In response to growing policy challenges, such as postconflict transitions and climate change, exceeding the scope of existing institutions, governments often enact extraordinary reforms—that is, nonincremental institutional innovations regulating state action through fast-tracking procedures, expanded mandates, and normative recalibration in previously unregulated domains. How do governments resolve policy conflicts when extraordinary reform collides with entrenched rules and interests embedded in previous institutional frameworks? We develop a theory of discretionary implementation, showing how governments use layering and conversion to diminish extraordinary reform. We examine Colombia’s ethnic land restitution program (2012–18), which clashed with extractivism, by employing process tracing of novel datasets on administrative cases and judicial rulings, and 14 in-depth interviews. We find that the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos delayed case processing via layering and restricted judicial discretion through conversion, effectively undermining restitution. Our findings extend theories of institutional change by revealing how governments mediate, and sometimes undermine, extraordinary reforms.

The concept of social inclusion meets the criteria of a “magic concept” because it is broadly stretched, normatively attractive, and denies the possibility of conflicting interests and logics. However, when this broad concept is operationalized in policies targeting specific groups it is often reduced in scope by narrowly defined policy designs. This paper asks how do disability policies define and operationalize social inclusion? Drawing from a critical frame analysis of all disability policies at Canada’s provincial and federal levels, six policy frames are identified that encapsulate different meanings of social inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Canadian policy design. Comparison is facilitated by engaging critiques of inclusion policy from the disability politics literature to help explain emergent trends and areas of divergence in social inclusion framing. This facilitates a discussion of policy design characteristics during the “inclusion era” of Canadian disability policy.

Appeals to national security play a central role in contemporary US trade politics. Who drives this security narrative and why? We argue that executive branch actors, regardless of political party affiliation, are more likely to frame trade policy in national-security terms. In Congress, however, we expect Republicans to rely more heavily than Democrats on a national-security narrative. We tested these expectations through a systematic analysis of trade-related discourse by congressional and executive actors from 2001 to early 2025. Using a large language model to examine a substantial corpus of speeches, press releases, and official statements, we find only partial support for our argument: the anticipated partisan difference appears, but security framing is more prevalent in Congress than in the executive branch. Overall, the evidence suggests that actors use security framing as a strategic tool to reinforce their role and confer legitimacy on particular trade policies.

This article investigates how the Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry was materialized in Istanbul’s urban fabric, c. 1530–1606. Tracing the itinerary Divanyolu → Elçi Hanı → Topkapı Palace, it reconstructs a ritual geography in which routes, lodgings and thresholds converted diplomacy into spatial governance. Drawing on protocol notes, narratives and images, it shows how orchestrated confinement, staged spectacle and reciprocal visibility structured ambassadorial experience: envoys were lodged under watch in the Elçi Hanı, processed along a ceremonial corridor and received in a palace that magnified authority by withholding it. Combining visual, textual and architectural analysis, the article demonstrates how power was materially and symbolically enacted and ambassadors became both spectators and exhibits. Rather than treating the city as backdrop, it reads Istanbul as an instrument that translated rivalry into movement, vantage and constraint, situating the Ottoman capital within a wider Mediterranean economy of representation, comparison and control.

As many representative democracies face growing challenges of public dissatisfaction and legitimacy crises, understanding how to enhance citizens’ support for political decision-making processes becomes increasingly crucial. While existing research suggests that public participation can strengthen democratic legitimacy in well-established Western democracies, relatively little attention has been paid to whether the positive effects of public participation also hold in young democracies like South Korea. Moreover, many studies on the effect of public participation do not assume that its effects should be varied across different segments of the population. Through a survey experiment with 2083 adults in South Korea, we examine how participatory processes enhance citizens’ legitimacy beliefs at the local level. We find that a decision-making process including public participation produces a higher legitimacy belief than decision-making process without public participation. We also find that the effect of a participatory policy-making process on legitimacy beliefs is higher among citizens with a stronger anti-elite attitude. Our study not only extends previous research beyond Western democracies but also reveals how public participation might serve as a crucial tool for rebuilding democratic legitimacy among disaffected citizens, particularly in young democracies where citizen engagement remains underdeveloped.

Using a citation network approach, this study investigates how the subfield of African politics has evolved since its emergence in the late 1950s by focusing on the influence of African and Africa-based scholars in the top 20 political science journals. We find that African and Africa-based authors are systematically underrepresented in our sample and among the most influential authors today. Starting from a low base, African and Africa-based scholars experienced a period of increasing influence between 2000 and 2010; however, their influence has declined substantially since then. This article highlights two key factors associated with this decline: (1) the rising competitiveness of top-tier political science journals, which increasingly are privileging particular quantitative methodologies that require substantial financial resources and training; and (2) the increasing citation rates of non-African and non-Africa-based scholars in leading political science journals. The article concludes with recommendations that promote greater inclusivity and pluralism, with broader implications for the political science discipline.

