Political Science Commons^™

Raharimanana : « Le Viol Des Douceurs », Patricia Célérier

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

constant and paradoxical paradigm, violence is at the core of the Malagasy writer, Jean-Luc Raharimanana’s work. What are its representations, its modulations and functions in his shortstories, his novel, Nour, 1947, and his narrative, L’arbre anthropophage ? His poetic elaboration of violence puts his production at the juncture of postmodern and committed literatures and gives it a singular value in the world of postcolonial literature.

The Forbidden City By Barmé—Don’T Leave For The “Great Within” Without It

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

“I think there’s a lack of books that serious, educated non-specialists can pick up…I’ve read a lot of great books recently by academics but few that I could recommend, say, to my father.” These lines come from an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Ian Johnson that “China Beat” ran at the end of January, back when our site was still young (now that we’ve been going for more than a third-of-a-year, we hardly count as youthful anymore, so quickly does the blogosphere change). He was responding to a question Nicole Barnes had put to him about what he’d like …

Editor's Notebook: A Politcal Reality Check, Michael Kryzanek

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

A Difusão Do Orçamento Participativo Brasileiro: ‘Boas Práticas' Devem Ser Promovidas?, Brian Wampler

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The "third wave" of democratization has been accompanied by the spread of new institutions that allow citizens to deliberate and decide policy outcomes. Leading international organizations, such as the World Bank and the United Nations, have disseminated "best practice" programs identified with "good government" policy reform efforts. One of the most well-known programs, Participatory Budgeting (PB), was first adopted by Brazil's Workers' Party (PT) in 1989 as a means to promote social justice, accountability, and transparency. There has been widespread adoption of PB in Brazil, led by the PT. Yet, by 2001, nearly half of PB programs had been adopted …

June Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

"A Screaming Start: The UN and Human Rights." The Economist. April 24, 2008.

The Human Rights Council: A Failure In Global Governance, Eric K. Leonard

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“The UN and Human Rights: A Screaming Start,” makes several valid points of concern in regards to the recently formed Human Rights Council. As the article stipulates, in many ways the Council does not look radically different from its predecessor, the Human Rights Commission, in that it fails to provide membership regulations that would keep “not free” states of the Council (with only twenty-three out of forty-seven states defined as free) and it lacks the clout in the political hierarchy to truly accomplish anything of substance. However, the article does point out that the one mechanism that could prove useful …

The Myth Of Membership: Reforming The U.N. Human Rights Council, Sonia Cardenas

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The purportedly new-and-improved Human Rights Council is, by most accounts, failing to live up to its promise. Critics accuse the Council of following in the footsteps of its predecessor the U.N. Human Rights Commission because it permits rights abusers among its ranks and it focuses overwhelmingly on Israel. The dominant assumption, articulated by the United States, is that this is a problem of membership; more stringent criteria would result in a less biased body. This, however, is wishful thinking. Changing the rules of membership would only substitute one set of biases for another. A productive dialogue about reforming the Human …

Economic Development And The Absence Of Democracy In China, Megan Whipp

Masters Theses

My research will look at the reasons for China's lack of democracy. China has become increasingly developed giving the Chinese people greater wealth, improved education, and better access to healthcare. Based on Seymour Lipset's 1963 study which finds economic development fosters democracy, China should have become democratic. But, China is not a democracy.

The methodology employed in this study is a case study. A case study ensures an in-depth analysis of the relevant factors which could affect China's prospects for democracy. This study advances the understanding of China's continued authoritarian rule finding two factors especially influential. The first factor is …

E-Government For Development: A Case Study From Mozambique, Gertrudes Macueve

The African Journal of Information Systems

This paper draws upon Amartya Sen’s concept of "development as freedom" as an effective approach to analyze e-government for development initiatives. An interpretive analysis of three projects ongoing in Mozambique report that although some "freedoms" are currently reachable through these initiatives, a lot needs to be done to achieve "development as freedom." The use of this theoretical approach provides a valuable contribution to the research domain of ICTs for development. This article also draws practical recommendations to assist managers of e-government projects in Mozambique, as well as other developing countries.

