Mapping the Labyrinth from Within: The Political Economy of Nicaraguan Youth Policy Concerning Violence

This article explores some of the methodological dimensions relating to the study of the two main Nicaraguan governmental organisations that deal with youth violence: the National Police and the Office of the Special Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents. It details how they were mapped institutionally and how their dysfunctions, contradictions and interactions were identified, including the ways in which the problem of political interference emerged and manifested itself through the coexistence of incongruent interest groups, discourses and practices in both organisations. The analytical process is explained and there is a detailed discussion of how the author obtained access to information.     

Political Violence in Late Colonial Cyprus: The Balance of Risk

Based on reflections on his 1998 book Britain and the Revolt in Cyprus, 1954–59, the author now offers the view that more attention should be given to Greek-Cypriot missteps as well as British ones. The article looks at the roles of Archbishop Makarios and Governors Harding and Foot. The outcome of the 1950s struggle, it argues, cannot be understood in narrowly Cypriot terms but only in its regional context. The author is of the view that a window of opportunity for enosis was lost in miscalculations and confusion between the aims of ousting the British and securing a union with Greece.     

Drugs, Violence, and Development in Colombia: A Department-Level Analysis

Observers say that drug production fuels violence in Colombia, but does coca production explain different levels of violence? This article examines the relationship between coca production and guerrilla violence by reviewing national‐level data over time and studying Colombia by department, exploring the interactions among guerrilla violence, exports, development, and displacement. It uses historical analysis, cartographic visualization, and analysis of the trends in four high coca‐producing and four violent Colombian departments, along with a department‐level fixed effects model. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the department‐level analysis suggests that coca production is not the driving force of contemporary Colombian guerrilla violence. Instead, economic factors and coca eradication emerge as prominent explanatory factors.     

The Political Economy of Saudi Arabia

The Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD) was set up by the regional members of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), Iran, Turkey and Pakistan, in July 1964 to strengthen their socio-economic development. However, a number of financial, political and administrative difficulties made progress under RCD slow. Despite assurances to the contrary, the probable impetus behind the formation of RCD was the unease with the politico-military aspects of CENTO. However, RCD's political significance grew steadily, and that of CENTO declined correspondingly. Nevertheless, recognizing that RCD could not provide an effective military substitute, Iran and Turkey still attached value to CENTO. After twelve unsatisfactory years, the three regional Heads of State held a summit in Izmir on 22 April 1976, making amendments to the 1964 declaration. The Treaty of Izmir was signed in 1977 as the legal framework for RCD. Yet, RCD was unsuccessful. In January 1985, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan established a new organisation called the Economic Co-operation Organization (ECO).     

Violence against Women in Politics: Female Politicians' Experience with Political Violence in Jamaica

This exploratory study describes the experiences of female politicians with political violence in Jamaica and the effect these encounters have had on them. The findings indicate that female politicians in Jamaica are affected by political violence before, during, and after an election, and even when they are in political office. Most of the violence experienced is of a gendered nature and can be defined as violence against women in politics. This study contributes to the growing body of scholarship on violence against women in politics by presenting and discussing findings from the Anglo Caribbean, an understudied region.     

The Political Implications of Russia's Resource-Based Economy

Abstract

A political economist explores the question of Russia's “resource curse.” He analyzes the links between resource wealth and politics, asking why resource-based economies are more likely than others to suffer from poor governance. In an investigation grounded in the political economy literature on the resource curse, several specific claims about the nature of politics and governance in resource-based economies are identified. Russia's recent experience is assessed in relation to those claims.     

Drugs Around the Corner: Domestic Drug Markets and Violence in Colombia and Mexico

Over the past decade, drug consumption has increased in Colombia and Mexico, countries traditionally concerned with drug production and trafficking. Governments and observers have associated this growth with spikes in violence. Drawing on drug consumption surveys and fieldwork in four cities, this study argues that contrary to this perception, there is no automatic connection between domestic drug markets and violence. Violence depends on whether large drug‐trafficking organizations (DTOs) control low‐level street dealers and on whether those DTOs have a market monopoly at the local level. When dealers are independent, violence might be sporadic, but when DTOs control dealers, violence can explode (given competition between DTOs) or implode (if one organization holds a monopoly). Control over dealers provides DTOs not only income but also informants and armed muscle. This article also shows that domestic drug markets are not new, and have grown incrementally in the past two decades.     

弗莱堡学派和宪政经济学

本文首先介绍弗莱堡学派的历史背景及其方法论,然后叙述弗莱堡学派和德国社会市场经济之间的联系。其次,阐述了现代宪政经济学的基本思想,分析立宪选择的问题,然后区分了宪政的两种观点:契约观点和传统习俗观点。本文还比较了弗莱堡学派和宪政经济学,指出它们的相同点和不同点。最后讨论了弗莱堡学派传统的未来前景。     

Limited but Evolving: The Political Economy of Social Protections in Nepal

Nepal’s awakening to growing social protection needs occurred only lately with most policies introduced in the 1990s. While comparable by Asian and particularly South Asian standards, these protections are limited and inconsistent. This article takes stock of social protection policies in Nepal with particular emphasis on the extent of coverage relative to needs. It explores the political economy, demand and political contexts to explain why social protections have developed the way they have in Nepal’s modern history. The understanding of Nepal’s struggle with this globally contested issue also helps draw parallels to other low-income countries.     

