Conservative Research Articles

Outcomes by sex in the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) trial.

In the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) trial, among participants with stable coronary artery disease, the risk of cardiac events was similar between an invasive (INV) strategy of angiography and coronary revascularisation and a conservative (CON) strategy of initial medical therapy alone. Outcomes according to participant sex were not reported. We aimed to analyse the outcomes of ISCHEMIA by participant sex. We evaluated 1) the association between participant sex and the likelihood of undergoing revascularisation for participants randomised to the INV arm; 2) the risk of the ISCHEMIA primary composite outcome (cardiovascular death, any myocardial infarction [MI] or rehospitalisation for unstable angina, heart failure or resuscitated cardiac arrest) by participant sex; and 3) the contribution of the individual primary outcome components to the composite outcome by participant sex. Of 5,179 randomised participants, 1,168 (22.6%) were women. Female sex was independently associated with a lower likelihood of revascularisation when assigned to the INV arm (adjusted odds ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57-0.99; p=0.04). The INV versus CON effect on the primary composite outcome was similar between sexes (women: hazard ratio [HR] 0.96, 95% CI: 0.70-1.33; men: HR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.76-1.07; pinteraction=0.71). The contribution of the individual components to the composite outcome was similar between sexes except for procedural MI, which was significantly lower in women (9/151 [5.9%]) than men (67/519 [12.9%]; p=0.01). In ISCHEMIA, women assigned to the INV arm were less likely to undergo revascularisation than men. The effect of an INV versus CON strategy was consistent by sex, but women had a significantly lower contribution of procedural MI to the primary outcome.

“Gender wars” and populist politics in South Korea

The 2022 South Korean presidential election campaign saw populist politicians, especially conservative parties, leverage gender conflicts and misogyny to attract young male swing voters. But there has been limited scholarly attention to the connection between gender and populist politics, particularly in South Korea, with research primarily focused on women's voting patterns, their political party representation, and on populist politics in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Existing research identifies that common strategies employed by populist politicians include anti-feminist discourses, reference to crises in masculinity, and appeals to emotion and affect. This paper examines how South Korean populist politics has utilized gender conflicts since democratization, considering the evolution of ‘gender wars’ in the South Korean context. It specifically delves into the strategies employed by conservative populist politicians from the People Power Party (PPP) during the 2022 election campaigns. These strategies, although similar to those of right-wing populists in Europe and the US, emphasized three key issues unique to South Korea: compulsory military service, low fertility rates, and the dismantling of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. This South Korean case contributes significantly to academic discussions about populist politics and gender, contextualized within the local political, social, and cultural context.

Publicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions

We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate scepticism – and the aggressiveness of climate-related tweets – was greater in states with higher per capita carbon emissions. This pattern remained significant after controlling for political conservatism, GDP per capita, education, and gender, and was replicated across 126 nations from around the world. The findings are consistent with a vested interest hypothesis—misinformation around climate change is most likely to be distributed in regions where there is high fossil fuel reliance, and where the economic stakes of acknowledging climate change are high. Understanding the macro-level patterns that are implicated in climate scepticism can help inform structural interventions for those seeking a low-carbon future.

Beyond revolutions: Mao-era China’s market entry strategies in Latin America

How did the People’s Republic of China develop commercial relations with the Global South during its Maoist years? This paper aims to explore the question through China’s market entry strategies in Latin America. Latin America posed significant challenges for Mao-era China in establishing robust relations. Under intense US pressure and the dominance of conservative politics, most Latin American nations maintained minimal commercial and political ties with China until 1971 when Beijing replaced Taipei in the UN. Notable exceptions were Cuba, following its armed revolution in 1959, and Chile, after its peaceful revolution in 1970, which formally recognised the PRC, leading to substantial trade agreements. This paper examines Chinese trade promotion in the region during the 1960s and early 1970s, contending that commercial ties, particularly Chinese exports to Latin America, were not simply the inevitable outcome of these revolutions and the establishment of diplomatic relations. Policy makers in Beijing and Chinese commercial representatives in Latin America strategically navigated market entry by leveraging cultural promotions, focusing on competitive Chinese products, notably processed foods, and tapping into the Chinese Overseas community as intermediaries. These strategies not only cultivated a favourable image of China in the region but also acquainted Latin American consumers with Chinese brands and products. Moreover, the paper analyzes how Chinese trade promoters recognised and addressed the nuances and disparities among Latin American countries, comprehended the significance of Cuba and Chile within the region, and contextualised Latin America’s position in the global market.