Celebrating 35 Years Of Canadian Studies, Michael Kryzanek

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Peasants' Rights And Development In Rural Egypt, Cinderella Hassan

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Democratic Solutions To Identity Conflict: The Case Of Lebanon, Monty Roberson Jr.

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Migration Development Nexus: Development At Last? An Inquiry Into The Impact Of Economic And Social Remittances In Rural Egypt, Dina Sabry

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Environmental Scarcity And Water Development In The Eastern Nile Basin, Kennan Wright

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Private Sector Participation In The Provision Of Primary Healthcare In Ghana: A Case Study Of Savelgu/Nanton District And Tamale Metropolis In The Northern Region, Ibriham Sayibu

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Governments making healthcare accessible and affordable to a majority of people contribute positively to the socioeconomic development of individual nations. It would also reduce vulnerability and inequalities which are common in societies. However, accessibility to health services by majority of the population in sub-Saharan Africa remains unmet. There is still less affordable healthcare coupled with poor quality of services. Infrastructure provision is unevenly distributed across regions while investment in the sector has not been favorable over the past decades. The rural people are negatively affected as a result of these problems. For these reasons, private health sector participation in the …

Information Aggregation In Polls, John Morgan, Phillip C. Stocken

Dartmouth Scholarship

We study information transmission via polling. A policymaker polls constituents, who differ in their information and ideology, to determine policy. Full revelation is an equilibrium in a poll with a small sample, but not with a large one. In large polls, full information aggregation can arise in an equilibrium where constituents endogenously sort themselves into centrists, who respond truthfully, and extremists, who do not. We find polling statistics that ignore strategic behavior yield biased estimators and mischaracterize the poll's margin of error. We construct estimators that account for strategic behavior. Finally, we compare polls and elections.

The Evolution Of Human Rights Thinking In North Korea, Robert Weatherley, Jiyoung Song

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The official discourse of human rights in North Korea has shown signs of evolution in recent times, reflecting a variety of philosophical foundations and a need to respond to mounting criticism from the West. While Confucianism and Marxism have been key in influencing North Korean rights thinking, some of the more recent official pronouncements on rights have a distinctly nationalistic or ‘juche-oriented’ complexion. This shift in emphasis reflects the growing importance of juche to North Korea's state ideology in light of what is perceived as an increasingly hostile international environment that has confronted North Korea since the end of the …

Exile: Why The Human Rights Council Will Not Work, Daniel J. Graeber

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Economist writes in an April 24th edition that the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, the predecessor to the sixty-year-old U.N. Commission on Human Rights, is a “one-sided Israeli-bashing” organization. The Economist argues that the inclusion of second- and third-tier countries from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) makes it a forum for targeting offenses committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.

Christina M. Cerna On Truth And Reconciliation In South Africa, Did The Trc Deliver? Edited By Audrey R. Chapman And Hugo Van Der Merwe. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 346 Pp., Christina M. Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa, Did the TRC Deliver? Edited by Audrey R. Chapman and Hugo van der Merwe. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 346 pp.

Stephen James On The Battle For Welfare Rights: Politics And Poverty In Modern America By Felicia Kornbluh. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. 287pp., Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Battle for Welfare Rights: Politics and Poverty in Modern America by Felicia Kornbluh. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. 287pp.

Saudi Arabia: Remodeling Authoritarianism For The 21 St Century, Kira D Jumet

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

From Brothers To Partners: The Evolution Of China's Foreign Policy To The Middle East (1949-2008), Shuang Wen

Archived Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the evolution of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) foreign policy to the Middle East from 1949 to 2008. Using a historical analysis approach, it argues that in the past fifty nine years, the policy has changed from ideology orientated to economic oriented, from idealistic to pragmatic, and from reactive to pro-active. The reasons behind these changes are mainly due to the changing situations within and without the PRC. It concludes that in the near future, the PRC may not confront the US's policy in the region, but instead will actively engage with Middle East countries with …

Gender, Race, And Intersectionality On The Federal Appellate Bench., Todd Collins, Laura Moyer

