Decentralization and the implementation of rural development in Senegal: The role of rural councils

Decentralization efforts in Francophone African countries are both rarer and far less ambitious than those in Anglophone states. The decentralization programme launched by Senegal over a decade ago is an important exception. Since 1972, when the administrative reform law took effect, Senegal has been engaged in an effort to decentralize its administrative structures in order to promote rural development, to escape from the burdens of the remnants of an overly centralized colonial system and to stem the rising tide of rural opposition (malaise paysan). This new initiative, which led to the creation of local elected councils in rural communities (communautés rurales). has thus far achieved only marginal success. The 319 rural councils suffer from serious under-financing, and often from domination by administrative authorities, especially the sous-préféts. Based on an examination of the attitudes. perceptions and behaviour of a sample of rural councillors (n = 144), particularly regarding budgetary matters, it appears that the rural communities in fact provide the possibility for some popular input into local and regional planning.     

Coastal zone management in Canada: purposes and prospects

Abstract. Coastal zone management (czm ), though a relatively new concept in Canada, has become the dominant approach to coastal planning in the United States. Its saliency has much to do with the fact that it represents an acceptable blend of views of environmentalists and public administrators, especially those concerned with land use control and natural resource management problems in coastal areas. Although not aggravated to the same degree by urban congestion, these problems in Canada are becoming sufficiently serious to require a close look at the possible benefits of czm in this country. The timeliness of this concept is underlined by the fact that Canada has just entered the ‘economic zone’ phase of ocean management with the extension of its limits of national jurisdiction for fishery purposes to 200 miles. Under the existing system of allocation of powers in this country, it is impossible to envisage any ambitious czm scheme for Canada except on the basis of joint federal-provincial undertakings, in which federal agencies would tend to have a predominant involvement in maritime activities and provincial agencies in land use issues. Moreover, the spatial conception of a single uniform zone for coastal management presents considerable difficulty. For these reasons it seems futile to recommend the sweeping organizational changes that would be desirable in order to bring about a fully systematic approach to coastal management in Canada. In particular, it would be unrealistic at this early stage to attempt to establish a single comprehensive agency to direct the diverse functions of a broad-based system of coastal management. But although a high degree of unifunctionalism will have to be maintained within the existing system of public administration, the urgency of many coastal resource problems requires that a much higher degree of inter-agency coordination be attained as a matter of national priority. To this end it is suggested initially that three Coastal Zone Commissions should be established. The mandate of each would be to identify and appraise the managerial requirements of the coastal areas within the designated region with a view to influencing policy discussions at all three levels of Canadian authority, and also perhaps those at the international level. Each Commission should also be empowered to address recommendations for further initiatives to the appropriate agencies. Sommaire. La gestion de la zone cǒtière (gzc ), concept relativement nouveau au Canada, est devenu l'objet principal de la planification cǒtière aux Etats-Unis. La prédominance de cette notion vient de ce qu'elle représente un amalgame acceptable des points de vue des spécialistes de l'environnement et d'administrateurs publics, et plus particulièrement de ceux qui s'occupent de l'usage des terres et des problèmes de gestion des ressources naturelles dans les régions cǒtières. Bien que ces problèmes ne soient pas trop compliqués par la congestion urbaine, ils sont néan-moins suffisamment sérieux pour justifier un examen approfondi des avantages éventuels de la gzc dans ce pays. Le fait que la Canada vienne d'entrer dans la phase «économique » de la gestion océanique, avec l'extension des limites de sa juridiction nationale pour la pěche à 200 milles, accroǐt la pertinence de ce concept à un moment opportun. Dans le cadre du système existant de répartition des pouvoirs dans ce pays, il n'est possible d'envisager un programme ambitieux de ce genre pour le Canada, que comme entreprise conjointe fédérale-provinciale, avec participation dominante des organismes fédéraux pour les activatés maritimes et des agences provinciales pour les questions concemant l'usage des terres. De plus, la concession spatiale d'une zone uniforme unique présente des difficultés considérables. Pour ces raisons, il semble futile de recommander le boulversement nécessaire pour adapter la gestion cǒtière au Canada de façon absolument systématique. Il serait particulièrement peu réaliste à ce stade de créer un organisme général unique pour diriger les différentes fonctions d'un large système de gestion cǒtière. Il faudra done maintenir dans une grande mesure l'unifonctionnalisme dans le cadre du système actuel d'administration maritime, mais l'urgence de nombreux problèmes concernant les ressources cǒtières exige beaucoup plus de coordination entre les organismes, coordination qui devrait constituer une priorité nationale. Pour ce faire, on a proposé initialement la création de trois commissions de zones cǒtières. Elles auraient pour mandat de dégager et d'évaluer les besoins administratifs des zones cǒtières dans les différentes régions, afin d'influencer les débats politiques aux trois niveaux gouvernementaux et peut-ětre aussi au niveau international. Chacune des commissions aurait aussi pour function de faire des recommandations aux organismes affiliés afin de formuler d'autres mesures applicables à l'avenir.     

