One consequence of aging is diminished physical powers. In some cases, mental capabilities deteriorate, with concomitant rigidity of thought, impairment of intellect, emotional instability, and denial of disability (e.g., Post, 1980). Some have speculated that biological factors may have an effect on the political behavior of the elderly (see, e.g., G. Schubert, 1983). Campbell, Converse, Miller, and Stokes (1960:262) note that decline of voter turnout with age is “… undoubtedly due to infirmities that make trips to the polling place more difficult.” Hudson and Binstock (1976:370) suggest that lowered participation “… may be interpreted in terms of physical declines….” Light (1981:2343) hypothesizes that “Health and mobility problems apparently prevent the elderly from topping the middle-aged in turnout.” On the other hand, Wolfinger and Rosenstone (1980) find that with the introduction of controls for length of residence, income, education, and gender, the political effects of aging seem to disappear. However, no direct tests of the physical effects of aging upon the political orientations and behavior of the aged have appeared.

Human embryonic stem-cell (hESC) research offers substantial potential benefits but has generated politically influential controversies and, in the United States, funding restrictions. Some observers fear the United States has been falling behind nations more permissive in this field, but policy debate has remained largely anecdotal. This study reports citation data indicating that the share of hESC research publications credited to the United States in the six years following the introduction of key technologies was significantly less than in five less contentious biomedical-research areas. The United States share of hESC publications fell sharply in 2003 and remained near this reduced level in 2004. Putative explanations are reviewed and several implications discussed.

Pre-registration has become an increasingly popular proposal to address concerns regarding questionable research practices. Yet preregistration does not necessarily solve these problems. It also causes additional problems, including raising costs for more junior and less resourced scholars. In addition, pre-registration restricts creativity and diminishes the broader scientific enterprise. In this way, pre-registration neither solves the problems it is intended to address, nor does it come without costs. Pre-registration is neither necessary nor sufficient for producing novel or ethical work. In short, pre-registration represents a form of virtue signaling that is more performative than actual.

There is substantial evidence that intolerance arises from perceptions of difference. A prevailing view holds that even if intolerance is understandable as a defense mechanism, or as an attitude intended to ward off threatening groups and noxious activities, it often is the result of human irrationality and indulgence of prejudice. This conclusion is supported by studies that seem to demonstrate the apparent irrelevance of the actual level of threat to levels of intolerance. These studies show human actions attendant to diversity are caused by established convictions (i.e., prejudice) rather than by the degree of threat. However, informed by theoretical approaches provided by neuroscientists, we report findings that threat is, indeed, a provocative factor that modifies political tolerance in predictable ways. Previous studies defined threat as probabilistic assessments of the likelihood of bad events. When threat is defined as novelty and normative violations (i.e., as departures from expected, or normal, occurrence), then consistent relationships to intolerance are obtained.

Several empirical studies have linked political candidates’ electoral success to their physical appearance. We reexamine the effects of candidates’ physical attractiveness by taking into account emotional facial expressions as measured by automated facial recognition software. The analysis is based on an observational case study of candidate characteristics in the 2017 German federal election. Using hierarchical regression modeling and controlling for candidates’ displays of happiness, consistent effects of physical attractiveness remain. The results suggest that a potential interaction effect between displays of happiness and attractiveness positively affects vote shares. The study emphasizes the importance of considering emotional expressions when analyzing the impact of candidate appearance on electoral outcomes.

The term “biopolitics” carries multiple, sometimes competing, meanings in political science. When the term was first used in the United States in the late 1970s, it referred to an emerging subdiscipline that incorporated the theories and data of the life sciences into the study of political behavior and public policy. But by the mid-1990s, biopolitics was adopted by postmodernist scholars at the American Political Science Association's annual meeting who followed Foucault's work in examining the power of the state on individuals. Michel Foucault first used the term biopolitics in the 1970s to denote social and political power over life. Since then, two groups of political scientists have been using this term in very different ways. This paper examines the parallel developments of the term “biopolitics,” how two subdisciplines gained (and one lost) control of the term, and what the future holds for its meaning in political science.

We investigate the link between genes, psychological traits, and political engagement using a new data set containing information on a large sample of young German twins. The TwinLife Study enables us to examine the predominant model of personality, the Big Five framework, as well as traits that fall outside the Big Five, such as cognitive ability, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the underpinnings of political engagement. Our results support previous work showing genetic overlap between some psychological traits and political engagement. More specifically, we find that cognitive ability and openness to experience are correlated with political engagement and that common genes can explain most of the relationship between these psychological traits and political engagement. Relationships between genes, psychological traits, and political engagement exist even at a fairly young age, which is an important finding given that previous work has relied heavily on older samples to study the link between genes, psychological traits, and political engagement.

