Ideology, Status, and the Differential Success of Direct Parties Before the Supreme Court

A substantial literature on lower federal courts and state courts suggests that the haves usually come out ahead in litigation because they possess superior resources for it and they reap advantages from their repeat player status. We investigate the success of 10 categories of litigants before the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist Courts to determine whether the resources or experience of litigants has effects on Supreme Court outcomes paralleling those found in the courts below. While different categories of litigants are found to have very different rates of success, those differences do not consistently favor litigants with greater resources. A time series analysis of the success of different categories of litigants over the 36 years studied suggests that the changing ideological complexion of the Court has a greater impact on the success of litigants than differences among litigants in resources and experience

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Experience versus perception of corruption : Russia as a test case

Corruption is important because it undermines bureaucratic predictability and is a potential threat to support for a political regime. The perception of corruption is the most commonly used measure of the actual incidence of corruption. This article marshals the New Russia Barometer survey data to challenge this assumption. Even though most Russians perceive a variety of everyday public services as corrupt, this assessment is not based on first-hand experience. Only a minority pays bribes. We test four hypotheses about differences in individual perception and experience of paying bribes: the ability to pay, contact with public services, normative acceptability and political awareness. Contact is most important for paying bribes whereas political awareness is most important for the perception of corruption. We also test how much the perception and experience of corruption, as against other forms of political and economic performance, affect support for the regime. Support is driven by the substantive performance of government, especially its management of the economy, rather than by the perception or experience of corruption

How do electors respond to an unfair election? : the experience of Russians

Was the 2007 Russian Duma election fair? International observers have agreed that it was unfair. Survey data from the 2007 Russian Duma election finds that most Russians disagree with international observers and they also disagree among themselves about the fairness of the Duma ballot. This article tests hypotheses about popular response to that election, accounting for differences in opinion, partisanship, the performance of the government, and individual socio-economic characteristics. The extent to which those who saw the election as unfair are less likely to support the political regime is also tested. The conclusion considers conditions in which perceptions of an unfair election can encourage positive change in a regime or the strengthening of authoritarianism

The impact of macro-economic shock on Russians

In less than two decades, Russians have come to support their regime, but the 2008 world economic crisis questions whether this support can continue. Drawing on a June 2009 New Russia Barometer survey, the article asks how much difference the economic crisis has made for political support. A model with hypotheses about the potential influence on political attitudes of socialization and political performance as well as economic conditions is set out. Statistical analysis is used to compare the importance of macro-economic evaluations of the national economy with micro-economic household conditions. Determinants of regime support in 2009 are compared with pre-crisis NRB surveys

Political trust and distrust in post-authoritarian contexts

Chapter focusing on the context of political trust and distrust in a post-authoritarian contex