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This essay surveys both the traditional findings and new debates that have used the Spanish imperial royal financial accounts to analyze the colonial economy and government. The crisis of the seventeenth century, the relations between colonial elites and royal government, the impact of income transfers among treasury offices, the sale of offices, the system of voluntary loans, the eighteenth-century reforms, and the influence of the tax system on the evolution of the colonial economy and society have all created a new set of questions and debates that historians, economists, and political scientists have engaged in. There is both consensus and disagreement on what these numbers mean for various groups in the society as well as long-term institutional developments. Just as new approaches have opened up new area for research, there are also a great deal of unexplored topics that can be developed using the unpublished primary accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imperative to conduct research ethically has been firmly established. Biomedical and applied research in the Global North has dominated the development of an ethical framework based on four broad principles: respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. The prevailing research ethics can become significant constraints to political scientists focussing on non-democratic settings. The appropriateness of these codes in guiding political scientists' research, especially in authoritarian contexts of Central Asia, is examined. The article outlines the need for a more culturally and contextually nuanced approach to research ethics and an understanding of the discipline-specific ethical dilemmas for researchers within political science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2023, Reset Dialogues on Civilizations organized the international conference 'Nationalism, Nation-Building, and the Decline of Empires' in Dublin. The purpose was to gather a group of historians, political scientists, theorists, philosophers, and experts who could grasp the significant trends, over the long term, in nationalism, nation-building, and imperial issues and could create a forum for dialogue that would compare different, and in many ways related, contexts, defining the challenges of the contemporary politics in the international scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. presidential candidates aspire to have a "presidential image." Political communication researchers, media pundits, political scientists, pollsters, campaign consultants, and other political marketers speculate about who is "presidential" and "unpresidential." No prior research, however, has empirically measured and validated a presidential image construct. Based on data collected prior to the 2020 U.S. presidential election (N = 618 registered likely voters), we tested congeneric models of presidentiality. Results indicated (1) a six-item, single-factor model fit well when single group confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed separately on ratings of Donald Trump (Study 1) and Joe Biden (Study 2), (2) multiple-group CFA indicated configural and metric invariance (generalizability across candidates) of the model, and (3) presidential image factor scores were strongly associated with the candidate participants planned to vote for in the election. The resultant indicators also advance theorizing that a U.S. president is expected to serve as both "head of state" through components of personability and as "head of government" through components of capability. Theoretical implications for political marketing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Constitutional Crises and Regionalism" by Vito Breda explores the challenges faced by states in managing majority-minority relations in diverse societies. Breda analyzes nine cases from different continents, examining the constitutional and legal frameworks of state and sub-state territories. The book emphasizes the importance of identity in influencing relations between minority and majority communities and highlights the clash of perceptions regarding the legitimacy of public institutions. The author uses a methodology called "future studies" to identify factors that could affect the future development of constitutional systems. The book provides detailed contextual analysis of each case, focusing on the drivers of change and the conflicts between minority and majority groups. It also discusses the role of hybrid institutions and the importance of inclusive environments in managing constitutional crises. While the book lacks a detailed discussion of the methodology and comparative insights between cases, it offers valuable insights into constitutional crises and regionalism. It is recommended for those interested in comparative law, conflict resolution, nationalism, minority politics, and territorial politics. [Extracted from the article]

This article is a conversation with political scientist William Howell about his podcast, Not Another Politics Podcast, and his research on the presidency and American politics. The podcast aims to discuss research on politics rather than provide commentary on current events. Howell and his co-hosts bring their different backgrounds and expertise to the conversations, and they select papers to discuss based on their importance and relevance to politics. Howell also discusses his recent book, which argues that populism thrives amidst government failure and suggests reforms to the presidency and Congress to address this. He also discusses the challenges and importance of presidential power and the role of academic research in improving government. Howell is currently working on a book about the rise of the strongman presidency. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the role of the United Nations (UN) in shaping the current political map of the world. It explores the idea that if the UN were to disappear, the geopolitical status quo could change. The author highlights the incomplete history of the UN and introduces a book called "Building States" by Eva-Maria Muschik, which examines the work of the UN Secretariat in creating the contemporary nation-state system. The book argues that the Secretariat played a crucial role in legitimizing independent statehood and international oversight as solutions to political unrest after World War II. It also explores themes of autonomy and development within the UN. The article suggests that understanding the history of the UN is important for comprehending the current global challenges. [Extracted from the article]

