Women are being appointed as cabinet ministers across West Africa in increasing numbers, albeit predominantly to lead “soft” rather than “hard” portfolios. The experiences of women cabinet ministers from five West African countries—The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria—help to nuance our understanding of women in cabinets around the world. Women cabinet ministers from these countries reveal a broader conception of “paths to power” taken by women ministers, a concern for gender parity in their own ministries rather than in cabinets, and self-perceptions of the impacts of important substantive and symbolic representation on their terms in office.

Text analysis typically focuses on content—such as sentiment or topic—but expression is also a form of effortful action. Building on this insight, I propose using simple features of open-ended tasks to study text as behavior. This approach treats expression, such as writing, as cognitively, emotionally and temporally “costly” for subjects but inexpensive for researchers. I show basic statistics like the number of characters can approximate effort and significantly improve estimation of quantities of interest, including candidate choice, the probability of turning out to vote and psychological states about which a subject may not be fully aware. Further, these methods can convert nonresponse into informative data; validate survey instruments; serve as mechanism checks; be hard for a subject to “game”; work across different languages and analogize well to real-world situations. In sum, text as behavior can help address a range of issues related to quantifying attitudes and actions.

Current approaches to bilingualism and language learning ability obscure differences between capacity for learning (ability) and dominance (relative proficiency). Bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have persistent difficulties with complex syntax. The effects of language learning ability and relative proficiency on syntactic development in bilingual acquisition are not well described. This cross-sectional study examined the continuous effects of language ability and relative proficiency on the production of conditionals, subject/object relatives and passives in a sample of 34 five- to nine-year-old Spanish–English bilingual children, 12 of whom were identified as having DLD. Conditionals were significantly easier than other forms, and there were no differences between subject and object relatives. Higher language ability was associated with greater accuracy. Relative proficiency predicted higher English performance for balanced and English-dominant children. Further examination of language ability and relative proficiency in diverse language learners is warranted.

While authoritarian governments increasingly use pseudo fact checking to discredit rivals, research on this strategy in autocracies remains scarce. This study addresses this gap with a preregistered online experiment conducted in authoritarian Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. Although isolating citizens from alternative information in saturated media environments is impossible, we argue that propaganda can counter this threat through pseudo fact checking. The experiment shows that pseudo fact checking undermines the credibility of alternative information and creates uncertainty that is particularly pronounced among regime critics, preventing them from blaming the regime for its policies. Repressive autocracies incentivize avoiding a critical stance. While this interpretation remains tentative, we argue that pseudo fact checking may, by inducing uncertainty, provide regime critics with additional justifications to avoid judgment. These findings highlight how authoritarian propaganda adapts to new media environments and have important policy implications, highlighting the potentially adverse effects of counterpropaganda campaigns.

This article will explore the interplay between public opinion and local governance through the lens of state formation in Savoy in the first two years of French rule. Savoy and the county of Nice, formerly Piedmontese provinces, officially became French départements on 14 June 1860. Napoleon III wanted to use state-building in Savoy as a propaganda tool aimed at both internal and external (European) public opinion, to showcase the grandeur of his regime and the benefits of French rule. Following the April plebiscite in Savoy – which established the importance of popular sovereignty in international politics – state formation in Savoy was also characterised by mutual links with public opinion. The new state agents in Savoy attempted to win Savoyards’ ‘hearts and minds’ through a moderate implementation of French laws in the first two years, with scope for flexibility and accommodations. They also ensured – through an active policy of political communication – that the large financial investment of the French state in Savoy was not lost on the Savoyard population. This example therefore provides an interesting lens to study the beginnings of modern local governance, attuned to public opinion and aware of the need to complement public action with political communication.

Visual impairment (VI) affects around 2.2 billion people globally (World Health Organization, 2019). VI language learners need strong vocabulary knowledge as much as sighted (SI) learners, yet little is known about how different instruction types impact their vocabulary development. In this study, 16 VI and 16 SI learners of English were taught 60 vocabulary items counterbalanced through two aural input methods: codeswitching (CS), giving first language (L1) explanations, and aural input manipulation (AIM) with CS (AIMCS), where increased volume emphasized words alongside CS explanations. Pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests indicated that AIMCS led to better short-term vocabulary retention for both groups, with no significant differences longer term. VI learners benefited more overall, and learners with lower initial vocabulary showed the greatest gains. Listening proficiency moderated the effects, with AIMCS offering greater short-term benefits for learners with higher listening proficiency. The study suggests AIMCS enhances short-term vocabulary learning, particularly for VI learners, but listening proficiency is critical.

Recent studies have emphasized the centrality of late medieval mysticism to Martin Luther’s theology of faith. Building upon such research, I argue that Luther’s Freedom of a Christian (1520) preserves a characteristic tension within medieval mysticism: the cohabitation of human agency alongside divine operation. Whereas external agency (good works) is rejected, Luther reintroduces internal human agency within his theology of faith. Contrary to standard views of Lutheran doctrine, Freedom retains some degree of bidirectionality in the relationship between God and the believer. A comparison with Johannes Tauler highlights both Freedom’s indebtedness to medieval mysticism and its radical simplification of the mystical framework.

