Digital Commons Network^™

Social Capital And Inequality In Latin America, Hector Faya

Hector Faya

No abstract provided.

Child Laundering: How The Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes And Incentivizes The Practices Of Buying, Trafficking, Kidnapping, And Stealing Children, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article documents and analyzes a substantial incidence of "child laundering" within the intercountry adoption system. Child laundering occurs when children are taken illegally from birth families through child buying or kidnapping, and then "laundered" through the adoption system as "orphans" and then "adoptees." The article then proposes reforms to the intercountry adoption system that could substantially reduce the incidence of child laundering.

International Trade In The San Bernardino Region: Transportation, Trends, And Employment, Mirya R. Holman, Travis Coan

Mirya R Holman

International trade presents significant employment, growth, and revenue opportunities for the San Bernardino region, which encompasses San Bernardino County and several cities in Riverside County and is located to the immediate east of Los Angeles County. Proximity to the San Pedro Bay Port complex (which includes the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach) and access to a transportation and logistics network expanding out across the U.S., makes the San Bernardino region a prime location for companies participating in international trade activity. The purpose of this report is to quantify trade activity in the region, while also estimating the employment …

No More Baseball Giveaways, Scott J. Wallsten

Scott J. Wallsten

No abstract provided.

Bilateral Breakdown: U.S. – Canada Pollution Disputes, Noah D. Hall

Noah D Hall

The United States and Canada have one of the strongest bilateral relationships in the world, and the history of cooperation and diplomacy on environmental matters has been a major part of their relationship. However, as some recent efforts to resolve U.S.- Canadian pollution disputes through diplomacy and international law have failed, environmental advocates have looked to domestic litigation in U.S. courts to vindicate their rights. Is this a welcome development for environmental protection or a troubling trend for bilateral diplomacy? This essay explores the recent developments with a historical perspective and provides some recommendations for balancing the competing interests of …

The “Csi Effect”: Better Jurors Through Television And Science?, Michael Mann

Michael D. Mann

This Comment explores how television shows such as CSI and Law & Order have created heightened juror expectations in courtrooms across America. Surprise acquitals often have prosectors scratching their heads as jurors hold them to this new "Hollywood" standard. The Comment also analyzes the CSI phenomena by reflecting on past legal television shows that have influenced the public's perception of the legal profession and how the "CSI effect" has placed an even greater burden on parties to proffer some kind of forensic evidence at trial.

The Comment was published in volume 24 of the Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal (2006).

Analysis Of The Baseline Assessments Conducted In 35 U.S. State/Territory Emergency Management Programs: Emergency Management Accreditation Program (Emap) 2003-2004, Valerie Lucus Cem, Cbcp

Valerie Lucus-McEwen CEM CBCP

The Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) is a non profit organization developed to accredit government emergency management programs in the 56 U.S. states and territories. This accreditation model is based on the NFPA 1600 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs. In 2003, the Federal Emergency Management Agency funded EMAP to conduct baseline assessments of each U.S. state and territory to assess their emergency management capabilities. Between January 2003 and December 2004, EMAP conducted baseline assessments of 35 U.S. state and territory emergency management programs. This study was designed to analyze the results of those assessments, and suggests most …

Broadband And Unbundling Regulations In Oecd Countries, Scott J. Wallsten

Scott J. Wallsten

Broadband penetration and available speeds vary widely across OECD countries. Policymakers around the world, and especially in countries like the U.S. that lag in the rankings, are searching for policies to narrow those gaps. Relatively little empirical work tests possible reasons for these differences. In this paper I test the impacts of regulations and demographics on broadband development in a panel dataset across countries. In addition to adding to the meager empirical literature on broadband across countries, this paper is novel in two ways. First, it explicitly takes into account the many different types of unbundling regulations that countries have …

Toward A New Horizontal Federalism: Interstate Water Management In The Great Lakes Region, Noah D. Hall

Noah D Hall

This article presents a new model for environmental policy, called cooperative horizontal federalism. The cooperative horizontal federalism approach utilizes a constitutional mechanism for states to bind themselves to common substantive and procedural environmental protection standards, implemented individually with regional resources and enforcement. Here, the concept of cooperative horizontal federalism model is illustrated through the recently proposed Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. Under this proposed compact, the eight Great Lakes states would cooperatively manage the world’s largest freshwater resource under common minimum standards, which are then incorporated into state law and implemented individually. This cooperative horizontal federalism approach …

Is Resisting Genocide A Human Right?, David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, Joanne D. Eisen

David B Kopel

The genocide in Darfur, Sudan, is perhaps the worst human rights crisis of the new century. This article examines the failures of the international response so far, and offers a solution based on international human rights law.

