Political Science Commons^™

After The Olympics, What?, Nicolai Volland

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Exactly one month before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, all attention seems to be focused on those magic sixteen days, from August 8 through August 24. It is surprising, however, how rarely the question is raised: what will happen once the Games are over?

In the run-up to the Summer Games, China has been placed under an undeclared state of emergency. Special regulations and restrictions are effecting almost every of daily life. Taxi drivers and Beijing residents had to brush up their English and study brochures that explained how to stand in line and be courteous to foreigners. …

Out And About

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It’s been a while since we’ve done a reading round-up–here a few things we’ve been reading (and writing) on the web lately:

1. If you’ve been picking up rumblings about “soy sauce” and “push ups” and haven’t been able to sort out the details, the always savvy Sky Canaves (with Juliet Ye this time) at Wall Street Journal‘s China Blog sorts it out for you. Check out Time‘s report for the basics. As CDT reports, debates over the Wengan riots have turned to the topic of internet censorship, while EastSouthWestNorth notesthat discussions of the incident are cooling down.

2. Looking …

2008 Quality Of Life Study - Orleans And Jefferson Parishes, Robert T. Sims

Survey Research Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Service Encounters, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The action in Amy Hanser’s Service Encounters (Stanford University Press, 2008) moves smoothly among three separate but related urban consumer settings in Harbin: the Mao-era relic of Harbin No. X department store, Sunshine Department Store, a swanky oversized shrine to the new conspicuous consumption of wealthy Chinese, and the chaotic marketplace of The Underground, where young women will literally sell the shirts off their backs when presented with the opportunity. Hanser, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, focuses on these three sites as she examines the shifts that have taken place in Chinese retail practices …

Edmonson County, Kentucky - New Deal Program Files (Mss 95), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and list of Civilian Conservation Corps applicants (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 95. Administrative files, chiefly applications and correspondence, for three Edmonson County, Kentucky New Deal programs: the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, and the Works Progress Administration.

Faq#5: Why Can’T The Chinese Authorities Allow A Little Space For Protests During The Olympics?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Of course, the easy answer to this question is: Because there is almost no freedom of assembly in China and there are big restrictions on freedom of expression. But I have started to realize that this answer is too simple. The people I have been talking to, even well-educated and international people, have a gut reaction to the idea of public protests that is unfavorable.

I have been discussing the issue of protests during the Olympic Games with Chinese colleagues, friends, and acquaintances from academic, government, and corporate backgrounds. The people whose views I summarize here are college-educated (in China), …

Faq#4: How Is Beijing Planning To Handle Political Protests During The Olympic Games?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the most important issues for the upcoming Beijing Olympics is whether activists will attempt to carry out public protests and demonstrations, and how the Chinese authorities will react if they do. Some Western journalists believe that there will be protest attempts, and if the Chinese reaction is to immediately send in the security forces, this will dominate the front-page coverage of the Games. One journalist acquaintance observed that if this should happen, it is likely that a photo of a policeman manhandling a protester will become the graphic emblem of the Games for years to come, carrying on …

Revisiting State Failure: Developing A Causal Model Of State Failure Based Upon Theoretical Insight, Tiffiany O. Howard

Political Science Faculty Research

Developing a theoretically driven causal model of state failure is necessary if scholars are committed to improving the predictive power and forecasting ability of early warning models of state failure. Building upon the work of the State Failure Project(1) and earlier statistical models of state failure(2), this study develops a causal model of state failure that is based upon a theoretical foundation that satisfies the parsimonious condition that policy forecasting models typically rely upon. The statistical model of state failure developed for this analysis extends the work of previous models by developing an alternative definition and measurement of state failure …

Can Deliberative Democracy Work In Hierarchical Organizations?, Jason Pierce, Grant W. Neeley, Jeffrey Budziak

Political Science Faculty Publications

Some measure of equality is necessary for deliberative democracy to work well, yet empirical scholarship consistently points to the deleterious effect that hierarchy and inequalities of epistemological authority have on deliberation. This article tests whether real-world deliberative forums can overcome these challenges. Contrary to skeptics, it concludes that the act of deliberation itself and the presence of trained moderators ameliorate inequalities of epistemological authority, thus rendering deliberative democracy possible, even within hierarchical organizations.

Equality News (Summer 2008), Matthew R. Dubois

Equality news / EqualityMaine (2004-2008)

No abstract provided.