This symposium makes a first step in bridging the emerging eco-social debate and the established political science theories and concepts, indicating the mutually beneficial analytical perspectives and common research pathways that may arise. In addition to identifying several aspects in the policy, politics and polity dimensions that appear to be particularly relevant in view of the emerging eco-social policies, this collection of articles points out two cross-cutting themes, namely the transformation of the welfare state set-ups, and new cleavages and power relations, which pose new questions and open a promising research agenda for political scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, political scientists and policymakers have striven to understand the circumstances under which terrorists fail, operationally and strategically. However, the question of failure has less frequently been approached through the lens of any one specific tactic. This article asks: how should one define and understand the sources of suicide bombing failure? After introducing a new definition of suicide bombing failure, the article next uses probit model analysis to test planner (or "architect") versus militant (or "attacker") sources of failure by using a unique dataset detailing the suicide bombing efforts of three of the most active African jihadist terror groups which leveraged suicide terrorism from 2007 to 2020 — al-Shabaab, "Boko Haram," and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ("AQIM"). It finds evidence that choices made by these groups' "architects," are most commonly correlated with suicide bombing failures, rather than operational failures by "attackers" themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the potential drawbacks of devolution for the political left. It argues that devolution, while often seen as a positive force for local empowerment, can actually hinder the ability of a Labour government to enact transformative and redistributive national policies. The article identifies six reasons why the left should be cautious about further decentralization, including the difficulty of passing nationally transformative social policy, the empowerment of local vested interests, the potential for a race to the bottom in terms of worker protections, the entrenchment of inequality, the encouragement of tribal politics, and the increased power of the judiciary. The author suggests that devolution can fragment the welfare state and disproportionately harm those in poverty. [Extracted from the article]

The catastrophe of Russia's war in Ukraine following on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter-inspired protests raises the possibility of marked changes in people's gendered experiences in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia (CEE&E). Drawing upon recent discussions, events, and publications--with particular attention to Ukrainian voices and reflexivity as to my position as a US-based political scientist mostly trained on Russia--I suggest ways that these developments have begun to, can, and should change gender studies. I raise three questions: (1) Does CEE&E still constitute a meaningful geopolitical context--or region--for understanding gender? (2) Who should have authority to speak about gender in CEE&E? and (3) Have the possibilities for solidarities among feminist activists across CEE&E and beyond CEE&E increased or decreased, and why? Considering these questions, I argue that there is still much to be gained from studying gender in CEE&E as a field if we incorporate intersectional and decolonial lenses and especially if we can keep pushing ourselves through the scholarly debates that have constituted the field. Incorporating this part of the world--elided since Soviet collapse--can help gender studies as a whole deepen and reconsider paradigmatic concepts such as intersectionality, colonialism, and solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists have crafted intricate taxonomies to classify nations beyond liberal democracy, positioning these societies along an authoritarian continuum. Despite the pivotal role of journalists in accelerating political dynamics, there exists a lack of comparative research on media governance in these regimes. Consequently, this study scrutinizes the media governance ecosystems in Vietnam and Singapore. Vietnam is a one-party authoritarian state, whereas Singapore represents a hybrid political system. However, both countries exhibit a stable and uninterrupted rule by the respective ruling party. Our research uncovers the nuances of Singapore's media regulation, which embeds trusted stakeholders with financial interests in key press roles to reinforce the implicit political norms. Conversely, Vietnam employs a more direct, coercive, and state-centric approach. Media actors in both nations occasionally test the boundaries of acceptable discourses, with each government's responses being shaped by specific contexts and broader history. Reforms in Vietnam, embracing privatization and commercialization, mirror Singapore's integration of capitalism, public ownership, and commercial interests when governing media. These findings highlight diverse yet effective authoritarian media governance strategies, unique features, and commonalities in both systems. Overall, media structures in these Southeast Asian countries have undergone profound evolutions towards more sophisticated regulatory tools to manage societal and political transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While political scientists have investigated political non-affiliation and religious scholars have investigated