NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

The Personal Interview

Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy

Symposium Review: 25th Anniversary of Moral Boundaries by Joan Tronto

Inclusion and democracy.

This article addresses the impact of the culture divide on the establishment of critical authority through the examination of popular music critics. In-depth interviews with music critics illustrate how the popular culture critic's experience might be distinguished from that of high culture critics. If criticism has the ability to elevate the status of the object it evaluates, this article argues that, in the case of popular criticism, the cultural object has the ability to lower the status of the critic. Lacking the formal training characteristic of higher critics, popular music critics must establish their cultural authority by consistently displaying their qualifications-proficiency as a writer, breadth of knowledge, and studied judgment regardless of personal preferences-through their work. Likewise, it analyzes how aspects of the roles, relationships, and resources managed by popular music critics can create obstacles to the establishment of cultural authority in the popular realm.

Dancing About Architecture: Popular Music Criticism and the Negotiation of Authority

Charges of “selling out” and debates about the boundaries of cultural autonomy have played a pivotal role in the development of popular music as a legitimate and “serious” art form. With promotional strategies and commercial business practices now practically inseparable from the core activities previously associated with music making, the relevance of such concepts and the values that underpin them are questioned by industry experts, musicians, and fans. In this article, we explore how popular music making and perspectives on selling out have been shaped by digitalization, promotionalism, and globalization.

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Selling Out: Musicians, Autonomy, and Compromise in the Digital Age

Contents: General editor's preface Introduction As heard on TV: the marriage of popular music and advertising Selling revolution: the role of authorship in music licensing Commercial art: advertising as an artistic vehicle for music placement 'The new radio': music licensing as a response to industry woe In perfect harmony: popular music and cola advertising Taming rebellion: advertising's control over meaning Negotiating the future of popular music in advertising Appendix Bibliography Index.

As Heard on TV: Popular Music in Advertising

The educational potential of entertainment television has been acknowledged, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, through research into entertainment-education strategies, intersections of politics and popular media, and the mediated public sphere. This article explores educational possibilities of entertainment programming through a consideration of British television programmes that challenge traditional and typical media framings of crimes against children, immigration and disability. Drawing on interviews with writers, directors and producers, it considers the delicate balance of roles and responsibilities generated by entertainment television content that offers unconventional perspectives on social issues. Programme makers may be hesitant to embrace the role of educator, but descriptions of their work suggest a critical pedagogic approach that encourages deliberation in the popular public sphere.

Entertaining ideas: social issues in entertainment television

With illegal downloading at the centre of debates about the creative economy, various policy initiatives and regulatory attempts have tried (and largely failed) to control, persuade and punish users into adhering to copyright law. Rights holders, policymakers, intermediaries and users each circulate and maintain particular attitudes about appropriate uses of digital media. This article maps the failure of regulation to control user behaviour, considers various policy and academic research approaches to understanding users, and introduces an analytical framework that re-evaluates user resistance as expressions of legitimate justifications. A democratic copyright policymaking process must accommodate the modes of justification offered by users to allow copyright law to reconnect with the public interest goals at its foundation.

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Bethany Klein

Papers

Dancing About Architecture: Popular Music Criticism and the Negotiation of Authority

Selling Out: Musicians, Autonomy, and Compromise in the Digital Age

As Heard on TV: Popular Music in Advertising

Entertaining ideas: social issues in entertainment television

Framing the consumer: copyright regulation and the public