Committee membership makes Representatives better lawmakers, benefitting Congress as a whole

The US House of Representatives has more than 20 committees which divide up lawmaking and encourage lawmakers to specialize. Committee members are also more likely to promote legislation in their committee's areas. Kristina Miler finds that specialization promotes legislating; committees are successful in compelling even otherwise uninterested legislators to be more active. In light of these findings, she argues that ..

When House members become Senators their politics adapt tobe more acceptable to their new more diverse constituency

Few politicians represent one constituency for the entirety of their political life. Many graduate from the House of Representatives to the Senate, a move which also usually involves a massive increase in the number of constituents that they represent. Do these shifts then affect how legislators act and the kinds of laws they support. In new research which examines the legislative behavior of House members who move up into the Senate, Kristina Miler finds when a new senator is elected by a state that is more liberal than their former House district their voting behavior does become more liberal

Report on the Organizational Climates of Congress

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of Congress by attending to how the people who serve in the institution perceive Congress’ procedures, norms and expectations for their behavior. What are the “unwritten rules” that members and staff come to understand as they experience the institution? What types of behaviors are rewarded and encouraged inside Congress? How do these shared organizational perceptions and practices, in turn, shape how members of Congress work with other members, both within and between the two major parties? We took an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the climate and culture of Congress. We conducted 60 interviews with either former Members of Congress or House staff members. We found that the reward structure inside congressional parties is oriented around relationships. Results: The Structure of Intraparty Rewards Members advance in influence via their success in cultivating the esteem of their colleagues. This entails developing a reputation for expertise and integrity. But it also means building a social network by doing favors for others, especially fundraising. Members are seen as not considerate of others or unwilling to be “team players” have difficulty rising in influence. Individual members generally advance their standing in the party by building consensus rather than winning conflicts. But coalitions of members can gain greater weight within their party by being seen as winning conflicts. The central importance of relationships in Congress is consistent with patterns prevailing in fluid organizations more generally. The Climate of Intraparty Conflict and Cooperation Nearly all respondents described themselves as feeling free to speak up when they disagreed with their party leaders, though certain norms govern and restrain such behavior. In particular, disagreements with leaders should be raised in private or in party caucus but not in public or the press, though there was also recognition that not all members adhered to this norm. Similarly, verbal disagreement with party leaders is accepted, but active resistance of the party is frowned upon and subject to sanction. Tolerance of intraparty dissent is reasonably high, but members do at times experience pressure to go along with leaders, particularly on highly salient issues central to the party’s program. The Climate of Interparty Conflict and Cooperation Our findings paint a somewhat mixed picture of the state of cooperation across the aisle in Congress, where elements of collaborative and dominating culture are evident. Our interviews also reveal that on issues that are less visible and less important to the parties, working across the aisle to achieve “win-win” outcomes is considered possible and common even in today’s Congress. Many legislators and staff members are interested in working with colleagues across the aisle and have experience doing so. Moreover, clear paths lead to interpersonal cooperation, namely serving together on a committee, personal friendships, and common district interests.1. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation 2. The Democracy Fun

'It maybe doesn't seem much, but to me it's my kingdom': staff and client experiences of Housing First in Scotland

Housing First (HF) represents a significant shift in the way that the problem of homelessness and co-occuring challenges including problem substance use, is addressed. HF interventions have been the focus of much research. Quantitative studies have consistently shown positive findings regarding housing outcomes, with results regarding health and well-being outcomes more mixed. To date, limited attention has been paid to the experiences and perspectives of HF service providers, and few studies have explored the views of those HF recipients. In enabling providers and recipients to share their professional and personal experiences of HF, qualitative insights can help inform, and improve, service provision and practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven HF staff members and 11 clients in a single third sector service in Scotland. Overall, clients experienced HF positively and described how involvement in HF had enabled positive changes in their lives. Service providers reported positive views on HF alongside ways to maximize the effectiveness of the model. While our findings provide support for current efforts to promote HF as an approach to help end homelessness, a number of challenges exist. To address these we propose a set of recommendations for those planning and implementing HF services

Provenance of the Early Bronze Age Greenstone Axes from Monkodonja

U članku su prikazana tri ulomka kamenih sjekira s gradine Monkodonja, za koje je obavljena petrografska analiza. Prikazani su načini analize i dobiveni rezultati o vrsti i porijeklu kamena. Sirovine za njihovu izradu - žad, serpentinit i metadijabaz - potječu iz različitih izvora. Ti su materijali najčešće u uporabi kroz mlađi neolitik i eneolitik, a na Monkodonji je njihovo korištenje datirano još barem kroz prvu polovicu 2. tisućljeća pr. n. e.This article covers three fragments of stone axes from the hillfort of Monkodonja, for which a petrographical analysis was performed. Shown here are the methods employed for this analysis and the obtained results regarding the types and origins of stone. The raw materials used for their manufacture, jade, serpentinite and meta-diabase, stem from different sources. Most often these materials were in use throughout the Late Neolithic and Eneolithic, and in the case of Monkodonja, their use was also dated at least through the first half of the 2nd millennium BC

How compliant are technicians with universal safety measures in medical laboratories in Croatia?

