Have think tanks in Washington D.C. become politicized?

The paper addresses the following research question: Have think tanks in Washington D.C. become politicized from 1910 to 2010, and if so why? “Politicization” is made empirically tangible with a new primary database of all D.C. think tanks existent over the last century. Public policy-oriented research and advocacy organizations are studied from an explicitly evolutionary approach for the first time. It is found that while think tanks steadily accumulated until the early 1970s, their numbers increased fivefold from the late 1970s onwards. D.C. think tanks have, in fact, become significantly politicized over time: ideological advocacy think tanks (embracing broadly “conservative” or “liberal” worldviews) came to outnumber organizationally objective (“centrist or not identifiably ideological”) academic or contract research think tanks. Most of today’s advocacy think tanks embrace identifiably conservative ideologies. Based on chronological process tracing, it is shown that changes in the non-profit resource and tax environment, a relatively weak party system and frequent partisan polarization are important explanatory factors behind the politicization phenomenon. Far from living up to their constructive potential, it is argued, the capital city’s think tanks now frequently hysterize rather than scrutinize policymaking, applying politico-ideological principles of economic interventionism and social justice or, far more often, free markets, limited government and individual liberties to all things public policy. Main scholarly and practical implications of think tanks’ politicization are sounded out. (Hertie Student Paper Series is an online publication series of Hertie School of Governance

Fähigkeiten für die digitale Welt - Engagement als Chance

FÄHIGKEITEN FÜR DIE DIGITALE WELT - ENGAGEMENT ALS CHANCE Fähigkeiten für die digitale Welt - Engagement als Chance / Gilroy, Patrick (Rights reserved) ( -

A Sec14p-nodulin domain phosphatidylinositol transfer protein polarizes membrane growth of Arabidopsis thaliana root hairs

Phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) transfer proteins (PITPs) regulate signaling interfaces between lipid metabolism and membrane trafficking. Herein, we demonstrate that AtSfh1p, a member of a large and uncharacterized Arabidopsis thaliana Sec14p-nodulin domain family, is a PITP that regulates a specific stage in root hair development. AtSfh1p localizes along the root hair plasma membrane and is enriched in discrete plasma membrane domains and in the root hair tip cytoplasm. This localization pattern recapitulates that visualized for PtdIns(4,5)P2 in developing root hairs. Gene ablation experiments show AtSfh1p nullizygosity compromises polarized root hair expansion in a manner that coincides with loss of tip-directed PtdIns(4,5)P2, dispersal of secretory vesicles from the tip cytoplasm, loss of the tip f-actin network, and manifest disorganization of the root hair microtubule cytoskeleton. Derangement of tip-directed Ca2+ gradients is also apparent and results from isotropic influx of Ca2+ from the extracellular milieu. We propose AtSfh1p regulates intracellular and plasma membrane phosphoinositide polarity landmarks that focus membrane trafficking, Ca2+ signaling, and cytoskeleton functions to the growing root hair apex. We further suggest that Sec14p-nodulin domain proteins represent a family of regulators of polarized membrane growth in plants

‘The island is full. Please don't come’: Narratives of austerity and migration in a UK citizenship class

In the lead up to, and aftermath of, the UK referendum on its membership of the European Union, issues relating to migration and entitlement dominated public debates. In a ruthless campaign, the ‘Leave’ camp exploited the implementation of years of austerity policies by explicitly correlating their negative effects with supposedly high migrant numbers. Examining the discourses of scarcity, austerity and deservingness which prevailed during the referendum campaign, this article discusses the way in which UK citizenship classes act as spaces for both the reproduction and subversion of these narratives. On the one hand, migrants in the classes reproduce discourses which scapegoat other migrants for the effects of austerity. On the other, however, powerful messages about the fundamental human right to migrate are also champione

From mood to movement: English nationalism, the European Union and taking back control

