Post-hegemonic regionalism in Oceania: examining the development potential of the new framework for Pacific regionalism

This article explores the early potential of the Framework for Pacific regionalism, a new political process that Pacific nations are using to establish regional development priorities. The emergence of this process is positioned within a context of a desire for a new era of Pacific-led regional development collaboration. The early outcomes of the Framework are outlined and examined. Specifically, the article questions whether it is meeting aspirations for ‘game-changing’ development goals that enjoy greater levels of ‘ownership’ amongst Pacific leaders. It also explores whether the new process canbe seen as evidence of a new era of ‘post-hegemonic’ regionalism in Oceania, characterised by a revitalisation of regional political debate; a rejection of ‘economism’; and the reassertion of indigenous and civil society concerns.     

LEGAL ISSUES IN EVALUATION RESEARCH*

Using a 1978 evaluation of a defensible space project which was published in the Social Science Quarterly, and later challenged by the originator of the project being evaluated this article explores the legal issues and considerations for those reporting evaluations and the journals which publish the evaluation reports. Serow outlines the information gathered in interviews with several practicing attorneys, a university press, two law school professors, a political science professor, an attorney in a University Legal Counsel's office and from a review of relevant legal references. She concludes the article with five recommendations for evaluators reporting their research.     

Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding after Mass Violence

¹Since the end of the Cold War, the international communityhas become increasingly involved in peacebuilding and transitionaljustice after mass violence. This article uses lessons frompractical experience and theories of peacebuilding and transitionaljustice to develop a model of transformative justice that supportssustainable peacebuilding. This model is holistic and transdisciplinaryand proposes a focus on civil society participation in the designand implementation of transitional justice mechanisms. It requiresus to rethink our focus on ‘transition’ as an interimprocess that links the past and the future, and to shift itto ‘transformation,’ which implies long-term, sustainableprocesses embedded in society and adoption of psychosocial,political and economic, as well as legal, perspectives on justice.It also involves identifying, understanding and including, whereappropriate, the various cultural approaches to justice thatcoexist with the dominant western worldview and practice. Asyncretic approach to reconciling restorative and retributivejustice is proposed as a contribution to developing transformativejustice and sustainable peacebuilding. The development of thistransformative justice model is informed by field research conductedin Cambodia, Rwanda, East Timor and Sierra Leone on the viewsand experiences of conflict participants in relation to transitionaljustice and peacebuilding.     

Witness to Rape: The Limits and Potential of International War Crimes Trials for Victims of Wartime Sexual Violence

¹Despite the proliferation of trauma and memory research inrecent years, we know very little about the contribution oftransitional justice mechanisms to psychological healing andsocietal reconciliation in the aftermath of genocide, armedconflict and politicized violence. Many scholars in this areahave argued that the disclosure of traumatic experiences isbeneficial to the psychological recovery process for survivorsof gross human rights violations. This article critically examinesthis therapeutic assumption within a transitional justice paradigm.The article explores the potentials and limitations of internationalwar crimes trials for victims of wartime sexual violence, focusingspecifically on the International Criminal Tribunal for theformer Yugoslavia (ICTY). The article provides a theoreticalframework for analyzing the significance of testimony at internationalwar crimes trials and raises some critical questions relatedto the psychological impact of trials. It is argued that dueto the sheer diversity and heterogeneity of wartime rape victims,the experience of giving testimony is likely to be mixed: whilesome victims may suffer under the constraints of legal process,under the right circumstances, war crimes trials may help othersto make sense of their suffering.     

The chameleon of mens rea and the shifting guises of culture-specific genocidal intent in international criminal proceedings

This article examines the significance of the mens rea-related evidence present in the specific language and discourse identified in the records of the International Military Tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The author argues that international proceedings have seen the emergence of a new type of evidence: a cognitive, linguistic, culturally determined plural of genocidal mens rea. As a result, the mental element of genocidal intent can neither be interpreted nor understood without an advanced forensic approach to the language used by the network of génocidaires. Based on a combination of cognitive and social science research with the humanities, the article applies a hybrid method of analysis to some of the genocide cases in international criminal justice and demonstrates how and why this approach ought to be introduced into the process of identification of the guilty minds of the architects of genocide.     

