Women At/On the Ballot: Examining the Effects of Tokenism and Quotas

Mershon Center for International Security Studies Graduate Student Research 2007-08By 2006, about 40 countries had legislated or constitutionally mandated gender quotas for candidates running for seats in the national legislature, and many more political parties had self-imposed such rules. Proponents of quotas hail this trend, arguing they are necessary to achieve truly democratic forms of representation. Others, though, charge that any form of quotas conflicts with the basic tenets of liberal democracy. All too absent from the debate is an understanding of if and how quotas actually change political outcomes. Christina Xydias aims to fill this gap by investigating whether female legislators pursue different policy agendas than their male counterparts, and if so, under what circumstances

This Was the One for Me: AfD Women’s Origin Stories

Next to the Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s nationalism and anti- immigrant attitudes, natalism and support for traditional gender roles are key components of the party’s far right categorization. Women are not absent from parties like the AfD, though they support them at lower rates than men and at lower rates than they support other parties. In light of women’s lower presence in far-right parties, how do women officeholders in the AfD explain their party affiliation, and how do their explanations differ from men’s? An answer is discernible at the nexus between AfD officeholders’ publicly available political backgrounds and the accounts that they offer for joining the party, termed “origin stories.” Empirically, this article uses an original dataset of political bio- graphical details for all the AfD’s state and federal legislators elected between 2013 and late 2019. This dataset shows that AfD women at the state level are less likely than their men counterparts to have been affiliated with a political party, and they are less likely to have been politically active, prior to their participation in the AfD. Regardless of the facts of their backgrounds, however, women more than men explain their support of the AfD as a choice to enter into politics, and men more than women explain their support of the AfD as a choice to leave another party. The article argues that these gendered origin stories can be contextualized within the party’s masculinist, natalist, and nationalist values

Left, Right, and Center: Women’s Political Incorporation in the OECD

Women’s political incorporation encompasses suffrage as well as election into political office and inclusion in political leadership positions. Standard accounts of political parties’ support for women’s political incorporation differentiate between “the left” and “the right,” expecting that parties viewed left-leaning incorporate more women than those viewed as right-leaning. Drawing from previous research on comparative political institutions, parties, and ideologies, this study argues that we are more likely to find right-leaning parties that have incorporated women at higher rates in some systems than in others. Empirically, this study’s cross-sectional analysis of 281 political parties in 35 OECD member states shows that context matters for center and right parties’ incorporation of women, while left parties are more consistent cross-nationally. These findings controvert a homogeneous portrait of party families across political systems, pointing instead to the salience of context for differentiating among otherwise similar parties

Why Theorizing and Measuring Shared Experience in Descriptive Representation Is “A Mess Worth Making”

Jane Mansbridge’s (1999) “contingent ‘yes’” amplified a chorus of voices discussing the substantive and symbolic functions of historically marginalized groups’ presence in political office. In her essay, Mansbridge points to contexts of mistrust and uncrystallized interests as domains where presence enhances “adequate communication” and “innovative thinking” for these social groups (628). In this and many other accounts, the linchpin between descriptive and substantive representation for these functions is group members’ shared experiences, alternatively framed as the perspectives informed by those experiences. Shared experiences cannot and do not produce identical effects (they are filtered through many lenses), but they are widely understood to inform and indeed often to authenticate political representation

Design of a high ratio gear reduction unit

This is a right angle gear drive design where helical and spiral bevel gears are being used. Because of the high speed ratio (1800/18 , input/output), three reductions were applied. Two helical gear sets were used in the first and second reductions (one each), and a spiral bevel set was used at the final reduction. The gears were mounted on four shafts, with the first and last shafts (output and input shafts) carrying one gear each straddle mounted, and the second and third shafts carrying two gears each, overhung mounted. The design was based on a criterion that was set for every element and was carried out in sequence; i.e. gears, shafts, bearings and housing. The high speed shaft and the bevel pinion shaft were made one piece with the pinions. The housing was made out of three parts: The main housing, which is to house the bevel gear set and to hold the oil; the high speed housing, which is to house the high speed helical gear set and support the high speed bearings; and the rear cover, which is to house the intermediate gear set (second reduction)

