Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Reproductive Rights In Latin America: A Case Study Of Guatemala And Nicaragua, Katherine W. Bogen

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

A lack of access to contraceptives and legal abortion for women throughout the nations of Nicaragua and Guatemala creates critical health care problems. Moreover, rural and underprivileged women in Guatemala and Nicaragua are facing greater limitations to birth control access, demonstrating a classist aspect in the global struggle for female reproductive rights. Although some efforts have been made over the past half-century to initiate a dialogue on the failure of medical care in these nations to adequately address issues of maternal mortality and reproductive rights, the women's reproductive health movements of Nicaragua and Guatemala have struggled to reach an effective …

App Newsletter 7, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

The seventh issue of the APP newsletter, with contributions by Michele Croce, founder and President of Verona Pulita, and Abel Kinyondo, Senior Researcher at REPOA.

Post-Katrina Suppression Of Black Working-Class Political Expression, Taunya L. Banks

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

New Orleans politicians, with the aid of the federal government, used the destruction and displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to implement policies that discouraged low-income and working class black residents from returning to New Orleans. Impacted communities felt the need to revitalize street parades (second-line parades), a traditional communal neighborhood activity, as an instrument of political protest. In response the City used minor municipal ordinances to more vigorously regulate these parades, doubling the fees imposed for street parades and effectively shutting them down. The City’s response raised important constitutional questions about government suppression of speech and freedom of …

App Newsletter 6, Riccardo Pelizzo

Riccardo Pelizzo

In the sixth of the newsletter of African Politics and Policy we discuss the costs of instability, the renovation of Togolese hotels, and the relationship between corruption, trust and legislatures.

Language Policy In Turkey And Its Effect On The Kurdish Language, Sevda Arslan

Masters Theses

For many decades the Kurdish language was ignored and banned from public use and Turkish became the lingua franca for all citizens to speak. This way, the Turkish state sought to create a nation-state based on one language and attempted to eliminate the use of other languages, particularly Kurdish, through severe regulations and prohibitions.

Firstly, this thesis traces the language planning policies in the 20th century which resulted in the invisibilization and denial of Kurdish through an attempted linguicide. Through decade long oppressions which resulted in mass killings, arrests, re-location of Kurds, monopolization of education in Turkish and eventually the …

App Newsletter 5, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

Fifth issue of APP Newsletter

Gendered Legislation: Effects Of Percentages Of Females In Legislatures On Policy, Elizabeth Gribbins

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Does the amount of women in the legislature have an effect on the type of legislation passed? Wide variation exists in gender parity across countries; however, whether or not the amount of women in legislatures has an effect on the type of policy that is proposed and/or passed by the government is largely overlooked. In this analysis, I analyze the percentage of women in the legislature and six measures of women’s rights in 139 countries. I have found that there exists a small positive statistical relationship between the percentage of women in the lower legislature and the more legislation passed …

Cybersecurity And The Future International Competitiveness Of The United States, Tai Gray

Student Works

Cybersecurity is inseparably connected to the future international competitiveness of the United States and must play a more significant role in both governmental and private spheres of American society. To increase the strength of U.S. cybersecurity and defend against future attacks, the government should devote more resources to providing cybersecurity tools and information to the public, promoting the implementation of secure forms of communication and purchasing, as well as researching and developing both offensive and defensive cyber tools. By focusing efforts on these three key areas, the U.S. government can better prepare for future cyberattacks and minimize risk to both …

A Discursive Institutionalist Approach To Understanding Policy Change: Ireland And Mexico In The 1980s, John Hogan, Brendan O'Rourke

John Hogan

Employing the critical juncture theory (CJT), a discursive institutionalist approach, this paper examines the nature of the changes to Irish industrial policy, and Mexican macroeconomic policy, during early the 1980s, a time when both countries went through economic crises. Did these policy changes constitute transformations, or were they simply continuations of previously established policy pathways? The CJT consists of three elements – economic crisis, ideational change, and the nature of the policy change – that must be identified for us to be able to declare with some certainty if the policy changes constituted critical junctures. Our findings will help explain …

Introduction, Secretary William S. Cohen

The Cohen Journal

No abstract provided.

A Discursive Institutionalist Approach To Understanding Policy Change: Ireland And Mexico In The 1980s, John Hogan, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

Employing the critical juncture theory (CJT), a discursive institutionalist approach, this paper examines the nature of the changes to Irish industrial policy, and Mexican macroeconomic policy, during early the 1980s, a time when both countries went through economic crises. Did these policy changes constitute transformations, or were they simply continuations of previously established policy pathways? The CJT consists of three elements – economic crisis, ideational change, and the nature of the policy change – that must be identified for us to be able to declare with some certainty if the policy changes constituted critical junctures. Our findings will help explain …

Submission To The Strategic Policy Division, Department Of Defence, On The Development Of The 2013 Defence White Paper, Christopher Rahman

Chris Rahman

This submission on the development of the 2013 Defence White Paper addresses briefly four aspects: 1. The structure and content of the White Paper itself 2. Australia’s strategic environment 3. Australia’s military strategy 4. Force structure

Concepts Of Maritime Security: A Strategic Perspective On Alternative Visions For Good Order And Security At Sea, With Policy Implications For New Zealand, Christopher Rahman

Chris Rahman

This project originated as a research report conducted for the Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Power Centre – Australia. Its intent is not to reprise well‐worn ideas of sea power or maritime strategy, but to address conceptually what is meant by the term “maritime security” in the context of contemporary ideas of the meaning of “security” itself. In doing so, I have purposefully delved into some of the often quite dense and sometimes arcane literature and ideas regarding conceptual treatments of security. This is important, because the ideas inherent in different perspectives on maritime security often have an intellectual or political …

President Bush And Immigration Policy Rhetoric: The Effects Of Negativity On The Political Landscape At The State Level, C. Damien Arthur Phd, Joshua Woods

Political Science Faculty Research

The attention paid to immigration since September 11th has become more pronounced. We maintain that the increases in attention are due to a significant critical juncture: the Republican Party Platform of 2004 and President Bush’s subsequent reelection. The rhetoric has become more negative and exclusive, creating a pervasive immigrant narrative. What are the ramifications, if any, of this shift in discourse from such central political figures for immigrants? Attempts to change immigration policy, despite the rhetoric, have not materialized nationally. President Bush recognized the limitations of ‘going public’ and, instead, took his immigration policy proposals to state legislatures, wherein ideological …

Framing The Question, "Who Governs The Internet?", Robert J. Domanski

Publications and Research

There remains a widespread perception among both the public and elements of academia that the Internet is “ungovernable”. However, this idea, as well as the notion that the Internet has become some type of cyber-libertarian utopia, is wholly inaccurate. Governments may certainly encounter tremendous difficulty in attempting to regulate the Internet, but numerous types of authority have nevertheless become pervasive. So who, then, governs the Internet? This book will contend that the Internet is, in fact, being governed, that it is being governed by specific and identifiable networks of policy actors, and that an argument can be made as to …