Two Cheers for Czech Democracy

The paper discusses the state of Czech democracy and current research agendas on democracy in the Czech Republic, focusing in particular on the role of political parties. It considers Czech democracy both in relation to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and in the light of the evolving relationship between CEE and Western Europe. It suggests that current CEE states such as the Czech Republic gradually approximating to models of West European-style party politics may need rethinking. It then examines democracy in the Czech Republic in relation to debates on democratic “backsliding”, arguing that in the Czech cases the principal “backsliding” risks lie less in the rise of authoritarian populists than a potential crisis of democratic representation driven by perceptions of corruption. The paper concludes with some suggestions about future avenues for research on Czech and CEE democracy

Are the Exceptions Really the Rule? Questioning the Application of 'Electoral-Professional' Type Models of Party Organization in East Central Europe

Much writing on party organisational development in post-communist East Central Europe has argued that, with the partial exception of successor parties to former regime parties, political parties in the region will be state-centred, low-membership organisations dominated by political elites, which loosely approximate to the ‘cartel’ and ‘electoral-professional’ models of party identified by some scholars in Western Europe. This pattern of development in East Central Europe is seen as reflecting the specific opportunity structures of post-communist societies, which both shape politicians’ organisational strategies and determine available resources for party building. Using a detailed re-examination of the Czech case, this paper questions the applicability of such models. It argues that their use is problematic not simply because of inherent difficulties of model fitting, but because they underestimate the path dependent character of party organisational development in the region and, especially the extent to which viable parties appear to have drawn on organisational resources accumulated under the old regime and during transition. The combination of path dependency and post-communist opportunity structures, it is argued, tends to create hybrid party organisations, which are removed from ‘electoral professional’ type parties in a number of ways. The paper concludes by suggesting possible avenues for rethinking party organisational development in the region

To Frame or Reframe: Where Might Design Thinking Research Go Next?

Design thinking is gaining widespread attention in the practitioner and academic literature. Successful implementation has been documented, and its value shown in empirical studies. There is little examination, however, of how design thinking practices fit with other approaches from which firms might choose to frame and solve problems such as agile, lean startup, scientific method, Six Sigma, critical thinking, and systems thinking. By digging into the basic capabilities underlying design thinking, academic researchers might better understand problem framing and solving in general and provide insight for practitioners as to where alternative approaches might be applied

Impact of expanding SSI on Medicaid expenditures of disabled children.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) expansions for disabled children in the early 1990s provoked criticism that eligibility criteria were too lax and motivated the subsequent retraction of benefits for many children. However, little evidence exists on whether the clinical needs of SSI children declined during this period. The authors used Medicaid data to examine changes in average expenditures between 1989 and 1992, using an Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) comparison group to control for confounding time trends (e.g., in access). Results showed declines in average expenditures in Georgia and Tennessee but increases in California and Michigan, which are thought to have started with more liberal eligibility policies

Finite symmetric functions with non-trivial arity gap

Given an $n$-ary $k-$valued function $f$, $gap(f)$ denotes the essential arity gap of $f$ which is the minimal number of essential variables in $f$ which become fictive when identifying any two distinct essential variables in $f$. In the present paper we study the properties of the symmetric function with non-trivial arity gap ($2\leq gap(f)$). We prove several results concerning decomposition of the symmetric functions with non-trivial arity gap with its minors or subfunctions. We show that all non-empty sets of essential variables in symmetric functions with non-trivial arity gap are separable.Comment: 12 page

Understanding Society: design overview

Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study, builds on the success of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). This paper describes some of the key elements of the design and conduct of the study and suggests how Understanding Society is distinctive as a longitudinal survey. Its large sample size offers new opportunities to study sub-groups that may be too small for separate analysis on other studies. The new content included in Understanding Society, not least the bio-measures, provides exciting prospects for interdisciplinary research across the social and medical sciences. The Innovation Panel is already proving to be an invaluable resource for research in longitudinal survey methodology. Finally, the inclusion of the BHPS sample within Understanding Society enables this long running panel to continue into the future, opening up inter-generational research and the opportunity to look at very long-term trajectories of change. This paper also describes the four sample components: the general population sample, ethnic minority boost sample, the Innovation Panel, and participants from the BHPS. Each component has a multistage sample designs, mostly with stratification and clustering. A complex weighting strategy is being developed to support varied analyses. This overview also describes the instruments, methods of data collection, and the timetable for data collection. A summary of the survey content?s is provided. With the data becoming available the user community is beginning to benefit from this investment in longitudinal studies

The binding affinity of human IgG for its high affinity Fc receptor is determined by multiple amino acids in the CH2 domain and is modulated by the hinge region.

A family of chimeric immunoglobulins (Igs) bearing the murine variable region directed against the hapten dansyl linked to human IgG1, -2, -3, and -4 has been characterized with respect to binding to the human high affinity Fc gamma receptor, Fc gamma RI. Chimeric IgG1 and -3 have the highest affinity association (Ka = 10(9) M-1), IgG4 is 10-fold reduced from this level, and IgG2 displays no detectable binding. A series of genetic manipulations was undertaken in which domains from the strongly binding subclass IgG3 were exchanged with domains from the nonbinding subclass IgG2. The subclass of the CH2 domain was found to be critical for determining IgG receptor affinity. In addition, the hinge region was found to modulate the affinity of the IgG for Fc gamma RI, possibly by determining accessibility of Fc gamma RI to the binding site on Fc. A series of amino acid substitutions were engineered into the CH2 domain of IgG3 and IgG4 at sites considered potentially important to Fc receptor binding based on homology comparisons of binding and nonbinding IgG subclasses. Characterization of these mutants has revealed the importance for Fc gamma RI association of two regions of the genetic CH2 domain separated in primary structure by nearly 100 residues. The first of these is the hinge-link or lower hinge regions, in which two residues, Leu (234) and Leu(235) in IgG1 and -3, are critical to high affinity binding. Substitution at either of these sites reduces the IgG association constant by 10-100-fold. The second region that appears to contribute to receptor binding is in a hinge-proximal bend between two beta strands within the CH2 domain, specifically, Pro(331) in IgG1 and -3. As a result of beta sheet formation within this domain, this residue lies within 11 A of the hinge-link region. Substitution at this site reduces the Fc receptor association constant by 10-fold