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Pieter van Houten

Keyword(s):

Political Parties ◽

Empirical Research ◽

Principal Agent ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

State Laws ◽

Party Organizations ◽

Multi Level ◽

Regional Branch ◽

National Leadership

Most political parties operate on several territorial levels, but we have only limited theoretical understanding of multi-level party dynamics. This article presents a delegation framework for studying the interaction between the national leadership and regional branches in state-wide parties. Assuming a principal—agent relationship, the national leadership can obtain benefits from delegating tasks to a regional branch, but also faces possible costs in doing this. The rules and conventions regulating the multi-level interaction in parties are possible mechanisms by which to control the actions and policies of regional branches. These include formal party rules, informal party procedures and conventions, and state laws affecting party organizations. The framework provides an agenda and hypotheses for empirical research, research that should focus on crisis situations in parties, on what regional branches cannot do (instead of just documenting the activities of branches), and on the role of parties in shaping state laws and regulations.

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Selecting the Optimal FM System for Children With Cochlear Implants

Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood ◽

10.1044/hhdc18.1.19 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 19-24

Author(s):

Erin C. Schafer

Keyword(s):

Speech Recognition ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Empirical Research ◽

Background Noise ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Signal To Noise ◽

Speech Processor ◽

System Input ◽

Optimal Type

Children who use cochlear implants experience significant difficulty hearing speech in the presence of background noise, such as in the classroom. To address these difficulties, audiologists often recommend frequency-modulated (FM) systems for children with cochlear implants. The purpose of this article is to examine current empirical research in the area of FM systems and cochlear implants. Discussion topics will include selecting the optimal type of FM receiver, benefits of binaural FM-system input, importance of DAI receiver-gain settings, and effects of speech-processor programming on speech recognition. FM systems significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio at the child's ear through the use of three types of FM receivers: mounted speakers, desktop speakers, or direct-audio input (DAI). This discussion will aid audiologists in making evidence-based recommendations for children using cochlear implants and FM systems.

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The Impact of Visual Feedback Type on the Mastery of Visuo-Motor Transformations

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000084 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 220 (1) ◽

pp. 3-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sandra Sülzenbrück

Keyword(s):

Empirical Research ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Closed Loop ◽

Motor Planning ◽

Visual Input ◽

Closed Loop Control ◽

Loop Control ◽

Feedback Type ◽

Effective Use ◽

The Impact

For the effective use of modern tools, the inherent visuo-motor transformation needs to be mastered. The successful adjustment to and learning of these transformations crucially depends on practice conditions, particularly on the type of visual feedback during practice. Here, a review about empirical research exploring the influence of continuous and terminal visual feedback during practice on the mastery of visuo-motor transformations is provided. Two studies investigating the impact of the type of visual feedback on either direction-dependent visuo-motor gains or the complex visuo-motor transformation of a virtual two-sided lever are presented in more detail. The findings of these studies indicate that the continuous availability of visual feedback supports performance when closed-loop control is possible, but impairs performance when visual input is no longer available. Different approaches to explain these performance differences due to the type of visual feedback during practice are considered. For example, these differences could reflect a process of re-optimization of motor planning in a novel environment or represent effects of the specificity of practice. Furthermore, differences in the allocation of attention during movements with terminal and continuous visual feedback could account for the observed differences.

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Which Data to Meta-Analyze, and How?

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000357 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 227 (1) ◽

pp. 64-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Martin Voracek ◽

Michael Kossmeier ◽

Ulrich S. Tran

Keyword(s):

Empirical Research ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Curve Analysis ◽

Research Progress ◽

Primary Data ◽

Statistical Procedures ◽

Graphical Displays ◽

Primary Data Analysis ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

Data Analytic

Abstract. Which data to analyze, and how, are fundamental questions of all empirical research. As there are always numerous flexibilities in data-analytic decisions (a “garden of forking paths”), this poses perennial problems to all empirical research. Specification-curve analysis and multiverse analysis have recently been proposed as solutions to these issues. Building on the structural analogies between primary data analysis and meta-analysis, we transform and adapt these approaches to the meta-analytic level, in tandem with combinatorial meta-analysis. We explain the rationale of this idea, suggest descriptive and inferential statistical procedures, as well as graphical displays, provide code for meta-analytic practitioners to generate and use these, and present a fully worked real example from digit ratio (2D:4D) research, totaling 1,592 meta-analytic specifications. Specification-curve and multiverse meta-analysis holds promise to resolve conflicting meta-analyses, contested evidence, controversial empirical literatures, and polarized research, and to mitigate the associated detrimental effects of these phenomena on research progress.

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