Contexts of political protest in Western democracies: Political organization and modernity

This paper provides a comparative analysis of two contextual determinants of protest participation in 17 Western democracies at the beginning of the 1990's. The two determinants are the individual's organizational context and the national context of political and socioeconomic conditions. The organizational context is defined as the close context of political protest arising due to social interaction, while the national context is defined as the wide context, constituting of extra-individual factors. The relationship between the close context and political protest is specified by theories of mobilization, whereas in the case of the wide context modernization theories are used. Individual-level analysis of the effects of the close context reveals that protest participation increases with an individual's embeddedness in political organizations. This holds true not only for memberships in new but also in traditional political organizations. However, the organizational context does not contribute equally to all forms of protest. Its impact is stronger on legal than on illegal forms of protest. Concerning the wide context of political protest, evidence is provided by aggregate-level analysis that variations in the extent of legal protest between countries can be explained by different levels of political and socioeconomic modernity of societies. The more modern a society, the higher the extent of legal protest participation and the less legal protesters articulate demands for radical change to the societal order. To the contrary, the extent of illegal protest participation cannot be explained by a modernization approach. The research on the close and wide context of political protest indicates that the enlargement of the action repertory of citizens to include legal protest, is part of the modernization of politics. -- Für 17 westliche Demokratien wird für Anfang der 90er Jahre im internationalen Vergleich der Einfluß von zwei Kontextfaktoren auf die Beteiligung an politischem Protest untersucht. Zum einen ist dies der organisatorische Kontext von Individuen, der als enger Kontext definiert wird, weil er auf sozialen Interaktionen basiert Zum anderen ist dies der nationale politische und sozioökonomische Kontext, der hier als weiter Kontext definiert wird, da er sich auf extraindividuelle Faktoren bezieht Der Zusammenhang zwischen engem Kontext und politischem Protest wird durch Mobilisierungstheorien spezifiziert, der Einfluß des weiten Kontextes mithilfe von Modernisierungstheorien. Die Individualdatenanalyse der Effekte des engen Kontextes zeigt, daß die Beteiligung an politischem Protest mit dem Ausmaß der individuellen Einbettung in politische Organisationen zunimmt Dieser Zusammenhang gilt nicht nur für die Mitgliedschaft in neuen, sondern auch in traditionellen politischen Organisationen. Der organisatorische Kontext trägt hingegen nicht in gleicher Weise zu legalen und illegalen Protestaktivitäten bei. Er fördert in stärkerem Maße die Beteiligung an legalen Protestformen. Die Aggregatdatenanalyse der Effekte des weiten Kontextes zeigt, daß Unterschiede im Ausmaß der individuellen Beteiligung an legalen Protestformen zwischen Ländern durch deren unterschiedliches politisches und sozioökonomisches Modernitätsniveau erklärt werden kann. Je moderner eine Gesellschaft ist, desto höher ist das Ausmaß legaler Protestbeteiligung und um so weniger werden Forderungen nach einer radikalen Veränderung der Gesellschaft von den Bürgern artikuliert, die legale Protestformen einsetzen. Im Gegensatz zu legalen Formen kann das Ausmaß der Beteiligung an illegalen Formen des Protests nicht mithilfe von Modernisierungsansätzen erklärt werden. Insgesamt weisen die Ergebnisse daraufhin, daß die Ausweitung des Aktionsrepertoires der Bürger um den legalen Protest Teil der Modernisierung des Politischen ist.

Political consequences of Germany's mixed-member system: Personalization at the grass-roots?

-- Dem deutschen Wahlsystem werden international einige Vorteile gegenüber anderen Wahlsystemen bescheinigt, die z.B. Neuseeland sogar zur Nachahmung angeregt haben. Als gemischtes Wahlsystem kombiniert es das Prinzip proportionaler Repräsentation mit einer Mehrheitskomponente. Wegen dieser Kombination wird ihm zum einen nachgesagt, Garant für ein stabiles Parteiensystem zu sein, und zum anderen, demokratietheoretisch proportionale Repräsentation und Mehrheitsentscheidung ideal zu kombinieren. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Effekte des Wahlsystems auf die Größe des Parteiensystems und die Frage, inwieweit Wähler von den Möglichkeiten der beiden Komponenten des Wahlsystems, der Listen- und Direktwahl, also substantiell von der Partei- und Persönlichkeitswahl tatsächlich Gebrauch machen. Letzteres wird häufiger bestritten und behauptet, auch die Direktwahl der Abgeordneten im Wahlkreis folge lediglich parteienbezogenen Überlegungen. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen anhand der Wahlrechtsänderungen in der Bundesrepublik, dass das Wahlsystem tatsächlich einen beträchtlichen Anteil an der Größe des Parteiensystems und damit der Stabilität des Parteiensystems hat. Sie zeigen zum anderen, dass die Möglichkeit der Listen- und Personenwahl zum einen mittels Stimensplitting strategisch zum Koalitionswählen genutzt wird, zum anderen der Wahlerfolg der Kandidaten im Wahlkreis aber durchaus davon anhängt, wie stark sie sich in der Sicht der Bürger für den Wahlkreis einsetzen und wie gut ihre politische Arbeit beurteilt wird. Es existiert also die Persönlichkeitswahl at the Grass-Roots.

