The Importance of Understanding the Anti-Corruption Legislation to Promote Corruption Reporting: Lessons from Mauritius

ABSTRACT

Anti-corruption campaigns usually focus on educating the population. However, little is known about the impact of knowledge, especially understanding of the anti-corruption legislation and the function of Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) body in practice. This study sheds light on the factors influencing the likelihood of reporting a case of corruption in Mauritius. Cross-sectional data are compiled from a household survey with a sample size of 380 observations. To perform the investigation, an ordered probit model is employed. Knowledge about the Prevention of Corruption Act (PoCA) is found to be a crucial variable in determining the functional form of the empirical model. In general, media consumption and knowledge about the PoCA increases the probability of reporting an act of corruption, while Interest in politics decreases the likelihood of reporting a case of corruption to the ICAC. In addition, age, educational attainment, income level, family size and civil status are found to be important predictors of corruption reporting.     

Evaluation of Skin Surface as an Alternative Source of Reference DNA Samples: A Pilot Study

An acceptable area for collecting DNA reference sample is a part of the forensic DNA analysis development. The aim of this study was to evaluate skin surface cells (SSC) as an alternate source of reference DNA sample. From each volunteer (n = 10), six samples from skin surface areas (forearm and fingertips) and two traditional samples (blood and buccal cells) were collected. Genomic DNA was extracted and quantified then genotyped using standard techniques. The highest DNA concentration of SSC samples was collected using the tape/forearm method of collection (2.1 ng/μL). Cotton swabs moistened with ethanol yielded higher quantities of DNA than swabs moistened with salicylic acid, and it gave the highest percentage of full STR profiles (97%). This study supports the use of SSC as a noninvasive sampling technique and as a extremely useful source of DNA reference samples among certain cultures where the use of buccal swabs can be considered socially unacceptable.     

How representative are brics?

The five countries known as brics, while not homogeneous in interests, values, and policy preferences, do have a common interest in checking US/Western power and influence through collaboration with non-Western powers. They vary considerably but all are ahead of other developing countries on population, military power, economic weight, geopolitical clout, and global reach and engagement. They are unrepresentative of the typical developing country in terms of interest, capacity, and resources, but they can represent the interests and goals of developing countries as a group on those issues for which the North–South division is salient. The diversity within brics, their differences from other developing countries, and their potential to reflect and represent the global South are explored with respect to climate change, finance, trade, aid, human rights and intervention, and development. It remains unclear whether brics can morph from a countervailing economic grouping to a powerful political alternative.     

Achilles' heels of governance: Critical capacity deficits and their role in governance failures

This article assesses the usefulness of conceptions of policy capacity for understanding policy and governance outcomes. In order to shed light on this issue, it revisits the concept of governance, derives a model of basic governance types and discusses their capacity pre‐requisites. A model of capacity is developed combining competences over three levels of activities with analysis of resource capabilities at each level. This analysis is then applied to the common modes of governance. While each mode requires all types of capacity if it is to match its theoretically optimal potential, most on‐the‐ground modes do not attain their highest potential. Moreover, each mode has a critical type of capacity which serves as its principle vulnerability; its “Achilles' heel.” Without high levels of the requisite capacity, the governance mode is unlikely to perform as expected. While some hybrid modes can serve to supplement or reinforce each other and bridge capacity gaps, other mixed forms may aggravate single mode issues. Switching between modes or adopting hybrid modes is, therefore, a non‐trivial issue in which considerations of capacity issues in general and Achilles' heel capacities in particular should be a central concern.     

Globalization and the Choice of Governing Instruments: The Direct,Indirect, and Opportunity Effects of Internationalization

We propose to shed light on the effect of globalization on the choice of policy tools. Contrary to what is commonly believed, we find that the source of many of the changes in the patterns of instrument choice found in contemporary society lies in the domestic rather than the international arena. To the extent that global factors have had an effect, it is through what we term indirect and opportunity effects rather than direct ones. Further, we argue that traditional command and control instruments are not antithetical to globalization as is evident in their continued, and at times even increasing, use in a variety of settings. We conclude that what is important for policymakers is to ensure that their choice of instruments is consistent with traditional sectoral and national policy styles, with or without globalization.     

