Predictors of political orientation among US-born Mexican Americans: cultural identification, acculturation attitudes and socioeconomic status

With each passing election, U.S. political campaigns have renewed their efforts in courting the “Latino vote,” yet the Latino population is not a culturally homogenous voting bloc. This study examined how cultural identifications and acculturation attitudes in U.S. born Mexican Americans interacted with socioeconomic status (SES) to predict political orientation. Individuals who held stronger Mexican identity and supported biculturalism as an acculturation strategy had a more liberal orientation, while belonging to a higher SES group and holding stronger assimilation attitudes predicted a less liberal orientation. Mexican cultural identification interacted with SES such that those who held a weaker Mexican identity, but came from a higher social class were less liberal and more moderate in their political orientation. Weak Mexican identification and higher SES also predicted weaker endorsement of bicultural acculturation attitudes, which in turn, mediated the differences in political orientation. The acceptance of one’s ethnic identity and endorsement of bicultural attitudes predicted a more liberal political orientation. In light of these findings, political candidates should be cautious in how they pander to Latino constituents—referencing the groups’ ethnic culture or customs may distance constituents who are not strongly identified with their ethnic culture.

Recognition and political accommodation: from regionalism to secessionism. The Catalan case

Having lived through a bloody civil war in the 1930s followed by four decades of General Franco’s dictatorship, the Spanish state carried out a transition to a democratic system at the end of the 1970s. The 1978 Constitution was the legal outcome of this transition process. Among other things, it established a territorial model – the so-called “Estado de las Autonomías” (State of Autonomous Communities) – which was designed to satisfy the historical demands for recognition and self-government of, above all, the citizens and institutions of Catalonia and the Basque Country .In recent years support for independence has increased in Catalonia. Different indicators show that pro-independence demands are endorsed by a majority of its citizens, as well as by most of the political parties and organizations that represent its civil society. This is a new phenomenon. Those in favour of independence had been in the minority throughout the 20th century. Nowadays, however, demands of a pro-autonomy and pro-federalist nature, which until recently had been dominant, have gradually lost public support in favour of demands for self-determination and secession. This paper analyses the massive increase in support for secession in Catalonia during the early years of the 21st century. After describing the different theories of secession in plurinational liberal democracies (section 1), we analyse Catalonia’s political evolution over the past decade focusing on the shortcomings with regard to constitutional recognition and accommodation displayed by the Spanish political system. The latter have been exacerbated by the reform process of Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy (2006) and the subsequent judgement of Spain’s Constitutional Court regarding the aforementioned Statute (2010) (section 2). Finally, we present our conclusions by linking the Catalan case with theories of secession applied to plurinational contexts

Rules vs. political discretion: evidence from constitutionally guaranteed transfers to local governments in Brazil

Can rules be used to shield public resources from political interference? The Brazilian constitution and national tax code stipulate that revenue sharing transfers to municipal governments be determined by the size of counties in terms of estimated population. In this paper I document that the population estimates which went into the transfer allocation formula for the year 1991 were manipulated, resulting in significant transfer differentials over the entire 1990's. I test whether conditional on county characteristics that might account for the manipulation, center-local party alignment, party popularity and the extent of interparty fragmentation at the county level are correlated with estimated populations in 1991. Results suggest that revenue sharing transfers were targeted at right-wing national deputies in electorally fragmented counties as well as aligned local executives.

The "New Political Economy": Two Recent Books

This paper reviews two recent books on Political Economy by Allan Drazen and Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini. It discusses some problems of the recent Political Economy literature.

Assessing the Political Viability of Labour Market Reform: The Case of Employment Protection

We analyze the political support for employment protection legislation. Unlike my previous work on the same topic, this paper pays a lot of attention to the role of obsolescence in the growth process. In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employees trade off lower living standards (because employment protection maintains workers in less productive activities) against longer job duration. The support for employment protection will then depend on the value of the latter relative to the cost of the former. We highlight two key deeterminants of this trade-off: first, the workers' bargaining power, second, the economy's growth rate-more precisely its rate of creative destruction.

Les parlementaires suisses entre démocratisation et professionnalisation (1910-2010). Biographie collective des élus fédéraux et réformes du Parlement helvétique