This article considers whether the 2016 EU referendum can be perceived as an English nationalist movement. Specifically, attention is given to examining how memories of the former British Empire were nostalgically enveloped in anxieties regarding England’s location within the devolved UK state. The comments and work of Enoch Powell and George Orwell are used to help explore the link between nostalgia and anxiety in accounts of English nationalism. Despite their opposing political orientations, when considered together, it is argued that both men provide a unique cross-political perspective on Englishness, empire and nostalgia. By way of exploring these themes in relation to the EU referendum, Aughey’s assertion that English nationalism can be perceived as both a ‘mood’ and ‘movement’ is used to highlight how a sense of English anxiety regarding its lack of national sovereignty (mood), as well as a desire to reclaim this sovereignty by renegotiating trade relations with the ‘Anglo-sphere’ (movement), were conjoined in the popular referendum slogan, ‘take back control’. In conclusion, it is argued that the contextualization of the referendum can be predicated upon an orientation to empire that steers away from glorifying pro-imperial images of England/Britain, towards a more positive and progressive appropriation of the EU referendum as a statement of national change and belonging

Smoke, curtains and mirrors: the production of race through time and title registration

This article analyses the temporal effects of title registration and their relationship to race. It traces the move away from the retrospection of pre-registry common law conveyancing and toward the dynamic, future-oriented Torrens title registration system. The Torrens system, developed in early colonial Australia, enabled the production of ‘clean’, fresh titles that were independent of their predecessors. Through a process praised by legal commentators for ‘curing’ titles of their pasts, this system produces indefeasible titles behind its distinctive ‘curtain’ and ‘mirror’, which function similarly to magicians’ smoke and mirrors by blocking particular realities from view. In the case of title registries, those realities are particular histories of and relationships with land, which will not be protected by property law and are thus made precarious. Building on interdisciplinary work which theorises time as a social tool, I argue that Torrens title registration produces a temporal order which enables land market coordination by rendering some relationships with land temporary and making others indefeasible. This ordering of relationships with land in turn has consequences for the human subjects who have those relationships, cutting futures short for some and guaranteeing permanence to others. Engaging with Renisa Mawani and other critical race theorists, I argue that the categories produced by Torrens title registration systems materialise as race

Mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde signaling drives formation of cytoplasmic chromatin and inflammation in senescence

Cellular senescence is a potent tumor suppressor mechanism but also contributes to aging and aging-related diseases. Senescence is characterized by a stable cell cycle arrest and a complex proinflammatory secretome, termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). We recently discovered that cytoplasmic chromatin fragments (CCFs), extruded from the nucleus of senescent cells, trigger the SASP through activation of the innate immunity cytosolic DNA sensing cGAS-STING pathway. However, the upstream signaling events that instigate CCF formation remain unknown. Here, we show that dysfunctional mitochondria, linked to down-regulation of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation genes, trigger a ROS-JNK retrograde signaling pathway that drives CCF formation and hence the SASP. JNK links to 53BP1, a nuclear protein that negatively regulates DNA double-strand break (DSB) end resection and CCF formation. Importantly, we show that low-dose HDAC inhibitors restore expression of most nuclear-encoded mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation genes, improve mitochondrial function, and suppress CCFs and the SASP in senescent cells. In mouse models, HDAC inhibitors also suppress oxidative stress, CCF, inflammation, and tissue damage caused by senescence-inducing irradiation and/or acetaminophen-induced mitochondria dysfunction. Overall, our findings outline an extended mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde signaling pathway that initiates formation of CCF during senescence and is a potential target for drug-based interventions to inhibit the proaging SASP

Measuring the predictability of life outcomes with a scientific mass collaboration.

How predictable are life trajectories? We investigated this question with a scientific mass collaboration using the common task method; 160 teams built predictive models for six life outcomes using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a high-quality birth cohort study. Despite using a rich dataset and applying machine-learning methods optimized for prediction, the best predictions were not very accurate and were only slightly better than those from a simple benchmark model. Within each outcome, prediction error was strongly associated with the family being predicted and weakly associated with the technique used to generate the prediction. Overall, these results suggest practical limits to the predictability of life outcomes in some settings and illustrate the value of mass collaborations in the social sciences

The Irish Rover: Phil Lynott and the Search for Identity

Phil Lynott, the lead singer of the rock band Thin Lizzy, was a complex character. An illegitimate black child who grew up in a working-class, Catholic district of Dublin, Ireland in the 1950s, Lynott spent his life searching for a sense of belonging, something which he explored through rock and roll. This study uses Lynott’s song lyrics to investigate his quest for identity. In particular, it identifies the many recurring themes and archetypes in his music that offered multifaceted self-portraits of his internal conflict between being black, Irish, illegitimate, a rockstar, a Lothario, a son, a father, and a husband, all at the same time