A situational theory of pork-barrel politics: The shifting logic of discretionary allocations in India

ABSTRACT

Despite the extensive literature on distributive politics, there is still is a lack of a theory of how political and fiscal institutions interact to shape the pork barreling ability of national leaders in a federal parliamentary democracy. This article examines how the party system types (dominant party versus coalition system) and particular attributes of discretionary grants (providing credit claiming opportunity or facilitating side payments) influence opportunities for pork-barrel politics. This article proposes a situational theory of distributive politics that states that incentives for exclusive targeting of affiliated states in one-party dominant systems drive national ruling parties toward particularism while the shrinking opportunity to indulge in such a policy in multiparty coalition systems creates a universalization effect. The disaggregated analysis of discretionary grants using Indian data for 14 states for the one-party dominant period (1972–89) and the coalition era (1996–2012) confirms the theoretical expectations. Additionally, the exercise brings to the fore the fact that the shift from particularism to universalism occurs for schematic grants that provide credit claiming opportunity. The ad hoc grants that are like side payments remain subject to particularism.     

Responding to Western Critiques of the Muslim World: Deconstructing the Cliché of Islamophobia and the Genealogies of Islamic Extremism

This paper is premised on the questions of whether Islam as a religion, spiritual domain, cultural practice and philosophy should be held responsible for whatever activities the Muslims choose to do in their personal capacity. Does the ascribed status of individuals being Muslims and their choice of declaring themselves as terrorists in the name of Islam entail that they are true followers of the religion and have been theologically and spiritually inspired by it? These questions have sprung up because Islam as a religion has constituted the fundamental component of western interpretation of the reasons for the rise of violent extremism involving Muslim radicals. In this context, the objective of this paper is to examine how the contemporary western interpretations, linking the actions of Muslim extremist groups with those of the ontology and epistemology of Islam, are predicated on a faulty cognition of the nature and the guiding principles of that religion itself. To accomplish this, the paper critiques Samuel Huntington's ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis and Bernard Lewis's version of the roots of Muslim extremism.     

Transfer of technology: A classification of motivations

Each technology transfer (TT) transaction takes place because of some motivation on the part of the respective participants. This paper attempts to create a generic taxonomy that lists such motivations and links them to the participants in the transfer. Although the past three decades have recorded an exponential growth in the literature of TT, this literature is highly fractionated. Yet, as the literature has grown several taxonomies have surfaced dealing with the various aspects of TT. Most, however, were designed to serve one of the many scientific disciplines or professions concerned with technology transfer. Zhao and Reisman (1992) provide a synthesis of these taxonomic efforts. This paper in turn addresses an aspect of TT not previously dealt with in this manner.     

Analysis of some commonly found inhalants using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC MS) – Effect of substrates on the identification of inhalants

Inhalant abuse is a serious and ever-evolving problem for our society. Inhalants are abused more commonly by teenagers and adolescents. Inhalants such as glue, paint thinners, correction fluid, and nail paint remover are easily available in the market which makes them readily abused. Out of various methods of abuse, huffing (placing a piece of cloth soaked with inhalant is placed in the mouth), bagging (placing head in a polythene bag containing inhalant), and ballooning (balloons filled with inhalant are used for inhaling vapors through the mouth) are most common. Inhalant abuse results in multiple target organ dysfunction with neuritis and brain damage due to the dissolution of the myelin sheath. In acute poisoning cases, it might cause death due to asphyxia and sudden sniffing syndrome. In such cases, various articles containing traces of inhalants could be retrieved from the scene of incidence and to detect these traces become an important facet of the investigation. However, it might be difficult due to the rapid evaporation of inhalants and the formation of reaction product species. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the effect of three substrates (balloon, cloth, polythene) on component profiles of four paint thinners and four nail paint removers. The study suggests that although some components are retained, there is the formation of a large number of reaction product species and these must be taken into consideration before furnishing the opinion. These reaction product species might also be inhalant specific which must be further explored.     

Role of business in India’s foreign policy

The paper examines if the business sector in India has had a tangible influence on India’s foreign policy. It suggests several factors for which private business failed to have any influence on India’s foreign policy during the first three decades after Independence. It suggests a conceptual typology of the principal drivers of India’s foreign policy, which, according to the author, provides an effective framework for understanding the role of the private sector since it began to wield some influence in the mid-1980s. The paper uses this threefold classification to argue that, in the period from the 1980s to today, contrary to the general perception, the role of the Indian business sector (and especially of industry associations) on India’s foreign policy has been marginal and restricted to some specific sectors.     

Assessment of post-mortem submersion interval using total aquatic decomposition scores of drowned human cadavers

Investigating drowning-related deaths remains a significant problem for forensic personnel all over the world. The previously published decomposition scoring method like the total aquatic decomposition (TAD) score promises to estimate the correct post-mortem submersion interval (PMSI) in aquatic habitats through the assessment and calculation of the decomposition rate and accumulated degree days (ADD). The current study comprised of 53 drowned death cases belonging to various districts of Haryana from May 2016 to August 2017. The regression and Pearson's correlation indicated a significant correlation between the TAD scores and the actual ADD (calculated through water temperatures) (r² = 0.917) and between the actual and the estimated ADDs (calculated through TAD scores used by Heaton et al. [21]) (r = 0.9585). The results indicated that the estimated ADD tends to over predict the PMSI compared to the actual ADD. It is further confirmed by paired t-test, which showed the mean of actual ADD (mean = 349) to be significantly lower than the mean of estimated ADD (mean = 663). Moreover, these methods will help forensic investigators and researchers formulate region-specific regression equations for PMSI estimation.