Framing and dominant metaphors in the coverage of North Korea in the Australian media

Through the selective allocation of attention, framing and metaphors in covering foreign affairs and countries, media narratives often act to delegitimise, marginalise and demonise international actors. Focusing on Australian reportage of North Korea in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012, this paper explicates how the framing mechanisms utilised in media point to media complicity in reinforcing a negative, adversarial orientation towards North Korea. It also discusses implications for how Australians view the North Korean people, Australian–North Korean relations, and policy pertaining to Northeast Asia more broadly.     

Das soziale Kapital der Schweiz: vergleichende Einschätzungen zu Aspekten des Vertrauens und der sozialen Einbindung

Diese Arbeit präsentiert die erste vergleichend angelegte empirische Einschätzung zum Bestand des Sozialkapitals in der Schweiz. Hinsichtlich des zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements in Vereinen und Freiwilligenorganisationen und gemessen am zwischenmenschlichen Vertrauen ist die Schweiz im internationalen Vergleich keinem Niedergang des sozialen Kapitals ausgesetzt, wie dies etwa für die Vereinigten Staaten konstatiert wird. Hingegen nimmt das Vertrauen in die politischen Institutionen und Akteure des Landes über die Zeit ab. Im internationalen Vergleich rangiert die Schweiz hinsichtlich ihres Bestandes an sozialem Kapital im oberen Mittelfeld. Weiter zeigen die Auswertungen, dass die deutschschweizer Sprachregion einen höheren Sozialkapitalbestand aufweist als die lateinischen Sprachregionen. Ein ressourcenreiches Profil begünstigt zudem den individuellen Erwerb von Sozialvermögen in Form von sozialem Vertrauen oder der Mitgliedschaft in Freiwilligenorganisationen.     

The Influence of Accounts and Remorse on Mock Jurors’ Judgments of Offenders

Defendants often provide accounts that minimize their responsibility for the accused offense. Jurors attribute responsibility to defendants and decide legal outcomes based on the given account. The current research examined the effects of accounts (i.e., excuse, justification, denial, and no explanation) and the defendant’s remorse display (i.e., remorseful, remorseless) on mock jurors’ judgments. Participants acquitted the defendant in the denial condition most often and recommended the most lenient punishment in the justification condition. The remorseful defendant was found guilty more frequently than the remorseless defendant in the no explanation and (marginally) excuse conditions. Limitations and future research are discussed.     

Vereine als Schulen des Vertrauens? Eine empirische Analyse zur Zivilgesellschaft in der Schweiz

In der Tradition von Alexis de Tocqueville wird zivilgesellschaftlichen Vereinigungen eine essentielle Bedeutung in der zwischenmenschlichen Vertrauensbildung zugeschrieben. Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrages ist es, den Zusammenhang zwischen Vereinsengagement und generalisiertem Vertrauen differenzierter zu betrachten und empirisch für die Schweiz zu untersuchen. Dabei werden sowohl das Engagement in verschiedenen Organisationstypen (brückenbildende vs. abgrenzende und isolierte vs. verbundene) als auch die vereinstypusunabhängige Integration miteinander verglichen. Empirische Analysen auf Basis aktueller Daten des Schweizer Freiwilligen‐Monitors 2007 kommen dabei zu dem Schluss, dass entgegen weitverbreiteter Meinung die Vertrauensentwicklung in der Schweiz weniger vom Engagement in spezifischen Vereinen abhängt, sondern vielmehr dem Ausmass der persönlichen Integrationsbereitschaft geschuldet ist. Von entscheidender Bedeutung für die Vertrauensentwicklung ist also nicht die Qualität der hier untersuchten einzelnen Vereinigungen, sondern die Quantität des persönlichen Engagements.     

Short-term Labour Migration from the Republic of Armenia to the Russian Federation

Abstract

We explore the determinants of short-term labour migration from Armenia to Russia based on a unique panel dataset. A dynamic switching regression model with endogenous switching is applied. Our evidence pinpoints migration experience, the expected individual income gap from migration, low job opportunities in Armenia and the possibility of diversifying income risks as the most important determinants. Family ties turn out to be insignificant. The hypothetical income gap is about 280 per cent. Several explanations are provided for the fact that some individuals do not migrate in spite of a large income gap.     

Market for 33 percent interest loans: Financial inclusion and microfinance in India

ABSTRACT

Financial inclusion is the process of building viable institutions that provide financial services to those hitherto excluded. These may include savings, insurances, remittances, and credit. Microfinance became the most dominant method for achieving financial inclusion. However, different microfinance schools of thought recommend opposite ways for attaining financial integration. India is a particularly insightful case study due to the sheer number of people excluded from formal financial services, as well as the spectrum of actors and approaches. The aim of this article is threefold. The first aim is to define financial inclusion, depicting its status quo in India and comparing it to its South Asian and Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) peers using recently released data from the Global Findex database. The second aim is to focus on microfinance as the dominant vehicle for achieving financial inclusion by scrutinizing its definitions, contrasting its two leading “schools of thought,” and analyzing the central role of its dominant group-based approach. The third aim of the article will examine why people opt to take micro-credit at 33 percent interest rates.     

The European parliament and the requirements of democratic government

This study ties into the debate about the effect of the EU on its member states. Most studies do not include non-EU cases in their investigations. Therefore, it is difficult to establish the (isolated) causal effect or relative importance of the EU. Moreover, studies with an exclusive focus on EU cases tend to be biased towards EU-level explanations, at the expense of domestic or global explanations. The article examines three strategies to demonstrate the causal importance of the EU. It points to the limits of process tracing and counterfactual reasoning and advocates the comparison of EU member states with non-members or, if research is restricted to EU countries, cases where the source of an EU effect is present with cases where the source is absent.