Mediation by small states: Some lessons from the CSCE

Most writing on international mediation has tended to focus on either efforts by representatives of powerful states or of international organisations such as the United Nations. This study suggests we might benefit from looking at the mediatory role of small states in a relatively little studied but crucial forum. The writer draws of his personal experiences and the existing literature to examine the case of a few key states in the Madrid Review Conference of the CSCE. These states are suggested to have been primordial to the success of this conference, against all the odds given the Afghanistan and Polish crises of the early 1980s. The paper also discusses the extant literature on small states and mediation to make a plea for a more empirical approach to this area of conflict resolution.     

Substantive Symbols: The Attitudinal Dimension of Black Political Incorporation in Local Government

Traditional studies of minority incorporation focus on the redistribution of public resources that purportedly follows black gains in representation. The present study departs from this approach by focusing on the attitudinal effects of black leadership. Two research questions guide this study: To what extent do blacks' assessments of neighborhood services and conditions stem from black representation in local executive and legislative offices? Are these attitudinal effects rooted in policy and service delivery outcomes? Employing survey data from 3,000 blacks embedded in 52 cities and 53 school districts, this study reveals that blacks report higher levels of satisfaction with their neighborhood conditions, police services, and public schools when represented by blacks in city hall and on school boards and that these evaluations are most positive when improvements in local services are conspicuous. Overall, these findings extend conventional conceptualizations of substantive benefits and challenge more pessimistic accounts regarding the effects of black representation in local politics.     

A note on some aspects of Mi bskyod rdo rje's critique of dGe lugs pa Madhyamaka

Journal of Indian Philosophy -