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The European Union: Why Norway Rejected Membership Even After Sweden Joined
No full textTo fully understand the decision the Norwegian people made regarding membership in the European Union, it is helpful to look at the process through which they went and its reasoning and the comparable process in Sweden. Such an exercise is useful as Norway and Sweden are similar in many relevant ways. Their shared political and economic makeup, similar cultures and intertwined histories contribute to a systematic comparison. Norway's decision to stay out of the EU was an economic one. They can afford the inconveniences of non-membership and will not be significantly affected. Conversely, Sweden needed the economic alliance that the EU provides.
This paper will first discuss the economic and political impact EU participation has on its members. By comparing the EU to the European Economic Area and the Nordic Council, two organizations designed to serve similar purposes as the EU, the importance of the EU will be established. Secondly, an investigation of the historical perspective from which Norway and Sweden approach the EU is helpful to understand the relationships each country has with the organization. This, along with the debates that occurred within each country regarding the EU, will help explain why Norway opted not to join the European Union while Sweden did.The European Union:
Why Norway Rejected Membership Even After Sweden Joined
Lindsey Anne Hayden
Political Science Senior Seminar
Dr. Royce Ammon
21 May 1999
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
The European Union and Other Alliance 3
General Histories of Norway and Sweden 9
Debating European Union Membership 19
Conclusions 32
Bibliography 40
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Introduction
In 1994 the most recent round of expansion of the European Union
(EU) was completed. Each of the four applicant countries had a referendum
wherein the citizens had the opportunity to vote, by a simple majority,
whether or not their country would become an EU member. When scheduling
these referendums, the EU arranged it so that the countries most likely to
join voted first in hopes of swaying the decisions of the later, more undecided
countries (Jahn and Storsved, 1995). Accordingly, the order was Austria,
Finland, Sweden and lastly, Norway. As expected, the referendum passed
quickly in Austria and Finland; Sweden also, although by a smaller margin,
accepted European Union membership. Finally, Norwegians went to the polls
to make their decision. Fully aware that all three other countries, including
two fellow Scandinavian countries to which Norway has very close bonds, had
accepted the EU; Norway rejected membership.
The reasoning behind this decision is complex. For some Norwegians it
1s rooted in their negative feelings towards unions that is a result of
hundreds of years in involuntary unions. Similarly, some felt it was too large
an infringement on the sovereignty that Norway has had less than a century.
Other citizens felt that compliance with EU regulations in areas such as
farming and fishing would have a costly effect on their lives.
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To fully understand the decision the Norwegian people made
regarding membership in the European Union, it is helpful to look at the
process through which they went and its reasoning and the comparable
process in Sweden. Such an exercise is useful as Norway and Sweden are
similar in many relevant ways. Their shared political and economic makeup,
similar cultures and intertwined histories contribute to a systematic
comparison. Norway's decision to stay out of the EU was an economic one.
They can afford the inconveniences of non-membership and will not be
significantly affected. Conversely, Sweden needed the economic alliance that
the EU provides.
This paper will first discuss the economic and political impact EU
participation has on its members. By comparing the EU to the European
Economic Area and the Nordic Council, two organizations designed to serve
similar purposes as the EU, the importance of the EU will be established.
Secondly, an investigation of the historical perspective from which Norway
and Sweden approach the EU is helpful to understand the relationships each
country has with the organization. This, along with the debates that occurred
within each country regarding the EU, will help explain why Norway opted
not to join the European Union while Sweden did.
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The European Union and Other Alliances
The European Union is the most recent evolution of an organization for
cooperation between the European nations originating in 1951. The initial
union was called the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and its
scope was very limited. The ECSC membership included Belgium, France,
Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, with a purpose to create a
common market for coal and steel resources and production that would be
administrated autonomous of individual governments. In 1958 the ECSC
underwent the first of many augmentations. The Treaty of Rome enlarged
the agreement to include all economic areas and also established a
comm1ss10n on the development and use of atomic energy; the new
organization was called the European Community (EC) (Fontaine 1998: 49).
Despite the encouragement of EC members, the United Kingdom opted
to stay out of the alliance. Their decision had wider reaching effects than just
themselves as it meant their primary trading partners, Denmark, Ireland,
and Norway, either had to restructure their trade and economic strategies or
also remain outside of the EC. To counteract the effect of the EC, Britain
initiated its own trade organization, the European Free-Trade Association.
Initiated in 1959, EFTA created a tariff-free zone between Austria, Britain,
Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland, and remained
independent of the EC (Piening 1997: 48).
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Britain's desire to stay out of the EC was short lived however, and in
1961 they submitted their first application for membership. For eleven years
France, the only EC member who opposed the addition of the United
Kingdom, was successful in keeping them out. A change in the French
government resulted in leadership that was not categorically against the UK,
and in 1973 the EC expanded to include not only the UK, but also Denmark
and Ireland (Piening 1997: 49). When the military dictatorship in Greece
ended, it became eligible to apply for EC membership, and in 1981 it was
added as the tenth member of the EC. In 1986 the addition of Portugal and
Spain brought the Community membership up to twelve members (Fontaine
1998: 51).
Also in 1986 the EC began to discuss the "Single Europe Act" which
would effectively abolish all borders within the organization, by allowing for
the completely unrestricted movement of goods, services and people. This
project, slated for introduction in 1992, increased a growing desire among the
EFTA countries to work out an agreement between the two organizations.
The result of their negotiations was the blueprint for the European Economic
Area (EEA) (Piening 1997: 53).
The EEA would serve as a pseudo-EC membership in that it made the
EFTA countries a part of the agreements regarding the free movement of
goods, services and people, and it gave them at least a small voice on the
inside of the EC. However, the EEA did not offer all the benefits of full EC
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membership. It left out areas like the common agricultural and trade policies,
and it left the EFTA countries out of financial decisions. For these reasons
many of the EFTA countries saw the EEA as a midpoint to full membership
in the EC and decided to apply for full membership instead. Austria, Finland,
Norway, Sweden and Switzerland all chose this time to apply for the EC. In
1994 Austria, Finland and Sweden all ratified EC membership treaties and
became full partners, bringing the EC nations up to fifteen. In a national
referendum, the Swiss rejected the opportunity to join both the EC and the
EEA. The Norwegians decided to be content with membership in the
European Economic Area and, like they had in 1972, rejected the EC. When
finally signed and initiated, the agreement on the European Economic Area
encompassed all fifteen EC nations and only three EFTA nations: Iceland,
Norway and Liechtenstein, a small nation that had joined EFTA in 1991
(Piening 1997: 54).
Meanwhile, on 7 February 1992 the Treaty on European Union was
signed in Maastricht. This agreement, in addition to officially changing the
name from the European Community to the European Union (EU), expanded
the EU far beyond the concept of a primarily trade-based organization. The
Maastricht Treaty increased the economic and political significance of EU
membership; it asked the member nations to make a big step in sacrificing
aspects of their sovereignty to the supranational level. Besides language, the
number one expression of national sovereignty is individual currency. The
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Maastricht Treaty made a concrete plan for the development and
implementation of a common European Currency Unit (ECU). The ECU has
been in the plenary stages since the beginnings of the Single Europe Act, but
now they had established definite deadlines that had to be met. Another
aspect of sovereignty that the EU countries agreed to yield to the Union was
foreign relations. The Treaty also established a Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) which, while the subject of much criticism, also
provides a useful solidarity between the EU countries.
