In the French presidential election year, an online experiment was used to test several voting systems. Do voting systems affect the electoral process? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out whether universal suffrage has an impact on the results of presidential elections, French and Canadian economists invited Internet users to vote for the candidates in the 2012 French presidential elections, using the voteaupluriel.org dedicated website. The researchers were thus able to test the two-round system (France), first-past-the-post (Mexico), alternative vote (Ireland) and approval voting (used by a number of associations). François Hollande was elected, whichever electoral system was used, by the 11,523 voters involved in the experiment. With the first-past-the-post system, the two main candidates received more votes, to the detriment of the others. With the Irish alternative vote, on the other hand, minority candidates obtained more first choices. This experiment, which proved successful, will be repeated for elections in Quebec (voteauplurielquebec.org) and in Iceland (www.forseti.politicaldata.org). Eating disorders and social networks The derogatory term “pro-ana” refers to communities usually made up of young women accused of trying to justify eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. Despite the stigma attached to it, the ANAMIA project is looking into this phenomenon. The study reveals the influence of social networks on eating habits, the image young people have of their own bodies, their confusion when faced with an avalanche of contradictory messages, and mutual assistance networks on the Web. Symposium Comprendre le phénomène pro-ana : corps, réseaux, alimentation December 14, 2012, Paris How do places of detention for juvenile offenders compare? Closed educational institutions, juvenile detention centers, and juvenile wards in prisons: sociologists have performed an in-depth study of these three types of young offenders’ institutions in order to determine their specific dynamics. The two-year comparative study shows how these different establishments, each in their own way, attempt to combine educational principles with custody and give purpose to the detention of juvenile offenders. 25 Études et données pénales 2012 In March 2012, seven laboratories set up a nationwide alternative monitoring group, called the Becquerel Network, to address public concern about the nuclear industry’s impact on the environment. ---------------------------------------------------- France’s school catchment area reform has little effect on social discrimination A sociological survey carried out in the Paris suburbs has shown that the 2007 reform introducing greater flexibility with regard to school catchment areas has had only a limited impact on requests for dispensation. Moreover, this impact varies greatly from one area to another. Requests for dispensation were concentrated on a small number of schools and were of little real benefit to working-class children, exacerbating their parents’ feeling of being discriminated against. Les effets de l’assouplissement de la carte scolaire dans la banlieue parisienne research report January 2012 2012 A year at CNRS
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