The dissent over dissent over descent

I am grateful to my four critics who together attack nearly everything that is attackable in my Dissent over Descent, thereby retaining the original spiritedness of their live presentations at Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, in June 2009.i Their responses have forced me to delve into some matters more deeply and draw connections that may not have been so obvious from the book. Several of the criticisms overlap, and they are addressed in the main body of this text, often without mentioning the critics’ names. However, criticisms unique to particular individuals are addressed in the notes, which are sometimes quite lengthy. Considering the highly charged nature of the topic and approach of Dissent over Descent, a special thanks goes the critics’ civility. Even my most hostile opponent, Birgitta Forsman, manages to pay me an unwitting compliment by drawing attention to my alleged ‘story-telling’ ways, which of course is normally the sense in which Darwin’s own scientific modus operandi was supposed to have broken decisively with Newton’s (Mayr 1991)

Representational roles in the Hungarian parliament

The first democratically elected Hungarian parliament, which served from 1990 to 1994, enjoyed a term of office that was exceptionally busy, yet it was one in which the newly elected MPs were learning their role. The results of the first systematic survey of their perceptions reveal how far Hungarian MPs adopted role orientations similar to those found in Anglo-American democracies. An examination of legislators' roles in the Hungarian parliament sheds light on both the comparative and the analytical utility of 'representational role' in the study of legislatures