Substantive Overlap Research Articles

Strengthening mainstream consensus? The effect of radical right populist parties on the defense policies of left parties

Abstract We study how the electoral success of radical right populist parties (RRPPs) affects mainstream parties' defense policy positions. The success of RRPPs threatens the credibility of established left-wing parties with coalition and international partners due to substantive overlap between their and RRPPs' defense-skeptical position. We argue that left parties adopt more assertive defense positions to distinguish themselves from RRPPs, thus increasing mainstream consensus on defense policy. Examining 27 European countries between the end of the Cold War and Russia's occupation of Crimea (1990–2013), we test this argument based on a regression discontinuity design around electoral thresholds for obtaining parliamentary seats. We find that, in response to RRPP success, left parties adopt more assertive defense policy positions, whereas center-right parties stand their ground. This study yields evidence for an adversarial response to the radical right, often thought to have lost out to accommodation, and for mechanisms other than electoral incentives, in a highly consequential domain.

Aggressive Mimicry and the Evolution of the Human Cognitive Niche

The evolutionary origins of deception and its functional role in our species is a major focus of research in the science of human origins. Several hypotheses have been proposed for its evolution, often packaged under either the Social Brain Hypothesis, which emphasizes the role that the evolution of our social systems may have played in scaffolding our cognitive traits, and the Foraging Brain Hypothesis, which emphasizes how changes in the human dietary niche were met with subsequent changes in cognition to facilitate foraging of difficult-to-acquire foods. Despite substantive overlap, these hypotheses are often presented as competing schools of thought, and there have been few explicitly proposed theoretical links unifying the two. Utilizing cross-cultural data gathered from the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), we identify numerous (n = 357) examples of the application of deception toward prey across 145 cultures. By comparing similar behaviors in nonhuman animals that utilize a hunting strategy known as aggressive mimicry, we suggest a potential pathway through which the evolution of deception may have taken place. Rather than deception evolving as a tactic for deceiving conspecifics, we suggest social applications of deception in humans could have evolved from an original context of directing these behaviors toward prey. We discuss this framework with regard to the evolution of other mental traits, including language, Theory of Mind, and empathy.

The McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder: What, and why in a clinical cohort?

Borderline Personality Disorder is a severe psychiatric disorder with debilitating consequences. Screening for the disorder is problematic as symptoms overlap with other psychiatric disorders. The McLean Screening Instrument (MSI) assesses endorsement (yes/no) of 10 symptoms, with a cut-off of seven indicating potential caseness. Participants were (N = 68) from an established clinical cohort who completed a structured clinical interview, the MSI, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Adolescent and Adult Time Attitudes Scale. A proportion (N = 20) also completed a follow-up interview examining their rationale for endorsing MSI items. Total number of MSI items endorsed was meaningfully related to scores on emotional neglect and negative time attitudes. There was substantive overlap between MSI threshold (≥7 items) and lifetime diagnosis of a mental disorder. The stated rationale for endorsing MSI items, was less indicative of personality trait, and was related more to particular developmental periods, one-off episodes, and life-contexts. Additionally, participants conflated constructs such as emptiness with loneliness, and moodiness with general emotionality. Those meeting MSI threshold recalled more childhood emotional neglect, and were more negative about all time periods. It is apparent that scoring of the MSI is driven by prevailing life circumstances as much as enduring personality traits.

Contestation and participation: Concepts, measurement, and inference

Contestation and participation are commonly viewed as two main constituent dimensions of electoral democracy. How exactly have these two dimensions been conceptualized and measured in the literature? Are they empirically observable and do they matter for democratic development and stability? This article answers the first of these questions and considers their implications for the second by reviewing the literature on these two dimensions. We discuss three issues that affect conclusions about dimensions of democracy and their relevance for understanding democratic development: First, conceptual ambiguities—substantive overlap between the two concepts—obscure the meanings of each of the two dimensions. Such ambiguities led to a second issue, which is a concept-measurement mismatch. The conceptual contributions were never really met with an empirical equivalent that would allow us to properly measure the two dimensions. Scholars continue to invoke theoretical understandings from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, but represent them using measures that were not explicitly concerned with measuring them, which presents the third issue of concept reification. As a result of these three issues, inferences about how democracy has developed and its relevance for democratic stability or for transitions to democratic rule is potentially obscured. Based on these issues, we provide three suggestions for future research concerning the concepts of contestation and participation.

