During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump distinguished himself from other candidates via his hardline stances on issues of immigration. Using data from national surveys conducted between 2014 and 2019, we identify three key findings about views of immigrants among the American public during the Trump era. First, xenophobia was the strongest predictor of Americans’ feelings—anger, fear, pride, and hope—about Donald Trump during his time in office, and the second strongest predictor of feelings about the Republican party (after partisan identification). Second, the influence of Americans’ levels of xenophobia on their feelings about the Republican Party were significantly mediated by their feelings about Trump, especially for negative affect (anger and fear). Third, there has been a backlash against xenophobia, such that political independents and Democrats became significantly more favorable toward immigrants after 2016. As a result, views of immigrants have become more favorable overall, but also more politically polarized. These findings support and extend immigration backlash theory, contribute to research on affective polarization, and document consequential trends in contemporary American politics.

Latino immigrants who lack assimilation into U.S. society often experience discrimination and immigrant backlash. The purpose of this exploration was to better understand the historical lack of assimilation of Latino immigrants, so they may avoid discrimination and have more access to goods and services. Self-determinism helped explain why the Latino immigrant group has a problem assimilating due to exclusionary practices, while segmented assimilation offered explanations on why assimilation is difficult. In this study, assimilation was measured according to English mastery by Spanish speakers. The research question was focused on what extent the level of generational standing, education, and income relate to assimilation for Latinos in the United States. A correlational design with multiple regression analysis was used in this study to analyze the Latino National Survey of 2006 secondary data (N =8634). Results indicated that every variable was significant except grandparents born outside the United States. The implications for positive social change include providing research-based information that might assist policymakers to develop programs and laws that better assist the Hispanic ethnic group to assimilate into United States.

Background:  The 2019 Gillette advertisement ‘We believe: the best men can be’ was released when the #MeToo movement was gaining momentum. The commercial addressed conventional ideas of masculinity and received a lot of public criticism for its message. To examine how advertising affects society’s perception of gender it is essential to develop an understanding of customer responses to this controversial advertisement.     Purpose:   The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how customers respond to the controversial Gillette advertisement and the reason for this reaction. The study looks to identify the variety of emotions, actions, and cognitive processes displayed by customers by examining comments made by users on the YouTube advertisement video.    Method:  Using netnography, both a qualitative and quantitative research method, the study examined 2,400 comments from the Gillette advertisement published on YouTube. To find trends and patterns relating to customer responses, these comments are grouped and analyzed thematically. Waller’s proposed response model for controversial advertising serves as the foundation for analysis, with the inclusion of modifications to consider the special features of the YouTube comments.    Conclusion:  Analyzing the comments on the advertisement indicates a wide range of responses to the Gillette campaign. Commenters expressed disapproval, sarcasm, dislike, and offense. Negative behaviors included plans to boycott Gillette or spread negative word of mouth. There were a few positive comments that expressed positive emotions like approval, liking, and appreciation, but little to no positive actions. A majority of the negative reactions were influenced by perceptions of masculinity, gender constructs within society, political affiliation, as well as perceptions of Gillette’s brand actions. These results offer insightful understandings of the challenges of addressing masculinity and managing the social environments in the context of advertising.

China is accused of conducting disinformation campaigns on Taiwan's social media. Existing studies on foreign interventions in democratic societies predict that such disinformation campaigns should lead to increasing partisan polarization within Taiwan. We argue that a backlash effect, making Taiwan's citizens more united against China, is equally plausible. We conduct a survey experiment exposing participants to a real-life rumour and rebuttal to test these competing hypotheses. We find, at best, mixed evidence for polarization. Although neither rumour nor rebuttal mention China, there is consistent evidence of backlash against China. Most notably, participants across the political spectrum are more inclined to support Taiwanese independence after viewing the rumour rebuttal. These findings indicate that citizens may put aside partisanship when confronted with false news that is plausibly linked to an external actor. We conclude by discussing the broader applicability of our theory and implications for cross-Strait relations.

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No description available.

