Strong Discipline Research Articles

Dealing in Discipline: Party Switching and Legislative Voting in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 1988–2000

Compared to U.S. political parties, parties in Italy (and Europe generally) are quite cohesive. Rarely do members of parliament vote against their copartisans in legislative divisions. Yet in Italy in recent years, legislators switch parties with seeming abandon. Between 1996 and spring 2000, one out of four deputies in the Chamber of Deputies switched parties at least once, compared to only 20 switches in the U.S. Congress from 1947 to 1997 (Nokken 2000). We examine the relationship between switching and observed party unity in Italy by focusing on individual legislators' switching decisions and voting behavior. Overall, switchers move out of highly disciplined parties, suggesting that they switch partly in order to escape strong discipline.

European, National, and (Anti-)Imperial: The Formation of Academic Oriental Studies in Late Tsarist and Early Soviet Russia

This article focuses on circulation of knowledge within discipline of Oriental Studies in Russia and in Europe from 1880s to late 1920s. In this period, two processes, closely intertwined but vectored in opposite directions, shaped nature of science and These processes were nationalization (the emergence of nation as structuring unit and principal arena of scientific activity) and internationalization (increased international cooperation as well as competition among scholars from different countries). (1) Even though Russian Oriental Studies as an established academic discipline dates back to 1804, it was only in 1880s that a community of Orientalist (2) scholars sharing a common identity and partaking in a clearly defined program of study emerged in (3) The period from 1880s to 1920s was time when discipline in Russia boasted greatest names, particularly Baron Viktor Rozen (1849-1908) and a group of his disciples, including Vasilii Bartol'd (1869-1930), Nikolai Marr (1864-1934), and Sergei Ol'denburg (1863-1934). (4) Within Russian academic community, Oriental Studies was perceived in that period as strongest discipline, which, on a par with Russian Studies, was most widely recognized internationally. (5) Furthermore, above-mentioned Orientalists believed that their discipline was central to key questions facing Russia at time. According to Bartol'd, [t]he fulfillment by Russians of their historic missions in West and in East is closely linked to situation of Russian scholarship. (6) In his view, [m]aybe modest works by Russian Orientalists more than other achievements of Russian culture will contribute to peaceful unification of peoples of East with Russia. (7) These scholars agreed that the prestige and immediate interests of Russia required Russian scholars to be in lead internationally in study of various nationalities populating Russian empire. (8) Thus, in eyes of these scholars, their work was explicitly linked to management of nationality question in Russia, to search for Russian national identity, and to Russia's imperial ambitions. These positions of Russian scholars and, in many ways, development of Russian Oriental Studies in period under review reflect general contemporary trends in European Since 19th century, this scholarship had been shaped by several forces. First, roots of a rapid development of various branches of humanities are to be found in a larger positivist enterprise [of Enlightenment] that sought empirically verifiable information about all societies everywhere. (10) In terms of methods used to extract and process this information pride of place belonged to those developed by classical philologists. Second, ideology of nationalism assigned special importance to study of scholars' own societies within their contemporary boundaries. Belief in division of world above all into nations placed nationality at center of historical, archaeological, philological, and ethnographic research. (11) Simultaneously, (nation-)states became increasingly involved in funding and setting agendas for scientists and scholars. (12) Finally, imperialism, another important political force with its own ideologies, also had an impact on various humanities disciplines, especially Oriental Studies. (13) This article discusses how interaction among these pan-European processes played out in case of Russian Oriental Studies. It starts by showing how modern Russian Oriental Studies took shape as an academic discipline under impact of debate in Russia about national identity. It then discusses impact of pan-European processes of nationalization and internationalization on Russian Oriental Studies by focusing on role of Rozen and his disciples. It further demonstrates how imperialist discourse promoted at international congresses of Orientalists was subverted by scholars' attempts to incorporate Orient into Russian identity and how belief in pan-European methods of scholarship co-existed with criticism of some of approaches of European scholars, leading to claims about moral superiority of Russian …

Uma sociedade juxta jotum naturare ou um corporativismo incompleto?

