Why outcomes matter: reclaiming distributive justice

ABSTRACT

A significant strain of libertarian thinking is hostile to the idea that distributions of wealth and/or income (economic outcomes) can be judged according to antecedently determined normative standards. The general conceptual argument can be seen in the works of F. A. Hayek and Robert Nozick, both of whom argued that when governments step in to adjust outcomes, they coercively and intentionally distort the terms on which individuals make their individual decisions. By contrast, the coercion that comes with market exchanges, in that it is beyond the intentions of market actors, is not an affront to freedom, rightly understood. The proper role of government is thus to protect these exchanges (economic procedures) and leave outcomes – whatever they are – unaltered. I argue here that this critique of distributive justice turns on a false distinction between economic procedures and economic outcomes, and that reconceptualizing this distinction allows us not only to overcome objections to outcome-based distributive justice, but also to reconsider how the legitimacy of a system of ownership is determined.     

The young and the restless: housing access in the critical years

Abstract

How do governmental housing policies affect the ability of young people to exit the parental home? This paper makes three claims. First and most important, governments that create accessible and liquid mortgage markets make it easier for young people to launch from the parental home. Second, even in those countries with more liquid housing markets, younger generations today still have an increasingly difficult time realising their preferences compared to prior generations. Third, increasing income and wealth inequality interacts with housing markets to create this uneven playing field both within and across generations. This paper examines these relationships in 20 high-income OECD countries. Fewer adult children live in the parental home in countries with deep mortgage markets, high levels of social rented housing, tax relief for ownership, low buyers' transaction costs and high residential mobility. These countries cut across the traditional housing regime typologies, highlighting the need for additional housing-specific theory building.     

Improving the Comprehensibility of a Canadian Police Caution on the Right to Silence

Modifications to a Canadian police caution on the right to silence were made in an attempt to increase its comprehensibility. University participants were asked to imagine themselves in an arrest and interrogation situation in which they were either innocent or guilty. It was hypothesized that participants who received the modified caution would score significantly higher on measures of comprehension than those who received the standard caution. Results indicated that comprehension was significantly higher among those that received the modified caution and that those with higher comprehension scores were more likely to exercise their right to silence. These findings suggest that clarifying and standardizing how a detainee’s rights are communicated will lead to better comprehension and greater protection against false or coerced confessions.     

The State Elite,PRSPs and Policy Implementation in Aid-dependent Ghana

This article describes and explains the impact of the donor-driven Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the aid modalities surrounding it in Ghana. It focuses on the period in which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was in power from 2001 until 2008, but places this within the broader context of aid dependence in Ghana since the 1980s. It is argued that the PRSP documents produced by the government had little impact on implementing policy actions, but rather their function was to secure debt relief and the continuation of foreign aid from official donors. The article examines what was actually implemented during the NPP government and the factors that influenced those actions. More generally it highlights the constraints Ghanaian governments have faced in pursuing economic transformation within contemporary domestic and international contexts.     

A comparison of the neuropsychological profiles of adult male sex offenders and non-offenders with a learning disability

Abstract

The present study compared the neumpsychologlcal pmfiles of a group of adult male sex offenden with a laming disability (n-42) with a group of adult male non-offenders with a learning disability (n-42) using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (1986). The groups wen matched for full-scale IQ. Thc study found that the non-offender group had significantly higher Verbal 1Q scorn than the sex offender group. No significant differences wen found for Performance IQ. The non-ofinder group was also found to have significantly hlgher scores on the Vocabulary sub-test than the sex offender group and the sex offender group was found to have significantly higher scores on the ObJecr Assembly subtest than the non-ofinder group. Finally. the sex offender group was found to have a significantly lower Verbal IQ than Performance IQ. No significant Verbal-Performance discrepancy was found for the non-offender group. Possible implications of these findings are dlscusscd.     

Organizing for Resistance: How Group Structure Impacts the Character of Violence

How does the way in which a group organizes change the lethality of the group's attacks? In this article, we argue that groups organized vertically as hierarchies are likely to conduct more lethal attacks. We build our argument around three advantages inherent to centralized structures: functional differentiation, clear command and control structures, and accountability. We argue that each of these characteristics positively impacts an organization's ability to deliver an effective lethal blow. To test our argument, we use a mixed method approach, drawing on empirical evidence and support from a time-series case study. Our large-N analysis examines the trends in more than 19,000 attacks. In this test we develop a novel proxy measure for hierarchy based on a group's bases of operation and non-violent activities. To complement the empirical work, we examine the history of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), the Basque separatist group. Over several decades of violent operations, this group's structure has changed dramatically. We analyze how these shifts impacted ETA's ability to maximize the effectiveness and damage of their attacks. In both the case study and large-N analysis, the more hierarchically organized the group, the more easily the group can orchestrate lethal attacks.     

Russia and NATO expansion: The uneasy basis of the founding act

Much of the debate since the formation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy has focused on the political will, or lack thereof, as the principal obstacle to a successful European security policy. However, even if a cohesive will to develop a clear and operational foreign and security policy exists, the lack of military capabilities within the EU would make the implementation of that policy difficult, if not impossible, for the foreseeable future. The emerging political will to develop a CFSP needs to be paralleled by significant improvements in the force projection capabilities of the EU member states in order for a CFSP and future Common Defence Policy to be credible.     

Why do some Arab citizens see democracy as unsuitable for their country?

Why do some Arab citizens regard democracy favourably but see it as unsuitable for their country? Modernization theory contends that economic development creates modern citizens who demand democracy. Cultural theories see Islam and democracy as incompatible. Government performance theories argue that citizens who perceive the current authoritarian government as acting in a transparent manner will demand greater democracy. I argue that attitudes toward democracy are shaped by beliefs about its political, economic, and religious consequences, including those related to sectarianism. I test this consequence-based theory using Arab Barometer data from six nations. Sixty percent hold favourable views of democracy generally and for their country, while 7% reject democracy. Twenty-seven percent support democracy generally but see it as unsuitable for their country. Beliefs that democracy will have negative consequences and perceptions of poor government performance are the most important predictors of democracy's unsuitability. Modernization theory receives support, but Islamic identity and beliefs do not consistently predict attitudes in the expected direction. These findings offer a more nuanced understanding of Arab public opinion and suggest that concerns about the consequences of free elections affect support for democracy as much as assessments of the political and economic performance of the current authoritarian regime.     

Developing Technological Capabilities in Agro-Industry: Ghana's Experience with Fresh Pineapple Exports

This article examines the emergence and trajectory of a new agro-industry in Ghana, the pineapple export industry, using the technological capabilities approach. It explains the limited expansion of the industry and its declining competitiveness in the face of new competition by looking at how Ghanaian exporters developed technological capabilities initially and the incentives and disincentives to building on those capabilities. The article argues that at the heart of the industry's crisis was an inability to further develop technological capabilities. The crisis had systemic features that have broader implications for developing new agro-industries in Ghana as well as other African countries.