Market imperfections,government imperfections,and policy mixes: policy innovations in Singapore

Proper roles for government and market in addressing policy problems may be assessed by considering the duality between market imperfections and government imperfections. The potential of government interventions or market mechanisms as core policy instruments can be eroded by fundamental deficiencies deeply rooted in either government or market as social institutions. The impacts of such deficiencies are much more extensive than postulated by the existing theories. Analysis here, based on policy innovations in land transport and health care in Singapore, suggests how policy mixes might become the norm of response for addressing policy problems found in a range of sectors. The analytical framework presented may help to distinguish among different policy mixes according to their effectiveness, but also provides some useful guiding principles for policy design.     

Identification of authorship using lateral palm print--a new concept

Identification of individual by signature examination could be improved by the lateral palm print examination. By the use of new technique discussed by the author in this paper, the forensic expert can find out very useful information about the writer of writings even without going into the depth of questioned document/signature examination and without the formal or informal handwriting exemplars. The document expert with little more knowledge of the palm print can identify whether the signature is done by hand/leg/anything else, whether the author is right handed or left handed, the approximate age of the author, whether the signature is genuine or forged. Such information of author would be very much useful in elimination of the list of suspects of anonymous letters. In order to fix the authorship, standard and disputed lateral palm prints can be examined either with photographic superimposition technique or with the statistical study of the outline of the lateral palm print or with the standard method as implied in fingerprint examination. The evidential value of such lateral palm print can be placed at par with the finger prints in the court of law and could be placed right on the top of all other scientific evidences.     

Protection gaps for civilian victims of political violence

This article begins by explaining why the United Nations' civilian protection agenda is particularly relevant and important for Africa and why the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) might be said to be an African norm export to the rest of the world. Next, it traces the reasons for peace operations' reluctance to use force. It then shows how the civilian protection agenda has tried to fill critical gaps in the existing normative architecture, with both R2P and the Protection of Civilians (POC) resulting from growing shame at the accumulating list of atrocities in which the international community stood by as passive onlookers, frustrations at the ‘constitutional’ constraints and normative inadequacies rather than indifference and apathy to the plight of civilian victims that produced the passivity, and a determination to reposition the United Nations system to be empowered and capacitated to be able to respond better on both the timeliness and effectiveness dimensions when confronted by repeat occurrences of similar tragedies. The fourth section discusses the merits of the R2P and POC norms in responding to the challenge of civilian protection. The final part notes that, despite these two valuable additions to the repertoire of the international community in dealing with atrocities perpetrated on civilians, there remain many gaps in the protection agenda, as shown in several recent cases.     

Assessing the regulatory challenges of emerging disruptive technologies

The past decade has witnessed the emergence of many technologies that have the potential to fundamentally alter our economic, social, and indeed personal lives. The problems they pose are in many ways unprecedented, posing serious challenges for policymakers. How should governments respond to the challenges given that the technologies are still evolving with unclear trajectories? Are there general principles that can be developed to design governance arrangements for these technologies? These are questions confronting policymakers around the world and it is the objective of this special issue to offer insights into answering them both in general and with respect to specific emerging disruptive technologies. Our objectives are to help better understand the regulatory challenges posed by disruptive technologies and to develop generalizable propositions for governments' responses to them.     

STR polymorphism among two tribal populations of India

Two tribal populations of India, Bison Horn Maria and Muria from Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh in Central India were studied for DNA polymorphisms at tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) loci (F13A01 and HUMvWA). A total of 63 random adult individuals for F13A01 locus and 53 samples for HUMvWA were analyzed in the present study.