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Abstract
Real-time response (RTR) measurement is an important technique to assess human processing of information. Ever since Maier et al. verified the reliability and validity of physical RTR devices in this journal a decade ago, there has been a growing trend toward virtual measurement platforms to overcome the limitations of conventional, laboratory-based methods. We introduce the Debat-O-Meter, a novel online RTR platform for mobile devices, which allows researchers to measure how viewers perceive political debates in the setting of their private homes. We draw on a large study (N = 5,660) conducted during the 2017 German general election campaign and show that virtualized measurement indeed facilitates diverse and large N field studies while simultaneously conforming to established standards of reliability and validity.

AbstractInternal working structures within parliaments are notoriously hard to capture. While analyses based on bill co-sponsorship work for the US Congress, this approach is not feasible in many parliamentary systems. Drawing on data from the European Parliament's legislative term of 2009–2014 this article shows that parliamentary questions can be another option. Members of the European Parliament may demand information from the Council or the Commission through oral questions. We take advantage of the fact that these questions are signed by their authors and construct a social network of members of the Parliament that support each other's oral questions. This allows investigating how members and their groups and committees cooperate to control both Council and Commission. Our approach helps to map out the internal structure of the party groups and explore which forces shape the global network. We find that cooperation is mostly driven by party group membership with ALDE, Green/EFA, and GUENGL turning out as the most cohesive groups while SD is internally rather loosely connected. The second strongest clustering characteristic is a legislators' native country.

We test the effects of physical appearance on electoral outcomes for the 2013 German national elections. We find that a candidate's perceived attractiveness and, to a lesser extent, competence vis‐á‐vis his or her closest contestant increases the chances of winning a direct mandate, while likability plays a minor role. Additionally, we find the appearance effects to be conditioned by gender, age, and incumbency status. Our study advances existing research in four ways. First, we capture relative differences in appearances, which resembles real‐world situations more closely than absolute measures. Second, we proceed beyond a one‐dimensional assessment of appearance by simultaneously analyzing attractiveness, competence, and likability, including interactions. Third, the central role of parties in the German mixed electoral system makes an especially tough test for appearance‐based effects. Fourth, we use rater response latency to weight our measurement with an assessment of ambivalence.Related Articles

Arbour, Brian, and
Ernest B. McGowen, III. 2017. "." Politics & Policy 45 (): 224‐252. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12197/full


McKenzie, Mark Jonathan,
Cynthia R. Rugeley, and
Michael A. Unger. 2015."" Politics & Policy 43 (): 562‐585. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12123/full


Galdieri, Christopher J.,
Kevin Parsneau, and
J. Scott Granberg‐Rademacker. 2012. "." Politics & Policy 40 (): 680‐703. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00367.x/abstract
Related Media
Video Clip: Fox Business. 2012. "Appearance Matters in Presidential Elections." http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1383561524001/?#sp = show-clips

Study.com. 2012. "Factors that Influence Voters During Presidential Elections." http://study.com/academy/lesson/factors-that-influence-voters-during-presidential-elections.html

Websites:
Mlodinow, Leonard. 2012. "." The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/17/candidate-winning-look-voters-romney-obama


Shah, Yagana. 2016. "." The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heres-how-looks-could-affect-the-2016-elections_us_56ddb12fe4b03a4056793bb6

ABSTRACT
We constructed a co-authorship network of the global political science community. Two scientists are connected if they have co-authored a paper. We drew on more than 67,000 papers published from 1990 to 2013 in one of today's 96 core journals. The network consists of more than 40,000 authors located worldwide. We found that the community forms a single, interconnected component as well as numerous unconnected authors. Whereas some are highly productive in terms of publications, the majority of authors published only a single paper, which suggests significant turnover in the community. Using information from the papers (e.g., title, journal, and abstract), we investigated how different subcommunities organize and interconnect, how journals reach out into the community, and how individual scientists cooperate. We also investigated how the network has evolved in the last two decades. Our analysis is supplemented by a bibliographic analysis that describes major changes in publication patterns.

Members of the German parliament may force government to publicly answer questions by issuing minor interpellations (kleine Anfragen). We use 3,608 interpellations from the session 2009–13 that have been signed by authoring and supporting members to construct the social network of support relations among members within the three opposition parties. We find that parties differ markedly in terms of internal structure. While social democrats organize hierarchically, Greens cooperate horizontally. The network for socialist Linke in contrast shows signs of homophily and social segregation. Our approach yields a novel perspective on intraparty politics in parliamentary systems which are notoriously difficult to analyze.

AbstractThe following article analyzes violent political conflicts. Starting from theoretical debates on the determinants of violent conflicts, it focuses on intrastate conflicts. The main explanatory factors which are analyzed from different perspectives are demographic factors. Not only the size of the population or the population density is relevant, but also the so-called youth bulge. Youth bulges, i.e. large cohorts of young people, are the main driving forces of war. Especially variants like male youth bulges are highly significant in the empirical analysis. The article uses different data sets for the analysis, like the Global Peace Index and the CONIS data. Various statistical methods are used in the analysis. The article also draws attention to intervening factors, which might intensify or lessen the impact of the youth bulge.