Nordic Council
Another alliance that formed to encourage international cooperation is
the Nordic Council. Its membership includes all the Scandinavian nations.
The Scandinavian countries (popularly considered to include Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, also called the Nordic countries) have
always had strong relationships with one another. Historically and culturally
they are so closely tied that it can be difficult to distinguish the differences
between them. Linguistically they are also very similar. The three main
languages, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian differ more from Icelandic and
Finnish than from each other. However, Danish is similar enough to
Icelandic that communication is possible, and because of the long history of
union between their countries, most Finns understand Swedish to some
degree.
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Since the 1900s the ties between the Nordic countries have become
more tangible in the form of added and more official agreements in areas
such as trade and foreign policy. For example, during the First World War
Sweden, Denmark and Norway were all struggling to maintain neutrality.
With that intention they arranged in 1917 to share goods in order to
overcome the effects of the German submarines and the allied blockade
(Wendt 1981: 656). As the world began to fall into an economic crisis after the
War, the magnitude of this cooperation was expanded. Iceland and eventually
Finland began to participate in the Nordic financial partnership. These
relationships only strengthened as the Scandinavian countries each began to
move to a socialized democracy. The Nazi occupation of Denmark and
Norway had little effect on the Scandinavian cooperation as Sweden in
particular went to great national risk to help its occupied allies.
After the Second World War Scandinavia continued its integration
with the 1952 establishment of the Nordic Council (NC), a body designed to
promote cooperation between the separate Nordic parliaments. Founding
nations of the Nordic Council included Denmark, Iceland, Norway and
Sweden, and in 1955 Finland joined the organization. The NC is an 87-
member council with representatives elected from each of the member
nations1
. The NC meets annually to discuss issues that are of importance to
its member nations. The decisions reached by the NC are non-binding.
1 The Aland Islands are a part of Finland's representation, and the Faeroe Islands are
represented through Denmark
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Instead the results are reported back to the individual nations' parliament in
the form of recommendations. Council decisions are usually implemented
without fail.
Working with the Nordic Council is another organization that helps in
the implementation of the Council's recommendations, the Nordic Council of
Ministers (NCM), established in 1971. In addition to coordinating the
inception of the NC recommendations, they also have the power to make
suggestions about issues that the Council should address. Membership in the
NCM is not fixed, like the European Unions Council of Ministers, instead it
depends on the issues at hand. Each country's representative is its Minister
of the issue being discussed. The result of this was that for each issue the
group facilitating the decisions and working for multinational cooperation is
its own specialized epistemic community.
For the most part the Nordic Council has worked extremely well for
participating countries. Any issue affecting two or more of the member
nations can be brought before the NC. These issues have ranged from
agreements about who can remove how much fish from a given location to
whether or not the Nordic countries as a whole should remain free of nuclear
weapons.
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General Histories of Norway and Sweden
Regardless of its legendary Viking history that stretches back
thousands of years, the Norway that exists today has been a sovereign nation
for less than 100 years. While today's history books record the exploits of the
Vikings and ascribe them to Scandinavia as a whole, they are generally
referring to people from an area that today is a part of Norway. The Viking
period was one of constant struggle between different ruling powers in
Scandinavia. For Norway this fluctuation stabilized in 1536 when the
powerful Danish king abolished the Norwegian national council and with it
abolished Norway's sovereignty (Danielsen et al, 1995: 462).
As an effect of its newly acquired status as a Danish province, Norway
was gradually assimilated over the next 300 years. Their center of
government moved to Copenhagen and with that the official language of all
the business conducted in Norway became Danish. As time progressed and
countries began establishing universities to educate their leaders and
scholars, Denmark established a university in Copenhagen. This forced all
Norwegian people to go outside of their country to receive a higher education,
and with it, they learned a different language and a foreign culture. The
death of a Norwegian identity separate from that of Denmark was more than
complete by the 1800s.
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When Denmark aligned itself with Napoleon and lost a war against
Sweden, Norway's ceased to be a Danish province; in 1814 it officially became
a nation that shared a "common king'' with Sweden. This created the illusion
of some degree of autonomy by allowing a Norwegian Storting, or parliament,
to form and meet every three years to formally accept the laws and policy of
its new ruler, Sweden. Although still not independent, Norway enjoyed much
more freedom in union with Sweden than it had previously under Denmark's
rule. Norway established a bank of its own and again began coining its own
currency.
In 1869 the Storting decided to start meeting annually and
consequently changes started occurring very rapidly in Norway. Soon after
that the Storting voted to change their leadership from a Swedish appointed
viceroy to a Prime Minister selected from within Norway. The creation of a
parliament that made its own binding decisions lead to factions with in the
body, and in 1884 these disagreements produced the first two political parties
in Norway, the Venstre and the H0yre2
. Finally, in 1905 the Norwegian
Storting voted to dissolve the union with Sweden, officially declaring itself to
be a sovereign nation for the first time in over 350 years.
Because of its status as a new nation, Norway was preoccupied with
establishing both a firm self-identity as well as a relationship with its
neighbors over the next few years. This means that at the onset of the First
2 the Left and the Right
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World War, it was unaligned. Although it was not easy, Norway maintained
neutrality throughout the war and the economic recession that followed it.
At the beginning of World War II, Norway again intended to remain
neutral. Unfortunately, the Swedish iron ore that Germany was dependent
on was shipped out of Narvik, a port city in Norway that remained clear of ice
all winter long. Sweden's interpretation of neutral meant they would
continue doing business with both Germany and the Allied powers. This
meant that the only barrier between Germany and the Swedish iron ore was
the Allied blockade which could be avoided if they held Narvik. It soon
became clear that Norway was a necessary alliance for Germany. When
Norway refused to cooperate, Germany attacked. Since Norway's military
was designed with the intentions of maintaining neutrality, not fighting for
independence, they quickly fell victim to German occupation.
In 1940 Germany began an occupation of Norway that lasted until the end of
the war in 1945. This occupation produced little in the terms of lingering
political effects, but it did have a very large impact on the psyche of the
Norwegian people; as a whole they decided that neutrality is a small price to
pay to ensure their national sovereignty.
In 1942 when Vladimir Lenin overthrew Czar Nicholas II and
established Russia as the world's first communist state, the Norwegians took
notice. The Scandinavian states have always had problems maintaining
sovereignty over their territory in the face of Russian expansionism.
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Although the border that is shared between Norway and Russia is small,
Norway was nervous about involuntarily ceding any of its land to the newly
communist and newly nuclear superpower, the USSR. When the remaining
Allied powers and other democratic nations of Europe began discussing the
formation of a security alliance to counter the threat of the communist forces,
Norway was interested. They rationalized that by voluntarily sacrificing a
small portion of their sovereignty in a necessary defense strategy they could
avoid the possibility of another foreign occupation. Thus, Norway decided
that it was definitely in their best interest to join the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO). However, they put one provision on their NATO
membership: there were to be no American military forces on Norwegian soil.
Although in one way this presented the possibility of Russian invasion, the
risk was countered by the benefits of being able to remain a non-nuclear
state.
