Does Morality Policy Exist? Testing a Basic Assumption

Does morality policy exist? A growing body of scholarship has examined the ways that the politics of so‐called “morality policy” (e.g., abortion regulation, same‐sex marriage policy, and capital punishment) differ from the politics of other types of policy. In this literature, morality policies are assumed to be distinctive in that they generate conflicts of basic moral values, do not lend themselves to compromise, and are widely salient and technically simple. Using an email survey of morality policy scholars and a telephone survey of just over seven hundred Illinois residents in 2005, we test this assumption. We find that citizen responses about these policies vary along three of these four characteristics, just as morality policy scholars predicted. Thus, morality policies do exist, as assumed by these scholars. Our analysis also suggests some potentially fruitful avenues for future research on morality policy and other policy typologies.     

Does the Punitive Need the Supportive? A Sympathetic Critique of Current Grammars of Urban Injustice

Abstract: This paper is a sympathetic critique of mainstream grammars of urban injustice, arguing that they are frequently too one‐sided and selective to adequately grasp the full complexity of urban realities. Most prominently, I contend that urban injustice and punitiveness co‐exist with, if not sometimes depend upon, more supportive responses within urban space. I therefore counterbalance the spectacular logics of punitive urbanism and the everyday logics of control with a tripartite approach to logics assembled within the urban voluntary sector (abeyance, care and survival) as a way to reconnect to a broader set of practices. Two case studies are used to illustrate these contentions.     

Does Anyone Want the Displaced Persons?

Book reviwed in this article:
Arieh J. Kochavi, Post–Holocaust Politics: Britain, the United States, and Jewish Refugees, 1945–1948     

Legitimacy and Efficiency in Planning Processes—(How) Does Wind Power Change the Situation?

Abstract

In land-use planning processes there often exists a tension between, on the one hand, making efforts to increase the democratic legitimacy of the process and, on the other, ensuring efficiency in the procedures. This is not least relevant in the case of large-scale wind power where development decisions balance between the need to safe-guard local self-determination and the urgency of mitigating climate change. This paper investigates how the issue of legitimacy versus efficiency is managed within the national planning systems of Finland, Norway and Sweden when faced with the expansion of wind power and how the national strategies for wind power planning are perceived by different stakeholders. As the EU Renewable Energy Directives set the conditions for national policy in the field, the empirical work starts with an examination of these documents before moving on to a comparison of the national planning and permitting processes. The results show that the development of wind power has been moving planning procedures away from more inclusive planning methods in favour of more top-down and streamlined ones.     

A Vital Monastic Centre of the Jonang Tradition： The Grand Lamasery of Dzamthang

The entire Ngolok-Seta country between what is present-day＇s Ngolok （mgo-log）prefecture （Chin. Guoluo） in China＇s Qinghai province, Serta county in Kandse （dkar-mdzes）prefecture and the northwestern parts of modern Ngawa（rnga-ba） prefecture （Chin. Aba） in Sichuan was a white spot on the Ti-bet map until the mid-20th century. Particularly the districts defined by the present Ngawa and Dzamthang （Chin. Rangtang） counties were inaccessible for any foreign traveller in historic time. Ngawa already constituted an isolated Ti-betan cultural realm, yet Dzamthang to its west was a true hidden land. The latter is reached by a 18o km drive from the Ngawa prefecture＇s seat, Barkham （Chin. Ma＇erkang）, in less than half a day.     

Does It Even Work? A Theoretical and Practical Evaluation of the War Powers Resolution

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 represents a policy that attempts to fill a procedural gap in the Constitution, that is, a clear process by which the use of military force is authorized. Based on what is arguably a misinterpretation of the Constitution, it fails to achieve its objective: to constrain the president's discretion in employing military force unilaterally.

This article addresses the WPR in four sections. First, it examines the law's theoretical underpinnings. Next, it summarizes the law's provisions, its application, and several direct and indirect approaches that have been applied in studying the use of military force and the WPR. Third, using quantitative analysis, the article seeks to answer three basic questions: 1) Has the WPR had any effect on the U.S. president's decision to employ military force?

2) Has the WPR had any effect on the magnitude of force employed in a conflict?

3) Has the WPR had any effect on the duration of conflicts in which the president has employed military force?

Findings indicate that the War Powers Resolution is not a significant factor in presidents' decisions to use military force. Once the president decides to employ force in a given scenario, it also fails to be a significant factor in affecting the magnitude of force that is used. It appears that the law may have an effect on the duration of conflicts involving the U.S. military, but weaknesses in the statistical model leave this question open to further research to confirm or deny this verdict.     

Does the Law and the Constitution of the Family Have to Change?

The law and constitution of the family has been targeted for transformation in recent years, leading most notably to the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, mandating same-sex marriage as a matter of constitutional law. In this essay I undertake a thought experiment, asking how advocates of traditional marriage ought to want the law of marriage to change in light of this development. I begin by reviewing the argument for legal change sketched by Aquinas and then applying it to developments concerning marriage in modern America. Next I sketch the natural-law argument on behalf of traditional marriage. Finally, I turn to the case of Michael H. v. Gerald D., in which the Supreme Court upheld a statutory reiteration of the common-law presumption that the husband of the mother is the father of her child, against a challenge from the biological father, suggesting that this case, long admired by conservatives, needs to be reconsidered—and that the dissent in the recent Indian Adoption Case recognizing a constitutional right of biological parents might prove useful to the restoration of marriage law.     

