Political Control

Political leaders use different tactics to ensure widespread compliance with state policies and to minimize resistance. Scholarship tends to treat different tactics individually, suggesting fundamental dissimilarities in underpinning logic and goals. We introduce political control as a concept that unifies these different tactics within a single framework and demonstrate the analytical utility of considering seemingly disparate strategies in conversation rather than in isolation. We synthesize a growing recent literature on political control, including innovative approaches to repression as well as studies of indoctrination, distribution, and infiltration. We argue that tactics of political control can be understood to vary along two primary dimensions: the level of violence and the materiality of rewards. We highlight recent inquiry into the downstream effects of political control. We conclude with a call for more research on political control that considers combinations of different tactics, across regime types, in a world where tolerance of violent repression is diminishing. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

“Lifestyle, finitude, or inequality?”: Illness explanation in Kathlyn Conway’s and Arthur Frank’s cancer memoirs

The lifestyle model, which attributes etiological power and moral responsibility to the individual, is dominant in health promotion discourse. While sociologists rightly critique this model’s individualistic outlook, there has been insufficient distinction between the two anti-individualistic models that commonly inform their work: the well-known “sociological model” and the culturally influential but under-conceptualized model tentatively called the “finitude model.” Not only is there insufficient awareness of the different etiological causes (inequality and human fragility) and political orientations (redistribution and recognition) underlying the sociological and finitude models, but there is also insufficient recognition of how the finitude model may inform illness explanation. To raise awareness about the existence and analytical utility of the finitude model, I elucidate its core assumptions through a brief review of some influential texts in late-modern health politics. Further, I illustrate the empirical utility of the notion of the finitude model by analyzing how it is used to explain illness in Arthur Frank’s and Kathlyn Conway’s influential cancer memoirs. Thematic analysis of the memoirs produces two major findings. First, Frank and Conway rely on the finitude model to claim victimhood and blame the blamers. Second, they seem unaware of the double-edged character of such a model, which tends to downplay how social inequality shapes health. My analysis reveals the one-sidedness of both the finitude and sociological models, and that any illness explanation therefore needs to integrate both anti-individualistic models to challenge the lifestyle model successfully.

Challenging the meaning of the past from below: A typology for comparative research on memory activists

Memory activists have recently received more scholarly and public attention, but the concept lacks conceptual clarity. In this article, we articulate an analytical framework for studying memory activists, proposing a relatively narrow definition: “Memory activists” strategically commemorate the past to challenge (or protect) dominant views on the past and the institutions that represent them. Their goal is mnemonic change or to resist change. We locate scholarship on memory activists at the intersection of memory studies and social movement studies. We introduce a typology for comparative analysis of memory activism according to activist roles, temporality, and modes of interaction with other actors in memory politics, and illustrate this with a diverse set of empirical examples. We contend that the analytical utility of the concept of the “memory activist” is premised on its value-neutrality, and in particular, its application to both pro and anti-democratic cases of activism.

Privacy Preservation and Analytical Utility of E-Learning Data Mashups in the Web of Data

Virtual learning environments contain valuable data about students that can be correlated and analyzed to optimize learning. Modern learning environments based on data mashups that collect and integrate data from multiple sources are relevant for learning analytics systems because they provide insights into students’ learning. However, data sets involved in mashups may contain personal information of sensitive nature that raises legitimate privacy concerns. Average privacy preservation methods are based on preemptive approaches that limit the published data in a mashup based on access control and authentication schemes. Such limitations may reduce the analytical utility of the data exposed to gain students’ learning insights. In order to reconcile utility and privacy preservation of published data, this research proposes a new data mashup protocol capable of merging and k-anonymizing data sets in cloud-based learning environments without jeopardizing the analytical utility of the information. The implementation of the protocol is based on linked data so that data sets involved in the mashups are semantically described, thereby enabling their combination with relevant educational data sources. The k-anonymized data sets returned by the protocol still retain essential information for supporting general data exploration and statistical analysis tasks. The analytical and empirical evaluation shows that the proposed protocol prevents individuals’ sensitive information from re-identifying.

Development of a High-Throughput Low-Cost Approach for Fabricating Fully Drawn Paper-Based Analytical Devices Using Commercial Writing Tools

This work reports the development and optimization of a rapid and low-cost pen-on-paper plotting approach for the fabrication of paper-based analytical devices (PADs) using commercial writing stationery. The desired fluidic patterns were drawn on the paper substrate with commercial marker pens using an inexpensive computer-controlled x–y plotter. For the fabrication of electrochemical PADs, electrodes were further deposited on the devices using a second x–y plotting step with commercial writing pencils. The effect of the fabrication parameters (type of paper, type of marker pen, type of pencil, plotting speed, number of passes, single- vs. double-sided plotting), the chemical resistance of the plotted devices to different solvents and the structural rigidity to multiple loading cycles were assessed. The analytical utility of these devices is demonstrated through application in optical sensing of total phenols using reflectance calorimetry and in electrochemical sensing of paracetamol and ascorbic acid. The proposed manufacturing approach is simple, low cost, flexible, rapid and fit-for-purpose and enables the fabrication of sub-“one-dollar” PADs with satisfactory mechanical and chemical resistance and good analytical performance.