Since the end of the Cold War especially, the rest of the world has seen
the fact that NATO membership has had little effect on Norway's neutrality.
NATO has grown into a political alliance whose scope is much larger than the
originally intended defense agreement. NATO has brought Norway into
discussions concerning areas such as the Middle East and the Balkan
Peninsula. It is reasonably clear that Norway's interest in NATO is for its
own security reasons, therefore Norway is often considered a neutral country
within the Organization.
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As a consequence of years of foreign rule, Norway is a fiercely
nationalistic country. Norway is an example of a nation that, when finally
sovereign, exhibits a level of nationalism that is unparalleled in nations
where independence is a given. As a matter of fact, Norwegians are often
characterized by their very strong sense of nationalism, which is deeply
rooted in the Norwegian psyche for many reasons. The biggest cause of this
national pride is the fact that they have been a sovereign nation for such a
short period of time. One does not have to go back too many generations to
find a relative who remembers the period of union with Sweden, and stories
of how Norway worked to peaceably end the union are still widely circulating.
Finally achieving self-rule after 400 years in unions is no small matter, and
the Norwegians are not about to make it into one. Any sign Norway's
nationalism showed of ebbing disappeared completely during the World War
II occupation by Germany. Modern legends exist, making everyone into a
hero, about the Norwegian resistance movement. Fighting to regain their
sovereignty after just one generation of it reminded Norwegians of how
important their national independence is.
Also related to Norwegian independence is the reverence they have for
their language. After 300 years of domination by Denmark, the Norwegian
language had all but died out. When the Swedish union began, Norwegians
began looking for their lost language. While in the urban areas a hybrid
language of Norwegian and Danish was spoken, in the rural areas the
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peasant people still spoke an old, unmodified form of Norwegian. Today
Norway has two official languages, Bokmal, which is the Danish-Norwegian
hybrid, and Nynorsk, which is the old Norwegian.
Nynorsk was "rediscovered" by J0rgen Moe and Peter Christian
Asbj0rnsen when at the beginning of the eighteenth century there was a
worldwide surge in nationalism. This primarily manifested itself in literature
with a renewed interest in national folktales. When Moe and Asbj0rnsen
began traveling to isolated rural areas of Norway in search of folktales they
also discovered the old Norwegian language. By collecting for the first
Nynorsk dictionary, and writing their folktales in it, they helped to
reestablish the language as official.
When Norway became independent in 1905 its economy was stable
enough to support it. Norway was not a wealthy nation but was able t
Foreign Culture Exposure and Political Opinion: A Study of How International Exposure Influences Political Opinion
No full textIn the United States there is an increasing emphasis being placed on cultural diversity. Increased communications and the subsequent shrinkage of space and time have contributed to this emphasis on "internationalism" in education. The opportunities for studying abroad and travel that students have today would have astonished their grandparents. One reason many give for studying abroad is that it "widens the mind". How does one quantify this "widening of the mind"? In an attempt to quantify the influence that an experience with a foreign culture has on a person, I have examined the relationship between political awareness and exposure to other cultures. This relationship is important in today's world, as foreign culture exposure is becoming more common with improvements in communications and transportation methods. Forty years ago ideas from abroad rarely influenced most people's political views, but today this exposure to foreign cultures is becoming almost commonplace. All of this intrigued me and so I began a study of the relationship between political views and foreign culture exposure. In order to introduce this study it is necessary to define its the purpose, the methods utilized, and the numbers of responses and what that reflects. Once these aspects are understood, it is then useful to examine literature available on the relationship between foreign culture exposure and political views. Finally I will analyze the data I have collected and will come to a conclusion.Foreign Culture
Exposure and
Political Opinion:
A Study of How
International Exposure
Influences Political Opinion
By Candace Fuller
Political Science Thesis
May 16, 1999
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction: Importance of International Awareness in Today's World
a) Purpose and Methods Utilized
b) Definitions of terms
2. Theory
a) History and Background Information of US Study Abroad
b) Benefits of Foreign Culture Exposure and Studies Done
3. Analysis of Survey Results
a) Demographics
b) Study Abroad Statistics
c) Religious Affiliation
d) Political Identification and Relation to Study Abroad
e) The Relation of Study Abroad to views of Affirmative Action
O The Relation of Study Abroad to views of Abortion
e) The Relation of Study Abroad to views of Welfare
f) Study Abroad and Opinions of Foreign Affairs Issues
g) Study Abroad and International Awareness
h) Study Abroad and Ethics of Foreign Intervention
4. Conclusions
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3
1. Introduction: Importance of International Awareness in Today's World
In the United States there is an increasing emphasis being placed on cultural diversity.
Increased communications and the subsequent shrinkage of space and time have
contributed to this emphasis on "internationalism" in education. The opportunities for
studying abroad and travel that students have today would have astonished their
grandparents. One reason many give for studying abroad is that it "widens the mind".
How does one quantify this "widening of the mind"? In an attempt to quantify the
influence that an experience with a foreign culture has on a person, I have examined the
relationship between political awareness and exposure to other cultures. This
relationship is important in today's world, as foreign culture exposure is becoming more
common with improvements in communications and transportation methods. Forty years
ago ideas from abroad rarely influenced most people's political views, but today this
exposure to foreign cultures is becoming almost commonplace. All of this intrigued me
and so I began a study of the relationship between political views and foreign culture
exposure. In order to introduce this study it is necessary to define its the purpose, the
methods utilized, and the numbers of responses and what that reflects. Once these
aspects are understood, it is then useful to examine literature available on the relationship
between foreign culture exposure and political views. Finally I will analyze the data I
have collected and will come to a conclusion.
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a) Purpose and Methods Utilized
The purpose of my study is to investigate whether or not exposure to a foreign
culture changes students' political views and/or makes them more aware of international
politics. My hypothesis is that students who study abroad and have such a dramatic
foreign culture exposure, will have different political convictions that those students who
have not studied abroad. I tested my hypothesis by administering a survey with
questions that attempt to discover the political opinions of those who took it. I
administered this survey to students at Gustavus who have studied abroad, and to those
who haven't, and compared the responses from each group. I made a study of the
relationship between international experiences and changes in political views and
awareness of international politics through the use of polls. It is important to realize that
this is an aggregate study rather than individual study, as all of the surveys were
anonymous and were not mean to reflect the changes on an individual scale. I looked at
differences in political opinion between groups of people, not between individuals.
Surveys were sent to all current Gustavus students who were listed as having studied
abroad. In order to administer surveys to those who hadn't studied abroad, a random
sample was taken from those passing through Olin computer lab. Surveys were also
administered to a US Government and Politics class. Out of those surveys that were
distributed randomly, some of those students had studied abroad as well. Out of the 100
surveys sent to the study abroad group and 48 were returned. Out of those that were
administered randomly, 43 were returned. When all the data was entered into the
computer it was discovered that out of the total of 9 1 surveys returned, 51 of the students
said that they had studied abroad, while 40 said that they had never studied abroad. It is
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natural for there to be a larger response rate from the population whose issues are being
addressed, so this difference in response rate between those who had studied abroad and
those who had not could have been expected.
b) Definitions of Terms
5
In order to carry out this study it is important to define many terms including foreign
culture exposure, studying abroad, and political awareness. Once these terms are clear, it
is then useful to get an overview of the theory of the relation between study abroad and
political views, and then to lay out the results of the comparisons between surveys.
