‘At least 2001’: US security policy and exit strategy in Bosnia

This article describes and analyzes the United States’ security conduct in Bosnia since the Dayton Accords of November 1995, and its involvement in the multilateral conflict resolution and peacebuilding effort. From this analysis, the conclusion is that it will be difficult for the US to exit from its engagement in Bosnia. Various explanations are offered for the formulation of American policy: norms and values, alliance politics and the role of NATO, bureaucratic and congressional influence, as well as presidential leadership. The most important factor remains affirmation of US leadership to make the peacebuilding mission in Bosnia a successful one.     

The Swansea Bureau: A model of diversion from the Youth Justice System

The Swansea Bureau is an innovative initiative designed to divert young people out of the formal processes of the Youth Justice System. The Swansea Bureau extends beyond simple diversion grounded in minimal or non-intervention and into tackling the underlying causes of youth crime through mechanisms that normalise youth offending and promote prosocial behaviour, children's rights, youth participation and the engagement of both parents/carers and the local community. Inter-agency working is pursued in a political, strategic and operational context of viewing young people as ‘children first, offenders second’. This article discusses the development of the Bureau and explores how this child-orientated model is beginning to yield positive results in terms of decreases in first time entrants into the Youth Justice System and reductions in reconviction. The Bureau process has also elicited widespread positive qualitative feedback from key stakeholders regarding its engagement with Welsh national policy, parents/carers and the children's rights agenda.     

Review Essay: The Philippines

Abstract

The five papers gathered together in this book examine events leading up to the declaration of martial law in the Philippines by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on September 21, 1972, and the nature of the authoritarian regime that has been in power since that date. They were first presented at the 1974 meetings of the Association of Asian Studies, although the editor indicates that they have been updated to include relevant events through May, 1978.     

Network Governance of Private Sector Development Policy Implementation in Singapore

The discussion examines private sector development policy implementation in Singapore, examining the new role of the government's economic development agencies from the point of changing relationships among public and non-state actors in the policy arena. Singapore's model of private sector development consists of an exclusive network of partnerships among economic development agencies and between these agencies and private sector actors, such as business and organized labour, as integral policy stakeholders. As Singapore has moved within the past 15 years towards its articulated goal of becoming a knowledge-based economy and an industrial hub in the Asia Pacific region, the country's model of network governance is undergoing a gradual reconfiguration to include a greater role for local enterprises in the policy process. The changing institutional mechanics of network governance surrounding the new model of private sector development in Singapore are examined, along with the highlights of some implications surrounding this shift.     

Preventing Homelessness: An Examination of the Transition Resource Action Center

Each year in the United States, as adolescents age out or are emancipated from the foster care system, they are at risk of experiencing homelessness. It is essential that services and programs focus on encouraging and supporting youth in transition from foster care to a life of independence, and The Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) strives to provide these services. The researchers sought to determine if TRAC's residential program provides their clients with a chance of a stable life (e.g., housing, employment, health care). Findings suggest that fewer clients of TRAC became homeless and more acquired transitional or temporary housing from screening 1 to screening 2, demonstrating promise that these services have fostered change in the lives of their clients.     

An Unconditional Quantile Regression Based Decomposition of Spatial Welfare Inequalities in Ghana

Ghana has witnessed tremendous economic growth since the 1990s and attained the Millennium Development Goals target of halving poverty. This notwithstanding, inequality in Ghana increased over the same period, suggesting growth benefits were not equitably distributed. This study provides evidence on the determinants of household consumption expenditure and factors that explain rural-urban welfare gaps between 1998 and 2013. The study employs an unconditional quantile regression and recently proposed decomposition technique based on re-centred influence functions. We find significant spatial differences in consumption expenditure across selected quantiles, with rural-urban inequalities driven largely by differences in returns to households’ endowments.