This article seeks to enrich discussion of Catholicism and liberalism by recovering the intellectual trajectory of Charles Forbes René, Comte de Montalembert (1810–70) and his work in the drafting of the Falloux Law of 1850. The article shows how Montalembert served as a key bridge figure in the translation of liberal Catholic political discourse into legislative reality, emphasizing a liberalism of jurisdiction and constitutionalism that he wielded against both French anticlericals and reactionary Catholics. Although often seen more as a Catholic figure than as a liberal tout court, Montalembert’s thought as evinced in his political interventions on education placed him comfortably in the core of nineteenth-century liberalism, perhaps more than he himself would have cared to realize. As the article shows, Montalembert bridged political theory and practice, and his relatively unappreciated legacy ramified far beyond his own career.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, and published estimates determined the pooled prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode parasites affecting free-ranging chickens in Africa. Peer-reviewed articles published between 1993 and 2024 were systematically searched and screened. Prevalence estimates based on 76 eligible articles showed that of the 74,789 free-ranging chickens screened, 13,625 were infected with gastrointestinal nematodes with an overall pooled prevalence of 15% (95% CI: 13–18%). Twenty-seven nematode species were recorded, of which Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum were the commonly reported species. Southern Africa recorded the highest pooled prevalence (22%; 95% CI: 13–33%), and western Africa had the lowest (5%; 95% CI: 0–2%) despite recording the highest nematode species diversity. Tetrameridae had the highest family-level pooled prevalence of 46% (95% CI: 28–64%), and Spiruridae had the lowest 1% (95% CI: 0–3%). Most studies were conducted between the period 2014 and 2024; however, the highest pooled prevalence was observed between 1993 and 2002 (17%; 95% CI: 11–24%). The necropsy technique recorded the highest pooled prevalence (17%; 95% CI: 14–20%) compared to coproscopy (10%; 95% CI: 7–14%). The quality effects model revealed a high heterogeneity and publication bias among studies due to the diagnostic method used (P <0.05). This systematic review provided insightful information on the occurrence and potential burden of gastrointestinal nematode species of free-ranging chickens in Africa, highlighting the need for enhanced biosecurity and further research to safeguard their health, production, and food security of rural economies.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a population-scale condition with life-course health consequences, yet nutrition support remains inconsistently embedded in routine pathways. Food selectivity is common in ASD and is associated with restricted dietary variety, nutritional imbalance, gastrointestinal morbidity and cardiometabolic vulnerability. Current responses are predominantly clinic-and family-centred and are difficult to scale equitably. This commentary argues that institutional food services (schools, day-care and residential settings) are an underused public health platform to improve inclusion and accountability through sensory-accessible, nutritionally adequate meals. Because these services are commissioned, standardised and audited, sensory accessibility can be operationalised via procurement specifications and quality indicators, enabling benchmarking across sites. Evidence from sensory-informed menu adaptation and implementation work suggests feasibility within routine operations and supports evaluation using system-relevant outcomes (acceptability, nutritional adequacy, waste, feasibility and maintenance). Three policy actions are proposed: embed sensory accessibility in institutional standards, integrate nutrition across sectors and fund scale-up using implementation science.

In light of the growing number of undergraduates from racially minoritized backgrounds at newly emergent Minority-Serving Institutions and other colleges and universities, linguists have a special responsibility to engage such students, particularly through projects that connect to students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This article describes undergraduates’ learning experiences in a research collective committed to community-centered collaborative work to advance sociolinguistic justice for the Mexican Indigenous diasporic community in California. The discussion centers the voices of undergraduate team members to demonstrate the benefits of students’ learning with respect to the research process, linguistics as a discipline, and understanding of self, family, and community.

The article contributes to memory work on serfdom, which is part of the current momentous debate in Poland on the history and heritage of the peasantry. The article also explores the role that the arguments presented by peasant circles in favour of the implementation of land reform in the early Second Polish Republic (1918–26) played in the politics of history, in particular peasant memory of serfdom and its key element, compulsory labour. Drawing upon the main press organs of the leading peasant parties (PSL Piast and PSL Wyzwolenie), the article shows that in addition to advancing arguments of a social, economic and ethical–legal nature, supporters of both the moderate and radical versions of this reform justified their positions in historical terms, regarding reform as compensation for the centuries of systemic injustice that the nobility inflicted upon peasants in the Polish lands during serfdom. The article ends with the conclusion that despite deep divisions between various factions of the Polish peasant movement in the first decade of independence, the shared aspects of peasant historical policies regarding historical injustice were an important factor that enabled the unification of this movement in the early 1930s.

