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Governments render decisions on how resources and values are allocated in a society. In the United States, Congress is the institution in which most of the key allocating decisions are made. To the extent the U.S. political system is integrated, the coalitions that form around the issues debated in Congress should be reflected in the coalitions that support presidential candidates and those that support the major political parties. We formulate a spatial theory of political change in which new ideological cleavages appear in congressional behavior and presidential elections and gradually reorganize the mass party base. The theory leads us explicitly to consider the question of dealignment and to specify conditions under which the parties will lose support from voters.

Support for the "democratization of the policy sciences" has led to the development of a number of frameworks and theories to enhance the normative, multidisciplinary approach to policy analysis. However, this approach has been challenged for failing to produce the objective empirical and normative standards implied by its scientific aspirations. One consideration that has been advanced under a variety of rubrics is "participatory policy analysis." This is a methodological proposal that expands the range of actors/stakeholders involved in the making and execution of public policy in a discursive or deliberative mode. While much of the research on policy networks is focused on the management and coordination of such networks (i.e., collaborative management), there is little attention on analysis of networks as a participatory policy analytical approach. We propose a theory of "collaborative policy networks" that examines not only the stakeholder composition of a group or the partnerships between any two stakeholders but also the way these stakeholders are embedded in various degrees of institutionalized structure and the discursive tendencies of exchange among them that leads to policy initiative, implementation, evaluation, and possibly termination. Collaborative policy networks are characterized by discursive properties, specifically reciprocity, representation, equality, participatory decision making, and collaborative leadership. We suggest that the results of such research can identify structural signatures of collaborative policy networks that serve as "stamps" of the common nature of such networks that, if fostered, can inform and improve the attempt of networks of partners to achieve policy goals.

By Molecular Dynamics simulations, we investigated the dynamics of isotropic fluids of colloidal nanotrimers whose interactions are described by varying the strength of attractive and repulsive terms of the Mie potential. To provide a consistent comparison between the systems described by different force fields, we determined the phase diagram and critical points of each system, characterised the morphology of high-density liquid phases at the same reduced temperature and density, and finally investigated their long-time relaxation dynamics. In particular, we detected an especially complex dynamics that unveils the existence of slow and fast nanotrimers and the resulting occurrence of non-Gaussianity, which develops at intermediate time scales. Deviations from Gaussianity are temporary and vanish within the timescales of the system's density fluctuations decay, when a Fickian-like diffusion regime is eventually observed. ; UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) ; IBM ; Maria Zambrano Senior distinguished researcher fellowship, financed by the European Union (NextGenerationEU program)

The article on the basis of the method of structural shifts analyzed the dynamics and structural transformations of employment and production of gross value added (GVA) in the Kemerovo region - Kuzbass. The authors attempted a quantitative analysis of the contribution of structural factors to economic dynamics, as well as an assessment of trends in diversification of region production. The basis for the calculations was compiled by state statistics for 2007-2018. It was shown that during this period regional employment dynamics were determined mainly by regional factors, whose contribution to the growth of this indicator turned out to be negative. In turn, the dynamics of GVA production was due to a complex of national trends and regional factors, whose influence was multi-directional (the positive effect of macroeconomic conditions and the negative contribution of the regional component). The contribution of structural shifts to the growth of the GVA was negative and insignificant, and the reduction in the number of employees in Kuzbass took place with an almost unchanged structure. To date, in the Kemerovo region, using a diversification mechanism, it has not been possible to create an economy structure resistant to internal and external shocks: coal mining remains the fundamental basis of the region's economy. All this gives reason to state that the structure of the economy that was formed in Soviet times, and the features "inherited" by it since then, continue to determine the dynamics of the development of Kuzbass and serve as a strategic challenge for the region.

The common observation that stable feelings & beliefs when referring to the same object tend toward congruence, is the basis of a structural theory of att's. It accepts att's as consisting of cognitive as well as effective components which are structural in that they are constellations of functionally related component events. An attitude is considered stable when the cognitive & affective components are mutually consistent. The individual's tolerance-of-inconsistency limit is crucial for attitude change (AC), since when it is exceeded, attitude reorg will occur until either: (a) the communications engendering inconsistency are rejected; (b) the attitude is fragmented & isolated from inconsistent components; or (c) a new attitude consistent with the original communication is developed. 'The production of inconsistency between affective & cognitive portions of an att will culminate in a general attitude reorg when (1) the inconsistency exceeds the individual's present tolerance limit & (2) the force producing it cannot be ignored or avoided. Res using hypnotic suggestion to induce change in att'nal affect is discussed re the prediction that if beliefs about an object change then affect will show a corresponding change, & its converse. Limitations of the present theory pertain to (a) the uncommon nature of the AC sequence in the affect-manipulation exp's, (b) the charge that reduction of all forms of AC to 2 structural sequences produces an ideal typology; (c) the omission of certain variables usually assumed to be important in AC processes; & (d) evidence which appears to contradict the conceptualization of a consistent structure of affective & cognitive components. It is argued that this conceptualization leads to increasing validity of attitude measurement by suggesting workable procedures to guard against pseudo-att's & a basis for making finer descriminations in the extent of extreme att's. Identification of components of cognitive belief will increase action-prediction power of attitude measurement, improve AC procedures & provide a basis for decreasing the propagandist's guilt feelings by providing a framework for analysis of his own values & their heirarchies. C. M. Coughenour.

With a view to developing a future research agenda in integration studies, this article derives five theoretical integration constellations from empirical cases with varying combinations of economic dependence and shared identification: symmetric and weak symmetric integration, two types of asymmetric integration and no integration. Asymmetric integration is defined as a situation in which either political/institutional integration is extensive amid a low degree of structural economic integration (Type I), or, there is extensive structural economic integration without any political/institutional integration (Type II). Type II, represented by Taiwan/People's Republic of China, appears theoretically the most interesting and is therefore examined in more detail for whether strong economic dependence by itself conceivably can be a sufficient background condition for political integration despite a lack of shared identification. Based on the analysis, several future research questions are developed. Do structural and institutional integration tend to converge over time, bringing about a more symmetric integration constellation? If that is so, which constellation of initial background conditions is more conducive to produce symmetric integration? Is approximate symmetricity between the background conditions shared identification and economic dependence a prerequisite for smooth integration?