The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in rapidly changing environments continue to increase, driving unusual behaviours and posing significant threats to terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we describe the co-occurrence of 1) Collembola swarming, 2) vegetation die-off and 3) extreme weather events, particularly heavy rainfall and high temperatures, over a 5 day period on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Taxonomic and molecular evidence confirmed that the Collembola species displaying swarming behaviour was Ceratophysella denticulata, an invasive hypogastrurid. Our observations suggest that environmental stressors may have induced vegetation die-off, which, in turn, may have directly or indirectly driven Collembola aggregation. The association of these factors highlights the potential role of Collembola as bioindicators of soil ecosystem responses to climatic extremes, and that the recognition of these interactions can be critical in the prediction and management of ecological responses to changing environments.

This research note is the first to systematically examine the naming and shaming of nonstate armed groups (NSAGs). While previous research has focused on naming and shaming that targets states, we leverage novel data to show that the practice extends to NSAGs, accounting for almost half of all admonishments made at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from 1995 to 2016. We develop and test two explanatory theories: one suggesting that partnerships between states drive states to name and shame NSAGs, and another positing that states condemn NSAGs to support the multilateral system and signal their commitment to global norms protecting civilians from violence. We argue that states employ the diplomatic tool carefully and selectively, and as a consequence, the UNSC’s five permanent members (P5) and the ten elected members (E10), name and shame for different purposes. Our findings indicate that strategic partnerships between UNSC member states and governments engaged in conflicts with NSAGs influence the P5’s decisions to name and shame NSAGs. In contrast, the E10 are more likely to publicly condemn NSAGs that deliberately target civilians, suggesting that adherence to global norms better explains their behavior. However, the E10’s naming and shaming may not be aimed at enforcing compliance from NSAGs, but rather at showcasing to domestic and international audiences their own commitment to these norms. Our study marks the opening of a new research agenda on the naming and shaming of NSAGs.

Open science initiatives have gained traction in recent years. However, open peer-review practices, i.e., reforms that (i) modify the identifiability of stakeholders and (ii) establish channels for the open communication of information between stakeholders, have seen very little adoption in economics. In this paper, we explore the feasibility and desirability of such reforms. We present insights derived from survey data documenting the attitudes of 802 experimental/behavioral economists, a conceptual framework, a literature review, and cross-disciplinary data on current journal practices. On (i), most respondents support preserving anonymity for referees, but views about anonymity for authors and associate editors are mixed. On (ii), most respondents are open to publishing anonymized referee reports, sharing reports between referees, and allowing authors to appeal editorial decisions. Active reviewers, editors, and respondents from the US/Canada are generally less open to transparency reforms.

This study investigated the beliefs about additional language learning and use and knowledge of additional languages of 226 multilingual adults with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with Polish L1. The data were collected via an online questionnaire with Likert-type statements. Data were analyzed using mixed models (GLMMs). The findings show that a) individuals with ADHD hold a neutral view of their additional language learning and use experiences; b) the hyperactivity/impulsivity ADHD presentation may positively affect additional language learning; and c) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or dyslexia has no impact on additional language knowledge in the context of ADHD. The discussion points to the importance of attention in additional language acquisition and the possible compensatory role of ADHD and ASD in the context of dyslexia and language learning.

In this commentary contextualizing the complexities at the nexus of disability and applied linguistics (AL), the authors highlight the paucity of conscientious attention to disabled populations in AL research, explore the intricacies of choosing appropriate terminology to describe disability and disabled people, challenge scholars in the field to reflect on and make explicit their emic or etic positionality vis-à-vis disability in their research, and call researchers to consider researching with, rather than merely about, disabled second language learners. The authors (a) illustrate how a collection of emergent research studies illuminates critical considerations at this underresearched interdisciplinary intersection in the field, and (b) demonstrate, via example studies in other areas of AL, how scholars may choose to center the disabled second-language learning experience rather than relegate it to the far corners of the field.

This article explores the Royal Navy’s unique use of enslaved labour in its naval yards in Jamaica during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, highlighting how the Crown’s pursuit of naval supremacy was built in part on the forced labour and skills of the African diaspora. Beginning in 1729, under the direction of Rear Admiral Charles Stewart, the Royal Navy shifted from hiring enslaved workers from local populations to purchasing them outright for Crown use, establishing a workforce that included both men and women. Stewart’s pronatalist policy aimed to secure a self-replenishing labour supply by encouraging the birth of children who would also be enslaved in service to the navy. Over more than a century, these “King’s Negros” were trained in European shipbuilding and maintenance, transferring valuable technical knowledge while enduring harsh conditions and a life of bondage. The article provides a microhistorical lens on the Atlantic world, focusing on the lived experiences of these enslaved individuals and their unintended role in bolstering Britain’s naval power. By examining the origins, conditions, and legacies of this workforce, the article contributes to broader discussions on slavery, imperialism, and the global reach of military-industrial enterprises in the Atlantic era.