Does Patronage Still Drive Politics for the Rural Poor in the Developing World? A Comparative Perspective from the Livestock Sector

Is the analysis of patron–client networks still important to the understanding of developing country politics or has it now been overtaken by a focus on ‘social capital’? Drawing on seventeen country studies of the political environment for livestock policy in poor countries, this article concludes that although the nature of patronage has changed significantly, it remains highly relevant to the ways peasant interests are treated. Peasant populations were found either to have no clear connection to their political leaders or to be controlled by political clientage. Furthermore, communities ‘free’ of patron–client ties to the centre generally are not better represented by political associations but instead receive fewer benefits from the state. Nonetheless, patterns of clientage are different from what they were forty years ago. First, patronage chains today often have a global reach, through trade, bilateral donor governments and international NGOs. Second, the resources that fuel political clientage today are less monopolistic and less adequate to the task of purchasing peasant political loyalty. Thus the bonds of patronage are less tight than they were historically. Third, it follows from the preceding point and the greater diversity of patrons operating today that elite conflicts are much more likely to create spaces in which peasant interests can eventually be aggregated into autonomous associations with independent political significance in the national polity. NGOs are playing an important role in opening up this political space although at the moment, they most often act like a new type of patron.     

To Have and to Hold? Recent Research on the State of Preservation of the Roman Fort of Fectio (Municipality of Bunnik), the Netherlands

The transformation of the Roman fort of Fectio was seized upon to gain insight into the factors that determine the degradation of metal finds and the relationship with different forms of land use. The research showed no difference in the preservation of metal finds from different burial contexts, including disturbed contexts. A possible explanation for the good condition of the metal finds is the presence of organic waste and building material that, together with the clayey soil, create an ideal burial environment for non-ferrous metals.     

Calming the Shock Waves: Can Financial Reform Do It? (A Review Article)

Books reviewed in this article: G. Caprio, P. Honohan and J. E. Stiglitz (eds.), Financial Liberalization, How Far, How Fast? B. Eichengreen, Financial Crises and What to do about Them D. Nayyar (ed.), Governing Globalization, Issues and Institutions J. E. Stiglitz, Globalization and its Discontents J. J. Teunissen (ed.), New Challenges of Crisis Prevention, Addressing Economic Imbalances in the North and Boom‐Bust Cycles in the South J. Tirole, Financial Crises, Liquidity and the International Monetary System     

China and Geography in the 21st Century: A Cultural (Geographical) Revolution?

A noted Singapore-based cultural geographer and specialist on Asia reviews the recent emergence of cultural geographic research on and within China and the implications of China's rise for the study of 21st century cultural geography more broadly. She identifies six major issues modern China is confronting that, when addressed from a cultural geographical perspective, may both enhance an understanding of the country and reshape the practice of cultural geography as a subdiscipline: agricultural reform, economic reform, urban change, rural-urban migration and related social inequalities, the changing family structure, and environmental change. The author argues that if China's cultural geography is to help the subdiscipline at large develop a more international and inclusive approach, it must be driven by questions of significance in China, yield constructive answers of relevance to China, and at the same time derive theoretical ideas that diversify the collective geographical imagination.     

Does the economy matter? Economic perceptions and the vote in Australia

Does the economy matter for how Australians vote in federal elections? International studies show an association between economic performance and elections, but research on Australia finds that the impact of the economy on voting is modest. What explains this relative absence of economic voting? How do Australians perceive the economy? And how do economic perceptions inform their decisions at the polls? Our results confirm the lack of an association between economic indicators and incumbent vote shares. Analyses of survey data from 1996 to 2013 show that political factors condition perceptions of economic performance, while preferences for – and perceptions of – the government's unified control over economic policy shape the influence of economic perceptions on voter choice. Overall, responsibility attributions are the key to economic voting in Australia.     

Does the Internet Encourage Small Parties? A Case Study of the Minutiae of BC Politics, 1996–2009

Researchers remain divided on what Small describes as ‘a key debate in the cyber-campaigning literature’ – whether or not the emergence of the Internet enhanced the prospects of small parties on the periphery of mainstream politics that speak for those whose voices might otherwise go unheard. Often researchers have approached this question by seeking to establish if small parties are indeed able to maintain an on-line presence that matches that of larger, better resourced parties. The ultimate test of this ‘equalisation thesis’, however, is whether the Internet ushered in a period in which small parties could flourish. With its propensity to produce small parties and its rapid take-up of Internet technology from the mid-1990s onward, the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) is an ideal case study. The number of small BC parties increased in the decade beginning 1995, but a close scrutiny of the minutiae of BC politics in this period finds no evidence to support a claim that the Internet favoured small parties and enlarged the opportunity for marginalised citizens to participate in politics. ‘Cyber-optimists’ will have to look to unconventional forms of political activity for evidence that the Internet can draw new constituencies into politics.