The limits to global redistribution: Thinking like an egalitarian labour movement

Should global egalitarians based in a given country seek to redistribute all wealth equally amongst the world's people, recognising no priority for fellow citizens? This philosophical question is directly relevant to a pressing practical one: what is the appropriate stance for egalitarians to adopt in controversies around foreign aid and free trade? This paper explores how such matters might look to a labour movement situated in a better-off country but committed to global equality. There are several reasons offered why the latter would not seek an immediately equal share-out of its country's wealth among all the world's individuals. Yet the same considerations that support limiting global obligations also point to various limits to the limits, and imply redistributive generosity on the part of richer societies. A still more radical global redistribution becomes possible only with world economic governance, for which egalitarians should strive.     

The primary runoff as a remnant of the old South

During the Jim Crow era, the American South developed a distinctive one-party political structure. One important feature of that structure was the primary runoff, which was adopted to require candidates to generate majority support in the nomination process and to stimulate competition within the Democratic Party (thus keeping the Republican Party irrelevant). In this piece, I argue that although the South has become a two-party region and the runoff has lived beyond its original purposes, it continues to do many of the things it was put into place to do. As in decades past, the runoff still has an impact on such things as candidate emergence, the competitiveness of primaries, and the ability for voters to reevaluate their choices.     

中美关系:来自美国方面的评估

葛莱仪女士的文章从美方的角度回顾了中美关系的进展和面临的挑战,反映了美学界对中美关系的部分看法,对研究中美关系问题具有参考作用。     

Business priorities and the relative importance of state and local economic-development incentives

State and local governments commonly use a variety of incentives to encourage economic development and business retention. Policies which include economic development incentives are commonly criticized as being ineffective and wasteful uses of public funds. This paper addresses the issue of wastefulness through a business community's assessment of the relative value of eighteen incentives commonly used for business retention and development. Results are based on survey responses from nearly 700 businesses located in Wichita, Kansas. This study illuminates differences in value assigned to incentives by different types of business. Findings indicate that state and local governments that offer incentives without consideration of business type are in many cases delivering “windfalls” to the private sector. Even such highly touted incentives as property tax abatements are not valued equally by all types of businesses. This paper provides state and local governments with an improved understanding of business investment motivation and the relative value of different incentives to effective economic development policy.     

Crime and community-based intervention strategies: exploring opportunities through partnerships between local government and a low-income community

Crime and fear of crime represent growing threats to quality of life which have many social, political and economic implications for society. Traditional law enforcement tactics to mitigate these threats have been ineffective in low-income communities and neighborhoods. This research examines a partnership between local government and a low-income, minority community which teamed community policing with a community-based organization for purposes of community development. The perceptions of three primary groups of stakeholders including youth, parents and community leaders are used to assess differences in perspective related to fear of crime. Findings indicate that community leaders involved with development efforts were much more likely to define crime and fear of crime as serious in comparison to citizens who live in crime-plagued communities. A relationship between adult and youth held fear suggests intergenerational transfer of fear of crime between adults and youth. Findings indicate progress addressing crime and fear of crime through a partnership with local government and community policing even though the community has not fully accepted the community-based organization as a vehicle for change. The preliminary results reported here suggest that community policing strategies may be useful for stabilizing the community and laying the foundation for community-based development.