I defined one who has studied abroad as a student who had studied or resided in a
foreign country for the period of at least one-month. Such a short time span was decided
upon because many Gustavus students study abroad during J -term. This definition is
broad enough to include J-term studies abroad as well as semester or year exchange
programs. I asked the students 2 questions pertaining to study abroad. The first asked
whether they had studied abroad or not, and the second asked for what period of time
they had been abroad. I expected to see a difference not only between the group of
students who had studied abroad and those who hadn't, but also a differences among the
study abroad group its self. I believe that those who had studied abroad for long periods
of time would differ in their political opinions when they were compared to those
students with less foreign culture exposure. The political opinions of those who had
studied abroad for less amounts of time would therefore be more likely to resemble the
opinions of those who hadn't been abroad at all.
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It is essential to define political/international opinion. I defined
political/international views as views that pertain mainly to the US relations to other
nations and to the international system, specifically the UN. I expected students who had
studied abroad to have a less US centered view of these issues, and a more global view.
This would be due to the fact that when they were residing outside the US they were
more likely to have encountered and have been influenced by news and ideas coming
from a different, non-American, perspective. In order to get a sense of the differences
between the two groups of students I asked the students to place themselves on a sevenpoint
scale in relation to their beliefs about four statements. The first statement pertained
to US foreign involvement (Question 9A), and the second to the United Nations and
whether or not it should be granted more power (Question 9B). The third regarded the
Security Council and veto power of the five permanent members (Question 9C), and the
fourth concerned the US ethical obligation to intervene in international affairs (Question
13). These questions were chosen partially because they would be issues familiar to both
those who had studied abroad and those who had not.
International awareness was also a main part of my survey. In order to get an idea of
the levels of international awareness of each group I asked two questions. The students
were asked how many times per week or month they read the news or watched news
programs (Question 10). The students were also asked if they considered themselves
well informed on international affairs (Question I IA) and if they thought there was
enough coverage of international news in the US media (Question 1 lB). I expected
students who had studied abroad to be more likely to watch or read the news on a regular
basis. I also expected students who had studied abroad to consider themselves poorly
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informed, as they would be more likely to realize that there was much more going on in
the world that the US media reported. Along the same lines I thought it likely that those
students who had had foreign culture exposure to believe that there wasn't enough
coverage of international events in the US media.
Finally I must define change in political views as a change in one's perception and
opinion of domestic politics and political issues. I used a wide range of issues in my
survey to attempt to see as many different aspects of the student's political views as
possible. I was interested not only in finding out if people who study abroad define
themselves differently or have different political affiliations that those students who
haven't studied abroad; but also in discovering if those who study abroad have different
opinions about political issues then those who hadn't studied abroad.
I used a 7 point liberal conservative scale on which students could rate themselves
(Question4), and a 7-point scale on which students rated themselves on political party
affiliation (Question 5). Issues I used were affirmative action, welfare, and abortion. I
expected that those students who had studied abroad would have more liberal views, due
to exposure of more ideas, and would be more definite in their political opinion. Above
all I expected there to be a difference between students who had been abroad and those
who had not.
One other question that might at a glance seem slightly irrelevant is religious
affiliation. I asked students religious affiliation (Question 2), as I expected to see a slight
difference between those who had studied abroad and those who hadn't. The logic
behind that was that one who studies abroad probably would be exposed to new
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8
philosophies, which would include religion, and therefore are more likely to have slightly
different views.
2. Theories of Foreign Culture Exposure
a) History and Background Information of US Study Abroad
Education abroad today is seen as an asset, but not all thinkers of the past have held to
this view. For example, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "the consequences of foreign education
are alarming to me as an American." 1 Foreign education disturbed those who were trying
to found a new nation and to assimilate many different nationalities and create a distinctly
American culture. In Georgia a law was passed in 1785 that banned its residents from
public service for as many years as they had studied abroad. 2 In early America, people
feared European "contamination" and feared that it would cause disunity. Later on in
our history, when the United States became more established as a nation and fear of
instability was diminished, travelling abroad became the signature of the wealthy.
According to Wilson, "In part we have inherited the Grand Tour idea for eighteenth
century gentlemen whose travel to France and Italy was a cultural, social, and political
finishing school that would qualify them to take their places in the cosmopolitan upper
class."3 Foreign education had become in the United States a finishing school, a privilege
of the wealthy. International education was no longer something to be feared, but
something that was almost a type of status symbol.
1 Deutsch, Steven E. International Education and Exchange: A Sociological Analysis. Pg. 114. The Press
of Case Wesern Reserve University, Cleveland: 1970.
2 Wilson, Angene Hopkins. The Meaning oflnternational Experience for Schools. Pg. 18. Praeger
Publishers, Westport: 1993.
3 Wilson, Angene Hopkins. The Meaning oflnternational Experience for Schools. Pg. 18. Praeger
Publishers, Westport: 1993.
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Foreign education in the United States no longer exclusively belongs to the wealthy,
but the middle class also has this opportunity. In an increasingly interdependent world it
is being recognized that foreign education not only something desirable for its own sake,
but crucial to the global economy. According to Lambert, "Now so much of what we do
and think is tied to events abroad that it would be foolish of us not to learn to cope with
the global society in which we increasingly operate.4 International education is no longer
seen only as an individual goal, but also as a global goal- a way to promote international
understanding and cross-cultural acceptance. In the 21st century, international education
is considered an extension of domestic education and to many as a must as global
interdependence emerges.5 "Future graduates from an undergraduate university will need
not only the knowledge and skills of their profession, but also a range of other skills that
will allow them to adapt effectively across cultures in an interdependent world.6
According to Hsueh, the creation of the United Nations at the end of the Second World
War has brought in what he terms as "a new era in international education." He goes on
to say that this new era has increased the importance of international education for the
following reasons: Internationalism has become a way of life; countries are more
interdependent than before, the globe is becoming smaller with science and technological
advances, and that communication technology has made advances.7 All of these factors
4 Lambert, Richard D. International Studies and the Undergraduate. Pg. I. American Council on Education,
Washington DC: 1989.
5 Beltsos, Nicholas J. Problems in Defining the Direction and Content oflnternational Education for the
21st Century. 1988.
http://ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi/fastweb? ... international%29%26AND%26%28education%2
3/31/99 2:46PM
6 Brill, Rhondda. Internationalization of Undergraduate Education: The UTS Initiative. Journal of Studies
in International Education, Vol. 2 No.2. Fall 1998.
7 Hhsueh, Shou-Sheng. International Education: Problems and Prospects.Keynote Addresses from the
Horace Mann International Lecture Series., Pittsburghl978.
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have drastically changed our world, and today world peace and progress depends upon
people who have a global view ... something that can be achieved through international
education.
b) Benefits of Foreign Culture Exposure and Studies Done
10
International education has been shown to give an individual who undertakes such an
experience many excellent personal benefits as well. Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most
internationally recognized American women, said the following in reference to her
travels in Europe as a teenager. "It was one of the most momentous things that happened
in my education ... ! really marvel now at myself-confidence and independence, for I was
totally without fear in this new phase of my life. "8 This is a common attitude after one
studies abroad and has been supported in research. Research has shown that
international experience affects many things including international interests and
education, the affective and social domains of learning, and open mindedness. Examples
of studies that have shown these effects are important to note.