religious non-affiliation, no work has yet examined the correlates of those identifying as both religiously and politically non-affiliated. Across two separate studies, we investigate the personality, social network, and cultural engagement correlates of political and religious non-affiliates. Some statistically significant effects found in Study 1 fail to replicate in Study 2, though replicated findings provide interesting avenues for future work. Notably, compared to those who report being both politically and religiously affiliated, we find that dual non-affiliates are more socially liberal, more fiscally conservative, far less likely to vote, and less religious across several attitudinal and behavioral measures. Crucially, we find no consistent evidence that dual non-affiliates suffer from social isolation or a lack of social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists know surprisingly little about the political behavior of inventors, or those who produce new technologies. I therefore merged US patent and campaign contribution (DIME) data to reveal the donation behavior of 30,603 American inventors from 1980 through 2014. Analysis of the data produces three major findings. First, the Democratic Party has made significant inroads among American inventors, but these gains increasingly come from only a few regions and flow to a relatively small number of candidates. Second, deeper geographic trends explain most of the change in aggregate donation patterns. Third, inventors do not strategically donate to candidates outside their own district and, since 2006, inventors increasingly contribute to relatively centrist employer PACs with weak ties to the Democratic Party. These findings suggest that the interaction between market-oriented policy and American electoral institutions may inhibit the formation of broad cross-regional coalitions to support the knowledge economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pablo Ruiz-Tagle's book, "Five Republics and One Tradition: A History of Constitutionalism in Chile, 1810–2020," provides a constitutional history of Chile based on the legal framework established in different constitutions since independence in 1810. The book focuses on how conflicts between elites resulted in constitutional orders that arbitrated political and social conflicts for extended periods of time. Ruiz-Tagle argues in favor of dividing Chilean constitutional history into five republics, each characterized by different political and social dynamics. The book does not extensively discuss the causes of the end of each republic or the role of marginalized groups in the political process. However, it offers valuable insights into the Chilean obsession with constitutions and the ongoing debate surrounding the replacement of the current constitution. [Extracted from the article]

"Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy" is a collection of works edited by Stephen F. Jones and Neil MacFarlane that provides insights into Georgia's transformation from autocracy to democracy since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The book features contributions from a diverse group of scholars and practitioners, discussing topics such as Georgia's historical and spatial context, institutional and political transformations, and its relations with the international system. While the book offers valuable discussions, some contributions lack theoretical framing and read more like analytical reports. It is a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and anyone interested in Georgia's recent history. However, some of the content may feel outdated due to rapid changes in Georgia and globally, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent political developments. [Extracted from the article]

This article considers the social institutions, expertise, and technologies shaping commitments to climate adaptation across the Caribbean. The historical experience of modernity in the region can provide insight into the challenges and opportunities of current global climate negotiations. As greenhouse gas emissions steadily increase, Caribbean scientists and political leaders have taken urgent steps to develop state-sponsored partnerships for projects that combat some of the region's most destructive risks, including floods, hurricanes, and sea level rise. But these projects have tended to prioritize big science over other knowledge forms, demonstrating that climate adaptation materializes around three major concerns: data, vulnerability, and climate justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust in science is polarized along political lines—but why? We show across a series of highly controlled studies (total N = 2,859) and a large-scale Twitter analysis (N = 3,977,868) that people across the political spectrum hold stereotypes about scientists' political orientation (e.g., "scientists are liberal") and that these stereotypes decisively affect the link between their own political orientation and their trust in scientists. Critically, this effect shaped participants' perceptions of the value of science, protective behavior intentions during a pandemic, policy support, and information-seeking behavior. Therefore, these insights have important implications for effective science communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last years saw the release of several cross-country data sets generated by Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) - websites that "match" a respondent's position on various political attitudes with those of political parties or candidates. As they hold the information of a high number of respondents on a large number of political attitudes, these datasets are promising sources of data for political and social scientists. Yet, as with all cross-country data, we should first establish if they meet the requirements of good data quality and construct equivalence. Using data from the 2019 euandi VAA, I employ Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to study the behavior of 6 items that form an economic left-right scale. Doing so for 28 countries, I find that not only the quality