Preventing Corruption Risk in Legislation: Evidence from Russia,Moldova, and Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT

Corruption risk assessment of draft laws and other normative acts is a relatively new instrument in the anti-corruption strategies implemented by developed nations, countries in transition, and the developing world. In connection with this, any practical experience accumulated in this area presents obvious interest. The analysis of such experience may allow to identify what works and what does not work in introducing the practices of anti-corruption screening of draft laws and other normative acts in various environments and settings, as well as contribute to dissemination of best practices in the countries of the region and elsewhere.

This article seeks to analyze and demonstrate the extent of practical implementation of corruption risk assessment of draft and enacted legislation in three post-communist countries, the problems encountered and solutions identified. Proceeding from this analysis, certain recommendations for practitioners in this field are formulated.     

Queer Coalitions: An Examination of Political Resistance to the Russian Migration Law

Abstract

Migration policy in Russia is implemented by a variety of actors, such as state officials, market actors, and social activists. In the implementation of migration policy, they inevitably interact with one another. Having examined the categories used by the people involved in the implementation of migration policy, I explore the potential of coalition-building in this process. In order to scrutinise these fluid political forms, I make use of the concept of ‘queer coalitions’. This concept draws on literature in queer theory, which I argue is also productive for the analysis of current political actions in the migration domain.     

What autocracies say (and what citizens hear): proposing four mechanisms of autocratic legitimation

ABSTRACT

Autocratic governments make claims about why they are entitled to rule. Some autocracies are more talkative than others, but all regimes say something about why they deserve power. This article takes seriously these efforts by introducing and interrogating the concept of autocratic legitimation. After engaging in a definitional discussion, it traces the development of autocratic legitimation in modern political science by identifying major turning points, key concepts, and patterns of inquiry over time. Ultimately, this introductory article aims to not only argue that studying autocratic legitimation is important, but also to propose contexts, concepts, and distinctions for doing so productively. To this end, the article proposes four mechanisms of autocratic legitimation that can facilitate comparative analysis: indoctrination, passivity, performance, and democratic-procedural. Finally, the essay briefly introduces the five original articles that comprise the remainder of this special issue on autocratic legitimation. The article identifies avenues for further research and identifies how each article in the issue advances down productive pathways of inquiry.     

Pitirim Sorokin’s contribution to rural sociology: Russian,European and American milestones of a scientific career

ABSTRACT

The whole of Pitirim Sorokin’s fascinating and difficult scientific life led to his fundamental works on urban–rural relationships being expressed in the terms ‘rural–urban continuum’ and ‘rurbanism’. However, only a few special studies have been devoted to different aspects of his biography and scientific interests. The legacy of Sorokin as a rural sociologist has not yet become a subject of special studies in Russian social science. This contribution considers the key stages of Sorokin’s scientific career as contributing to the development and institutionalization of rural sociology as a discipline closely connected with urban sociology.     

Tax Collection in Developing Countries – New Evidence on Semi-Autonomous Revenue Agencies (SARAs)

Abstract

Over the last two decades, semi-autonomous revenue agencies (SARAs) have become a key element of public administration reform. They are supposed to improve revenue mobilisation and stabilise state–taxpayer relations. But do SARAs really outperform conventional tax administrations? This article argues that they do. Presenting the results of a panel analysis of local tax collection in Peru between 1998 and 2011, it shows that municipalities with SARAs collect more revenue than those with conventional tax administrations. The results also indicate that local revenue is more stable in municipalities with SARAs, which is good for budget policy and planning.     

North Korea’s Shadow Economy: A Force for Authoritarian Resilience or Corrosion?

An unofficial or ‘shadow’ economy like that in contemporary North Korea generates countervailing pressures for a socialist regime. It can buttress the regime by facilitating the cynical use of anti-market laws, alleviating shortages, helping the official economy to function, and creating vested interests in the status quo. On the other hand, the shadow economy can corrode the regime’s power by diminishing its control over society, encouraging scepticism about collective ideologies, and providing networks and material that can be used for opposition to the state. This article analyses these tensions in the DPRK, by drawing on 35 semi-structured interviews with North Korean defectors.     

Freedom of Speech as an Expressive Mode of Existence

This paper adopts Deleuze’s reading of Spinoza’s expressionism and pure semiotics to argue that Spinoza’s Ethics offers an alternative notion of freedom of speech that is based on the potentia of the individual. Its aim is to show how freedom of thought is connected to the problem of individuation that connects our mode of being with our power to speak and think. Rather than treating freedom of speech as an enlightened idea that is in opposition to, for example, religious authority, or the suppression of human rights, this paper argues that freedom of speech should be understood by what Spinoza calls ‘an adequate idea’: an idea that explains the cause of its own production. What is to be considered is: who wants this freedom, in what situation, why, what is at stake? No freedom in itself is ever given. This paper argues for speech as an assembled body that is always in connection with other bodies. It is argued that to understand the power and value of the freedom of speech, we should study the praxis of the utterance as an assembled body, its causal dimensions, and its affective immanent relations with other bodies, and other modes of speaking.     

Measuring the capability to raise revenue: process and output dimensions and their application to the Zambia Revenue Authority

The worldwide diffusion of the good governance agenda and new public management (NPM) principles has triggered a renewed focus on state capability and, more specifically, on the capability to raise revenue in developing countries. However, the analytical tools for a comprehensive understanding of the capability to raise revenue remain underdeveloped. This article aims at filling this gap and presents a model consisting of the three process dimensions ‘information collection and processing’, ‘merit orientation’ and ‘administrative accountability’. ‘Revenue performance’ constitutes the fourth capability dimension which assesses tax administrations' output. This model is applied to the case of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). The dimensions prove to be valuable not only for assessing the how much but also the how of collecting taxes. They can be a useful tool for future comparative analyses of tax administrations' capabilities in developing countries. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moderating effects of self-esteem on the use of ethnicity and academic standing as determinants of interpersonal acceptance

The influence of self-esteem on the use of status considerations as determinants of interpersonal acceptance was studied in a sample of 722 Israeli students from integrated junior high schools. The students completed a self-esteem questionnaire as well as the Interpersonal Relation Assessment Technique, a measure assessing willingness to engage in activities of increasing intimacy with classmates. Data analysis indicated a general preference for targets of higher educational level and high-status ethnic origin. These categorical preferences were more pronounced among high rather than low self-esteem students, irregardless of their own educational standing or ethnic origin. The findings were consistent with the thrust of cost-benefit analyses suggested by social exchange theories, in which self-esteem is viewed as one's globalized perception of social worth. The results suggest that individuals with high self-esteem may be more likely to see themselves as equals to higher status others and seek out their company than would their low self-esteem counterparts. Alternately, those with high self-esteem may be more motivated by social ambition and less by fear of rejection.Received doctorate from UCLA. Studies issues related to self-esteem and social relationships, as well as stress and coping in childhood and adolescence.Received doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. Research deals with interethnic relations, religious education, and post traumatic stress disorders.