Since its ruling in Buckley v. Valeo, the U.S. Supreme Court has expressed concern regarding corruption or the appearance of corruption stemming from political quid pro quo arrangements and the deleterious consequences it may have on citizens’ democratic behavior. However, no standard has been set as to what constitutes “the appearance of corruption,” as the Court was and continues to be vague in its definition. As a result, campaign finance cases after Buckley have relied on public opinion polls as evidence of perceptions of corruption, and these polls indicate that the public generally perceives high levels of corruption in government. The present study investigates the actual impact that perceptions of corruption have on individuals’ levels of political participation. Adapting the standard socioeconomic status model developed most fully by Verba and Nie (1972), an extended beta-binomial regression estimated using maximum likelihood is performed, utilizing unique data from the 2009 University of Texas’ Money and Politics survey. The results of this study indicate that individuals who perceive higher levels of quid pro quo corruption participate more in politics, on average, than those who perceive lower levels of corruption. This suggests that at least part of the Supreme Court’s rationale for upholding the FECA contribution limits in Buckley v. Valeo was unfounded. A similar test was performed using questions from the 2008 American National Election Study that have been used as proxies for corruption in previous studies, with inconclusive results. The more precise measure in the Money and Politics survey relates directly to the role of money in politics and provides better information than the ANES proxies have in the past, as those have been found to be related to factors other than money in politics. / text

This is a study of David Lodge's campus novels: The British Museum is Falling Down, Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work. Unlike most previous studies of Lodge's work, which have focussed on literary-theoretical issues, this dissertation .aims at unravelling some of the ideological impulses that inform his campus fiction. A basic assumption of this study is that literature is never disinterested; it is always an ideological statement about the world. Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of the dialogical relationship between self and other provides a means of investigating the interaction between author and reader; central to this project is Bakhtin's notion of how to reach an independent, ideological consciousness through the active scrutiny of the authoritative discourses surrounding us. First, a brief historical outline of the campus novel is presented, together with analyses of three representative works. Lodge's novels are thereafter discussed in relation to his own literary-theoretical work, and also in relation to his attempts at bridging the gap between the academy and the world outside. The chapter demonstrates how, as a result of this bridging posture, Lodge's works, critical and fictional, become increasingly intertwined. Yet, despite Lodge’s avowed intentions, for readers without prior access to the literary canon his elaborate intertextual games fail to bridge the gap. The discussion of Lodge's first three campus novels novels shows how the authority of the Church, the literary canon, and established societal norms, is seemingly challenged in these texts. Lodge has himself invited a Bakhtinian reading of his novels, but this study demonstrates that his fiction, allegedly both dialogical and camivalesque, to a large extent advocates an ideology that is diametrically opposed to such an activity. Reigning over these novels is a mood of gloom and passive resignation—a mood which is the very antithesis of Bakhtin's insistence on activity and the camivalesque positive attitude to change and renewal. In the discussion of the last novel, it is furthermore demonstrated that Lodge's use of stereotypes wrecks any dialogical potential, and that the extended intertextual play evinces clear anti-feminist and élitist patterns. Lodge’s campus fiction confirms the myth of the isolated Ivory Tower. The attempted bridging of the gap between the academy and the outside world is not accomplished. For most readers his texts remain one-dimensional portrayals of irrelevant campus clowns. / <p>Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1993</p> / digitalisering@umu

Debating over efficiency-enhancing but inequality-increasing reforms accounts for the routine business of democratic institutions. Fernandez and Rodrik (1991) hold that anti-reform bias can be attributed to individual-specific uncertainty regarding the distribution of gains and losses resulting from a reform. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate that anti-reform bias arising from uncertainty is mitigated by social preferences. We show that, paradoxically, many who stand to lose from reforms vote in favor because they value efficiency, while many who will potentially gain from reforms oppose them due to inequality aversion. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Debating over efficiency-enhancing but inequality-increasing reforms accounts for the routine business of democratic institutions. Fernandez and Rodrik (1991) hold that anti-reform bias can be attributed to individual-specific uncertainty regarding the distribution of gains and losses resulting from a reform. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate that anti-reform bias arising from uncertainty is mitigated by social preferences. We show that, paradoxically, many who stand to lose from reforms vote in favor because they value efficiency, while many who will potentially gain from reforms oppose them due to inequality aversion.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom (IPS) / Sexual harassment in the workplace continues to be experienced by many women around the world. Men may also be sexually harassed in the workplace by women or by other men. Given the pronounced attention accorded over the last few months to high ranking individuals within South Africa and the USA who have allegedly been involved in incidences of sexual harassment, the study is timely. The focus of sexual harassment studies within the workplace is furthermore important as it affects the employees, employers and the workplace as a whole. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of sexual harassment of employees of an information technology company. Information technology has typically been a male dominated occupation, and prevailing traditional, paternalistic attitudes may adversely impact on women's choice and pursuit of a career in this field. However, South African legislation, promulgated to enhance the intake of women and marginalised groups, has sought to strengthen gender equality and, concomitantly, the participation of women in information technology. The current research was conducted by administering the Sexual Harassment Experience Questionnaire and Perception of Sexual Harassment Questionnaire to a sample of 131 employees. These questionnaires were distributed via email within one organisation and four regional branches of the same organisation.