O artigo procura, numa perspectiva comparada, analisar as diferenças entre o corporativismo católico e aquelas experiências corporativas estatais que marcaram o cenário mundial, particularmente aquelas vividas em Portugal, Espanha e na Itália no período entre as duas grandes guerras mundiais. Para esta análise procuramos demarcar um campo específico na medida em que entendemos que o corporativismo católico não se confunde com o corporativismo estatal, muito embora ambos tenham em comum forte apelo disciplinador assumido pelos setores conservadores quando da emergência da questão social como sendo fundamentalmente uma questão do trabalho. Interessa-nos entender como o corporativismo católico se apresentou no Brasil e quais as suas convergências/divergências com o corporativismo católico presente na Europa no período citado. Faz-se necessário ainda compreender os caminhos discursivos através dos quais esta Igreja constrói seu discurso totalizador.

Targeting Inflation and the Fiscal Balance: What is the Optimal Policy Mix?

This paper identifies optimal policy rules in the presence of explicit targets for both the inflation rate and public debt. This issue is investigated in the context of a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model that describes a small open economy with capital accumulation, distortionary taxation and nominal price rigidities. The model is solved using a second-order approximation to the equilibrium conditions. Optimal policy features a strong anti-inflation stance and strict fiscal discipline. Targeting a domestic inflation index - as opposed to CPI - improves welfare because it reduces the inefficiencies that stem from both price stickiness and income taxes.

Chemistry in Australia: Growing Up, Down Under

Australian chemistry can trace its origins to immigration from Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century. The British tradition was maintained through the first half of the twentieth century by the research training undertaken in Britain by graduates of Australian university chemistry departments and the preference given to British chemists when making senior appointments at Australian universities. These traditions faded after 1950, but by then the influence of American chemistry was being felt. The leaders in this shift of allegiance were the inorganic co-ordination chemists, arguably the strongest discipline group in Australian chemistry through most of the twentieth century, although organic chemistry was also prominent, especially after 1960. Two aspects of applied chemistry stand out, the first relating to minerals and their associated physical chemistry, and the second to medicinal chemistry based on Australia's unique flora. The changes to the training and activities of chemists in Australia, traced over a century and a half, can be seen as part of an overall national "growing up" which produced, in broader spheres, changes in the social, economic, legal and political relationship of Australia to its mother country. At the same time as this disengagement went on, in chemistry as in many other fields, new relationships were developed with the United States.

Revisiting EMU's Stability Pact: A Pragmatic Way Forward

The Stability and Growth Pact is under fire. Some countries are meeting major problems in sticking to the rules. Proposals to reform the Pact or ditch it altogether abound. The alleged weaknesses of the Pact tend to reflect trade-offs typical of supra-national arrangements. This aspect has to be factored in when considering reforms of the current fiscal rules: there is no miracle solution. EMU without rules would be an interesting experiment, but a risky policy option. Given the existing degree of political integration in EMU, internal adjustment rather than attempting to redesign the rules from scratch appears a more suitable way forward. Redefining the medium-term budgetary target, improving transparency, tackling the pro-cyclical fiscal bias in good times, moving towards non-partisan application of the rules, and improving transparency in the data can achieve both stronger discipline and higher flexibility. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

How can the Stability and Growth Pact be improved to achieve both stronger discipline and higher flexibility?

While we are sceptical of re-opening the debate on the SGP,26 we think that its functioning can nonetheless be improved. Our main proposals concern redefining the medium-term budgetary targets, improving transparency, tackling the pro-cyclical fiscal bias in good times, moving towards non-partisan application of the rules and improving transparency in the data. This set of ideas allows the achievement of both stronger discipline and higher flexibility and can be implemented without requiring any major revision of the existing rules. These proposals do not provide a recipe for tackling the problems encountered by countries still in transition towards lower deficits in the event of a cyclical slump. Nevertheless, if implemented, they would limit the type of behaviour which is largely responsible for the current fiscal tensions.

Selection, Voting and Adjudication: The Politics of Legislative Membership in the Federal Republic of Germany

There Has Been Much Concern In The Past Few Years About the ‘decline of parliament’ in West European democracies. In the United Kingdom, criticism of the New Labour government has included its apparent neglect of Parliament demonstrated by the style and strategies of the government, ranging from reduction in the time allotted to prime minister's question-time and the utilization of the mass media rather than Parliament as the forum for important policy statements, to the government's refusal to accept reforms to the method of appointments to House of Commons select committees, as recommended by the House of Commons Liaison Committee. Strong party discipline, coupled with sanctions which can affect the political careers of MPs for failure to obey the edicts of the party leadership, have limited the autonomy of MPs in Britain, and, to a varying degree, in other West European countries also. Certainly the German Bundestag has been criticized for being too much under the control of the leaderships of the political parties, in terms of voting on legislation, the stage-management of debates and the choice of leaders of the parliamentary parties (the removal by Chancellor Schröder of Scharping as leader of the SPD parliamentary party in 1998 at the instigation of Lafontaine, the then party chairman, is a notorious instance).

Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males

Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males, by Freeman Hrabowski, III, Kenneth I. Maton, and Geoffrey L. Greif. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 205pp. $25.00, cloth. Reviewed by Zada N. Johnson, Olive-Harvey College. Beating the Odds is a collaborative examination of academically successful young African American men who have participated in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program in Baltimore, Maryland. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program was established in 1988 at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) as a response to studies indicating the disproportionately low numbers of African American males in college overall and the national shortage of African Americans earning doctoral degrees in science and engineering. In 1990, the program was expanded to include women among its participants. Its goal is to identify and lend support to promising African American college-going males interested in pursuing research careers in those fields. It recruits outstanding African American students and offers them accelerated course work, summer bridge activities, academic advising, and scholarship support at UMBC. The program consists of 13 primary components, including personal advising and counseling, a family involvement component, internship opportunities, a mentoring component, and involvement from university faculty, all of which exposes Meyerhoff scholars to an academically rigorous yet supportive postsecondary environment. Beating the Odds is divided into three major sections. Given that the study draws its substance from interviews conducted with these students and members of their families, the first section describes the information exchanges held with the African American male Meyerhoff participants and their families. From these candid discussions, the authors formulate a checklist of strategies and activities that they believe motivate African American males to achieve academic excellence and pursue mathematics and science careers from early childhood to college age. The second section discusses these effective parenting strategies in depth. The concluding section features an assessment of institutional and community-based programs such as the Meyerhoff initiative that provide a framework for the continued academic success of African American males in the 21st century. The authors early highlight the Meyerhoff participants' relationships with their families by discussing the responses of the students' fathers and mothers to questions about their approaches to ensuring their sons' success. At the outset, Hrabowski et al. identify several key parenting strategies as contributing to the academic achievement of African American male students. Among these are child-focused love, strong discipline and communication, positive race and gender identification, and parental involvement in students' academic lives. The critical importance of parental involvement is emphasized in this initial discussion. One chapter specifically focuses on fathers' involvement. In it, the authors contend that fathers are instrumental not only in preparing their sons for the challenges that will face them as African American males but also for setting rigid disciplinary boundaries with a high value placed on education. The authors note, however, that the mothers of these students appeared to do-that is, to implement the tasks and strategies that ensured their sons' successes-while the fathers appeared more involved and interested in instilling the philosophy of academic excellence in their sons. In essence, they contend, the mothers of these youth played a more centralized role in their sons' educational preparation while the fathers were more involved in discipline-related matters. Corroborating this conclusion, a chapter that addresses the young men's assessments of their academic success and focuses on family structure and parental education reveals that those who grew up in single-parent homes reported a centralized maternal influence with an emphasis on discipline and punishment. …

A study of exposure standards in Russia and the role of occupational hygiene.

This paper is the result of an investigation carried out in February 1997, which set out to learn about the development and application of occupational health standards, and in turn approaches to occupational environmental monitoring, in Russia, and to see how these were similar to, or different from, what takes place in other countries. The enquiry involved face-to-face meetings with senior Russian occupational health scientists and officials. It was confirmed that Russian occupational exposure standards are very stringent and provide a very high level of protection of workers. However, they are difficult to enforce, and it is suggested that the development of a strong and distinctive occupational hygiene discipline and profession in Russia would provide a "bridge" to enable more effective implementation and interpretation of those standards.

Disciplina partidária: o caso da Constituinte

Tomando como referência a Assembléia Nacional Constituinte brasileira de 1987-88 os autores examinam uma questão que assinalam ser insuficientemente tratada na bibliografia: a da disciplina partidária em nações latino-americanas. Os autores não encontram provas de uma disciplina partidária sólida, e examinam as conseqüências disso.

