Rule-making, rule-breaking? Law breaking by government in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

This article concerns a relatively novel issue: rule breaking and unlawful conduct by government bodies; to which degree does it occur, what is the nature of this misconduct, what are the underlying motives, and what are the consequences and possible solutions? Rule and law breaking is harmful for the credibility and integrity of a state and its law enforcement system. However, very little empirical research has been carried out into this issue, in comparison to research into state crime. There is little clarity about how public actors deal with criminal and administrative laws and rules in areas like environmental protection, safety regulations and working conditions. Do government bodies set a good example? Is their behaviour better or worse than the public and businesses? An analytical framework for research will be presented and also the results of an extensive research project in the Netherlands; the main themes of which have been benchmarked against data from the United Kingdom. The article will conclude with a summary of the main findings and a number of suggestions for further research and policy development.     

From secessionism to regionalism: The changing nature of territorial politics in Western Australia

The development of territorial politics within federal systems over time, specifically change in the nature and intensity of territorial claims, is an understudied question. This article looks at the case of Western Australia (WA) to gain a better understanding of the political dynamics behind changing territorial politics in a federation, more particularly around economic and fiscal policies. In April 1933, grievances surrounding the economic and fiscal policies of the Commonwealth government grew so loud in WA that a referendum on secession saw a majority of voters opting to leave Australia altogether. In the end, not only did WA not secede but the secessionist movement disappeared. Today, ironically, the equalization system, whose formalization through the creation of the Commonwealth Grants Commission one month following the referendum was designed to reduce regional disparities and discontent, is at the centre of regionalist politics in the state.     

The Rise and Transformation of the Radical Right Movement in Denmark, 1980–2015

This article examines the rise and subsequent development and transformation of the new radical right movement in Denmark from 1980–2015. The Danish radical right emerged from xenophobic subcultures as a reaction to increasing immigration during the 1980s and evolved into a social movement of nationalist associations, militant skinheads, and neo-Nazis that attempted to conquer the streets. This attempt was met by an antiracist countermovement, which built up a coalition of left-wing militants and moderate political organizations that put a temporary end to the radical right as a social movement during the second half of the 1990s. However, from 2001 national and international circumstances offered new opportunities for the Danish radical right both in the streets and as a parliamentary voice.     

Portugal

European Journal of Political Research -     

Genetic data analysis of nine STRs in two Caribbean Colombian populations: César and Guajira.

POPULATION: We have analyzed the distribution of the allele frequencies and parameters of forensic interest at nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci (CSF1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D13S317, FGA, TH01, TPOX, and vWA) in a sample population of 165 unrelated individuals from César and Guajira, Caribbean populations of Colombia.