Synthetic Governance

Although securities regulation is distinct from corporate governance, the two fields have considerable substantive overlap. By increasing the transparency and efficiency of the capital markets, securities regulation can also enhance the capacity of those markets to discipline governance decisions. The importance of market discipline is heightened by the increasingly vocal debate over what constitutes “good” corporate governance.
 Securities product innovation offers new tools to address this debate. The rise of index-based investing provides a market-based mechanism for selecting among governance options and evaluating their effects. Through the creation of bespoke governance index funds, asset managers can create indexes that correspond to investors’ governance preferences. We argue that this “synthetic governance” offers a way to gather evidence on the economic impact of corporate governance by providing a market-based tool for evaluating the relationship between corporate governance and stock returns.
 We illustrate the potential of synthetic governance by creating a new governance-based index, the Dual Index, which selects portfolio companies on the basis of a dual class voting structure and comparing its performance to various benchmarks. We further modify the Dual Index by implementing synthetic sunsets to highlight the value creation of dual class companies in their early years and provide evidence on the appropriate length of a time-based sunset provision. Finally, we expand our analysis of synthetic governance with a second index—the Split Index—which tests the effect of separating the positions of CEO and chairman of the board. We conclude that synthetic governance demonstrates the ability of securities market innovation to discipline corporate governance.

Clouding climate science: A comparative network and text analysis of consensus and anti-consensus scientists

There is a clear consensus among climate scientists about the reality and serious consequences of anthropogenic climate change. However, a vocal minority challenges this consensus. While some research has drawn attention to how conservative foundations support these anti-consensus scientists, less is known about how these scholars are embedded within the broader scientific community. Here, we analyze the networks of anti-consensus and consensus scientists and observe the extent to which these groups are maintained through peer collaborations (e.g. co-authorship) or substantive focus (e.g. research specialization). Using bibliometric data, we construct co-authorship and bibliographic networks linking scientists that appear in two key reports representing the consensus and anti-consensus positions. We identify specialty areas using text analysis and model participation in either series of reports. Results indicate that anti-consensus scientists are not in the same network as consensus scientists and have somewhat different research specializations than consensus scientists although there is substantive overlap. Additionally, anti-consensus scientists do not form a coherent network among themselves, which suggests they do not constitute a separate scientific community, but rather are composed of a disparate group of idiosyncratic scientists.

Regulating digital ecosystems: bridging the gap between competition policy and data protection

Abstract Data collection and processing are at the core of rapidly growing business models, underpinning the activities of technology companies and acting as a source of market power. The key role played by data in the competitive dynamics of digital ecosystems has brought competition policy and data protection regulation closer together and raised important questions about the substantive relationship between these two branches of law. After identifying the specific ways in which data create and power digital ecosystems and examining the effects of digital privacy (or lack thereof) on consumer welfare, we compare the legal obligations imposed by competition policy and data protection regulation. We then map the interfaces between these two branches of law and critically assess the areas of substantive overlap between them. We show that while in the majority of situations there is an alignment of these two frameworks, opposite outcomes can sometimes be reached when competition and data protection rules are applied separately. We suggest that these two legal instruments should be considered as overlapping areas in a regulatory continuum to facilitate positive synergies and neutralize potential conflicts. We show that there is a significant scope for competition policy actors and institutions to substantially incorporate data protection considerations into their decisional practice and that this integration can inform and enhance the enforcement of competition law. We propose an integrated approach to more effectively regulate digital platform ecosystems, to support innovation, and to protect consumers and the competitive process.

On the relationship between value-driven and stimulus-driven attentional capture.

Reward history, physical salience, and task relevance all influence the degree to which a stimulus competes for attention, reflecting value-driven, stimulus-driven, and goal-contingent attentional capture, respectively. Theories of value-driven attention have likened reward cues to physically salient stimuli, positing that reward cues are preferentially processed in early visual areas as a result of value-modulated plasticity in the visual system. Such theories predict a strong coupling between value-driven and stimulus-driven attentional capture across individuals. In the present study, we directly test this hypothesis, and demonstrate a robust correlation between value-driven and stimulus-driven attentional capture. Our findings suggest substantive overlap in the mechanisms of competition underlying the attentional priority of reward cues and physically salient stimuli.