Conducting an in-depth study of the Darfur genocide, and also discussing other genocides, the Article details the inadequacy of many of the international community's response to genocides, including “targeted sanctions” or international peacekeeping forces.

The Article then examines international legal authorities such as the Genocide Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Court of Justice, and demonstrates that groups which …

Suicide Mortality Rates Across States Of India, 1975-2001: A Statistical Note, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

Age-adjusted (5+ years) suicide mortality rate (per 100000 persons) has been calculated by sex across states of India for 1975-2001. Farmers and non-farmers suicide mortality rate are also given for 1995-2001.

Farmers' Suicides In Maharashtra, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

An agrarian crisis has precipitated a spate of suicides in Maharashtra. The suicide mortality rate for farmers in the state has increased from 15 in 1995 to 57 in 2004. The rain-dependent cotton growing farmers of Vidarbha are faced with declining profitability because of dumping in the global market by the US, low import tariffs, failure of the Monopoly Cotton Procurement Scheme and withdrawal of the state (resulting in declining public investment in agriculture, poor government agriculture extension services and the diminishing role of formal credit institutions). The farmer now depends on the input dealer for advice, leading to supplier-induced …

The Brave New World Of Ambient Intelligence: An Analysis Of Scenarios Regarding Privacy, Identity And Security Issues, Michael Friedewald, Elena Vildjiounaite, Yves Punie, David Wright

Michael Friedewald

The success of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) will depend on how secure it can be made, how privacy and other rights of individuals can be protected and how individuals can come to trust the intelligent world that surrounds them and through which they move. This contribution presents an analysis of ambient intelligence scenarios, particularly in regard to AmI's impacts on and implications for individual privacy. The analysis draws on our review of more than 70 AmI projects, principally in Europe. It notes the visions as well as the specifics of typical AmI scenarios. Several conclusions can be drawn from the analysis, …

Globalization & Nationalism: A Recipe For Terror, Cari Bourette, Daniel Reader

Cari Bourette

Nationalism appears to be part of the human condition; it may well be related to the human tendency toward tribalism. Whatever the case, nationalism appears to be a permanent feature on the global landscape. Globalization, while not a new phenomenon by any means, seems to be having a tremendous dilutory effect on the sovereignty of states; it now appears to be carrying the assault to the cultural frontiers of nationalism. Unlike the Westphalian constructs, however, nations will not so easily succumb. There is a greater inherent resistance to change in nations; the only historically effective method has been outright eradication …

Telecommunications Regulation In U.S. States: Its Rise And Impacts In The Early Twentieth Century, Scott J. Wallsten

Scott J. Wallsten

No abstract provided.

Maine State Government's Worksite Wellness Program, William C. Mcpeck

William C. McPeck

This is an unpublished report I wrote for Maine Governor John Baldacci to share with the National Governor's Association. The report reflects the history and current initiatives of Maine State Government's employee wellness program.

Neoliberal And Public Health Impact Of Not Adopting Osha’S Proposed National Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Rule, Michael Givel

Michael S. Givel

From the early 1980s to the present, neo-liberal doctrine has called for governmental policies of privatization, funding cutbacks, and deregulation of public health and other domestic social programs in the belief that the market can best organize and distribute crucial societal services rather than the public sector. Proponents of a neoliberal and deregulatory mixed approach of command and control and self-regulation argue this approach provides the most adequate means to conduct regulation in the legalistic and adversarial United States regulatory process. In April 1994, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposed rule to eliminate tobacco smoking in most …

Mental Health Care In Rural Communities: The Once And Future Role Of Primary Care., David Lambert

David Lambert

The provision of mental healthcare in rural communities has been a vexing challenge for clinicians and patients for many years. There is a chronic shortage of specialty mental health providers, particularly psychiatrists and sychologists, which has shifted much of the burden of care to primary care. Primary care clinicians have historically lacked the training and time within their busy practices to feel comfortable providing mental healthcare, particularly since the shortage of specialty mental health clinicians deprives them of consultation and referral sources.

The Third Tier Of Government In Nigeria: A Historical Overview, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Voivodship Contracts In Poland In 2001-2003 In The Light Of Paradise Method Evaluation, Dariusz Woźniak

Dariusz Woźniak

This paper addresses the issues of evaluation of regional development policy effectiveness in Poland. It consists of three parts. In the first section contemporary regional policy in Poland is described and the operational definition of regional policy is given (voivodship contracts). The second fraction focuses on the key issues of the evaluation of regional policy, inter alia the concept of its effectiveness. In the last section the detailed description of the PARADISE model is given and an attempt to introduce this method in Polish conditions is made.

