Bureaucratic corruption as a consequence of the Gulf migration: The case of North Yemen

Sizable migration of workers from North Yemen to other Gulf nations, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1980s, produced a large influx of funds into the nation in the form of workers' remittances. This produced a general rise in living standards and improved balance-of-payment statistics, but also greatly increased corruption as poorly-paid officials struggled to make a living in the inflated economy and private parties sought to circumvent economic regulations. Reform efforts met with apathy or even violence, and corruption eventually reached systematic if not systemic levels. Many Yemeni migrants have recently been repatriated in the wake of the Gulf War. Whether or not this will reduce corruption depends upon many factors, such as the activities of the nation's increasingly independent press and the successful exploitation of oil and gas reserves.     

The composite approach: Research design in the context of war and armed conflict

Researching in contexts affected by armed conflict presents many challenges beyond those normally encountered by social scientists. Focusing on these special difficulties has, in the past, often obstructed the task of understanding the methods that are applicable to situations of armed conflict. This paper aims to suggest a means of rectification. First, it introduces some of the particular issues that relate to field research under conditions of armed conflict and, second, it suggests a possible strategic approach to mitigating these. Overall, it is argued that a creative combination of different methods and techniques, broadly termed 'the composite approach', represents the most effective way of dealing with the challenges that working in a conflict-affected situation presents.     

Is the Median Voter a Clear-Cut Winner?: Comparing theMedian Voter Theory and Competing Theories in Explaining LocalGovernment Spending

This paper attempts to test the power of the median model againstthe respective strength of other alternate models based onredistributive, political-institutional and interest group theoriesin explaining the demand for public spending in New York statecounties during 1990, 1980 and 1970. To execute the comparison ofthe performance of median voter model with that of each of thenonmedian voter ones, various nonnested tests such as J and JAtests, N-tilde, W and encompassing tests have been employed.Results of the study show that although the median voter model hasa marginal edge over the rival models based on the alternativetheories, it may not be relied upon solely when many otherinstitutional, redistributive and interest group factors are alsorelevant for explaining public spending. The results of this studydiffer from those in Congleton and Bennett (1995). We do not findthat interest group models are substantially weaker than the medianvoter model.     

Conflict analysis for the twenty-first century

Approaches to conflict assessment remain stuck in the late 1990s. Methodological tools are overwhelmingly geared toward development actors. Significant policy evolution—driven by experiences in practice—over the last decade, along with progress in research on conflict and instability, powerfully suggests the need for analytical tools that are both truly joint—involving all relevant departments—and capable of embracing all major aspects of conflict causation and drivers of state fragility. Based on a review conducted for DFID and taking the UK as a case in point, this article outlines the key issues, challenges and requirements involved in operationalising genuinely joint analysis. There are positive signs that the UK government is serious about its commitment to integrated approaches in conflict-affected and fragile states, as demonstrated by development of the new Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS). Crucially, this must be backed up by a shared understanding of the context that is theoretically informed, process savvy, empirically grounded and geared toward addressing the key issues identified in domestic and international policy.     

The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism: Old Wine in New Bottlenecks

This article examines the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) – the main institutional mechanism regulating the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip since the 2014 war. Proponents of the GRM hold that it is a crucial lifeline enabling the entry of humanitarian and reconstruction goods into Gaza while assuaging Israel’s security concerns. In contrast, this article argues that the GRM has introduced a bureaucratic and cumbersome mechanism that has created new bottlenecks that are impeding effective reconstruction and have institutionalized and depoliticized the siege of the Gaza Strip by passing the responsibility for its maintenance on to the international community.     

Views of Male University Students About Social Gender Roles; An Example From East of Turkey

Social gender roles refer to the roles that are traditionally associated with women and men. Social gender role includes the personal attributes and behaviors which are culturally assigned to women and men. This study was conducted to determine the views of male students at Caucasian University Health School on social gender roles at work, social life, marriage, and family life. The study was conducted on male students studying at Kars Health School, Nursing and Health Officers Department during 2007–2008 academic year. The students were given 24 statements relating to work life, social life, marriage, and family life to determine their views on social gender roles. Results indicated that 30.2% of the male students stated that women could work in a paid job, 56.9% believed in equality of women and men, 44.8% approved honor killing, 40.5% said the girls should receive education as far as they can go, 54.3% said the role of the women was to “provide moral support to their husband and children”, 37.1% stated that husbands could beat their wives under certain circumstances, 52.6% said they witnessed violence in their family at some stage of their lives, 51.7% said the women’s environment should be decided by the spouses together, 25% said the women should engage in sexual intercourse with their spouses even if they did not want to. Men who thought the role of the women was to do housework/giving birth to children/looking after the elderly members of the house, and who approved honor killing and disapproved working of their spouses, and who did not believe in equality of women and men, were found to support violence to women by men. Moreover, the students who witnessed violence at some stage of their lives supported this view as well. It was considered that the students should be educated on the definition of violence and situations involving violence, and directed to consultant services.     

State Bureaucracy in Indonesia and its Reforms: An Overview

New Public Management (NPM) as a part of neoliberalism has increasingly become a global phenomenon and has transcended national boundaries, irrespective of whether they are English-speaking countries or non-English-speaking countries. This label of public management has not been interpreted and implemented in a single language, but has been adapted and implemented based on the contextual condition of given nations in terms of their socio-culture, history and formation, ideological inclination, and polity system. This article aimed at providing support to the above supposition, taking Indonesian public governance reforms as an example. The review of Indonesian reforms on public governance is expected to enrich the proliferation of international reforms on public governance in terms of how NPM has been travelling global and has been recontextualized in the existing values of Indonesian people.     

A Century in Thirty Years: Sheikh Zayed and The United Arab Emirates

Following are excerpts from an April 20, 1999, conference convened by the Middle East Policy Council. The papers these presentations are drawn from will be published as a book, forthcoming in 1999.