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.     

Historical Survey and Chronology of Bonajuto Chapel in Catania,Italy

Located in the historical center of Catania, Italy, in the Civita district, the Bonajuto Chapel is one of the oldest and best-conserved buildings of the city, which has survived the numerous earthquakes that struck eastern Sicily during the medieval and the modern ages, such as those particularly devastating in 1169 and 1693. However, both the date of this small monument, as well as its original use, still remain uncertain, as literary and documentary evidence are scarce and fragmentary. Most historians, analyzing prevalently the stylistic and constructive aspects, interpreted the chapel as a place of worship and assigned its construction to a rather long period of the early Middle Ages, from the 5th or 6th centuries ad to the 8th or 9th centuries ad—the phase during which the island was under the Byzantine domination. The excavations carried out in 1930 to 1939 and the last restoration works (in 2003) have not provided explicit chronological data. Its age determination is considered essential for a better knowledge of the real influence of this domination on the architecture of the Island. Therefore, a multidisciplinary and accurate analysis of the building using the existing bibliography has been carried out also in order to understand the functional and morphological transformations of the chapel during its long life. The thermoluminescence absolute dating methodology applied to some brickwork elements of the construction, has placed the monument chronology in a period of time that is notably shorter than that previously noted here. These new data, with the study of the architectural structure, have made a significant step forward in the knowledge of the chapel history.     

张家川马家塬战国墓地M21墓葬中铁器表面纺织残留物的鉴定

马家塬战国墓地是研究西戎文化以及秦戎文化交流的重要考古遗址。在M21墓葬发现了一些附着于铁器表面的矿化纺织品残片。这些矿物外壳保留了比较完整的纺织品形态,是研究早期纺织技术的宝贵资料。为此,本研究采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和高效液相色谱-质谱联用技术(HPLC-MS)对矿物纺织品残片的纤维原料进行了鉴定与分析:1)矿物外壳内部的纤维空洞结构形态与桑蚕丝的纤维形态特征相同;2)样品中检出了3组蚕丝蛋白的特征多肽片段。研究结果表明,M21墓葬中的纺织品残片的原料为蚕丝纤维(Bombyx mori)。丝绸的发现表明中原的丝绸成品或者纤维原料已经进入西戎地区,西戎与中原文明的交流更加密切。使用丝绸包裹铁器则表明西戎文化已经受到了一些中原风俗的影响。这一发现填补了马家塬遗址中纺织品研究的空白,不仅为研究秦戎地区的织造工艺和文化交流提供了重要资料,也为矿化纺织遗存中的桑蚕丝残留的鉴定提供了技术支持。     

Intra-group interactions and inter-group violence: Sikh mobilization during the partition of India in a comparative perspective

Theories of ethnic conflict posit ethnic mobilization by elites as a necessary condition for ethnic war. What is less well understood is why ethnic mobilization succeeds in some instances, but not in others. This article examines this question using a case that is yet to be systematically explored from this perspective: Sikh mobilization during the partition of British India in 1947. During the period February–July 1947, there were two clear instances in which a section of Sikh elites tried to mobilize group members. While the first attempt at mobilization in March failed to elicit sufficient mass participation, the second attempt, in July, was more effective and created the preconditions for the violence that ensued in August. What explains this variation in mobilization outcomes? We contend that this difference can be traced back to key changes in elite strategy from March to July. In March, mobilization failed because the Sikh elites who were committed to the path of violence left the onus of the mobilization on a small group of extremists and mass sentiments, ignoring serious intra-community differences based on class and caste inequalities. By contrast, in July, they emphasized the issue of land dispossession and gave credible indications of their resolve to use violence to defend individual rights to land. These actions produced greater compliance because of the specific capacity of anti-land dispossession politics to blur intra-group social inequalities and heighten inter-group tensions based on land dispossession.     

