The Logic of Constitutional Engineering: Institutional Design and Counterterrorism from Aristotle to Arend Lijphart

ABSTRACT

Originally conceived by Aristotle and Thomas Hobbes, comparative constitutional engineering in its modern form is a relatively new field of political science. It is based on the premise that political behavior and policy outcomes can be affected and shaped by institutional design such as, above all, electoral systems. The article provides an overview of the empirical literature underlying this branch of institutional counterterrorism. The article presents the logic of constitutional engineering from its classical origins and especially through the work of Arend Lijphart. It is suggested that Lijphart provides a new paradigm in the sense employed by Thomas Kuhn. The article provides original research in support of this showing that the presence of consensus institutions has better explanatory value than most social factors.     

For Health,Strength, and Daily Food: The Dual Impact of Remittances and Public Health Expenditure on Household Health Spending and Child Health Outcomes

Abstract

Child and infant mortality in developing countries decreased 33.5 per cent and 30.9 per cent, respectively, during 1995–2009, while remittances and public health spending more than doubled. I examine how remittances and government health spending improve these child health outcomes. Neither government health spending nor remittances causally affect household health spending. Public health spending has an insignificant negative impact on mortality. The increase in remittances causally accounts for 32 per cent and 37 per cent of the decline in child and infant mortality, respectively. Remittances reduce mortality through improved living standards from the relaxation of households’ budget constraints.     

The Effects of Child Physical Maltreatment on Nutritional Outcomes: Evidence from Peru

Do children whose parents use physical punishment as a disciplinary method have lower anthropometric measures? Using data for Peruvian children aged 0–5 years, we employ instrumental variables for physical punishment to overcome endogeneity problems common to the household violence literature. Across varying levels of controls, children exposed to physical punishment have significantly poorer short-term nutritional outcomes; although there is no effect on long-term nutrition. We explore heterogeneous effects and potential mechanisms. Children exposed to physical maltreatment fall ill more frequently and are less likely to access preventive and curative healthcare.     

The layfield report: Constitutional implications

Control and Power in Central‐Local Government Relations, R. A. W. Rhodes, Gower, 1981, pp. 194, £11.50.

Power, Property and Corporatism: The Political Sociology of Planning, James Simmie, Macmillan, 1981, pp. 348, £15.00 hardback, £6.95 paperback.

Policy and Politics in Britain: The Limits of Consensus, Douglas E. Ashford, Basil Blackwell, 1981, pp. 330, £12.00 hardback, £4.95 paperback.

Local Government in Britain, Tony Byrne, Penguin Books, 1981, pp. 347, £2.95.

International Handbook on Local Government Reorganization, Edited by Donald C. Rowat, Aldwych Press, 1980, pp.626, £27.50.     

Constitutional Dynamics in the European Union: Success,Failure, and Stability of Institutional Treaty Revisions

ABSTRACT

Despite high institutional hurdles for constitutional change, one observes surprisingly many EU treaty revisions. This article takes up the questions of what determines whether a treaty provision is successfully changed and why provisions are renegotiated at subsequent Intergovernmental Conferences. The article presents an institutionalist theory explaining success and renegotiation and tests the theory using all core institutional provisions by means of Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The causal analysis shows that low conflict potential of an issue is sufficient for successfully changing the treaties. Furthermore, high conflict potential of an issue and its fundamental change are sufficient for it to be renegotiated.     

Behavioural Response to a Sudden Health Risk: Dengue and Educational Outcomes in Colombia

Epidemics tend to have a debilitating influence on the lives of directly afflicted families. However, the presence of an epidemic can also change the behaviour and outcomes of those not directly affected. This paper makes use of a short, sharp, unexpected epidemic to examine the behavioural response of the public to a sudden shift in the perceived risk to one’s health and mortality. Our analysis finds that unafflicted school students change their behaviour substantially, affecting important life outcomes. In particular, we find that between 1.9 and 4.7 fewer students, out of a typical cohort of 47 pupils, sit their school leaving examination for every additional 10 cases of severe Dengue per 10 000 inhabitants in a municipality. We rule out several possible mechanisms, leaving an increase in the salience of the disease’s risks as a plausible explanation for our findings.     

