Political Recentralisation and the Diffusion of Solar Energy in China

Abstract

This article uses principal–agent theory to examine the governance of solar energy in China and question the notion of ‘fragmented authoritarianism’ in Chinese governance. It demonstrates that the governance of solar energy in China operates on two levels, with ‘police patrol’ control and monitoring mechanisms at the meso- or sectoral level combined with ‘fire alarm’ modes of political control at the micro-level. Drawing on original interview material, we argue that this two-level model and distinct set of supervisory institutions have allowed China, as a relatively late entrant into the solar energy sector, to address the growing environmental emergency within China and catch up technologically with the West.     

High School Context,Heterosexual Scripts,and Young Women’s Sexual Development

Adolescence is a critical period for sexual development, and previous research demonstrates that school cultures play an important role in shaping adolescent sexual behavior. However, little is known about the role of school context for developing sexual attitudes and sexual sense of self. This study explores how sexual cultures that emerge within high schools shape the sexual development of young women during the transition to adulthood. Using three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a sample of 9th to 12th graders in U.S. schools in 1994–1995 who were surveyed in 1996 and in 2001 when they were 20 to 26 years old (N?=?1,017), this study measures school sexual cultures using the aggregated sexual beliefs and behaviors of students within the school. Multilevel analyses are used to explore the association between these school sexual cultures and young women’s sexual attitudes (perceived obstacles to using birth control, guilt and shame about sex, and expectations of sexual pleasure) in adolescence and their sexual experiences (equal initiation of sex with partner and frequent orgasm with partner) in adulthood. Overall, the results suggest that schools play an important role in young women’s developing attitudes toward sex and contraception. High school sexual cultures are also associated with young women’s sexual behavior in adult heterosexual relationships, as young women who attended schools with students who had higher levels of religious attendance or guilt and shame about sex were less likely to report being an equal initiator in their adult relationships. However, the relatively small impact of high school sexual cultures on young women’s sexual experiences in adulthood, particularly in terms of sexual pleasure, suggests that more proximal contexts and relationships may play a more significant role in shaping their current sexual behaviors.     

Securing the Only Game in Town: The EU's Political Conditionality and Democratic Consolidation in Post-Soviet Latvia

The state of democracy in post-communist Europe has been subject to some debate in recent years; but it needs to take account of longer-term trends. The focus here is on how far the EU's political conditionality has contributed to democratic consolidation using an in-depth case study of post-Soviet Latvia. The record of the impacts of conditionality up to EU entry is examined and then attention turns to whether post-accession tendencies have demonstrated any significant changes after the end of Brussels' monitoring. Using a comparative framework, this article shows that the outcome after four years of EU membership is mixed with both positive and negative results. It is concluded that there is no automatic locking-in effect of European integration; and that conditionality assists democratic consolidation more in structural than in attitudinal or behavioural terms.     

Recent Developments

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Quantitative intersectionality: Imperatives and opportunities for advancing social equity

Social equity is a pillar of public administration (PA), yet its actualization remains elusive. The path forward to closing persistent social equity gaps requires the utilization of quantitative intersectionality in PA. This article explores the literature related to quantitative intersectionality and the imperative for use in the scholarship and practices of PA. To exemplify this concept in practice, we present a case study examining Vocational Rehabilitation performance data reports. Findings illustrate how quantitative intersectionality provides an opportunity to unpack overlapping identities for people with disabilities whose individual characteristics include historically oppressed race/ethnicity and gender identities. Findings assert the imperative for using quantitative intersectionality to achieve social equity for all.     

British Intelligence in the Middle East, 1898–1906

This article examines British intelligence efforts in Turkish Arabia at the turn of the twentieth century. It argues that intelligence collection was really three separate efforts, carried out by the War Office, the Foreign Office, and the Government of India, and it reflected concerns about British decline, the problems experienced during the Boer War, as well as an effort to penetrate the ‘information order’ of India's sub-empire. Although intelligence efforts suffered from bureaucratic disharmony in Whitehall, and between London and the Government of India, valuable contributions were nevertheless made to Britain's knowledge of Turkish Arabia.     

