Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper investigates how risky products activate the appetitive and aversive motivational systems. In addition, it examines how motivational system activation, as an individual difference, modifies how people attend to risky and non risky products. The results show that risky products activate the appetitive motivational system and that this is particularly true for individuals with a highly active appetitive system (i.e. those with high positivity offset). The results further suggest that for those with a highly active aversive system (that is those with high negativity bias) there is some weak activation of the aversive system when viewing risky products. In addition, as was seen in previous research, risky products elicited more arousal (both self-reported and physiological) and were remembered better than non risky products. Finally, results also showed that those high in either positivity offset or negativity bias paid much more attention (indicated by heart rate) to risky compared to non risky products.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The increasing influence of judges on the shape of public policy within constitutional liberal democracies is well advertised, but not very well understood. While innovative empirical and formal research methods have significantly advanced the understanding of judicial behaviour, the evaluation of the systemic impact of the expansion of the scope of judicial review has often been less rigorous. As judges in Canada and across Europe are increasingly drawn into political conflicts with the potential to reshape core welfare state programs such as health care, the need for an effective methodological framework with which to understand the impact of their increased prominence becomes more urgent.

My research recognizes the immersion of judicial actors within the broader political environment and the possibility that the complexion of judicial activism may vary across policy areas, as well as across the particularities of different welfare state regimes. To address the consequent myriad of potentially significant variables, I advance a "two-level theory" (Goertz and Mahoney, 2005) of judicial activism adaptable to widely varying policy contexts. The first level of analysis seeks to empirically determine which configurations or "sets" (Ragin, 1987, 2000) of macro- and meso-political variables foster policy environments with relatively high levels of judicial activism. At the second level of analysis, I model how non-judicial policy-relevant actors within these distinctive configurations adapt their strategies to the shift in incentives increased judicialization represents, and whether the consequent impact on welfare state programs is likely to be progressive, regressive, or neutral over time. The result is a methodological framework useful for distinguishing both when judicial activism is more likely and how this activism is mediated in different policy contexts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper traces the evolution of judicial activism in Guatemala from 1979 to 2007, taking into account the changing roles of civil society actors and extra-legal power networks. While the Constitutional Court showed signs of becoming a strong defender of the constitution in 1993, they are now intensely dominated by the "hidden powers" and frequently rule of bend the constitution to fit the interests of the military and other powerful actors. The Constitutional Court has gone so far as to block the creation of an international commission to control these "hidden powers."

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Recent studies on democratic learning and tolerance attitudes have suggested that democratic activism enhances political tolerance. However, researchers have found little or no link between more traditional forms of political behavior, such as voting and political interest, and tolerance attitudes. Peffley and Rohrschneider (2003) argue that democratic activism has a greater influence on tolerance because unconventional democratic activities such as participating in a boycott or a public demonstration require a higher level of personal involvement than more conventional forms of political participation. I will explore the link between democratic activism and tolerance in the United States over the period 1996-2006, identifying clusters of tolerance attitudes that appear to be influenced by democratic activism. I also will analyze which types of individuals are more likely to engage in democratic activism, the context in which activism occurs, and whether infrequent activism has as much influence on tolerance levels as more frequent involvement. Finally, I provide a discussion about some of the cognitive processes that may explain why democratic activism effects tolerance in ways that other political behavior does not.