Métodos de controle baseado em dados utilizam dados de operação da planta para minimizar algum critério de desempenho, tipicamente quadrático, sem que seja necessário o conhecimento de um modelo da planta. O Iterative Feedback Tuning (IFT) é um destes métodos, utilizando dados obtidos da operação da planta em malha fechada para gerar uma estimativa não-polarizada do gradiente do critério de desempenho, que é então minimizado através de algum variante do método de Newton. Alguns resultados da literatura tratam da aplicação do IFT em sistemas não-lineares, sempre sob a condição de diferenciabilidade da não-linearidade (linearização em torno do ponto de operação). Um exemplo prático da aplicação do método na sintonia do controlador de um servomotor com folga é o único resultado encontrado. Este trabalho investiga, através de casos simulados e práticos, a aplicabilidade do método IFT em sistemas com não-linearidades não-diferenciáveis comumente encontradas em sistemas mecânicos, como a folga e a zona-morta, e a saturação, presente em todo e qualquer sistema físico. / Data based control methods use data collected from a plant’s “regular” operation to minimize a performance criterion, typically in quadratic form, without any information about a system’s model. Iterative Feedback Tuning (IFT) is one such method that uses closed-loop operating data to generate an unbiased estimate of the cost criterion gradient, which is then minimized with some form of the Newton method. Results in the literature for IFT applied to non-linear systems require that the non-linearity is differentiable (basically, linearizing the system around an operating point). One practical application of the algorithm to tune a controller for a servomotor system with backlash is the only result found. This work investigates, using simulated and practical examples, the suitability of the use of IFT in systems with non-differentiable non-linearities commonly found in mechanical systems, such as backlash and dead-zone, and saturation, found in every physical system.

Esta dissertação objetiva situar o tema das mutações constitucionais no contexto da dinâmica do sistema jurídico e demonstrar a interdependência entre força normativa da Constituição e mudança constitucional, abordando as divergências terminológicas existentes, a relação dialética entre reforma e mutação constitucional e os limites desta última. Pretende- se, também, alertar para a necessidade de considerar questões de capacidade institucional e efeitos dinâmicos no contexto de uma Constituição viva, na qual a mudança decorre da participação de todos os Poderes, assim como da sociedade. No tocante ao Poder Judiciário, com apoio no constitucionalismo democrático e nas implicações constitucionais do backlash (reação social contrária às decisões judiciais), demonstra-se que a mutação via judicial pode contribuir para a legitimidade democrática da Constituição. Resgatam-se, ainda, os papéis que os Poderes Executivo e Legislativo podem desempenhar no rumo das mutações constitucionais, especialmente através da aprovação e nomeação de Ministros do Supremo Tribunal Federal e de emendas constitucionais, leis e outros atos legislativos, de maneira que as mutações resultem de um contínuo diálogo constitucional. Para testar a aplicação dessas teorias ao direito brasileiro, traça-se um panorama de diversas mutações constitucionais no Brasil e examinam-se, detalhadamente, dois casos: no primeiro, negando-se a mutação da norma que faculta ao Senado suspender a execução de lei declarada inconstitucional pelo STF e, no segundo, reconhecendo, mediante análise histórica e sociológica, a mutação do princípio da igualdade que está na base das discussões sobre as ações afirmativas raciais. / This essay intends to place the theme of constitutional change in the context of judicial system dynamics and to show the interdependence between Constitution normative strength and constitutional change, approaching the existing terminological divergencies, the dialetic relation between formal and informal constitutional change and the limits of the last one. It is also intended to warn about the need to take into consideration matters of institutional capacity and dynamic effects in the context of a living Constitution, in which the change derives from the participation of all the Powers and from the society as well. Concerning the Judicial Power, with support on democratic constitutionalism and constitutional implications of backlash (contrary social reaction to judicial decisions), it is demonstrated that constitutional change through judicial means may promote Constitution democratic legitimacy. It is likewise rescued the roles that the Executive and Legislative Powers may play in the course of constitutional changes, specially through the approval and nomination of the Federal Supreme Court Ministers and via constitutional amendments, laws and other legislative acts, so that the changes arise from an ongoing constitutional dialogue. To test the application of these theories into Brazilian law, it is drawn a landscape of several constitutional informal changes in Brazil and examined, in detail, two cases: in the first one, by denying the change of the norm that allows the Senate to cease the execution of a law declared inconstitutional by the Supreme Court and, in the second, by recognizing, according to historical and sociological analysis, the informal change of the principle of equality which is in the bottom of the debates over the racial affirmative actions.

