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Cocaine addiction affects approximately 1.4 million Americans, costing the government billions of dollars and the addicted individual their life. Addiction is characterized by a continued desire to use a drug despite decreased enjoyment from taking it and a desire to abstain. Multiple theories attempt to explain how prolonged drug use induces the chronic brain changes that result in addiction. The incentive sensitization theory suggests that repeated exposure to drugs of abuse alters the neural circuitry that is involved in incentive motivation, the process that allows drugs and their associated stimuli to more strongly encourage drug-seeking behavior. Alternatively, the habit learning theory suggests that drugs of abuse pathologically subvert the reward-learning circuitry, leading to compulsive drug seeking triggered by drug-associated stimuli. Since both theories are based on the idea that drugs of abuse affect the dopaminergic system and alter normal reward processing, it has been proposed that drug exposure may also affect behavior for natural rewards. To understand the mechanisms by which cocaine use modifies reward-seeking behaviors, I have conducted experiments to investigate both addiction theories using cocaine and food rewards as the outcome. I have found that cocaine-paired cues promote cocaine-seeking and taking actions via a Pavlovian motivational mechanism. I have also explored the importance of the contingency of drug delivery and found that cocaine has a general effect on incentive motivation, with both self-administered and experimenter-delivered cocaine enhancing the ability of food-paired cues to motivate food-seeking behavior. This result was not obtained with animals that passively received cocaine infusions, suggesting a role of predictability in the effects of cocaine on incentive motivation. I have also found support for the habit learning theory, demonstrating that cocaine treatment can encourage habitual control of action selection for food rewards, even when feedback is given. However, experimenter-delivered cocaine does not prevent animals from learning to perform a behavior in a goal-directed fashion. Our results lend support to both theories, suggesting that drug induced changes to the dopaminergic systems may be affecting both incentive motivation and reward learning. These results have important implications for our comprehension of the neural processes involved in addiction.

The purpose of this study is an examination of the policies which were important in Mao Tse-tung's rise to power in China and those policies which have been instrumental in keeping him in power. [Excerpt; more in manuscript]

A definition of regulation is offered and the relevance of regulatory theory to understanding change in financial markets is explained. The nature of financial change is sketched. Four major sets of regulatory theories are outlined—teleological, cultural, instrumental and administrative. The adequacy of each in explaining recent changes in securities markets in Britain and the United States is assessed. The article concludes that some cultural and administrative theories perform best, and argues that in the United Kingdom and the United States there is a convergence of regulatory styles.

Examines the reactions & criticisms of US scholars to the new social movements approach, focusing on why its arguments are not applicable to US theories & experiences. The primarily instrumental use of concepts such as collective identity & crisis diagnosis in the US is discussed. The recent interest in & influence of values, ideology, identity, frames, & culture among US social movement scholars is linked to the influence of European new social movement research. US critiques of the new social movement approach & accusations of Eurocentrism are discussed, centered around questioning whether such movements are new & skepticism regarding Marxist conceptual influences & a clear Left/Right frame. It is argued that the new social movement approach, based on Europe's particular sociopolitical history, cannot be generalized & applied to the different institutionalizations of class, gender, & race politics in the US & Europe. It is concluded that a "new" new social movement theory must consider social problems & the welfare state & better explain their connection to these institutionalizations. 71 References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper uses a case study of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front to help explain when and where non-state armed groups (NSAGs) use violence, and what type of violence such groups use. The first part of the paper compares 'ideological' and 'instrumental' theories and finds strong support for 'instrumental' explanations, particularly contestation theory. The second part of the paper seeks to explain the patterns of contestation, which the existing scholarship treats as an independent variable, and finds that the patterns of contestation are explained by the interaction of the state and NSAG's policy goals

Applies 4 theories of the state to the analysis of a major policy crisis, the Westland affair of 1985-6. The pluralist governmental politics model offers a narrowly political account; the instrumental Marxist-view emphasizes the penetration of government by business interests and the closed, elite character of decision making. The policy entrepreneur explanation offers a 'new right' account; and the 'symbolic politics' interpretation analyses the crisis as the interaction of 4 ideologically resonant 'games'. (Abstract amended)

Although sociologists and psychologists have documented various motivations for working, the concept of work as essentially disutility or undesirable retains broad resonance among influential economists and social theorists. These concepts imply that workers will tend to avoid or 'shirk' their work task unless subjected to management controls. Yet emerging counter-narratives have sought to retrieve and develop alternative concepts of work as craft, where workers are motivated to work well or be recognized for doing so. On these approaches, management controls can decrease the quality of the final outputs. This article uses a case study of cleaners in Australia to challenge influential representations of workers as prone to 'shirking' and the interpretation of management control to which these perspectives lead. The article argues that craft concepts of work derived from Richard Sennett and contemporary recognition theory provide alternative narratives of how workers can derive satisfaction from working well even in 'menial' tasks, and how craft motivations can drive workers to subvert management controls to uphold rather than diminish service quality. In this way, craft theories reveal limitations of overly instrumental concepts of work, and also help conceptualize how workers' attachment to their tasks can drive resistance to management control.

