Preexisting Ideologies Research Articles

Teaching U.S. Constitutional Design: The Case of the “Genovian Revolution”

In the modern American politics classroom, ideological and partisan conflict have the capacity to interfere with a healthy classroom environment. This problem is increasingly apparent when students engage questions at the heart of U.S. Constitutional design. By asking students to inhabit fictional roles with preferences and attitudes that may differ from their own, classroom simulation activities present a potential solution to this issue. In the present study I introduce a two-week constitutional convention simulation that centers on the fictional Principality of Genovia. Working in groups, students assume roles within various segments of Genovian society who seek democratic representation following the sudden abdication of their autocratic prince. The simulation is designed to foreshadow key concepts in American government and politics. It does so in a way that allows for vociferous debate and conflict while sidestepping students’ preexisting ideologies and party attachments. It also provides a collaborative, active learning environment that fosters healthy classroom dynamics and encourages later collaboration. In a pre-post survey instrument, I test the effectiveness of the Genovian simulation in fostering key learning outcomes and enhancing the student experience vis-a-vis several other classroom modules, finding that the Genovian exercise is beneficial to students on several dimensions.

Digital Identity Infrastructures: a Critical Approach of Self-Sovereign Identity

The shift from electronic identification to digital identity is indicative of a broader evolution towards datafication of identity at large. As digital identity emerges from the fringes of technical challenges towards the legal and socio-technical, pre-existing ideologies on the reform of digital identity re-emerge with a newfound enthusiasm. Self-sovereign identity is one representative example of this trend. This paper sets out to uncover the principles, technological design ideas, and underlying guiding ideologies that are attached to self-sovereign identity infrastructures, carrying the promise of user-centricity, self-sovereignty, and individual empowerment. Considering the flourishing of digital identity markets, and the subsequent institutional interest on a European level in the techno-social promises that this identity architecture carries, this paper explores how the implementation of EU-wide self-sovereign identity shifts the already existing historical power balances in the construction of identity infrastructures. In this contribution, we argue that the European-wide adoption of self-sovereign ideals in identity construction does not address the shortcomings that identity and identification have historically faced and that instead of citizen empowerment, it puts individuals (a category broader than citizens) in a rather vulnerabilized position.

Covid-19 Research in Alternative News Media: Evidencing and Counterevidencing Practices

The Covid-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an excess of accurate and inaccurate information (infodemic) that has prevented people from finding reliable guidance in decision-making. Non-professional but popular science communicators—some with a political agenda—supply the public with scientific knowledge regarding Covid-19. This kind of communication represents a worrisome force in societal discourses on science-related political issues. This article explores online content (<em>N </em>= 108 articles) of two popular German “alternative news” media (<em>NachDenkSeiten</em> and <em>PI News</em>) that present and evaluate biomedical research concerning Covid-19. Using thematic analysis, we investigated how scientific evidence was presented and questioned. Regarding the theoretical background, we drew on the concept of “evidencing practices” and ideas from argumentation theory. More specifically, we studied the use of the following three evidencing and counterevidencing practices: references to Data/Methods, references to Experts/Authorities, and Narratives. The results indicate that the studied alternative news media generally purport to report on science using the same argumentation mechanisms as those employed in science journalism in legacy media. However, a deeper analysis reveals that argumentation directions mostly follow preexisting ideologies and political agendas against Covid-19 policies, which leads to science coverage that contradicts common epistemic authorities and evidence. Finally, we discuss the possible implications of our findings for audience views and consider strategies for countering the rejection of scientific evidence.

The role of ideological dimensions in shaping acceptance of facial recognition technology and reactions to algorithm bias.

Facial recognition technology has been introduced into various aspects of social life, yet it has raised concerns over its infringement of civil liberties and biases against minorities. This study investigates how three ideological dimensions-social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and libertarianism-shape facial recognition acceptance. First, two surveys of crowdsourced workers (N = 891 and 587) demonstrated that the acceptance of facial recognition applications is positively associated with right-wing authoritarianism and negatively with libertarianism, whereas social dominance orientation shows little influence. Second, an experiment (N = 496) exposed participants to information about demographic biases in facial recognition applications. This message produced more opposition to facial recognition and this effect largely was not moderated by the three ideological dimensions. In summary, individuals' endorsement of various ideologies predicts their acceptance of facial recognition technology, but messages about algorithm biases in facial recognition can still shape their attitudes regardless of the preexisting ideologies.