Reproducing Hierarchies at the APSA Annual Meeting: Patterns of Panel Attendance by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity

Research on the political science profession has shown that homophilous research networks—that is, those organized along the lines of gender and race/ethnicity—reproduce hierarchies. Research networks composed of white men experience the most prestige and lead to the most opportunities. This study documents homophilous networks in a setting where they likely are nurtured: academic conferences. Drawing data from the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, we examine the correspondence between the gender and the racial/ethnic composition of section members, panelists, and audience members for four research sections: Political Methodology; Political Psychology; Race, Ethnicity, and Politics; and Women and Politics. We find that attendees’ and panelists’ gender and racial/ethnic identity largely mirror the dominant gender and racial/ethnic group in their section. These findings indicate that homophily manifests at academic conferences and that efforts to diversify research networks should consider who listens to whom in these settings

Novel Methods in the Diagnosis of PCOS: The Role of 3D Ultrasonographic Modalities

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common and complicated endocrine disorder, with its diagnosis based on clinical, laboratory and imaging criteria. The latter is usually assessed via two-dimensional ultrasound; however, the advent of three-dimensional ultrasound, along with three-dimensional power Doppler (3D-PD) could offer more accurate diagnoses and further our understanding of PCOS pathophysiology. Three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) has already been used successfully in many fields of gynecology. It offers improved image quality with stored data that can be processed either manually or automatically to assess many parameters useful in PCOS assessment, such as ovarian volume, number of follicles and vascular indices. The examination requires minimal time as data is assessed in post-processing, thus being more tolerable for the patient. 3D-US parameters are generally increased in PCOS patients when compared to controls and 2D measurements, with studies showing improved diagnostic performance, though that remains inconclusive. 3D transrectal ultrasound is more accurate in the diagnosis of virgin PCOS patients than the modalities currently available in that subgroup. Overall, though with some limitations, 3D-US is a promising diagnostic method in the assessment of PCOS which, regardless of diagnostic accuracy, can undoubtedly offer many practical advantages, more objective and reliable measurements, potentially improving PCOS diagnosis standardization

Partial Remodeling after Conservative Treatment of Trampoline Fractures in Children

(1) Background: Trampoline fractures (proximal tibia fracture with positive anterior tilt) are increasing. This study represents the first attempt to determine the extent of remodeling in these fractures after conservative treatment (2) Methods: This Swiss prospective multicenter study included children aged 2 to 5 years with a trampoline fracture who were radiologically examined on the day of the accident and after one year. In addition, the anterior tilt angle was compared between the injured and unaffected tibia. Remodeling was defined as complete (final anterior tilt angle ≤ 0°), incomplete (smaller but still >0°), or no remodeling. (3) Results: The mean extent of remodeling was −3.5° (95% CI: −4.29°, −2.66°, p p 1 year after the trauma showed advanced remodeling, suggesting that one year is too short to observe complete remodeling

Platoon Route Optimization for Picking up Automated Vehicles in an Urban Network

International audienceIn this paper, we consider the problem of vehicle collection assisted by a fleet manager where parked vehicles are collected and guided by fleet managers. Each platoon follows a calculated and optimized route to collect and guide the parked vehicles to their final destinations. The Platoon Route Optimization for Picking up Automated Vehicles problem, called PROPAV, consists in minimizing the collection duration, the number of platoons and the total energy required by the platoon leaders. We propose a formal definition of PROPAV as an integer linear programming problem, and then we show how to use the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), to deal with this multi-criteria optimization problem. Results in various configurations are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of NSGA-II to provide well-distributed Pareto-front solutions