From Sore Throats to Greenland: Howard Brenton’s Utopian Plays

British playwright Howard Brenton once wrote, “There is an infinite variety of ways of making theatre, but only one theme which, inevitably, Aeschylus was onto—it’s simply ‘how can we live justly?’” Brenton’s entire oeuvre reflects his struggle to answer this basic question but he has specifically characterized three of his plays as Utopian. These are Sore Throats, Bloody Poetry, and Greenland. The plays comprise a journey which begins, in the playwright’s words, “far from human dignity and peace” and ends 700 years from now with a vision of Brenton’s hopes for the future: “how I hope my children, or my children’s children’s children, will live and think.” The works explore the nature of love, individual relationships, and sexual roles as these relate to issues of power and manipulation. The corrupting power of money, and English complacency and acquiescence, are additional major themes. Finally, they all confront the question of human responsibility and its relationship to the individual and to society. Ultimately, they offer us an unmerciful look at the worst of human nature and a liberating vision of the good we are capable of achieving.     

The Effect of Conjugal Visitation on Sexual Violence in Prison

Using yearly state-level data drawn from a variety of different sources and a pooled cross-sectional time-series research design, we examine whether conjugal visitation attenuates sexual violence in prison. The determination of whether sexual violence in prison is less apt to transpire in states that allow conjugal visitation is theoretically relevant. Feminist theory argues that conjugal visitation has little if any influence on the occurrence of rape and other sexual offenses in prison, notwithstanding the gender of the offender and victim, because such offenses are crimes of power that are employed by the offender as an instrument to dominate and humiliate the victim. On the other hand, sexual gratification theory postulates that conjugal visitation provides inmates with a means of sexual release. Therefore, conjugal visitation should reduce sexual offending in prison. Results support sexual gratification theory by showing that states permitting conjugal visitation have significantly fewer instances of reported rape and other sexual offenses in their prisons. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Why Don’t You Register Your Child? A Study of Attitudes and Factors Affecting Birth Registration in Kenya,and Policy Suggestions

Birth registration imposes major challenges in developing countries, with importance to rights, health and all levels of development. Despite targeted initiatives, often with focus on improved access and information, universal registration has been elusive. Using cross-sectional survey from Kenya, we provide new evidence for why parents may not register. We report high awareness, low barriers – however with over 50 per cent of children unregistered. We argue this is due to deliberate, informed choice by parents where they weigh perceived costs/benefits. We recommend new focus on this deliberation and policy piggybacking hospital delivery, vaccination and information and communications technology to re-balance parent decision.     

Independence referendums and nationalist rhetoric: the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Using the case study of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and the 2017 independence referendum, this article examines the nexus between independence referendums, nationalism and political power. It argues that the referendum in the KRI was held due to internal political competition and growing rebellion from the population against the poor economic performance and political situation rather than because the time was right for independence referendum. Focusing on the poor political and financial dynamics, as well as the lack of regional and international support for Kurdish independence, the article argues that independence was not a realistic goal and was rather used as a distraction amid internal turmoil. The example of the referendum in the KRI poses questions about the democratic credibility of such referenda, as the population were voting for an unachievable result and the referendum itself became a tool of internal political competition.     

Latvians on the road to market democracy

This article began as a contrast between the politics and processes of budgeting and revenue mobilization in Latvia under Soviet rule and as an independent country. The dynamics of events in Latvia and opportunities presented during our research broadened its scope. The article became a broad review of the economic and political processes in Latvia since independence, with an emphasis on the effects of attitudes inherited from fifty years of Soviet rule, traditional Latvian values, and emerging public policies. The interdependence between government and business infrastructure is dramatically shown in the bank scandal of 1995. The bank failures caused near catastrophic reductions in tax revenues.     

Sport on the snowline

Japanese Expansion on the Asiatic Continent. Vol. II. By Yoshi S. Kuno. University of California Press and Cambridge University Press. 24s.