It has been found that most American students are very satisfied with their study
abroad and that makes a positive impact upon not only their international education, but
also educational habits in general. One study by Jerry Carlson and Barbara Burn
examined the changes in students who had studied abroad using a pre and post abroad
experience questionnaire. They then compared these responses to the responses of those
http:/ /ericir.syr.edu/pl web-cgi/fastweb? .. .international %29%26AND%26%28education%2 3/31/99
2:48PM
8
Cook, B.W. Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol I. Pg. 115 Viking Press, New York: 1992.
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1 1
who had not studied abroad. They found that those students who had studied abroad, had
undergone some valuable attitude changes. Overall, they had more of a commitment to
peace and international cooperation, a much larger interest in international issues,
considered international understanding important, and were able to sympathize with other
nations more adeptly. They were also more informed not only about their host country,
but about international issues. These weren't the only differences however. The students
who had studied abroad on average were found to have acquired better study habits and
increased persistence. 9
This study was based on self-evaluating questionnaires, but even so, it should not be
disregarded. The use of pre and post surveys, can be a valuable assessment of change.
Human experience is objective, malting it very difficult to quantify the amount of change
that a human undergoes during an experience. Comparison of responses between those
who had studied abroad and those who had not is also valuable as differing responses
may indicate that an experience may have brought about a change. It is important to
remember that these results reflect averages; that means not every person who studied
abroad experienced these positive changes, some had negative experiences. This was an
individual study, and not an aggregate study. This is important for our purposes due to
the fact that the study I underwent was done on an aggregate scale, since averages are a
reflection of the majority's experiences and are useful for comparison. This is not to say
that the minority's experiences are unimportant, but just that we are concerned with the
experiences of the general population.
9 Carlson , JS, Bum, BB, Useem, J, and Yachimowicz, D. Study Abroad: The Experience of American
Undergraduates in Western Europe and the United States. Occasional Ppaer 28. New York Council on
International Education and Exchange.: 1991.
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12
Another study done by Aubrey Immelman and Peter Schneider further supports the
positive effects on learning of studying abroad. In this pilot study the responses from the
two focus groups showed that educational gains are achieved. "Educational gains in
study abroad programs occur primarily in the affective and social domains of learning,
including values clarification, attitude change, personal development, and social
maturity." 10 In a study done by Brigham Young Universiy, 75% of study abroad
students said that one semester abroad had had a large impact on their understanding of
cultural differences and in their interest in world affairs. In another self rating study done
by the AFS International/Intercultural Exchange Program, student's self evaluations
indicated the following effects: Awareness and appreciation of host country and culture,
foreign language appreciation and capability, understanding other cultures, and
international awareness.11
Open-mindedness was another positive change discovered by several studies due to the
contribution of international experience. For example, 85% of returnees in a study of the
German and American Youth for Understanding Exchange program, suggested that their
experience abroad caused them to change their nationality stereotypes. They began to
individualize people rather than just judge them purely on the basis of their nationality.12
All of these studies had varying program lengths. This raises the question, what is the
length of stay that produces the greatest impact on students? Koester writes the following
on this matter, "Interestingly enough, the three to twelve month time period seems to
10 http://www.ciee.org/JOURNAL/abstacts.html 3/31/99 3:32PM
11 Wilson, Angene Hopkins. The Meaning oflnternational Experience for Schools. Pg. 18. Praeger
Publishers, Westport: 1993. 12
Bachner, DJ and Zeutschel U. Students of Four Decades: A Research Study of the Influences of an
International Exchange Experience on the Lives of German and US High School Students. Youth for
Understanding, Washington DC, 1990.
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13
produce the greatest impact on students. Those students who had been in the
international setting for that time period indicated increased interest in academic
performance and political awareness. They also displayed increased self-confidence and
a better understanding of US culture. This time frame appears to represent the optimum
length, less time produces less effect and more time rarely produce
Leaning Toward Libertarianism? A look at Political Party Alignment Among Students at Gustavus Adolphus College
No full textThrough this project I hoped to develop a sense of the political attitudes of members of the Gustavus Adolphus College student community and to determine whether individuals at Gustavus professing to vote for candidates of, or have allegiance to, a particular political party-especially those identifying with the two major parties-are in actuality aligning themselves with a party less conducive to the promotion of their political beliefs than would be the Libertarian Party. I hypothesized that this was the case. I believe most Americans agree that people ought to be allowed to pursue whatever they wish, say whatever they wish, make as much money as they can, et cetera ... all with as little government interference as possible-and so long as their conduct does not harm or impede another in similar pursuits.Leaning Toward Libertarianism?
A look at Political Parry Alignment Among Students
At Gustavus Adolphus College
Robert De Haven
Political Science Thesis
Professor Chris Gilbert
December 16, 1999
POL-399 Fall Semester
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: Introduction
Research Topic & Explanation
Research Design & Strategy
A Picture of Respondents
Source Review
PART II: Findings
Filter Questions
Presidential Support & Party Identification
Government Size
Social Issues:
The War on Drugs
Consensual Sex for Adults
The Military Draft
Second Amendment Rights
Abortion
Communications Regulation
Economic Issues:
Minimum Wage
Foreign Trade
Government Subsidies
Federal Income Tax Rates
Social Security
PART ill: Conclusion: Libertarian Leanings
Bibliography
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Pagel
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INDEX OF FIGURES
FIGURES I, II &III A Picture of Respondents Page 6
FIGURES IV, V & VI Filter Questions Page8
FIGURE VII & VIII Presidential Support & PID Pages 9 & 10
FIGURE IX Government Size Page 11
FIGUREX The "War on Drugs" Page 12
FIGURE XI Consensual Sex for Adults Page 1 3
FIGURE XII Military Draft Page 15
FIGURE XIII Second Amendment Page 1 6
FIGURE XIV Abortion Page 17
FIGUREXV Communications Regulation Page 18
FIGURE XVI Minimum Wage Page 19
FIGURE XVII Foreign Trade Page20
FIGURE XVIII Government Subsidies Page 21
FIGURE XIX Federal Income Tax Page 22
FIGURE XX Social Security Page 2 3
FIGUREXXI Three Libertarians Page25
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I. Introduction
Research Topic & Explanation
For as long as I can remember, I've valued the many freedoms I enjoy as an American
citizen; I also have appreciated and valued the democratic and representational system of
government our country employs which allows and ensures those freedoms. Most would
agree that democracy and the historical lassiez-faire attitude of politicians and lawmakers
have made the United States, arguably, the best place to be.
While many agree that personal and economic freedom has led to the United States'
current state of wealth and prosperity, many also support political platforms that seem to
advocate ideas, laws and regulations (and the consequent larger and more distant
government bureaucracy) that by putting restraints on economic and personal activity
would curtail freedoms and might interfere with the very forces that colluded to bring
America to the pinnacle of human civilization.