Comparison of Indicators for Identification of Least Developed Countries and for Measuring Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper provides an overview on the interlinkage between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement and Least Developed Country (LDC) graduation, by examining the relationship between the indicators to be used for monitoring progress toward SDGs, and the ones currently used for LDC classification and also the ones considered by the Committee for Development Policy in the past. It aims to assist the policy makers to enhance effectiveness of their development policies, by taking into consideration the indicators of the SDG review framework and the ones in the LDC classification that are related to one another. It finds that there is a fundamental conceptual difference between the objectives of SDG monitoring indicators and the LDC classification indicators: while SDG monitoring indicators aim to measure outcomes of development progress, LDC indicators attempts to measure structural factors that hinders development. This difference in objective results in difference in the selection and interpretation of indicators. Nevertheless, there is a substantive overlap between the SDG review indicators and LDC indicators, because some of the indicators can have characteristics of both development outcome and structural handicap to some extent: 11 out of 17 SDGs have targets explicitly linked to LDC criteria. On the other direction, 12 out of 14 LDC indicators are related to SDG indicators. For SDG 5 (gender), 6 (water and sanitation), 7 (energy), 12 (consumption and production), 15 (life on earth), and 16 (peace), none of their targets is covered by the current LDC criteria, although many of the indicators associated with those goals have been investigated and rejected by the Committee in the past for various reasons. Since two agenda aim for conceptually different goal posts, making efforts in full capacity on both fronts – overcoming constraints and moving toward outcomes – is the only way to graduate from LDC category and to accomplish the Agenda 2030, leaving no country or no people behind.

Ambivalent Enforcement: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Tribunals

The question of how to best enforce the decisions of international tribunals looms large in international law. Specifically, the sub-field of international law known as international humanitarian law (IHL), or the law of war, suffers from a lack of enforcement options as its Achilles heel. No tribunal exists with specific subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate during situations that may give rise to state violations of international humanitarian law. Meanwhile, human rights tribunals have the subject matter jurisdiction to resolve human rights disputes, and there are significant areas of substantive overlap between humanitarian law and human rights law. Focusing on the interplay between international human rights law and international humanitarian law, this Article examines whether, based on this substantive overlap, human rights tribunals offer an appropriate forum for the enforcement of IHL. This article makes two important contributions: first, it offers a normative framing of how to utilize the abstract legal standard of lex specialis when IHL and HRL may simultaneously apply; second, the Article assesses the impact of employing IHL at human rights tribunals, concluding that this practice, even when the resulting decisions are not binding, may result in increased enforcement of IHL.

The Weber-Wieser Connection: Early Economic Sociology as an Interpretative Skeleton Key

Max Weber’s relationship to economics in general and to the Austrian School in particular has received more attention recently. However, this literature as conducted by Weber scholars and by Austrian economists exhibits two major deficiencies. First, the studies are often either purely ahistorical or use superficial historical expositions. Second, the conceptual focus is often motivated by Weber’s importance for the theoretical edifice of Ludwig von Mises, a motivation which leads the analyses in a rather narrowly confined direction. The current paper attempts to provide a solid biographical foundation of Weber’s relationship to the early Austrian School as seen from a channel rarely studied systematically before: His relationship to economist and economic sociologist Friedrich von Wieser. Such a perspective sheds light on the multiple levels of interaction between Weber and the early Austrians between 1876 and 1920: 1) Weber’s formative years at Heidelberg and his early professorship at Freiburg; 2) several institutional contexts, especially the Verein fur Socialpolitik; 3) the cooperation with Wieser during the Grundris der Sozialokonomik project 1909-1914; 4) Weber’s brief stay at the University of Vienna 1917-1918. This portrayal shows not only biographical proximities and affinities, but also several levels of substantive overlap between Weber and Wieser. Their projects of “Social Economics” are studied comparatively, with a special focus on the concepts of power(s) and order(s) that are central for both. The goal is twofold. First, the “Heidelberg-Vienna” connection offers important insights for the development of “Social Economics” and of the early economics of the Austrian School. Second, this connection enables new interpretations of the later evolution in the German-language politico-economic discourses, especially of the “Freiburg-Vienna” connection between the ordoliberals and later generations of the Austrian School.

Evaluating Public Health Interventions: 1. Examples, Definitions, and a Personal Note.

In the first contribution to a new section in AJPH that will address critical methodological issues in evaluations of public health interventions, I will discuss topics in study design and analysis, covering the most innovative emerging methodologies and providing an overview of best practices. The methods considered are motivated by public health evaluations, both domestic and global. In this first contribution, I also define implementation science, program evaluation, impact evaluation, and cost-effectiveness research, disciplines that have tremendous methodological and substantive overlap with evaluation of public health interventions--the focus of this section.

