Polihot

PMR — pp. 1-28 2026-08-28 Original Can cooperation between a city and a region lead to a robust solution during a polycrisis? – the case of Czechia

PNAS 123/35 pp. e2624656123-e2624656123 2026-08-27 Original Indirect reciprocity with dual private assessment Yukari Jessica Tham, Christian Hilbe, Yohsuke Murase Abstract People often cooperate out of concern for their reputation. The corresponding theory of indirect reciprocity predicts that such cooperation can only evolve if people's opinions of each other are sufficiently correlated. This correlation, however, can be difficult to achieve when individuals form their opinions independently from one another, as in private assessment models. In that case, errors can generate disagreements that propagate throughout a population. Here, we identify a simple mechanism that mitigates this problem. Most prior work assumes that observers revise only the reputations of donors-the individuals who choose whether to cooperate or defect. We instead allow observers to also revise the reputations of recipients-the individuals affected by the donors' choices. Using analytical calculations and simulations, we show that such dual reputation updates help synchronize opinions and facilitate cooperation. To demonstrate this approach, we focus on a particularly simple rule, which we call Recipient Image Scoring (RIS). Under RIS, recipients are assessed as good whenever donors choose to cooperate with them. We show that this rule for judging recipients effectively complements the classical leading-eight rules for judging donors. Our results establish dual assessment as a simple mechanism for cooperation that relies only on directly observable information.

JCC — pp. 1-17 2026-08-27 Original Forgiving the Government: The Waning Effect of Citizen Grievances in China Jinfeng Wu, Yongshun Cai Abstract Public grievances do not automatically translate into collective or even individual resistance, but pent-up grievances threaten governments because they may trigger regime-challenging actions when opportunities arise. This study examines to what extent public grievances against state authorities may become pent up. Using a longitudinal survey in China, this article finds that public grievances against local state authorities reduce citizens’ trust in the political system, but citizen grievances may not become pent up. Instead, these grievances tend to be individualized in the sense that they neither last for a long time nor diffuse in society. Individualized grievances reduce political pressure because they do not constitute threats to social stability. However, whether these grievances will last if citizens re-encounter similar conflicts warrants further research.

JCC — pp. 1-17 2026-08-27 Original Embeddedness Under Fire: How Chinese Private Firms Navigate Conflict Risks in Northern Myanmar Yaolong Xian Abstract As one of Myanmar’s largest sources of foreign investment, China has been exposed to the civil war that intensified after the 2021 coup. Drawing on a mixed embeddedness perspective and interview-based fieldwork, this article examines how Chinese private firms operate in Myanmar’s conflict-affected regions without formal state protection or legal guarantees. It argues that their resilience rests on embedding commercial activity within fragmented governance. Institutionally, firms align with non-state armed authorities, adapt across shifting jurisdictions, and benefit from protective norms tied to Chinese identity. Socially, they mobilize ethnic and kinship ties, intermediaries, and localized information networks. These mechanisms, though costly and imperfect, convert unstable environments into workable orders. The article contributes to Global China scholarship by foregrounding private enterprises as adaptive actors in conflict settings.

JPART — 2026-08-27 Original Civil Servants and Democratic Backsliding: The Role of Managerial Signals Mads Pieter van Luttervelt, Mathias Rask Østergaard-Nielsen, Martin Bækgaard, Zuzana Murdoch, Benny Geys

JCC — pp. 1-15 2026-08-26 Original The Virtue of Bias? China’s Stakeholder Mediation in the Iran and North Korea Nuclear Crises

AJPS — 2026-08-26 Original Partisan bias in a sorted party system: A problem of epistemic inequality Justin Pottle Abstract Abstract Normative and empirical scholars typically treat partisans’ distrust of their political rivals as a product of individual cognitive biases. But even if bias is inevitable, it is parties’ coalition‐building and messaging strategies that determine who bias is directed toward. This paper argues that the social sorting of party conflict exacerbates the epistemic and democratic harm of partisan distrust by generating distinctive patterns of epistemic inequality. I show that when voters associate parties with particular social groups, members of those groups suffer greater risk of testimonial injustice and related credibility deficits owing to their perceived partisanship. These dynamics are most damaging for members of marginalized groups, as party–group overlap can reinforce the prejudices they already face. Addressing these harms, I argue, requires looking beyond individual partisans to the background features of party systems that shape how elites mobilize group identities and animus in the struggle for office.

PMR — pp. 1-30 2026-08-26 Original Beyond monolithic state logic: how top-down accountability shapes policy implementation W. G. Will Zhao Abstract How does top-down accountability shape policy implementation? Drawing on institutional logics, this paper distinguishes two state sub-logics: ‘high-stakes context logic’ emphasizing centralized control during crises, and ‘routine governance logic’ allowing discretion during day-to-day administration. These sub-logics condition the perceived legitimacy of accountability demands, felt accountability, and behavioural responses. A survey experiment with over 800 public service respondents shows that, under high-stakes logic, intensified accountability progressively improve compliance, whereas under routine logic, moderate accountability produces optimal compliance, with high-intensity accountability yielding diminishing returns. These findings challenge binary views of accountability and reveal how within-logic variations may alter governance mechanisms.

PA — 2026-08-25 Original Negotiating Presence: The Dynamics of Passive Representation Among Ultra‐Orthodox Women in Public Organizations

PMR — pp. 1-29 2026-08-25 Original Gender inequality at the street level explained: redoing gender through informal practices Ofri Shalev Greenman, Einat Lavee Abstract This study examines whether gendered differences in discretion shape inequality among street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). Focusing on the provision of informal personal resources (IFRs) to clients, we analyzed 59 in-depth interviews with social workers in Israel. While both women and men engage in extensive informal practices, their scope and form differ. Two mechanisms drive the reproduction of inequality: invisibility versus visibility of IFRs, and boundary setting between personal and professional spheres. These findings reveal that discretion in implementation not only is gendered but also reproduces conventional hierarchies, intensifying gender inequality at the street level of public administration.