Math Adventures with Tuffy: A 2D Game to Aid in Learning Mathematics

Abstract: Games have always played a significant role in a student’s life. With the fast paced technological development and the virtualization of learning environments, the need for bridging the gap between learning and gaming has never been higher. Studies have shown that integrating games into academics have shown significant improvement in the students’ engagement and are motivated to perform well. The aim of this study is to develop a 2D platform game to support learning of mathematics at elementary level. Various academic aspects are integrated into in order to set a learning environment using game mechanics. Building on the pre-existing ideologies on games for learning while basing it on Educational requirements and enhancing the gaming experience. This makes the learning experience engaging and fun all the while focusing on the learning experience, and when education is related with fun the positive aspects of gaming would be reflected on academics as well. The study focuses on game development and how various concepts for gamification are implemented and integrated to it. Understanding the relationship between education and gaming leads to compelling Academic solutions. This could revolutionize the field of Education and how it is imparted. Keywords: Gamification, learning environment, educational tool, development, math game.

Updating politicized beliefs: How motivated reasoning contributes to polarization

This paper examines how the political significance of information can affect subjects’ perceived reliability of that information and their motivated belief updating. In this study, 1,222 subjects were randomly assigned to receive low-reliability, high-reliability, or ambiguous information about neutral and political questions. For each question, subjects were first asked to give a numerical estimate. After receiving new information, subjects had the opportunity to update their previous numerical estimates, and then, they reported their perceived reliability of the information they received. I observed that subjects were more reluctant to update their beliefs for politically significant questions compared to neutral questions. I also found that subjects were more likely to discredit and reject new information when it challenged their preexisting ideology, indicating that one’s rooted political beliefs can distort the belief updating process. In addition, subjects drew different conclusions from ambiguous information depending on their political ideology, illustrating how ambiguity may lead to greater polarization. Finally, I discuss possible explanations for subjects’ biased integration of new information using motivated reasoning and belief-based utility theories. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of why people remain divided on politically charged issues.

COVID‐19 and Food Security in Fiji: The Reinforcement of Subsistence Farming Practices in Rural and Urban Areas

<scp>COVID</scp>‐19 and Food Security in Fiji: The Reinforcement of Subsistence Farming Practices in Rural and Urban Areas

When Do Partisans Stop Following the Leader?

ABSTRACT Evidence of public opinion blindly following political leader rhetoric has important implications for the scope of elite influence and normative democratic concerns. Past research, however, does not test the strength of real world leader cues amid signals that conflict with a leader’s policy message, and thus has not gauged sthe robustness of the “follow-the-leader” dynamic. The current study explores whether two different conflicting signals – 1) opposing intra-party Congressional elite cues and 2) negative policy information that gives compelling reasons to oppose a policy – attenuate leader influence in support of a realistic counter-stereotypical policy. A national survey experiment with two parallel partisan designs shows that individuals follow their leader to a substantial degree whether or not conflicting signals are present. Conflicting co-party elite cues do not attenuate leader influence among Republicans. For Democrats, although they weaken amid opposition, leader cues still shape mass opinion sizably. Providing substantially more information about the policy at hand does not make either partisan group much less likely to follow their leader, a finding that holds regardless of individuals’ preexisting ideology in the policy area. Results demonstrate the broad conditions under which “follow-the-leader” behavior holds and reveal a stronger nature of elite influence than previously understood. Party elites and information fail to effectively constrain the sway of prominent leaders, who have considerable latitude in positions they can take without losing mass support.

When Do Partisans Stop Following the Leader?