Improving Reputation BIT by BIT: Bilateral Investment Treaties and Foreign Accountability

The literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) has paid an increasing interest to international institutions such as bilateral investment treaties (BITs), but whether BITs help attract FDI is an unsettled question. Building on the existing literature, this article argues that BITs can change investors’ perceptions and the corresponding investment they make because signing BITs signals the involvement of another powerful country that is able to compel the host government to comply. This implies that the effect of BITs is not constant across signatory countries: BITs are more effective when they are signed with rich and influential countries. Using monadic and dyadic FDI data, this article finds that BITs signed with powerful countries (defined as the top six largest economies) lead to an increase in FDI inflows (both from these signatory countries and from other countries). BITs signed with other countries, despite in a larger quantity, have little influence on FDI inflows.     

DNA Profiling Success Rates from Degraded Skeletal Remains in Guatemala

No data are available regarding the success of DNA Short Tandem Repeat (STR) profiling from degraded skeletal remains in Guatemala. Therefore, DNA profiling success rates relating to 2595 skeletons from eleven cases at the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) are presented. The typical postmortem interval was 30 years. DNA was extracted from bone powder and amplified using Identifiler and Minifler. DNA profiling success rates differed between cases, ranging from 50.8% to 7.0%, the overall success rate for samples was 36.3%. The best DNA profiling success rates were obtained from femur (36.2%) and tooth (33.7%) samples. DNA profiles were significantly better from lower body bones than upper body bones (p = <0.0001). Bone samples from males gave significantly better profiles than samples from females (p = <0.0001). These results are believed to be related to bone density. The findings are important for designing forensic DNA sampling strategies in future victim recovery investigations.     

“Bending” Evidence for a Cause: Scholar‐Advocacy Bias in Family Law

There are a number of salient public policy issues in the family law field that have invoked impassioned policy debates on a recurrent basis. In the absence of a body of research to address these critical concerns, advocates under the guise of social science scholarship have exacerbated the confusion and controversy by construing the scant available research evidence to justify their own ends, without regard to the relevance, quality, utility, and limitations of the studies. This is one of two articles on this problem that we have named “scholar‐advocacy bias.” In this article, we discuss the difference between truth in social science and truth in law. We identify common ways in which social science researchers and reviewers of research—wittingly or unwittingly—can become advocates for ideological positions and social policies at the expense of being balanced reporters of research evidence as illustrated by recent debates about overnight parenting of infants and toddlers. We also consider how adherence to established scientific principles and methods prevents the misuse of research in this way.     

Canine Population Data Generated from a Multiplex STR Kit for Use in Forensic Casework*

Abstract: Canine biological specimens are often part of the physical evidence from crime scenes. Until now, there have been no validated canine‐specific forensic reagent kits available. A multiplex genotyping system, comprising 18 short tandem repeats (STRs) and a sex‐linked zinc finger locus for gender determination, was developed for generating population genetic data assessing the weight of canine forensic DNA profiles. Allele frequencies were estimated for 236 pedigreed and 431 mixed breed dogs residing in the U.S. Average random match probability is 1 in 2 × 10³³ using the regional database and 1 in 4 × 10³⁹ using the breed dataset. Each pedigreed population was genetically distinct and could be differentiated from the mixed breed dog population but genetic variation was not significantly correlated with geographic transition. Results herein support the use of the allele frequency data with the canine STR multiplex for conveying the significance of identity testing for forensic casework, parentage testing, and breed assignments.     

A Low Turnout Landslide: Abstention at the British General Election of 1997

Turnout at the 1997 British General Election fell to a post-war low of 71 percent, raising worried speculation about long term decline in political participation. On closer analysis, however, this judgement seems premature. Most of the post-war decline in British turnout occurred between 1950 and 1970, and there is no evidence of long term decline in general election turnout between 1974 and 1997. The closeness of the electoral competition is a better predictor of national turnout than a secular trend. Close elections produce high turnout, but widely anticipated landslides (as in 1997) produce low turnouts. The 1997 election was also notable for the small ideological gap between the main parties. Analysis of individual voter abstention in 1992 and 1997 reveals that changes from one year to the other in the perceived difference between Labour and the Conservatives is crucial to accounting for the fall in turnout between the two contests. Turnout in 1997 was low because the result was widely anticipated and because relatively few saw important policy differences between the parties, not because British democracy is in crisis.     

Local Context, Retrospective Economic Evaluations, and Voting: The 1997 General Election in England and Wales

Local context is widely believed to influence voting behavior with, for example, the voters' evaluation of the state of their local economy affecting whether they choose to reward or punish the incumbent government. Such reward-punish models apply in the United Kingdom at the national scale: those who believe that the government has delivered prosperity vote for its return, whereas those who believe that its policies have produced a worsening economic situation vote against it. This article shows that the operation of this calculus varies spatially, according to the level of unemployment in the voter's home area: the higher the local level of unemployment the lower the probability of someone who thought that government polices had delivered national prosperity voting for the incumbent government. It also shows that this is a consequence of cross-pressured situations. Those who thought that the government's policies had delivered both national and local prosperity were very likely to vote for it; those who thought that the policies had delivered national but not local prosperity were less likely to vote for it—especially in areas of high unemployment.