This study examines the evolution of inequalities of opportunity in school access and educational attainment in Morocco between 1998 and 2014. It analyses how individual, household and parental circumstances shape children’s educational trajectories using data from the ENNVM 1998–1999 and RGPH 2014. Two econometric approaches are applied: a probit model to estimate school enrolment and a right-censored ordered probit model to assess attainment levels. Focusing on children aged 12–19, predicted probabilities are used to identify the most and least advantaged profiles. The results show that children from advantaged backgrounds are significantly more likely to enrol and progress, while disadvantaged children face higher risks of non-enrolment and early dropout. Although disparities have slightly declined, they remain substantial. These findings highlight persistent opportunity gaps and the need for targeted, equity-oriented policies. Beyond socio-economic implications, educational inequality also affects environmental education and sustainability learning in Morocco. Unequal access to education may limit environmental literacy, climate awareness and the capacity of vulnerable populations to engage in sustainable practices, thereby constraining progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4.7.

In this article, I consider Bernard Lonergan (1904–1984) and Max Horkheimer (1896–1973) on the topic of social decline, focusing on the relationship between what Lonergan called “conceptualism” and what Horkheier called “instrumental reason.” I will argue that conceptualism and instrumental reason are distinct conscious intentional phenomena that collude in generating social decline. For the sake of convenience and clarity, I will categorize (with some qualifications) this collusive relationship between conceptualism and instrumental reason as one of “elective affinity.” I will advance my argument, first, by articulating Lonergan’s critique of conceptualism in his Verbum articles. Next, I will turn to Horkheimer’s account and critique of instrumental reason. We will see a striking example of the convergence of conceptualism and instrumental reason in Louis Billot, SJ (1846–1931), a neo-Scholastic theologian and cardinal mentioned specifically by Lonergan and generically by Horkheimer. I will then locate conceptualism and instrumental reason within Lonergan’s theory of intentionality analysis, specifically the levels of consciousness, and will elaborate on their elective affinity. Finally, within the parameters of Lonergan’s account of social decline, I will outline how their collusion generates social decline.

Models of visual word recognition in Latin script assume rapid abstraction of letter identities from perceptual features, reflected in the absence of visual similarity effects for pseudowords (e.g., viotin and viocin yield similar response times in lexical decision). Whether this principle extends to Arabic-derived scripts remains unclear because visual similarity in Arabic can be confounded with preservation of consonantal root structure in a Semitic language. We examined this issue in Persian, an Indo-European language written in an Arabic-derived script that preserves dot-based letter contrasts but lacks Semitic root-based morphology. In two lexical decision experiments, pseudowords were formed by replacing one internal letter in words with (1) a visually similar letter (e.g., موسیفی /musifi/ [base word: موسیقی /musiqi/, music]), (2) a visually dissimilar letter preserving ligation (موسیلی /musili/) or (3) a visually dissimilar letter altering ligation (موسیزی /musizi/). Experiment 1 presented the stimulus until response, whereas Experiment 2 limited presentation to 200 ms. Response times were slower for visually similar pseudowords than for visually dissimilar pseudowords preserving ligation, and the two visually dissimilar conditions did not differ reliably. These findings support the view that lexical access in Arabic-derived scripts operates over abstract letter identities, while dot-based visual similarity can produce a processing cost.

We study the identification of individual-level associations when only aggregate data are available. We characterize the biases of, and relationships among, canonical ecological inference (EI) estimators. We use these results to develop a partial identification approach: monotone EI. The approach exploits information about one or both of the following conditional associations: (1) outcome differences between groups within the same neighborhood and (2) outcome differences within the same group between neighborhoods with different group compositions. We show how assumptions about the sign of these conditional associations, whether individually or in relation to one another, can yield informative sharp bounds. We illustrate our results using county-level data to study differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates among Republicans and Democrats in the United States.

A massive amount of research examines the representation of public opinion by policymakers, increasingly on actual policy actions. The work often provides evidence of a positive association between expressed public preferences and policy, but only some of the time and only to some degree, and there is even less evidence of responsiveness. This essay delves into the conditions for responsiveness, focusing on public demand for policy and policy supply, building on what research on the subjects reveals. The examination makes clear that policy responsiveness requires a great deal of both the represented and the representatives (and scholars too) and that these conditions are not easily met, though sometimes are. The emergent structure seemingly is much as empirical democratic theory would predict, and helps account for patterns of policy “responsiveness” we observe. The concluding section contemplates future research.

Wlezien offers a compelling framework of policy “inputs” and “outputs” to better understand policy responsiveness. Building on this framework, I argue that inequality in policy influence is central to understanding policy responsiveness and must be treated as a first-order concern: disparities in political power complicate both sides of the “inputs” and “outputs” equation. Disadvantaged groups face barriers in signaling preferences and shaping policy agendas, while policymakers respond unequally across groups. These inequalities challenge how we measure responsiveness and question whether aggregate measures capture democratic quality when preferences are polarized along entrenched social cleavages. Institutional reforms designed to improve representation – from public comment periods to the Voting Rights Act – may serve their stated goals while simultaneously producing unintended consequences for equitable responsiveness. I contend that scholars must ask not just whether policy responds to public opinion, but whose opinion it follows. Responsiveness may be necessary but insufficient for democratic legitimacy if one does not reckon with unequal political power.