Introduction: This pilot study aimed to investigate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and compliance to the code of conduct (rules defined in institutional, governmental and professional guidelines) among laboratory technicians in Croatian medical laboratories. In addition, we explored the differences in compliance between participants of different age groups, laboratory ownership and accreditation status. Materials and methods: An anonymous and voluntary survey with 15 questions was conducted among Croatian medical laboratory technicians (N = 217). The questions were divided into two groups: demographic characteristics and the use of PPE. The questions of the second part were graded according to the Likert scale (1-4) and an overall score, shown as median and range (min-max), was calculated for each participant. Differences between the overall scores were tested for each group of participants. Results: The majority of participants always wear protective clothes at work, 38.7% of them always wear gloves in daily routine, more than 30.0% consume food and almost half of them drink beverages at workplace. A significantly lower overall score was found for participants working in public compared to private laboratories (36 (16-40) vs. 40 (31-40), P < 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in overall scores for participants of different age groups (P = 0.456) and laboratory accreditation status (P = 0.081). Conclusion: A considerable percentage of laboratory technicians in Croatian medical laboratories do not comply with safety measures. Lack of compliance is observed in all personnel regardless laboratory accreditation and participants’ age. However, those working in private laboratories adhere more to the code of conduct

Out of sight, out of mind: Legislative perceptions and congressional representation.

Scholars of representative democracy have long struggled with basic questions related to representation: What do we mean by representation? How do we evaluate the quality or success of representation? These questions have been pursued with particular intensity by scholars who examine how members of Congress represent the constituents in their state or district. Central to the congressional literature are issues such as how members know the preferences of their constituents, and whether those preferences influence congressional decision-making. While scholars have explored these questions for half a century, we still do not have a consensus on the answers to these questions, or even how to proceed in addressing them. This research focuses on an aspect of congressional representation that has received far too little attention---legislators' perceptions of their constituents. I put forward a theory of legislative perception that addresses the central question of who is represented. My arguments are grounded in contemporary work in the field of cognitive psychology, which helps to shed new light on the representation puzzle. Information that is more easily accessible in individual legislators' memory is likely to shape who they see when the look at the district. This research examines both the mechanisms of legislative perception and the implications for congressional representation. Perceptions of constituency are issue-specific, and this research focuses on health and natural resources policy. I examine perceptions by conducting face-to-face interviews with professional staff to members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The interviews include structured survey instruments and are combined with a dataset consisting of economic, political, and demographic variables, which allow for the evaluation of alternative hypotheses from the political science and cognitive psychology literatures. I find that constituents who are organized and active, contacting the legislator more frequently and making larger financial contributions, are more likely to be seen than either the median voter or a representative sample of the district. These findings identify a cognitive basis for inequality in the everyday practice of representation on Capitol Hill. Legislators and their staff have a distorted view of their district that favors well-organized and well-financed constituents.Ph.D.Political scienceSocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/123908/2/3106123.pd

Donor activity is associated with US legislators' attention to political issues.

Campaign contributions are a staple of congressional life. Yet, the search for tangible effects of congressional donations often focuses on the association between contributions and votes on congressional bills. We present an alternative approach by considering the relationship between money and legislators' speech. Floor speeches are an important component of congressional behavior, and reflect a legislator's policy priorities and positions in a way that voting cannot. Our research provides the first comprehensive analysis of the association between a legislator's campaign donors and the policy issues they prioritize with congressional speech. Ultimately, we find a robust relationship between donors and speech, indicating a more pervasive role of money in politics than previously assumed. We use a machine learning framework on a new dataset that brings together legislator metadata for all representatives in the US House between 1995 and 2018, including committee assignments, legislative speech, donation records, and information about Political Action Committees. We compare information about donations against other potential explanatory variables, such as party affiliation, home state, and committee assignments, and find that donors consistently have the strongest association with legislators' issue-attention. We further contribute a procedure for identifying speech and donation events that occur in close proximity to one another and share meaningful connections, identifying the proverbial needles in the haystack of speech and donation activity in Congress which may be cases of interest for investigative journalism. Taken together, our framework, data, and findings can help increase the transparency of the role of money in politics

Peer support and overdose prevention responses: a systematic ‘state-of-the-art’ review.

Overdose prevention for people who use illicit drugs is essential during the current overdose crisis. Peer support is a process whereby individuals with lived or living experience of a particular phenomenon provide support to others by explicitly drawing on these experiences. This review provides a systematic search and evidence synthesis of peer support within overdose prevention interventions for people who use illicit drugs. A systematic search of six databases (CINAHL, SocINDEX, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge) was conducted in November 2020 for papers published in English between 2000 and 2020. Following screening and full-text review, 46 papers met criteria and were included in this review. A thematic analysis approach was used to synthesize themes. Important findings include: the value of peers in creating trusted services; the diversity of peers' roles; the implications of barriers on peer-involved overdose prevention interventions; and the stress and trauma experienced by peers. Peers play a pivotal role in overdose prevention interventions for people who use illicit drugs and are essential to the acceptability and feasibility of such services. However, peers face considerable challenges within their roles, including trauma and burnout. Future interventions must consider how to support and strengthen peer roles in overdose settings