Regional archaeological projects

Explicitly regional projects have been a comparatively recent phenomenon in Mediterranean archaeology. Classical archaeology is by far the strongest discipline in the university, museum and antiquities services career structures within the Mediterranean countries. It has always been dominated by the ‘Great Tradition’ of classical art and architecture: even today, a university course on ‘ancient topography’ in many departments of classical archaeology will usually deal predominantly with the layout of the major imperial cities and the details of their monumental architecture. The strength of the tradition is scarcely surprising in the face of the overwhelming wealth of the standing remains of the Greek and Roman cities in every Mediterranean country. There has been very little integration with prehistory: early prehistory is still frequently taught within a geology degree, and later prehistory is still invariably dominated by the culture-history approach. Prehistory in many traditional textbooks in the north Mediterranean countries remains a succession of invasions and migrations, first of Palaeolithic peoples from North Africa and the Levant, then of neolithic farmers, then metal-using élites from the East Mediterranean, followed in an increasingly rapid succession by Urnfielders, Dorians and Celts from the North, to say nothing of Sea Peoples (from who knows where?!). For the post-Roman period, church archaeology has a long history, but medieval archaeology in the sense of dirt archaeology is a comparatively recent discipline: until the 1960s in Italy, for example, ‘medieval archaeology’ meant the study of the medieval buildings of the historic cities, a topic outside the responsibility of the State Archaeological Service (the Superintendency of Antiquities) and within that of the parallel ‘Superintendencies’ for monuments, libraries, archives and art galleries.

The Uruguay round and agricultural policies in developing countries and economies in transition

This paper reviews changes in the global trade policy environment as a result of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, and their potential impact on developing countries and economies in transition. The Agreement is, except in a few cases, not likely to present these countries with major policy adjustment problems. In Latin America, unilateral reforms have proceeded further than required by the Agreement. In Africa, countries that have experienced structural adjustment are liberalizing faster than the Agreement requires. In Asia the situation is mixed, but in general agricultural trade liberalization appears to be moving more slowly, especially when compared to Latin America; progress in reducing quantitative restrictions has been show. In Eastern Europe and the CIS, the progression and completeness of liberalization varies widely, though GATT notions of tariffication and tariff bindings have strengthened the position of reformers in those countries that are members of the WTO. While the short term impact of the Agreement may be modest, the bringing of agriculture under the rules of GATT should help prevent reintroducing non-tariff restrictions in the future. However, given that much of the food imports, particularly in parts of Asia, are still conducted by parastatals, if state trading in GATT-legal it is hard to anticipate how strong discipline on trade distorting support could be brought about.

Command and Control in Policing: A Systems Assessment of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Structure

A police force exhibits characteristics that are typical of those that can be found in many large, formal, bureaucratic organisations. It has a profound sense of hierarchy and shows a strong awareness of the power of procedure and the benefits to be gained from being systematic. It can be argued that such values and beliefs are entirely appropriate. Rules of evidence, for example, require a very strong discipline and offer very little opportunity for individual interpretation.In the context of such an orderly, systematic approach, the application of systems thinking, with its emphasis on Weltanschauung, viewpoint and perspective, may at first appear inappropriate to police activity. However, this paper argues that this is not the case. It uses systems thinking to examine one important aspect of policing where method and procedure are very important ‐the command and control of major incidents/operations ‐ and shows that its application enables important lessons to be drawn about the strengths and weaknesses of the mechanisms in place.

Legislative recruitment to upper houses: The Australian senate and house of representatives compared

Although a majority of liberal democracies are bicameral, only four – Australia, the United States, Germany and Switzerland – have upper houses which have any significant legislative authority. However, it is unclear to what extent upper house members differ – in their backgrounds and beliefs – from their lower house counterparts. This article applies multivariate methods to survey data collected among 1993 Australian federal election candidates to examine patterns of legislative recruitment and political attitudes among Australian Senate and House of Representatives candidates. The results show that Senate candidates differ significantly in their personal : and political backgrounds when compared to House of Representatives candidates, although there are few, if any, differences in political views. The findings confirm the strong discipline that the major parties exercise over the Senate, particularly by selecting candidates who are more party – oriented than their lower house counterparts. This is anoma...

