Book Notes

Encyclopaedia of the Third World. George Thomas Kurian, London: Mansell. 1979. 1694 pp. £40.00.

Year Book of Labour Statistics 1978. International Labour Office Geneva: ILO. 1978. 675 pp. S Fr 95.00.

Documents of the Gatherings of Nonaligned Countries 1961–78. Medjunarodna Politika, Belgrade: Jugoslavenska Stvarnost. 1978. 274 pp.

Strategic Survey. International Institute of Strategic Studies, London :IISS. 1979. 140 pp. £2.25 pb.

The Far East and Australasia 1978–9. London: Europa. 1978. 1311 pp. £26.50.

Britain and Latin America: an annual review of British‐Latin American relations 1979. Latin American Bureau, London: LAB.1979. 189 pp. £2.50 pb.

Latin American Annual Review and the Caribbean 1979. World of Information, Saffron Walden, England: WoI. 1978. 222 pp. £11.50.

Register of Research on Trade and Development Issues. UNCTAD, New York. UNCTAD. 1978. 96 pp.

Register of Development Research Projects in Africa: liaison bulletin. OECD, Paris: OECD Development Centre. 1979. 106 pp. $6.50.

Landsat Index Atlas of the Developing Countries. Washington DC: The World Bank. £6.25.

African Studies: a handbook for teachers. Edited by Margaret Killingray, London: School of Oriental and African Studies. 1979. 81 pp. £2.00.

Women in the Development Process: a selected bibliography on women in the sub‐Saharan Africa and Latin America. S S Saulniers & A Rakowski, Austin, Texas: University of Texas. 1977. 287 pp. £4.90.

Women and World Development: an annotated bibliography. Mayra Buvinic, Washington DC: Overseas Development Council. 1976. 162 pp. $2.50.

Development as if Women Mattered: an annotated bibliography with a Third World focus. May Rihani, Washington DC: Overseas Development Council. 1978. 137 pp. $3.00.

America in Asia: research guide on US economic activity in Pacific Asia. Asia‐North America Communications Center, Hong Kong: ANACC. 1979. 165 pp. $10.00 pb.

Changing Approaches to Population Problems. Margaret Wolfson, Paris: OECD Development Centre. 1979. 193 pp. $9.50 pb.

Planning for Growing Populations. Edited by Robert Cassen and Margaret Wolfson, Paris: OECD Development Centre. 1979. 227 pp. $11.50 pb.

Food Aid for Development. Harmut Schneider, Paris: OECD Development Centre. 1979. 130 pp. $6.75 pb.

Traveller's Guide to Africa 1980. Edited by Richard Synge, London: International Communications. 1979 (third edn). 400 pp. £5.95.

Traveller's Guide to the Middle East 1980. Edited by Richard Synge, London: International Communications. 1979 (second edn). 300 pp. £5.95.

Arabic Historical Writing 1975 and 1976: an annotated bibliography. Fawzi Abdulrazak, London: Mansell. 1979. 210 pp.

Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World. Anthony Welsh, London: Dawson. 1979. 216 pp. £15.00.

Big Business and the Mass Media. Bernard Rubin, Lexington, Massachussets: Lexington. 1977. 185 pp.

Making News: a study in the construction of reality. Gaye Tuchman, New York: The Free Press. 1978. 244 pp. £9.75.

India: resources and development. B L C Johnson, London: Heinemann Educational. 1979. 211 pp. £6.90.     

The Radical Group in Context: 1. An Integrated Framework for the Analysis of Group Risk for Terrorism

On the basis of a systematic expert knowledge acquisition process, a framework has been developed that takes into account critical variables--internal and external, as well as interactions between them and the group under examination--that are understood to increase risk for escalation toward political violence. The indicators identified are grouped within four conceptual categories: (1) External factors, including historical, cultural, and contextual features; (2) Key actors affecting the group, including the regime and other opponents, as well as Constituents and Supporters; (3) The Group/Organization: Characteristics, Processes, and Structures, including an examination of such factors as leadership style and decision making, group experience with violence, and group ideology and goals; and (4) Characteristics of the Immediate Situation, including Triggering Events. A total of 32 variables were identified within the 4 categories to establish the overall integrated framework. This framework provides the basis for the rigorous analysis of a radical group's risk for terrorism.     

Constituting Liberty,Healing the Nation: revolutionary identity creation in the Arab world's delayed 1989

The amazing scenes that were beamed from Cairo's Tahrir Square in January and February 2011 conveyed an important revelation about the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the human spirit. In particular, they highlighted the miraculous power of joint public action not only to carve out spaces for freedom, but to forge a new shared identity which is indispensable for the establishment of a durable democratic order. No less significant, however, is that revolutionary action by pro-democracy insurgents has provided concrete answers to many puzzles that had exercised democracy theorists and Middle East experts for decades. By showing how such action can overcome the divisions and obstacles theorists have seen as an impediment to democratisation, the preoccupation with ‘prerequisites’ for democracy has been revealed as a diversion. From the American Revolution to Tahrir Square, pro-democracy revolutionary action has the power not just to overthrow tyranny, but also to refashion the nation, starting with the revolutionaries themselves. It can also ‘overthrow’ theory.     