of the data differs between countries, but the underlying structure as well. This means that for some countries the data is of too low a quality and thus not useful for cross-country analysis. While this does not invalidate VAA data in general, it does limit it. In addition, this paper illustrates the use of MCA as a pre-processing technique for establishing the quality of both VAA data and cross-country data in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading up to the 2022 Congressional midterm elections, all predictions pointed to a Republican wave, given factors such as the incumbent president's low approval rate and a struggling national economy. Accordingly, the underwhelming performance of the Republican Party surprised many, resulting in an election that became known as the "asterisk election" due to its unusual and seemingly unpredictable outcome. This study delves into the specifics of the 2022 midterms, exploring factors that may have influenced the results beyond those traditionally considered by political scientists. Our analysis particularly seeks to understand whether a sudden shift in the public salience of specific issues could have influenced voters' preferences, leading them to consider factors they might not have otherwise. To achieve this, we analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of registered voters surveyed immediately after the midterm elections. Our findings reveal that the issue of abortion played a pivotal role during this election. The prominence of abortion was not predestined, as evidenced by a comparative analysis with data from a survey conducted after the 2020 presidential election. Indeed, it seems that the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 significantly increased the salience of abortion. This unexpected policy shock had a significant impact on the behavior of voters in the 2022 midterm elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misinformation produced by various interest groups is a significant contributing factor to public confusion about climate policy. Character assassination against climate scientists and policymakers is the most common type of misinformation strategy used by contrarians in climate debates (Coan, T. G., Boussalis, C., Cook, J., & Nanko, M. O. (2021). Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 22320). Despite its widespread use, however, character assassination remains understudied by social scientists, especially in the context of climate change. This study adapts Douglas Walton's (1998. Ad hominem arguments. University of Alabama Press) typology of 'ad hominem' attacks – personal attacks targeting an individual's character, competence, or motives – to misinformation campaigns against the climate community. We developed an original codebook for classifying ad hominem arguments made by climate contrarians. Drawing on a 553-paragraph sample from a corpus from 55 contrarian blogs and 15 conservative think-tank websites published in English between 2008 and 2020, we then determined the relative prominence of each type of attack using a consensus-coding approach. Bias attacks, which entail accusing climate scientists of political partisanship or having an ideological agenda, were the most common form of contrarian ad hominem attack. The dominance of bias attacks can be explained by their strong relevance for scientific credibility. The study found that ad hominem attacks, often with bias and moral attacks clustered together, are the most common combination. The article concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for climate policy and future research. Key Policy Insights Climate misinformation politicizes climate science, further amplifying ideological conflict and fostering ideological polarization; Climate misinformation campaigns feature a range of different types of ad hominem attacks designed to undermine the credibility of climate scientists; The most common type of ad hominem attack on climate scientists in our sample was bias attacks, which entail accusing climate scientists of political partisanship or of having an ideological agenda; Attacks on the moral character of climate scientists were the only type of ad hominem that increased during the period under study (2008–2020); Different types of ad hominems often appeared together, with the most common combination being bias and moral attacks; Ad hominem attacks on climate scientists are part of misinformation campaigns designed to stall discussion on climate change and delay the implementation of climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journalists struggle to engage with disengaged communities, especially conservative and BIPOC groups. In this research, we suggest that an ethic of care, born from developmental psychology, can be a strategy for trust building. Using a multi-phased, multi-method approach through interviews, surveys, and a focus group, we found that community members believe journalists must be more careful and intentional with cultural and political language relating to ideology, racial identity, and sexual orientation. This study shows that journalists must address harm by contending with negative news experiences, nuancing labels and language associated with their communities, and adopting a combination of five care-based values (drawn from political scientist Joan Tronto): attentiveness, responsibility, competence, responsiveness, and solidarity. The findings from this applied research will be used to create training that improves relationships between newsrooms and their communities, as well as help journalists to become more receptive, flexible, and empathetic to audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commercial determinants of health (CDoH) are attracting increased interest and are of great importance when discussing how trade affects health. Through a citation analysis of recent foundational CDoH documents (a Lancet paper series and an Oxford University textbook), we find that fully 71% of all citations reference the health sciences. The health sciences may be well suited to documenting the specific pathways of how commercial (by)products