Métodos de controle baseado em dados utilizam dados de operação da planta para minimizar algum critério de desempenho, tipicamente quadrático, sem que seja necessário o conhecimento de um modelo da planta. O Iterative Feedback Tuning (IFT) é um destes métodos, utilizando dados obtidos da operação da planta em malha fechada para gerar uma estimativa não-polarizada do gradiente do critério de desempenho, que é então minimizado através de algum variante do método de Newton. Alguns resultados da literatura tratam da aplicação do IFT em sistemas não-lineares, sempre sob a condição de diferenciabilidade da não-linearidade (linearização em torno do ponto de operação). Um exemplo prático da aplicação do método na sintonia do controlador de um servomotor com folga é o único resultado encontrado. Este trabalho investiga, através de casos simulados e práticos, a aplicabilidade do método IFT em sistemas com não-linearidades não-diferenciáveis comumente encontradas em sistemas mecânicos, como a folga e a zona-morta, e a saturação, presente em todo e qualquer sistema físico. / Data based control methods use data collected from a plant’s “regular” operation to minimize a performance criterion, typically in quadratic form, without any information about a system’s model. Iterative Feedback Tuning (IFT) is one such method that uses closed-loop operating data to generate an unbiased estimate of the cost criterion gradient, which is then minimized with some form of the Newton method. Results in the literature for IFT applied to non-linear systems require that the non-linearity is differentiable (basically, linearizing the system around an operating point). One practical application of the algorithm to tune a controller for a servomotor system with backlash is the only result found. This work investigates, using simulated and practical examples, the suitability of the use of IFT in systems with non-differentiable non-linearities commonly found in mechanical systems, such as backlash and dead-zone, and saturation, found in every physical system.

Esta dissertação objetiva situar o tema das mutações constitucionais no contexto da dinâmica do sistema jurídico e demonstrar a interdependência entre força normativa da Constituição e mudança constitucional, abordando as divergências terminológicas existentes, a relação dialética entre reforma e mutação constitucional e os limites desta última. Pretende- se, também, alertar para a necessidade de considerar questões de capacidade institucional e efeitos dinâmicos no contexto de uma Constituição viva, na qual a mudança decorre da participação de todos os Poderes, assim como da sociedade. No tocante ao Poder Judiciário, com apoio no constitucionalismo democrático e nas implicações constitucionais do backlash (reação social contrária às decisões judiciais), demonstra-se que a mutação via judicial pode contribuir para a legitimidade democrática da Constituição. Resgatam-se, ainda, os papéis que os Poderes Executivo e Legislativo podem desempenhar no rumo das mutações constitucionais, especialmente através da aprovação e nomeação de Ministros do Supremo Tribunal Federal e de emendas constitucionais, leis e outros atos legislativos, de maneira que as mutações resultem de um contínuo diálogo constitucional. Para testar a aplicação dessas teorias ao direito brasileiro, traça-se um panorama de diversas mutações constitucionais no Brasil e examinam-se, detalhadamente, dois casos: no primeiro, negando-se a mutação da norma que faculta ao Senado suspender a execução de lei declarada inconstitucional pelo STF e, no segundo, reconhecendo, mediante análise histórica e sociológica, a mutação do princípio da igualdade que está na base das discussões sobre as ações afirmativas raciais. / This essay intends to place the theme of constitutional change in the context of judicial system dynamics and to show the interdependence between Constitution normative strength and constitutional change, approaching the existing terminological divergencies, the dialetic relation between formal and informal constitutional change and the limits of the last one. It is also intended to warn about the need to take into consideration matters of institutional capacity and dynamic effects in the context of a living Constitution, in which the change derives from the participation of all the Powers and from the society as well. Concerning the Judicial Power, with support on democratic constitutionalism and constitutional implications of backlash (contrary social reaction to judicial decisions), it is demonstrated that constitutional change through judicial means may promote Constitution democratic legitimacy. It is likewise rescued the roles that the Executive and Legislative Powers may play in the course of constitutional changes, specially through the approval and nomination of the Federal Supreme Court Ministers and via constitutional amendments, laws and other legislative acts, so that the changes arise from an ongoing constitutional dialogue. To test the application of these theories into Brazilian law, it is drawn a landscape of several constitutional informal changes in Brazil and examined, in detail, two cases: in the first one, by denying the change of the norm that allows the Senate to cease the execution of a law declared inconstitutional by the Supreme Court and, in the second, by recognizing, according to historical and sociological analysis, the informal change of the principle of equality which is in the bottom of the debates over the racial affirmative actions.