Global And Functional Strategic Issues, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

The Persistent Problem: Inequality, Difference, And The Challenge Of Development, Aseema Sinha, John Echeverri-Gent, Leslie Elliott Armijo, Marc Blecher, Daniel Brumberg, Valerie Bunce, Kiren A. Chaudhry, John W. Harbeson, Evelyne Huber, Bronwyn Leebaw, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, Loren Ryter, Susan L. Woodward

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

This report highlights the complex, multidimensional nature of inequality in the era of globalization. It documents that despite the impressive strides by nations like China and India, absolute inequality between the richest and poorest countries is greater than ever before in history. It demonstrates that the rise of China and India creates a new dimension to the persistent problem of inequality.

Health Insurance Policy In New York City And Westchester County, Colin Stone

Master in Public Administration Theses

Health insurance policy is an important and timely issue in the United States. According to many reports, the number of individuals who lack any type of health insurance in this country numbers approximately 47 million. This paper will focus on government sponsored health insurance programs in New York City and Westchester County, New York, including a discussion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Reconstructing Sovereignty: From Control To Responsibility, Eric K. Leonard

Human Rights & Human Welfare

As I stood with a standing-room only crowd last fall at a United Nations University of New York (UNU-ONY) event entitled, "Prevention of Mass Atrocities: From Mandate to Realization," I began to wonder how far the responsibility to protect (R2P) could be stretched. As defined by the UNU-ONY organizers, the purpose of the event was " to explore the work of mass atrocity prevention across the UN system, with a focus on the role of the new Office of the Special Representative for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (SRPGMA)." As I currently look at the international community's response …

Texas Homeland Security: Trust, Communication, And Effective Working Relationships Between Regional Coordinators And Local Respondents, Bobbie Brown

Political Science Theses - Archive

Policy implementation and intergovernmental relationships are most often examined from a federal/state perspective. This research, however, focuses on the effectiveness of working relationships between the two lower-levels of state government (i.e. regional and local jurisdictions) who implement homeland security policies in Texas. Using elite interviews conducted with the principal homeland security officials from the regional Councils of Governments and survey responses from chiefs of police across the state, this study seeks to identify what environmental, agency, and individual characteristics are associated with effective working relationships between these lower-levels of state government. Texas chose to integrate the implementation of its homeland …

The Body Beautiful: Jonathan Spence’S Final Reith Lecture, Xu Guoqi

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Jonathan Spence gave his fourth and last Reith lecture on “The Body Beautiful.” This is a perfect fit for China’s Olympic year and a wonderful conclusion talk after his first lecture on mind (“Confucian Ways”), then on Chinese interactions with the former superpower (the second lecture “English Lessons”), and the current one (the third lecture “American Dreams”). From mind to body, from China as an ancient civilization through its turbulent relations with Western powers to a nation which is determined to compete with the world in hard power either economically or physically, the topic was extremely well thought. The lecture …

Our Women In China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Since late 2006, James Fallows has been providing regular coverage on China forThe Atlantic Monthly. His first piece for the magazine was subtitled “Our Man in Shanghai…” and the retro phrase caught our eye not only for its imperial overtones (the frequency with which it is used to describe newspaper reporters is unnerving, since the phrase calls up Graham Greene’s title, Our Man in Havana, a book about nothing so much as bad intelligence), but also for its gender implications. After all, “our man in China” is just as often a woman (as has been the case in the past; …

July Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

"Armed and Humanitarian" by Bruce Falconer. Mother Jones. May 19, 2008.

Hierarchy Or Heterarchy? Actors Of Medieval International Society At The Council Of Constance And The Peace Of Augsburg, Sarah Bania-Dobyns

Global and Public Affairs: Faculty Scholarship

IR research on medieval international society has been mixed. On the one hand, interest in “neo-medievalism” has led to some discussion of international relations of the medieval era. Hedley Bull first used the term to refer to a simultaneous trend towards cosmopolitanism as well as fragmentation (Bull 1977), so it is in this sense in which scholars like Ruggie (1983, for example) have used the term. However, much of this research has merely touched upon ideas of medieval international society, and not upon medieval international society itself and what it has to offer contemporary debates.

