The Evolutionary Ecology of Rotuman Political Integration

On the basis of the constructs of evolutionary ecology, this article presents an explanation for political integration during the prehistoric-protohistoric period on Rotuma, Fiji. Archaeological, ethnohistorical, and environmental data are analyzed with a geographic information system (GIS) to define the natural and social constraints according to which specific behavioral strategies conferred benefits to the people who employed them. The analysis suggests that during the prehistoric-protohistoric period chiefs from the relatively less productive, eastern side of Rotuma dominated the political arena. The integration of the island into a single, loose polity provided the eastern chiefs with social and material benefits. Because of these benefits, the eastern chiefs sought to perpetuate the political structure. Individuals from other districts participated in the hegemonic political structure because they reaped long-term benefits, suffered minimal costs, and perceived relatively fewer advantages in obtaining pan-Rotuman positions. Given the specific environmental context of this relatively isolated island, the formation of an island-wide polity provided selective advantages to its members.     

The Political Ecology of Extraction and Extractive Reserves in East Kalimantan,Indonesia

Extractive reserves established in the Amazon have given development professionals hope for solving two critical problems in conservation and development: the empowerment of indigenous people and the conservation of tropical forests. The extraction of non-timber forest products has provided an important part of the livelihood strategies of rainforest dwelling people and of the regional economy of East Kalimantan for some two millennia. The specific political-economic and environmental circumstances of Indonesia and interior Kalimantan, however, preclude applying the Amazonian model for extractive reserves. Using a political ecology framework, this article analyses sociological and environmental factors emerging over the past two and a half decades and influencing contemporary rattan production and trade. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that the politics of forest management, at both the national and local levels, are more conducive to village level extractive reserves than to regional, labour-based organizations.     

Political Structure and the Limits of Recognition and Representation in Ghana

Recent studies of democratization in sub‐Saharan Africa often focus on government recognition granted to traditional authorities. This article examines northern Ghana, where chiefs of a minority group are denied formal recognition but pressure state officials to recognize their status as land custodians. This leads to contests and debates between state officials, chiefs and communities over whether the customary institutions have in fact been recognized for what they claim to be. The article uses episodes of contention to nuance conceptualizations of recognition as a specific relationship between actors and institutions, and as a question of government policy or choice. Recognition and non‐recognition are contested in a grey zone of social constructions. Non‐recognition persists as a continuation of colonial policy, state law path trajectory, and state officials’ endeavours to stay out of ‘traditional’ affairs. However, customary rights to land are validated by the new local government institution, and chiefs use newfound positions to expand their jurisdictions. Stakeholders affirm unequal social categories underpinning different understandings of recognition. The article examines contentions that hinge on interpretations of who is recognizing and not recognizing whom, and actors’ efforts to reshape and reproduce political structures.     

Value Diversity and Support for Political Authorities in Canada

Canada is a diverse society with several historic divides, which makes democratic governance challenging. There are reasons to suppose that governing in Canada may be becoming even more complex, and this could have important implications for political support. It is also conceivable that the Canadian case may reflect some of the same challenges that could affect many other post-industrial democracies. Several structural and lifestyle changes have been altering the socio-cultural mix of Canadian society, possibly contributing to the expansion of various new value divides. Because values play a prominent role in shaping people's policy demands and political preferences, it is plausible that such a transformation could elevate the degree of intra-societal stress on Canada's political system and make governing more complex. In this essay, we have two main objectives. The first is to employ data from the Canadian World Values Surveys to explore the possibility that value diversity across various new value divides may be on the rise. The second is to test whether the degree of value diversity between different social groups poses negative implications for political support – specifically, support for people in government.     

The Political Ecology of Transition in Cambodia 1989–1999: War,Peace and Forest Exploitation

Over the last decade, forests have played an important role in the transition from war to peace in Cambodia. Forest exploitation financed the continuation of war beyond the Cold War and regional dynamics, yet it also stimulated co‐operation between conflicting parties. Timber represented a key stake in the rapacious transition from the (benign) socialism of the post‐Khmer Rouge period to (exclusionary) capitalism, thereby becoming the most politicized resource of a reconstruction process that has failed to be either as green or as democratic as the international community had hoped. This article explores the social networks and power politics shaping forest exploitation, with the aim of casting light on the politics of transition. It also scrutinizes the unintended consequences of the international community’s discourse of democracy, good governance, and sustainable development on forest access rights. The commodification of Cambodian forests is interpreted as a process of transforming nature into money through a political ecology of transition that legitimates an exclusionary form of capitalism.     

人民大会及其在古典罗马共和国政治生活中的作用

有关罗马共和国政治生活的性质,在学术界存在截然不同的认识.本文利用古典文献和当代学者的研究成果,对罗马人民大会的权力、人民大会权力的局限性以及人民大会和罗马政制中的民主因素问题进行探讨,认为人民大会在法律上是罗马共和国的最高权力机关,享有立法等多方面的重要权力,但在具体行使权力过程中,受到多重不民主因素的限制.尽管如此,在作为城邦的罗马,人民大会仍发挥了相当重要的作用.罗马政治的稳定和扩张的成功,也是人民大会发挥作用的结果.