Notre travail de thèse vise à analyser, d'une part, les principales réformes du Parlement fédéral adoptées au cours du 20e siècle et, d'autre part, l'évolution du profil sociographique pour six cohortes d'élus fédéraux (1910, 1937, 1957, 1980, 2000 et 2010), sous l'angle de sa démocratisation et de sa professionnalisation. La thèse comprend trois axes de recherche principaux. Premièrement, nous nous penchons sur les deux réformes institutionnelles censées favoriser la démocratisation du recrutement parlementaire, à savoir l'adoption de la proportionnelle pour l'élection du Conseil national en 1918 et l'introduction du suffrage féminin à l'échelon fédéral en 1971. Nous abordons également les réformes du Parlement visant, depuis les années 1970, à sa revalorisation et à sa professionnalisation. Le deuxième axe porte sur la réalisation d'un portrait collectif des élus fédéraux pour la période 1910-1980, dans le but de vérifier l'impact des réformes des règles électorales (proportionnelle et suffrage féminin) sur le profil des députés et sénateurs. Enfin, dans le troisième axe, nous abordons les transformations du profil socio-professionnel des parlementaires pendant la période plus récente (1980-2010), en lien avec la professionnalisation accrue de l'Assemblée fédérale et les changements des rapports de force partisans. Nos résultats permettent de mettre en évidence plusieurs éléments de continuité (prédominance de la catégories des indépendants, notamment des avocats, des chefs d'entreprise et des agriculteurs, et sous-représentation des salariés du secteur public ; fort ancrage local), ainsi que certains facteurs de rupture (présence accrue des femmes, moindre importance de la carrière militaire). D'autres changements dans le profil sont liés au processus récent de professionnalisation, contesté et inachevé, qui a favorisé néanmoins l'émergence de nouveaux profils sociologiques d'élus, en termes de formation, de profession (apparition du groupe des parlementaires professionnels) et de cumul des mandats économiques et politiques, avec cependant de fortes variations entre les partis et entre les deux Chambres. - Our PhD thesis aims at analysing, on the one hand, the main reforms of the Federal Parliament adopted during the 20th century and, on the other hand, the evolution of sociographical profile for six cohorts of Swiss MPs (1910, 1937, 1957, 1980, 2000 and 2010) in terms of their democratization and professionalization. Our research is composed of three main parts. Firstly, we analyse two institutional reforms which intended to promote the democratization of parliamentary recruitment, namely the adoption of proportional representation (PR) in 1918 for the election of the National Council and the introduction of women's suffrage at the federal level in 1971. We also deal with parliamentary reforms that, since the 1970s, have aimed at reasserting the political status of the Federal Assembly and at professionalizing its members. Secondly, we carry out a collective biography of Swiss MPs during the period 1910-1980, in order to verify the impact of electoral reforms (PR and women's suffrage) on the profiles of deputies and senators. Finally, we discuss the transformation of the MPs' socio-_professional profiles during the recent period (1980-2010) in connection with the increased professionalization of the Federal Assembly and the changes of the power relations within the Parliament. Our results allow us to highlight several elements of continuity (the predominance of self-employed persons, especially lawyers, business managers and farmers, and the underrepresentation of public employees; stronger background in local politics), as well as some factors of discontinuity (increased presence of women and lesser importance of the military career). Other changes of the parliamentarians' profile are related to the recent process of professionalization. Although contested and unfinished, it has promoted new sociological profiles in terms of educational background, profession (growth of the professional parliamentarians) and number of political and economic mandates held simultaneously, however with important variations between parties and between Lower and Upper House.

Political-ethical skill development in nursing undergraduates

This research aimed to identify political-ethical skills developed in a training process compatible with the expected profile set by the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Undergraduate Nursing Degree. A case study was conducted with units represented by 32 former students from a particular religious teaching institution who already were in the job market. The content of the interviews was analyzed using the thematic analysis technique, which resulted in the following categories: "Political-ethical skills in the formative process" and "Political-ethical skills as a product of the educational process." From the former students’ perspective, these categories reinforced the social role of the nurse and the need for students to be reflective, understanding and participative in the transformation of society.

Influence of stress factors and socio-demographic characteristics on the sleep quality of nursing students

Objective:To analyze the influence of stress factors and socio-demographic characteristics on the sleep quality of nursing students. Method: An analytical cross-sectional and quantitative study, conducted with 151 nursing students in São Paulo between March and April of 2012. A form for socio-demographic characteristics, the Instrument to Evaluate Stress in Nursing Students and the Pittsburgh Sleep Index were applied. Results: High levels of stress was predominant for Time Management (27.8%) and Professional Training (30.5%) and low sleep quality (78.8%). The Professional Communication, Professional Training and Theoretical Activity are positively correlated to sleep quality. Work activity, academic year and time for daily studies contributed to a low quality of sleep. Conclusion: Few stress factors from the academic environment and some socio-demographic characteristics contributed to the reduction of sleep quality in students.


