Contextual effects on subjective national identity

Does the interaction between context and individual‐level features affect political attitudes? By using the case of Catalonia, a receiver region of international and national immigration since the fifties, this paper intersects a classic acculturation model and a newly reemerging literature in political science on contextual determinants of political behaviour to analyze how context affects subjective national identity. Results reveal that environment matters. The Percentage of Spain‐born population in the municipality is statistically significant to account for variance in the subjective national identity, even after controlling for age, sex, origin, language and left–right orientation and other contextual factors. This conclusion suggests that researchers should not underestimate the direct effect of the environment on feelings of belonging in contexts of rival identities.     

Models of settlement hierarchy based on partial evidence

The modelling of past settlement and landscape structure from incomplete evidence is a well-established archaeological agenda. This paper highlights a model of spatial interaction and settlement evolution that has long been popular in urban geography and which was first applied to model historical settlement hierarchies some twenty-five years ago, but whose use since then for archaeological purposes has been very limited. Via a case study from Bronze Age Crete, we extend the analytical range of this model by suggesting ways in which it can (a) remain effective in the presence of missing data, (b) be given a stronger grounding in the physical landscape, and/or (c) be used to consider the evolutionary trajectory of settlements and physical routes over time.     

Postcranial functional adaptations in the South American Miocene borhyaenoids (Mammalia,Metatheria): Cladosictis,Pseudonotictis and Sipalocyon

Three Santacrucian borhyaenoids, Cladosictis patagonica, Pseudonotictis pusillus and Sipalocyon gracilis, are analyzed from a functional-adaptive perspective. Five extant placentals and one marsupial model are also examined in order to interpret the locomotor adaptations of these fossils. Pseudonotictis pusillus is the smallest of the Santacrucian borhyaenoids and is known from fragmentary remains; from its small size, dental specializations and elbow anatomy, this species was certainly not far ecologically from an extant weasel. The postcranium of Sipalocyon gracilis, although poorly known, suggests climbing capabilities, and the pseudo-opposable pollex indicates skilful manipulative behaviour. Cladosictis patagonica was an active predatory form, short-legged and able to climb, although it was a less specialized arboreal form than the contemporaneous Prothylacinus patagonicus; the proportions of its limbs recall that of a living South American marten, the tayra. The pseudo-opposable pollex of Cladosictis, as in Sipalocyon, indicates skilful manipulative behaviour.     

When do Citizens Demand Punishment of Corruption?

Under what conditions do citizens demand punishment of corrupt government officials or actions? Citizens' demands complement and motivate government actions. Studies suggest, however, that citizens' demands are weak and not credible. This paper considers that credible demands are the outcomes of strategic interaction between citizen groups. The results from experimental surveys in Australia and the United States show citizens' demands are credible across various conditions, including size of participants or groups, and regardless of whether they suffer losses from corruption, or whether other participants suffer losses from corruption. This paper makes three contributions. Firstly, it delineates a theoretical model that predicts concerted action. This is a useful alternative to extant treatments that generally report outcomes where coordination problems and free-ridership undermine citizens' concerted action and credibility. Secondly, experimental results clarify several conditions under which citizens' demands are credible, that is, when citizens act in concert to demand punishment. Thirdly, the consistent results across Australia and the US where individualism is high provide useful baselines for further studies.

公民们在什么情况下会要求惩治腐败的政府官员和腐败行为？研究证明,公民的要求虚弱而不可靠。本文认为可靠的要求来自公民群体间的战略互动。澳大利亚和美国的实验调查表明,公民的要求可靠与否取决于诸如参与者或群体规模等条件,而不论他们是否从腐败中受损,或别人是否从腐败中受损。本文有以下三点贡献。第一,勾画了预测腐败的模型。目前的方法报告了协调问题和免费搭车消弱公民协调行动和工信度的结果。该模型可为替代方法。第二,实验结果表明在一些情况下公民的要求是可靠的,那就是,当公民协调一致要求惩治腐败的时候。第三,个人主义发达的澳大利亚和美国的调查结果可以成为进一步研究的基点。     

Agricultural structure and the rise of the Nazi Party reconsidered

There is widespread agreement within academic literature that the NSDAP systematically and effectively targeted the rural areas beginning with the Agrarian Crisis in 1927/8. However, one issue is left unresolved: were specific levels of agricultural strata differently attracted to the Nazis, and if so, how? In light of the economic and political incentives offered to German peasants with differing farm sizes, we expect that regions characterized by middle peasants were most likely to have electorally swung in a distinct, asymmetric and relevant way towards the Nazis. In order to test this hypothesis, we have used a country-wide data set, which includes the original categories of ‘parcel peasants’ (0–2 ha), ‘small-sized’ (2–5 ha) and ‘medium-sized’ farmers (5–20 ha). These specific classifications were introduced and behaviorally legitimated by the Statistical Office of the Weimar Republic at that time. We present the first analysis applying generalized additive models (GAM) for the assessment of ecological relations. In order to account for the construction of political spaces – and therefore of spatial dependencies, we offer a new mechanism based on stipulations of the electoral system. Even after controlling for pre-established impact factors (Protestantism, urbanization, etc.) and for spatial effects, we identify a clear impact of the agrarian middle classes (5–20 ha) on the Nazi vote beginning with the election in July 1932.     

