Vertical Politics in Horizontal Policy Networks: Framework Setting as Coupling Arrangement

Horizontal governance arrangements potentially conflict with the very principles of the representative democracy and its political institutions. This conflict manifests itself in the interaction between representatives and the executive power: Although the former has the formal power to decide upon policies and to check their implementation, the latter participates in horizontal networks and therefore has more resources to influence the content, evolvement, and outcomes of the policy process. This erodes the power position of representatives. Framework setting is commonly suggested as an arrangement for representatives to enhance their grip on policy processes. The authors of this contribution examine the effects of framework setting as coupling mechanism between horizontal networks and vertical politics in six policy processes in a Dutch province. Based on network theory and research findings, they suggest redefining the concept of framework setting in order to make it more attuned to the complex, interdependent, and dynamic nature of policymaking in networks.     

Archaeometric investigation of Roman tesserae from Herculaneum (Italy) by the combined use of complementary micro-destructive analytical techniques

Vitreous tesserae from two mosaics in Herculaneum (Italy) dating from the 1st century AD have been investigated in order to gather information on Imperial Age opaque glass. The combined use of complementary micro-destructive analytical techniques, namely optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) allowed to define the nature of formers, fluxes, chromophores and opacifying compounds and to determine the type of raw materials employed for their introduction. The results confirmed the high technological level of Imperial Age glassmakers and clarified some details of the production processes. Experimental data have been obtained concerning formation of antimony-based opacifiers. The presence of tin-containing Ca- and Pb-antimonates has been ascertained in various green, yellow and turquoise tesserae. Moreover, unusual divergences from the established Roman age ‘low magnesia–low potash’ (LMLK) glass composition have been found for some red and green samples.     

Preservation potential of charcoal in alkaline environments: an experimental approach and implications for the archaeological record

Charcoalified plant material (usually wood) has been described as being inert with a high preservation potential. Although usually black on both the outside and inside, the physical and chemical properties differ as a function of temperature and time of exposure to a heat source. Post-depositional processes however may exert additional affects on charcoalified material and introduce bias into the archaeological record. This work explores the influence of alkaline conditions, often encountered in the soil environment, on the preservation potential of charcoalified material. Charcoal, experimentally produced at different temperatures, was exposed to a number of solutions of potassium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide with different pHs, to simulate exposure to alkaline soil conditions. Under these conditions chemically mediated physical interactions occur resulting in fragmentation of the charcoal samples into (very) small pieces the size of which depends upon the initial temperature of charcoalification. Moreover further interactions result in a decrease in reflectance relative to samples not exposed to alkaline conditions. Although experimentally driven the potential for physical loss of charcoal from a particular site coupled with the reduction in (expected) reflectance of any resident material, has important implications for any conclusions drawn regarding the archaeological record.     

Retail Development in The Netherlands: Evaluating the Effects of Radical Changes in Planning Policy

After long years of a protective national retail planning policy, the Dutch national government decided in 2004 on a radical shift with respect to this policy, by abolishing restrictive retail regulations. The provinces have recently responded by reinstalling the main elements of the national retail planning model at the regional level. This article shows that nevertheless unintended structural changes in the Dutch retail landscape have occurred. Building on theoretical perspectives on institutional change and normative approaches to planning, the article evaluates the rationale behind the shifts in the planning regime and the extent to which the “new” planning regime meets the conditions for a collaborative planning approach. Additionally, regional differences in the effectiveness of retail planning are analysed and related to regional differences in the planning regime.     

