About the Author
In: Web Data Mining and Applications in Business Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism
In: Web Data Mining and Applications in Business Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism
In: Using the Internet for Political Research, S. xi-xi
In: Das rot-grüne Projekt, S. 29-52
In this chapter of Life after Reform: When Bipartisan Campaign Reform Meets Politics, the author examines how House elections have become stagnant, & what impacts the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) will have on the competition & change in House elections. The author agrees with previous research that incumbency advantage is the result of electoral stagnation & is the result of campaign spending. A causal model of campaign spending that advantages the status quo is supported by analysis of campaign spending disparities. The author argues that BCRA will adversely impact electoral competition to further solidify incumbency advantage through their pre-existing hard money support, the limits on soft money, & restrictions on electioneering for new candidates. The author argues that BCRA is inadequate in that it does not change the system that allows incumbents to buy the elections. 4 Tables, 2 Figures. J. Harwell
The author refutes the contention that women candidate are disadvantaged in fund raising. First, current research suggesting women's disadvantage is examined. Second, the author turns to an exploration of the diversity among women candidates, the type of funding women candidates depend on, & the advantages women have in their communities. The author concludes with a proposal for additional research in the following areas: state level politics, elections for executive offices, gender & racial differences in campaign spending, & research examining the role of women's Political Action Committees (PACs). J. Harwell
In: Politbarometer, S. 65-80
Kurz vor der Bundestagswahl am 22. September 2002 kam es zu einer Trendwende, die den Regierungsparteien SPD und Bündnis90/Die Grünen eine erneute parlamentarische Mehrheit bescherte. Diese Trendwende ist in der öffentlichen Debatte häufig auf die Faktoren 'Flut in Ostdeutschland' und 'Krieg im Irak' zurückgeführt worden. Der Verfasser zeigt demgegenüber, dass der Wahlerfolg der rot-grünen Koalition auch auf langfristigen Trends beruhte. Der eine manifestierte sich in einem grundsätzlichen Plädoyer zugunsten von Kontinuität auf der Regierungsbank. Der andere offenbarte trotz des lange vorhandenen Vorsprungs in der politischen Stimmung latent vorhandene Zweifel an der Regierungstauglichkeit der Union. Das Wahlverhalten, so das Fazit des Verfassers, ist offenbar nicht auf einzelne Faktoren reduzierbar. (ICE)
The author contrasts the dangerous linear world view of dialectics with the totemic view of knowledge & "sacred balance" of spatial patterns & timing in the ecosystem that is shared by many indigenous peoples. The relationship between animal & human energies is related in a Kayapo myth & the anthropogenic landscapes of indigenous peoples. The author asserts that the tension between the reductionist commodification of nature that are institutionalized in international conventions verses indigenous intellectual property rights is a reflection of the actual motivations of science. The author concludes that the environmental crisis cannot be solved by technological tampering or superficial political measures, but rather civilization needs to relearn ecological knowledge & sustainable principles from indigenous & traditional peoples. References. J. Harwell
In this examination of women's involvement in formal & informal politics, the author calls for an expansion in the range & diversity of political leaders. The author also calls for more large-scale, collaborative, & multi-method research designs. The absence of an agreed upon definition of leadership is the result of the dominance of male-defined & male-dominated environments. Since the study of women in political leadership positions is the study of a limited universe of women, generalizations are difficult. Three strains of emergent research on women in office are delineated. In addition, the author stresses the need for new research on feeder institutions & the military, the power of women in politics, policy issues that are not explicitly gender-related, & research that examines whether or not the number & proportion of women has reached, or surpassed, a "critical mass.". J. Harwell
The author relates campaign techniques developed by environmental organizations such as Greenpeace to slow implementation of policy in the case of British pollution problems. The author asserts that Greenpeace campaign techniques have surpassed political advocacy by working with business to development & realize technologically innovative solutions through product development in the face of market resistance & lack of government direction. The role of environmental NGO's is argued to be a symptom of a functioning society as vehicles that represent interests not represented in the fabric of society. A "new politics" resulting from globalism is distinguished in the example of the Brent Spar as a "politics of risk", use of iconic imagery, voting by consumer choice, & use of the Internet. The author concludes with suggestions for shaping new forms of global governance as a new agenda emerges with the demand to change the logic of the political order & economic priorities. References. J. Harwell
The author argues that as more women run for public office, there is an increasing need for research examining how gender affects the dynamics of political campaigns. In the essay, decision making research is used to address how women staff their campaigns, delegate responsibility, & make choices once elected. In addition, an examination of the media reflects a gender bias in the way women's campaigns are reported on. Finally, the author addresses fund raising and voter recruitment issues relevant to women candidates. L. Conly
The author poses the question of whether or not cities can establish a sustainable relationship with the planet. Asserting that the historical evolution of large cities & the questions of waste generation, soil exhaustion & redistribution of resources indicates the need for a new look at urban system functions & ecological footprint, the author offers the solution that cities need to mimic natural ecosystems. A case study of the metabolism of London indicates the need to conceptualize the city as super-organism that is a circular metabolism that results in mutual benefit. A new definition of a sustainable city is presented that would be inclusive of alternative fuels. References. J. Harwell
The author considers the definition of an intellectual, noting that at present it has a decidedly negative air to it, designating someone who is at once negative & antagonistic to the society of which s/he strives to stand apart. There is a more charitable sense of the public intellectual as someone who takes up topics of importance to the public at large & believes that accessible & clear communication is as important as analytic rigor. This emphasis on clarity of thought as well as communication has its roots in the first years of the American republic, the author argues, although the role & importance of the public intellectual has changed over time. D. Knaff
The author argues for the importance of humor both as a part of the human condition & as particularly important to the modern condition. Humor is often seen as a low form of intellect, & the author does not deny that this may be true. But he argues that this "lowness" is not the same thing as unimportance. Indeed, he believes that it is the task of late modernity, of post-historical humanity, to focus on humor. Other eras have contributed great ideas & lofty ideals to society & to the history of humanity. They have left our age to fill in the lower intellectual strata, including those layers dedicated to humor. It would be a violation of our place in history to fail to do so. D. Knaff
The author both presents a "platonic" perspective on the nature & role of the public individual while at the same time acknowledging that there is no idea in Plato's work itself of the public individual. This arises from the fact that the idea of a public intellectual is an essentially modern one. However, this does not mean that the scholar interested in the concept of the public intellectual should therefore dismiss all pre-modern texts. Rather, as the author does here, s/he should examine pre-modern texts to come to an understanding of earlier conceptions of the political responsibilities & social consequences of the life of the mind & then to understand how the idea of a public intellectual replaced those earlier ideas. D. Knaff
The author examines the contributions of Raymond Aron to French -- & international -- intellectual life. The author states that Aron was the only prominent French thinker of his generation who had taken a consistently liberal stand against "all the totalitarian temptations of the age." This stand had cost him much public & intellectual support during the 1960s when Aron was held up as an example of all that was wrong with the French elite intelligentsia. However, by his death in 1983 he had seen himself to be rehabilitated & hailed as a symbol of an ideal with continuity with the great traditions of French liberal thought. He thus became for a new generation of intellectuals the best hope for a revival of liberal thought. D. Knaff