and practices harm human health. However, to operationalize upstream solutions for mitigating these harms, our citation analysis suggests that the field can engage political scientists, economists, sociologists, the trade law and business, as well as advocates in civil society and journalism, more so than it currently does. With CDoH explicitly referring to the interaction between commerce and health, CDoH researchers might be uniquely positioned to get health on the agenda of others, which requires that CDoH methods, datasets, evidence reviews, and proposed interventions are drawn from the widest possible range of sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Nicholas Xenos, former editor of Polity, shares his experiences as editor and his efforts to broaden the journal's content and readership. He explores the concept of critical theory, tracing its origins to the Frankfurt School and its focus on analyzing the present and uncovering repressed possibilities. Xenos argues that critical theory is crucial for political science and political theory, as it provides a comprehensive understanding of social and political systems. He also critiques the terms "populism" and "illiberalism," suggesting that they often reflect a liberal democratic perspective and overlook the complexities of democratic action. Additionally, Xenos examines the concept of patriotism and its relationship to nationalism, questioning the idea of civic nationalism and exploring the differences between Western and Eastern forms of nationalism. He delves into the origins of patriotism in Roman and Greek literature and reflects on his personal experiences and family history in relation to patriotism. The author emphasizes the significance of understanding the historical context of political concepts and challenges the tendency to detach political discourse from its historical foundations. [Extracted from the article]

Fukuyama predicts that despite Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, initially upending the trend toward liberal democracy, he will see more reverses. Cold War, Putin, Ukraine, Russia, liberalism, Francis Fukuyama, The End of History, neo-conservativism Keywords: Francis Fukuyama; The End of History; Cold War; Putin; Ukraine; Russia; neo-conservativism; liberalism EN Francis Fukuyama The End of History Cold War Putin Ukraine Russia neo-conservativism liberalism 318 323 6 11/11/22 20221101 NES 221101 I There's a lot of authoritarian governments on the move, and they're consolidating power. So far, Putin has seen none of his fondest dreams - Ukraine being overwhelmed by Russia, neutral countries distancing themselves from NATO, Eastern Europe becoming less democratic - come to fruition. [Extracted from the article]

This presidential address on Canada and the study of territorial politics makes four main arguments. The first is that territory is a central component of politics, especially of Canadian politics, and that it should remain a focal point of specialists of Canadian and comparative politics. The second is that territory matters in contemporary politics because it serves as grounding for political communities, their claims, and their politics. The third is that not "identifying" parts of Canadian politics as "territorial politics" risks overlooking the importance of territory in the theorizing of federalism, nationalism and regionalism. The fourth is that, through the case of Canada, political scientists have made significant contributions to the study of comparative territorial politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political science and Science Studies both use the words "politics" and "science," yet each applies such different meanings as to nearly appear incommensurable. Here, I explain to political scientists the various uses of these words by Science Studies practitioners and how they could relate to those used by political science. The paper shows that only one of these meanings of the word "science" (out of four possible meanings) distinguishes it in a radical way from "politics" (which may take on six different meanings). Once those meanings have been defined, I propose that a more fruitful collaboration between Science Studies and political science could be developed based on the method of "following issues," rather than delimiting distinct domains for science and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than two decades ago, political scientist Jagpal Singh coined the term "Ambedkarization" to describe a process happening in west Uttar Pradesh. This was about the increasing presence of the images and ideas of one of the founding fathers of India, B. R. Ambedkar, among the Dalits of west Uttar Pradesh. This was based on Singh's fieldwork in Meerut district between 1992 and 1994. My article revisits the concept and tries to find out its relevance in east Uttar Pradesh. This is based on my fieldwork in a village in Banaras district, which was carried out intermittently between 2018 and 2021. My research question is how relevant is the concept of Ambedkarization in today's context, where it has succeeded and where it has failed, and finally what could be its impact on India's democracy. It posits that the process of Ambedkarization is still relevant to understand social change among Dalits of rural Banaras in east Uttar Pradesh. The article takes up the issues of religion and political economy in the process of Ambedkarization and the upward social mobility of Buddhists and Ravidasis. Lastly, the article argues that the Ambedkarization process has newer challenges in the form of neoliberal policies of Indian state and the growth of Islamophobia. Only by resolving these challenges Ambedkarization process can fully actualize its potential to make India an inclusive democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the complex relationship between the Bolivian Armed Forces and the ruling party in Bolivia. It delves into the historical background of the Armed Forces, their involvement in past dictatorships, and their transition to democratic rule. The article also examines the military's role in social conflicts, their alignment with President Evo Morales's party, and their subsequent support for an illegal government after Morales's resignation. It emphasizes the need for structural reform within the Armed Forces to strengthen democracy in Bolivia. Loreta Tellería Escobar, a political scientist and economist with expertise in defense, security, and U.S.-Latin American relations, provides valuable insights in this research, making it a valuable resource for library patrons interested in these topics. [Extracted from the article]