Cyclical downturn or structural disease? The decline of the Italian economy in the last twenty years

Italy is experiencing at present the most serious economic recession of the post-war period. Between 2008 and 2013 national income fell by 9 per cent, per capita incomes by 11 per cent, and industrial production by 25 per cent; and unemployment doubled. In this essay we argue that, while this dramatic situation has been made worse by the policies of ‘expansive austerity’, its origins can be traced back to changes that took place in the 1990s (notably globalization, competition for emerging new markets and the diffusion of new technologies – ICT) to which Italy failed to react speedily or effectively by reorganizing its entire productive system. Instead, many of the reforms that have been introduced with respect to the labour market, for example, have reduced costs but in ways that have encouraged firms to stay in traditional sectors where products are poorly differentiated and of low technology content. If the Italian economy is not to become even weaker, new reforms are urgently needed to encourage innovative investment and push through to completion a restructuring of the industrial system that can no longer be deferred.     

Importance of Monitoring,Behavior Analysis,and Diagnostic Techniques for Preservation of Great Historical Structures

A synthetic overview is presented of the motivations, technological possibilities, and benefits of the practice of providing large structures with monitoring installation and interpretative activities. Starting from the large body of experience gained in the field of dam engineering, the gradual penetration of these techniques in the area of preservation of monumental building is surveyed. Particular attention is dedicated to the case of the Brunelleschi Cupola in the Florentine Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The more pressing needs for the next-future development of these studies and practices are then enunciated, with the auspice that the obstacle posed to their diffusion by the difficulty of collecting adequate financial funds may be overcome in the best interest of the conservation of a precious historical-cultural heritage.     

For a ‘normal government’ of the colony: Antonio Gandolfi and the first administration of Eritrea (1890–1892)

The colony of Eritrea was officially born in 1890, after a period marked by scandals in which the government of the Italian territories of the Horn of Africa revealed themselves to be weak and contradictory. After the brief rule of Baldassarre Orero, Antonio Gandolfi became the first colonial governor of Eritrea. Gandolfi was highly dissatisfied with the men who administered the colony, especially as they ignored the native societies and sought to reform the government apparatus. In particular, he wanted to promote the participation of indigenous notables in the colonial government, as he felt it was necessary to share responsibility with the local population, ‘to make them responsible for the good conduct of public affairs’. The period of his administration was marked by ongoing controversies with other personalities operating in Eritrea, in particular with the deputy Leopoldo Franchetti, responsible for the colonization, and with General Oreste Baratieri, commander of the Keren zone, whom Gandolfi criticized for his hard military methods. Gandolfi was soon forced to resign and his successor Baratieri set up a real military dictatorship.     

Some Napoleonic-style army camps from the period of the Dutch-Belgian separation (1830–1839) in the Southern Netherlands

This paper focuses on the period of the political separation of the Netherlands and Belgium (1830–1839). Both countries were in a state of war for almost a decade, which resulted in massive troop deployments along their borders and the militarisation of the landscape. The principal objects of study are the Dutch army camps at Rijen and Oirschot near the Belgian border, which to date have barely received any scholarly attention. Both camps were almost 2 km across and offered accommodation to up to 12,000 infantry soldiers. They will be studied from an archaeological-historical perspective, focusing on the spatial and social dimensions of the camps and their place in the wider landscape. The camps are representative of the final stage of pre-industrial warfare in Europe, which is characterised by a continuation of many eighteenth century and Napoleonic traditions.     

Spatially Disaggregated Modelling of Voting Outcomes and Socio‐Economic Characteristics at the 2001 Australian Federal Election

This study uses GIS and spatial modelling to relate voting outcomes at the 2001 federal election for polling booths across Australia with the socio‐economic characteristics of polling booth catchment areas. The data and analysis used are more detailed and comprehensive than previous studies. It is conducted at a fine level of spatial disaggregation across the whole nation to examine voting outcomes for both major and minor political parties. Because the aim of the paper is to distinguish voting outcomes between political parties rather than to predict voting outcomes for particular political parties, a discriminant analysis is used rather than regression analysis. The statistical discriminant analysis identifies two main socio‐economic dimensions that are able to predict polling booth outcomes with a relatively high degree of accuracy. That analysis shows how, at the 2001 federal election, the middle ground, in terms of socio‐economic characteristics, was being claimed by the Liberal Party, Country Liberal Party, The Greens, and, to a lesser extent, by the Australian Labor Party. However, the Australian Democrats, National Party and One Nation had more distinctive constituencies, with the National Party and One Nation Party competing for areas with similar socio‐economic characteristics. Using GIS mapping tools, examples of actual and predicted polling booth voting outcomes are given, along with selected socio‐economic characteristics of booth catchments.