Rubrene: The Interplay between Intramolecular and Intermolecular Interactions Determines the Planarization of Its Tetracene Core in the Solid State.

Rubrene is one of the most studied molecular semiconductors; its chemical structure consists of a tetracene backbone with four phenyl rings appended to the two central fused rings. Derivatization of these phenyl rings can lead to two very different solid-state molecular conformations and packings: One in which the tetracene core is planar and there exists substantive overlap among neighboring π-conjugated backbones; and another where the tetracene core is twisted and the overlap of neighboring π-conjugated backbones is completely disrupted. State-of-the-art electronic structure calculations show for all isolated rubrene derivatives that the twisted conformation is more favorable (by -1.7 to -4.1 kcal mol(-1)), which is a consequence of energetically unfavorable exchange-repulsion interactions among the phenyl side groups. Calculations based on available crystallographic structures reveal that planar conformations of the tetracene core in the solid state result from intermolecular interactions that can be tuned through well-chosen functionalization of the phenyl side groups and lead to improved intermolecular electronic couplings. Understanding the interplay of these intramolecular and intermolecular interactions provides insight into how to chemically modify rubrene and similar molecular semiconductors to improve the intrinsic materials electronic properties.

Bone Anchor Fixation in Abdominal Wall Reconstruction: A Useful Adjunct in Suprapubic and Para-iliac Hernia Repair

Suprapubic hernias, parailiac or flank hernias, and lumbar hernias are difficult to repair and are associated with high-recurrence rates owing to difficulty in obtaining substantive overlap and especially mesh fixation due to bone being a margin of the hernia. Orthopedic suture anchors used for ligament reconstruction have been used to attach prosthetic material to bony surfaces and can be used in the repair of these hernias where suture fixation was impossible. A prospective, single institution study of ventral hernia repairs involving bone anchor mesh fixation was performed. Demographics, operative details, and outcomes data were collected. Twenty patients were identified, with a mean age 53 (range: 35-70 years) and mean body mass index 28.4 kg/m(2) (range 21-38). Ten lumbar, seven suprapubic, and three parailiac hernias were studied. The majority were recurrent hernias (n = 13), with one to seven previously failed repairs. The mean hernia defect size was very large (270 cm(2); range: 56-832 cm(2)) with average mesh size of 1090 cm(2) (range 224-3640 cm(2)). Both Mitek GII (Depuy, Raynham, MA) and JuggerKnot 2.9-mm (Biomet, Biomedical Instruments, Warsaw, IN) anchors were used, with an average of four anchors/case (range: 1-16). Mean operative time was 218 minutes (120-495). There were three minor complications, no operative mortality, and no recurrences during an average follow-up of 24 months. Pelvic bone anchors permit mesh fixation in high-recurrence areas not amenable to traditional suture fixation. The ability to safely and effectively use bone anchor fixation is an essential tool in complex open ventral hernia repair.

IL-33 facilitates oncogene-induced cholangiocarcinoma in mice by an interleukin-6-sensitive mechanism.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a lethal hepatobiliary neoplasm originating from the biliary apparatus. In humans, CCA risk factors include hepatobiliary inflammation and fibrosis. The recently identified interleukin (IL)-1 family member, IL-33, has been shown to be a biliary mitogen which also promotes liver inflammation and fibrosis. Our aim was to generate a mouse model of CCA mimicking the human disease. Ectopic oncogene expression in the biliary tract was accomplished by the Sleeping Beauty transposon transfection system with transduction of constitutively active AKT (myr-AKT) and Yes-associated protein. Intrabiliary instillation of the transposon-transposase complex was coupled with lobar bile duct ligation in C57BL/6 mice, followed by administration of IL-33 for 3 consecutive days. Tumors developed in 72% of the male mice receiving both oncogenes plus IL-33 by 10 weeks but in only 20% of the male mice transduced with the oncogenes alone. Tumors expressed SOX9 and pancytokeratin (features of CCA) but were negative for HepPar1 (a marker of hepatocellular carcinoma). Substantive overlap with human CCA specimens was revealed by RNA profiling. Not only did IL-33 induce IL-6 expression by human cholangiocytes but it likely facilitated tumor development in vivo by an IL-6-sensitive process as tumor development was significantly attenuated in Il-6(-/-) male animals. Furthermore, tumor formation occurred at a similar rate when IL-6 was substituted for IL-33 in this model. The transposase-mediated transduction of constitutively active AKT and Yes-associated protein in the biliary epithelium coupled with lobar obstruction and IL-33 administration results in the development of CCA with morphological and biochemical features of the human disease; this model highlights the role of inflammatory cytokines in CCA oncogenesis.