‘All Things to All People’: 1 Corinthians, Ethnic Flexibility, and Social Identity Theory

Since Judge’s pioneering 1960 monograph on social engagement in early Christian groups there have been a host of further sociological and social-psychological engagements with ancient texts. One relative newcomer to the biblical research discipline is the socio-cognitive engagement of Social Identity Theory (SIT) and its attendant approaches. This article traces how Social Identity Theory has been applied to the biblical texts, using 1 Corinthians as an exemplary case. We trace the development of social approaches to 1 Corinthians from Theissen’s early engagements through to the current applications of SIT to the text. This is followed by a broad overview of the theory and approaches, along with a brief survey of its application to biblical research, and then 1 Corinthians. Finally, we utilize 1 Cor. 9.19-23 for a brief demonstration of the analytical utility of SIT within the social context of the epistle.

A combined assay for quantifying remdesivir and its metabolite, along with dexamethasone, in serum

Background As global confirmed cases and deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surpass 100 and 2.2 million, respectively, quantifying the effects of the widespread treatment of remdesivir (GS-5734, Veklury) and the steroid dexamethasone is becoming increasingly important. Limited pharmacokinetic studies indicate that remdesivir concentrations in serum decrease quickly after dosing, so its primary serum metabolite GS-441524 may have more analytical utility. Objectives We developed and validated a method to quantify remdesivir, its metabolite GS-441524 and dexamethasone in human serum. Methods We used LC-MS/MS and applied the method to 23 serum samples from seven patients with severe COVID-19. Results The method has limits of detection of 0.0375 ng/mL for remdesivir, 0.375 ng/mL for GS-441524 and 3.75 ng/mL for dexamethasone. We found low intra-patient variability, but significant inter-patient variability, in remdesivir, GS-441524 and dexamethasone levels. Conclusions The significant inter-patient variability highlights the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring of COVID-19 patients and possible dose adjustment to achieve efficacy.

Charisma and History

Because charisma is a social phenomenon, not an individual trait, its analytical utility in assessing and evaluating the quality and character of political leadership remains questionable. Cultural differences influence the traits and attributes that are internalized by one set of followers and not others. At the nation-state level, political leaders do arise who mesmerize their constituents charismatically, but too frequently that appeal is episodic, transient, and easily forfeited. Most of all, successful political leadership is more than behaving charismatically; delivering results in the form of economic growth, educational advances, health and medical services, and national self-respect are more important and more lasting. David Bell brings all of those considerations to the fore in a remarkable book that analyzes the charismatic appeals of Washington, Napoleon, Louverture, Paoli, and Bolivar, and raises important questions about the force of charisma in history.

Building policy capacity within contextual and political boundaries: an analysis of policies in fiscal and social areas in Brazil (1988/2016)

The current debate on state capacity, despite practical relevance for policy-making and analytical advances in the last decades, is still permeated by several theoretical and methodological problems. Considering that a revised concept of policy capacity has analytical utility, this work has contributed to the literature in three interrelated ways. First of all, we work on the concept of state capacity, highlighting its specificities in regard to the generic notion of power. Secondly, this article shows the relevance of bringing contextual and political elements into the debate of capacity. Thirdly, it helps to establish clearer boundaries on this notion, marking its differences to concepts such as resources and results. Empirically, it analyzes policy capacity developments in areas that have expressed priorities in the governmental agenda in former Brazilian presidencies. In the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the focus is on the fiscal function of the state as a guarantor of credibility for investors, having as a case study the National Treasury Secretariat (STN), within the Ministry of Finance. In Lula's and Dilma's terms, the attention is the social area: the National Secretariat of Citizenship Income, within the Ministry of Social Development, and the National Secretariat of Housing, within the Ministry of Cities, both created at the beginning of the government Lula.

Theorizing and Documenting Cultural Insularity in the Center: A Critical Analysis of U.S. College Students’ English-Language Spotify Consumption Orientations

This paper highlights an instructive case of cultural insularity in the center (CIC) and illustrates the potential theoretical and analytical utility of a theory of CIC. CIC refers to a tendency among many American cultural consumers toward comparative inwardness in their cultural consumption orientations. This insular tendency is particularly pronounced vis-a-vis “language heavy” cultural goods such as popular music. I critically engage the notion of CIC via a textual analysis of the written discourse of 86 American undergraduates produced via an assignment completed in four international communication classes. This assignment asked students to investigate popular music on Spotify sung in languages other than English and to write about their process. I use this analysis of undergraduate written reflection vis-à-vis their exploration of non-English language pop music to reflect on the general explanatory utility of CIC. Ultimately, a CIC model encourages us to critically explore the unique ways in which American cultural consumers and Anglo-American consumers in countries such as the United Kingdom are positioned vis-à-vis the global cultural system. More broadly, CIC encourages us to critically engage the ways in which the global cultural system orients toward an English-language dominated center, especially in the cultural domain of popular music.