The illicit drug trade, counternarcotics strategies and terrorism

Conventional wisdom indicates that international trade in illicit drugs helps to fuel terrorism. Since 2001, counter-narcotics policy increasingly has been used to fight terrorism. This study investigates empirically the relationship between the drug trade and terrorism and examines whether or not interdiction and eradication efforts reduce domestic and transnational terrorist activity. The study finds that illicit drug production and opiate and cocaine wholesale prices are significant positive predictors of transnational and domestic terrorist attacks, while drug crop eradication and drug interdiction are significant negative predictors of terrorism. The study concludes with the policy implications of the findings.     

Economic interdependence, international regimes, and domestic strategies of industrial adjustment

Abstract. This review attempts to assess the validity and usefulness of the arguments of the so-called 'International Regimes' approach and the political-institutional view with respect to economic policy formation and economic performance. In particular, the works of Keohane and Krasner on the one hand, and of Katzenstein on the other are examined. It turns out that both viewpoints can largely contribute to a better understanding of why economic interdependence is such a vital factor for domestic politics and policies. At the same time it appears also to be evident that 'corporatism' can be an asset in weathering the effects of these growing international economic pressures. Yet both approaches have serious theoretical and methodological weaknesses. The concept of 'International Regime' remains too vague and, in addition, is empirically difficult to pin down. Moreover, it seems unable to account for much extant discord.'Corporatism' is also prone to these faults as well as tending to over explain certain developments, which may render cross-national differences in economic performance as incomprehensible. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, there is so much to build on that both approaches merit further attention and discussion.     

Party strategies,world demand,and unemployment in Britain and the United States, 1947–1983

This paper replicates and extends earlier work on the politics of macroeconomic policy by considering political effects on unemployment in Britain and the United States from 1947 to 1983. Unemployment falls under left-wing governments and rises under right-wing governments. However, these partisan effects on unemployment in an open economy like Britain's can only be satisfactorily estimated relative to the level of world economic activity. The United States has major effects on world economic activity but is also subject to feedback from the economies of other countries. Politicians' strategic incentives and economic regime constraints determine whether partisan effects on unemployment will be sustained, transitory, or absent. In Britain, only a model in which partisan impacts are transitory satisfactorily estimates the effects of changes of party control. In the United States, only the transitory-impact model is able to estimate partisan effects in recent administrations.     

Crafting village democracy in China: The roles, networking, and strategies of provincial elites

There is no obvious and direct correlation between the provincial level of economic development and democratic level of village elections. There is a great disparity in the level of rural democratization and the implementation of village self-governance among and within provinces. The modernization model alone cannot explain why village elections work well in some provinces but not in others. This paper looks at the political elite’s ongoing efforts at provincial level to conduct village elections and implement village self-governance in rural China. These efforts include the strategies for crafting village democracy employed by provincial elites: elite cooperation, local legislature, political responsibility, political programming, and the art of balancing party leadership and village elections. He has published extensively on China’s village elections and local governance. He is author and coauthor of several books. His current research interests include the development of non-state, local governance, and political participation. The author gratefully acknowledges the anonymous reviewers, Professor He Baogang of Deakin University and Professor Zhong Yang of University of Tennessee for their suggestions on an earlier draft. My special thanks to Professor Joseph Fewsmith of Boston University, Professor Tan Qingshan of Cleveland State University, and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments, as well as to East Asian Institute of National University of Singapore for providing support for this research.     

Lindahl mechanisms and free riders

Several authors have proposed mechanisms whose Nash-equilibria yield Lindahl tax allocations; however, as is well known, so does the Lindahl procedure with an auctioneer. Moreover, the game forms of all these mechanisms, and of any as yet undiscovered such mechanism, all have the same normal form as does the Lindahl procedure without an auctioneer. The manipulative Nash equilibria are consequently the same for all these mechanisms, so that all have the traditional free-rider problem and all have the same outcome under strategic behavior.     

Admissible and sincere strategies under approval voting

This essay reasses the assumptions of the Brams-Fishburn theory of approval voting, and proposes modifications to make the theory correspond better with likely voting choices. With a small number of candidates, voters who use the inadmissible strategy of voting for all candidates can help to produce a result that better reflects the voters' wishes than is possible with admissible strategies, so we propose a widening of the definition of admissibility to encompass this case. With more than three candidates, we define first-order admissible strategies, which are the most likely strategies to be used in practice, and are also strongly sincere, in that a vote for any candidate is always accompanied by votes for all more or equally-preferred candidates. Their number is less under approval voting than under plurality voting. Both proposed modifications strengthen the technical arguments favoring approval voting over plurality voting.     

Party strategies in the electoral market: Political marketing in West Germany, Britain and Ireland

Abstract. The use of a political marketing framework to describe modern party election campaigns can be useful for comparison over time, between and within countries. This paper concentrates on inter-country comparisons, examining the election compaigns of the West German Christian Democrats in 1983, the British Conservatives in 1983 and the Irish Fine Gael party in 1981. Political marketing is defined as the application of promotional activities to direct an exchange with voters through the use of such instruments as product policy, communications policies and distribution. Among the paper's main findings are, first, that the CDU were the only party to have communications policies which closely matched their product policy and, second, that distribution activities appear to be where future campaign developments are likely to concentrate. The paper concludes with a discussion on some specific aspects of political marketing including effects, financial corruption and the part political marketing plays in the general evolution of the electoral process.     

Agricultural extension in transition worldwide: structural,financial and managerial strategies for improving agricultural extension

Agricultural extension is in transition worldwide. Governments and international agencies are advancing structural, financial and managerial strategies to reform extension. This article reviews and analyses these reform measures, concluding with a conceptual framework that is intended to underscore at once the diversity and interconnectedness of these structural, financial and managerial strategies for decentralizing public sector agricultural extension.     

Framing and dominant metaphors in the coverage of North Korea in the Australian media

Through the selective allocation of attention, framing and metaphors in covering foreign affairs and countries, media narratives often act to delegitimise, marginalise and demonise international actors. Focusing on Australian reportage of North Korea in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012, this paper explicates how the framing mechanisms utilised in media point to media complicity in reinforcing a negative, adversarial orientation towards North Korea. It also discusses implications for how Australians view the North Korean people, Australian–North Korean relations, and policy pertaining to Northeast Asia more broadly.     

European and U.S. aircraft development strategies

A comparison of 20 years of aircraft production in Europe and America. U.S. cost increases in the system acquisition process have resulted in large part from unforeseen (sometimes unforseeable) engineering difficulties in the development phase, and from substantial production commitment before development was complete. Common European strategy completed basic development before beginning production and demonstrated utility through prototypes, using early proof-testing of engines, electronics and airframes. An alternative acquisition strategy to that used in the 1960s in the United States is recommended for the next decade: (1) incremental acquisition, based on a sequence of decision points and a succession of development and production phases; and (2) pronounced austerity in early development phases. These changes would result in lessened cost growth and lower U.S. acquisition costs, as well as in improved predictability of schedule and system performance outcomes.The following statement was prepared for the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, and was presented on December 7, 1971.