Mobilizing middlemen: the Conservative Political Action Conference and the creation of party activists

ABSTRACT How are activists molded into middlemen in a polarized two-party system? Using the case of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), this paper examines the process of activist mobilization that occurs at political gatherings. Using two rounds of interviews and participant observation from CPAC in 2019 and 2020, I argue that contrary to popular media portrayals of CPAC as political theater now rooted in the spectacle of President Trump, the conference is an important site of mobilizing activists into party middlemen. This happens through three processes: first conference attendees are taught conservative policy stances and presented with a bundle of issue positions; second, they are provided with the tools for effective activism formally through provided training and informally through socialization; and finally, their conservative identity is continually defined and reinforced with cultural meaning-making practices throughout the conference.

Predator's Prey: Reframing indigenous representation and Hollywood franchise cinema in the age of SVOD

AbstractHulu's Prey (2022), the fifth installment of the Predator franchise, is set in 1719 and features a Comanche female protagonist. The setting is unlike the 1987 Predator and its sequels, with their hardbody machismo and conservative politics. We argue that Prey is a small but significant step in Hollywood, but its inclusivity comes at a price. Though praised as progressive, it perpetuates a worldview in which Native Americans are ‘noble savages’ and processes of colonial dispossession are framed as quasi‐natural occurrences. Prey provides clues on the future of franchises in terms of how minority histories and subjectivities are represented.

The Electoral College’s Impact on Presidential Mandates and Agendas

The Electoral College is the method used in every four years to elect the President of the United States. Given that the Electoral College gives the power to elect the president to state-casted votes, the system has in recent years become a source of growing controversy given how two presidents, George Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016, without winning the national popular vote. These elections and the public discourse around them have brought new life to the purpose and impacts of the Electoral College. This paper uses key presidential elections, including those of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Harrison, Woodrow Wilson, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, give insight on how the Electoral College should now be understood. In particular, this paper examines the implications of the Electoral College on one fundamental question: Does election to the presidency via the Electoral College route fundamentally affect the ability of a president to govern effectively? Examining these elections, the context around and impact after these elections, and modern United States political history shows that when the Electoral College is not an extraordinary or exceptionally notable part of an election cycle, the Electoral College does not fundamentally affect the president’s ability to command public and political support required to effectively govern. However, when the Electoral College does become a point of focus during a presidential election and in the beginning of a president’s term, it has wide-ranging impacts. In particular, the College can shape the political and public mandate the president has to lead, shaping their overall agenda for their time in office; cause biases to arise towards certain states and conservative politics; and undermine their ability to serve as a unifying figure. With each modern election having an increased focus on the Electoral College, the system is likely to cause increased polarization and tension with each passing election if serious reforms are not undertaken.

Digital Innovation Hubs Transforming Business and Marketing Collaboration

In the fast-evolving landscape of business and marketing, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) have emerged as transformative catalysts, reshaping collaboration dynamics. The innovation hub, like incubators, R&D labs, and impact hubs, designates a physical space dedicated to fostering innovation within an organization or community. Defining an innovation hub proves challenging, as it is often linked to an open co-working space with a stylish design and tools for creative thinking. However, it extends beyond being merely a physical space for idea generation. A well-designed physical space facilitates in-person collaboration, while a digital platform enables global collaboration, transcending geographic constraints. Innovation hubs embody a distinctive entrepreneurial culture marked by a global perspective and values that often prioritize social behavior. Particularly in regions with conservative politics and cultural norms, these hubs can function as a secure environment for embracing culturally unfamiliar behaviors and mindsets. A Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) serves as an all-encompassing structure, empowering organizations to enhance competitiveness through the optimization of processes and the innovation of products and services using innovative digital technologies. Received: 25 December 2023 / Accepted: 25 February 2024 / Published: 23 April 2024

Drug Use Stigma and Public Preferences for Public Health Versus Legal System Responses

This study explored what perceptions and beliefs about substances and substance users, personal experiences, and network experiences with substance use were related to people’s preferences for public health and legal system responses to substance use. Social context was also considered, including location of residence, political ideology, and a sense of insecurity. Data were from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey, a cross-sectional omnibus mail survey of public attitudes in Nebraska, conducted in fall 2021. Approximately 1700 adults completed the survey. Controlling for demographic characteristics, the study found stigmatized attitudes about substance use, limited or no personal history with substance use, rural residence, and political conservatism were associated with more support for legal system responses. In contrast, less stigmatized attitudes about substance use, personal history of marijuana use, urban residence, political liberalism, and a sense of security were all associated with more support for public health responses.

The Iconic Apache: Early 1900s Paris and the Making of a Criminal Bogeyman

Abstract This article describes the creation of a criminal icon, the Paris Apache, brandished as a threat by the press and conservative politicians alike at the turn of the twentieth century in France. Archival analysis points to the theory that this figure of street crime was turned into a criminal ‘bogeyman’. The iconic Apache bogeyman allowed those manipulating it to focus the general public’s fears and attention on factual violence (crimes, assaults and misdemeanours) of which the structural causes (political instability and socio-economic inequalities) were masked by framing the criminal icon as solely responsible. This bogeyman role, embodied by the Apache in the past, is also examined in the present and analysed critically from the perspective of cultural criminology.

