The New Feudalism: Globalization,the Market,and the Great Chain of Consumption*

Drawing on a substantive connection between liberalism and feudalism, I argue that in spite of a nominal commitment to democracy, the American political system is not substantively democratic. On the contrary, the increasing commitment to neoliberal ideology over the past 30 years is having the effect of establishing a private government, one that is strikingly similar to feudalism, where the few rule the many in the interests of the few and status arrives via consumption and market connections. Furthermore, the internationalization of the American politico-economic model, largely via transnational corporations, promises the extension of this New Feudalism throughout the world. Despite the claims that "liberal democracy" promises the end to history, in other words, the future of democracy looks particularly bleak.     

Women Police in Post‐Fitzgerald Queensland: A 20 Year Review

The Fitzgerald report was the catalyst for major reforms to Queensland's system of government and criminal justice, and included explicit recommendations related to women in policing. Reforms led to the removal of discriminatory barriers and significant improvements in the recruitment and promotion of women. However, these changes provoked a backlash in the 1990s that led to reductions in female recruitment. A return to less discriminatory policies eventually ensued, with steady improvements on key equity indicators. This paper provides a historical perspective on developments over the two decades since Fitzgerald, and includes a critical analysis of the implementation of contemporary equity and diversity strategies within the policing context. Recruitment of women police in Queensland has plateaued at one‐third and progress in the overall number of sworn women and women in management is slow. The paper concludes by emphasising the wider lessons for a more developed and proactive gender equity program in public sector employment and policing.     

Economic change and political development in China: findings from a public opinion survey

More than 20 years of economic reforms and opening up to the outside world have produced meaningful social, economic and political transformations in China. Have there been corresponding changes in the political–cultural orientations1 ‘Orientations’ here and thereafter refer to a broad range of beliefs, values, and assumptions that people hold about social and political life. Such orientations may be cognitive, affective, or evaluative. They are general in the sense that they may structure more specific attitudes or opinions. *?Yanlai Wang is a research associate at the Euro–Asia Centre; Nicholas Rees is Jean Monnet Professor of European Institutions and External Relations; and Bernadette Andreosso‐O'Callaghan is Jean Monnet Professor of Economics and Director, Euro–Asia Centre, all at the University of Limerick, Ireland. We would like to thank the University of Limerick for funding the 2000 survey. We would also like to thank Professor Andrew J. Nathan and Professor Tianjian Shi for the use of their survey questionnaire, Gary O'Brien and the two anonymous referees for their comments on the paper. View all notes of the Chinese public? This article examines some changes in orientations, based on the preliminary findings of an opinion survey conducted in China in 2000. The 2000 survey used an adapted form of a questionnaire used in a survey conducted in 1990 by Nathan and Shi. The evidence of the 2000 survey data suggests that the political–cultural orientations of the Chinese public are becoming more liberal and pro‐democratic as China's economy continues to grow, possibly providing the basis for a transition to some form of popular democracy.     

Geographical heterogeneity of Y-chromosomal lineages in Norway

Y-chromosomal variation at five biallelic markers (Tat, YAP, 12f2, SRY(10831) and 92R7) and nine multiallelic short tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385I/II and DYS388) in a Norwegian population sample are presented. The material consists of 1766 unrelated males of Norwegian origin. The geographical distribution of the population sample reflects fairly well the population distribution around the year 1942, which is the median birth year of the index persons. Seven hundred and twenty-one different Y-STR haplotypes but 726 different lineages (Y-STRs plus biallelic markers) were encountered. We observed six known (P*(xR1a), BR(xDE, J, N3, P), R1a, N3, DE, J), and one previously undescribed haplogroup (probably a subgroup within haplogroup P*(xR1a)). Four of the haplogroups (P*(xR1a), BR(xDE, J, N3, P), R1a and N3) represented about 98% of the population sample. The analysis of population pairwise differences indicates that the Norwegian Y-chromosome distribution most closely resembles those observed in Iceland, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Within Norway, geographical substructuring was observed between regions and counties. The substructuring reflects to some extent the European Y-chromosome gradients, with higher frequency of P*(xR1a) in the south-west and of R1a in the east. Heterogeneity in major founder groups, geographical isolation, severe epidemics, historical trading links and population movements may have led to population stratification and have most probably contributed to the observed regional differences in distribution of haplotypes within two of the major haplogroups.