Shock troops: The emerging role of Senators in House of representatives campaigns

Since the 1949 introduction of proportional representation for the Senate there have only been two elections (1983 and 84) at which the ALP has gained more Senators in the chamber than the Coalition. The Coalition has held more seats than the ALP since 1987. The decline in Senate fortunes for the Labor Party has occurred despite (or, perhaps, because of) consecutive ALP Governments from 1972–75 and, more conspicuously, 1983–96. The professionalisation of politics through the 1980s and 1990s has dramatically changed the role major parties expect of their Senate teams. The Coalition and Labor Parties each use their Senators and Senatorial office resources as ‘shock troops’ in marginal seats, as well as points of constituency contact for electors in marginal seats or seats held by the opposition. Given that major party Senators are increasingly being used by the party machines as campaign tools, and are increasingly locating their offices and staffers in marginal seats, the numerical advantage the Coalition enjoys in the Senate is worthy of consideration. The additional campaign resources that Senators provide translates potentially into an electoral advantage in the House of Representatives for the Coalition. The Coalition's majority in the Senate may therefore be of as much interest outside the chamber as it is within it.     

Selling is Poverty,Buying a Shame: Representations of Work,Effective Leadership and Market Failures on Wallis

This paper seeks to answer the question why there is no central market on the Polynesian island Wallis, and relates the answer to indigenous representations of work and to cultural constraints on leadership. The title of this paper ‐ Selling is Poverty, Buying a Shame ‐ contains the answer in a nutshell, requires contextualisation in relation to the main cultural, socioeconomic and political features of the society on this island. More specifically, it raises the following questions: What do we mean when we speak about a market? Have there been markets in the past? Are there (other) market‐like structures today? And what do we mean by representations of work?     

Geoarchaeological tsunami deposits at Palaikastro (Crete) and the Late Minoan IA eruption of Santorini

The explosive eruption at Santorini in the Aegean Sea during the second millennium BCE was the largest Holocene volcanic upheaval in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The eruption was disastrous for the Minoan settlements at Santorini, but the effect on human society in the neighbouring islands and regions is still clouded in uncertainty. Tsunami generation was suggested, but comparatively little evidence was found. The lack of firm tsunami traces is particularly puzzling in Crete with its coastal settlements of the Late Minoan IA period, during which the Santorini eruption occurred. Here, we report the discovery of extensive geoarchaeological tsunami deposits at Palaikastro in north-eastern Crete. These deposits are characterized by a mixture of geological materials, including volcanic Santorini ash, and archaeological settlement debris. Various tsunami signatures were identified: (1) erosional contact with the underlying strata, (2) volcanic ash intraclasts in the lower part of the deposit, (3) reworked building stone material in the lower part of the deposit, (4) individual marine shells, (5) marine micro-fauna, (6) imbrication of rounded beach pebbles, settlement debris, ceramic sherds and even bones, (7) multi-modal chaotic composition. Late Minoan human settlement activities at Palaikastro provided architectural and stratigraphic frameworks in space and time that recorded and preserved tsunami evidence as geoarchaeological deposits. Such stratigraphic resolution and preservation may not occur in the natural landscape. Volcanic ash transported by wind from Santorini south-east to Crete preceded the tsunami. Geological, archaeological and radiocarbon dating criteria all converge, indicating that the tsunami deposits are coeval with the Minoan Santorini eruption. Field evidence suggests that tsunami waves at Palaikastro were at least 9 m high. Inverse tsunami modeling was attempted, based on these newly discovered tsunamigenic deposits. The initial wave in the generation region at Santorini that best fits the stratigraphic data is a wave with +35 to −15 m initial amplitude and a crest length of about 15 km.     

Re-examining Leader Effects: Have Leader Effects Grown in Australian Federal Elections 1990–2004?

It is well established that the popularity of party leaders exerts an important influence on vote choice in modern federal elections. Significant partisan and class de-alignment have been key drivers of this trend. Although Australia's development in this respect has been slower than in some other liberal democracies, it has nonetheless been significant, and has weakened voters' attachments to the major parties. This article examines six federal elections (1990–2004) and investigates whether the electoral impact of party leader popularity is continuing to grow, or whether the impact, although important, has been relatively stable or declining. We also investigate the impact of different methods of calculating leader effects on their implied size and, drawing on new data available in the most recent Australian Election Study surveys, present an alternative model of leadership effects that has not been assessable previously in the Australian context.