164 research outputs found
The Adoption of Federal Scrutiny by State Supreme Courts in Same-Sex Marriage Jurisprudence
It would be logical to assume state supreme courts, when reviewing state constitutional challenges, interpret their state constitutions in unique and independent ways. This is not true in same-sex marriage cases. Counterintuitively, state supreme courts use a non-independent standard of review created by the federal government. My research shows that state courts are shaped by federal scrutiny standards in same-sex marriage cases. I will show how Washington, Connecticut, and California all adopted federal scrutiny. I will also show how Vermont did not adopt the federal scrutiny, yet was still shaped by the standard
Cease agricultural activity forever? Underestimating the importance of symbolic capital
peer-reviewedSimilar to what is occurring on a global scale, Irish agriculture is populated by an older generation of farmers. Consequently, intergenerational family farm transfer is increasingly viewed as crucial to the survival, continuity and future sustainability of the family farm and agricultural sector. A review of existing research highlights how financial incentives that encourage succession and retirement from farming have stimulated little change in the behavioural intentions and attitudes amongst elderly farmers. Drawing on two previously disparate literature (transferring the family firm and transferring the family farm) and applying Pierre Bourdieu's concept of symbolic capital as a theoretical framework, this paper sets aside financial enticements and presents an insightful, nuanced analysis of the human factors that influence the process of transferring the family farm from the perspective of the senior generation. This research employs a multi-method triangulation design, consisting of self-administered questionnaires in conjunction with complimentary Problem-Centred Interviews, to acquire data on the complex psychodynamic and sociodynamic emotions involved in the process. The prominent themes to emerge from the empirical data are farmer's concerns regarding potential loss of identity, status and control upon transferring management and ownership of the family farm and retiring. Many older farmers appear to prioritise the building and maintenance of their personal accumulation of symbolic capital rather than ceasing agricultural activity. The paper concludes by suggesting that future policies and programmes encouraging family farm transfer must take into account the pervasiveness of symbolic capital and work within this structure to develop effective strategies that addresses the emotional well-being of elderly farmers.Funding for this project was provided by the National University of Ireland, Galway's College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies Galway Doctoral Research Scholarship Scheme and the Geographical Society of Ireland postgraduate travel award bursar
Parliamentarians and the covid-19 pandemic: insights from an executive-dominated, constituency-oriented legislature
Because parliaments are the cornerstone of representative democracy, we know a significant amount about how they operate in ordinary times. Covid-19 presented extraordinary challenges to the functioning and operation of national parliaments. This article explores the impact of Covid-19 on parliament from the point of view of its members. We report results from a survey of Irish parliamentarians, exploring members’ perceptions of their engagement in law-making, government oversight, and constituency representation. The results suggest an interesting paradox: Parliamentarians felt less able to perform their legislative and oversight functions but – with the aid of new technologies – felt better able to perform their representative and constituency roles. The wider implication is that Covid-19 intensified existing patterns of executive legislative relation: in the Irish case at least, the (electoral) incentives to undertake constituency work motivated continued constituency service, while the weakness of parliamentary oversight of the executive intensified
Preventing repeat victimization: a systematic review
In any given year, most crimes occur against targets that have already
been victimized. The crime prevention strategy deriving from
this knowledge is that targeting repeat victimization provides a
means of allocating crime prevention resources in an efficient and
informed manner. This report presents the findings of a systematic
review of 31 studies that evaluate efforts to prevent repeat victimization.
Most of the evaluations focus on preventing residential burglary,
but commercial burglary, domestic violence, and sexual victimization
are also covered.
The main conclusion is that the evidence shows that repeat victimization
can be prevented and crime can be reduced. Over all the
evaluations, crimes decreased by one-sixth in the prevention condition
compared with the control condition. The decreases were greatest
(up to one-fifth) for programmes that were designed to prevent
repeat burglaries (residential and commercial). There were fewer
evaluations of programmes designed to prevent repeat sexual victimization,
but these did not seem to be effective in general.
There are indications about what factors increase the success of
prevention efforts. Appropriately tailored and implemented situational
crime prevention measures, such as target hardening and
neighbourhood watch, appear to be the most effective. Advice to
victims, and education of victims, are less effective. They are often
not prevention measures themselves and do not necessarily lead to
the adoption of such measures.
The effectiveness of these crime prevention measures increased as
the degree of implementation increased. There were many problems
of implementation, including poor tailoring of interventions to crime
problems, difficulty of recruiting, training and retaining staff, breakdown
in communications, data problems, and resistance to tactics
by potential recipients or implementers
Human dynamics and the intergenerational farm transfer process in later life: A roadmap for future generational renewal in agriculture policy
peer-reviewedThe senior generation’s reluctance and indeed resistance to alter the status quo of the existing
management and ownership structure of their family farm is undoubtedly strong within the farming
community. This phenomenon has resulted in extraordinary socio-economic challenges for young
people aspiring to embark on a career in farming. The reasons why older farmers fail to plan effectively
and expeditiously for the future are expansive, and range from the potential loss of identity, status and
power that may occur as a result of engaging in the process, to the intrinsic multi-level relationship
farmers have with their farms. These so-called ‘soft issues’ i.e. the emotional and social dimensions
involved, are the issues that distort and dominate the older generation’s decisions on the future
trajectory of the farm. These really are the ‘hard issues’. This paper draws on three interrelated journal
articles exploring the complex human dynamics influencing the decision-making processes surrounding
farm succession and retirement to put forth a series of recommendations that sensitively deal with
problematic issues surrounding generational renewal in agriculture, whilst also ensuring farmers’
emotional wellbeing in later life
Mobilising Land Mobility in the European Union: An Under-Researched Phenomenon
peer-reviewedInterest in land mobility and its impact on the structural development and economic growth of the
agricultural sector has grown considerably amid concerns about the ageing European farming population.