Political theorists and scientists have published extensive scholarship on the political representation of the marginalised. Some notable and widely cited scholars include Jane Mansbridge, Anne Phillips, Iris M. Young, Suzanne Dovi, and Melissa Williams. They have mostly focused on the importance of representation of women and argue that such representation enhances the functioning of representative democracies. This strand of literature has made significant contributions to contemporary research, especially on studies showing how and why political representation matters. Underdiscussed, nonetheless, is how such classic studies should be taught in a classroom in the context of global movements, namely #BlackLivesMatter, #StopAsianHate, and #MeToo, where various marginalised identities intersect when subjected to oppression. We contest and strengthen some of these ideas in extant scholarship promoting diversity politics by taking intersectional and decolonial approaches. We advocate for prioritising intersectionality over diversity and for decolonising teaching political representation by centring the feminist works of BIPOC and Global South scholars. By challenging both the absence of minoritised women as political actors as well as scholars—as a matter of the production of knowledge and as political activism—we create an inclusive learning environment. We enable both the educators and students to reflect on their positionalities and furthermore achieve the long-term goal of equality in the classrooms, political institutions, and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of the 'age of conspiracism', the harmfulness of conspiratorial narratives and mindsets on individuals' mentalities, on social relations, and on democracy, has been widely researched by political scientists and psychologists. One known negative effect of conspiracy theories is the escalation toward political radicalism. This study goes beyond the exploration of mechanisms underpinning the relationship between conspiracy theory and radicalization to focus on possible approaches to mitigating them. This study sheds light on the role of counter-conspiracy approaches in the process of deradicalization, adopting the case study of anti-China sentiment and racial prejudice amid the Covid-19 pandemic, through conducting an experiment (N = 300). The results suggest that, during critical events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, exposure to countermeasures to conspiracist information can reduce individual acceptance of radicalism. We investigated two methods of countering conspiracy theory, and found that: (1) a content-targeted 'inoculation' approach to countering conspiracy theory can prevent the intensification of radicalization, but does not produce a significant deradicalization effect; and (2) an audience-focused 'disenchantment' method can enable cognitive deradicalization, effectively reducing the perception of competitive victimhood, and of real and symbolic threats. This study is one of the first attempts to address causality between deradicalization and countermeasures to conspiracy theories in the US-China relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists and legal scholars debate the value of judicial elections, including the degree to which elections effectively hold incumbent judges accountable. In this paper, we provide a causally identified estimate of the incumbency advantage in judicial elections. We assemble an original dataset of over 5300 partisan, single-member trial court elections from six U.S. states. Employing a regression discontinuity design, we demonstrate that incumbents enjoy electoral advantages of more than twenty percentage points due solely to being an incumbent. In contrast to research from other electoral settings, we find that these advantages are due largely to a scare-off effect, where even a narrow victory dramatically decreases the probability that an incumbent party will be challenged in the next election. Our findings highlight the sizable electoral returns to holding judicial office, reveal how the nature of the incumbency advantage varies across electoral settings, and provide compelling evidence of the challenges to holding trial court judges accountable through elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the increased interest in economic sanctions and their consequences, this special issue contains a collection of studies by experts aiming to reflect the recent developments and trends in the literature on economic sanctions. The contributions contain theoretical research on the topic, data collection, and empirical work on the impact, effectiveness and success of sanctions. Moreover, the contributions come from economists and political scientists and are, therefore, interdisciplinary in nature. In this introduction, we highlight each paper in the volume by summarizing its salient features and by placing them in the broader context of the literature on economic sanctions. We also synthesize several takeaways and conclude by identifying questions we believe future research should shed further light on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article recounts a diplomatic exchange in December 1989 where a Soviet official humorously referred to the Brezhnev Doctrine as a "Christmas gift" to the United States, prompting reflection on the doctrine's historical significance and its impact on subsequent US foreign policy decisions. This exchange occurred amidst the end of the Cold War, marked by a notable shift in US-Soviet relations and significant events such as the peaceful transitions in Eastern Europe and the US.

