Catecholaminergic Innervation of Central and Peripheral Auditory Circuitry Varies with Reproductive State in Female Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus

In seasonal breeding vertebrates, hormone regulation of catecholamines, which include dopamine and noradrenaline, may function, in part, to modulate behavioral responses to conspecific vocalizations. However, natural seasonal changes in catecholamine innervation of auditory nuclei is largely unexplored, especially in the peripheral auditory system, where encoding of social acoustic stimuli is initiated. The plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, has proven to be an excellent model to explore mechanisms underlying seasonal peripheral auditory plasticity related to reproductive social behavior. Recently, we demonstrated robust catecholaminergic (CA) innervation throughout the auditory system in midshipman. Most notably, dopaminergic neurons in the diencephalon have widespread projections to auditory circuitry including direct innervation of the saccule, the main endorgan of hearing, and the cholinergic octavolateralis efferent nucleus (OE) which also projects to the inner ear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that gravid, reproductive summer females show differential CA innervation of the auditory system compared to non-reproductive winter females. We utilized quantitative immunofluorescence to measure tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive (TH-ir) fiber density throughout central auditory nuclei and the sensory epithelium of the saccule. Reproductive females exhibited greater density of TH-ir innervation in two forebrain areas including the auditory thalamus and greater density of TH-ir on somata and dendrites of the OE. In contrast, non-reproductive females had greater numbers of TH-ir terminals in the saccule and greater TH-ir fiber density in a region of the auditory hindbrain as well as greater numbers of TH-ir neurons in the preoptic area. These data provide evidence that catecholamines may function, in part, to seasonally modulate the sensitivity of the inner ear and, in turn, the appropriate behavioral response to reproductive acoustic signals

Understanding the power of the prime minister : structure and agency in models of prime ministerial power

Understanding the power of the prime minister is important because of the centrality of the prime minister within the core executive of British government, but existing models of prime ministerial power are unsatisfactory for various reasons. This article makes an original contribution by providing an overview and critique of the dominant models of prime ministerial power, highlighting their largely positivist bent and the related problem of the prevalence of overly parsimonious conceptions of the structural contexts prime ministers face. The central argument the paper makes is that much of the existing literature on prime ministerial power is premised on flawed understandings of the relationship between structure and agency, that this leads to misunderstandings of the real scope of prime ministerial agency, as well as its determinants, and that this can be rectified by adopting a strategic-relational view of structure and agency

Conceptualising and historicising the US foreign policy establishment in a racialised class structure

In recent years critical scholars of U.S. foreign policy have challenged the mainstream paradigm that fails to account for the racial dimensions of international relations. This article introduces a conceptual and historical analysis of the US foreign policy establishment that posits race and racism at its centre. While alluding to conventional theories of American power such as pluralism and statism, the article also highlights classical Marxism’s failure to acknowledge that US exceptionalism and racism conjoined in a manner that conferred a racial dimension to class politics. The article argues that the U.S. foreign policy establishment has been presided over by an elite or ruling elite; and irrespective of challenges from below, increasing diversity, or the insistence that America is a meritocratic classless society, the U.S establishment is at heart, elitist, racialised and generally Anglo-centric. The article identifies links between the racial dimensions of U.S. foreign policy and the identity profile of the power elite. The paper extends and critiques C. Wright Mills’ definition of the power elite by mapping its racial dimension. Finally the article argues that although the election of Obama represented a more inclusive and cosmopolitan version of the establishment, Obama’s presence has helped to consolidate the status quo as the structural constraints on the executive branch and symbolism associated with the election of the first African-American president has generally silenced the Left and quietly fostered the suggestion that an unconventional identity profile will not necessarily result in the change we can believe in

Developing Freedom: Thomas Jefferson, the State, and Human Capability

Thomas Jefferson is often invoked as an advocate of limited government and a defender of individual rights. This article argues that rights were Jefferson’s starting place. Jefferson also believed that American citizens should have opportunities to develop the capabilities necessary to enjoy the full use of their rights. Rather than thinking about Jefferson as progovernment or antigovernment, this article concludes that we must understand the particular kind of government Jefferson desired, the ends he had in mind, and why and how those ends differed from his Federalist predecessors. A better understanding of Jefferson’s statecraft not only offers a new perspective on the relationship between government and rights in Jefferson’s thought but also how and why Jeffersonians in power used the state to promote individual freedom

THE NEW DEAL, THE DECLINE OF PARTIES AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

This study examines the relationship between Presidential leadership, the party system and the bureaucracy during the 1930\u27s. In particular, it attempts to unravel the intricate relationship between the Roosevelt administration\u27s effort to modify the party system and its attempt to reform the Executive Department. The basic thesis of this study is that the politics of the Democratic party and the Executive Department converge in such a way during the 1930\u27s so that the Presidency is institutionalized and strengthened while the traditional party system is weakened. This development grew out of Roosevelt\u27s attempt to strengthen the Democratic party in the short-run so as to eventually weaken the role of the traditional party system in the long-run. The New Dealers made a major effort to increase the commitment to liberalism within the Democratic party. This effort culminated in the 1938 purge campaign, where the Roosevelt administration sought to defeat conservative Democrats in the Congressional primary campaigns of that year. Much of this effort, however, was directed by limited partisan goals; the purge sought to make a few examples and achieve immediate policy results rather than fundamentally restructure the organization of the Democratic party or the American party system. In fact, much of the New Deal partisan efforts of the 1930\u27s were part of an attempt to achieve administrative reform that would establish the Presidency as a more autonomous policy-maker. This reform would lead to a de-emphasis on partisan responsibility in the political process and exalt the personal responsibility of the President. In this sense, the efforts were greatly influenced by the goal of strengthening the Presidency, can be seen as an attempt to make the more liberalized Democratic organization the party to end all parties, or the party to bring forth Presidential government, which would weaken traditional party politics and making the establishment of party government unnecessary. The Roosevelt administration was not totally successful in this endeavor. In particular, the 1937 Executive Reorganization Bill, which would have extensively centralized the Executive Department and made the President less dependent on the support of Congress and his party, was defeated. Nevertheless, the more limited, albeit significant, 1939 Executive Reorganization Act was passed. This Act laid the groundwork for the development of the Modern Presidency which has become the heart of domestic policy in American politics. The creation of the modern Presidency has served to enhance the personal responsibility within the political system, thereby weakening partisan influence and extensively contributing to the post-World War II decline of political parties. In effect, whereas most studies of the historical development of the party system view the New Deal as a brief, but massive, positive interlude in the long secular trend toward party decomposition, this analysis of the 1930\u27s seeks to show that the New Deal party system contributed to the decline of party organizations in the United States. This stemmed largely from Franklin Roosevelt\u27s neglect of a long-run strategy to strengthen party organizations, a neglect influenced by his view that political parties could only play a limited role in the context of American politics. As much as possible this study relies on primary manuscript and historical sources. It is not intended to be a history of the New Deal, nor is it an analysis or explanation of the broad sweep of American politics in the 1930\u27s. This thesis attempts, rather, to explain a limited aspect of the New Deal: it focuses most centrally on the relationship between the party system and public administration

American government : balancing democracy and rights

137 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 23 cm

The American presidency: origins and development, 1776-2002, 4 th ed./ Milkis

xiii, 496 hal.: ill.; 23 cm