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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Emergence And Persistence Of Inefficient States, Daron Acemoglu, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni Apr 2011

Emergence And Persistence Of Inefficient States, Daron Acemoglu, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni

Davide Ticchi

We present a theory of the emergence and persistence of inefficient states based on patronage politics. The society consists of rich and poor individuals. The rich are initially in power, but expect to transition to democracy, which will choose redistributive policies. Taxation requires the employment of bureaucrats. By choosing an inefficient state structure, the rich may use patronage and capture democratic politics, so reducing the amount of redistribution in democracy. Moreover, the inefficient state creates its own constituency and tends to persist over time. Intuitively, an inefficient state structure creates more rents for bureaucrats than would an efficient one. When …


Power & Politics In Resettlement: A Case Study Of Bhutanese Refugees, Christie Shrestha Jan 2011

Power & Politics In Resettlement: A Case Study Of Bhutanese Refugees, Christie Shrestha

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis examines the complexities in the resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. Using anthropological ethnographic field methods, this thesis explores the power dynamics between the employees of a resettlement organization and the refugees and the intricate webs of power within different institutions, such as local NGOs and healthcare institutions. The study argues that humanitarian actions and interventions are often driven by bureaucratic politics and policies that contradict what humanitarianism stands for as apolitical and value-neutral. These contradictions or paradoxes in humanitarianism also are also present in refugee resettlement. Analyzing these paradoxes that characterize resettlement, this thesis illuminates structural discontinuities or gaps …


Bureaucracy And The U.S. Response To Mass Atrocity, Gregory Brazeal Jan 2011

Bureaucracy And The U.S. Response To Mass Atrocity, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

The U.S. response to mass atrocity has followed a predictable pattern of disbelief, rationalization, evasion, and retrospective expressions of regret. The pattern is consistent enough that we should be skeptical of chalking up the United States’ failures solely to a shifting array of isolated historical contingencies, from post-Vietnam fatigue in the case of the Khmer Rouge to the Clinton administration’s recoil against humanitarian interventions after Somalia. It is implausible to suggest that the United States would have acted to mitigate or end mass atrocities but for the specific historical contingencies that happen to accompany each outbreak of violence. This essay …


Supranationalism In A Transnational Bureaucracy: The Case Of The European Commission, Antonis A. Ellinas, Ezra N. Suleiman Jan 2011

Supranationalism In A Transnational Bureaucracy: The Case Of The European Commission, Antonis A. Ellinas, Ezra N. Suleiman

Antonis A. Ellinas

No abstract provided.