The Sponge Cake Dilemma over the Nile: Achieving Fairness in Resource Allocation through Rawlsian Theory and Algorithms

This article examines water disputes through an integrated framework combining normative and positive perspectives. John Rawls' theory of justice provides moral guidance, upholding rights to reasonable access for all riparian states. However, positive analysis using cake-cutting models reveals real-world strategic constraints. While Rawls defines desired ends, cake-cutting offers algorithmic means grounded in actual behaviors. The Nile River basin dispute illustrates this synthesis. Rawls suggests inherent rights to water, but unrestricted competition could enable monopoly. His principles alone cannot prevent unfavorable outcomes, given limitations like self-interest. This is where cake-cutting provides value despite biased claims. Its models identify arrangements aligning with Rawlsian fairness while incorporating strategic considerations. The article details the cake-cutting theory, reviews water conflicts literature, examines the Nile case, explores cooperative vs. non-cooperative games, and showcases algorithmic solutions. The integrated framework assesses pathways for implementing Rawlsian ideals given real-world dynamics. This novel synthesis of normative and positive lenses enriches the study of water disputes and resource allocation more broadly.Comment: 31 pages, 7 Figure

Solidarity and Self-Interest: Using Mixture Modeling to Learn about Social Policy Preferences

This article addresses the problem of measuring social policy preferences in a valid and reliable way. Scholars have faced a number of challenges in measuring these preferences. First, it is not clear how exactly we should conceive of this domain. Second, the literature presents contradictory findings regarding the effect of contextual factors on policy preferences. Third, abstract preferences regarding the welfare state and information about its performance can affect each other, complicating the attempt to distinguish between the two. Finally, latent manifestations of these preferences might not be equivalent across countries. We develop an approach that validly and reliably measures attitudes about the role of government in addressing inequalities in the market distribution of resources. Mixture modeling and in particular latent class analysis enables us to take advantage of information for multiple countries and survey questions while doing justice to the characteristics of the survey data. Using three waves of the International Social Survey Programme’s module on social inequality, we find that preferences towards the market and the role of government in the economy form four distinct clusters of individuals that we refer to as “moderate altruists”, “moderate egoists”, “extreme altruists”, and “extreme egoists”. These clusters tend to be homogenous with respect to both abstract notions of the role the government should play in the economy as well as about evaluations of actual performance. The exceptions are the last two survey waves, for which we find that one class exhibits a mixed profile of individuals: solidaristic with respect to some indicators, but self-interested with respect to others

Riding the Populist Web: Contextualizing the Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy

This article focuses on three mechanisms to explain the rise of populist movements across Europe. They are politicization of resentment, exploitation of social cleavages, and polarization of resentment and feelings of non-representation. We conceptualize populism as a strategic power game aiming to transform potential majorities into real ones by creating or reframing social cleavages. Our theoretical model is used to explain the rise of the Five Star Movement (M5S). Beppe Grillo’s M5S gained notoriety on the national political scene in Italy just before the 2013 elections and succeeded in getting nearly 25 percent of the overall vote. Moreover, it was the only political force that was able to attract votes across the different regions in Italy, making it the country’s only truly national party

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) for Cardiothoracic Surgery

Background/Purpose Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols are multi-disciplinary approaches that optimize recovery and reduce surgical outcome variability. This scoping review compares surgical outcomes associated with traditional perioperative care to outcomes associated with an ERAS protocol for patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. Methods A literature review evaluating traditional perioperative care versus ERAS protocols in cardiothoracic surgical patients was performed to set inclusion and exclusion criteria based on current peer-reviewed journal articles for qualitative data. Group members selected 14 articles based on inclusion criteria and relevance to the PICOT question for review and placed findings in a synthesis table. Findings included compliance rate to protocol, length of stay (LOS), pain control, perioperative education, and complication rates. Control groups involved patients undergoing similar procedures from the same facilities utilizing traditional perioperative care compared to those enrolled in an ERAS protocol at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperative. Results Of the included studies (N=14), the most significant outcome from the evidence collection is a decreased LOS with the ERAS protocol (N=13). Postoperative complication rates decreased in 57% of the articles (N=8) and hospitalization costs decreased in half of the articles (N=7) when using ERAS protocols. Hospital readmission rates were either maintained (N=12) or decreased (N=2). These trends indicate that ERAS protocols are associated with improved patient outcomes and decreased hospitalization costs. Implications for Nursing Practice This scoping review shows that ERAS protocols consistently produce positive surgical outcomes. Because ERAS protocols consolidate evidence-based practices known to improve surgical outcomes, they comprise a straightforward plan for hospitals to implement that will effectively improve surgical outcomes for patients. Utilizing ERAS protocols from the pre-admission to post-discharge phases of care should be standard practice for appropriate patient groups

A Two-Step Theory and Test of Democratic Waves *

Abstract Scholars, observing clustering in transitions to democracy, argue that democratization diffuses across borders as citizens in autocracies demand the same reforms they witness in neighboring states. We disagree. The present paper asserts that the diffusion of democracy literature rests on weak theoretical foundations and does not properly test for diffusion. We advance an alternative two-step argument to explain clustering of democratization: (1) economic shocks, which are clustered spatially and temporally, induce the breakdown of authoritarian regimes; then (2) democratic diffusion, in turn, influences whether a fallen dictatorship will be replaced by a democracy or a new autocracy. Diffusion, despite playing an important role, is insufficient to explain the clustering of transitions, notably because it cannot account for the timing of the waves. Using data on 125 autocracies from 1875 to 2004, we show that economic crises trigger authoritarian breakdowns, while diffusion determines whether the new regime is democratic or authoritarian. * Thanks t

Measurement of the inclusive isolated-photon cross section in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV using 36 fb−1 of ATLAS data

The differential cross section for isolated-photon production in pp collisions is measured at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb. The differential cross section is presented as a function of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The differential cross section as a function of the absolute value of the photon pseudorapidity is also presented in different regions of photon transverse energy. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Jetphox and Sherpa as well as next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Nnlojet are compared with the measurement, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The predictions provide a good description of the data within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Les ligues régionales en Italie

Regional leagues in Italy : the emergence of regional representation outside of traditional party politics The recent emergence of regional leagues in Italian politics is a reflection of the rise of populism in several Western European states. The spread of populist politics is linked to the crisis of their party Systems. In Italy, the recent emergence of regional populist leagues is reflective of the differentiation of Italian civil society from a centralized political authority mediated through parties and the development of regional and local units as centers of economic and political legitimacy and representation.La récente apparition des ligues régionales dans la vie politique italienne reflète la montée du populisme dans plusieurs pays d'Europe occidentale. Le développement de politiques populistes est lié à la crise des systèmes de partis. En Italie, l'émergence récente des ligues régionales populistes est la conséquence de la différenciation de la société civile italienne par rapport à une autorité politique centralisée, s'exerçant par le canal des partis, ainsi que du développement de centres régionaux et locaux de légitimité et de représentation économiques et politiques.Woods Dwayne. Les ligues régionales en Italie. In: Revue française de science politique, 42ᵉ année, n°1, 1992. pp. 36-55