Perceived mental illness is associated with judgments of less agency, yet more moral wrongness

For a set of 10 conditions (e.g. homosexuality, obesity, drug addiction), we explored associations between moral judgments, agency evaluations, and perceptions that a condition is a mental illness. In a preregistered study ( n = 1,249 U.S. adults), we found that perceptions of lower agency were associated with decreased moral wrongness judgments, as well as increased perceptions of mental illness, yet perceived moral wrongness was the most robust predictor of perceived mental illness. In other words, although perceived mental illness was associated with evaluations that tend to be morally exonerating (such as less control and greater difficulty changing), we observed positive associations between wrongness judgments and perceived mental illness. We also found that—at least within our set of conditions—political conservatives tended to evaluate conditions as more controllable, more morally wrong, and more of a mental illness, yet on the whole, ideology was not a reliable predictor of perceived mental illness. Instead, liberals and conservatives with similar wrongness evaluations tended to similarly ascribe mental illness. These findings raise questions about potential causal relationships between mental illness perceptions and moral evaluations and the possibility that perceived moral wrongness might sometimes contribute to perceptions that a condition ought to be considered a mental illness.

“Pertinacity Is Fortitude”: Rethinking Conduct Books and Youthful Resistance

This article reassesses the conduct genre by questioning the critical association between conduct literature and conservative models of gendered domesticity. Challenging the assumption that progressive attitudes toward issues like women's equality and youthful conduct could not coexist with otherwise conservative political or religious beliefs, I analyze conduct books by Evangelical Christians such as Hannah More, Isaac and Ann Taylor, and Jane West. I intend to demonstrate that many conduct books by conservative Christians normalized and even validated behavior traits like “obstinacy,” “pertinacity,” and “resistance” during adolescence, and often explicitly condemned the very features of passive domesticity that critics typically identify with idealized, “proper” conduct of the period.

“He Who Leaves the Old Way for the New, Knows What He Leaves, but Does Not Know What He Will Find”: Traditionalism, Zero-Sum Thinking, and Imagined Future

The radical rejection of the liberal political movements of the 1960s and 1970s by conservative politicians has been a core aspect of conservative politics. In fact, the youth movements of the 1960s broadened the goals of the labor and civil rights movement, also dealing with pacifism, ecologism, promotion of a new sexuality, new rights for women, and different sexual identities foreshadowing a revolutionary future for Western societies. It has been referred to as the silent revolution to define this movement of social change that began more than half a century ago. However, the reaction to the changes promoted by this movement since the 1980s has led to a cultural backlash. Fear of diversity, immigration, and economic and ecological crises has thus been the trigger for the new conservatism and populism. Everything produced by globalization has been considered decadent and immoral compared to a great and glorious past. The fortunes of the new populist parties in this sense are based on a traditionalist ideology that is not new at all, however. This article shows from a historical perspective how the idea of a threatening future found in the contemporary populist right is a radical conservative tendency that recurs throughout human history. In the article, an attempt will be made to define the culture and psychology of this conservative rejection of the future. Finally, possible solutions will be described in order to imagine a positive idea of the future.

Waiting for Today’s Barbarians: How the Fall of the Roman Empire Is Anachronistically Exploited to Serve a Contemporary Discriminatory B/Ordering and Othering Agenda

ABSTRACT In this paper, we analyze the “Colosseum interview” of former U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in which he pleads for fierce border control against refugees, “like the Romans did.” His speech act is exemplary of a trend among especially conservative and/or far-right politicians and thinkers who are warning of a possible fall of the E.U., like the Roman Empire, if it does not “control its borders.” Close reading and deconstructing his phantasmagorical claims, we showcase how Johnson follows a worrying populist tradition of selectively and anachronistically glorifying the Roman past to legitimize contemporary antagonistic b/ordering and othering practices. We argue that precisely the normalization of such dog-whistle speech acts, where historical events are farcically tragedized to fit violent political agendas, potentially paves the way for future tragedies to emerge.

Participatory politics and education policy reform: publics and histories

ABSTRACT In this theoretical article, we respond to a common education policy discourse that represents community participation in educational policy-making as an essentially rational solution to policy problems and as inherently progressive and democratic. We propose that conceptualising participatory politics as ‘publics’ challenges this discourse and provides new openings for understanding community participation in education policy reform as modes of worldmaking. Historicising the participative turn within the key decades of the 1970s and 1980s, we argue that mobilisations of participatory politics in education reform are complicated by the existence of participatory reactionary or conservative politics and by participatory politics that are either fleeting and unsuccessful, or exceed or refuse the sovereignty of the liberal democratic state. We propose that working with the theories of the publics can enable a richer understanding of the history of neoliberal education policy reform and of present and future aspirations for participatory education policy practices.