Delivering Lasting Peace, Democracy and Human Rights in Times of Transition: The Role of International Law

¹The increasing scope of international legal regulation, particularlyin the field of human rights, has facilitated the impositionof sustained policies of domestic reform aimed at entrenchinginternationally accepted standards of governance in transitionalsocieties. At the point of such societal change, however, thesymbolism of who makes and enforces the law is important. Thequestion of the relationship between national and internationallaw is therefore one that bears scrutiny. This article examinesthe theoretical basis upon which such policies are based, namelythe idea of a liberal peace, considering the extent to whichthe blanket implementation of international standards can addressthe need of transitional societies to reestablish the legitimacyof both political and legal authority in order to ensure thefuture protection of human rights.     

Why things are never quite as simple in practice: opportunities for creating a system of social dispute resolution in Russia

The article explores four themes based on my participation in the inception phase of a DFID‐funded project in Russia. The first is to assess the role of technical assistance in providing new models for social development and institutional change. What obstacles and difficulties do donors face in introducing changes in practices, which are comparatively new in their own countries? The second theme is the degree to which external changes put pressure on governments to legislate in favour of vulnerable groups. In this case the break‐up of the Soviet Union and subsequent impoverishment of large sectors of society provide the context. Third, the article examines the potential for change through the setting up of a ‘Conflict Commission’ in the pilot region of Samara oblast. Here, there is a comparatively supportive environment with evidence of a shared commitment by the state, their services and civil society. An outstanding and challenging question for this experiment is the degree to which this shared axis for change can become the basis for wider legal reform at the federal level. The article will finally consider the role of monitoring and evaluation in a pilot project. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Public Administration, Science, and Risk Assessment: A Case Study of the U.K. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Crisis

The bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak in the United Kingdom is regarded as one of the worst public policy crises the British government has experienced during the postwar era. In material terms, it has led to the slaughter of 3.3 million cattle and estimated economic losses of £3.7 billion. In administrative terms, the crisis brought about the dissolution of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. This article examines the istitutional context in which decisions about the scientific evidence on BSE were made. The authors argue that a centralized system in which government agencies control science for government is inherently vulnerable to alliances of experts and interest groups that undermine the credible assessment of public health and safety risks. Specific societal conditions may encourage risk-opportunistic behavior among policy makers that is conducive to delays and inaction until such time as the evidence of a health risk becomes overwhelming.     

Withering in the Heat? In Search of the Regulatory State in the Commonwealth Caribbean

This article explores the “regulatory state hypothesis” in the context of electricity and telecommunications regulation in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. This article questions whether institutional features associated with the regulatory state are triggered by a preference for efficiency and added complexity within the policy domain. This article progresses in three steps. After setting out the regulatory state hypothesis as derived from the work by Giandomenico Majone and its empirical consequences, the article explores the four cases in brief. Although the empirical evidence broadly supports the regulatory state hypothesis across domains, states and over time, some puzzles in terms of reform trajectories and extent of regulatory reform do emerge. The final section explores these puzzles through an actor‐centered institutional perspective. It is suggested that the “regulatory state hypothesis” may be useful for predicting institutional arrangements, but has difficulty in accounting for the extent of regulatory reform and timing.     

Local Resilience and the Reconstruction of Social Institutions: Recovery,Maintenance and Transformation of Buddhist Sangha in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia

ABSTRACT

This article explores how local resilience is realised in post-conflict reconstruction, by examining the redevelopment of Buddhist institutions in Cambodia. It firstly proposes three forms of resilience that were significant in the local level peacebuilding practice in the country – recovery, maintenance and transformation – and examines the process by which each form of resilience was materialised from the perspectives of local communities. Moreover, this study highlights two factors that determined the development of local resilience: ontological security and local leadership structure. Based on the empirical findings, this study discusses the conceptual and theoretical implications of such elements of resilient peacebuilding.     