There have been calls throughout Europe for structural and institutional deterrents obstructing the
passage of farmland from the older to younger generation of farmers to overcome this phenomenon and
help facilitate generational renewal in agriculture. Nonetheless, gaining access to land is widely reported to
be the single largest barrier facing young people attempting to enter farming. Whilst land mobility is given
homogenous importance throughout Europe, this view point paper highlights that policies and regulations
relating to land differ considerably across EU Member States. There is also a surprising scarcity of
literature and academic discussion on access to land in a European context, despite its crucial role in the
survival, continuity and future prosperity of the farming industry and the broader sustainability of rural
communities. By focussing on the key policy and structural issues hampering access to agricultural land
throughout Europe, and using the Republic of Ireland’s Land Mobility Service as a good practice example
of how to help facilitate the process, this paper provides a rationale for why a major European study is
required to investigate the factors which influence land mobility in each of the 27 EU Member States in
order to inform future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plans, particularly in relation to
generational renewal objectives
Till death do us part: Exploring the Irish farmer-farm relationship in later life through the lens of ‘Insideness’
peer-reviewedThe senior generation’s unwillingness to relinquish managerial duties and retire is a globally recognized
characteristic of intergenerational family farm transfer. This is despite the array of financial incentives put
in place to stimulate and entice the process. Applying Rowles’ concept of ‘insideness’ as a theoretical
framework, this paper brings into focus the suitability and appropriateness of previous and existing farm
transfer policy strategies, by presenting an insightful, nuanced analysis of the deeply embedded attachment
older farmers have with their farms, and how such a bond can stifle the necessary hand over of the farm
business to the next generation. This research employs a multi-method triangulation design, consisting of
a self-administered questionnaire and an Irish adaptation of the International FARMTRANSFERS Survey
in conjunction with complimentary Problem-Centred Interviews, to generate a comprehensive insight into
the intricate, multi-level farmer-farm relationship in later life. The overriding themes to emerge from the
content analysis of the empirical research are farmer’s inherit desire to stay rooted in place in old age and
also to maintain legitimate connectedness within the farming community by remaining active and productive
on the farm. Additionally, there is a strong sense of nostalgia attributed to the farm, as it is found to
represent a mosaic of the farmer’s achievements as well as being a landscape of memories. The paper
concludes by suggesting that a greater focus on the farmer-farm relationship has the potential to finally
unite farm transfer policy efforts with the mind-set of its targeted audience, after decades of disconnect
Do Girls and Boys Perceive Themselves as Equally Engaged in School? The Results of an International Study from 12 Countries
This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic
performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th
graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal,
Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results
indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in
school andwere rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student
engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but
gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic
performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural
equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent
support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance
through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across
gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the
contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic
performance around the world
The Cool Accretion Disk in ESO 243-49 HLX-1: Further Evidence of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole
With an inferred bolometric luminosity exceeding 10^42 erg/s, HLX-1 in ESO
243-49 is the most luminous of ultraluminous X-ray sources and provides one of
the strongest cases for the existence of intermediate mass black holes. We
obtain good fits to disk-dominated observations of the source with BHSPEC, a
fully relativistic black hole accretion disk spectral model. Due to
degeneracies in the model arising from the lack of independent constraints on
inclination and black hole spin, there is a factor of 100 uncertainty in the
best-fit black hole mass M. Nevertheless, spectral fitting of XMM-Newton
observations provides robust lower and upper limits with 3000 Msun < M < 3 x
10^5 Msun, at 90% confidence, placing HLX-1 firmly in the intermediate-mass
regime. The lower bound on M is entirely determined by matching the shape and
peak energy of the thermal component in the spectrum. This bound is consistent
with (but independent of) arguments based solely on the Eddington limit. Joint
spectral modelling of the XMM-Newton data with more luminous Swift and Chandra
observations increases the lower bound to 6000 Msun, but this tighter
constraint is not independent of the Eddington limit. The upper bound on M is
sensitive to the maximum allowed inclination i, and is reduced to M < 10^5 Msun
if we limit i < 75 deg.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Introducing EMMIE: An evidence rating scale to encourage mixed-method crime prevention synthesis reviews
Objectives This short report describes the need for, and the development of, a coding system to distil the quality and coverage of systematic reviews of the evidence relating to crime prevention interventions. The starting point for the coding system concerns the evidence needs of policymakers and practitioners. Methods The coding scheme (EMMIE) proposed builds on previous scales that have been developed to assess the probity, coverage and utility of evidence both in health and criminal justice. It also draws on the principles of realist synthesis and review. Results The proposed EMMIE scale identifies five dimensions to which systematic reviews intended to inform crime prevention should speak. These are the Effect of intervention, the identification of the causal Mechanism(s) through which interventions are intended to work, the factors that Moderate their impact, the articulation of practical Implementation issues, and the Economic costs of intervention
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