<p>Challenges to or criticisms of existing social arrangements often result in individuals bolstering the status quo rather than becoming inspired to consider avenues for improvement - a phenomenon known as system justification. However, it is not yet known whether characteristics of the individual challenging the system might magnify (or alleviate) system-defensive responding. New entrance into a system might be one such characteristic to heighten defensiveness because new entrants likely have had fewer opportunities to prove their commitment to the system’s values. Thus, I conducted three initial studies to develop experimental paradigms testing whether recommendations for change are particularly repudiated when advocated by newcomers. Study 1 examined responses to proposals by a freshman congressperson (vs. senior or control) to change an obscure U.S. policy (<i>N </i>= 540). Study 2 examined responses to a proposal by a new employee (vs. senior or control) to change a workplace policy (<i>N </i>= 515), and Study 3 investigated student responses to a proposal by a junior transfer student (vs. junior continuing student) to change a proudly-held university policy (<i>N </i>= 309). Together, findings across these three paradigms suggest mixed evidence that both newcomers themselves, and their policy ideas, are derogated more than are full members when advocating change, particularly among individuals higher on dispositional system justification. Future, sufficiently-powered research should continue to examine impacts of proposer’s membership status on resistance to system change in order to provide insight into the actors most likely to successfully advocate for social progress. </p>

Avskräckningsteori har varit viktigt för krigsavhållande strategier under lång tid och är fortfarande i allra högsta grad relevant. Det som har väckt mitt intresse för att göra denna studie är varför avskräckning har misslyckats trots att försvararen hade vidtagit övertygande avskräckningsåtgärder. Det förefaller vara så att motståndarens bedömning av hur väl de kan kontrollera riskerna som är förenade med ett anfall påverkar effekten av vidtagna avskräckningsåtgärder på ett sätt som den klassiska avskräckningsteorin inte har beaktat. Syftet med den här studien är därför att förklara hur motståndarens riskvilja kan påverka den klassiska avskräckningsteorins tillämplighet. Forskningsfrågan är hur motståndarens bedömning om riskernas kontrollerbarhet kan påverka försvararens avskräckningssituation? För att uppnå syftet och svara på forskningsfrågan utvecklas ett teoretiskt ramverk som beaktar denna faktor. Ramverket prövas med en fallstudie om konflikten mellan Kina och Vietnam 1974 – 1980. Resultatet visar att motståndarens bedömning om riskernas kontrollerbarhet kan leda till ett lättare eller ett svårare avskräckningsfall för försvararen beroende på hur stark vilja motståndaren har att ta beräknade och allvarliga risker. Detta frambringar olika krav på försvararens åtgärder, vilket den klassiska avskräckningsteorin inte hanterar på ett övertygande sätt. Avskräckningsteorins prediktiva värde upphör vid det svårare avskräckningsfallet. Det underliggande antaganden om rationella val har inte beaktat aktörer som har vilja att ta beräknade och allvarliga risker. Dessa antaganden behöver sålunda breddas bortom vinstmaximerande drivkrafter och det som tidigare ansågs vara irrationellt, vilket innebär att studiens teoretiska ramverk har potential för vidare prövning och utveckling. Studien har också visat att avskräckning som säkerhetsstrategi behöver fungera över tid och mot olika grader av hot, vilket innebär att försvararen måste verka för långsiktighet med underförstådda hot som bygger på övertygande militärteknisk förmåga, samarbeten, och planer för hur omedelbar avskräckning ska utföras om säkerhetshoten blir riktigt allvarliga.

What exactly is the status quo of women in Africa? Women’s selfhood has been systematically subordinated or outright denied by law, customary practices, and cultural stereotypes. Scholars like Judith Bennet suggest that religious practices and colonial rule subjugate African women. Patriarchal ideologies guide the society’s discrimination against women and this has influenced the status of women, especially married women and the way they respond in times of affliction. Authors like Chimamanda Adichie and Mariama Ba in their fictional novels The Purple Hibiscus and So Long a Letter focus on capturing the struggles and conditions of women in the Western African society. Through their protagonists, they explore various issues such as patriarchy and the influence of religion on the lives African women. This thesis aims to examine the notion of a single story and how and why African women accept or oppose the patriarchal status quo.

I denna studie analyseras filmen Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020) utifrån dess potential att utveckla narrativ kompetens, som ett uttryck för historiemedvetande, hos elever i en undervisningskontext. Filmen analyseras utifrån en narrativ analysmetod med fokus på vad filmen berättar samt hur det berättas. Därefter används Rüsens teoretiska begrepp erfarandets, tolkandets samt orienterandets kompetens för att belysa filmens potential att utveckla narrativ kompetens. Rüsens teoretiska begrepp används som utgångspunkt men vävs också ihop med fler teoretiska analysverktyg, som den dubbla tankeoperationen och historisk empati. Utifrån tidigare forskning diskuteras sedan filmens möjligheter samt utmaningar att användas i historieundervisningen i den svenska gymnasieskolan. Resultatet visar att det finns potential för Quo Vadis, Aida? att kunna användas på ett meningsfullt sätt i historieundervisningen för att utveckla elevers narrativa kompetens, som uttryck för historiemedvetande. Möjligheterna utgörs av filmens sätt att gestalta och väva samman ”små” och ”stora” berättelser, dess potential att beröra eleverna känslomässigt, samt öppna upp för värdeladdade frågor och diskussioner kring moraliska dilemman. Det finns också ett par utmaningar som behöver tas i beaktande för att filmen ska kunna leva upp till sin fulla potential. Det är ett tidkrävande och komplext arbete för läraren att se till att det finns en balans mellan känslor och kognitiva processer i undervisningen, för att inte elevernas känslor ska ta över och riskera att utvecklandet av historisk empati och historiemedvetandet blir lidande.

No description available.