Quality of life of caregivers for patients of cerebrovascular accidents: association of (socio-demographic) characteristics and burden

OBJECTIVE Investigating the association between quality of life with socio-demographic characteristics and the burden of caregivers for individuals with cerebrovascular accident sequelae. METHOD A descriptive, cross-sectional study with a sample composed of 136 caregivers. For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire, the Barthel, Burden Interview and Short-Form-36 scales were used. Correlation analysis, t-Student test and F-test were used for the analysis in order to compare averages. RESULTS Significant averages in quality of life were demonstrated in association with female caregivers and those over 60 years in the field 'functional capacity,' and in the domains of 'mental health' and 'vitality' for those with higher income. Regarding burden association, the highlighted areas were 'functional capacity,' 'physical aspects,' 'emotional aspects' and 'pain.' CONCLUSION The creation of public policies and social support to effectively reduce the burden on caregivers is a necessity.

Incidência da Insularidade no Processo de Desenvolvimento Socio-económico de Cabo Verde

Desde o fim da II Guerra Mundial todos os países têm procurado melhores rumos para alcançarem um desenvolvimento consistente. Mas, alguns deles têm enfrentado no seu progresso vários constrangimentos estruturais. É o caso dos chamados Pequenos Estados Insulares em Desenvolvimento (PEID’S). Cabo Verde, Maurícias, São Tomé e Príncipe, Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Nova Caledónia, são alguns exemplos de países pertencentes ao grupo dos PEID’S. A pequena dimensão territorial, demográfica e económica, o isolamento em relação ao continente, a fragmentação territorial e a vulnerabilidade ambiental constituem as características distintivas desses países. Com um território inferior a 5000 km² e uma população residente que não supera meio milhão de habitantes, uma economia muito dependente de fluxos externos e com um território isolado e fragmentado, Cabo Verde está incluído na lista dos mais pequenos estados do mundo e um dos mais vulneráveis, tanto económica como ambientalmente. Essas características, que no seu conjunto se denominam de insularidade, fazem com que Cabo Verde conheça a dureza dos seus efeitos negativos, acarretando custos acrescidos de financiamento do seu próprio desenvolvimento, afectando todos os sectores de actividade. O sector primário e sector secundário são dificultados pela pequena dimensão do território, do mercado interno e da fragmentação do território. O sector terciário, pelo contrário, aproveita algumas dessas características para tirar rendas da situação que doutra forma seriam impossíveis. A insularidade tem uma incidência, no cômputo geral, extremamente negativa no processo de desenvolvimento socio-económico de Cabo Verde. Portanto, a evolução socio-económica de Cabo Verde está condicionada por características estruturais e debilidades intrínsecas que impõem dificuldades na prossecução de um processo de desenvolvimento consistente e sustentável. Mas, apesar disso, Cabo Verde tem conseguido, mesmo que de forma lenta e debilitada, encontrar estratégias de resiliência, como as do tipo defensivo, adaptativo, reactivo e ofensivo, que permitam minimizar os efeitos negativos da insularidade e aproveitar aqueles que constituem oportunidades de desenvolvimento.

Dinâmica da população do concelho de Tarrafal entre 1990 e 2000 e o seu impacto socio-económico

O presente trabalho, cujo o tema é «Dinâmica da população do concelho de Tarrafal entre 1990 e 2000 e o seu impacto socio-económico», vem na sequência de investigação para apresentação de um trabalho científico de fim do curso como requisito parcial para a obtenção do grau de licenciatura em Geografia. Este trabalho surgiu, igualmente, da verificação de vários problemas que afectam o concelho, tanto de ordem demográfico, económico, social como ambiental. Não obstante os problemas, que se arrastam desde há muito tempo e que levou na, actualidade, ao posicionamento do concelho de entre os mais pobres do arquipélago de Cabo Verde. O concelho tem vindo a aumentar consideravelmente o seu efectivo populacional ao longo dos tempos. Ao longo da elaboração deste trabalho enfrentamos algumas dificuldades, sobretudo na aquisição de dados, devido à criação do concelho de São Miguel em 1997, que veio separar a freguesia de São Miguel Arcanjo da freguesia da de Santo Amaro Abade, dando assim origem a dois concelhos autónomos. Por isso no segundo capítulo, onde analisamos dinâmica/estado e evolução demográfica enfrentamos algumas dificuldades, dado à ausência de séries estatísticas específicas sobre o actual concelho em estudo. Neste contexto optamos pela análise conjunta (Tarrafal e São Miguel) de alguns indicadores. Como sabemos, a dinâmica de uma população tem implicações directas nas condições sócio-económicas, podendo arrastar consigo alguns problemas que podem influir nas condições de vida das populações. Sendo assim, com estes propósitos procurámos fazer uma abordagem geral sobre a dinâmica da população no concelho do Tarrafal e o seu impacto sócio-económico, em vários ângulos, nomeadamente: os aspectos sócio-culturais, económicos e demográficos. Além da introdução onde procurámos fazer o enquadramento do trabalho, com os objectivos preconizados, a metodologia seguida, a justificação da importância do tema, este trabalho se encontra estruturado em quatro capítulos, mais as conclusões, recomendações, bibliografias e anexos.