Effects of stocking density and photoperiod manipulation in relation to estradiol profile to enhance spawning activity in female Nile tilapia

This study investigated the effects of stocking density and photoperiod manipulation in relation to plasma estradiol-17? (E2) profile to enhance spawning activity in female Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) using F1 clonal crosses. The fish were divided into experimental and control groups and subjected to a combination of stocking density and photoperiod treatments (40kg/m3;6L:18D, 40kg/m3;12L:12D and transferred into single compartments at 12L:12D; 14kg/m3;12L:12D), respectively. Blood samples were taken by caudal puncture from experimental fish for estradiol profile analysis. Results showed that experimental fish exhibited significantly higher number of spawns per day, total fecundity and relative fecundity (p<0.05). Hatching and swim-up rates were also higher in the experimental than in the control group. Regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between fish size (body weight), total and relative fecundity (p<0.001). However, the relationship between fecundity and inter-spawning interval (ISI) and between ISI and fish weight were weak and insignificant. It was also revealed that E2 levels demonstrated a pattern based on completed reproductive cycle. The study therefore established that a combination of stocking density and photoperiod treatments can be adopted to manipulate the timing of spawning activity in female Nile tilapia without having adverse effect on other reproductive parameters such as egg qualities and fecundity. Findings further suggested that the effects of exogenous factors on manipulation of spawning activities of female Nile tilapia are achieved as a result of hormonal changes including E2 levels

Who's Cueing Whom? Mass-elite linkages and the future of European integration

The 2005 French and Dutch referendum campaigns were characterized by an alleged disconnect between pro-European political elites and Eurosceptic masses. Past evidence regarding elite-mass linkages in the context of European integration has been conflicting. Whereas some scholars argue that political elites respond to the changing preferences of their electorates, others suggest that party elites cue the mass public through a process of information and persuasion. We contend that these conflicting results stem from the reciprocal nature of elite-mass linkages and estimate a series of dynamic simultaneous equations models to account for this reverse causation. Using Euro-barometer and expert survey data from 1984-2002, we find evidence of a dual-process model, whereby party elites both respond to and shape the views of their supporters. We also find that the strength of these results is contingent on several factors, including the type of electoral system, intra-party dissent and voter characteristics. Copyright © 2007 Sage Publications

Estimating time-to-contact when vision is impaired

Often, we have to rely on limited information when judging time-to-contact (TTC), as for example, when driving in foul weather, or in situations where we would need reading glasses but do not have them handy. However, most existing studies on the ability to judge TTC have worked with optimal visual stimuli. In a prediction motion task, we explored to what extent TTC estimation is affected by visual stimulus degradation. A simple computer-simulated object approached the observer at constant speed either with clear or impaired vision. It was occluded after 1 or 1.5 s. The observers extrapolated the object’s motion and pressed a button when they thought the object would have collided with them. We found that dioptric blur and simulated snowfall shortened TTC-estimates. Contrast reduction produced by a virtual semi-transparent mask lengthened TTC estimates, which could be the result of distance overestimation or speed underestimation induced by the lower contrast or the increased luminance of the mask. We additionally explored the potential influence of arousal and valence, although they played a minor role for basic TTC estimation. Our findings suggest that vision impairments have adverse effects on TTC estimation, depending on the specific type of degradation and the changes of the visual environmental cues which they cause

Money, sex and broken promises : politicians' bad behaviour reduces trust

This paper develops and tests empirically a theory of the effect on political trust of forms of behaviour that violate social, political and legal norms about how politicians ought to behave. These include taking money for favours, over-indulging in private life and making misleading promises to win votes. The evidence comes from a specially designed survey in Britain, France and Spain, countries where popular distrust of politicians appears greater than illegal political behaviour. Bad behaviours, especially abandoning election promises once in office, have a much stronger effect on distrust of political parties that do differences in partisanship. Comparing national regressions shows that the impact of bad behaviours is very similar in Britain, France and Spain

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Measurement of the top quark-pair production cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=7\TeV

A measurement of the production cross-section for top quark pairs(\ttbar) in $pp$ collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 \TeV is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in two different topologies: single lepton (electron $e$ or muon $\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least four jets, and dilepton ($ee$, $\mu\mu$ or $e\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least two jets. In a data sample of 2.9 pb-1, 37 candidate events are observed in the single-lepton topology and 9 events in the dilepton topology. The corresponding expected backgrounds from non-\ttbar Standard Model processes are estimated using data-driven methods and determined to be $12.2 \pm 3.9$ events and $2.5 \pm 0.6$ events, respectively. The kinematic properties of the selected events are consistent with SM \ttbar production. The inclusive top quark pair production cross-section is measured to be \sigmattbar=145 \pm 31 ^{+42}_{-27} pb where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The measurement agrees with perturbative QCD calculations.Comment: 30 pages plus author list (50 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, CERN-PH number and final journal adde