Few approaches in political science have generated so much controversy as rational choice theory. Some claim that the approach has made political science scientific. Its critics argue that it involves unrealistic assumptions about individual behaviour. While its tenets and benefits remain the subject of heated debate, rational choice theory is now established as a core approach in political science and one that is vital for contemporary students of the discipline to understand. With an impressive degree of clarity, the book introduces the philosophical foundations, the methodology and the key issues of rational choice theory. It shows how the approach has been constructively used to explain political phenomena and also reflects more broadly on how theories are developed and used in political science. Balanced and insightful, this important new text gives a nuanced and elegant evaluation of the potential and limits of rational choice theory.
Norms are a pervasive yet mysterious feature of social life. In Explaining Norms, four philosophers and social scientists team up to grapple with some of the many mysteries, offering a comprehensive account of norms: what they are; how and why they emerge, persist and change; and how they work. Norms, they argue, should be understood in non-reductive terms as clusters of normative attitudes that serve the function of making us accountable to one another—with the different kinds of norms (legal, moral, and social norms) differing in virtue of being constituted by different kinds of normative attitudes that serve to make us accountable in different ways. Explanations of and by norms should be seen as thoroughly pluralist in character. Explanations of norms should appeal to the ways that norms help us to pursue projects and goals, individually and collectively, as well as to enable us to constitute social meanings. Explanations by norms should recognise the multiplicity of ways in which norms may bear upon the actions we perform, the attitudes we form and the modes of deliberation in which we engage: following, merely conforming with, and even breaching norms. While advancing novel and distinctive positions on all of these topics, Explaining Norms will also serve as a sourcebook with a rich array of arguments and illustrations for others to reassemble in ways of their own choosing.
Few approaches in political science have generated so much controversy as rational choice theory. Some claim that the approach has made political science scientific. Its critics argue that it involves unrealistic assumptions about individual behaviour. While its tenets and benefits remain the subject of heated debate, rational choice theory is now established as a core approach in political science and one that is vital for contemporary students of the discipline to understand. With an impressive degree of clarity, the book introduces the philosophical foundations, the methodology and the key issues of rational choice theory. It shows how the approach has been constructively used to explain political phenomena and also reflects more broadly on how theories are developed and used in political science. Balanced and insightful, this important new text gives a nuanced and elegant evaluation of the potential and limits of rational choice theory.
Norms are a pervasive yet mysterious feature of social life. In Explaining Norms, four philosophers and social scientists team up to grapple with some of the many mysteries, offering a comprehensive account of norms: what they are; how and why they emerge, persist and change; and how they work. Norms, they argue, should be understood in non-reductive terms as clusters of normative attitudes that serve the function of making us accountable to one another—with the different kinds of norms (legal, moral, and social norms) differing in virtue of being constituted by different kinds of normative attitudes that serve to make us accountable in different ways. Explanations of and by norms should be seen as thoroughly pluralist in character. Explanations of norms should appeal to the ways that norms help us to pursue projects and goals, individually and collectively, as well as to enable us to constitute social meanings. Explanations by norms should recognise the multiplicity of ways in which norms may bear upon the actions we perform, the attitudes we form and the modes of deliberation in which we engage: following, merely conforming with, and even breaching norms. While advancing novel and distinctive positions on all of these topics, Explaining Norms will also serve as a sourcebook with a rich array of arguments and illustrations for others to reassemble in ways of their own choosing.
Infrastructure Asset Management with Power System Applications is about infrastructure asset management, which can be expressed as the combination of management, financial, economic, and engineering, applied to physical assets with the objective of providing the required level of service in the most cost-effective manner. It includes management of the whole lifecycle of a physical asset from design, construction, commission, operation, maintenance, modification, decommissioning, and disposal. It covers budget issues and focuses on asset management of an infrastructure for energy—i.e., the electric power system. Features Offers a comprehensive reference book providing definitions, terminology, and basic theories as well as a comprehensive set of examples from a wide range of applications for the electric power system and its components. Spans a wide range of applications for the electric power system area, including real data and pictures. Contains results from recently published research and application studies. Includes a wide range of application examples for the electric power systems area from hydro, nuclear, and wind, plus shows future trends. Contributes to the overall goals of developing a sustainable energy system by providing methods and tools for a resource efficient use of physical assets in the electric power system area.
This brief provides a comprehensive review of lignocellulosic materials and their primary role in the future development of bio-based packaging. Topics such as: sources and extraction methods of lignocellulosic materials; main constituents of lignocellulosic materials; functionality of lignocellulosic materials; the development of bio-based and biodegradable packaging; incorporation of lignocellulosic materials in bio-based packaging materials; properties and functionality of bio-based packaging, are discussed by authors who are experts in the field.