Patterns of discretion and disclosure of fertility-related information among Israeli recipients of donor insemination (DI) are explored. Based on questionnaires completed by recipients in four sperm banks, we studied differences between married women and men. We found that most Israeli recipients conceal the treatment from their friends and relatives. Women and men, however, differ in their disclosure patterns: women are somewhat more open about the general fertility problem, but conceal the male factor; men are more discreet. However, men who disclose the fertility problem also tell about their own impairment. DI appears to be the most secretive issue in this context. Recipients who confided in anyone about their problem restricted it mostly to family relatives. The results are interpreted in terms of Israeli pronatalism, traditional concepts of the natural family, as well as elements of macho culture. Public education is highly recommended in order to open and “normalize” DI in Israel.

The scientific community is divided over the question of who should govern science. Most scientists are comfortable with a governing scheme which leaves science in the hands of scientists. Dissident scientists, with support from active members of the lay public, believe that science is too important to be left to scientists (Policy Research Incorporated, 1977; Miller, Prewitt, and Pearson, 1980).

Students of biopolitics and others are concerned with the relevance and contribution of this emergent subfield to the traditional or “normal” problems of more established areas in the discipline of political science (Hines, 1982; Blank, 1982). My article addresses this issue by illustrating how ethological methods of inquiry can be applied in research on collective political decision making in small groups. (Watts, 1981). Rather than presenting a final methodology and set of findings fait accompli, my primary purpose is heuristic and developmental-that is, to contribute to critical discussion, awareness, and application of alternative field research methods in political science.

Many U.S. states have proposed policies that restrict bathroom access to an individual’s birth sex. These policies have had widespread effects on safety for transgender and gender-nonconforming people, as well as on state economies. In this registered report, we assessed the role of disgust in support for policies that restrict transgender bathroom access. We found that sensitivity to pathogen disgust was positively associated with support for bathroom restrictions; sexual and injury disgust were unrelated. We also examined the role of disgust-driven moral concerns, known as purity concerns, as well as harm-related moral concerns in support for bathroom restrictions. While concerns about harm to cisgender and transgender people predicted support for bathroom restrictions, purity was a much stronger predictor. Also, purity partially mediated the link between pathogen disgust and support for bathroom restrictions, even after accounting for harm concerns. Findings and implications are discussed.

Mark Walker's fascinating paper calls for a Genetic Virtue Program (GVP)—an interdisciplinary effort to enhance human ethics. He urges that we achieve this by “promoting genes that influence the acquisition of the virtues.” Although the GVP is a worthy focus of philosophical debate, I have to confess to some doubts about its viability. We patently don't live in the best of all possible worlds, but I'm skeptical about the notion that the way to improve the world is to make deliberate and specific ethical or moral enhancements.

Feminists have often been among the most outspoken critics of sociobiology, maintaining that sociobiology is inherently sexist and that it is used to uphold patriarchy. This article examines the latest research by scholars—many of them women—who have used a sociobiological approach to expand our understanding of female behavior. It shows that sociobiology recognizes complexity in human reproductive behavior and that members of both sexes employ a variety of reproductive strategies, depending upon their environments. Women are not necessarily sexually passive within the sociobiological paradigm, and they are not “naturally” parents; moreover, men clearly play a necessary and significant role in parenting. Women do have reproductive interests that are separate from those of men, and these interests clash. Despite these conflicts of reproductive interest, however, men and women can develop cooperative relationships to achieve their mutual goal of raising children to maturity. Patriarchy is not—within the sociobiological paradigm—a natural order between males and females. Sociobiology also does not suggest that women should be restricted to parenting roles; indeed, sociobiological research can provide the basis for greater freedom for both men and women in reproduction and resource acquisition.

Although the threat of chemical and biological warfare has grown, the actual use of poisons as weapons of war or terrorism remains rare. The reason rests in part on a long-standing taboo about poison weapons. This article explores possible biological and cultural explanations for the taboo; surveys the use of poisons by other species, by tribal groups, and by ancient societies; and considers the importance of snakes in developing attitudes about poisons. Reluctance to use poison weapons may have had its origin in the linkage of medicine, poisons, and mysticism common in societies everywhere. Whatever the reasons, however, antipathy to poison weapons is deep-seated, and most nations have embraced the norm that deems these weapons morally repugnant. Policies should be sought that enhance this attitude and therefore make the use of such weapons less likely.

