The evolution of space simulation

Thirty years have passed since the first large (more than 15 ft diameter) thermal vacuum space simulation chambers were built in this country. Many changes have been made since then, and the industry has learned a great deal as the designs have evolved in that time. I was fortunate to have been part of that beginning, and have participated in many of the changes that have occurred since. While talking with vacuum friends recently, I realized that many of the engineers working in the industry today may not be aware of the evolution of space simulation because they did not experience the changes that brought us today's technology. With that in mind, it seems to be appropriate to take a moment and review some of the events that were a big part of the past thirty years in the thermal vacuum business. Perhaps this review will help to understand a little of the 'why' as well as the 'how' of building and operating large thermal vacuum chambers

Towards an Informed Citizenry? Information- and communication technologies and electoral choice

What is the significance of ICT's for voting decisions? This chapter assesses two uses of ICT's: (1) databases of the voting records of representatives, and (2) a decision support system for party choice. It examines the information-seeking behavior of (prospective and retrospective) voters appraising either parties or individual candidates. Empirically, the significance of both ICT's for the voters' level of information seems to be limited, at least when considered separately. In combination, they provide new information that may attract the interest of more 'Downsian' voters. However, a large-scale and combined use of these ICT's may put the classical liberal model of representation under pressure

Re-intermediating the councillors? Towards new connections between representative and participatory democracy in local government

Session 2: Political representation and legitimacyThis paper explores the consequences of two strands of institutional renewal in local government for the position of the councillors, namely (1) the introduction of forms of participatory democracy in combination with (2) certain reforms in the institutions of representative democracy, in particular the separation of administrative and scrutiny roles between the council and the executive, and the directly elected mayor. In two cities, Almere in the Netherlands and Lewisham in the United Kingdom, various examples of citizen involvement are examined. A strikingly different picture emerges. Whereas a clear trend towards a disintermediation of the councillors can be observed in Lewisham, the Almere Council is trying strategies that seem to further a re-intermediation of the council in the political linkage chain. Together, these cases indicate that the character of the intermediation between citizens and decision-makers in local governance is determined by the interplay between institutional conditions and actor strategies

De vrouwenbeweging online

This is an in-depth study of 12 organizations: six grass-roots organizations, three umbrella organizations and three service organizations within the Dutch women's movement. Also, six 'virtual organizations' (three portal sites, a platform site and two web organizations) were investigated. Apart from the service organizations, the uses of the Internet are almost limited to three communicative functions: information dissemi-nation and retrieval, recruitment and communication between the leaderships of organizations. Most organizations are leaving the 'homepage phase' of site development, but their current new ambitions seem to be more directed at applying network technology for purposes of internal communication than at interaction with the organization's environment. Until now, Internet uses had indeed some effects on the mobilization of resources, the relations with the environment and the 'management of frames', but these effects are almost limited to greater effectiveness and efficiency of existing action patterns. All organizations are now facing a situation in which the internal communication has to proceed along two speeds: only a part of the membership (individual members or member organizations) is online. The virtual organizations are more representative for the innovative potential of Internet. Together, they shape the contours of an information- and communication infrastructure for the women's movement in the information age

Interactieve beleidsvorming en de instituties van het lokale bestuur

Interactieve beleidsvorming kan institutioneel worden opgevat als (1) een nieuwe aanpak van collectieve besluitvorming en (2) als een set van nieuwe rollen voor lokale actoren, zoals politici en ambtenaren. In dit artikel wordt nagegaan hoe nieuwe instituties van interactieve beleidsvorming en bestaande instituties van niet-interactieve beleidsvorming elkaar beinvloeden. Kort na het afsluiten van de vijf onderzochte interactieve processen (in de gemeenten De Bilt, Enschede, Leerdam, Hellevoetsluis en Zeewolde) bleek het (nog?) niet mogelijk om enige doorwerking van de nieuwe instituties te kunnen constateren. Daarentegen kwamen wel allerlei institutionele belemmeringen en weerstanden van de bestaande instituties naar voren, zowel op het niveau van besluitvormingspatronen als het rolgedrag van politici en ambtenaren. Interactieve beleidsvorming mobiliseert vooral aan het eind van het interactieve proces weerstanden. Er doet zich een terugval voor in 'oude instituties'. De grootste institutionele belemmeringen doen zich voor op het niveau van het rolgedrag. Politici en (zij het in iets mindere mate) ambtenaren zijn onzeker en terughoudend om gevestigde posities te relativeren en naar andere rolinvullingen te zoeken. Raadsleden stellen zich in de vijf onderzochte processen voornamelijk passief en afzijdig op

Facilitating the monitorial voter

Websites for monitoring the past performance of elected representatives in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are analysed according to how they meet the voters’ information needs. The case study reveals two distinct models of information provision. One model supports the evaluation of the enactment of election programmes by political parties, the other model supports the monitoring of the performance of individual representatives in terms of the voters’ current preferences. Guidelines are suggested for the design of retrospective voter information websites