Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Introduction: Theorising Politics, Cillian Mcbride, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Shane O'Neill

Jurgen De Wispelaere

This is the introduction to a special issue of Irish Political Studies on "Recognition, Equality, Democracy", to appear in December 2007 as a journal and sometime in 2008 as an edited collection published by Taylor & Francis.

Accommodative Strategies In Nigerian Federalism Since Independence, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

Abstract This paper primarily illustrates how the practice of federalism in Nigeria has made her an epitome and pioneer of federalism in Africa in the use of power sharing mechanism and practice to promote inter- ethnic inclusiveness or discourage sectional imbalance and bias in decision making processes. This practice of federalism in Nigeria has also validated the idea that federalism is adopted with a view to ensuring unity of the people and faith in their father-land so as to further the end of liberty, equality and justice in the country. This observation has led us to conclude that it is …

Corruption, Governance And Political Instability In Nigeria, Omololu Toluwanimi Omololu

Omololu Michael FAGBADEBO

The Nigerian State is a victim of high-level corruption, bad governance, political instability and a cyclical legitimacy crisis. Consequently, national development is retarded, and the political environment uncertain. The country’s authoritarian leadership faced a legitimacy crisis, political intrigues, in an ethnically - differentiated polity, where ethnic competition for resources drove much of the pervasive corruption and profligacy. While the political gladiators constantly manipulated the people and the political processes to advance their own selfish agenda, the society remained pauperized, and the people wallowed in abject poverty. This invariably led to weak legitimacy, as the citizens lacked faith in their political …

R&D Policy In The United States: The Promotion Of Nanotechnology, Philip Shapira, Jue Wang

Philip Shapira

This case study reviews the evolution of nanotechnology policies and programmes in the United States with a particular focus on three thematic areas: governance, interactions among R&D policies, and interaction between R&D policy and non-R&D policies. Federal R&D policy in nanotechnology has moved through several stages, including initial exploration before the 1980s, the promotion of scientific and technological breakthroughs in the 1980s, policy development in the 1990s and multiagency national initiatives in the 2000s. Since 2001, the major federal R&D policy mechanism in nanotechnology in the US has been the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). NNI promotes policy deliberation and, most …

Anthropology During Wartime, John Fox

John Fox

Op-ed critiquing the ethics of a Pentagon program enlisting anthropologists to serve on "Human Terrain Teams" in army combat units in Afghanistan

Managing A Widespread E-Procurement Implementation In Public Healthcare, Tommaso Federici, Andrea Resca

Federici Tommaso

In large parts of Europe, the development of healthcare is subject to contrasting forces. On the one hand, there has been an explosion in spending and, at the same time, governments are faced with strict budget constraints. On the other hand, public healthcare is under pressure to be innovative, technologically advanced and to provide increasingly better quality of services. In this context, eprocurement can be seen as an instrument to offer a solution to the first issue of this dilemma. However, e-procurement initiatives in such domain have not been widely deployed, and most of them have not fully delivered the …

Defining A Research Domain In An Emerging Technology: Vaccine Research In The State Of Georgia, Shannon Barker, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira

This paper presents an approach for measuring emerging technologies in the context of mature industries. In particular, this article focuses on vaccine-related research. Although vaccines comprise an established industry, new developments in biotechnology have led to emerging area in vaccine R&D, including therapeutic vaccines; subunit and DNA-based vaccines; advances in vaccine delivery; and new methodologies for vaccine design, manufacturing, and testing. Defining this field is challenging because it spans multiple disciplines, including biotechnology, public health, and epidemiology. To gain an understanding of the field as it is related to biomedical research, we focused our study parameters to concentrate on these …

Testimony On Broadband To Senate Committee On Small Business And Entrepreneurship, Scott J. Wallsten

Scott J. Wallsten

No abstract provided.

Neighborhood Dynamics And Superfund: Direct And Indirect Effects On Property Values, Douglas S. Noonan, Douglas J. Krupka

Douglas S. Noonan

No abstract provided.

Political Obligation And Democratic Governance: A Case Of Nigeria, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to seek and examine a balance between the political obligation (rights of the governed and duties of government) in democratic governance. Political obligation is two sided, namely, obligation on the part of government and obligation on the part of governed. It has to do basically with such issues as necessity for law and government, organized society and obedience on the largest possible scale, as the utilitarian would say, “the purpose of government in organized society is to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number”. The citizens’ willing cooperation and obedience are demanded by the state, …

Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

Like entropy, autonomy exists. As such, the existence of autonomy does not need any law or laws, beyond itself and its nature. Autonomy can, therefore, be said to be an "original" state of human kind; or at least of the individual. Law, which is frequently seen as preserving/ maximising/ conferring autonomy is actually a device to usurp autonomy. The paper looks at a specific example of how the nation-state, the most powerful usurper of autonomies created till date, arrogates autonomy to itself, in the name of ‘public interest’. Needless to say, in the hands of the state, autonomy translates into …

