Degrees of Engagement: Using Cultural Worldviews to Explain Variations in Public Preferences for Engagement in the Policy Process

Scholars have been studying the concept of public engagement and its role in the policy process for some time. Scholars have argued that understanding the interests and motivations of the public and engaging them in the decision‐making process can lead to better policy designs and, ultimately, better policy outcomes. However, studies of public engagement often assume that people have a desire to get involved in the policy process. This paper tests this key assumption using the case of nuclear facility siting in the United States to ask: what factors influence an individual's stated willingness to want to engage in the policy process? Using data from a national web survey fielded in 2013, we ask the public if and to what extent they would likely engage in the siting process if given the opportunity. Findings indicate that the likelihood of engagement varies rather substantially across individuals. We find that an individual's cultural belief system and existing level of political activity account for some of this variation. These findings suggest that public engagement programs may vary across groups and communities. In other words, the prospects of engagement are likely to appeal to some members of the population and not others.     

“Blue Ribbon” Commissions,Interest Groups,and the Formulation of Policy in the American States

Despite the prevalence of state‐level commissions convened to make policy recommendations, research to date has not systematically investigated the ways in which these bodies impact policy or degree to which state‐level interest groups can use these institutions in that process. We argue that less powerful groups will favor these mechanisms and use them to get issues onto the institutional agenda and to increase the likelihood of legislative success. We also suggest that traditionally powerful groups will oppose the creation of reform‐minded task forces, but will likely use them to hinder policy change once they are formed. We test this assertion in an analysis of the creation and recommendations of task forces convened to study autism insurance mandates, as well as the eventual adoption of such mandates, in the American states between 2001 and 2010. The results suggest that public and industry groups influence the formation and recommendations of task forces, but that the latter appears to have a relatively larger impact. They also suggest that a task force recommendation has a large impact on the likelihood of adopting an autism insurance mandate and that neither the insurance industry nor autism advocacy groups have a direct influence on adoption after controlling for the presence of a recommendation.     

Spatial Tactics in Criminal Courts and the Politics of Legal Technicalities

This paper documents court‐imposed bail and sentencing conditions with spatial dimensions, such as red zones, no contact conditions, curfews and prohibitions to demonstrate, issued in the context of criminal proceedings. These conditional orders, which are growing in importance and have a significant impact on the lives of marginalized groups of people, have not received the attention they deserve in the literature. As opposed to better publicized forms of spatial regulation such as legislation or policing strategies, these conditional orders are a distinctive form of spatial tactic that rely on ancient and routinized rules of criminal procedure and the practices of the courts. In order to understand this spatial tactic, and its impact on marginalized people's rights and uses of spaces, we argue that it is necessary to pay attention to the legal rationalities, knowledge and practices that sustain them.     

2015尼泊尔地震后加德满都谷地世界文化遗产破坏特征

2015尼泊尔地震对加德满都谷地的世界文化遗产造成不可估量的损失。为了探究谷地文化遗产震害整体分布特征,对谷地世界文化遗产建筑的震害状况开展实地调查,划分了三类文化遗产震害等级标准,形成了六处世界文化遗产的震害图并对其进行统计分析,加德满都、帕坦和巴德岗三处杜巴广场震后保存基本完好的文化遗产建筑占各自总数的39.5%、53.3%、50%,斯瓦扬布纳特寺、昌谷纳拉扬寺和博达哈大佛塔主体保存基本完好,附属建筑不同程度地破坏。加德满都、帕坦和巴德岗三处杜巴广场地层的松软沉积层放大地震效应使建筑严重破坏,斯瓦扬布纳特寺、昌谷纳拉扬寺震害主要受地形特征影响。考察成果为我国同类遗产建筑的抗震防护提供参考。     

TAXATION AND INTERNAL MIGRATION—EVIDENCE FROM THE SWISS CENSUS USING COMMUNITY‐LEVEL VARIATION IN INCOME TAX RATES*

ABSTRACT We investigate the relationship between income tax rate variation and internal migration for the unique case of Switzerland, whose system of determining tax rates primarily at the community level results in enough variation to permit analysis of their influence on migration. Specifically, using Swiss census data, we analyze migratory responses to tax rate variations for various groups defined by age, education, and nationality/residence permit. The results suggest that young Swiss college graduates are most sensitive to tax rate differences, but the estimated effects are not large enough to offset the revenue‐increasing effect of a rise in tax rate. The migratory responses of foreigners and other age‐education groups are even smaller, and reverse causation seems negligible.     

鹿邑太清宫长子口墓出土玉器的材料属性与制作工艺研究

为了解河南鹿邑太清宫长子口墓出土的部分典型玉器的材料属性与制作工艺,用多种无损科技分析技术对其进行了现场分析,获取了玉器材质矿物组成、纹饰微观形貌、穿孔孔径及内部微痕特征、表面琢磨微痕等综合物理化学信息。基于科技分析结果,确定了玉器的材质属性以及玉器表面纹饰、钻孔、琢磨等制作工艺相关信息。结合考古学背景资料信息,探讨了长子口墓地出土玉器在材质、器形、功能与工艺之间存在的关系。     

基于电阻率成像法的莫高108窟墙体内水盐运移过程分析

非均质的砂砾石层是莫高窟壁画的主要墙体,但砂砾石层的非均质性如何在水盐运移过程中发挥作用却还不清楚。为此,通过在108窟西壁面上1 m×1 m和2 m×2 m范围的三维高密度电阻率成像监测,发现在这些区域上,墙体电阻率的空间分布都是非均匀的,低阻值区域在空间位置、大小和形状上都会随时间而变化。这明确说明在构成墙体的非均质砂砾石层内存在着重要的水分饱和与非饱和过程(再分配过程),正是这一不断重复的饱和与非饱和过程促进了墙体内水分的运移和盐分在一些特定区域的聚集。研究成果对全面认识莫高窟墙体内的水盐运移机理,减轻和防治壁画盐害都具有重要意义。     

白居塔塔体结构稳定性分析研究

在对白居塔建筑形制调查研究基础上,区分塔体内嵌高山体和内嵌低山体两种情况,确定重力作用以及重力和地震耦合作用两种工况。基于采用岩土摩尔—库伦本构模型的有限元分析技术,对白居塔和山体的耦合结构进行稳定性分析。得出以下结论:自重作用下,整体结构稳定性满足,且有较高的安全稳定系数;白居塔整体结构的刚度较大,整个结构体系属于抗震有利体系;白居寺整体结构基频模态以侧倾为主;在7°(基本加速度0.15 g)多遇地震作用下,两个模型整体结构的抗震稳定性较好,结构不会产生整体性失稳破坏;在8°(基本加速度0.3 g)多遇地震作用下,较高山体模型主体结构基本处于安全状态,较低山体模型主体结构不满足稳定要求;较高山体的模型相对于较低山体的模型,安全稳定性要高。