The Libertarian party is a specific political party that strictly and earnestly advocates a
smaller, less intrusive government. The Libertarian Party is relatively young, but the main
principles under which a Libertarian government would function are not; elements of selfgovernment
and liberty have been articulated by many individuals for as long as political
theory has been discussed.
I've read lately, and not so lately, that most people hold a considerable amount of
Libertarian ideas and agree that something is wrong with the way business is conducted in
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the amalgamation of contemporary government bureaucracies. Indeed, the strong showing
of Ross Perot in recent presidential elections and the subsequent rise of the Reform party,
and the election of rogue candidates like Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, point to
America's dissatisfaction with the status quo. Media outlets of all forms have been
focused recently on the idea that citizens believe too many elements of their supposed
government "for and by the people" have been corrupted; politicians campaign across the
nation under the banner of reform in nearly every area of government ... yet the voting
public continues to elect Republicans and Democrats who they soon realize are much like
their predecessors. Is it because they believe they have no other viable choice? An issue
of The Freeman from February 1998 implies this, stating that "Most people are
Libertarians, and they don't even know it."
Through this project I hoped to develop a sense of the political attitudes of members of
the Gustavus Adolphus College student community and to determine whether individuals
at Gustavus professing to vote for candidates of, or have allegiance to, a particular political
party-especially those identifying with the two major parties-are in actuality aligning
themselves with a party less conducive to the promotion of their political beliefs than
would be the Libertarian Party. I hypothesized that this was the case. I believe most
Americans agree that people ought to be allowed to pursue whatever they wish, say
whatever they wish, make as much money as they can, et cetera ... all with as little
government interference as possible-and so long as their conduct does not harm or
impede another in similar pursuits.
2
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Most all will agree that it is very important for people to make informed political
decisions. Individuals must have all available information in order to make the right
decisions for themselves. If it is true that most people hold Libertarian ideals, but that they
vote Republican or Democrat or anything else, they must not have all relevant information.
At the outset, it was my hope that this project would confirm my suspicion that many
individuals are in fact "Libertarians and they don't even know it" and would bolster my
own relatively positive and optimistic opinion of the Libertarian Party.
Research Design & Strategy
In attempting to ascertain whether or not there exists a larger number of people in the
population who harbor Libertarian opinions on social and economic issues than is
popularly estimated, I developed a survey based on Libertarian writings and on the official
platform of the Libertarian Party. (A survey is attached). I formulated the survey largely
from the Libertarian party platform as my aim was to evaluate the political attitudes of the
Gustavus population as they pertain to the Libertarian Party, not simply "liberty" or
"freedom" in a generalized sense. Therefore, I decided that the actual platform outlining
the "official'' positions of the party should dictate much of the content of my investigation.
The survey began with three "filter" questions, by which I determined whether to
consider particular surveys in my analysis. These first questions asked for the month and
year of the next presidential election, the name of George Bush's Vice President, and the
position held by Al Gore. It was my opinion that individuals marking an incorrect answer
to any of these elementary questions is likely not greatly concerned with American politics
and is less likely than those marking the questions correct to be well informed regarding
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the subsequent survey questions. Accordingly, any survey with two or more of these filter
questions marked incorrectly was discarded.
I know from my own experience (in getting surveys through the campus post office)
that unsolicited material of this sort is almost always given little thought by recipients and
is often times discarded immediately. In order to combat this type of non-response, I
decided to pursue other avenues of survey distribution. I believed that surveying students
in class would better suit my project as this method ensures nearly 100% response and
guarantees immediate reply. Therefore, the survey was administered to six Gustavus
political science classes; there were 121 respondents, approximately 5% of the student
population.
In order to evaluate the data compiled and to decide if many people hold political
views consistent with those of the Libertarian Party without their cognition, either because
they have not heard of the Libertarian Party or because they have not explored the party's
intentions and goals sufficiently enough to determine whether they and the party are a
good match, I attempted to ascertain what party respondents align themselves with
currently. For instance, I asked in Question #5, "Which political party most closely suits
you?" and then offered choices including Republican, Democrat, Reform, Libertarian,
Green and Socialist. Answers to this question in conjunction with others aimed at
determining party association and conservative/liberal affiliation were then compared to
answers pertaining to specific political issues both economic and social. (Note, Question
#18 pertaining to respondent's opinions of Federal welfare programs was not evaluated, as
I realized it was too subjective in nature. Question #20 was also not evaluated as some
4
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Republicans have also called for the dismantling of the Department of Education-this
fact makes determination of "disagreement" with one's party difficult).
If it is true that many people feel the same way about political issues as the Libertarian
Party does, but have been underexposed to the party's ideas and thus " . .. are Libertarians
without even knowing it," there would be a discrepancy between what is answered
respecting the initial Republican/Democrat questions and the later questions addressing
specific political issues. I expected that the majority of survey respondents would identify
with one of the two main parties but that a substantially sized group's responses to the
later questions would illustrate that the Libertarian Party's positions were closer to their
own than the party with which they initially claimed identity.
A Picture of Respondents
About 5% of respondents were first year students, 36.6% were sophomores, 24% were
juniors and 29% were seniors, 5.4% of respondents did not answer the question pertaining
to class at Gustavus. Approximately 46% of respondents were male and approximately
48% were female, 6% of respondents did not indicate their sex. (See chart on following
page).
5
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FIGURE I FIGURE II
FIGURE I: l=Freshman, 2=Sophomore, 3=Junior, 4=Senior
FIGURE II: l=Male, 2=Female
The majority of respondents were "Social Science" majors ( about 70%) the rest were
almost equally divided between "Humanities" and "Hard Science."
-3
FIGUREID
Source Review
Much has been written regarding Libertarian ideas, but nearly nothing has been
proffered which seeks to prove whether or not there really are more Libertarians than is
commonly thought. Because of the nature of the aim of this project, I could not rely on my
own interpretation of the various political parties and their respective opinions regarding
6
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contemporary issues in the American political milieu, therefore I used the respective
platforms of the Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians as explicitly outlined or, in
some cases, articulated by sources directly connected to the parties (Republican National
Committee, Democratic National Committee etc.) for the development of my survey.
Charles Murray's What it Means to be a Libertarian was also helpful in developing
an idea of what issues are important to the Libertarian Party and in developing the survey.
The book provides direct and specific answers to contemporary and common questions
concerning Libertarian ideas. The author addresses America's "War on Drugs," the
privatization of many government agencies, and discusses in detail many Libertarian ideas
and defends them with adequate knowledge and insight.
II. Findings
To my disappointment, the data collected did not exhibit a widespread trend of
Gustavus students aligning themselves with the "wrong" party. I hypothesize that had I
surveyed more students from other departments, especially those considered to be
relatively conservative-such as the Department of Economics and Management-I may
have found more individuals professing allegiance to the Republican Party but in actuality
being better suited for the Libertarian Party.
Filter Questions:
Of the 121 survey respondents, rune individuals marked the first question
incorrectly-four thought the next presidential election year was 2002 , four marked 2001
as the correct year, and one individual marked the next presidential election as 2004. Six
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individuals marked the second filter question incorrectly-three identified George Bush's
Vice President as Michael Dukakis, two thought it was James Baker, and one individual
marked Ralph Nader. One individual marking the second filter incorrectly also marked
the first filter incorrectly; that survey was discarded and was the only survey with two
filter questions marked incorrectly. Only one respondent marked the third filter
incorrectly, identifying Al Gore as Secretary of State (see figures lV-Vl below).