ARE WOMEN REALLY MORE RISK‐AVERSE THAN MEN? A RE‐ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE USING EXPANDED METHODS

AbstractWhile a substantial literature in economics and finance has concluded that ‘women are more risk averse than men’, this conclusion merits investigation. After briefly clarifying the difference between making generalizations about groups, on the one hand, and making valid inferences from samples, on the other, this essay suggests improvements to how economists communicate our research results. Supplementing findings of statistical significance with quantitative measures of both substantive difference (Cohen's d, a measure in common use in non‐Economics literatures) and of substantive overlap (the Index of Similarity, newly proposed here) adds important nuance to the discussion of sex differences. These measures are computed from the data on men, women and risk used in 35 scholarly works from economics, finance and decision science. The results are considerably more mixed and overlapping than would commonly be inferred from the broad claims made in the literature, with standardized differences in means mostly amounting to considerably less than one standard deviation, and the degree of overlap between male and female distributions generally exceeding 80%. In addition, studies that look at contextual influences suggest that these contribute importantly to observations of differences both between and within the sexes.

Mass Mobilization to Direct Engagement: American Jews' Changing Relationship to Israel

Mass Mobilization to Direct Engagement:American Jews' Changing Relationship to Israel Theodore Sasson (bio) The practices of American Jews relative to Israel seem increasingly to break with patterns established during the second half of the 20th century. Lobbying by American Jewish organizations on the political left and right increasingly competes with the consensus-oriented efforts of organizations such as AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CPMAJO). Direct giving to Israeli civil society organizations has replaced the federations' annual campaigns as the primary vehicle for diaspora philanthropy. The number of American Jewish teens and young adults visiting Israel has surged, but most are going with private tour companies under the auspices of Birthright Israel rather than programs of the North American denominations. Aliyah is up, but managed by Nefesh b'Nefesh, a private not-for-profit organization, rather than the Jewish Agency for Israel. In short, how American Jews relate to Israel is very much in flux. This study argues that the mass mobilization model that organized American Jewish practices relative to Israel since the founding of state has declined, and a new direct engagement model has emerged alongside it. Increasingly American Jews relate to Israel directly, by advocating their own political views, funding favored causes, visiting frequently or living there part time, consuming Israeli news and entertainment, and expressing a distinctively "realistic" rather than idealistic orientation toward the Jewish state. Their new homeland practices have given rise to (and been encouraged by) a new set of organizations that operate privately, beyond the orbit of the semi-public agencies of the established American Jewish polity. These developments are described against the backdrop of the waning mass mobilization paradigm, and their significance for diaspora Jewish organizations and Israeli democratic institutions is examined. [End Page 173] The article is also meant as a contribution to the field of diaspora studies. Not all diasporas but many—including Jews, Greeks, Irish, and Armenians—maintain links to ancestral homelands. Most scholarly literature on the diaspora-homeland relationship emphasizes the political sphere and treats "state-linked" diasporas as more or less unitary actors vis-à-vis host and homeland governments.1 The dominant emphasis in this literature has been on diaspora lobbying of host government on behalf of homeland interests.2 A secondary emphasis, largely corrective, highlights the influence of diaspora groups on their homelands, especially their efforts to bring homeland policies into harmony with host country interests.3 Few studies have explored the circumstances under which diaspora political activity becomes partisan and plural—in which diasporas become sites for waging homeland political struggles.4 In contrast, immigration research increasingly emphasizes the diverse ties migrants establish and maintain with their countries of origin. For example, Basch, Glick Schiller, and Szanton-Blanc describe the "process by which immigrants forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement."5 Dufoix further describes how "transmigrants develop and maintain all sorts of relations—familial, religious, economic, and political—with the place they come from, thereby laying the foundations for non-territorial nations"6 According to this literature, migrants send home remittances, participate in homeland political parties, reproduce homeland cultural practices, and return for frequent visits.7 Although the definitional debate goes far beyond the scope of this article, the substantive overlap between diasporas and transnational immigrant communities is clearly considerable. The fact that many transnational immigrant communities qualify as diasporas is reason enough to extend the typology of diaspora-homeland relationships to include a broader range of possible connections. By distinguishing "mass mobilization" from "direct engagement", I show that there is variability in how diasporas are organized with respect to homelands, and explore the transition from one model to another in a single case. Mass Mobilization The mass mobilization paradigm typified the relationship between American Jews and Israel during the period between the early 1950s and the late 1980s.8 During the earlier years, responsibility for the diaspora-homeland [End Page 174] relationship shifted from Zionist organizations to the large, centralized, core organizations of American Jewry, including the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Council of Jewish Federations, and the CPMAJO. New organizations were also established...