Toward a New Era of Administrative Reform? The Myth of Post‐NPM in New Zealand

This article explores the supposed shift from New Public Management (NPM) to a new era of “post‐NPM” by looking at one critical case, New Zealand. It finds limited evidence of such a shift, suggesting that the wider literature needs to move to a more careful methodological treatment of empirical patterns. To contribute to such a move, this article applies a three‐pronged approach to the study of changing doctrines in executive government. After setting out the broad contours of what NPM and post‐NPM supposedly constitute, the article proceeds to a documentary analysis of State Services Commission doctrines; this is followed by an analysis of “Public Service Bargains” based on elite interviews and finally a case‐study approach of the Crown Entities Act 2004. Far from a new era of administrative reform, the “messy” patterns that emerge suggest a continuation of traditional understandings and ad hoc and politically driven adjustments, leading to diversification.     

'When We Wanted to Talk About Rape': Silencing Sexual Violence at the Special Court for Sierra Leone

This article explores the legal and psychological ramificationsarising from the exclusion of evidence of sexual violence duringthe Civil Defence Forces (CDF) case at the Special Court forSierra Leone. Using empirical findings from post-trial interviewsconducted with the ten victim-witnesses who were originallyto testify, we juxtapose what the Special Court allowed thewomen to say, and what the women themselves wanted to say. Froma legal perspective, we then critique the Trial Chamber's reasonsfor excluding the evidence and question the legal bases uponwhich the women were silenced, arguing that wider and widercircles of the women's experience were removed from the Court'srecords despite there being ample authority at an internationallevel to support inclusion. We further look at the genderedbiases in international criminal law and how expedience andefficiency usurped the significance of prosecuting crimes ofsexual violence in this instance. From a psychological perspective,we discuss the consequences that the act of silencing had forthe witnesses, and argue that a more emotionally sensitive understandingof the Court's notion of ‘protection’ is required.     

Dynamiken von Gesetzgebungsinitiativen der Bundes- und Landesparteien im deutschen Föderalismus. Eine Analyse für den Bereich der Rechte Minderjähriger, 1990 bis 2014

The article explores how parties influence legal change in federal systems. Analysing 310 initiatives to change German legislation concerning minors’ rights (which fall into federal and land jurisdiction) for the period from 1990 to 2014, the study opens up empirically a new legislative domain which has been largely ignored by political science so far. It investigates the initiating parties, issues, positions, timing, and cross-level government constellation and corroborates that parties in Germany coordinate their legislative initiatives across lands and levels. At the same time, the data indicate that German land parties are not mere agents of the federal parties and do not utilize the länder level for law-making against federal majorities. The many federal and länder initiatives instead give room for discourse and provide incentives for (re)adjusting party positions which in the long run fosters legal changes.     

Politicization as a strategy for recognition and enforcement of human rights in Kenya

Drawing from recent advocacy efforts on the right to education in Kenya, this article argues that linking human rights to local political struggles is a useful way of ensuring their realization. Human rights are legal and moral but their realization is a political project. The form that this project takes will differ from context to context. While paying due regard to the remarkable contribution of international human rights regimes and transnational advocacy of the last fifty years in providing the world with a powerful legal and moral vocabulary of rights, this article suggests that this vocabulary risks losing its edge unless those working in the field of human rights recognize the necessity of local politics. The article examines the activities of the Kenyan human rights movement and its strategic linking of access to basic education with repression of political freedoms. I would like to thank participants at the May 9–10, 2003 “Rights in Africa” conference at North-wester University, Illinois, for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Managing Public Finance and Procurement in Fragile and Conflicted Settings

ABSTRACT

Successful transition from conflict and fragility hinges on the quality and legitimacy of public financial management (PFM) systems. This article shows that such systems develop asymmetrically in these settings. Formal aspects of modern systems are adopted, but a layered series of informal arrangements govern resource management. Analysis of data from Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability assessments of 101 countries explores aspects of this asymmetry and different explanations are considered for why elites seem to choose not to invest trust, resources, and capacity in making mainstream PFM systems functional. These explanations focus on the incentives created by three “public” resources: illicit flows, domestic revenues, and strategic or aid flows. Mainstream PFM systems are applied to a small part of these flows. The illustrative case of Cambodia shows how a layered system has emerged to govern such flows, undermining the influence of formal public finance management systems. The article offers suggestions to address these issues.     

