The role of principles for allocating governance levels in the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development

The global deliberations on sustainable development took another step in their more than 20-year history at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. A recurrent dimension of these negotiations is the allocation of governance to one or more specific levels in the outcome document. This allocation reflects the international consensus on who at what level should do what in sustainable development, and it has implications for both the effectiveness and legitimacy of sustainable development governance. This paper investigates the negotiation process and outcome of the conference preceding Rio + 20, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, analysing the extent to which normative principles played a role in the allocation of governance to specific levels. This was done through qualitative and quantitative analyses of the different drafts of the outcome document. The results show that, although there were clearly limited explicit discussions on principles, it was possible to infer elements of several normative principles for allocating governance in the arguments and outcome of the negotiations. Most prominent among these principles were national sovereignty, but both the principles of substantive and procedural subsidiarity could be detected as well as the principles of fit, culpability and capacity.     

Influence of Velocity on Variability in Gait Kinematics: Implications for Recognition in Forensic Science

Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage is often available from crime scenes and may be used to compare perpetrators with suspects. Usually, the footage comprises incomplete gait cycles at different velocities, making gait pattern identification from crimes difficult. This study investigated the concurrence of joint angles throughout a gait cycle at three different velocities (3.0, 4.5, 6.0 km/h). Six datasets at each velocity were collected from 16 men. A variability range VR throughout the gait cycle at each velocity for each joint angle for each person was calculated. The joint angles at each velocity were compared pairwise, and whenever this showed values within the VR of this velocity, the case was positive. By adding the positives throughout the gait cycle, phases with high and low concurrences were located; peak concurrence was observed at mid‐stance phase. Striving for the same velocity for the suspect and perpetrator is recommended.     

Soft-Power Safari

正Focus of U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit on cooperation,not competition,with China By Dane EricksonIn just a few short weeks,51 African heads of state will descend on Washington,D.C.for a historic U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit With the theme of"investing in the next generation,"the White House has announced that the event will"focus on trade and investment in Africa,     

The long‐term effects on children and adolescents of a policy providing work supports for low‐income parents

New Hope, an employment‐based poverty‐reduction intervention for adults evaluated in a random‐assignment experimental design, had positive impacts on children's achievement and social behavior two and five years after random assignment. The question addressed in this paper was the following: Did the positive effects of New Hope on younger children diminish or even reverse when children reached the challenges of adolescence (eight years after random assignment)? Small positive impacts on school progress, school motivation, positive social behavior, child well‐being, and parent control endured, but impacts on school achievement and problem behavior were no longer evident. The most likely reasons for lasting impacts were that New Hope families were slightly less likely to be poor, and children had spent more time in center‐based child care and structured activities. New Hope represents a model policy that could produce modest improvements in the lives of low‐income adults and children. © 2011 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The Challenges of Consulting the Public on Science Policy: Examining the Development of European Risk Assessment Policy for Genetically Modified Animals

With the growing importance of public engagement in science policy making and declining levels of public trust in food production, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has attempted to embed “good governance” approaches to strengthen scientific independence and open up risk decision making, which include the use of public consultations. However, “opening up” of risk assessment policies reveals some tensions; namely, balancing the goals of scientific excellence and transparency, protecting science from interests, addressing value judgments, and limited opportunities to debate ethical and social issues. EFSA's development of risk assessment policy for genetically modified animals is used as a case study to analyze these tensions. This analysis suggests that in order to fulfill good governance commitments and maintain trust in risk governance, closer cooperation between EFSA and the European Commission is required to provide “space” for debating the broader risk management issues. This publically accessible space may be needed alongside rather than instead of EFSA's consultation.     

Fuel Distribution in Brazil： Profile and Stability of Plural Governances

This paper is dedicated to the study of governances adopted by fuel distributors in their transactions with gas station retailers in the State of Sgo Paulo. With the deregulation of the market, plural forms were allowed and have been a recurring presence. The main aim of the paper is to investigate why these plural forms have remained on the market The main hypothesis of this paper is that the plural forms found are transitory, not as a result of increased efficiency and reduced transaction costs, but because plural forms have become a key strategic step in securing business partners and promoting greater growth of the firm. Moreover, it is argued that the institutional environment has a significant influence on the coordination of plural forms, directly interfering with their stability. The research method was qualitative research with a group of 25 distribution companies which account for about 80% of sales of ethanol and gasoline in the domestic market.