The Consequences of Identity Theft Victimization: An Examination of Emotional and Physical Health Outcomes

Identity theft—one of the fastest growing crimes—results in considerable financial losses as well as time spent to restore credit and prevent future attacks. While scholars have begun to devote more attention to identifying the factors that increase risk of identity theft, little is known about the aftermath for victims. Using data from the Identity Theft Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, we address this gap in the literature. Results indicate that, in addition to financial losses and loss of time, victims also experience emotional (e.g., depression) and physical (e.g., poor health) symptoms. The implications of these findings for theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

An Examination of the Effects of Different Victimization Types on Psychological and Behavioral Health Outcomes and the Mediating Role of Stress

Although a considerable amount of research has highlighted the link between interpersonal victimization and adverse psychological and behavioral health, a paucity of research has examined and compared the effects of multiple forms of victimization in the same study. There is also a limited understanding of the underlying individual factors (e.g., emotional processes) that might link experiences of victimization to psychological and behavioral health adversities. To address these gaps, the author used a nationally representative sample of 19,422 Canadians aged 15 years old or older to examine the effects of different types of victimization on psychological and behavioral health outcomes, and to determine whether these associations are mediated by perceived stress. Results revealed that some victimization types (i.e., personal, household/property, cyberbully, ex-partner physical/sexual and emotional abuse) had statistically significant adverse effects on psychological and behavioral health outcomes (i.e., self-report mental health, life satisfaction, satisfaction with safety from crime, and alcohol/drug abuse). Results also revealed that perceived stress mediated the association between some victimization types and psychological, but not behavioral, health outcomes. Discussion points toward the utility of examining multiple victimization types, as well as other converging individual factors or adversities, in explaining psychological and behavioral health outcomes.     

Do Economic Linkages through FDI Lead to Institutional Change? Assessing Outcomes in Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) can deliver benefits beyond the provision of capital, such as efficiency gains. We argue that the theorised positive effects of economic linkage are reduced when linkages are based on natural resources. Domestic elite coalitions supporting reform are also weaker in countries with extensive natural resources. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have high-value natural resources and significant FDI, making them most likely cases for reform. Kyrgyzstan is a contrasting case as it has few natural resources. We find that the institutional reforms we would anticipate because of linkages have not occurred and those that exist are often cosmetic.     

列宁“民族自决权”思想缘起探析

19世纪末20世纪初,列宁在继承前人思想成果的基础上,结合时代特征,基于俄国的国情与民族特点,为坚持和发展马克思主义民族理论,实现各国各民族的无产阶级在反对帝国主义的国际社会主义革命和争取民族解放、独立斗争中的团结与统一,对民族自决权思想进行了新的阐发与实践。     

The Right to Connect and Internet Censorship

The new element in governance is social media. Inexorably, its fertile networks of shared information shift power from authorities to citizens and amateurs, including to the “unknown” experts in the “dorm rooms and edges of society” who drive innovation. Tweets may bust trust and undermine authority, but can social media also be a tool for building consensus through deliberation and negotiation among interests? When it comes to governance, is crowd‐sourcing any better than populism at generating collective intelligence instead of disruptive “dumb mobs?” Can networks aid the self‐administration of society, or does that take institutions with governing authority? In this section, leading Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, technologists and network theorists from Google, Microsoft and the MIT Media Lab join with political scientist Francis Fukuyama and top thinkers from Asia to address these issues.     

Effects of Out-of-Pocket Payments on Access to Maternal Health Services in Almaty,Kazakhstan: A Qualitative Study

The current study addresses health care reform in transitional countries and explores the impact of out-of-pocket payments on access to maternal health services drawing on Kazakhstan's case. Data on out-of-pocket payments and access to maternity care were generated through qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in Almaty during the period 2009–2010. The results indicate that while health sector reform was designed to improve the quality of care and equity, the introduction of official user charges accompanied by a rapid growth of informal payments created financial barriers that prevented women from accessing maternal services leading to reduction in utilisation of maternity care.     

Sex Differences in the Health Risk Behavior Outcomes of Childhood Bullying Victimization

Short- and long-term health consequences of bullying victimization are well documented and include physical and mental health issues as well as increased involvement in risky behavior, but research exploring sex differences in victimization outcomes is still limited. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth—1997 to examine the consequences of victimization by sex and, more specifically, relationships between bullying victimization and later health risk behaviors—including risky sexual activity, smoking, alcohol use, and drug use. Multivariate analyses identified sex differences for specific health risk indicators, and a substantial difference was evident for overall risk.