In intelligence investigations, such as those into reports of chemical- or biological-weapons (CBW) use, evidence may be difficult to assemble and, once assembled, to weigh. We propose a methodology for such investigations and then apply it to a large body of recently declassified evidence to determine the extent to which an attribution can now be made in the Yellow Rain case. Our analysis strongly supports the hypothesis that CBW were used in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s, although a definitive judgment cannot be made. The proposed methodology, while resource-intensive, allows evidence to be assembled and analyzed in a transparent manner so that assumptions and rationale for decisions can be challenged by external critics. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions, emphasizing the use of evolving information-extraction (IE) technologies, a sub-field of artificial intelligence (AI).

This article recommends establishment of an international Vaccines for Peace (VFP) program to undertake research on and production of vaccines against pathogens (and possibly toxins) that pose natural health threats and that are also putative biological (and toxin) weapons. Vaccines for Peace is designed to contribute to health care in developing countries, enhance international cooperation in biotechnology, and reduce the danger of weapons proliferation. Vaccine development would be carried out openly and would involve scientists from developing countries that are States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention, as well as personnel and facilities from the former Soviet Union. The program would thus help convert biological defense personnel and facilities to peaceful purposes. The program would be administered by the World Health Organization.

The chemical and biological nonproliferation regime stands at a watershed moment, when failure seems a real possibility. After the unsuccessful outcome of the 2016 Eighth Review Conference, the future of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention is uncertain. As the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) approaches its Fourth Review Conference in 2018, it has almost completed removing the huge stocks of chemical weapons, but it now faces the difficult organizational task of moving its focus to preventing the reemergence of chemical weapons at a time when the international security situation appears to be increasingly more difficult and dangerous. In this article, we assess the current and near-term state (5–10 years) and impact of three related areas of science and technology that could be of dual-use concern: targeted delivery of agents to the central nervous system (CNS), particularly by means of nanotechnology; direct impact of nanomaterials on synaptic functions in the CNS; and neuronal circuits in the brain that might be targeted by those with hostile intent. We attempt to assess the implications of our findings, particularly for the consideration of the problem of state-level interest in so-called nonlethal incapacitating chemical agents for law enforcement at the CWC Review Conference in 2018, but also more generally for the longer-term future of the chemical and biological nonproliferation regime.

By the end of the Clinton administration, the claim that terrorists armed with biological weapons represented a huge threat to the security of the United States had achieved the status of received knowledge. How this linkage was forged, despite informed dissent not only outside the Clinton administration but also within it, and how it was used to justify a radical reframing of biological knowledge, especially in genetic engineering and genomics, in terms of military goals is the subject of this essay. My method is historical. I assume that no category is fixed but, rather, that key terms, such as “weapons of mass destruction,” “biological weapon,” and “terrorism” itself, are contingent, shaped under specific historical and political circumstances, and are therefore more fluid than often thought. This account draws on a wide variety of sources including government documents, policy papers and books, conference records, media materials, memoirs, and detailed interviews with nine subjects selected from among participants in the events examined. It shows that the nature of a linkage between terrorism and biological weaponry was debated at many levels in Washington, and it offers reasons why, ultimately, a counterbioterrorism “bandwagon” was constructed and began rolling at the end of the second Clinton administration.

Political leaders of all persuasions are known to make public statements of affiliative allegiance with more form than substance, and to disavow political motivations obvious to the public. Such “ritual deceptions” are better understood in the same light as social etiquette—as partly deceptive behaviors that help to bond individuals with conflicting interests. Those who are more open and honest are often punished, more for breaking unspoken rules and taboos than for the actual content revealed. The functions of ritual deception are explicated by sociobiological theory, and the process, by understanding hypnotic transactions. Political deceptions require the active collaboration of subjects, achieved through the same skills used by experienced hypnotists. Deceptive transactions are more likely to occur in internally traumatized societies, and occur along a continuum from ritual deception to overt disinformation. Examples are taken from recent American history. That the content of ritual deception is so close to full awareness suggests its value as a focal point, both for studying the hidden determinants within human politics, and for policy intervention when appropriate.

The same evolutionary and ecological principles that organize our understanding of organisms and organic communities can be used to help understand criminal behavior and our responses to it. This approach suggests solutions for an important dilemma that confronts the United States. The dilemma is that preoccupation with problems such as gang violence, drug abuse, and street crime increasingly diverts resources and attention away from child development problems associated with the health, education, and welfare of young people. Just as a consensus is emerging about the importance of balancing traditional criminal justice system approaches to crime control with nurturant approaches that address child development concerns, child development program resources are dwindling. This dynamic is driven by a vicious cycle of media sensationalism, political expediency, and public impatience that encourages ineffective “quick fixes” for crime. An evolutionary ecological approach to crime control suggests ways to reverse this vicious cycle and increase the political, programmatic, and economic feasibility of child development programs.