Evidence of public opinion blindly following political leader rhetoric has important implications for the scope of elite influence and normative democratic concerns. Past research, however, does not test the strength of real world leader cues amid signals that conflict with a leader's policy message, and thus has not gauged the robustness of the follow-the-leader dynamic. The current study explores whether two different conflicting signals---1) opposing intra-party Congressional elite cues and 2) negative policy information that gives compelling reasons to oppose a policy---attenuate leader influence in support of a realistic counter-stereotypical policy. A national survey experiment with two parallel partisan designs shows that individuals follow their leader to a substantial degree whether or not conflicting signals are present. Conflicting co-party elite cues do not attenuate leader influence among Republicans. For Democrats, although they weaken amid opposition, leader cues still shape mass opinion sizably. Providing substantially more information about the policy at hand does not make either partisan group much less likely to follow their leader, a finding that holds regardless of individuals' preexisting ideology in the policy area. Results demonstrate the broad conditions under which follow-the-leader behavior holds and reveal a stronger nature of elite influence than previously understood. Party elites and information fail to effectively constrain the sway of prominent leaders, who have considerable latitude in positions they can take without losing mass support.

Fraternity Membership, Traditional Masculinity Ideologies, and Impersonal Sex: Selection and Socialization Effects.

Fraternity culture perpetuates traditional masculinity ideologies, but little research has considered the process by which men internalize these ideologies. Men may select into fraternities based on preexisting ideologies, or fraternities may have a socializing effect on ideologies. We used two longitudinal datasets to explore selection and socialization effects of fraternity membership on masculinity ideologies (gendered beliefs, gendered traits, and sexual double standard beliefs) and impersonal sex (sexual motives and multiple sex partners) among ethnically and racially diverse college men. Using dataset one (n = 166, M = 18.0 years old fall of first year), we explored the selection and socialization effects of fraternity membership on male role norms, masculine traits, and endorsement of the sexual double standard. Men who more strongly endorsed male role norms about status and the sexual double standard were more likely to join fraternities than other men, indicating selection effects. Using dataset two (n = 256, M = 18.5 years old fall of first year), we explored selection and socialization effects of fraternity membership on sex motives and multiple sex partners. We did not find much evidence for selection or socialization effects on sex motives and multiple sex partners. Our findings may inform intervention efforts for men before and during college.

Myth and Identities in Romanticism – The Role of "Forerunner Identities"

Neither the romantic identity nor its spirit belongs to the romanticism itself. They aroused in earlier movements of cultural, religious, and political character. At the cultural level, the birth of romanticism was preceded by great intellectual movements: Humanism and Renaissance; at the social and political level, the powerful repercussions of the French and American revolution preceded the awakening and growing of the idea of solidarity between individuals of one race, one language and one nation. At the ecclesiastical level, however, such were reformation and counter-reformation. These premises represent the forerunner of romanticism. They provoke its birth and determine its character. Only above them, romanticism revived the myth of common culture, paved the way for the formation of national languages, and institutionalized the awareness of the national state. This paper deals with this everlasting relationship between the romanticism and forerunner . The paper analyses the presence of the aesthetical premises in writing history in humanism and the transformation of this archetype in Romanticism. We also analyse the way how the Renaissance futures were transformed into a principle for history recognition and recreation of the myth in Romanticism. Closely, we will analyse the identities from which the romantic myth was born. The paper also discusses the idea how pre-existing ideologies of Humanism, Medieval Period, and how philobiblistic or pre-romantic authors influenced the creation of a romantic awareness and influenced the birth of the romantic myth.

REESTRUTURAÇÕES CURRICULARES NAS LICENCIATURAS: UM ENSAIO TEÓRICO SOBRE AS DUAS FACES – A LEGISLATIVA E A REAL

The initial formation of teachers in the Brazilian context depends on a plurality of guidelines that guide the initial formation and teacher professionalization. This theoretical essay was elaborated with the objective of discussing the problem of curricular adequacy in the initial formation of teachers, based on the structuring guidelines of the degree courses, pondering the importance of the pre-existing ideologies of the Trainer Teacher. In this work we have as main references Apple (2006) and Sacristán (2008) for the discussion of curriculum and Opinion CNE / CP nº 111/2012 as an example in this discussion. As a result of this reflection, we consider that it is essential to continue the formation of teacher trainers, so that there is a space for reflection on what it means to train a teacher and about the culture in which their experience within the university, enabling the ideological rupture of the teacher and also building and unbalancing hegemonies within the colleges by building curricula for undergraduate degrees.