Rebuilding Transportation, Rachel R. Weinberger

Rachel R Weinberger

No abstract provided.

Through A Glass Darkly’: Assessing The ‘New’ War Against Corruption In Nigeria, Shola J. Omotola

Shola J. Omotola Mr

It is no longer news that corruption is endemic in Nigeria. Neither is it news that the ‘democratic’ government of President Obasanjo is waging an unprecedented war against corruption. What is, however, controversial is the extent to which the ‘new’ war has succeeded in addressing this scourge. This article engages this crucial question and submits that while the legal and institutional anchorages of the war offer a good point of departure, they remain grossly inadequate. This largely explains why the war has been underproductive and caught in a deepening crisis of legitimacy. What is required is the nourishing and re-envisioning …

The Next Gulf? Oil Politics, Environmental Apocalypse And Rising Tension In The Niger Delta, Shola J. Omotola

Shola J. Omotola Mr

No abstract provided.

El Resurgimiento De La Sociología Pública, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

En este trabajo se realiza un análisis de la corriente llamada «sociología pública» surgida recientemente en los EE UU en el entorno de la American Sociological Association. Para ello se utiliza el enfoque de la sociología de la ciencia. Se estudia a la sociología pública como un movimiento organizado en el ámbito de una disciplina, a saber, un conjunto de ideas y conocimientos que pretenden ocupar un espacio de atención y que están sustentados por redes de trabajadores intelectuales situados en contextos sociales concretos. En el primer apartado se define qué es la sociología pública acudiendo a sus principales nociones …

El Sistema De Incentivos Y Recompensas En La Ciencia Pública Española, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas, Manuel Pérez-Yruela, Carmen Merchán-Hernández

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

No abstract provided.

Detainee Treatment Act Of 2005, Arsalan M. Suleman

Arsalan Suleman

This Recent Development focuses on the legal standards that would govern the treatment and interrogation tactics applicable to detainees held by the United States abroad after the passage of the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA). The article first discusses the legal implications of the DTA as to U.S. law on the use of torture or CID treatment, which primarily concerns Sections 1002 and 1003 of the DTA. Then, it explores certain shortfalls in the scope of these sections on this issue, as the sections do not fully address all of the potential ways in which detainee abuse and torture might continue. …

Privatizing Public Enterprises In The European Union 1960-2002: Ideological, Pragmatic, Inevitable?, Judith Clifton, Daniel Díaz-Fuentes, Francisco Comín

Judith Clifton

Privatization, recognized as one of the most important economic policy reforms from the 1970s, has attracted significant attention from scholars, and the literature on the topic is now vast. Yet there is little agreement on the reasons why governments privatized. Three dominant paradigms explaining European Union (EU) privatization put forward distinct motivations. The ‘British paradigm’ assumed that market-friendly ideology played a significant role in a path towards a global programme inspired by the UK experience. The ‘multiple logics’ approach observed that the UK was an anomaly, not a leader, and that EU privatization was so diverse that there were few, …

How Policymakers Define Their Jobs: A Netherlands Case Study., Robert Hoppe, Margarita Jeliazkova

Robert Hoppe

No abstract provided.

Economic Rationality And Health And Lifestyle Choices For People With Diabetes., Rachel M. Baker

Professor Rachel Baker

Economic rationality is traditionally represented by goal-oriented, maximising behaviour, or 'instrumental rationality'. Such a consequentialist, instrumental model of choice is often implicit in a biomedical approach to health promotion and education. The research reported here assesses the relevance of a broader conceptual framework of rationality (which includes 'procedural' and 'expressive' rationality as complements to an instrumental model of rationality) in a health context (type 2 diabetes).

Q methodology was used to derive 'factors' underlying health and lifestyle choices, based on factor analysis of the results of a card sorting procedure undertaken by 27 respondents with type 2 diabetes. These factors …

Q Methodology In Health Economics, Rachel M. Baker, Carl Thompson, Russel Mannion

Professor Rachel Baker

The recognition that health economists need to understand the meaning of data if they are to adequately understand research findings which challenge conventional economic theory has led to the growth of qualitative modes of enquiry in health economics. The use of qualitative methods of exploration and description alongside mainstream quantitative techniques gives rise to a number of epistemological, ontological and methodological challenges: difficulties in accounting for subjectivity in choices, the need for rigour and transparency in method, and problems of disciplinary acceptability to health economists. This paper introduces Q methodology as a means of overcoming some of these challenges. The …