This article traces the conservation history of the inner suburb of Parkville in Melbourne, Australia. It focuses on its 1972 designation as Melbourne’s first urban conservation area by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). It examines Parkville’s establishment in the setter-colonial city as an elite neighbourhood, its post-war transformation, the role of the resident amenity group, the Parkville Association, and the evolution of heritage planning policies by the City of Melbourne and the state government of Victoria. Using a range of archival sources, including the Victorian Heritage Database, the article analyses the expanding building, conservation area and heritage overlay protections for Parkville from the 1950s to the 2020s, with a particular focus on the years 1971–85. This article interlaces policy and planning, heritage and conservation, and cultural and social change. It argues that Parkville’s designation was demonstrative of urban conservation in Melbourne and reflected evolving international approaches to urban heritage.

Has international human rights law become a tool reserved for the global elite? While some argue that human rights frameworks empower advocacy groups to pressure governments, others claim these institutions are accessible only to well-funded, transnational nongovernmental organizations and risk depoliticizing activists’ demands. Based on a study of the blacklisted workers’ movement in the United Kingdom, this study shows a new way in which human rights laws and institutions can catalyze social movements. Recognizing the limitations of human rights, activists take an instrumental approach that creates a duality in their movement. On-stage before public audiences, they leverage human rights to amplify grievances and push for reform. However, off-stage, human rights norms do not shape their ideological commitments or solidarity, which remain rooted in class-based identities. These findings demonstrate how human rights law can spur grassroots mobilization while decoupling the material and cultural drivers of social movements.

This article looks at how Jewish groups were portrayed in Italian colonial guidebooks of the 1920s and 1930s. More than simple travel aids, these publications reflected and shaped the ways colonial society imagined its subjects. The article compares the depictions of Jews with those of other ethnic and religious groups, paying attention to the stereotypes employed, the construction of ethnic identities and the imprint of colonial and Fascist ideology. The article asks three main questions: how were Jewish groups represented in the colonies? In what ways was their ‘otherness’ articulated? And how did these representations evolve in step with Fascist imperial policy and antisemitism? By following these dynamics across both European and African colonies, the article highlights the entanglements of colonialism and antisemitism in Italy’s imperial project.

In acquiring a syntax, children must detect evidence for abstract structural dependencies that can be realized in variable ways in the surface forms of sentences. In What did David fix?, learners must identify a nonlocal relation between a fronted object of the verb (what) and the phonologically null ‘gap’ in canonical direct object position after the verb, where it is thematically interpreted. How do learners identify a nonadjacent dependency between an expression and something that has no overt phonological form? We propose that identifying abstract syntactic dependencies requires statistical inference over both overt linguistic material and unsatisfied grammatical expectations: noticing when a predicted argument for a verb is unexpectedly missing may serve as evidence for the gap of an argument movement dependency. We provide computational support for this hypothesis. We develop a learner that uses predicted but unexpectedly missing objects of verbs to identify possible gaps of object movement, and identifies which surface morphosyntactic properties of sentences are correlated with these possible movement gaps. We find that it is in principle possible for a learner using this mechanism to identify the majority of sentences with object movement in child-directed English, and that prior knowledge of which verbs require objects provides an important guide for identifying which surface distributions characterize object movement. This provides a computational account for why verb argument-structure knowledge developmentally precedes the acquisition of movement in a language like English. More broadly, these findings illustrate how statistical learning and learning from violated expectations can be combined to novel effect in the domain of language acquisition.

Ascidiella aspersa is a solitary ascidian native to the North-east Atlantic that has been introduced to many regions around the globe. In 2023, individuals matching the description of A. aspersa were found on an artificial dock structure in Stanley Harbour, Falkland Islands, where there were no previous records of the species. Individuals were collected for morphological and genetic analyses, and previous surveys of the site were reanalysed to estimate the abundance of the population. The morphological examination and genetic analysis confirmed the individuals were A. aspersa. Analysis of the survey data suggested the species has been present since at least 2011 and forms a reasonably dense population on the more sheltered areas of the dock structure. Further survey work and population genetic investigations are required to better understand the likely origin of the population, and the abundance and extent of the species around the Falkland Islands.

It is difficult to understand the safety profile of drugs based on a single clinical trial since clinical trials are often designed to prove efficacies, and sample size is not powered for safety assessment. Thus, meta-analysis would be a valuable tool to infer the safety profiles utilizing multiple studies. Individual clinical trials usually report the incidence proportions of adverse events (AEs) observed in the study. The follow-up duration may be study-specific, and furthermore different between the treatment groups within a single study. It often occurs in oncology clinical trials and if this is the case, it is hard to interpret the aggregated relative risk of AEs and compare the risk of AEs between the treatment groups with the standard meta-analysis techniques. The progression-free survival or the overall survival is often used as the primary endpoint in oncology clinical trials and the Kaplan–Meier estimates of the survival functions for the primary endpoint are often demonstrated graphically, which give us information of the follow-up duration of the AEs. We propose novel meta-analysis methods for AEs that address differences in follow-up durations by efficiently utilizing the Kaplan–Meier estimates of the primary endpoint. We adapt our approach using both simulated data and real data from a meta-analysis of bevacizumab. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed methods perform well when follow-up time differs between trials and groups.