Rule-making, rule-breaking? Law breaking by government in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

This article concerns a relatively novel issue: rule breaking and unlawful conduct by government bodies; to which degree does it occur, what is the nature of this misconduct, what are the underlying motives, and what are the consequences and possible solutions? Rule and law breaking is harmful for the credibility and integrity of a state and its law enforcement system. However, very little empirical research has been carried out into this issue, in comparison to research into state crime. There is little clarity about how public actors deal with criminal and administrative laws and rules in areas like environmental protection, safety regulations and working conditions. Do government bodies set a good example? Is their behaviour better or worse than the public and businesses? An analytical framework for research will be presented and also the results of an extensive research project in the Netherlands; the main themes of which have been benchmarked against data from the United Kingdom. The article will conclude with a summary of the main findings and a number of suggestions for further research and policy development.     

From secessionism to regionalism: The changing nature of territorial politics in Western Australia

The development of territorial politics within federal systems over time, specifically change in the nature and intensity of territorial claims, is an understudied question. This article looks at the case of Western Australia (WA) to gain a better understanding of the political dynamics behind changing territorial politics in a federation, more particularly around economic and fiscal policies. In April 1933, grievances surrounding the economic and fiscal policies of the Commonwealth government grew so loud in WA that a referendum on secession saw a majority of voters opting to leave Australia altogether. In the end, not only did WA not secede but the secessionist movement disappeared. Today, ironically, the equalization system, whose formalization through the creation of the Commonwealth Grants Commission one month following the referendum was designed to reduce regional disparities and discontent, is at the centre of regionalist politics in the state.     

A comparison between neural network and other metric methods to determine sex from the upper femur in a modern French population

Forensic anthropologists are frequently asked to assess partial or badly damaged skeletal remains.One such request led us to compare the predictive accuracy of different mathematical methods using four non-standard measurements of the proximal femur (trochanter–diaphysis distance (TD), greater–lesser trochanter distance (TT), greater trochanter width (TW) and trochanter–head distance (TH)). These measurements were taken on 76 femurs (38 males and 38 females) of French individuals. Intra- and inter-observer trials did not reveal any significant statistical differences. The predictive accuracy of three models built using linear and non-linear modelling techniques was compared: discriminant analysis, logistic regression and neural network. The neural network outperformed discriminant analysis and, to a lesser extent, logistic regression. Indeed, the best results were obtained with a neural network that correctly classified 93.4% of femurs, with similar results in males (92.1%) and females (94.7%). Univariate functions were less accurate (68–88%). Discriminant analysis and logistic regression, both using all four variables, led to slightly better results (88.2% and 89.5%, respectively). In addition, all the models, save the neural network, led to unbalanced results between males and females. In conclusion, the artificial neural network is a powerful classification technique that may improve the accuracy rate of sex determination models for skeletal remains.     

Effectiveness of Single‐Nucleotide Polymorphisms to Investigate Cattle Rustling

Short tandem repeats (STR)s have been the eligible markers for forensic animal genetics, despite single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)s became acceptable. The technology, the type, and amount of markers could limit the investigation in degraded forensic samples. The performance of a 32‐SNP panel genotyped through OpenArrays^TM (real‐time PCR based) was evaluated to resolve cattle‐specific forensic cases. DNA from different biological sources was used, including samples from an alleged instance of cattle rustling. SNPs and STRs performance and repeatability were compared. SNP call rate was variable among sample type (average = 80.18%), while forensic samples showed the lowest value (70.94%). The repeatability obtained (98.7%) supports the used technology. SNPs had better call rates than STRs in 12 of 20 casework samples, while forensic index values were similar for both panels. In conclusion, the 32‐SNPs used are as informative as the standard bovine STR battery and hence are suitable to resolve cattle rustling investigations.     

Moving towards a European Defence Industry? The Political Discourse on a Changing Reality and its Implications for the Future of the European Union

Since the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 the European Union has been an increasingly important actor in the field of security and defence. However, the defence industries sector has largely been kept away from Brussels. This has usually been justified by the role that national defence industries have traditionally played as fundamental pillars for the survival of the European nation-states, thus making them reluctant to share this “sovereign tool” with the European Union. Nonetheless, recent steps in both the economic (large number of mergers and acquisitions within the European defence industry sector) and the political (security and defence integration measures within the European Union) arenas have contributed to changes in the political discourse on defence industries within the European space. This article aims to explore how the national discourse on defence industries has become interrelated with a European discourse on the topic—a European discourse that mixes some of the old national arguments with particular aspects related to the constant evolution of the European Union towards an ever more coherent regional polity and international actorness. Also analysed is the extent to which this political move puts at risk the European Union's ambitions to promote a better world, based on an alternative understanding of international politics.