American Terrorism and Extremist Crime Data Sources and Selectivity Bias: An Investigation Focusing on Homicide Events Committed by Far-Right Extremists

This paper examines the reliability of the methods used to capture homicide events committed by far-right extremists in a number of open source terrorism data sources. Although the number of research studies that use open source data to examine terrorism has grown dramatically in the last 10 years, there has yet to be a study that examines issues related to selectivity bias. After reviewing limitations of existing terrorism studies and the major sources of data on terrorism and violent extremist criminal activity, we compare the estimates of these homicide events from 10 sources used to create the United States Extremist Crime Database (ECDB). We document incidents that sources either incorrectly exclude or include based upon their inclusion criteria. We use a “catchment-re-catchment” analysis and find that the inclusion of additional sources result in decreasing numbers of target events not identified in previous sources and a steadily increasing number of events that were identified in any of the previous data sources. This finding indicates that collectively the sources are approaching capturing the universe of eligible events. Next, we assess the effects of procedural differences on these estimates. We find considerable variation in the number of events captured by sources. Sources include some events that are contrary to their inclusion criteria and exclude others that meet their criteria. Importantly, though, the attributes of victim, suspect, and incident characteristics are generally similar across data source. This finding supports the notion that scholars using open-source data are using data that is representative of the larger universe they are interested in. The implications for terrorism and open source research are discussed.     

Give them what they want? The permissibility of pediatric placebo-controlled trials under the best pharmaceuticals for children act

This article discusses the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act and the FDA's request for placebo-controlled studies of drugs to treat OCD and depression in children. First, the article explains the need to test drugs in children and examines the reasons this testing has not occurred. Next, the article describes the legislative and administrative responses to remedy this lack of research and assesses the ethics and legality of their implementation. The article concludes that these initiatives are legally and ethically acceptable until a safe and effective treatment is determined--at which point the use of placebos in pediatric testing must be replaced with active controls.     

Localizing Gender Equality after Conflict

Debates have grown in recent years concerning the realistic utility and application of international human rights law to a local context. Since 2000, the United Nations Security Council has issued eight Women, Peace, and Security resolutions geared toward promoting gender equality measures in conflict prevention during conflict and post-conflict settings. The first of these resolutions, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, has been adopted by a number of UN Member States through National Action Plans (NAPs), which provide a framework and roadmap for integrating gender equality measures at the domestic level. Although NAPs were once considered promising, they have largely been unsuccessful.

By examining the implementation challenges facing other gender equality measures and localization programs that seek more effective implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Resolutions, the following argues that a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach must be considered more seriously by international actors supporting implementation and integration of international human rights law, not only for the obvious reason that it emboldens local agency in the adoption process, but also because it is likely to produce outcomes that are meaningful and sustainable for the communities most affected by these provisions.

As such, continued emphasis on change that emanates from the top down in a given country often ignores the reality that gender equality measures in international human rights law are often perceived by governments and civil society actors as a serious disruption to domestic gender norms. Sole reliance on state institutions to deliver these commitments is flawed because it fails to recognize the necessary dialog and contestation among various stakeholders concerning the role of external norms in a local context.     

Disappearing act: The representation of corporate crime research in criminological literature

Following the labeling, conflict, and radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s and the attention these perspectives directed toward crimes committed by the powerful, it became commonplace for most criminologists to assume that corporate and white-collar crime received adequate attention in criminological and criminal justice literature. At the same time, corporate and white-collar crime researchers continued to assert that the behaviors they studied remain underrepresented in criminological literature, especially relative to the level of harm these behaviors cause. This article examines these two competing assumptions concerning the prevalence of corporate and white-collar crime literature during the later 1990s by: (1) analyzing the contents of several major criminological and criminal justice journals over a five-year time period; and (2) analyzing the coverage, placement, and integration of white-collar and corporate crime discussions in criminology and criminal justice textbooks. In addition, twenty-one Ph.D. granting criminology departments were polled to determine whether they offered regular and required courses on corporate and white-collar crime. Representativeness was determined through comparisons of the number of journal articles and the number of textbook pages published on white-collar and corporate crime indicators relative to the number of articles and pages published on several other criminological issues. Indicators of and the determination of representativeness are related to indicators of the seriousness (financial costs and level of violence) and impact of corporate and white-collar crime on society compared to the seriousness and impact of street crimes.     

Uganda and U.S. Foreign Policy

Washington's relationships with the “leveraged allies” preferred by realists—those countries that have little choice but to follow America's lead—have long been considered more reliable than in its relationships with the “natural allies” favored by idealists: prosperous, democratic nations that share the goals and interests of the United States. President Bush's foreign policy requires these natural allies, but many U.S. government officials are more wary. Uganda under President Museveni is a model “natural ally” candidate, with its relatively humane and democratic internal policies, but its greater capacity to act without American leverage, approval, or supervision is likely to worry realist career diplomats.