Designing and Using Simulations in the International Relations Classroom

The value of simulations in the classroom is well established, and there are numerous publications that feature specific role-play exercises that can readily be introduced into the classroom. Frequently, however, instructors would like to design their own simulations to fit their specific learning objectives for a class, but don’t know where to start. This article lays out a series of structural and design questions for instructors to consider in order to craft their own simulations. We recognize that there is no singularly “best” way to design simulations, so this article focuses on the key components of simulations and explores different possibilities for each of these components depending on the desired goals of the instructor. We begin with the basics of class size, topic selection, learning objectives, length, and timing. Next, we discuss the design parameters—including the nature of student interaction, desired output, background information, role-specific instructions, and a timeline for the phases of the simulation. We move on to considerations about the actual running of the simulation, and wrap up with reflections on debriefing, grading, and assessment. By stepping through the design questions that are summarized in the Appendix, any instructor, experienced or new to role-playing, can develop a custom simulation to help meet the learning objectives for their courses.     

Direct Brain Interventions and Responsibility Enhancement

Advances in neuroscience might make it possible to develop techniques for directly altering offenders’ brains, in order to make offenders more responsible and law-abiding. The idea of using such techniques within the criminal justice system can seem intuitively troubling, even if they were more effective in preventing crime than traditional methods of rehabilitation. One standard argument against this use of brain interventions is that it would undermine the individual’s free will. This paper maintains that ‘free will’ (at least, as that notion is understood by those who adopt the influential compatibilist approach) is an inadequate basis for explaining what is problematic about some direct brain interventions. This paper then defends an alternative way of objecting to certain kinds of direct brain interventions, focusing on the relationship between the offender and the state rather than the notion of free will. It opposes the use of interventions which aim to enhance ‘virtue responsibility’ (by instilling particular values about what is right and wrong), arguing that this would objectify offenders. In contrast, it argues that it may be acceptable to use direct brain interventions to enhance ‘capacity responsibility’ (i.e. to strengthen the abilities necessary for the exercise of responsible agency, such as self-control). Finally it considers how to distinguish these different kinds of responsibility enhancement.     

Ministerial Advisers and the Politics of Policy‐Making: Bureaucratic Permanence and Popular Control

The advent of ministerial advisers of the partisan variety – a third element interposing itself into Westminster's bilateral monopoly – has been acknowledged as a significant development in a number of jurisdictions. While there are commonalities across contexts, the New Zealand experience provides an opportunity to explore the extent to which the advent of ministerial advisers is consistent with rational choice accounts of relations between political and administrative actors in executive government. Public administration reform in New Zealand since the mid 1980s – and in particular machinery of government design – was quite explicitly informed by rational choice accounts, and normative Public Choice in particular. This article reflects on the role of ministerial advisers in the policy‐making process and, on the basis of assessments by a variety of political and policy actors, examines the extent to which the institutional and relational aspects of executive government are indeed consistent with rational choice accounts of the ‘politics of policy‐making’. The reader is offered a new perspective through which to view the advent, and the contribution of ministerial advisers to policy‐making in executive government.     

Process, Responsibility and Inclusion in EU Constitutionalism

This paper it looks at some of the normative questions which frame debates about the EU constitutional architecture. Its main objective is to identify the core facets of a 'responsible and inclusive EU constitutionalism', and to argue for a focus on process, freedom, fairness and democracy as well as formal constitution–building within the debates inside and outside the Convention running up to the Intergovernmental Conference anticipated for 2003/2004. A model using the work of Canadian political theorist James Tully is constructed. The paper applies this framework in order to analyse some aspects of the work of the Convention on the Future of the Union, looking especially at questions of autonomy, representativity, internal dynamics, deliberation, receptiveness, and decision–making. The interim conclusion is drawn that the Convention method contains within itself the seeds of a critical and reflexive approach to EU constitutionalism.     

Fatal Falls from Height in Taiwan

This study conducts an investigation of fatal falls from height, examines gender differences, and compares our findings with those of Western countries. We review deaths in Taiwan caused by falls from height that underwent forensic autopsy from 1994 to 2010. Among the examined cases, 182 were suicide, 156 were accidents, and 18 were homicides. Men who fell from greater heights had a lower probability of fatal head trauma (p = 0.045), and women exhibited a lower fatal head trauma rate when falling from heights of between 10 and 25 m in accident group (p = 0.003). There was no significant difference between cases of falling from greater and lower heights within the suicide group (p = 0.834). Psychiatric illness was only reported in 20.3% and 28.8% cases in suicide and accident groups. Only in male cases was the use of psychotropic substances higher in the suicide groups than in the accident groups (p = 0.047).     

On the “Exporting” of Morality: Its Relation to Political Conservatism and Epistemic Motivation

A new phenomenon, moral exporting (ME), is introduced to capture active attempts to promote certain views of morality to others. It was hypothesized that political conservatives would be more likely to exhibit ME, due in part to strong epistemic concerns for certainty that may become attached to the moral domain. Related items from the 1988 and 2006 General Social Surveys were analyzed, and new scales were developed to better assess ME and specific moral-related epistemic concerns (moral absolutism). In a second study, these scales were administered to a large college student sample along with measures of political ideology and need for closure (NFC). Results generally showed that political conservatism was strongly related to the new ME factor. Further analysis determined that both moral absolutism (MA) and NFC accounted for significant portions of this relationship, but that the specific epistemic construct (MA) was a more proximal mediator. Discussion centers on further distinguishing ME and MA from related constructs, as well as on future research and applications.