Spatial Heterogeneity and Economic Dualism in European Neighbourhood Policy Countries

This article studies how spatial heterogeneity (by urban concentration) and economic heterogeneity (by economic dualism), which are being affected by trade integration with the EU, influence the growth of European Neighbourhood Policy countries (ENPs). It is proved that urban concentration is not always related to growth. Furthermore, the eastern and southern areas of the ENPs represent two different cases of heterogeneity. In the eastern ENPs the pattern of heterogeneity seems to generate more benefits for the metropolitan region and the country in comparison with the southern ENPs in which population accumulations do not function as critical foundations of their development process.     

NGO partnerships in Haiti: clashes of discourse and reality

This paper analyses the existing and perceived rules and restrictions of the global development dispositif working to maintain inequalities in the interactions of international NGOs (INGOs) and Haitian organisations. It does so by exploring constructions of partnership and their clashing realities. Development organisations and agencies have influenced the fabric of Haitian society and politics not only by their mere presence but also by the rules they impose. The paper identifies positions of power and decision making by drawing on Foucauldian tools of discourse analysis. The analysis is based on empirical fieldwork carried out in Haiti between 2012 and 2014. It identifies a narrative of trickle-down pressures that INGOs draw upon to position themselves as intermediaries in the larger development system. By questioning these narratives, the paper provides the starting point for the development of alternatives that would enable international NGOs to assume a role that supports rather than weakens.     

Analysis of 13 tetrameric short tandem repeat loci in a population of Tuscany (Central Italy) performed by means of an automated infrared sequencer

Allele frequencies for the 13 STRs of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) core were obtained from a sample of 188 unrelated individuals living in the area of Florence, Prato and Pistoia (Tuscany, Central Italy).     

Why bother campaigning? Campaign effectiveness in the 2009 European Parliament elections

This paper explores the effectiveness of European Parliament candidates' campaigns. We analyze the relationship between candidates' spending and their likelihood of success, controlling for a range of relevant co-varying factors. We then investigate whether the effects of electoral spending are conditioned by two variables: ballot design and incumbency. We find that, ceteris paribus, spending was positively related to a candidate's likelihood of electoral success in the 2009 campaign, though this effect is small in scale. We also reveal that the electorally positive effects of spending are observable across both 'party-centered' and ‘candidate-centered’ ballot structures, and that there is some evidence that incumbent spending is less effective than challenger spending.     

Impacts of Heading Home Hennepin's Housing First programs for long-term homeless adults

This paper evaluates the impact of Heading Home Hennepin’s Housing First programs for long-term homeless individuals with work-limiting disabilities. These programs combine subsidized housing and extensive case management services to help program participants maintain stable housing. Using a matched comparison of housing-first participants and nonparticipants residing in public shelters, this study finds that housing-first placement is associated with a substantial decrease in public shelter use, an increase in public health insurance coverage, and a decrease in arrests and incarceration. Most of the decline in arrests is due to decreases in arrests for livability and drug-related charges and not for violent or property crime.     

From “sensed” to “complex”: some reflections on borders throughout history

The concept and definition of borders has evolved significantly over time. In Europe the twentieth century alone has seen remarkable changes. At the beginning of the century borders represented the clear end of the sovereignty of one state and the beginning of another while the second half of the same century brought revolutionary concepts of state borders. This article aims to contribute towards the conceptual discussion of borders, tracing some of the journey of this concept, from centuries ago when they were perceived as more ”sensed”, to more recent interpretations of ”solid” and “liquid” borders to today's “complex” borders.     

Filling in the ‘unknowns’: Hypothesis-based intelligence and the Rumsfeld commission

In 2003 the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans employed a hypothesis-based methodology to deliver the now discredited intelligence that justified the Iraq war. The 1976 ‘Team B’, which was also heavily influenced by neoconservatives and used the same methodology, has been recognized as a precedent. There is, however, another precedent, the 1998 Rumsfeld Commission, which challenged CIA predictions on the ballistic missile threat to the US. Lobbied for by many of the same conservatives and neoconservatives, the Commission used the same analytical style as Team B and the OSP. The now discredited intelligence on Iraq was not a ‘failure’ or ‘mistake’, but a method, tried and tested by the right, of challenging the CIA on political grounds.     

Indigenous Peoples in Southern Africa

Abstract

This article considers the complex cases of indigenous peoples in three Commonwealth countries in southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. In terms of national-level policy, the governments of these countries do not differentiate indigenous peoples from the rest of their populations. They do, however, have programmes aimed at assisting ‘marginalised’ or ‘disadvantaged’ communities. In this article, three main dimensions related to indigenous peoples’ rights in southern Africa are discussed: national policies, indigenous peoples’ rights, and rights to representation; land and resource rights, including rights to water; and language and gender rights. The paper concludes with an assessment of where indigenous peoples stand today in southern Africa.     

I Eastern Europe: Backwardness and the Challenges of Modern Politics

Roger East and Jolyon Pontin, eds, Revolution and Change in Central and Eastern Europe, rev. edn. London: Pinter, 1997.

Philip Longworth, The Making of Eastern Europe. From Prehistory to Post‐communism, 2nd edn. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.

Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.