背包旅游者的演变与概念重塑

作为背包旅游研究领域的一个基本概念,背包旅游者这个术语在概念界定的过程中遇到了新的挑战.本文认为有必要从“经”和“纬”两条线来分别梳理该概念的发展脉络、基本内涵和主要争议.在对背包旅游者概念进行深入辨析的基础上,结合背包旅游现象的新特点,本文提出：自主性和深度体验是背包旅游者概念的本质内涵,以此构成该概念界定的主要依据,因此,背包旅游者是倡导自主精神,采取自助旅游方式前往异地寻求深度旅游体验的人.同时,本文指出,现阶段的背包旅游者具有类型上的划分,借助“意义”和“形式”两个维度可将其分为朝圣型背包旅游者、形式型背包旅游者、享乐型背包旅游者及纯粹精神型背包旅游者.     

打造区域性产业板块:十五期间我国旅游业产业结构调整的重要战略方向

打造区域性产业板块,是根据我国幅员辽阔,具有自然地理上的多样性、地方文化的 多元性特点,进行旅游产业区域布局的结构性调整,整合我国各具鲜明特色的大区域旅游板块形象.     

Toward an understanding of the exchange in ancient scented oils through organic residue analysis of Bronze Age Near Eastern ceramic bottles by GC-MS

This paper presents a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) organic residue analysis (ORA) of samples extracted from five Early Bronze Age ceramic bottles excavated at the archaeological site of Küllüoba in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and the first attempt at directly analysing the content of this category of products. Our results show that various types of liquid have been contained in different bottles and identify the presence of dicarboxylic and oleic acids with a large amount of palmitic acid in most samples, suggesting that they may have mostly contained a plant-based oil. The presence of diterpenoids further shows the addition of ingredients such as conifer resin and other plant-derived products. Overall, the analytical results presented here indicate the exchange of scented oils in Anatolia already during the late third millennium BCE. The different organic residue profiles contained in different samples also suggest a range of different recipes for these products.     

甘肃张家川马家塬战国墓地M4出土料珠研究

甘肃马家塬墓地是战国晚期至秦初的西戎墓地,本研究以该墓地M4出土的料珠为研究对象,以期通过分析其成分和结构特征,讨论其工艺特征,以丰富对战国时期费昂斯的相关认识。研究使用扫描电子显微镜-能谱和激光拉曼光谱仪,分析结果显示料珠为费昂斯制品,其釉层玻璃化程度很高,经历腐蚀后熔剂流失严重,明显区别于西周时期的费昂斯制品。同时确定釉层中的一些高锡颗粒物为SnO_2,表明当时在釉层制作中加入锡石或锡粉末。该费昂斯制品应采取了直接施釉或包埋施釉工艺。研究结果可为我国费昂斯发展历程演变提供信息。     

Physico‐Chemical Characterization of Pigments and Binders of Murals in a Church in Ethiopia

Here, we report the physico‐chemical characterization of wall paintings from the Petros and Paulos church in Ethiopia. This work represents the first technical study of paintings located in Ethiopia, rather than paintings in museum collections outside the country, using diverse analytical techniques. In situ examination with a portable X‐ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) was followed by analysis of samples using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), micro‐Raman spectroscopy (MRS), attenuated total reflection – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FT–IR), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD) and pyrolysis gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (Py‐GC/MS). The paint stratigraphy, the compositions of the support material, the preparatory and painting layers were studied, as well as the morphology of the pigment particles. The results revealed the use of earth pigments and carbon black. The preparatory layer was uncommon; composed of dolomite, clay rich in clinochlore and sand, in contrast to the more common gypsum and calcite. The binder and the stratigraphic analyses suggested a distempera technique.     

Policy feedback via economic behavior: A model and experimental analysis of consumption behavior

This article examines policy feedback via economic behavior in the mass public, with a focus on consumption behavior. Do public policies affect the consumption behavior of mass publics and subsequent policymaking processes and outcomes? If so, how? I introduce a policy feedback model of consumption behavior in the mass public. Within this model, I advance a theoretical argument on the consequences of targeted cash assistance policies (TCAPs) for consumer spending behavior and government provision of basic utilities in developing countries. Using a randomized field experiment in Mexico and pre–post analysis, I find that TCAPs boost consumer spending on private access to basic utilities in the short term and reduce government provision of basic utilities in the medium term. The study pushes policy feedback theorists to think beyond the arena of mass politics, and the findings have important implications for social policy and human development in developing countries.