The V-Girls: Feminism and the Authentic Subject after Post-structuralism

The feminist performance troupe the V-Girls satirized the conventions of academia and trends in deconstructionist, psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, and feminist thought in their three performances, “Academia in the Alps: In Search of Swiss Mis(s)” (1988-92), “The Question of Manet’s Olympia: Posed and Skirted” (1989-92), and “The V-Girls: Daughters of the ReVolution,” (1993-96). In their earliest two performances, the V-Girls simultaneously identify with and question post-structuralism, suggesting that its critique of humanism’s autonomous subject actually bolsters academics’ claim to individual mastery. By explaining away her beliefs as effects of pre-existing ideologies, the V-Girls suggest, the post-structuralist academic need not risk advancing her convictions or participating in collective action. In their final performance, the V-Girls ask if second-wave feminism provides a salvageable model of the self-identified, authentic subject ready to speak out and work collaboratively. In so doing, they also reveal overlooked parallels between the humanist and second-wave feminist conception of the subject.

Instances of kingship in Sverris saga

The methodology proposed in this article is that of historical research, which is understood as the formulation or identification of a research topic, followed by literature review and sources’ collection, assessment of the sources in an order that is logical and/or chronological, information and findings’ synthesis, and finally the narrative exposition of the research results and the finding of a general conclusion that draws on the finds of each segment of the research. Regarding the formula “instances of kingship” in the title, the concept of ideology plays an important role in the current research as one of the premises of the study is that power relations are embedded in it. The term ideology is to be taken in consideration in its political meaning, which is why I have chosen the formula “ideology of power”. The premise of the current thesis is that political behaviour is shaped by pre-existing ideology, which is not always logical yet it holds great meaning for the society under examination. The concept of political power includes a suite of levels of analysis: the discussion of the transformation of power (whether it is conferred, delegated, shared or limited), the way power is exerted (either through consent or coercion), what power relies on (coercion or influence) and possibly whether it flows from authority, legitimacy, or right. The source to be used in the purpose of discerning the characteristics of royalty in Norway is Sverris saga, which represents a unique source among the kings’ sagas, since it is entirely dedicated to the rule of one king.

