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This article takes as a point of departure a well-known but rarely tested assumption in the literature on state-building and democratisation, namely that democratic regimes in newly established states are politically unstable. When states take their first steps as independent entities, the state-building process is often incomplete, the political institutions fragile and democratic routines yet to be established. However, with increasing years of independence, these democratic shortcomings are expected to be remedied. This makes it reasonable to assume that the likelihood of democratic failure decreases with increasing years as an independent state. Based on an extensive empirical data set, the conclusion was reached that there is indeed a negative relationship between the length of independence and democratic failure and that this association is insensitive to the period in time when the countries received their independence. Furthermore, the results suggest that the length of democratic rule has a positive impact on democratic stability. However, this pattern is detectable only in states created after 1946.

Trichome characters are often considered to be taxonomically important in oak species. In this article, we investigate a group of Mediterranean oaks, Quercus subsection Galliferae and Q. pubescens, using a large dataset and covering the entire distribution range of the group. As a result of the different interpretations of terms in previous studies, trichome terminology was re-assessed aiming to obtain a practicable nomenclature. In contrast with previous studies, we found that acicular, bifurcate, fasciculate, stellate, uniseriate and capitate trichomes are represented in all taxa. One exception is the lack of bifurcate trichomes in Q. canariensis. This suggests that seemingly taxonomically informative presence/absence data for trichome types, as reported previously, may be the result of too small a sample size, and this may be unrepresentative. In combination with other morphological characters (leaf shape, size and texture), features of the indumentum, such as the floccose, easily removable trichomes in Q. canariensis, can be important in species delimitation. The use of trichome characteristics in Quercus subsection Galliferae requires exhaustive sampling of all taxa in order to extract a reproducible taxonomic signal from quantitative characters. This is the prerequisite for building datasets that can be used for phylogenetic analyses, investigations of character evolution and comparative morphological studies. (c) 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 169, 611644., AuthorCount:2

Does size of municipality have an impact on political support? This study investigates the connection between municipality size and political support in 55 Swedish municipalities. Three hypotheses about the connection between municipality size and political support are developed from previous research. These hypotheses claim negative, positive, and no connection between municipality size and political support. In the empirical analysis, two aspects of size (area and population) and eleven aspects of political support (five aspects of political trust, participation in parliamentary and municipal elections, political interests, party identification, and activity in associations) are included. The analysis also includes six aspects of municipality composition (age, education, ethnicity, income, labour market activity and urbanisation). When the three hypotheses are empirically tested, the analysis indicates that several aspects of political support have negative correlations with area size, while only one of the aspects has a negative correlation with population size. However, a major part of the investigated aspects has no connection with municipality size and the connections that are indicated by the analysis are only moderate in their strength.

This article presents a new methodology for multilevel analysis using a small number of cases, named Comparative Multilevel Analysis (CMA). A classic problem in comparative studies has been the presence of too many variables and too few cases. One traditional solution to this problem has been to study subsystems within a system. However, the approach has fundamental limitations: it cannot analyse subsystems from different contexts, nor can it determine how conditions on the system level influence subsystems. By proposing four additions to traditional methodology, this article offers a new method of comparing subsystems from different contexts in order to analyse the effect of context on subsystems. The author also illustrates how CMA can be combined with Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy‐set, thereby enabling these methods to be used in the study of subsystem and context effects.

The starting point for this article is the need for empirical knowledge about organizational configuration for societal risk and safety management activities in a modern welfare society. In this paper, we use Sweden as an empirical frame to analyze the administrative management structure at the local governmental level. The analysis is based on statistical analysis of information from a web‐survey with administrative chief/head officials (n = 1283) with responsibilities for different municipal functions and sectors. The sample represented 25% of the Swedish municipalities (n = 290) and the response rate was approximately 60% (n = 766). The responses to two sets of questions (25 and 45 questions) are used for statistical analyses of management structures and task distribution within the municipal organizations. Principal component factor analyses with Varimax and Kaiser's Normalization was applied as a structure detection method. The results indicate a clear and uniform way to institutionalize societal risk and safety management at the local level. Furthermore, the management course of action is found to have different types of value characters. The implications that arise from the patterns identified in this study are considered to be of general relevance and topicality for research and practice in this area.

Research on citizen participation has been guided by two core issues: first, the observation of a widening repertory of modes of participation, and second, the argument that participation is not an undifferentiated phenomenon, but must be conceived as an inherently multidimensional reality. In this article, we argue that conventional participation research has focused too one-sidedly on quantitatively expanding the range of types of activities, while the complex dimensionality is not reflected in the measures used. We formulate a methodological critique by using the metaphor of the ‘black box’, which refers to the implicit and unquestioned assumption that distinct types of activities and associations represent homogeneous and consistent realities that do not warrant further analytical decomposition. Surveys of participation allocate individuals to different ‘participation boxes’ by means of a binary logic, leaving a void of what is actually happening inside the boxes. To conclude, we reflect upon the fundamental dilemmas the black box of participation raises for theory and research, and offer conceptual and methodological keys to unlock the participation box.

This article explores the nature of democratic challenges in 60 partly free countries in the world. The number of partly free countries has increased since the 1970s. These partly free countries share the commonality of democratic and antidemocratic institutions. However, few studies have explored what challenges these countries face and what similarities and differences in challenges that exist. This study explores these questions and develops a typology of four alternative democratization processes to set out the intensity and scope of challenges among the partly free countries. The result shows that the partly free countries are a heterogeneous group of countries with complex sets of challenges. However, most partly free countries are in need of substantial democratic reforms. It is also identified that the two most severe challenges to democratization are found in functioning of government and rule of law

Projektet Kommunikation och beslut i kommunalt säkerhetsarbete (KOBS) syftar till att ge ökad förståelse och kunskap om förutsättningarna för att bedriva säkerhetsarbete på kommunalnivå. Särskilt avser projektet att ge förståelse och kunskap om den betydelse som uppföljning respektive utvärdering har för kommunikation och beslutsprocesser som är relaterade till säkerhetsarbete. För att uppnå detta syfte kommer två delstudier att genomföras inom projektet. Den ena delstudien kommer att behandla frågor om kommunikativa processer i kommunalt säkerhetsarbetet. Delstudien behandlar följande tre forskningsområden: Kommunikationens egenskaper och aktörer, perspektiv på skydd och säkerhet och tjänsteutveckling. Den andra delstudien kommer att studera hur idéer om säkerhetsarbete sprids till politiska beslutsprocesser på kommunal nivå. Det övergripande syftet med delstudien är att ge ökad förståelse och kunskap om hur politiska beslutsprocesser kan påverkas vad gäller aktualisering av frågor relaterade till säkerhetsarbete. I denna rapport beskrivs bakgrunden till projektet tillsammans med de teoretiska utgångspunkterna för projektets delstudier. Därtill kommer förslag till delstudiernas upplägg att presenteras. Med detta utgör rapporten ett inledande försök att precisera projektets innehåll och genomförande. Samtidigt utgör också rapporten en avrapportering av KOBS-projektets första fas, vars intention främst har varit att utveckla projektets design.