Monopoly Rights In The Privatization Of Telephone Firms, Bruno E. Viani

Bruno E. Viani

Data from utility privatization sales in 74 countries is analyzed to investigate why governments award monopoly rights, and how monopoly affects government revenue from these sales. Financially constrained governments are more likely to award monopoly rights. Interest groups and institutions are important. Increased importance of taxed business users reduces the probability of a government granting monopoly rights, while an increase in the importance of subsidized residential users has the opposite effect. Durable democracies and market-oriented governments are less likely to award monopoly rights. Monopolies increase government revenue by 66 percent.

The Cultural Approaches To Multiculturalism: Education Policy And Its Implications In Culture, Linda Margaret Broughton

Linda Margaret Broughton

The purpose of this discussion is to analyse three different European states in their approaches to education policy and culture. Each example of a national policy approach is considered separately, as an individual container (or thimble) with a distinct approach to policymaking and culture that is reflected through structure and content. At the same time, the discussion will analyse the comparative advantages of the separate systems in order to illustrate how one approach may address an issue that is problematic in another approach. The purpose of this discourse is to illustrate how a more comprehensive approach to culture in education …

Financial Portfolio Strategy: Application To College Of Southwest, Grace S. Thomson

Dr. Grace S. Thomson

Financial Portfolio Strategy Creating value in the organization is the cornerstone of business activity. Value-creation is a concept that has evolved for the past fifty years, stimulating the generation of theories, techniques, models and institutions (Slater and Zwirlein, 1996). Financial markets have developed in response to the dynamic corporate activity, providing different options of financing and investment. Financial decision-making at the executive level becomes critical in the creation of wealth in the organization, and the financial strategies designed by the Top Management Team (TMT) are expected to seek beyond profit maximization (Lankau et al, 2007; Myers, 2001). However, there are …

Bad Science In Search Of “Bad” Patents, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

This paper draws attention to fundamental deficiencies in studies that have been relied upon as authoritative sources on patent grant rate comparisons among national patent offices. The two prominent studies analyzed here had employed erroneous methods to compare patent grant rates, resulting in false high indications of such rates at the U.S. patent office compared to foreign patent offices. The three identified categories of analysis errors found in these studies were (i) the misapplication of conditional probability; (ii) miscounting invention applications; and (iii) failure to account for patent obsolescence and application attrition due to the widely differing delays among national …

Assessing Chronic Disease Management Strategies Through Community Based Participatory Research, Kevin D. Willison

Kevin D Willison

Comprehensive chronic disease management (CDM) strategies aim to improve such aspects as continuity of care, health-related quality of life and, overall population health. Here, consideration is made of how CDM may be enhanced through a more integrated and holistic health care system by incorporating a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach. This has the potential to provide meaningful participation by citizens in public health policy development. That CBPR may garner improved assessment of the effectiveness of existing CDM strategies, as imbedded in such practices as (regulated) complementary/alternative medicine (CAM), public health, and transcultural health care initiatives, should not be overlooked.

Spatial Heterogeneity And Transit Use, Bradley W. Lane, Takatsugu Kobayashi

Bradley W. Lane

The results of investments in transit and redevelopment vary widely across space. To better understand the investment and use connection, this research analyzes the spatial characteristics of modal choice and land-use locally rather than globally. The proportion of people around stations using transit is modeled as a function of environmental variables, spatial proximity to transit, and spatial autocorrelation among those variables by using geographically weighted regression (GWR) on data from St. Louis, Missouri. The analysis generated spatially variant regression coefficients and R-square values that suggest significant spatial variation in the influence of neighborhood factors on modal choice.

The Bosnian Peace Process: The Power-Sharing Approach Revisited, Nikolaos Tzifakis

Nikolaos Tzifakis

This article argues that the post-Dayton political organisation of Bosnia represents an exemplary illustration of the difficulties associated with the empirical application of the pluralist model of “consociational democracy”. The country’s political system has been predicated on the existence of consensus and the spirit of cooperation among the three ethnic groups without, however, offering any electoral or political incentives to their leaderships to cooperate. Also, the inclusion of several elements to the Dayton accords of a partition approach to conflict resolution has even encouraged the ethnic leaderships to maintain their nationalistic programs and their endeavours to exploit the aforementioned power-sharing …

The Public Trust Debate: Implications For Heirs' Property Owners Along The Gullah Coast, Faith R. Rivers

Faith R Rivers

Heirs’ property ownership is a significant problem facing the African American community in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Heirs’ property generally refers to real property purchased by African Americans and held within families for generations without clear title. The land is owned by a group of relatives – the heirs – who possess fractionated fees as tenants in common. The disposition of tenants in common property is governed by the law of partition. Partition provides for the division of property, or its cash “equivalent,” according to owner interests.