The 2006 Swedish parliamentary election was a historic election with the largest bloc transfer of voters in Swedish history. The 2002-2006 incumbent Social Democratic Party (S) received its lowest voter support since 1914 as roughly 150,000, or 8%, of the 2002 S voters went to the main opposition, the conservative Moderate Party (M). This became the most decisive factor in ousting S from power after 12 years of rule. As a result, the M-led Alliance (A) with the People's Party (FP), the Center Party (C), and the Christian Democrats (KD) won the election. Natural Disasters and National Election makes the novel contribution of proposing two natural disasters, the Indian Ocean’s 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and 2005 Storm Gudrun (Erwin), which struck only two weeks following the tsunami, as major events that impacted government popularity in the 2006 election and contributed to the redistribution of voter support, within and across party-blocs. The core findings from this thesis show that the S government’s poor crisis response to Gudrun, which is the hitherto most costly natural disaster in Swedish history, alone has an estimated effect of a magnitude that likely contributed to the 2006 historic regime shift, while the tsunami also seems to have mattered. The tsunami is particularly interesting, as S’s poor international crisis response to the event constitutes the first natural disaster situation to knowingly have affected an election on the other side of the planet. Moreover, to some degree voters recognized the active opposition by C as effective representation and rewarded the party for its strong stance on the poor handling of both events by S. In fact, the active voice of C concerning these disasters likely helped move the party from the periphery of party politics to becoming the third-largest party in Swedish politics. In sum, this research investigates accountability and effective party representation via retrospective voting, which is an essential mechanism for the legitimacy of democracy. Findings suggest that the average Swedish voter indeed may be voting retrospectively to hold publically elected officials accountable, which suggest a healthy status of the retrospective voting mechanism and Swedish. --
This book is the first of four books based on a series of symposia funded by COST, which is an intergovernmental framework for the promotion of European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research. It draws on both historical and contemporary European case-studies to offer a sophisticated account of the relationship between gender and well-being. The authors focus on key discussions of the changing conceptions of well-being from early twentieth century calculations of the relationship between income and the cost-of-living, to more recent critiques from feminist writers. Their fascinating answers allow them to significantly challenge the issue with the idea that well-being is not only associated with income or opulence but also relates to more abstract concepts including capabilities, freedom, and agency of different women and men and will be of considerable interest to economic and social historians, sociologists of health, gender, sexuality and economists.
Experimental approaches to understand the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and thrombosis involve the combination of both cellular and animal approaches. Animals have been instrumental in biomedical research in order to provide a better understanding on the mechanisms that have already been outlined in in vitro studies. Atherosclerosis studies were firstly carried out in rodents using diet-induced atherosclerosis approaches. However, these diets were un-physiological and the developed lesions were often limited in size, composition, and location largely differing from humans. During the last years, with the advent of molecular genetics and genetic manipulation techniques, the development of gene-engineered animals has allowed an explosion in the number of models resulting in a tremendous progress in the understanding of both atherosclerosis and thrombosis. However, direct translation from rodents to humans has to be taken with caution because of the well-reported species-related differences. Although there is no known animal model for human disease, large animal models have demonstrated better suitability for translation to humans. For instance swine, a species that spontaneously develops atherosclerosis and thrombosis, are more closely mimics of the macrovascular-related thrombotic complications found in humans. This book chapter provides an in depth overview of the currently available small and large animal modelsof atherosclerosis and thrombosis and examinestheir applicability for translational research purposes as well as highlights species-related differences with humans.
A MISSING CHILD In Karlstad, nine-month-old Beatrice is missing from her pram. Her parents are in shock and the media is in a frenzy. A PERSONAL STRUGGLE DI Charlie Lager is struggling with her own demons when she's called to investigate, forced to push them aside as the case intensifies. A CLOCK RUNNING DOWN As lead after lead goes nowhere, Charlie starts to feel like nobody actually wants the truth to come out about Beatrice as reluctant locals shut down in the face of her questions. And with each passing hour, the chance of finding Beatrice alive becomes less and less likely... ************ Praise for Lina Bengtsdotter: 'A thriller that lingers in the memory' - SUNDAY TIMES 'Atmospheric, evocative...a first-class procedural...an excellent thriller' - CRIME TIME 'Dark Nordic noir' - THE i 'Takes crime fiction to a disturbingly personal, high level' - SHOTS 'Intelligent and arresting' - MORNING STAR 'A brilliant, dense crime novel' - DAGENS NYHETER