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

While theoretical justifications predict that a judge’s gender and race may influence judicial decisions, empirical support for these arguments has been mixed. However, recent increases in judicial diversity necessitate a reexamination of these earlier studies. Rather than examining individual judges on a single characteristic, such as gender or race alone, this research note argues that the intersection of individual characteristics may provide an alternative approach for evaluating the effects of diversity on the federal appellate bench. The results of cohort models examining the joint effects of race and gender suggest that minority female judges are more likely to support criminal …

The Chinese Press In The Spotlight, Timothy Weston

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In recent weeks, the Chinese press has struggled to cover a series of major and difficult stories. Moreover the Chinese press itself is being watched and critiqued by the Western world with intensity and curiosity. What we are seeing in the Chinese press now is a world in transition and flux.

First was the Chinese press’ discussion of the Tibetan demonstrations, its virtual refusal to acknowledge the validity of any foreign criticism, and its exposure of a reflexive, threatening, and brittle nationalism, especially among some Chinese youth. However, that was followed by its honest and educational reporting during the hand …

Knowledge In Sheep's Clothing: How Science Informs American Diplomacy, Elizabeth L. Chalecki

Political Science Faculty Publications

Advances in modern science are now shaping both the character and content of international relations. Scientific issues in international diplomacy such as environmental issues, space policy, biotechnology and stem cell uses, and weapons technology will all require the participation of an epistemic community of scientists alongside traditional diplomats. This article will examine three historical cases of American diplomacy in which science made a significant contribution to the outcome: the German–American Pork War of 1880–1891, the International Geophysical Year of 1956–1957, and the Montreal Protocol of 1987. In each instance, by utilizing scientists and their knowledge, the United States was able …

Culture And Collapse, Pierre Fuller

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China has shown a “dismayingly cavalier attitude toward the well-being of its people,” a British journalist turned pop historian determined recently in the pages of the New York Times. The Chinese, he explained, long ago handed over science – and by extension earthquake resistant engineering – to “the West,” leaving “themselves to become mired, time and again, in the kind of tragic events that we are witnessing this week.” The thrust of this piece by Simon Winchester (which simultaneously appeared in the International Herald Tribune and evidently stems from his latest books, The Man Who Loved China (2008), on Joseph …

A Peek At Bernier's Briefing Notes, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

No abstract provided.

Praise For China: A Reader

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

1. “Can we outsource FEMA to the Chinese?” asks one reader at MSNBC’s World Blog, in response to a post on the temporary villages the Chinese government is erecting in the disaster area. Other readers also make Katrina/China earthquake comparisons. The MSNBC World Blog has been providing continuing coverage of the earthquake.

2. One of the side effects of coverage of the earthquake has been an increase in “human interest” stories on quake survivors. For instance, the story of a couple who survived together, trapped under debris, was one of the New York Times’s top e-mailed stories in the days …

Cultural Responses To Disaster In China, Pierre Fuller

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A land of floods, fault lines and food crises, China has rarely been one of mercy in the Western imagination. Today, with millions of Chinese dealing with another world-class disaster on their soil, the Western press appears to be singing a different tune. For one, Tuesday’s New York Times heralded that “Many Hands, Not Held by China, Aid in Quake,” reporting that even official Chinese media sees private donations exceeding the state’s total so far of half a billion relief dollars. This “striking and unscripted public response” of “blood drives, cake sales, charity fund-raisers and art auctions” might even pose …

Self-Promotion Saturday: Brief Notes

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few of our writers made it into the news this week:

1. NPR broadcast a brief interview with Jeff Wasserstrom on the Chinese government’s response to the earthquake on Wednesday, May 21.

2. In response to a review of Simon Winchester’s new book on Joseph Needham (the famous scholar of Chinese technology, among his other accomplishments) at Salon.com, one reader submitted a lengthy comparison of Jared Diamond and Kenneth Pomeranz. Read it here.

3. For those who subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, you can read an article that quotes Caroline Reeves, who wrote a two-part piece for us …