From My Cold, Dead Hands: Democratic Consequences of Sacred Rhetoric

Civil society and democratic deliberation rely on compromise, but political leaders often express convictions that are sacred, grounded in non-negotiable appeals to transcendent authority rather than reasoned consequences. This study examines the political meaning of this form of persuasion, or the democratic consequences of sacred rhetoric. I find that the distinctive effects of sacred appeals are on political reasoning and motivation rather than on expressed opinions. Sacred rhetoric is not more effective in changing minds but in shifting the nature of public discourse, resulting in a more strident political culture. Absolutist appeals also encourage political intensity and engagement, creating a strong partisan incentive for their use. But they are not employed equally by both national parties. The direct political consequence of sacred rhetoric is an absolutist advantage for contemporary Republicans, while the more diffuse democratic consequences include increased citizen participation and decreased prospects for meaningful deliberation — a contradictory influence on the health of American democracy

Agnoprotein Is an Essential Egress Factor during BK Polyomavirus Infection.

BK polyomavirus (BKPyV; hereafter referred to as BK) causes a lifelong chronic infection and is associated with debilitating disease in kidney transplant recipients. Despite its importance, aspects of the virus life cycle remain poorly understood. In addition to the structural proteins, the late region of the BK genome encodes for an auxiliary protein called agnoprotein. Studies on other polyomavirus agnoproteins have suggested that the protein may contribute to virion infectivity. Here, we demonstrate an essential role for agnoprotein in BK virus release. Viruses lacking agnoprotein fail to release from host cells and do not propagate to wild-type levels. Despite this, agnoprotein is not essential for virion infectivity or morphogenesis. Instead, agnoprotein expression correlates with nuclear egress of BK virions. We demonstrate that the agnoprotein binding partner α-soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion (NSF) attachment protein (α-SNAP) is necessary for BK virion release, and siRNA knockdown of α-SNAP prevents nuclear release of wild-type BK virions. These data highlight a novel role for agnoprotein and begin to reveal the mechanism by which polyomaviruses leave an infected cell

The epidemiology and patterns of acute and chronic toxicity associated with recreational ketamine use

Ketamine was originally synthesised for use as a dissociative anaesthetic, and it remains widely used legitimately for this indication. However, there is increasing evidence of non-medical recreational use of ketamine, particularly in individuals who frequent the night-time economy. The population-level and sub-population (clubbers) prevalence of recreational use of ketamine is not known but is likely to be similar, or slightly lower than, that of other recreational drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, and amphetamine

SCOTUS 2019: Major decisions and developments of the U.S. Supreme Court

Each year, the Supreme Court of the United States announces new rulings with deep consequences for our lives. This second volume in Palgrave\u27s SCOTUS series explains and contextualizes the landmark cases of the US Supreme Court in the term ending 2019. With a close look at cases involving key issues and debates in American politics and society, SCOTUS 2019 tackles the Court\u27s rulings on the census citizenship question, partisan gerrymandering, religious monuments, the death penalty, race in jury selection, double jeopardy, jury trials for reimprisonment during supervised release, Fourth Amendment protection for blood alcohol tests, deference to federal agencies, excessive fines under the Eighth Amendment and more. Written by notable scholars in political science and law, the chapters in SCOTUS 2019 present the details of each ruling, its meaning for constitutional debate, and its impact on public policy or partisan politics. Finally, SCOTUS 2019 offers an analysis of the controversial Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u27s first term in office, as well as a big-picture look at the implications of the Court\u27s decisions for the direction of this new Roberts Court

The politics of social accounting: public goals and the evolution of the national accounts in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States

National social statistics have become one of the pervasive institutions of modern economics and politics. However, less is known about the origins of national accounting and the disagreements over its fundamental purpose and design. Modern national accounts emerged in attempts by German statistical entrepreneurs to understand the industrial economy and harness production in the service of national goals. In the American context national accounts emerged as a means for measuring social welfare, but evolved in the direction of the German and then British efforts at maximizing war production during the Second World War. The origins and evolution of social accounting in the German, British and American contexts illustrate the competing public goals served by our institutional choices. Different normative purposes, driven by new national goals, may require institutional change.

Replication Data for: "Supreme Facts: The Prevalence and Justification of Social Facts in Landmark Decisions of the Supreme Court"

ABSTRACT One of the central roles of the Supreme Court is to settle controversies over social facts, but little is known about the prevalence of these rulings or the justifications for them offered by the Court. An analysis of the landmark decisions from 1900 to 2015 reveals that most include a ruling on a disputed social fact, though the Court rarely offers an explicit justification. Rulings from different ideological perspectives invoke social facts at the same rate but with distinct patterns of justification, illustrating a division in approach to this vital aspect of the Court’s work