In “On Policy Responsiveness,” Wlezien provides a realist account of policy responsiveness. While recognizing it as a democratic good, he identifies the many obstacles that must be overcome and conditions that must be met to achieve it. Wlezien suggests that “it may be surprising that we observe any representation at all,” considering the many conditions that must be met to achieve it. This raises an important and challenging question, which we expand upon here: what is an appropriate level of responsiveness to expect from democratic systems and what level of observed policy congruence might we deem surprising and/or sufficient? The question of an appropriate counterfactual, apart from being crucial to guide research and hypothesis testing, also creates this fruitful opportunity for collaboration and discussion between a normative political theorist (Scudder) and an empirical political scientist (Grillos). Here, we identify two sources of counterfactual thinking, one normative and one empirical, to provide a benchmark against which we can judge observed levels of policy responsiveness.

Quantitative studies of policy responsiveness are liable to overstate the fairness and quality of democratic governance, because they neglect to account for forms of capture and distortion by powerful groups that are more difficult to operationalize and measure. The field essay by Christopher Wlezien that surveys these studies is comprehensive and generally fair, but it nevertheless shares the blind spots of that literature as a whole, and therefore dismisses realist skepticism (such as that of Achen and Bartels) too quickly. By properly situating this literature within broader discussions of democratic values and political equality, this response aims to recenter the big picture – and highlight what may be concealed when we give too much weight to policy responsiveness.

Prioritising invasive species is crucial for managing invasions and mitigating impacts on biodiversity globally, yet most efforts are concentrated in the Global North, with significant gaps in the Global South. In the absence of region-specific assessments, land managers in the Global South often rely on broad global priority frameworks, whose relevance at smaller spatial scales remains uncertain. In addition to of spatial scale, robust prioritisation frameworks should incorporate multiple dimensions of species distribution and impact. To help fill this gap, in this study we used complementary approaches: herbarium-based and expert assessments to evaluate the distribution and impact of invasive plant species in a biodiversity hotspot in India. We scored species across different dimensions of impact, and generated a composite score that was used to rank and prioritise the invasive species. To understand the concordance of rankings across scales, we compared our regional rankings with national and global rankings for these species. We identified seventy-nine invasive plant species in the Northern Western Ghats and Konkan region, which revealed a ten-fold difference in their spatial extent. Expert assessments indicated that only few species had high scores across the different distribution and impact dimensions, while most had low to moderate scores. The results show that distribution-related dimensions were correlated, but impact-associated dimensions remained independent, highlighting the need to include both in prioritisation frameworks. Although most regional species were included in national and global invasive species lists, their priority rankings differed at these different scales. Overall, our study underscores the importance of integrating both distribution and impact dimensions for species prioritisation and highlights the importance of local-scale assessments for effective invasive species management.

Throughout the Mediterranean region, adherence to the Mediterranean diet is decreasing especially among young people. The Mediterranean diet is the most studied dietary pattern with proven health benefits, especially regarding the prevention of non-communicable diseases at a time when their incidence is increasing worldwide. It has also been recognized as a sustainable diet model with multiple interdependent benefits on social, cultural, environmental, and economic dimensions. Faced with the challenge of promoting adherence to the Mediterranean diet, a Joint Med Diet Task Force of CIHEAM, FENS, and IUNS was formed to set the path for reversing the erosion of the Mediterranean diet heritage, by promoting its benefits, as a way of living, as defined by UNESCO. In this paper, the rationale and propositions of the Joint Task Force are described for the development of a voluntary code of conduct for promoting the adherence of the Mediterranean diet, and sustainable diets per se, addressed to all interested stakeholders and rights holders, linking food consumption and production, toward sustainable food systems transformation in the Mediterranean and beyond.

Evidence on the association between coffee consumption timing patterns and metabolic syndrome (MetS) prevalence remains limited. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 11632 participants aged 20 years or older in eight National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2003-2018), to examine how coffee consumption timing patterns and their combination with coffee amount relate to MetS. Coffee consumption timing patterns were identified using K-means clustering. Two timing patterns were identified: morning-concentrated and evenly distributed. Survey-weighted logistic regression was used to examine associations between timing patterns and MetS prevalence, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and dietary covariates. The morning-concentrated pattern was significantly associated with lower prevalence of MetS (OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.96) compared with non-drinkers, while the evenly distributed pattern showed no significant association. Results were robust across multiple sensitivity analyses. Combined analysis revealed that the morning-concentrated pattern was consistently associated with lower MetS prevalence across all intake levels. Stratified analyses showed stronger inverse associations among women, individuals with normal weight/underweight or overweight, and those aged ≤ 40 years, with significant effect modification by body mass index (BMI; P for interaction < 0.001) and age (P for interaction = 0.006) groups. These observational findings suggest that the timing of coffee consumption, particularly the morning-concentrated pattern, may be inversely associated with MetS prevalence.