Of Cakes, Websites and Faith-Based Complaints: the Fine Art of Crafting Religion as Speech

Abstract In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (2023), for the first time ever, the United States Supreme Court (USSC) explicitly recognised that business commercials now enjoy constitutional, First Amendment-based religious exemptions from providing services to same-sex customers. Not even in its much-maligned decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), which extended in an unprecedented way to for-profit companies statutory (but not constitutional) rights heretofore confined to churches, the Court went this far. But more than this, the decision in 303 Creative LLC also appears to be the symbol of something new: a definitive shift to the Free Speech Clause to the U.S. Constitution as an alternative tool to the Free Exercise Clause for protecting religious liberty. This article explains why this shift in doctrine has happened, why it matters, and how enhanced protections for business religious free speech fits with the agenda of conservative constitutional politics in America.

Contributions of human cultures to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

The expansion of globalized industrial societies is causing global warming, ecosystem degradation, and species and language extinctions worldwide. Mainstream conservation efforts still focus on nature protection strategies to revert this crisis, often overlooking the essential roles of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&LC) in protecting biodiversity and ecosystems globally. Here we assess the scientific literature to identify relationships between biodiversity (including ecosystem diversity) and cultural diversity, and investigate how these connections may affect conservation outcomes in tropical lowland South America. Our assessment reveals a network of interactions and feedbacks between biodiversity and diverse IP&LC, suggesting interconnectedness and interdependencies from which multiple benefits to nature and societies emerge. We illustrate our findings with five case studies of successful conservation models, described as consolidated or promising 'social-ecological hope spots', that show how engagement with IP&LC of various cultures may be the best hope for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, particularly when aligned with science and technology. In light of these five inspiring cases, we argue that conservation science and policies need to recognize that protecting and promoting both biological and cultural diversities can provide additional co-benefits and solutions to maintain ecosystems resilient in the face of global changes.

El Cuento del Destino: Latino Voters, Demographic Determinism, and the Myth of an Inevitable Democratic Party Majority

Abstract According to the “demography as destiny” theory, growing minority populations (which predominantly support Democrats) and the declining White population (which mostly votes Republican) will move politics and policy in more progressive directions. Latino voters are central to this account, but our critical analysis argues that such demographic determinism, which we call el cuento del destino, should be reconsidered. First, we argue that an overinvestment in the demography as destiny narrative causes distortions in party strategies; Democrats have been overconfident, and Republicans underconfident, about their abilities to secure the support of Latino voters. We examine trends in Latino voting behavior and partisan affiliation during and after the Trump years to show how the demographic narrative drives both parties to adopt suboptimal electoral strategies. Second, this narrative may also have implications for democracy itself, because misunderstandings about demographic determinism have led some Republicans to mistakenly worry that free and fair elections will inevitably lead to their party's electoral oblivion. Third, we interrogate the assumptions of the demography as destiny narrative, arguing that the political implications of Latino population growth are unclear and that the nature of Latino identity remains an open question. We conclude by describing the likely future of the Latino electorate as one characterized by growing partisan and political heterogeneity—including greater support for conservative politics—and suggest how the field of Latino politics might better understand such dynamics.

The Political Strategies and Ideological Transformation of Political Conservatism: Russian Monarchist Emigrant Organisations’ Political Activity in the 1920s

Abstract The twentieth century may be characterised as an epoch dominated by migratory movements, marked particularly by the substantial human displacements precipitated by wars and revolutionary upheavals during its first half. Historiographical tendencies have often led to a narrowed concentration on select dimensions of political immigration, neglecting the broader spectrum of ideological currents that influenced these movements. A case in point is the insufficiently examined narrative of Russian monarchist factions in Western Europe during the 1920s and early 1930s, and the subsequent evolution or dissolution of their ideological tenets. This research undertakes a historiographical analysis, a comprehensive review of both domestic and international scholarly literature, and a thorough evaluation of ancillary sources concerning the activities of Russian monarchist entities in Western Europe throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The study specifically accentuates the chronological segment of the 1920s within the history of the Russian monarchist movement, illuminating their concerted efforts to formulate a political doctrine that not only aimed at the reinstatement of monarchical governance but also sought to present a counter-narrative to the communist manifesto propagated by the Bolsheviks, thereby attempting to establish a more compelling and pragmatic alternative.

Do conservative central bankers weaken the chances of conservative politicians?

Do conservative central bankers weaken the chances of conservative politicians?