Developing a social psychology of climate change

Pennsylvania State University, USADespite overwhelming consensus among scientists about thereality of anthropogenic climate change (Bray, 2010; Oreskes,2004), there remains significant reluctance on the part ofcitizens and politicians to take the action needed to addressit. This resistance has been repeatedly identified in socialresearch (Leiserowitz & Maibach, 2010; Leviston, Leitch,Greenhill, Leonard, & Walker, 2011; Lorenzoni & Pidgeon,2006; McCright & Dunlap, 2011; Reser, Bradley, Glendon,Ellul, & Callaghan, 2012) and is mirrored by the lack of prog-ress made by salient political summits (Rogelj et al., 2010).Perhaps as a response to this, scholarly journals and articlesthat are focused on climate change are growing. Naturalscientists tell us that we know what needs to be done to avertdangerous climate change (IPCC, 2014), and economists tellus that delaying action in the short term will lead to muchgreater costs in the long term (Stern, 2007). Understandingpublic responses to climate change and developing solutionsto catalyse action is a critical challenge for the social sciences,and we propose that the development and elaboration of asocial psychology of climate change would be a cornerstoneof such an approach.We do not make the claim that social psychology has all theanswers but rather that the theories, models and researchmethods of social psychology can provide a powerful arsenalto complement the approaches of other disciplines. Re-searchers have already begun to apply social psychologicaltheory and methods to the issue of climate change, and wehighlight in the following sections examples of the insightsthat have flowed from this. We cannot assume, though, thatour theories and findings will automatically generalise to theclimate change context. As Moser (2010) has noted, thereare unique dimensions to climate change that make it distinctfrom other environmental, risk and health issues: The causesof climate change are invisible to humans, the impacts are dis-tal and it is complex and riddled with uncertainties. Modernurban humans are to some extent insulated from their physicalenvironment, and the lags between the climate and social sys-tems make it difficult for people to understand their role ininfluencing climate.These factors suggest the importance of developing a socialpsychology of climate change, empirically testing, integratingand refining existing theories and models to develop newframeworks. The notion that psychology can play a role inunderstanding and addressing climate change is not a newone. The American Psychological Association’s Task Forceon the interface between psychology and global climatechange comprehensively detailed the ways in which psycho-logical research can help to understand people’s perceptionsof the risks of climate change, the contribution of human be-haviour to climate change, the psychosocial impacts of climatechange, the ways in which people can adapt and cope withclimate change and the psychological barriers that could limitclimate change action (Swim et al., 2009, 2011).It is also not a new idea that social psychology can play animportant role in understanding and addressing environmentalproblems and solutions (Clayton & Brook, 2005). Social psy-chology, specifically, has a long tradition oftheory andresearchthat is relevant to addressing key climate change questions.Attitudes, social cognition, persuasion and attitude change, so-cial influence, and intragroup and intergroup behaviour, forinstance, are fundamental foci for social psychology and havedirect relevance for understanding the human and social dimen-sionsofclimatechange.Thetimeisripetounderstandtherangeof research that has been developing in social psychology onattitudes, beliefs and actions, to build upon these insights, andintegrate them with knowledge from other sciences to developmodels and theories indigenous to the climate change context.In the following section, we provide a brief overview of re-cent social psychological research that addresses three broadthemes relevant to understanding and responding to climatechange. These themes are as follows: (i) social psychologicalinfluences on climate change attitudes and beliefs; (ii) facilita-tors and barriers to climate change action; and (iii) changingclimate change attitudes and behaviour. Although there issome overlap in these themes, as an organising principle theyintuitively map on to key questions that arise in relation to cli-mate change. Our aim is to highlight recent examples of socialpsychological research that provide interesting and importantinsights in relation to these themes. Swim, Markowitz, andBloodhart (2012) have noted that much of the social psycho-logical research on climate change has emerged since 2006;we focus in on the most recent of this research that has beenpublished since 2010. We also outline how the studies in thespecial issue relate to these themes. We recognise that theseare not the only areas where social psychological researchand theory can make important contributions but they never-theless relate to key questions that need to be addressed. Weconclude the introduction by proposing considerations thatsocial psychologists could take into account in their futureresearch on climate change.European Journal of Social Psychology, Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 44, 413–420 (2014)

Death Goes to the Polls: A Meta‐Analysis of Mortality Salience Effects on Political Attitudes

Terror management theory posits that people are motivated to affirm cultural meaning systems, including political ideologies, to avoid the awareness of mortality. Accordingly, studies show that increasing mortality salience (MS) intensifies people's attitudes toward political issues and figures. However, whereas in some studies MS increases affirmation of preexisting political ideologies, be they liberal or conservative (supporting a “worldview‐defense hypothesis”), in other studies MS elicits a general shift toward conservatism, regardless of preexisting ideology (supporting a “conservative‐shift hypothesis”). The current study used meta‐analysis to assess the overall magnitude of MS effects on explicitly political attitudes and to clarify the nature of these effects by comparing effect sizes for these competing hypotheses. The overall effect of MS on political attitudes was large (r = .50). The effects of MS‐induced worldview defense (r = .35) and conservative shifting (r = .22) were significant and statistically equivalent. We discuss the conditions (e.g., contextual salience of political values) under which conservative shifting or worldview defense occurs.

State Formation, Visual Technology and Spectatorship: Visions of Modernity in Brazil and Argentina

How can we conceive of the relation between technologies of image-making and the formations of political power, without reducing the former to merely superstructural effects of a pre-existing ideology or deducing the latter from the functional determination inherent in technical apparatuses? In this article, I revisit the notion of the state as a visual form I proposed in an earlier work, arguing that in order to understand the articulation between politics and visuality in modernity we need to pay attention to the performance of showing and seeing that mediates between the spectacle and spectatorship. To grasp the way in which historical change (political and technological) impacts on this constellation, in particular in the transition from photographic to cinematic regimes of visuality between the late 19th and early 20th century, I take these questions through two rather different ‘case studies’: photographer Juan Gutiérrez’s images of Brazilian state rituals in the mid-1890s and Jorge Luis Borges’s short story ‘The Aleph’ of 1949. Whereas Gutiérrez’s photographic series, I argue, announces the cinema and its ways of mobilizing actors and spectators alike, as the limit of a 19th-century visuality primed on the stability and self-enclosedness of viewers and objects, Borges’s story retrospectively enacts the transition from photographic to cinematic seeing in an intratextual battle of acts of transcription from the impossible object at the centre of the plot, which grants infinite, universal visibility to the one who beholds it. Reading the two together, or against one another, then, allows us to see the dimension of transience undercutting the apparent solidity and timelessness with which scopic regimes promise us access to the real.

