Of Time and Judicial Behavior : Time Series Analyses of United States Supreme Court Agenda Setting and Decision-making, 1888-1989

This study examines the agenda setting and decision-making behavior of the United States Supreme Court from 1888 to 1989

"They go for gender first"

There have been many recent media reports about the online harassment of women journalists working in technology, particularly the video gaming industry. However, little research has focused on this aspect, by looking at specific occupations, or analysing the implications for women and society. This paper is a feminist study of the experiences of sexist abuse of a sample of women journalists writing about technology. It is a commentary on the results of a questionnaire-based study of 102 women (and their approximately 300 comments) that work in what has emerged as one of the frontlines of the struggle for gender equality. The research looks at the extent of the abuse, the harm it causes and how women are reacting to it. Most of the participants have experienced abuse, many have changed their working practices and some have disguised their identity to avoid it. An examination of their comments suggests that sexist abuse is now often normalised, alongside a new kind of "invisible" feminism. It also reveals a mood of defiance and an appetite for radical change to address the problems of exclusion and loss of identity. Overall, results indicate that the abuse is damaging women’s lives and impacting journalism and society in a negative way

Discourse and religion in educational practice

Despite the existence of long-held binaries between secular and sacred, private and public spaces, school and religious literacies in many contemporary societies, the significance of religion and its relationship to education and society more broadly has become increasingly topical. Yet, it is only recently that the investigation of the nexus of discourse and religion in educational practice has started to receive some scholarly attention. In this chapter, religion is understood as a cultural practice, historically situated and embedded in specific local and global contexts. This view of religion stresses the social alongside the subjective or experiential dimensions. It explores how through active participation and apprenticeship in culturally appropriate practices and behaviors often mediated intergenerationally and the mobilisation of linguistic and other semiotic resources but also affective, social and material resources, membership in religious communities is constructed and affirmed. The chapter reviews research strands that have explored different aspects of discourse and religion in educational practice as a growing interdisciplinary field. Research strands have examined the place and purpose of religion in general and evangelical Christianity in particular in English Language Teaching (ELT) programmes and the interplay of religion and teaching and learning in a wide range of religious and increasingly secular educational contexts. They provide useful insights for scholars of discourse studies to issues of identity, socialisation, pedagogy and language policy

Acclimation Effects And The Chief Justice: The Influence Of Tenure And Role On The Decisional Behavior Of The Court\u27S Leader, 1888-2007

Under the acclimation effect view, recent appointees to the Court modify their behavior in systematic ways early in their tenure as opposed to their later decisional tendencies. Similarly, many studies have examined the chief justice\u27s unique behavior.This study blends these two rich strands and explores whether chief justices demonstrate an acclimation effect, such that their behavior changes systematically through time. Using more than a century of Court data, this study examines whether new chief justices\u27 concurrence and dissent rates decline and whether they write fewer individual opinions gradually. I find that the chief justice\u27s position serves to create an incentive structure that is uniquely associated with declining rates of specially concurring and dissenting votes in certain cases. Also, new chief justices pen fewer special concurrences and dissents in some policy areas. My results hence imply that the chief justice experiences unique acclimation effects in learning to marshal the Court. © The Author(s) 2011

In the Eye of the Hurricane: Florida Courts, Judicial Independence, and Politics

This Article discusses the concept of judicial independence, the political nature of the courts, and efforts to insulate the courts from the ordinary politics engulfing the popularly elected branches. It reviews Florida\u27s political history and changing political landscape. It traces the development of the state\u27s judicial selection processes and ties them to current legislation being considered. It concludes by discussing the likely consequences of the efforts to diminish the insulation the the Florida courts enjoy from the politics of the day