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We used the five weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential election as a backdrop to examine the ways that the brain processes attitudes and beliefs under different circumstances. We examined individual differences in personal issue importance and trait perspective-taking, as well as the temporal context in which attitude representation took place (i.e. number of days until the election). Finally, we examined the extent to which similar or dissimilar processes were recruited when considering the attitudes of political ingroup and outgroup candidates. Brain regions involved in social cognition and theory of mind, and to a lesser extent the limbic system, were modulated by these factors. Higher issue importance led to greater recruitment of neural regions involved in social cognition, across target perspectives. Higher trait perspective-taking was also associated with greater recruitment of several regions involved in social cognition, but differed depending on target perspective; greater activity was observed in prefrontal regions associated with social cognition when considering the perspective of one's own candidate compared with the opponent, and this effect was amplified closer to the election. Taken together, these results highlight ways in which ability and motivational relevance modulate socio-affective processing of the attitudes of others.

This study examines whether readers of the paper and online versions of a national newspaper acquire different perceptions of the importance of political issues. Using data from a weeklong experiment in which subjects either readthe print version of the New York Times , the online version of that paper, or received no special exposure, this study finds evidence that people exposed to the Times for 5 days adjusted their agendas in response to that exposure and that print readers modified their agendas differently than did online readers.

Students of public opinion have increasingly recognized issue framing as an important influence on political attitudes, but the precise means by which frames affect attitudes is not well understood. We argue that one distinctive way in which frames affect attitudes is by influencing the importance that individuals attach to issue-relevant beliefs. We contrast this mechanism with the more familiar means of persuasion via change in belief content. Data come from two laboratory experiments. In each, a controversial issue was framed in one of two ways. We measured framing's influence on belief content, belief importance, & issue opinion. In both experiments, framing significantly affected issue opinion. Causal analysis shows that framing independently affected belief content & belief importance, & that each contributed to issue opinion. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 4 Appendixes, 49 References. Adapted from the source document.

Based on concerns about food security and food sovereignty, it is appropriate to scrutinise societal measures for protecting agricultural land from conversion to other uses. Changes from agricultural to urban land use are particularly problematic, as they are largely irreversible. By analysing relevant Swedish policy, the present study investigated how the protection of agricultural land is framed as an issue of societal importance. Protection of agricultural land is enshrined in Swedish law, but its use is still continually changing to housing and other constructions. In a structured policy analysis, two questions were examined: (1) what are the societal motives for protecting agricultural land in Sweden, and (2) how do these motives influence the governance of agricultural land? The meaning of 'national importance', 'suitable for cultivation' and 'significant national interests' in Swedish land-use law was also analysed. The results showed that formulations in the law reflect the ambivalent discourses on agricultural land preservation and that the Swedish authorities view other land uses as more important than agriculture.The Swedish governance system is currently built on trust that municipal institutions will make satisfactory decisions concerning land and water use. However, it has been shown that these decisions have not been satisfactory concerning the protection of agricultural land, and it is important to acknowledge that the sum of local decisions can be degrading for these life-supporting resources. The present analysis revealed a looming conflict between the preservation of soils for food production, on one hand, and local participation in decision making, on the other. This raises the question of whether it is more important to defend subsidiarity or to preserve certain resources which are important for food security, such as agricultural land.

This article explores the nature of the right to freedom of religion as well as the nature and the extent of growing religious intolerance in the world today. The need to prevent religion based violence and displacement that occupy the contemporary international politics, this article seeks to push this concern further. ; Cet article examine la nature du droit a la liberté religieuse, ainsi que la nature et l'étendue de l'intolérance religieuse grandissante dans Ie monde d' aujourd'hui. L'article tente de faire monter d'un cran notre niveau de préoccupation quant à la necessité d'empêcher que ne se produisent la violence religieuse et les déplacements de populations - preoccupations qui retiennent l'attention de la politique internationale contemporaine.

The increasing amount of new research on government compensation highlights the topic's importance in the public sector. The articles presented here range from an innovative assessment of how state government compensation compares with the private sector to evaluations of local and state government pay policies. Together, the pieces introduce new techniques and assess long-standing practices to appraise the current status of public-sector compensation policy. The combination emphasizes the fundamental goal of ensuring internal and external equity within a flexible compensation system.