The social and cultural roots of political violence in Central America

The paper suggests that there are specific features of violence, both personal and organized that have roots in the cultural formation of the Central American peoples. Its focus is on the three neighboring countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador and on the ideological violence of the twentieth century. The paper considers various aspects of the social character of the Spanish Americans of this area, their concepts of manliness, and their religion, as these affect both rich and poor, and contrasts these features with the attitudes of the indigenous Indian community. Having established that political violence is endemic in the region, the paper considers the role of Hispanic culture in shaping this violence. Emphasis is placed on the notion of machismo, which is identified not with pleasure seeking but with defiance of death. The attitudes of the people of this area toward death shape their attitudes toward violence. They are shown to have a fascination with the instruments of death, especially the machete among the lower classes and the gun among the university students. These attitudes are contrasted with the relatively non-violent attitudes of the Indians. The studies cited in this paper show the Indians as less interested in competition and aggression that the Hispanic population. In the last analysis, the violence of the Central American is intensely personal and can be shown to derive from the basic social and cultural fabric of the society.     

Understanding and Evaluating Bureaucratic Politics: The Nexus Between Political Leaders and Advisory

Bureaucratic politics—for example, the "political" interaction between individuals and organizations in the executive branch of government—is a potentially significant force affecting the course and outcomes of governmental policymaking processes. In this article, an empirical and normative model and operationalization of bureaucratic politics is developed, treating it as a variable rather than as an immutable (and by definition problematic) property of policy decision-making. A conceptual model, linking the nature and intensity of bureaucratic politics in advisory systems to the characteristics of the political leaders served by them, is also developed. On the basis of earlier studies of presidential leadership (e.g., Preston, 1996), the leader's need for power, cognitive complexity, and prior policy experience/expertise are hypothesized to affect the organization and operation of the advisory system in terms of bureaucratic politics. Using Hermann's (1983) Personality Assessment-at-a-Distance (PAD) coding technique, theoretical assertions are illustrated in a detailed case study of two critical episodes in U.S. decision-making in the conduct of the Vietnam war in 1965 and 1968.     

Impacts of artificial intelligence on organizational decision making

Of all of the new technologies emerging in the late 20th century, the production of artificial intelligence may provide the most profound impacts on organizational decision making. Because the development of artificial intelligence technologies and models has largely been based on psychological models of human cognition, the effects of their implementation in complex social settings have not been thoroughly examined. This paper is an attempt to generate research which will develop a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of artificial intelligence and its role in complex organizations. A set of 11 hypotheses has been developed which examine the relationships between artificial intelligence technologies and the dimensions of organizational decision making. It is argued here that the implementation of expert systems will lead to less complex and political decision processes, while the implementation of natural language systems will lead to more complex and political decision processes.     

Are Christian politics possible? A Kierkegaardian perspective

This paper provides a rereading of Søren Kierkegaard's attack upon Christendom in light of his theory of spheres of existence to examine whether Christian politics are possible after Kierkegaard. Talking of Christian politics makes sense only in the esthetic and the religious spheres of existence. However, Kierkegaard argues that politics worthy of the title Christian are impossible. Either such politics are simply Christendom far removed from New Testament Christianity, or Christian politics are faced with the paradox of existing before God and cannot proceed.     

When Does the Honeymoon End? Electoral Cycles of Satisfaction With Democracy in Africa

Scholars have argued that multiparty elections have a profound and immediate influence on mass evaluations of political support. However, what is less clear is whether the effects of elections are short lived or long lasting. Investigating dynamic effects of elections on mass perceptions of political regimes has profound implications on popular foundations of democratic consolidation in an era of democratic backsliding. This article examines electoral cycles in citizens' satisfaction with democracy (SWD)—an important dimension of political support—in multiparty regimes. First, we argue that proximity to elections enhances SWD because campaigns and elections include several processes that reduce the costs and increase the benefits of citizen engagement with the political system. This results in a bell-shaped relationship between citizens' proximity to elections and SWD. Second, we contend that electoral cycles in SWD should vary by the quality of elections and citizens' winner/loser status. We examine these hypotheses using Afrobarometer data in 34 multiparty regimes between 1999 and 2015 finding compelling support. SWD is higher among respondents surveyed closer to elections, while electoral cycles in SWD are more prominent among winners and around low-quality elections.     

The Role of Candidate Sex in Voter Decision-Making

Recent studies investigating the role of candidate sex in voter decision-making have not found discrimination against women candidates. Thus, voter bias is often dismissed as part of the explanation for the drastic underrepresentation of women in high elective office. In a dual sample of Wyoming and California college students, bias against women candidates was found to be a factor in the vote choice. Studies that examine only one sample of voters in one region may be prematurely dismissing the possible existence of gender discrimination in some regions or cultures within the United States.     

Book Reviews

Sandra Whitworth Feminism and International Relations
Arthur H. Miller and Bruce E. Gronbeck (eds.) Presidential Campaigns and American Self Images
Albert Somit and Steven A. Peterson (eds.) Research in Biopolitics
Ronald A. Heifetz Leadership Without Easy Answers     

Political Rhetoric,Immigration Attitudes,and Contemporary Prejudice: A Mexican American Dilemma

Abstract

The authors examined political candidates' social stereotypes of Mexican immigrants in mainstream media accounts. From those popular themes, they formed semantic differential scales, which they administered to participants (N = 201) with 1 of 4 scenarios describing an illegal immigrant: of Mexican vs. English Canadian descent and with vs. without several parking tickets. Consistent with contemporary theories of prejudice (J. F. Dovidio & S. L. Gaertner, 1996), the participants indicated the greatest agreement with the pejorative themes when the immigrant described was of Mexican descent and had accumulated parking tickets. Psychologically, the parking tickets served as a nonethnic rationale for discriminating against that ethnic group. The authors discuss the social and public policy implications of Mexican immigration as a political phenomenon.     

The role of organizational politics,contextual resources,and formal communication on change recipients' commitment to change: A multilevel study

Over the past decade there has been an increased interest in studying the factors that affect people's commitment to change. Drawing from the Job Demands–Resources model, in this enquiry we explored the moderating role of two contextual resources (i.e., trust in top management, history of change) and formal communication in the relationship between perceived organizational politics and commitment to change. Data were collected from 2543 employees of 84 companies representing a wide variety of industry sectors. In a first survey we collected data about the work context. Two weeks after the first survey, in a second survey we captured data on people's commitment to change. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyse the multilevel character of the data. Consonant with our hypotheses, the findings indicate that the negative relationship between perceived organizational politics and commitment to change is moderated by “trust in top management”, “history of change”, and “formal communication”. As a group the Level 2 predictors account for 18%, 2.5%, and 10%, respectively, of the between-unit variance in continuance, normative, and affective commitment for change.     

Antiquarian studies on ancient banqueting during the Renaissance

Abstract

During the Renaissance, studies on ancient banqueting became part of mainstream ancient history. Among the early treatments of the subject, the monumental treatise, Antiquitatum convivialium libri, written by the Swiss humanist and Reformed theologian, J. W. Stucki, was a notable breakthrough. The article argues that Stucki was the first humanist to conceive of ancient banqueting as having universal significance, influencing all later writers on the topic. In addition, he used his book as a resource to intervene in confessional disputes with data from antiquarian erudition. After Stucki’s publication and its censorship by the Roman Catholic Church, there was a significant boost in such works throughout Europe. The phenomenon was very heterogeneous in light of diversities relating to contrasting Protestant and Catholic regions. This article focuses on the development of different approaches to the topic arising from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds at the time.