Judging Statutes: Thoughts on Statutory Interpretation and Notes for a Project on the Internal Revenue Code

The more interesting features of the non-normative literature on statutory interpretation lie not in the distinctive conclusions it has generated, but rather in its commonalities. We see two as particularly interesting. First, many of the relevant studies focus on civil rights legislation. This holds true regardless of whether the work’s producers are legal academics or social scientists, whether the research is primarily qualitative or quantitative, or whether it finds its theoretical grounding in psychology, sociology, or economics. Second, almost all the studies—especially those of the large-n, quantitative variety—explore the outcomes reached by jurists, and not the rationale or justifications they invoke. To be sure, the outcomes under investigation differ from study to study—sometimes it is support for the government or not; in others, it is whether the judge reached a “liberal” or “conservative” decision. However, the unmistakable focus is on the result, to the neglect of the rationale. These are not criticisms of the extant literature. Quite the opposite: we firmly believe that by investigating outcomes reached in civil rights cases, this line of inquiry has revealed a great deal about the “judicial mind.” At the same time, we believe just as firmly that if we are to fully understand the determinants of statutory interpretation, then a continued emphasis on civil rights is, for reasons we specify in Part I, a potential problem. And, to the extent that we desire a more comprehensive picture of judicial behavior, an exclusive focus on outcomes is, for reasons we elaborate on in Part II, incomplete at best and misleading at worst. Accordingly, we have devised a project that aspires to address these concerns by (1) exploring Supreme Court tax opinions, a body of case law that, despite its importance, has received virtually no systematic attention, and (2) analyzing or taking into account both outcomes and rationales. At the end of the day, we hope that our attention to these matters will make a useful contribution to the literature on judging statutes

Performance, Politics and Media: How the 2010 British General Election leadership debates generated ‘talk’ amongst the electorate.

During the British General Election 2010 a major innovation was introduced in part to improve engagement: a series of three live televised leadership debates took place where the leader of each of the three main parties, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative, answered questions posed by members of the public and subsequently debated issues pertinent to the questions. In this study we consider these potentially ground breaking debates as the kind of event that was likely to generate discussion. We investigate various aspects of the ‘talk’ that emerged as a result of watching the debates. As an exploratory study concerned with situated accounts of the participants experiences we take an interpretive perspective. In this paper we outline the meta-narratives (of talk) associated with the viewing of the leadership debates that were identified, concluding our analysis by suggesting that putting a live debate on television and promoting and positioning it as a major innovation is likely to mean that is how the audience will make sense of it – as a media event

Single-cell-based system to monitor carrier driven cellular auxin homeostasis

Background: Abundance and distribution of the plant hormone auxin play important roles in plant development. Besides other metabolic processes, various auxin carriers control the cellular level of active auxin and, hence, are major regulators of cellular auxin homeostasis. Despite the developmental importance of auxin transporters, a simple medium-to-high throughput approach to assess carrier activities is still missing. Here we show that carrier driven depletion of cellular auxin correlates with reduced nuclear auxin signaling in tobacco Bright Yellow-2 (BY-2) cell cultures. Results: We developed an easy to use transient single-cell-based system to detect carrier activity. We use the relative changes in signaling output of the auxin responsive promoter element DR5 to indirectly visualize auxin carrier activity. The feasibility of the transient approach was demonstrated by pharmacological and genetic interference with auxin signaling and transport. As a proof of concept, we provide visual evidence that the prominent auxin transport proteins PIN-FORMED (PIN) 2 and PIN5 regulate cellular auxin homeostasis at the plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), respectively. Our data suggest that PIN2 and PIN5 have different sensitivities to the auxin transport inhibitor 1-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA). Also the putative PIN-LIKES (PILS) auxin carrier activity at the ER is insensitive to NPA in our system, indicating that NPA blocks intercellular, but not intracellular auxin transport. Conclusions: This single-cell-based system is a useful tool by which the activity of putative auxin carriers, such as PINs, PILS and WALLS ARE THIN1 (WAT1), can be indirectly visualized in a medium-to-high throughput manner. Moreover, our single cell system might be useful to investigate also other hormonal signaling pathways, such as cytokinin

Measuring sponsorship effects on consumer purchasing intentions

In this paper the role of sponsorship in achieving the managerial goals of a firm is studied. In addition, it is examined whether sponsorship can be attributed to the Public Relation Theory and Practice. A survey is conducted and a questionnaire was distributed to consumers living in Athens in order to examine whether firms, which use sponsorship as a strategic tool aiming to form relationships with the consumers, actually achieve their goal. The questionnaires which were distributed to the consumers were statistically processed using SPSS. Various aspects which may affect a firm’s managerial decision in undertaking sponsorships are analyzed. The obtained results are also used to investigate whether there is a connection between the organizational goals (related to sponsorship) and consumers’ behavioral/purchasing intentions

The Winonan

https://openriver.winona.edu/thewinonan1970s/1140/thumbnail.jp

Winning and losing in the creative industries: an analysis of creative graduates' career opportunities across creative disciplines

Following earlier work looking at overall career difficulties and low economic rewards faced by graduates in creative disciplines, the paper takes a closer look into the different career patterns and economic performance of “Bohemian” graduates across different creative disciplines. While it is widely acknowledged in the literature that careers in the creative field tend to be unstructured, often relying on part-time work and low wages, our knowledge of how these characteristics differ across the creative industries and occupational sectors is very limited. The paper explores the different trajectory and career patterns experienced by graduates in different creative disciplinary fields and their ability to enter creative occupations. Data from the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) are presented, articulating a complex picture of the reality of finding a creative occupation for creative graduates. While students of some disciplines struggle to find full-time work in the creative economy, for others full-time occupation is the norm. Geography plays a crucial role also in offering graduates opportunities in creative occupations and higher salaries. The findings are contextualised in the New Labour cultural policy framework and conclusions are drawn on whether the creative industries policy construct has hidden a very problematic reality of winners and losers in the creative economy

Water Demand Management in England and Wales: constructions of the domestic water-user

YesMeasures to manage demand include implicit and explicit messages about domestic water-users which have important potential impacts on their perceptions and practices. Drawing on recent literature, this paper identifies three different ¿dimensions¿ along which demand management measures¿ constructions of the water-user may vary: these relate to whether the water user is passive or active, whether they are motivated by individual or common needs, and whether they perceive water as a right or a commodity. Demand management measures currently used in England and Wales are then discussed and analysed. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of communications associated with demand management, and in particular, notes the need to consider the cumulative impact of messages and their interactions with people¿s existing understandings