Stimulation of sensory nerves can give rise to powerful affective experiences. Noxious stimuli can give rise to pain, an unpleasant experience which, in turn, causes suffering and constitutes a major societal burden. Touch, on the other hand, can feel pleasant and plays an important role in social relationships and well-being. Slow, gentle stroking of the skin in particular has been shown to activate C-tactile (CT) afferents, which are thought to signal affective and socially relevant aspects of touch. However, little is known about how pain and affective touch influence everyday decision making. In Paper I, we investigated the effect of acute physical pain on risk taking and intertemporal choice. Participants (n = 109) performed a series of economic decision-making tasks, once while experiencing acute thermal pain and once in a no-pain control condition. Results indicated that pain increased risk taking for monetary gains but not for equivalent losses, and increased impatience. In Paper II, we investigated the effect of affective touch on betrayal aversion, altruism, and risk taking. Participants (n = 120) performed a series of economic decision-making tasks, once while being stroked on the forearm at CT-optimal speed using a soft painter’s brush and once in a no-touch control condition. Results indicated no effect of affective touch on any of the outcome measures. In Paper III, we investigated how the ability to affect an upcoming painful event via voluntary action influences cortical processing of ongoing somatosensory stimulation. fMRI data was collected from 30 participants while they performed a task that involved pressing a response button to reduce the duration of upcoming thermal stimuli. Whole-brain analyses revealed no significant task-related effects in brain regions typically involved in pain, except activation in a cluster in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was greater when upcoming stimulation was painful than when it was nonpainful. However, region-of-interest analyses in anterior insula (AI) and midcingulate cortex (MCC) indicated that the noxious nature of the upcoming stimulation, as well as the ability to affect it, influenced processing of ongoing stimulation in both of these regions. Activation in MCC, but not AI, also correlated with response times. Taken together, these studies contribute to the broader understanding of everyday decision making, and of how affective experiences such as pain and touch shape everyday decisions and behaviors. Stimulering av nervfibrer i huden kan ge upphov till starka känsloupplevelser. Skadliga eller potentiellt skadliga stimuli kan ge upphov till smärta, en obehaglig upplevelse som i sin tur orsakar lidande och har stora socioekonomiska konsekvenser. Beröring, å andra sidan, kan upplevas som behagligt och är en viktig del av sociala relationer. Förhållandevis lite kunskap finns dock om hur smärta och beröring påverkar vardagligt beslutsfattande. Blir vi otåliga av att uppleva smärta? Tar vi fler risker? Gör beröring oss snällare och mer tillitsfulla? I denna avhandling presenteras tre studier som försöker svara på denna typ av frågor. I den första studien fick deltagarna smärtsam värmestimulering samtidigt som de fattade beslut om pengar. Besluten involverade t.ex. att välja mellan en säker vinst på 50 kr eller att singla slant om att vinna 100 kr. Resultaten visade att smärta ökade risktagande för vinster, men inte för motsvarande förluster. Deltagare som upplevde smärta var även mer otåliga, dvs. de föredrog i större utsträckning snabba belöningar. I den andra studien fick deltagarna beröring med en mjuk pensel samtidigt som de fattade beslut. Lätt, smekande beröring aktiverar en särskild typ av nervfibrer, som tros signalera affektiva och socialt relevanta aspekter av beröring. Beröring ökar även utsöndringen av hormonet oxytocin, som sägs öka känslan av tillit till andra människor, även om de vetenskapliga bevisen för detta är motstridiga. Resultaten av studien visade ingen effekt av beröring på beslutsfattande. I den tredje studien undersöktes hjärnans aktivitet vid smärtsam stimulering. Vi vet sedan tidigare att hjärnan inte bara reagerar på det som händer just nu, utan att den även förbereder inför vad som kan komma att hända i framtiden. Deltagarna fick smärtsam eller icke-smärtsam värmestimulering samtidigt som de utförde en uppgift som innebar att de skulle trycka på en knapp för att förkorta en kommande värmestimulering. Resultaten visade att hjärnans bearbetning av pågående stimulering påverkades av huruvida nästkommande stimulering var smärtsam eller inte och huruvida den gick att påverka. Sammantaget bidrar dessa studier till en ökad förståelse av hur människor fattar beslut och hur upplevelser som smärta och beröring påverkar vardagligt beslutfattande och beteende. Smärta har en stark koppling till beteende, eftersom vi snabbt måste kunna agera för att undvika skada. Beröring, däremot, upplevs på olika sätt beroende på den sociala kontexten, vilket troligtvis också påverkar beröringens effekt på beteende.
This selection of in-depth, critical and comprehensive chapters on topical issues in applied health psychology features the work of key researchers and practitioners in the Australasian health system and deals with both theoretical and methodological aspects of the subject. The first health psychology text aimed specifically at regional postgraduate trainees Covers an array of topics and issues and focuses on applied aspects of clinical health and health promotion Includes both specialized topics and new frontiers of research Contextualizes health psychology teaching and learning for Australasian students
The book takes a multi-level perspective, focusing on circular business models by manufacturing industries in European small open economies. The book conceptualises circular business models and combines theoretical foundations with best practices when such models appeared in the textile, furniture, and plastics industries. It also explores barriers, drivers, challenges, and opportunities for leading manufacturing companies to implement circular activities across the value chain. This book offers a qualitative and transformative approach, spread across three different manufacturing industries, towards a circular transition. The findings will be of interest to practitioners and managers, policymakers, and general readers who are interested in the circular economy and environmental sustainability.
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