A Key to Victory. By Lieut.‐Colonel C. Garsia, D.S.O., M.C.. with a foreword by Field‐Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode, Bart., G.C.B., O.M., G.C.S.I., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. 8 1/2” x 5 1/2”. Pp. xvii + 328. Maps and illustrations. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 12s. 6d.

South‐west Persia. By Sir Arnold Wilson, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.P. Pp. 305. Oxford University Press. 1941. 15s.

Things Mortal. By Lieutenant‐Colonel Sir Frederick O'Connor, C.S.I., C.I.E., C.V.O. Dedicated to H.H. Maharaja Joodha Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana. Preface and illustrations. 9” x6”. Pp. 256. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1940. 10s. 6d.

Bid Time Return. By Margaret Ferguson. 8 3/4” x 5 3/4”. Pp. 256. Illustrations. Hale. 1941. 12s. 6d.

Sons of Sindbad. By Alan Villiers. Pp. xiv + 346. Illustrated. Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd. 20s.

Drinkers of the Wind. By Carl R. Raswan. 9 3/8” x 6 1/4”. Pp. 288. Illustrated. Hutchison. 18s.

The Fire‐Ox and Other Years. By Suydam Cutting. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons.

Helvellyn to Himalaya. Including an Account of the First Ascent of Chomolhari. By E. Spencer Chapman. Pp. xv + 285. With 44 illustrations and 2 maps. London: Chatto and Windus. 1940. 18s.

Assam Adventure. By F. Kingdon Ward. Pp. 304; 16 illustrations, 2 appendixes. Jonathan Cape. 1941. 12s. 6d.

A Long Look at Life. By two Victorians, Lady King‐Stewart, O.B.E., and Miss Ella Christie, F.R.G.S. 8 1/2 x 61/4”. Pp. 256. Illustrations. Seeley Service. 1941. 21s.

The Viceroy and Governor‐General of India. By A. B. Rudra, Ph.D. Pp. xv+ 362. 8 1/2” x 5 3/4”. Milford. Oxford University Press. 1940. Rs. 10.

The Co‐operative Movement in Bengal. By Professor J. P. Niyogi, M.A.(Cal.), Ph.D.(London). 9” x 6 1/4”. Pp. ix + 267. (Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 10s. 6d.

Twilight in Delhi. By Ahmud Ali. Hogarth Press.

The Red Tortoise and Other Tales of Rural India. Told by N. Gangulee. Pp. 90. The India Society. 1940. 3s. 6d.

When Peacocks Called. By Hilda Seligman. John Lane: Bodley Head.

The Voyage of the “Kaimiloa.” By Eric de Bisschop. Translated from the French by Marc Ceppi. Pp. 310, with illustrations (11 photographs and 1 sketch‐map). London: G. Bell and Sons. 1940. 12s. 6d.

Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. By Arthur Waley. George Allen and Unwin. 1939.

The Tower of Five Glories. A Study of the Min Chia of Tali, Yunnan. By C. P. Fitzgerald. 8 1/2” x 5 3/4”. Preface and 280 pp. 3 maps. 31 illustrations. Cresset Press. 16s.

The Current War. By Captain Liddell Hart. Hutchison.     

Beyond the fallacy of coup-ism: conceptualizing civilian control of the military in emerging democracies

It is consensus in the democratization literature that civilian control of the military is a necessary ingredient for democracy and democratic consolidation. However, there is considerable disagreement on what civilian control of the military exactly entails and there is a lack of solid theoretical arguments for how weak or absent civilian control affects democratic governance. Furthermore, a considerable portion of the research literature is captured by the fallacy of coup-ism, ignoring the many other forms in which military officers can constrain the authority of democratically elected political leaders to make political decisions and get them implemented. This article addresses these lacunae by providing a new conceptual framework for the analysis of civil–military relations in emerging democracies. From democracy theory it derives a definition of civilian control as a certain distribution of decision-making power between civilian leaders and military officers. Based on this definition, the authors develop a five-dimensional concept of civilian control, discuss the effects of weakly institutionalized civilian control on the quality of democracy and address the chances for democratic consolidation.