Catullus, Caesar and Roman Masculine Identity

One of the hallmarks of Latin love poetry is its seemingly oppositional stance toward traditional Roman values. As I and others have recently argued, however, critical approaches that merely focus on a search for oppositional ideology in Roman poetry are not only reductionist but also fail to do justice to the complex literary strategies at work in those texts. As Matthew Santirocco suggests, Augustan literature does not simply reflect a pre-existing ideology but rather participates interactively in its production. It seems to me that mis applies equally well to Catullus. By problematizing the poet's relationship to male public culture, Catullus sets the stage not only for the elegists’ ambivalent stance toward political life, but also for their ambiguous gender identifications.

The Nation's Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America (review)

Nation's Crucible: Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America. By Peter J. Kastor. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004. Pp. xii, 311. Cloth, $35.00.)Teachers of writing could use this book as an example of robust argument. There is no missing the analytical stance of a book that announces that previous scholars have produced a fundamentally misleading vision of the early American republic (8), done more to obfuscate than to clarify (155), and ignored the complexities (40) of the Louisiana Purchase and its aftermath. Lest anyone miss the import of his own interpretation, Peter J. Kastor closes with this thunderous sentence: The incorporation of Louisiana had defined an American (228). This book takes on virtually all of the existing scholarship since George Dangerfield. It takes an impressive piece of work to sustain this sort of rhetorical intensity. Kastor delivers substantially, if not completely.Kastor's argument is that existing scholarship has focused too much on nationalism as political theory or sentiment and too little on nation as a practical solution to practical problems. He rejects the view of the Louisiana Purchase as part of a long story of territorial acquisition under the flag of Manifest Destiny. He claims instead that the incorporation of Louisiana's people posed unanticipated and unintended challenges that had to be resolved on the fly without benefit of any pre-existing ideology of national expansion. To understand both the incorporation of Louisiana and the emergence of a sense of membership in a nation, we must look at the practical business of governing the Orleans Territory and bringing it to statehood.Kastor develops his argument through nine engaging chapters covering background, acquisition, organizing territorial government, lawmaking, statehood, the War of 1812, and the ultimate full incorporation of white Louisianans into the American Union. Kastor argues throughout that to the United States is a more useful concept than national identity. He calls attachment something inherently pragmatic (5). Louisianans had to choose to attach themselves to the United States and the rest of the country had to choose to accept them. These, says Kastor, were decisions made for practical reasons of self-interest, not out of some vague sense of identity.Kastor traces how the problem of attachment played out through the business of organizing governments, writing laws, dealing with Spanish and Indian neighbors, determining Catholic episcopal authority, responding to the Burr conspiracy, appealing for statehood, and resisting British invasion. He acknowledges the importance of theoretical questions raised by this first incorporation of non-Anglo-Saxons into the Union. He especially focuses on the uncertainty over whether French Louisianans were-or could become-Americans. Yet his attention is not on the questions themselves but on the practical steps the various players took to create answers. Kastor's interest is not in whether Louisianans felt American, but in what they did to claim their position as American citizens.Kastor's treatment of the role of race in the struggle for attachment is particularly insightful. …

The Past in the Present: A Cleavage Theory of Party Response to European Integration

This article explains the positions taken by national political parties on the issue of European integration over the period 1984–96. Based on the theory of party systems developed by Lipset and Rokkan, we develop a cleavage account of party response to new political issues. We hypothesize that European integration is assimilated into pre-existing ideologies of party leaders, activists and constituencies that reflect long-standing commitments on fundamental domestic issues.