' ' 12 '
10a 1CB
8
I 6l "
4
2
L....,
2 3 4
ELECT_VEAA
FIGURE IV
8
56 "
4>
2>
, 0 1 2 3 4
BUSH_VICE
FIGUREV
5
5
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
ID_AL_GORE
FIGURE VI
Key: Figure IV➔ l = Nov. 2002, 2 = Nov. 2001, 3 = Nov. 2000, 4 = Nov. 2004
Figure V ➔ 1 = Dau Quayle, 2 = Ralph Nader, 3 = James Baker, 4 = Michael Dukakis
Figure VI ➔ l =Sec.of State, 2 =Sup.Court Justice, 3 = Vice President
Presidential Support and Party Identification:
The following two questions inquired about respondent's choice for president in the
most recent presidential election and their party identification (PID). Because many
individuals responding to the survey were too young to vote in 1996, the question was
worded, "Whom did you support in the previous presidential election [italics not in
survey]." The PID question simply asked, "Which political party most closely suits you?"
As was expected, respondents supporting Clinton in the last election were very likely to
8
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also identify with the Democratic Party, just as those supporting Dole usually identified
with the Republican Party.
2
FIGURE VII
In Figure VI, above, the area designated by the #1 in the left-hand pie chart is the
proportion of respondents supporting Clinton in the previous election, this section's
counterpart is the area designated by the #2 in the right-hand pie chart-this is the
proportion of respondents identifying with the Democratic Party. Likewise, section #2 on
the left-hand pie chart represents Dole supporters and its corresponding section on the
right hand pie chart is section #1. Though this example alone does not prove that Section
#1 on the left and section #2 on the right are made up of largely the same individuals
(Clinton-Democrats) and that section #2 on the left-hand pie chart and section #1 on the
right hand pie chart are made up largely of the same individuals (Dole-Republicans), this
fact becomes apparent when we look at the actual numbers across these two survey
questions. (See table on following page).
9
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FIGURE VIII
xxxxxxx DEMCRT REPBLCN REFORM LIBRTRN GREEN SOCLST
CLINTON 58 10 2 0 3 4
DOLE 0 24 2 2 1 0
PEROT 0 2 0 0 0 1
NADER 0 0 1 0 2 1
Note: Numbers above do not total to the number of respondent's surveys used (120) because some
respondents did not answer one or both of the presidential support or PIO questions
Government Size:
After establishing that individuals, for the most part, have aligned themselves with the
"proper" political party given their choice for president during the last election, we can
move to other, more specific, issues.
The data indicate that, given their answers to question #6 regarding the size of the
Federal Government, respondents have aligned themselves with the correct political party.
Most of those individuals indicating a belief that the government was too large were
Republicans and all but two believing the government was too small were Democrats. The
size of government is not a black and white issue, thus there were Republicans believing
that the government is the right size, and one Republican believing the government is too
small. Similarly, there were a fair number of Democrats believing the government is too
large. Overall, and somewhat surprisingly, Republicans were slightly more likely to
believe that the government is "the right size" as opposed to "too large," and were very
unlikely to believe that the government is "too small." Democrats were much more likely
to believe the government is "the right size" as opposed to "too large" or "too small."
Each of the three respondents identifying with the Libertarian Party indicated a belief that
the Federal Government is "too large," this position is consistent with the Libertarian
10 Gustavus Student Repository
Party's position. A fair amount of individuals from both of the two major parties believe
the government is "too large." This sentiment is reflected in the current rhetoric from both
sides regarding federal tax-cuts and smaller government.
FIGURE IX
[he Federal Government is:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
REPUBLICAN
DEMOCRAT
REFORM
LIBERTARIAN
GREEN
SOCIALIST
A-Too Small B-Too Large C-The Right Siz;J
TOO LARGE TOO SMALL THE RIGHT SIZE
15 1 21
12 7 38
3 0
3 0 0
3 1 1
3 0 2
SOCIAL I S S UES-The War on Drugs:
The most popular answer across all respondents as to the efficacy of the "War on
Drugs" was that the effort "is not working and should have more funding." This was the
most popular answer for both Republicans and Democrats (16 of 36 or 44.4% of
Republicans and 21 of 55 or 38% Democrats). Since both of these parties advocate more
spending on fighting drugs, this position shows proper party alignment. Both of the two
Libertarians answering the drug question indicated that the "War on Drugs" "Is not
working and should have less funding or be discontinued." This illustrates proper party
alignment for the Libertarians.
Sixteen Democrats voiced a strongly negative opinion of the "War on Drugs" but not
as many as wished to give the effort more funding. This might indicate a tendency toward
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the Libertarian position on this issue for these individuals. However, Democrats on the
whole were properly aligned with their professed party.
FIGUREX
The "War on Drugs":
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
A-Is working as is, but should have more funding
B-Is working as is, and should have no more funding
C-Is not working and should have more funding
D-Is not working and should have less funding or be discontinued
WORKING: WORKING: NOT NOT
WORKING: WORKING:
xxxxxxxxxx SHOULD HAVE SHOULD HAVE SHOULD HAVE LESS MONEY/
xxxxxxxxxx LESS MONEY SAME MONEY MORE MONEY DISCONTINUE
REPUBLICAN 5 9 16 6
DEMOCRAT 11 7 21 16
REFORM 0 0 2 3
LIBERTARIAN 0 0 0 2
GREEN 0 1 0 4
SOCIALIST 1 0 3 2
SOCIAL ISSUES-Consensual Sex for Adults:
Responses to the survey question regarding the regulation of consensual sex among
adults were perhaps the most interesting. 53% of respondents "Agreed Strongly" or
"Agreed" that "Consensual sex among adults should not be regulated in any way
(homosexual sex, prostitution, etc.)" The most popular answer was "Agree," with 33% of
respondents-20% of respondents "Agreed Strongly" (for a total of 53 % in agreement).
24% "Disagreed"-9% "Disagreed Strongly" (percents do not add to 100 due to rounding
and because 13% of respondents were Not Sure"). Since the Libertarian Party is the only
party advocating the repeal of all laws pertaining to consensual sex between adults, any
respondent identifying with the Republican or Democratic Party and indicating agreement
with the survey's statement is in disagreement with their respective party. Thus, 13.6 % of
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Republicans and 27.3% of Democrats support parties with platforms inconsistent with
their own views on this issue. One of the three Libertarians in the survey "Disagreed"
with the statement (a 33% mis-alignment), however the sample of Libertarians is
extremely small. There is evidence here to support the idea that several individuals are in
disagreement with their own parties on this issue, as the Libertarian Party is the only party
that believes "that adults have the right to private choice in consensual sexual activity" and
that "oppose[ s] any government attempt to dictate, prohibit, control, or encourage any
private lifestyle, living arrangement or contractual relationship" and that "support[s] repeal
of existing laws and policies which are intended to condemn, affirm, encourage, or deny
sexual lifestyles or any set of attitudes about such lifestyles."
FIGURE XI
Consensual sex among adults should not be regulated in any way (homosexual sex, prostitution, etc).