Saul or Shaul Yeroham Mezan is a doctor with specialization in surgery and urology, Doctor of Medicine, officer, public figure, Zionist, anti-fascist, publicist, journalist, poet, historian, and folklorist – researcher of Sephardism, political scientist and current political analyst. He was born in the city of TatarPazardjik (today Pazardjik, Bulgaria) in 1893, and died far from his homeland, as a victim of Nazism, probably around 1943. Nowadays his name is known to a few researchers, as the predominant writings about him and his work are episodic in time and fragmentary in their subject matter. His literary and journalistic works, as well as his socio-political views, remain almost unknown to the general public, including, unfortunately, to the Jewish community in Bulgaria. The objective of the paper is the French-speaking environment in which S. Mezan was formed, and his works in French in various fields of the knowledge, which prevail over the ones in Bulgarian both in quantity and in terms of scientific and social significance. The author also pays special attention to the numerous yet scattered references for the French influence on the language, the way of life and the culture of the Sephardim in Bulgaria in the book by S. Mezan dedicated to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that during the 1930s and the 1940s intellectuals in Japan, an island state, devoured geopolitical theories constructed in a typical 'land power', Germany. Not only did this fad contradict the geographical reality of Japanese territory. It was also at odds with Japan's contemporary national identity as a maritime state. This article highlights intellectual path dependence as the key to explaining this conundrum. The initial decision that paved the way for the adoption of the German tradition of geopolitics was made shortly before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War by political scientist Onozuka Kiheiji, who consciously opted for the geographical ideas of Friedrich Ratzel instead of the naval strategy of Alfred Thayer Mahan as a theoretical guide and justification for empire-building. This article illustrates how the choice made by Onozuka induced his students, who became leading intellectual figures after World War I, to follow the evolution of German geopolitics and to propagate the ideas of Karl Haushofer at the beginning of the Pacific War. The article ends by briefly describing how the Geopolitik tradition was overcome by the formation of a new maritime national identity after the war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catastrophe of Russia's war in Ukraine following on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter-inspired protests raises the possibility of marked changes in people's gendered experiences in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia (CEE&E). Drawing upon recent discussions, events, and publications--with particular attention to Ukrainian voices and reflexivity as to my position as a US-based political scientist mostly trained on Russia--I suggest ways that these developments have begun to, can, and should change gender studies. I raise three questions: (1) Does CEE&E still constitute a meaningful geopolitical context--or region--for understanding gender? (2) Who should have authority to speak about gender in CEE&E? and (3) Have the possibilities for solidarities among feminist activists across CEE&E and beyond CEE&E increased or decreased, and why? Considering these questions, I argue that there is still much to be gained from studying gender in CEE&E as a field if we incorporate intersectional and decolonial lenses and especially if we can keep pushing ourselves through the scholarly debates that have constituted the field. Incorporating this part of the world--elided since Soviet collapse--can help gender studies as a whole deepen and reconsider paradigmatic concepts such as intersectionality, colonialism, and solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists are tasked with a deeply meaningful and consequential responsibility: explaining the political world. This encompasses a wide array of phenomena, from the behavior of presidents, voters, rebels, and bureaucrats to the origins, transformation, and demise of institutions, regimes, and wars across history and the world. Moreover, our discipline delves into profound normative questions surrounding domination, freedom, equality, representation, and sovereignty, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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"The Democracy Amendments: Constitutional Reforms to Save the United States" by John Davenport is a book that examines the structural faults of the contemporary Constitution and proposes 25 amendments to restore the Republic. Davenport addresses common defects such as the undemocratic Senate, the size of the House, and life tenure for federal court judges, as well as components of America's political experiment that have evolved. While the book makes a valuable contribution to the discussion of constitutional reform, it has some editing errors and questionable linguistic choices. Additionally, Davenport's framing of the undemocratic Senate as "geographical apartheid" is criticized for equating it with the systematic terror inflicted on an entire race. The author also overlooks the possibility of a revolutionary convention to scrap the entirety of the 1787 Constitution and start over. Overall, the book is recommended for those interested in the future of the American polity and constitutional reform. [Extracted from the article]

"The Phantom World of Digul: Policing as Politics in Colonial Indonesia, 1926–1941" is a book that explores the history of political policing in colonial Indonesia. The author, Shiraishi, argues that the internment camp in Boven Digul, constructed after the 1926-27 revolts, served as a template for political policing in the colony. The book examines the institutional structures of the new policing regime and the rise of the institutional infrastructure of political policing. It also traces the impact of this regime on popular politics and politicians, particularly the nationalist movement. The book provides valuable insights into the colonial period and its legacy effects on contemporary Indonesia." [Extracted from the article]