New developments in the law of passing off: misrepresentation by silence

The High Court recently held that misrepresentation by silencecan constitute an actionable misrepresentation. A trader maymake a misrepresentation by failing to correct a self-inducedmistaken belief of a customer, where the trader takes advantageof that mistaken belief. Failure of a trader to disabuse customersof the impression that they are dealing with the brand ownermay be sufficient to constitute passing off. Brand owners welcomethis decision as it provides protection against new entrantsto the market who seek to piggyback on the success of theirbrand or trade mark.     

Between Disability and Terror: Handicapped Parking Space and Homeland Security at Fenway Park

In the United States, handicapped parking spaces tether the social construction of need to the legal assurance of equality of accessibility. However in places such as Fenway Park in Boston, the threat of terror distorts the intention of these spaces by politically reconfiguring their presence and meaning. As a result, our public interest is legally manipulated and socially challenged to preference the abstraction of threat over real life in even the most ordinary of places. This paper was originally written for an Independent Study with Laura Jensen, Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and entitled “Categories of Legitimacy” and presented at the New England Political Science Association Meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 5, 2006. A later draft was presented at the International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law at the Universite du Littoral, Bolougne sur Mer, France, May 22, 2006. Many many thanks are due Laura Jensen and John Brigham for their encouragement, continued enthusiasm and support. Much appreciation is also due the Department of Political Science, UMass/Amherst, for their engagement and suggestions offered at the Fall 2006 Colloquium series and to Kate Longley and Maria Koinova for their generous ideas for revision.     

An Experimental Analysis of Rent Seeking Under Varying Competitive Conditions

We test several predictions of Gradstein's(1995) rent seeking model using anexperimental design that includes avariable number of participants, costheterogeneity, and an entry fee. Consistentwith theoretical predictions, costheterogeneity and the entry fee decreasethe number of participants. Overall,participation is much lower than predicted. Also consistent with Gradstein's model, wefind that rent seeking expendituresincrease with the number of competitors anddecrease with the addition of an entry fee. Experimental results do not support theprediction that cost heterogeneitygenerally decreases expenditures in rentseeking contests.     

Using British Trial Procedures in American Cases: A More Civil Trial?

A number of attorneys, judges, and legal scholars have asserted that the overly combative nature of American trials may impact on the actual quality of justice and bring the legal system into disrepute. In contrast, many who witness criminal and civil trials conducted in Great Britain are struck by the greater apparent civility of the courtroom atmosphere. Closer examination of the English system reveals seven specific procedural differences that may contribute to this perceived change in atmosphere. In this study, these procedural differences were manipulated and their effect on verdict and on perceptions of trial participants measured. In addition, opinions about these differences were elicited. Results showed that while the trial was perceived as more civil, and the judge viewed more positively, participants tended to indicate preferences for the American style. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Aligning top‐down and bottom‐up in development planning: The case of Bhutan

Effective planning makes a vital contribution to developmental success. It is generally perceived as being either centralized (top‐down) or decentralized (bottom‐up). Centralized planning dominated the early development decades, but disappointing results greatly lessened its appeal and paved the way for participatory and decentralized planning. Both types of planning are evident today, but the question has arisen as to whether top‐down and bottom‐up planning can be successfully combined into one effective, efficient, and popular system. This question is examined through the case of Bhutan where central planning was introduced at the outset of the country's push for modernization and today leads the way in the country's pursuit of Gross National Happiness (GNH). However, central planning has been complemented with decentralized participatory planning at the subnational levels. Success in aligning the two planning modes has been achieved by incremental development of the planning system, orientation to the unifying national vision of GNH, a powerful central planning agency, actors at all levels who are able and knowledgeable in their planning roles, and processes that are well organized and proven to work to the satisfaction of all participants.     

Through the Looking Glass: The Helsinki Final Act and the 1976 Election for President

The controversy surrounding the 1975 Helsinki Final Act made it an enduring issue in the 1976 campaign, and the political backlash against President Gerald R. Ford damaged his electoral chances. Ford's signature of the agreement, his continuation of détente, and his foreign policy more broadly may not have been decisive issues in his contests with Ronald Reagan and then Jimmy Carter, but they certainly were prominent throughout the election. Examining the influence of the Final Act on Ford's election campaign illuminates the extent to which a number of candidates sought to use popular opposition to the agreement to their advantage. Furthermore, it reveals how the 1976 presidential candidates, and Ford in particular, struggled to address growing questions about détente, human rights, and morality in foreign policy. Ford's failure to defend his signature of the Final Act adequately raised concerns about his foreign policy and personal leadership with the electorate.     

Poetry of witness: Uzbek identity and the response to Andijon

This article focuses on poetry written about the 13 May 2005 events in Andijon, Uzbekistan to examine how Uzbek identity is expressed in relation to the narrow nationalism of post-Soviet Uzbek state culture. While the Uzbek government insists the 13 May events were a justified retaliation against armed insurgents, the authors of the Andijon poems portray the episode as a brutal attack on innocent civilians by government forces. In so doing, they not only contradict the official state narrative, but challenge the legitimacy of the government's construction of Uzbek identity and nationhood. This article examines the content, language and distribution of the poems as well as the persecution and arrests of their authors. The cases of these dissident poets touch on a number of theoretical issues—among them nationalism, identity, authoritarianism and literary politics—which have risen to the fore as a result of the Andijon events.