On the Right to Have Nationality Rights: Statelessness,Citizenship and Human Rights

Netherlands International Law Review - This article considers contemporary predicaments of nationality rights against the background of reflection on Arendt’s phrase ‘the right to have...     

Social Network Position of Gang Members in Schools: Implications for Recruitment and Gang Prevention

Schools are venues in which gang and non-gang involved youth converge. It is therefore a likely venue for gang recruitment. The extent to which this occurs depends upon the ability of gang members to connect with non-gang members. In this study, we compare the social network positions of high social status gang members who are well integrated into school networks with low status members who are not. Using network data from the Add Health study (n = 1,822), we find that not only are high status gang members strongly embedded within school networks, but that this status is driven by their ability to connect with non-gang members rather than other gang members (indicated by the high number of friendship nominations they receive from non-gang members). These gang members are potentially in optimal positions to influence others to join gangs. The implications of these results for school-based gang prevention programs are discussed.     

Exclusion of Taiwan activists diminishes impact of the U.N. fourth world conference on women

Abstract

It has been widely reported that six bona fide organizations from Taiwan with expertise in the advancement of women and women's rights were denied accreditation to participate as nongovernmental organization observers to the official U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women that was recently held in Beijing, China. In addition, numerous women from Taiwan and also Tibet were excluded from attending the parallel Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Forum on Women ’95. This forum was specifically mandated to include all women and men from around the world who wanted to discuss the advancement of women. Originally the NGO forum was to be located in close proximity to the official conference in Beijing, but four months prior to the conference China announced that the NGO forum would be moved to a rural location forty kilometers outside of Beijing. The leadership of the NGO forum protested this change, but was assured by China that all applicants who submitted registration forms on time would be accommodated and granted visas.     

Defining appropriateness in coach-athlete sexual relationships: The voice of coaches

Abstract

The sporting culture, with omnipotent coaches, fierce competition for recognition and funding, and ‘win at all costs’ ethos, creates an environment conducive to sexual exploitation of athletes. Recent increased public awareness and the development of child protection policies in sport have led to the questioning of previously accepted coach-athlete relationships. This study is an exploratory investigation into male swimming coaches' perceptions of appropriateness of coach-athlete sexual relationships. Sexual relationships with athletes under the age of 16 were unanimously considered totally inappropriate. With regard to sexual relationships with athletes above the age of consent, opinions ranged from ‘totally inappropriate’ to ‘it’s a question of civil liberties.' These results are discussed in relation to how coaches have adapted their own behaviours in the face of public scrutiny but are still reluctant to restrict the rights of their fellow coaches.     

Which Institutions are Good for Your Health? The Deep Determinants of Comparative Cross-country Health Status

We extend the literature on the deep determinants of economic development by focusing on life expectancy, instead of income per capita, as an indicator of economic development, and by examining the role of informal, as well as formal, institutions. Our empirical results suggest that formal and informal institutions are substitutes. Improving informal institutions has positive effects on life expectancy that are statistically significant for most countries and stronger than the effects of improving formal institutions. The gains from improving informal institutions are greatest for countries in which institutions are weakest. Geographical factors also help explain cross-country variation in life expectancy.     

“We are Human Beings,and have a Past”: The “Adjustment” of Migrants and the Australian Assimilation Policies of the 1950s

This article argues that the assimilation policy adopted by the Australian government during the 1950s was based on a denial of a migrant's past. The assumption that the migrant would readily merge into Australian cultural life ignored the ways in which past stories and memories shape the self. Through an analysis of the Good Neighbour Councils I explore the nature of assimilation that was based on a neglect of collective war memories of immigrant groups. This perspective is distinguished from that adopted by several theorists of the day such as W.D. Borrie and Jean Martin whose studies were less crude and one‐dimensional. The experiences of Greek migrants are examined to consider how Greek war stories could not often find expression or recognition in the assimilationist climate of the post‐war period.     

Local government in post-communist poland: A study of federalism and executive authority in plock

This article examines the establishment of local government in post-communist Poland. Its purpose is to examine the realignment of central state and local government authority established through the Polish National Assembly's (Sejm) 1990 reforms and to provide an assessment of developing local government autonomy and executive authority in the new city government structure.

The conceptual framework is comparative, using an American perspective to examine issues of local government autonomy and executive authority.     

The debate over the U.S. government's role in health care financing:"deja vu,all over again"

Yogi Berra's famous quote captures the continuing debate over the legitimate role of the U.S. government in health care financing. The issues of individual choice, equity of access, and concern about income security are just as unresolved today as they were in the early twentieth century. Until we engage in an explicit national debate on these issues and come to a national consensus on the human and political values underlying our current health care situation, a “solution” to the health care financing problems will never be found. This article discusses the history of the issue of government's involvement in health care financing, American ambivalence about government regulation, and the role of American business as a major health care insurer.