A New Typology of Contemporary Armed Non-State-Actors: Interpreting The Diversity

This study analyzes contemporary non-state-actors (NSAs) finding four major categories: secessionist organizations fighting for a federal regime or full independence. These have a homogenous character and are domestically oriented. Secessionist NSAs that enjoy strong sponsorship are running a state within a state, possessing regular forces. Second, radical left revolutionary NSAs are fighting to overthrow the existing social order and to relocate power within a country. Arming with limited weaponry that they steal and purchase, they wage guerrilla war from dense jungles and rough mountains. Sectarian-based revolutionary NSAs seek regime change to stop state marginalization. They could evolve into a regular force, armed with heavy weapons. The fourth category and the most powerful is the global revolutionary organizations. They are religious based, seeking to impose Islamic rule in their own countries or worldwide through jihad. They are transnational, specializing in suicide bombing and sophisticated martyrdom assaults.     

Gender,war and militarism: making and questioning the links

Feminist Review - The gender dynamics of militarism have traditionally been seen as straightforward, given the cultural mythologies of warfare and the disciplining of ‘masculinity’ that...     

The utility of extended outpatient civil commitment

OBJECTIVE: This study considers three hypotheses regarding the impact of extended involuntary outpatient commitment orders on services utilization. METHOD: Service utilization of Victorian Psychiatric Case Register (VPCR) patients with extended (> or =180 day) outpatient commitment orders was compared to that of a diagnostically-matched treatment compliant group with similarly extended (> or =180 day) periods of outpatient care (N=1182)--the former receiving care during their extended episode on an involuntary basis while the latter participated in care voluntarily. Pre/post first extended episode mental health service utilization was compared via paired t tests with individuals as their own controls. Logistic and OLS regression as well as repeated measures ANOVA via the GLM SPSS program and post hoc t tests were used to evaluate between group and across time differences. RESULTS: Extended episodes of care for both groups were associated with subsequent reduced use of hospitalization and increases in community treatment days. Extended orders did not promote voluntary participation in the period following their termination. Community treatment days during the extended episode for those on orders were raised to the level experienced by the treatment compliant comparison group during their extended episode and maintained at that level via subsequent renewal of orders throughout the patients' careers. Approximately six community treatment days were required for those on orders to achieve a one-day reduction in hospital utilization following the extended episode. CONCLUSION: Outpatient commitment for those on extended orders in the Victorian context enabled a level of community-based treatment provision unexpected in the absence of this delivery system and provided an alternative to hospitalization.     

Volunteer labor sorting across industries

Volunteer labor is generally analyzed as a homogeneous activity, implying that the marginal effects of tax changes and demographic shifts are equal across industries and forms of volunteering. Here the homogeneity assumption is tested by estimating and comparing volunteer labor supply functions in three sectors that rely on volunteer labor—health, education, and religious organizations. Differences in the marginal volunteer labor supply effects are associated with personal demographics, household composition, and tax status. These differences are significant statistically as well as for their policy implications. The effects on volunteering to each sector are predicted for changes in the age, education, and marital status distributions of the population, as well as for changes in income tax rates, itemization status, and income. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Provoked shooting by police as a mechanism for suicide

We report a case which was processed by the Philadelphia Office of the Medical Examiner in which a person with a previous known suicide attempt clearly provoked the Philadelphia police into shooting him. We believe that this is but one of many such incidents in which the victim provokes another into administering fatal injury. This is a mechanism of suicide which, we believe, is exemplified by the case presented.     

Are You Being Served? The Responsiveness of Public Administration to Citizens’ Demands: An Empirical Examination in Israel

Research in public administration (PA) is preoccupied with questions of efficiency and effectiveness which are aimed at improving public sector performance. According to the new public management approach, addressing this prominent challenge must rely upon a comprehensive understanding of citizens'/clients' perceptions of public sector operation and the extent to which public organizations are aware of public needs. This paper suggests a theoretical grounding and empirical examin-ation of the relationship between citizens' demands and PA's responsiveness. Parti-cipants in the study were 281 residents of a large Israeli city who reported their feelings, attitudes, and perceptions of local government activities in a variety of fields. Results indicate that perceptions of PA's responsiveness are affected by both policy and cultural factors (for example business or social orientation of the public authority, entrepreneurship and initiation of changes, ethics, organizational politics) and by the quality of the human resource system and of public servants (for example quality of leadership and management, quality of employees, general stress when contacting public officials). Implications of the study are discussed in light of the ongoing debate regarding the need for a more responsive and efficient new public management and the difficulties it faces in western societies.     

Counterterrorist Legislation and Respect for Civil Liberties: An Inevitable Collision?

The literature on counterterrorist measures often emphasizes the potential harmful effects of such measures on human rights and civil liberties. While recent research has examined the effects of counterterrorist legislation on the violation of physical integrity rights (e.g., torture and extrajudicial killings), no quantitative cross-national study has looked at the consequences for civil liberties. Still, case studies in a variety of countries suggest that counterterrorist legislation indeed leads to various infringements of liberties such as the freedoms of expression, religion, assembly, and movement. We conduct a cross-national time series analysis of counterterrorist legislation and consequent repression of civil liberties for the years 1976–2009. We find that the effects of legislation vary by levels of initial repression. Legislation has a negative effect on respect for civil liberties in countries with moderate levels of repression. However, this effect diminishes in non-repressive countries and reverses in countries with high levels of repression.