Providing Opportunities for Disciplined Creativity

All of us would like to see more creativity in our discipline, but I suspect that we may disagree as to what constitutes creativity and how it can be encouraged. To some, creativity means almost complete freedom from discipline and, indeed, an ability to avoid those obstacles which disciplined thinking is believed to require. Albert Einstein and Robert Frost were highly creative by almost any definition. Both may have educated themselves in somewhat unique ways; both were highly disciplined, but in different ways. The creativity of the mathematician or the theoretical physicist requires strong discipline in the use of technical tools that enable him or her to develop creatively an abstract set of equations with profound implications for theoretical physics. The poet must be disciplined in other ways that are much more difficult to specify, but certainly they include the self-discipline of persistence and a willingness to explore many unsuccessful alternatives. Does it even make sense to hope for such disciplined creativity within the social sciences? Certainly, we cannot routinely produce young Einsteins in our graduate programs, but can we modify our instructional programs so as to provide greater opportunities for creative work? I believe we can.

Clinical pharmacology and optimal therapeutics in developing countries: aspirations and hopes of the pediatric clinical pharmacology subcommittee

By the year 2000 the world's population will exceed 6 billion people, of whom one-half will be under the age of 15. Many of these children will die unnecessarily from diseases readily treatable with pharmaceutical agents. The discipline of pediatric clinical pharmacology has the potential to provide significant benefit to the world's children. Critical to the recognition of this potential is the blending of the expertise to be found in the disciplines of pediatrics, toxicology, clinical pharmacology, pharmacogenetics and clinical epidemiology. Through a marriage of these disciplines and an appropriate admixture of social sciences we may create a strong discipline focused on the encouragement of optimal drug therapy for children and for their protection from inappropriate drug exposure in utero. Such a development is the prime objective of the Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology Subcommittee: International Union of Pharmacology, Section of Clinical Pharmacology.

Multidisciplinary Graduate Programs in Materials

What constitutes a strong multidisciplinary program in materials? Does a strong multidisciplinary program require strong disciplines? What are the differences (if any) between interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, crossdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary programs? Are thrust areas essential components of a good multidisciplinary program? What is the role of central facilities in multidisciplinary research and education? Are there intrinsic differences between the activities of graduate students in multidisciplinary and single-investigator programs? Is peer review appropriate and, equally important, feasible for large multidisciplinary programs?This family of questions is of increasing interest and some concern in both the academic and funding segments of the national materials community. It does not appear to be a major issue in either the industrial or national laboratory arenas, where the funding practices, organizational patterns, and in some respects the research and development goals, are different from those in the research universities. An essential distinction is the presence of a formal education component in the graduate materials programs in the universities. However, in discussions of academic materials research programs, both funder and (regrettably) fundee occasionally relegate purely educational aspects to the background.Multidisciplinary and block-funded programs are a steadily increasing fraction of the total research support in materials available to universities. Some 30 years ago virtually all university research in materials-related subjects was supported through single-investigator grants.

Handwriting analysis in diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism.

This preliminary study of the alcoholic personality, based on handwriting material before and after the over-indulgence period shows a characteristic dynamic development which could be manifest in different forms. The prealcoholic individual apparently was subjected to a strong discipline by a strict Super-ego, and at the same time being quite vulnerable, due to a basic emotional sensitivity. The drastic change in the handwriting of the recovery period indicates that the postalcoholic individual has broken the chains of the early discipline. He starts to struggle with his self-image, tries to cope with his now liberated psychic dynamics, experiencing some emotional discomfort. He still has preserved his emotional sensitivity. One could conclude that the handwriting from the recovery period conveys the beginning of individual development.

Changes in 24‐hour activity patterns with growth of white‐tailed deer fawns(Odocoileus virginianus)

Abstract The activity and behavior of captive white‐tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus) were monitored throughout 24‐h periods between birth and weaning at 92 d old (from 2.9 to 25.4 kg body weight). Behaviors were observed concurrently with the continuously telemetered record of time spent in the inactive (lying‐resting and lying‐ruminating) and the active behavioral state (standing, foraging, walking, playing, and running activities). Both the time allocations to lying and nonlying activities and their temporal distributions between diurnal and nocturnal phases are related to growth of the fawns. Fawns had a strong concealment discipline in the first week of life, as nonlying activities occupied less than 10% of the diel period. By 8 wk of age (heavier than 15 kg), 26% of the diel period was spent in nonlying activity. Most of the time‐in‐activity of young fawns was spent standing until fawns grew heavier than 7 kg, thereafter standing activity decreased rapidly as foraging occupied about 80% of ...