The Political Economy of Fiji: Past,Present, and Prospects

Abstract

The present in terms of the level of economic development in Fiji can be explained by the past, and particularly the distribution of political power and resources some 140 years ago. The prominent role of the traditional chiefs, the Methodist Church, and ethnicity in the political economy of Fiji dates back to the earliest days of colonisation with ramifications for the coups of the past, the politics of the present, and the prospects for economic development. A spike in emigration of Indo-Fijians since the first coup d’état of 1987 is rapidly changing the ethnic composition of the population and with it the political economy of Fiji. The fourth constitution (in four decades) promulgated in 2013 is an attempt to break free from divisive politics of the past. If successful, then the prospects for a peaceful and prosperous Fiji are healthy.     

The Political Economy of Policy Volatility in Latin America

Why are some Latin American states plagued by persistent policy volatility while the policies of others remain relatively stable? This article explores the political economy of natural resource rents and policy volatility across Latin America. It argues that, all else equal, resource rents will create incentives for political leaders, which will result in repeated episodes of policy volatility. This effect, however, will depend on the structure of political institutions. Where political institutions fail to provide a forum for intertemporal exchange among political actors, natural resource rents will result in increased levels of policy volatility. Alternatively, where political institutions facilitate agreement among actors, resource rents will be conducive to policy stability. This argument is tested on a measure of policy volatility for 18 Latin American economies between 1993 and 2008. The statistical tests provide support for the argument.     

The Political Economy of Border Checkpoints in Shadow Exchanges

ABSTRACT

This introductory article revisits cross-border shadow exchanges in a comparative perspective and reflects on their theoretical implications. It explores the diversities and complexities of shadow operations and critically examines the concept of informality that is commonly used to describe such non-state-sanctioned practices. It further underlines the key role played by checkpoint politics in border governance. Border checkpoints serve both as a state institution in regulating border crossings as well as a political site where material and power exchanges among state and non-state actors are negotiated. Such negotiation of selective passage through state-controlled gateways is often predicated upon the skilful manipulation of time and space by experienced traders and brokers.     

The Illegal Drug Industry,Violence and the Colombian Economy: A Department Level Analysis

Previous research on the Colombian illegal drug trade, which is generally qualitative in approach and focused on the national level, has concluded that the drug industry harms the economy. In order to test out this widespread claim, this article seeks to differentiate between the corrosive economic effects of Colombia's persistently high levels of generalised political violence and the specific consequences of the cocaine trade. It combines historical national level analysis with quantitative department analysis and identifies the economic effects of both paramilitary and guerrilla violence, thereby contributing to a closer examination of the impact of the drugs trade on the economy. The results reveal that paramilitary violence is related positively to exports but negatively to gross domestic product. Guerrilla violence, however, appears to harm exports but, surprisingly, not gross domestic product. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, coca cultivation does not have independent effects on exports or GDP, a conclusion which suggests that Colombia's economic problems stem more from political violence than from the drug trade in itself.     

美国2007年农场法立法的政治经济学分析

美国国内目前正在激烈辩论2007年农场法案,主要农场利益集团已经相继提出延长《2002年农场法》一年和在2007年农场法中增加“农场整体收益安全网”等农场收入支持政策,新的农场法还将涉及水土保持政策的大幅度修订,以及中西部等农业州发展生物能源等重大农场经济转型问题。美国农业部则提出2007年农业法要更多关注农村整体发展。美国国会除了支持延续现行农场经济保护政策,认为2007年农场法还要反映非农场利益集团关心的问题。本文认为,美国国内对2007年农场法的辩论和未来法律内容的变化,不但对美国不同利益集团的政治经济关系是一个新的调整,而且对参加新一轮世界贸易组织农业协议谈判各方提出了新要求。     

Inequality,Ethnicity, Political Mobilisation and Political Violence in Latin America: The Cases of Bolivia,Guatemala and Peru*

The paper explores the relationship between political violence and ‘horizontal’ inequality in ethnically‐divided countries in Latin America. The cases studied are Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru. Preliminary results are reported on the measurement of horizontal inequality, or that between groups, defined in cultural, ethnic and/or religious terms. The Latin American cases are shown to be often more unequal than the cases from Africa and Asia included in the wider study of which the work forms a part. The complex relationship between such inequality, ethnicity and political violence is explored historically. Ethnicity is today rarely a mobilising factor in violence in the Latin American cases, but the degree of inequality based on ethnicity is shown to be highly relevant to the degree of violence which results once conflict is instigated. History explains why.