The Lowcountry of South Carolina is the birthplace and central hub of …

English Only At Work, Por Favor, Natalie Prescott

Natalie Prescott

Whether or not employees can be required to speak only English at work is a very delicate question. This issue has caused considerable disagreement among courts and legal scholars and gained greater prominence in 2006, when the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals created a circuit split by allowing for the possibility that an English-only rule may violate Title VII. Some scholars have attempted to address the legality of an English-only rule, mostly arguing that the rule violates Title VII. This Article, however, explains why Title VII does not apply to an English-only rule. The Article addresses a wide range of …

The Evolving Role Of Citizens In United States-Canadian International Environmental Law Compliance, Noah D. Hall

Noah D Hall

Citizen participation is critical in environmental law compliance. While citizens often have a major role in advancing compliance with domestic environmental law, citizens have historically had a much more limited role in international environmental law. However, a new model is emerging North America. The role of citizens in United States-Canadian international environmental law compliance has expanded greatly over the past several decades. Beginning in the 1970’s with increased public participation in binational governance agreements and expanding in the past two decades to formal roles in monitoring implementation of international environmental agreements, citizen participation is now central in the United States-Canadian …

Transboundary Pollution: Harmonizing International And Domestic Law, Noah D. Hall

Noah D Hall

Addressing transnational pollution requires both international and domestic law. Transnational pollution is an international problem that demands and deserves the attention of international legal mechanisms such as treaties, agreements, arbitration, and international management and governance. At the same time, transnational pollution problems can often be addressed more effectively and efficiently through the domestic legal system. An ideal approach is to harmonize transnational pollution management and dispute resolution under international and domestic law. This article seeks to provide pragmatic, feasible, and politically realistic solutions to transnational pollution by harmonizing international and domestic law. However, given the diversity in geography, domestic legal …

Strategic Planning For Combating Terrorism: A Critical Examination, Arsalan Suleman

Arsalan Suleman

This article engages in a thorough assessment of the Bush Administration's main security strategy documents related to combating terrorism, namely the 2002 and 2006 National Security Strategy documents, the 2003 National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, and the 2006 National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism. First, the article assesses the value and importance of strategy documents and the utility in analyzing them. Second, the strategies are analyzed based on the process by which they were authored, the structural elements of the strategy, and the strategy's content. Third, the article discusses the overall content of counter-terrorism strategy and makes …

Basics Of Mergers, Acquisitions And Corporate Restructuring: The Nigerian Experience., Ozy B. Orluwene Jp, Hycenth A. Ajie

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

ABSTRACT: This paper is primarily concerned with examining the role of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in corporate restructuring as an instrument of enhancing efficiency, size and developmental roles. The last few years have witnessed an astronomical increase in world of corporate restructuring through M&As. The trend has been influenced by factors such as prospects of cost saving due to economies of scale as well as more efficient allocation of resources; enhanced efficiency in resources allocation and risk reduction arising from improved management at points of allocation and utilization of resources. M&As especially in the banking industry are now a global …

El Staff Presidencial En México. Del Secretario Particular A Las Oficinas De La Presidencia, J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

No abstract provided.

Reward Systems And Nsf University Research Centers: The Impact Of Tenure On University Scientists’ Valuation Of Applied And Commercially-Relevant Research, Craig Boardman, Branco Ponomariov

Branco Ponomariov

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Ethnicity In The Making Of A Nation: The Nigerian Case, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

ABSTRACT This paper is primarily concerned with examining the place of ethnicity in the making of a modern state (Nigeria). The study contends that Nigerian did not create ethnic groups rather ethnic groups created Nigeria. They constituted the basic stuff which colonialism manipulated into shape and christened Nigeria. To put it Aristotelian terms, colonialism and ethnic pluralism were respectively, the efficient and the material causes of Nigeria. Therefore, credit for the creation of Nigeria state goes to ethnic pluralism after colonialism.

Corruption: An Organisational Dilemma In Nigeria, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

No abstract provided.

Government Budget: A Major Tool For Efficient Economic Management, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

ABSTRACT The ultimate aim of this paper is to offer and examine the role of government budget in economic management. Budget is the life blood of every government and what government ought to do is dependent on budget and through budget government economic action becomes clearer. Theoretically budget is ordinary statement of account of total revenue and expenditure but an instrument of economic policy and management. The aggregate account of household, business, government and foreign sector constitute the national economic budget.

An International Mission, Matthew Wilburn King

Matthew Wilburn King PhD

University of Tulsa Magazine Publication Issue - Research: Bright Ideas