Human Rights and Development: Some Institutional Perspectives

The relationship between human rights and development endures as a subject of lively academic debate and critical comment. In this piece, the author offers some institutionally based perspectives on the nature of that relationship, which take as their starting point the principles and obligations of international human rights law. The article begins by examining the intersection of human rights and development at three distinct but interrelated levels: factual or substantive overlap, principles and obligations, and goes on to argue that aspects of each have been neglected in contemporary analyses. The article argues for clarity about the specific nature of the overlap and the emerging convergence between the two areas, and the particular need to revisit the issue human rights obligations. Following from this theoretic framework, the article proceeds to a discussion of the challenges faced by development actors in attempts to integrate human rights into developments policy and practice. The article argues that the significance of these challenges has not been fully appreciated, nor the potential of existing human rights obligations and frameworks to address them fully harnessed.

Tough Love: The Dramatic Birth and Looming Demise of Unclos Property Law

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) represents the culmination of thousands of years of international relations, conflict, and now nearly universal adherence to an enduring order for ocean space that is the most significant achievement for international law since the UN Charter. UNCLOS establishes international property law erga omnes that, by legal and political necessity, required a bargained consensus to be effective. This bargain, in essence, provided coastal States with extended but limited jurisdictions, while ensuring that the seabed and its mineral resources beyond were the common heritage of mankind that would peaceably and sustainably benefit all. Yet whether UNCLOS in fact and in law is now living up to this bidding is in doubt. The critical task of delineating a true outer limit to the continental shelf is now a matter of implementing the delicate balance between applied science and supervised unilateral claims embodied in Article 76. The attempt to legalize scientific criteria still retains legal vagueness and ambiguities as well as the uncertainties inherent in any nascent scientific endeavor. Further, the administrative and financial support established to assist in working through these challenges has brought its own bureaucratic obstacles. This has led to a near-perfect storm for small island developing States, which rely most heavily on marine resources for their culture and survival yet also face the most complex dilemmas in Article 76 - all the while having generally the least capacity available to prepare their submissions. The challenges facing the seabed come not from implementation of a legal process, but from substantive overlap and even conflict between Part XI and other international law. Part XI seems to provide clear grounds to refute the assertion of international patent rights for seabed organisms. This could set the stage for a fragmentation of international intellectual property rights under TRIPS and the UNCLOS seabed regime. And the expansion of bottom trawl fishing that directly impacts and exploits coral and the seabed is excused under high seas fishing freedoms, but could also be viewed as infringing on the basic tenets of the seabed common heritage and thus could invoke individual State responsibility or the regulatory jurisdiction of Part XI. At each juncture, as this paper suggests, the necessity of consensus for international property law can also become an effective and constructive tool for encouraging countries to work together on managing the implementation, development, and proliferation of the law of the sea.

What makes a text persuasive? Comparing students’ and experts’ conceptions of persuasiveness

Students’ conceptions of persuasion have rarely been considered in the existing persuasion literature. In addition, most studies of persuasion have employed contrived reading materials, rather than naturally occurring texts (e.g., unmodified newspapers or magazine articles). As such, the purpose of this study was to provide competent, undergraduate readers an opportunity to externalize their perceptions of persuasiveness, and to compare these student-determined conceptions of persuasion to those espoused by text-based persuasion and conceptual change experts. In addition, the conceptions of students and experts were compared with those advocated in the literature. The findings suggest substantive overlap between students’ and experts’ conceptions of persuasion. Specifically, participants’ responses revealed that the type and form of supporting evidence as well as the affective nature of the text play important roles in persuasion. These findings are somewhat different than those found in the existing literature. Implications for research and practice are offered.