Women's interpretations of the right to legal abortion in Mexico City: citizenship,experience and clientelism

In April 2007, after a period of intense social debate, the Mexico City Legal Assembly legalized abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, which was an unprecedented development in women's rights in Mexico. Within the context of a proliferation of public discourses about women's citizenship rights changes in women's social status in Mexico, this article explores the extent to which the newly legalized character of abortion is interpreted by women as a right. Drawing on 24 interviews with women who had a legal termination of pregnancy between 2008 and 2009, this research shows that legalization opens up new and complex relationships between women as subjects of rights and the state. Such relationships are expressed as three discursive figures: legal abortion (1) as a concession from the government, (2) as ‘excessive’ tolerance by the state, and (3) as a right to be protected and guaranteed. The analysis shows that women's interpretations of the right to legal abortion are mediated by profound transformations, which Mexican society is currently undergoing. These include changes related to a shift from a clientist political culture to one more framed in terms of citizenship, the subjective effects of family planning policies, and their ambivalent relationships with Catholic notions of women and motherhood, and the effects of feminist discourses of women's citizenship, abortion, and reproductive rights.     

The Social Construction of Expertise

In The Social Construction of Reality, Berger and Luckmann discuss experts. They contrast the stabilizing monopoly traditionally enjoyed by “universal experts” with the destabilizing competition of a modern pluralistic society. “When a particular definition of reality comes to be attached to a concrete power interest, it may be called an ideology.” The current institutions of forensic science illustrate the claim that monopoly in expertise is associated with political power. Applying the analysis of universal experts in The Social Construction of Reality to forensic science provides useful insights into forensic science as a social phenomenon.     

The Politics of Crisis Management: Public Leadership Under Pressure by Arjen Boin,Paul 't Hart,Eric Stern,and Bengt Sundelius

ABSTRACT

The article addresses two principal questions: how public management reforms develop in a context of high government turnover, and how, under these circumstances, features of the specific area of public management policy affect the dynamics of the reform and in particular its “technical feasibility.” The research questions are addressed through the case study of the Italian administrative context between 1992 and 2007, a period marked by tumultuous government turnovers. The article presents reforms in two policy areas of public management: civil service reform and innovation, over a three-period time span covering 15 years. The brief duration of political leadership represents a threat to the approval and implementation of policy interventions irrespective of the political salience of the issue and the need for legal enactment. Therefore, the success of a public management reform process in an unstable political context characterized by frequent government turnovers depends on meeting certain conditions for successful policy entrepreneurship: the a priori expertise of policy entrepreneurs, their ability to repackage the issue, keep a community of practice alive, and maneuver the dynamics of the legal process. However, implementation, being a less visible phase, suffers from greater discontinuity as “maintenance activities” necessary for the success of reform are disregarded. Thus, the consideration of the temporal dimension of the policy cycle and the area-specific effects on public management reform dynamics exerted by diverse levels of political salience and legal enactment represent the main contributions of this work to the theories on public management policy change.     

Constructive Ambiguity: Comparing the EU’s Energy and Defence Policies

This article explores the paradox of constructive ambiguity. Based on a focused, longitudinal comparison of the European Union’s energy and defence policies, it analyses the role played by strategies of ambiguity in European integration. Ambiguity is found to be an attractive strategy for political entrepreneurs when member state preferences are heterogeneous and the EU’s legal basis is weak. It is likely to be effective, however, only if it is embedded in an institutional opportunity structure – that is, a formal-legal context – that entrepreneurs can fold into their strategic repertoire of ideas. While ambiguity can be strategic in circumstances where clarity would create strong opposition, it is not sufficient to entrench a European policy if it does not rest on an institutional basis. This suggests that European political entrepreneurs should be wary of relying on coalition building by ambiguity only.