German reunification

The Unification Process in Germany. From Dictatorship to Democracy. By Gert‐Joachim Glaessner. London: Pinter, 1992. Pp.viii + 248, index. £37.50. ISBN 1–85567–015–1.

German Unification. Process and Outcomes. Edited by M. Donald Hancock and Helga A. Walsh. Boulder, San Francisco, Oxford: Westview Press, 1994. Pp.x + 393, biblio, index. £11.95 (paperback). ISBN 0–8133–1965‐X.

Die Gestaltung der Deutschen Einheit. Edited by Eckhard Jesse and Armin Mitter. Bonn: Bouvier Verlag, 1992. Pp.447, chronology, biblio. DM 30. ISBN 3–416–02364–1.

United Germany and the New Europe. Edited by Heinz D. Hurz. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1993. Pp.xviii + 333, index. £49.95. ISBN 1–85278–584–5.

German Reunification. A Reference Guide and Commentary By Jonathan Osmond et al. Harlow: Longman, 1992. Pp.xiii + 311, 3 maps, chronologies, biblio, index. £55. ISBN 0–582–09650–2.

The Diplomacy of German Unification. By Stephen F. Szabo. New York: St Martin's Press, 1992. Pp.xiv + 162, chronology, biblio, index. £22.95. ISBN 0–312–08057–3.

Handworterbuch zur deutschen Einheit. Edited by Werner Weidenfeld and Karl‐Rudolf Korte. Frankfurt, New York: Campus Verlag, 1992. Pp.800, index. DM. 8 (paperback). ISBN 3–593–34583–8.     

Book reviews

Gilles Deleuze and the Question of Philosophy PHILIP GOODCHILD London: Associated University Presses, 1996

Baudelaire and Schizoanalysis: The Sociopoetics of Modernism EUGENE HOLLAND Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993

Australian Television and International Mediascapes STUART CUNNINGHAM & ELIZABETH JACKA Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Sociolingwistics and Language History: Studies based on the Corpus of Early English Correspondence TERTTU NEVALAINEN & HELENA RAUMOLIN‐BRUNBERG (Eds) Language and Computers: Studies in Practical Linguistics No 15, Amsterdam/Atlanta., GA: Rodopi, 1996

Fear of the Dark. ‘Race’, Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema LOLA YOUNG London and New York: Routledge, 1996

Deleuze: A Critical Reader PAUL PATTON (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell, 1996

A Guattari Reader GARY GENOSKO (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell, 1996

Counterworks. Managing the Diversity of Knowledge R. FARDON (Ed.) London: Routledge, 1995     

Characteristics that predict firesetting in male and female mentally disordered offenders

Few studies have adequately explored the characteristics of male and female mentally disordered firesetters and compared these to those of non-firesetting mentally disordered offenders. Furthermore, there is a paucity of research examining the characteristics which can predict repeat firesetting within this population. The current study aimed to examine similarities and differences in the characteristics of (1) male and female mentally disordered firesetters, (2) male and female mentally disordered firesetters compared to non-firesetting offenders, and (3) one-time and repeat firesetters. Furthermore, the ability of these characteristics to predict offence status (i.e. firesetter or non-firesetter) and repeat firesetting was explored. Information was collected from patient hospital records for 77 (43 firesetters, 34 non-firesetters) mentally disordered offenders; including sociodemographic, family and personal background, psychiatric, and offence history factors. The findings suggest that mentally disordered firesetters are similar to their non-firesetting counterparts on key characteristics; however, firesetters are more likely to have an expressed interest in fire/explosives and a diagnosis of a schizophrenic disorder and female firesetters are more likely to have a higher number of firesetting incidents than males. Furthermore, findings suggest that fire interest is the largest predictor of repeat firesetting. Clinical implications in terms of treatment and risk assessment are discussed.