Early Dilmun and its rulers: new evidence of the burial mounds of the elite and the development of social complexity,c. 2200–1750 BC

This paper deals with the social organisation of early Dilmun in Bahrain based on evidence from the burial mound record. Complete aerial photography survey and mapping have documented the extensive mound fields of Bahrain in their entirety and revealed a new and rare type of burial mound encircled by an outer ring wall. From the spatial distribution and appearance of these ‘ring mounds’ it is argued that they cover the time span 2200–1750 BC. It is further argued that the ring mounds reflect the entombment of a prominent segment of early Dilmun society and thus testify to the presence of a social elite as early as the late third millennium BC. The paper offers evidence supporting the view that fundamental changes in the size of the ring wall and the encircled mound occurred over time, culminating in the colossal ‘royal’ mounds near Aali village. The increase in size of the special mounds and the exclusive appearance of the type in the Aali cemetery after the emergence of ten concentrated cemeteries around 2050 BC are correlated with the already available evidence of increasing social complexity in Dilmun. Three clusters of ring mounds in Aali are argued to reflect the appearance of one or more ruling lineages that were ultimately to found the colony on Failaka, Kuwait, and rule not only Bahrain but also the adjacent coast of Saudi Arabia.     

Information Technology and Public Policy

Douglas Rushkoff, Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyper space
Douglas Rushkoff, Media Virus: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture
Douglas Rushkoff, Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say     

Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain,c.2250–1750 BC

Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the scattered mounds of Early Type which pre‐date the rise of the Dilmun ‘state’ proper. The distribution of these vessels outside their areas of production demonstrates how they circulated widely in a network elsewhere considered to reflect the orbit of Mesopotamia’s late third‐millennium ‘Magan trade’. Here it is consequently concluded that this particular type represents an important fossile directeur of the ‘Magan trade’ and pre‐Dilmun florescence. The vessels that make up the subsequent horizon of Mesopotamian imports are found exclusively in the compact mound cemeteries and thus coincide with the heyday of Dilmun. On these grounds it is argued that the two horizons are the product of, respectively, the Ur III network of ‘Magan trade’ and the contracted Isin‐Larsa network of ‘Dilmun trade’.     

BORDERS AS BOUNDARIES TO FISCAL POLICY INTERACTIONS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF POLITICIANS’ OPINIONS ON RIVALS IN THE COMPETITION FOR FIRMS

Studies of spatial policy interdependence in (local) public policies usually concentrate on the relations between jurisdictions within a single analyzed region, and disregard possible extraregional effects. However, the theoretical spatial statistics literature shows that biased estimates might emerge if spatial interactions extend beyond the boundaries of the available data (i.e., the boundary value problem). This paper empirically assesses the practical relevance of this concern by studying German local politicians’ assessments of their jurisdictions’ main competitors in the struggle to attract firms. We find that location near a border significantly undermines politicians’ perception that the fiercest competitive pressure derives from jurisdictions within their own state. This effect sets in about 20 km (10.2 km) from a national (international) border. These results indicate that nearest municipalities perceive each other as competitors regardless of the state or country where they are located, which has important implications for estimating spatial dependence models.     

Semi-parliamentary government in perspective: concepts,values, and designs

The article responds to four commentaries on the concept of semi-parliamentary government and its application to Australian bicameralism. It highlights four main points: (1) Our preferred typology is not more ‘normative’ than existing approaches, but applies the criterion of ‘direct election’ equally to executive and legislature; (2) While the evolution of semi-parliamentary government had contingent elements, it plausibly also reflects the ‘equilibrium’ nature of certain institutional configurations; (3) The idea that a pure parliamentary system with pure proportional representation has absolute normative priority over ‘instrumentalist’ concerns about cabinet stability, identifiability and responsibility is questionable; and (4) The reforms we discuss may be unlikely to occur in Australia, but deserve consideration by scholars and institutional reformers in other democratic systems.