A-Agree Strongly B-Agree C-Disagree D-Disagree Strongly E-Not Sure
xxxxxxxx AGREE AGREE DISAGREE DISAGREE NOT SURE
xxxxxxxx STRONGLY STRONGLY
REPUBLICAN 4 12 15 2 4
DEMOCRAT 13 19 9 7 11
REFORM 2 1 1 1 0
LIBERTARIAN 1 1 1 0 0
GREEN 1 3 2 0
SOCIALIST 3 2 0 1 0
SOCIAL I S SUES-The Military Draft:
Though many agree, probably correctly, that the legal status of the military draft is not
a pressing political issue, some strongly believe its banishment would be symbolic and
somehow serve as a testament to increased freedom for Americans. As was the case with
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the survey question addressing consensual sex for adults, there is indication of dispari
Body-Part Enabled Wildlife Detection and Tracking in Video Sequences
No full textTracking wild animals through videos presents a non-intrusive and cost-effective way of gathering scientific information key for conservation. State-of-the-art research has shown convolutional neural networks to be highly accurate, however, the application of this field on wild animal tracking has had relatively little interest. This is potentially due to the challenges of varying illumination, noisy backgrounds and camouflaged animals intrinsic to the problem. The aim of this work is to explore and apply state-of-the-art research to detect and track wild animals (specifically bears and primates, including their body parts) in video sequences in real-time. Due to obstructors such as foliage being prevalent in wild animal environments, body part tracking presents a solution to detecting animals when they are obstructed. Two deep convolutional neural networks (YOLOv4 and YOLOv4-Tiny) are trained to detect and track animals in their natural habitat. By using the knowledge that an animal is composed of body parts, the score of weakly predicted bounding is boosted from the relative distance of related body parts. For tracking, the K-Means algorithm is used to locate the average position of each animal in frame. With the introduction of a body-part confidence boosting, the detection rate can be increased by approximately 2% for a weakly predicted class
Attitudes, intentions and behavior change
No full textAre attitudes or intentions related to behavior change? Does changing attitudes or intentions change behavior? These are important questions for increasing our understanding of the determinants of behavior and how to change behavior. This
review employs four stages of the experimental medicine approach to answer these questions. First, attitudes and intentions have been identified as key determinants of behavior in many theories (identification stage). Second, correlational studies show that attitudes and intentions have small to medium-sized relationships with behavior change, while experimental studies show that medium-sized changes in attitudes and intentions produce small-sized changes in behavior (validation stage). Third, evidence shows that interventions can change attitudes or intentions (engagement
stage). Fourth, changes in attitudes and intentions at least partially mediate intervention effects on behavior change (intervention stage). A systematic program of experimental work is needed to extend understanding of what works for whom, when, and how, and for what behaviors
Effect of hyperdiffusion on rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection
No full textWe analyse the effect of a scale-dependent hyperdiffusivity in rotating Rayleigh-Benard convection. The hyperdiffusion (HD) is parameterised by a cutoff wavenumber k0 and a growth rate q to limit its effects to the smaller scales, enabling simulations to be conducted at more rapid rotation rates and buoyancy forcing (as measured by the Ekman number Ek and Rayleigh number Ra respectively) than in conventional direct numerical simulations (DNS). We have performed 107 simulations spanning the ranges E = 10-4 - 10-7 and Ra = 106 - 7 and directly compared HD and DNS heat transfer (measured by the Nusselt number N u), flow speeds P e, force balances and boundary layer thicknesses. We identify two different effects of HD that are particularly clear when k0 is below the dominant scale of the flow, k: at low supercriticality fRa, N u and P e are increased compared to DNS due to a weakening of the rotational constraint; at high Ra, Nu and Pe are decreased compared to DNS owing to suppression of energy at scales greater than k. The thermal boundary layer thickness changes in proportion to N u, while the mechanical boundary layer thickness is marginally affected because it is determined by a vertical balance, whereas HD is applied horizontally. Heat transfer diagnostics are more strongly affected by HD than flow diagnostics, while changing k0 has a greater impact on solution behaviour than changing q over the range of values studied. For all HD simulations with k0 3k, all diagnostics remain within the standard deviation of the DNS
GDF15 is a putative biomarker for distinguishing pulmonary veno-occlusive disease and pulmonary arterial hypertension
No full textMapping the margins: a decolonial exploration of Kenyan women's encounters with violent extremism
No full textThis article explores violent extremism (VE) through an embodied, bottom-up lens, using body-mapping with Muslim women in Kenya. Drawing on two selected body maps, we critically interrogate the use of VE is as a framework for analysing the harm experienced by women. Our participants used the terminology of VE to refer not only to Al-Shabaab-related violence but also to gender-based violence, gang violence, and state violence. These insights highlight a key tension in critical scholarship on VE: while often critiqued from a distance, VE is actively reappropriated by those most affected. We argue that, as a community disproportionately targeted by countering violent extremism (CVE) initiatives, our participants employed the language of VE as a form of adaptive resistance—challenging both the violent policing of CVE and the patriarchal violence embedded in their daily lives. This article contributes to feminist decolonial critiques of VE by centring the voices of those most impacted, and by questioning critiques that overlook lived experiences. Additionally, by sharing our arts-based methodology, we contribute to emerging literature on decolonial research practices. Finally, we raise critical questions about the intersections of gender-based violence, gang violence, state violence, and VE in Kenya and beyond
Meshless methods for the detection of an obstacle submerged in a two–dimensional Stokes flow
No full textWe consider a geometric inverse problem which requires detecting an unknown obstacle, e.g. a submarine or an aquatic mine, submerged in a Stokes slow viscous stationary flow of an incompressible fluid. In two-dimensions, the problem is formulated in terms of the biharmonic streamfunction in an unbounded domain which is approximated using the Trefftz method and the method of fundamental solutions (MFS). This is, apparently, the first time the Trefftz method and the MFS are applied for the solution of the biharmonic equation in an unbounded domain. We first examine direct problems and then consider inverse problems. The unknown obstacle is determined by employing a nonlinear Tikhonov regularization procedure. Numerical results are presented and discussed
The transitional kinetics between open and closed Rep structures can be tuned by salt via two intermediate states
No full textDNA helicases undergo conformational changes; however, their structural dynamics are poorly understood. Here, we study single molecules of superfamily 1A DNA helicase Rep, which undergo conformational transitions during bacterial DNA replication, repair and recombination. We use time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC), fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), rapid single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET), Anti-Brownian ELectrokinetic (ABEL) trapping and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) to provide unparalleled temporal and spatial resolution of Rep’s domain movements. We detect four states revealing two hitherto hidden intermediates (S2, S3), between the open (S1) and closed (S4) structures, whose stability is salt dependent. Rep’s open-to-closed switch involves multiple changes to all four subdomains 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B along the S1→S2→S3→S4 transitional pathway comprising an initial truncated swing of 2B which then rolls across the 1B surface, following by combined rotations of 1B, 2A and 2B. High forward and reverse rates for S1→S2 suggest that 1B may act to frustrate 2B movement to prevent premature Rep closure in the absence of DNA. These observations support a more general binding model for accessory DNA helicases that utilises conformational plasticity to explore a multiplicity of structures whose landscape can be tuned by salt prior to locking-in upon DNA binding