War and peace—cyclical phenomena?

This paper demonstrates how the analysis can differ dramatically between two common static modeling approaches to conflict. The first approach uses a one-period setup and associates positive arms investments with conflict. The second approach has two periods, where arming decisions are taken in the first period, and the decision on whether to go to war is taken separately in the second. Building on the latter approach, I introduce a repeated game protocol with myopic players. Under these circumstances countries may end up in cycles of war and peace. This result offers a novel explanation for a common pattern in history.     

Managing the Unmanned Revolution in the U.S. Air Force

The success of unmanned aerial systems in Iraq and Afghanistan has engendered an expanding set of new missions for them. The main issue surrounding UAS today is not whether, but to what effect, these assets will be nurtured. The UAS’ operational requirements and technology have grown, but there remains no clear responsibility for overseeing development, and the service's manned and unmanned communities disagree on the legitimacy and effectiveness of UAS. If existing managerial challenges are not addressed, institutionalizing UAS will become mired in intense international, industrial, and inter-service competition; more complex operational requirements; less qualified volunteers; and greater morale problems and career uncertainty.     

Morality Influences How People Apply the Ignorance of the Law Defense

In four empirical studies, we showed that laypeople apply the ignorance of the law defense differently depending on the perceived morality of the defendant's course of conduct at the time of the illegal act. Moral and neutral defendants who pled ignorance of the law were afforded leniency, whereas immoral defendants were sentenced as though they were not ignorant, even when defendants in all three conditions violated identical laws. These findings suggest that laypeople adopt a just deserts approach to criminal law, which influences their responsiveness to a criminal defendant's claim to be ignorant of the law. We discuss the implications of these findings for criminal law and argue that legal doctrine should reflect laypeople's moral intuitions.     

Does Inclusion Require Democracy?

Iris Marion Young's theory of democracy aims to accommodate the idea of difference by combining anti-essentialist, identity conferring social groups and mediated socio-economic relations. In this way they are supposed to combine instrumental rationality with inclusiveness and the recognition of difference. Using the political thought of F.A. Hayek, this paper mounts a critique of Young's difference theory. In particular it argues that Young's theory of group representation at the institutional level of politics contradicts her commitment to an anti-essentialist account of groups. Whereas her account of group identity is necessarily fluid and inclusive, her account of recognition is rigid and exclusionary. Furthermore the epistemological demands of democratic communication and economic coordination undermine her instrumental account of public- decision making. In contrast it will be argued that Hayek's political thought provides instructive alternative way of addressing the tensions at the heart of Young's theory.     

The Social Function of Carlos Fuentes: A Critical Intellectual or in the ‘Shadow of the State’?

This article seeks to raise meaningful questions about the role, or wider social function, of the intellectual within state–civil society relations in Latin America characterised by conditions of socio–economic modernisation. It does so by pursuing such questions through a detailed examination of the social function of Carlos Fuentes as an intellectual in Mexico. Through a focus on the social function of Carlos Fuentes, it is possible to distinguish the role intellectual activity can play in the construction and contestation of hegemony in Mexico. Most crucially, the article prompts consideration of the social basis of hegemony and the agency of intellectuals organically tied to particular social forces functioning through state–civil society relations in the struggle over hegemony. Put differently, it is possible to grant due regard to the mixture of critical opposition and accommodation that has often confronted the intellectual within Latin America.     

Can Stable Isotopes and Radiocarbon Dating Provide a Forensic Solution for Curbing Illegal Harvesting of Threatened Cycads?

Cycads in South Africa are facing an extinction crisis due to the illegal extraction of plants from the wild. Proving wild origin of suspect ex situ cycads to the satisfaction of a court of law is difficult, limiting law enforcement efforts. We investigated the feasibility of using multiple stable isotopes to identify specimens removed from the wild. Relocated and wild specimens from two species in the African genus Encephalartos (E. lebomboensis and E. arenarius) were sampled. ¹⁴C analysis indicated that a ± 30‐year chronology could be reliably obtained from the cycads. For E. arenarius, pre‐relocation tissue was consistent with a wild origin, whereas tissue grown post‐relocation was isotopically distinct from the wild for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁵N. For E. lebomboensis, δ³⁴S, δ¹⁸O, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr were different between relocated and control plants, consistent with the >30 years since relocation. Our findings demonstrate the potential for a forensic isotope approach to identify illegal ex situ cycads.     

A meta-analysis of the correlates of turnover intent in criminal justice organizations: Does agency type matter?

Purpose

The study synthesizes the literature on turnover intentions to assess what domains (e.g., personal characteristics, work environment, and job attitudes) account for the strongest association with turnover intent, what are the characteristics of these relationships, and how do these relationships differ by criminal justice practitioner type.

Methods

The current study utilizes a systematic review to obtain studies for conducting a meta-analysis. The researchers utilized the r family/correlation coefficient. Studies were weighted by sample size, correlations converted to Fisher’s z, analyses performed, and results converted back to r for interpretation.

Results

In terms of the individual predictors for law enforcement, the five strongest variables included alternative job search behavior, job satisfaction, psychological distress, emotional exhaustion, procedural and distributive justice. The five strongest predictors of turnover intent for institutional corrections were normative commitment, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, affective commitment, and job satisfaction. The five strongest predictors for community corrections included experience, alternative job search behavior, perceptions of coworkers, growth need strength, and job satisfaction.

Conclusions

The results of the meta-analysis confirmed the domain of personal characteristics, overall, has the weakest association with turnover intent whereas work environment and job attitude domains consistently display moderate-to-large effects for both law enforcement and corrections.     

The logic of cartel car bombings in México

The war on drugs in México has seen an unprecedented level of violence committed against civilians, the government and rival groups. The bulk of this violence has occurred since 2006, including mass killings and the adoption of new tactics such as car bombings. The aim of this article is to place car bombings within a strategic logic. A total of 16 car bombs between July 15, 2010 and July 3, 2012 were examined, following the extant literature on strategies behind violence and terrorism. The authors affirm that the use of car bombings in México’s context followed various strategic pathways associated with the strength of the group and the government. These group characteristics were applied to both the cartels and the government followed by an example to illustrate support for the assertion.