6,012 research outputs found
Deliberative Constitutionalism in the National Security Setting
Deliberative democracy theory maintains that authentic deliberation about matters of public concern is an essential condition for the legitimacy of political decisions. Such deliberation has two features. The first is deliberative rigor. This is deliberation guided by public-regarding reasons in a process in which persons are genuinely open to the force of the better argument. The second is transparency. This requires that requires that officials publicly explain the reasons for their decisions in terms that citizens can endorse as acceptable grounds for acting in the name of the political community.
Such requirements would seem to be especially important in the national security setting, where decisions can have profound life-and-death consequences. Yet this is the setting in which transparency often is least feasible on the part of the Executive branch. Officials may be constrained for good reasons from fully explaining the bases for their decisions. While such reason-giving is especially important to the perceived legitimacy of a decision, anticipating the need to provide it also can enhance deliberative rigor. Limited transparency thus creates the risk both that crucial decisions may not be regarded as legitimate, and that the deliberative process will not be as robust as it should be.
In this chapter, we argue that ensuring robust internal deliberative processes in the national security setting can compensate at least to some degree for this limitation. Appreciating the demands of deliberative democracy theory can help inform this process by illuminating how various procedural mechanisms may promote the goals that transparency purports to serve. We focus on the Lawyers Group, which includes senior national security lawyers from across the government, as an example of an arrangement that can help further the ends of deliberative democracy by providing a vehicle for deliberation that meets many, even if not all, of the requirements of that theory. Coordinated by the legal advisor for the National Security Council, this group discusses national security issues that will be presented to the President.
We regard our analysis as contributing in two ways to deliberative democratic theory. First, it focuses on the possibility of satisfying the requirement of this theory in a setting in which decision-making often falls short of the demands of full transparency. Second, it suggests how legal analysis may play a distinctive role in the deliberative process.
There are limits to what the Lawyers Group can accomplish. We believe, however, that it should be assessed in terms of its contribution to the larger national security deliberative system of which it is a part. From this perspective, the Group’s compliance with several prescriptions of deliberative theory helps it strengthen, even if it does not guarantee, the rigor and persuasiveness of the justifications that the President is able to provide for national security decisions
Thermometry of Silicon Nanoparticles
Current thermometry techniques lack the spatial resolution required to see
the temperature gradients in typical, highly-scaled modern transistors. As a
step toward addressing this problem, we have measured the temperature
dependence of the volume plasmon energy in silicon nanoparticles from room
temperature to 1250C, using a chip-style heating sample holder in a
scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) equipped with electron energy
loss spectroscopy (EELS). The plasmon energy changes as expected for an
electron gas subject to the thermal expansion of silicon. Reversing this
reasoning, we find that measurements of the plasmon energy provide an
independent measure of the nanoparticle temperature consistent with that of the
heater chip's macroscopic heater/thermometer to within the 5\% accuracy of the
chip thermometer's calibration. Thus silicon has the potential to provide its
own, high-spatial-resolution thermometric readout signal via measurements of
its volume plasmon energy. Furthermore, nanoparticles in general can serve as
convenient nanothermometers for \emph{in situ} electron microscopy experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Central Star Formation in Pseudobulges and Classical Bulges
I use Spitzer 3.6-8.0 \mu m color profiles to compare the radial structure of
star formation in pseudobulges and classical bulges. Pseudobulges are
``bulges'' which form through secular evolution, rather than mergers. In this
study, pseudobulges are identified using the presence of disk-like structure in
the center of the galaxy (nuclear spiral, nuclear bar, and/or high ellipticity
in bulge); classical bulges are those galaxy bulges with smooth isophotes which
are round compared to the outer disk, and show no disky structure in their
bulge. I show that galaxies structurally identified as having pseudobulges have
higher central star formation rates than those of classical bulges. Further, I
also show that galaxies identified as having classical bulges have remarkably
regular star formation profiles. The color profiles of galaxies with classical
bulges show a star forming outer disk with a sharp change, consistent with a
decline in star formation rates, toward the center of the galaxy. Classical
bulges have a nearly constant inner profile (r < 1.5 kpc) that is similar to
elliptical galaxies. Pseudobulges in general show no such transition in star
formation properties from the outer disk to the central pseudobulge. Thus I
conclude that pseudobulges and classical bulges do in fact form their stars via
different mechanisms. Further, this adds to the evidence that classical bulges
form most of their stars in fast episodic bursts, in a similar fashion to
elliptical galaxies; whereas, pseudobulges form stars from longer lasting
secular processes.Comment: accepted to ApJ Letter
CP Violation from a Higher Dimensional Model
It is shown that Randall-Sundrum model has the EDM term which violates the
CP-symmetry. The comparison with the case of Kaluza-Klein theory is done. The
chiral property, localization, anomaly phenomena are examined. We evaluate the
bulk quantum effect using the method of the induced effective action. This is a
new origin of the CP-violation.Comment: 15pages, Proc. of Int. Workshop on "Neutrino Masses and
Mixings"(Dec.17-19,2006,Univ.of Shizuoka,Japan
Recommended from our members
The effect of a thematic play intervention on play skills and peer interaction of children with special needs or non-special needs at an integrated preschool.
Optimizing the value of manure nutrients through testing and treatment
As agricultural production increases and demands for more sustainable production rise, it becomes necessary to develop and improve best management practices that allow farmers to efficiently utilize their inputs while minimizing unwanted losses. In addition to this, farmers must utilize recommendations in a way that is economically beneficial to their operation. Large-scale animal production needs improved best management practices because of the complexities involved. Animal manure is a valuable fertilizer for crop production, but effective utilization requires knowledge of the manure’s nutrient content and retaining as much of the nutrients as possible in the manure. This thesis explores two different possible best management practices recommended for manure management: testing manure for nutrient content and treating manure with an additive called More than Manure. Based on the research, it showed that testing manure for nutrient content is an economically and environmentally beneficial recommendation, while using More than Manure did have a positive effect at ammonia retention, it was not sufficient economic benefit to justify use
- …