Variants of transparency: an analysis of the English Local Government Transparency Code 2015

Transparency policies and initiatives at the local level have expanded around the world but our academic understanding is still limited. Few studies have systematically analysed transparency practices at the local government level. This paper develops an analytical framework to examine local government transparency practices based on the literature. The framework is used to analyse the English Local Government Transparency Code 2015. The study shows that the Code delivers openness to a partial extent but has not yet met all criteria for transparent practices. The findings could contribute to the development and improvement of transparency practices at local governments.     

Children's rights as residual social policy in Nicaragua: State priorities and the Code of Childhood and Adolescence

In enacting a legislative Code of Childhood and Adolescence in 1998, the Nicaraguan state formally endorsed the ideal of children's rights as being a central concern of public policy. Yet, the state has done little to fulfil this commitment. In part this is the result of severe fiscal constraints, which have led to reduced public expenditures and the downsizing of social services, especially those directed towards children and youth. In part, however, there are also indications of state reluctance to actively implement the principles of change as outlined by the Code. This has been reflected in the government's reactionary response to fears of growing youth violence, and its unwillingness to collaborate with local civic groups in dealing with youth crime. We surmise therefore that, while the Code may have served to enhance state legitimacy, the cause of children's rights remains a residual policy issue in Nicaragua.     

The economics of dispossession: The Palestinians

Reviewing the study of US policy towards Africa: from intellectual ‘backwater’ to theory construction

White Men Don't Have Juju: An American Couple's Adventure Through Africa. Pam Ascanio, Chicago, IL: The Noble Press, 1992. 345 pp.

Beyond Safaris: A Guide to Building People‐to‐People Ties With Africa. Kevin Danaher, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1991. 193 pp.

Free at Last? US Policy Toward Africa and the End of the Cold War. Michael Clough, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1992. 145 pp.

US Economic Policy Toward Africa. Jeffrey Herbst, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1992. 82 pp.

High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood. Chester A Crocker, New York: W W Norton, 1992. 533p

African Americans and US Policy Toward Africa 1850–1925: In Defense of Black Nationality. Elliott P Skinner, Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1992. 555 pp.

An African American in South Africa: The Travel Notes of Ralph J Bunche. 28 September 1937–1 January 1938. Robert R Edgar, (ed), Athens, OH: Ohio University Press; Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1992. 398 pp.

Mobutu or Chaos? The United States and Zaire, 1960–1990. Michael G Schatzberg, Lanham, MD: University Press of America; Philadelphia, PA: Foreign Policy Research Institute, 1991. 115 pp.

The United States, Great Britain, and Egypt, 1945–1956: Strategy and Diplomacy in the Early Cold War. Peter L Hahn, Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992. 359 pp.

Nigeria, Africa, and the United States From Kennedy to Reagan. Robert B Shepard, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991. 193 pp.

American Intellectuals and African Nationalists, 1955–1970. Martin Staniland, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991. 310 pp.

The Political Economy of Third World Intervention: Mines, Money, and US Policy in the Congo Crisis. David N Gibbs, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1991. 322 pp.

Arms for the Horn: US Security Policy in Ethiopia and Somalia 1953–1991. Jeffrey A Lefebvre, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. 351 pp.

Latin American church and politics

Politics and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. John M Kirk, Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1992. 246 pp.

Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism. Daniel H Levine, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992. 403 pp.

Kingdoms Come: Religion and Politics in Brazil. Rowan Ireland, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. 262 pp.

Commentaries on Muslim Women

Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting boundaries in sex and gender. Nikki R Keddie and Beth Baron (eds), New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991. 333 pp. £19.95 hb

Women and Gender in Islam. Leila Ahmed, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. 248 pp.

Women, Islam and the State,. Deniz Kadiyoti (ed), London: Macmillan Press, 1991. 271 pp.

Negritude and Africa: Armah's account