Misaligned Social Policy? Explaining the Origins and Limitations of Cash Transfers in Sudan

This article examines whether the transitional government in the wake of the December 2018 Sudanese revolution succeeded in realigning social policy with public demands. The article focuses on the evolution of cash transfer programmes from the 2012 cash programme under the Ingaz regime to the transitional government's programme 2021. While the recent programme was popularly viewed as a ‘World Bank programme’, its originators were in fact Sudanese professionals. Similarly, the Ingaz regime experimented with cash transfers before seeking out World Bank technical support. In this sense, cash transfers cannot be seen as an external imposition, as domestic actors have favoured them across different regimes. Yet, their appeal may still reflect the ‘choicelessness’ that Thandika Mkandawire associated with structural adjustment, as in both cases cash transfers were introduced as part of broader economic reform. Sudan's case is distinct in the sense that its domestic policy makers did not begrudgingly accept cash transfers but were enthusiastic instigators of them. The article traces the origins of this enthusiasm within Sudan's recent political history and explores the way in which alignment with international mainstream policy making locks Sudan into a bind. The country urgently needs to reverse the fragmentation of social policy along geographic and racial lines, yet these programmes do little to overcome such regional and racial inequalities. Thus, even after a popular revolution displaced the prevailing political settlement and called for radical change, policy makers remain misaligned to public demands.     

Application of an Extended Bouc-Wen Model in Seismic Response Prediction of Unbonded Fiber-Reinforced Isolators

The focus of this article is on seismic-response prediction of Stable Unbonded-Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Isolators (SU-FREIs). The lateral load-displacement of a SU-FREI can be characterized with a gradual softening that is followed by stiffening. An extended Bouc-Wen Model is developed to simulate the response behavior of SU-FREIs under seismic events. To examine the accuracy of model, the response of a base isolated structure to different input earthquakes were simulated and compared with the results of a previous shake table study. Results of this study indicate that the proposed Bouc-Wen Model is robust and reasonably accurate in seismic analysis of SU-FREIs.     

Design of Passive Viscous Fluid Control Systems for Nonlinear Structures Based on Active Control

A practical procedure is developed for the design of passive control systems using viscous fluid dampers for nonlinear structures. The design methodology takes advantage of the modification of the damping, strength, and stiffness properties of the structure to achieve the desired relative displacement and absolute acceleration response. For this purpose, a study of poles in the complex plane is used to determine the required changes in the dynamic properties of nonlinear structures. Furthermore, a relatively simple relation between the ductility demands of highly damped single- and multiple-degree-of-freedom (SDF and MDF respectively) systems is established to reduce the computational burden of the proposed design method.     

The Folk Life of Afghanistan.

THOMAS BEWICK, Wood engraver, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1753–1828. Greenock, The Signet Press, 1956. Pp. 23. 2s. 6d. Reviewed by W. B.

ULSTER FOLKLIFE: Issued by the Committee on Ulster Folklife and Traditions. Belfast, 1955. Reviewed by Violet Alford.

HAFOD 16 (A Medieval Welsh Medical Treatise). By IDA B. JONES. Études celtiques, 7, pp. 46–75. 1955. [Offprint.]. Reviewed by Wilfrid Bonser.

COLONIAL BALLADS. By HUGH ANDERSON. Victoria, Rams Skull Press, l955. Pp. 157. 29s. 6d. (Austr.). Reviewed by Margaret Dean-Smith.

SEVEN CENTURIES OF POPULAR SONG. A Social History of Urban Ditties. By REGINALD NETTEL. Phoenix House, 1956. Pp. 248. 25s. Reviewed by Margaret Dean-Smith.

THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS AND THEIR GUESTS. By CHARLES SELTMAN. Max Parrish, 1956. Pp. 208. + 16 plates+map. 17s. 6d. Reviewed by J.M.