Bullets to ballots: The reintegration of UNITA in Angola

Angola has enjoyed mostly peace since April 2002 and is preparing for legislative elections in September 2008—the first since 1992. This paper charts the fortunes of the former rebel movement, UNITA, the Union for the Total Independence of Angola, assesses how successfully it has transformed itself from a rebel movement into the leading party of the democratic opposition and what its future prospects are. Many of the problems that UNITA faces are similar to other political opposition parties in Africa and there are few signs that UNITA is any longer disadvantaged by its violent past. The biggest threat to UNITA is that it loses badly in the September 2008 legislative elections and makes these ex-rebels irrelevant to the majority of Angolans.     

On the relationships between gender, power control, self-control, and crime

This article bridges the gap between two theories that attempt to explain the gender - crime relationship. Power-control theory posits that power relationships of parents in the public sphere are reflected in their relationship at home. Different kinds of households are thus distinguished by degrees of patriarchy. Differential socialization generates gender differences in crime across households. Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory purports that low self-control explains all crime across all groups, yet little research explored the link between low self-control and crime both among, as well as between, genders. Linking low self-control and power-control theories, this study examined the relationships gender, power-control, self-control, and crime. Results indicated that while low self-control explained both male and female criminality, the effect of parenting on the development of low self-control was complex; males and females differentially responded to parents' control. The gender-based processes that impact the development of self-control should further be explored.     

Unabhaengige Regulierungsinstanzen als parallele Institutionen ‐ Die Auseinandersetzung um die Entbuendelungsverpflichtung auf der letzten Meile in der Schweizer Telekommunikationspolitik

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Auswirkungen der Einsetzung unabhängiger Regulierungsinstanzen auf den politischen Entscheidungsprozess. Im Lichte der Literatur über institutionelle Redundanz interpretiert der Artikel dabei unabhängige Regulierungsinstanzen als Parallelinstitutionen zum traditionellen Gesetzgebungsprozess. Wenn sowohl eine unabhängige Regulatorin als auch die Institutionen des klassischen Gesetzgebungsprozess in einem Politikbereich entscheiden können, können Reformkreise einen der beiden Instanzenwege frei wählen und haben nach einer Niederlage noch einen zweite Chance in einem weiteren Verfahren. Die daraus entstehenden Interaktionen werden anhand des Konflikts um die letzte Meile in der Schweizer Telekommunikationspolitik mit einem einfachen spieltheoretischen Modell analysiert. Wie der Beitrag zeigt, bringt die Einführung paralleler Entscheidungsinstanzen Vorteile für Reformkreise, allerdings nur unter der Annahme, dass die beiden Instanzenwege unabhängig voneinander entscheiden. Andernfalls spielt die Reihenfolge der Anrufung einzelner Instanzen eine zentrale Rolle. Dabei haben jedoch wiederum die Reformkräfte einen Startvorteil: Sie können die Reihenfolge der anzurufenden Instanzenwege wählen und so die für sie erfolgsversprechendste Kombination wählen. Weiter zeigt der Beitrag auf der empirischen Ebene, dass die Kombination vieler paralleler Entscheidungsverfahren mit starken Vetopunkten innerhalb dieser Instanzenwege die Unsicherheit über den Verfahrensausgang über lange Zeit andauern lassen kann.     

Deception in Context: Coding Nonverbal Cues, Situational Variables and Risk of Detection

There are many situations in which deception may arise and understanding the behaviors associated with it are compounded by various contexts in which it may occur. This paper sets out a coding protocol for identifying cues to deception and reports on three studies, in which deception was studied in different contexts. The contexts involved manipulating risks (i.e., probability) of being detected and reconnaissance, both of which are related to terrorist activities. Two of the studies examined the impact of changing the risks of deception detection, whilst the third investigated increased cognitive demand of duplex deception tasks including reconnaissance and deception. In all three studies, cues to deception were analyzed in relation to observable body movements and subjective impressions given by participants. In general, the results indicate a pattern of hand movement reduction by deceivers, and suggest the notion that raising the risk of detection influences deceivers’ behaviors. Participants in the higher risk condition displayed increased negative affect (found in deceivers) and tension (found in both deceivers and truth-tellers) than those in lower risk conditions.