Social Constructions,Anticipatory Feedback Strategies,and Deceptive Public Policy

Elected leaders adopt “anticipatory feedback strategies” in designing public policies that generate support and forestall opposition. This contention is at the core of a social construction theory of feedback. Officials anticipate approval when policies allocate benefits to powerful groups socially constructed as deserving and allocate costs or punishment to groups viewed as undeserving, particularly if these groups lack political power. Designs for powerful groups that are widely viewed as unworthy provide mainly benefits in ways that are hidden from the general public who would not approve. For politically weak groups regarded as deserving, legislators generally design policies that provide promises, but not much in terms of material benefits. Often, deception will be used to protect or enhance this particular allocation pattern, including the reinforcement, perpetuation, or change in the social constructions along with the stereotypes, labels, stigma, and accompanying narratives. Using data from legislation introduced by the 2016 Arizona Legislature, we find that most policy is directed toward providing benefits to positively viewed target populations, as expected by the theory, and legislators employ deceptive feedback strategies that protect themselves. Feedback from the general public, which otherwise might be expected, may be precluded by the deceptive strategies being used.     

An Iron Age ceramic sequence from the Bayt Bin Ati,al‐Ain,UAE

Rescue excavations associated with the adaptive reuse of a historic building in the Qattara Oasis revealed a 5 m stratigraphic sequence spanning the past 3000 years. The main period of occupation—roughly half the sequence—belongs to the Iron Age II and III periods (c.1100–300 BC). Evidence of agriculture and industry was found which complements our understanding of the well‐known Iron Age settlements of al‐Ain. The present paper sets out the stratigraphic sequence and presents the phased ceramic assemblage, before considering the broader implications for the archaeology of Iron Age south‐east Arabia.     

Archaeological human hair in a burial context: Microscopical evaluation of samples from Iași,Romania (18th–19th centuries)

Owing to its resistance to degradation, hair is an important bio-sample with unique properties used to study post mortem decompositional changes. The present paper is a microscopical approach to preserved human scalp hair discovered at the 18th–19th-century archaeological site of Iași, Romania. The hair fibre alterations were assessed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, image analysis and hair histological scores. External alterations showed a statistically significant heterogeneous degradation. Image analysis results of the internal degradation of hairs were correlated to external lesions. The results consider the implication of intrinsic biological factors in the post mortem degradation of human hair preserved in graves with comparable environmental conditions.     

Carboniferous postglacial faunas in the late Serpukhovian–Bashkirian interval of central-western Argentina

Cisterna, G.A., Sterren, A.F., López Gamundí, O. & Vergel, M.M., March 2017. Carboniferous postglacial faunas in the late Serpukhovian–Bashkirian interval of central-western Argentina. Alcheringa, ISSN 0311-5518.

Typical glacial–postglacial sequences associated with the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age (LPIA) are recognized in the Calingasta-Uspallata Basin, central-western Argentina, particularly in the Hoyada Verde and El Paso formations (late Serpukhovian–Bashkirian) at Barreal Hill (San Juan province). Brachiopods and bivalves accompanied by gastropods, conulariids, nautiloids, corals and ostracods constitute the marine assemblages of the El Paso Formation. They are assigned to the Aseptella–Tuberculatella/Rhipidomella–Micraphelia (AT/RM) fauna, characterized by two fossil assemblages: Aseptella–Tuberculatella, identified in the lower fossiliferous interval, and Rhipidomella–Micraphelia in the upper. The development of the different invertebrate assemblages within the El Paso Formation, and their relationship with coeval suite in the Hoyada Verde Formation, can be explained by a complex array of abiotic factors (substrate stability, turbidity, nutrient availability, variation in oxygen levels, poor circulation and salinity variations in the water column) that were directly related to glacial retreat dynamics and coastal configuration. A restricted palaeofjord setting is proposed for the depositional environment of the El Paso Formation in contrast to an exposed open marine coast with a gently sloping shelf for the Hoyada Verde Formation. The study of the postglacial fauna of the El Paso Formation and its relationship with the Levipustula fauna in the Calingasta-Uspallata Basin, help determine the main controls on the distribution of the postglacial faunas in other late Palaeozoic South American basins, such as the Tepuel Genoa Basin in Patagonia and the Tarija Basin in Bolivia.

Gabriela A. Cisterna [gabrielacisterna@conicet.gov.ar], CONICET-UNLAR, Av. Dr. Luis M. de la Fuente s/n, La Rioja, 5300, Argentina; Andrea F. Sterren [asterren@unc.edu.ar], CICTERRA (CONICET – Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, X5016GCA, Córdoba, Argentina; Oscar López Gamundí [orlg2003@yahoo.com], P1C Consultants 1121 Banks Street, Houston, TX 77006, USA; María del Milagro Vergel [vergelmar@tucbbs.com.ar], CONICET – INSUGEO – Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituo Miguel Lillo (UNT), Miguel Lillo 205, 4000, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.     

Constructing a Cold War Peace

Book reviewed in this article:
Marc Trachtenberg, A Constructed Peace: The Making of the European Settlement, 1945–1963