Shades Of Green: The Use Of Force Debate In The German Green Party, 1990--2002, Scott H. Brunstetter

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Utilizing an heuristic model that incorporates aspects from several theoretical perspectives this dissertation examines the German Green Party debate on the use of military force from 1990-2002. From the absolute rejection of any use of force to evict Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War in 1991, the Greens evolved over the course of a decade to support the deployment of German forces to Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This dissertation argues that this evolution was the result of a conscious will to govern by German political leaders in particular and external shocks—Srebrenica, Kosovo, and 9/11. It …

Drawbridge Diplomacy: Romanian-American Relations, 1963-1968, Brett A. Jerasa

History Theses & Dissertations

Entering the White House in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson pursued a policy of "bridge building" to Eastern Europe, finding agreement on small issues of economics and foreign relations in order to decrease tension between East and West. Johnson targeted Romania as the show case for bridge building because of its growing autonomy from the Soviet Union. Romania's policies of rapid industrialization and foreign policy independence offered potent possibilities. However, Johnson's bridge building faced many difficulties. His administration pursued a dual Cold War policy: he fought communist belligerency in Vietnam while affirming the positive behavior of Eastern European satellites. Despite the …

Transdisciplinary Conflict Of Laws Foreword: Cavers's Double Legacy, Karen Knop, Ralf Michaels, Annelise Riles

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

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The Political Personality Of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Aubrey Immelman, Pascal De Sutter

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The study was conducted from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon’s model of personality.

Information concerning Sarkozy was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles …

The Political Personality Of 2007 French Presidential Candidate Ségolène Royal, Aubrey Immelman, Pascal De Sutter

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Ségolène Royal, candidate of the Socialist Party in the 2007 French presidential election.

The study was conducted from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon’s model of personality. Information concerning Royal was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided …

Mission Creep: De-Militarizing Humanitarian Protection, Sonia Cardenas

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Over a decade ago, the U.S. military was warning liberal internationalists about the dangers of "mission creep." Today it is doing the opposite, incorporating relief and development work into its operations. In the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Burma , the U.S. military's newfound mission may seem compelling. Unfortunately, expanding the military's role into humanitarian work reflects a flawed logic that should be resisted. There are more promising ways to protect victims of humanitarian disaster.

When Steel And Guns Meets Bread And Butter, Daniel J. Graeber

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Speaking before the 191-member United Nations in 2005, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that "For the first time . we are agreed that states do not have the right to do what they will within their own borders but that we in the name of humanity have a common duty to protect people where their own governments will not." This notion, that of responsible sovereignty , says that nation states forfeit the right to uninterrupted internal freedoms when they no longer uphold the responsibilities associated with sovereignty.

Jimmy Carter's Foreign Policy: The Battle For Power And Principle, Frances M. Jacobson

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Evaluating the foreign policies of presidents while they are in office or shortly after their tenure ends can sometimes lead to conclusions that prove to be unsound in the future. The case of Harry Truman exemplifies this. When he left office in 1952 his approval rating was in the 20 percentile range. Yet, he set the tone and direction of United States foreign policy that led eventually to the successful conclusion of the Cold War. The foreign policy of President Jimmy Carter was also generally viewed as a failure by many scholars in the field, both during his time in …

Modern Constitutional Democracy And Imperialism, James Tully

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

To what extent is the development of modern constitutional democracy as a state form in the West and its spread around the world implicated in western imperialism? This has been a leading question of legal scholarship over the last thirty years. James Tully draws on this scholarship to present a preliminary answer. Part I sets out seven central features of modern constitutional democracy and its corresponding international institutions of law and government. Part II sets out three major imperial roles that these legal and political institutions have played, and continue to play. And finally, Part III surveys ways in which …

The Constitutive Paradox Of Modern Law: A Comment On Tully, Ruth Buchanan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This commentary draws out and elaborates upon some of the more challenging aspects of Professor Tully's sophisticated taxonomy of the relationship between modern constitutional forms and constituent powers. Tully's article reveals the historical particularities of these formations, and at the same time encourages the reader to think beyond them, towards the potentially uncategorizable realm of democratic constitutionalism. Yet, how is it possible to use a taxonomy of modern constitutional democracy as a means of understanding what ties in the uncharted territory beyond? This commentary further explores to what extent this paradoxical modern configuration of constituent powers and constitutional forms may …

Boss Hu And The Press, Nicolai Volland

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In early May, we published the first installment of our feature, “China Around the World.” We asked scholars, journalists, and graduate students working outside China and the US to reflect on Chinese media and coverage of China. This reflection on the implications of Hu Jintao’s recent visit to the People’s Dailynewsroom is from Nicolai Volland, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore.

One June 20, Hu Jintao paid a high profile visit to the People’s Daily. His foray to the editorial offices of the CCP mouthpiece was first announced in the form …