Third World foundation news

This paper examines the evolving role of the UN specialised agencies in international responses to 'complex' emergencies, with particular reference to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Despite some shortcomings in both the organisation and execution of interventions, FAO does indeed - as it claims - have the capacity to be a 'key player' in complex emergencies in terms of emergency and longer-term rehabilitation as well as preparedness and early warning, and is playing this role with increasing confidence and competence. A main constraint is donor reluctance to fund the kind of operations in which FAO specialises, despite their potential cost-effectiveness and capacity, with careful design and implementation, to mitigate crises and reduce relief needs. This is seen as part of a wider donor failure to provide adequate support for responses to complex emergencies which go beyond 'pure' relief in acute, high profile situations-something which has increasingly become a preoccupation within and outside the UN system and points to the need for improved coordination and monitoring and evaluation systems.     

McAlister's Vietnam

Abstract

John McAlister's book is an ambitious attempt to apply current American social scientific theories of social mobilization and revolution to Vietnam. It is likely to be considered an important source since his analysis of the anti-French revolution is based on still secret and inaccessible French army files, used in conjunction with other French language sources available only in a few libraries in the U.S. It might well become popular as a college text, offering a theoretical model of revolution for those wishing to venture comparisons with other nations. It is, to my mind, a subtly and intelligently written book but an extremely biased one, and therefore worthy of careful analysis.     

Environmental crime and problem-solving courts

Environmental harms are by their nature complex and as such give rise to formal legal responses that range from simple regulatory intervention to multi-faceted court order. The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of environmental courts and the development of judicial and tribunal expertise in this specific area. A wide range of sanctions are now available and being actively applied by such bodies. Moreover, in many instances, the philosophical approach adopted by these courts is that of problem-solving. The combination of specialist expertise and innovative methods of intervention are progressively revolutionising judicial practice in regards to contemporary environmental issues.     

Trade‐Offs,Limitations, and Promises of Big Data in Social Science Research

The promise of “big data” is a grand one. The collection and aggregation of massive datasets and the development of analytical tools by which to study these data is part of cutting‐edge efforts across scientific disciplines, with social, behavioral, and economic sciences leading the way in many of these efforts. There has been a recent rise in National Science Foundation funding for “big data” research across directorates that coincides with scholarly, public, and governmental attention to the topic. Nonetheless, there are limitations and trade‐offs to “big data” research, particularly as it corresponds to scientific modes of inquiry and the limited range of topics that fall under its umbrella, that must be recognized and incorporated into the general understanding of its long‐term promise.     

Convenience stores and routine activities in a summer tourist destination

In this paper we examine the effects of alcohol outlets, with particular attention to convenience stores, located in an East Coast Tourist City. Tourist City offered an opportunity to observe the interplay between convenience stores and robberies and assaults in the presence of large volumes of summer tourists. Guided by Routine Activities Theory, we focused on the convergence of potential victims, guardianship and offenders in the vicinity of convenience stores. The first part of our paper concerns the effects of convenience stores on assaults and robberies in block groups. Using grocery stores as a comparison to convenience stores, we found that the number of convenience stores was correlated with significantly higher levels of both robberies and assaults. The second part of our investigation employed small circular buffer areas focusing on the immediate area around the convenience stores. This analysis revealed that these small areas were associated with significantly higher assaults in the summer and offseason but robberies only during the offseason. In addition, we found that variation in the number of other alcohol outlets near the convenience stores increases the number of assaults within the buffer areas.     

Investigators and Prosecutors or, Desperately Seeking Scotland: Re-formulation of the 'Philips Principle'

Prosecution in England and Wales, traditionally private, was captured by the 'new police', creating an 'English tradition' unlike those of the rest of the United Kingdom. To overcome consequent problems, the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure recommended the 'Philips principle', whereby investigator and prosecutor were separate, but co-ordinate, on which basis the Crown Prosecution Service was set up. However, the principle was in fact compromised by the 'English tradition', most obviously by permitting continued police prosecution. Moreover, the Serious Fraud Office, set up shortly thereafter, contradicted the principle. Yet, HM Customs and Excise addressed its serious problems by applying the principle. The CPS itself encountered difficulties flowing from the compromises. Reports (Runciman, Narey, Glidewell) recommended various devices, straining the principle, until the Auld Report recognised that reformulation was necessary, along the lines adopted elsewhere in the United Kingdom, that is, by recognising that there should be investigator subordination to prosecutor.