Misappropriation of Institutions: Some Lessons from the Environmental Dimension of the NAFTA Investor-State Dispute Settlement Process

Trade regimes at all levels have confronted the dual challenge of rapidly expanding foreign direct investment, and the vigorous growth of international environmental regimes. Attempts to develop a global investment regime have encountered resistance, not least from environmental interests. At the same time, regional trade regimes have sought to address both the environmental and the investment agenda but in a very different manner. This article looks at problems encountered with the investor-state dispute settlement process established by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The institutional dimension of this process is largely drawn from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and existing international institutions for commercial arbitration. The article traces some of the difficulties encountered in attempting to use institutions designed for a specific purpose and implemented in one organizational context, to achieve a different purpose in another organizational context. It discusses the problems that arise when institutions appropriate for settling commercial disputes between private actors are used as the basis for balancing private interests and public goods, the environment in particular. It highlights the importance of a more developed understanding of the interplay between institutions and organizations at the international level so as to avoid undesired outcomes.     

Be Careful What You Wish For: Security Challenges Facing the Korean Peninsula During a Potential Unification Process

There is a lacuna in the literature analyzing the mid-term (6-24 months) period after a DPRK contingency that results in the Pyongyang regime’s relatively sudden and unmanaged fall. This article helps fill that gap, particularly with respect to security issues that would challenge Korean unification efforts during such a period. Following an Introduction, Section I first makes the case for a DPRK contingency being the most plausible end to the Pyongyang regime. Assuming the scenarios from Section I, Section II addresses the question of what critical issues a unifying Korea will face over the mid-term, and how dealing with these challenges will condition the type of end-state that a unified Korea will embody. In particular we examine three challenges: (a) mid-term security provision related to potential weapons proliferation, cyber-security, organized criminality, and human security; (b) the foundations of institution-building through measures dealing with issues of transitional justice, disputed land title claims, and generating broad domestic stakeholder buy-in in a unifying Korea; (c) the disposition of Korea’s strategic alignment in a Northeast Asia that will have undergone a major alteration of the regional system. Section III concludes with policy recommendations concerning what efforts should be made now to prepare for the situations described in Sections I and II.     

Amending the Youth Criminal Justice Act, 2007–2012: dynamics and contingencies of a ‘transforming Canada’ agenda

This paper addresses the Conservative Party of Canada's three-phase effort (2007–2012) to amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act to prioritise public protection, accountability and victims' rights over prevention and rehabilitation. Drawing on critical discourse analysis and criminology and critical policy scholarship, the paper situates this tough-on-crime initiative in relation to a US-led punitive turn that Canada is belatedly catching-up on, positions this catch-up effort in relation to the Conservative's larger transforming Canada agenda, and explores cultural, institutional and political contingencies salient to its impacts on Canadian law and society.     

Does supported employment work?

Providing employment‐related services, including supported employment through job coaches, has been a priority in federal policy since the enactment of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act in 1984. We take advantage of a unique panel data set of all clients served by the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs between 1999 and 2005 to investigate whether job coaching leads to stable employment in community settings. The data contain information on individual characteristics, such as IQ and the presence of emotional and behavioral problems, that are likely to affect both employment propensity and likelihood of receiving job coaching. Our results show that unobserved individual characteristics and endogeneity strongly bias naive estimates of the effects of job coaching. However, even after correcting for these biases, an economically and statistically significant treatment effect remains. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Human plague in New Mexico: report of three autopsied cases

Plague is a deadly disease of obvious concern to individuals, communities, and public health officials. The rapid recognition of plague victims is of paramount importance in saving the lives of the victims and in the protection of contacts. Three autopsied plague cases have been presented and the pathological features have been discussed.