This article explores the relationship between discourse and subjectivity in organizations with reference to an ethnographic study of UK management consultants. The article reveals the contradiction, criticism, cynicism and ambivalence involved in their role as preachers and practitioners of flexible work. These findings question the assumption that management consultants are evangelists that are identified with the discourses they sell. However, I also argue that the dis-identification and contradiction I observed did not in fact disrupt or disturb the production and promotion of their flexible working discourse. I suggest that the consultants constructed pragmatic, instrumental and dramaturgical selves in order to manage the tension between being preacher and practitioner. I conclude by suggesting that cynicism, ambivalence and contradiction constitute important but neglected features of work and organization.

Many political thinkers have viewed democratic elitism as closing a democratic road they believe is or should be open-ended. Their view of democratic possibilities reflects the auspicious circumstances of Western societies during the past several centuries and especially since World War II. However, it involves a conflation of liberal and democratic values. I examine why and how this has occurred, and I argue that liberal and democratic values must be more clearly separated in today's dangerous world. In step with Schumpeter, democracy must be regarded as a method or instrumental value that in some but by no means all circumstances promotes the ultimate liberal value of actively individualistic free people.

This essay analyzes the humanistic potential of digital poetry in the age of new media. By way of Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Defence of Poetry," theories of the posthuman, and the tradition of Marxist critique, this essay aims to identify an occasion for hope within the new media arts. Reading electronic literature through Shelley's metaphor of poetry as a "sword of lightning, ever unsheathed, which consumes the scabbard that would contain it," Heckman analyzes the ethical dimensions of literature against the backdrop of technocapitalism and instrumental theories of the human. The essay concludes with a discussion of intersubjectivity, politics, and love.

This book addresses the practices of the German Bundestag in controlling the federal administration. Siefken elaborates on different notions of parliamentary control and provides a detailed mapping of the parliament's use of formal control instruments from 1949 - 2017. Most interestingly for scholars of public administration, Siefken conducted eight case studies of parliamentary control of federal agencies - both "traditional" and "modern" agencies established according to the ideas of the New Public Management or the independent regulatory agency model. Those case studies are instrumental for answering the book's overarching research question about the exercise of parliamentary control under the conditions of major changes in the organizational setup of the state. With the exception of regulatory agencies, Siefken finds no major differences in control practices according to those categories, but fleshes out middle-range explanations of parliamentary control behaviour. This is an empirically rich book providing unprecedented insights into the actual practice of parliamentary control.

'State' and 'market' are concepts so grossly abused that they have almost lost their heuristic value as analytical categories. They have also come to symbolise not only alternative strategies of capitalist development, but also rival premises upon which hegemonic strategies were to be developed. In the era of neoliberal hegemony, it has been contended that a 'theory of state' is required so as to make up for the deficiencies of the mainstream economics. This study focuses on the antinomies of an influential attempt to develop an economic theory of politics, namely, the rent-seeking analysis. It highlights the fact that the concept of the state as a neutral guarantor of contractual relations is no more than a 'mental construct', hardly relevant to account for the phenomena in question, but one which would be instrumental in providing the circumstances conducive for the 'rational economic man' to operate according to the assumptions of a particular model. This, in turn, indicates the need for conceptual categories to come to terms with 'collective action' in ways in which theories premised on individualistic foundations and/or limited by empiricist epistemologies could not provide. ; Publisher's Version

Similar to Poland, Hungary also experienced a peaceful transition from communism to democracy and market economy. The Hungarian Round Table Talks were organized in 1989, following the successful Polish model. While the Round Table Talks were similarly crucial in Hungary and in Poland in paving the way for institutional and political changes, and concluded in a very successful manner for the opposition parties, conspiracy theories similar to those seen in Poland (see Soral and Kofta in this issue) are proliferating in Hungary as well. The article argues that the rejection of the "compromises" around the transition is due to the very nature of populism: it likes black-and-white, Manichean logic. This article briefly introduces the process of the Round Table Talks and summarizes the literature's findings on the general social psychological impacts of the transitions. Transitions always provide fertile ground for conspiracy theorizing as they are unexpected even with widespread consequences that fall beyond the control of most members of a society. But in Hungary, these conspiracy theories have been politically exploited in order to fuel discontent towards the democratic institutions - and in this way, they were instrumental in the "second transition", the illiberal de-democratization after 2010. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Background: Most people in developed countries are not physically active enough to reap optimal health benefits so effective promotion strategies are warranted. Theories of behaviour change are essential to understand physical activity and provide an organizing framework for effective intervention. The purpose of this paper was to provide a narrative historical overview of four key theoretical frameworks (social cognitive, humanistic, dual process, socioecological) that have been applied to understand and change physical activity over the last three decades. Methods: Our synthesis of research included the brief history, basic efficacy, strengths, and potential weaknesses of these approaches when applied to physical activity. Results: The dominant framework for understanding physical activity has been in the social cognitive tradition, and it has provided valuable information on key constructs linked to physical activity. The humanistic framework for understanding physical activity has seen a surge in research in the last decade and has demonstrated initial effectiveness in both explaining and intervening on behaviour. The most recent and understudied framework for understanding physical activity is dual process models, which may have promise to provide a broader perspective of motivation by considering non-conscious and hedonic determinants of physical activity. Finally, the individual-level focus of all three of these approaches is contrasted by the socioecological framework, which has seen considerable research attention in the last 15 years and has been instrumental in understanding the role of the built environment in physical activity behaviour and critical to shaping public health policy in government. Conclusions: Despite the strengths of all four frameworks, we noted several weaknesses of each approach at present and highlight several newer applications of integrated models and dynamic models that may serve to improve our understanding and promotion of physical activity over the next decade.