Transnational delegation in global environmental governance: When do non‐state actors govern?

Non‐state actors – including firms, non‐governmental organizations, and networks – are now a permanent fixture in environmental politics. However, we know surprisingly little about when states choose to delegate to non‐state actors through multilateral treaties. This paper provides an historical picture, tracing patterns of delegation to non‐state agents in a random sample of multilateral environmental agreements from 1902 to 2002. I introduce a new unit of analysis – the policy function – to understand what non‐state actors actually do as agents. I find that analyses of delegation are sensitive to the unit of analysis; patterns of delegation at the treaty level are very different from those at the level of individual policy functions. While overall the decision to delegate to non‐state actors – what I term transnational delegation – is rare, it has grown over time. Complex treaties, those with secretariats, and those focused on the management of nature are more apt to delegate to non‐state actors. Non‐state agents fill a small, but growing role in multilateral environmental treaties.     

Real Solutions for Fake News? Measuring the Effectiveness of General Warnings and Fact-Check Tags in Reducing Belief in False Stories on Social Media

Political Behavior - Social media has increasingly enabled “fake news” to circulate widely, most notably during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. These intentionally false...     

Analysis of Cluster-Randomized Experiments: A Comparison of Alternative Estimation Approaches

Lynn Vavreck UCLA, Department of Political Science, 4289 Bunche Hall Box 951472, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1472 e-mail: lvavreck{at}ucla.edu (corresponding author) Analysts of cluster-randomized field experiments have an arrayof estimation techniques to choose from. Using Monte Carlo simulation,we evaluate the properties of point estimates and standard errors(SEs) generated by ordinary least squares (OLS) as applied toboth individual-level and cluster-level data. We also compareOLS to alternative random effects estimators, such as generalizedleast squares (GLS). Our simulations assess efficiency acrossa variety of scenarios involving varying sample sizes and numbersof clusters. Our results confirm that conventional OLS SEs areseverely biased downward and that, for all estimators, gainsin efficiency come mainly from increasing the number of clusters,not increasing the number of individuals within clusters. Wefind relatively minor differences across alternative estimationapproaches, but GLS seems to enjoy a slight edge in terms ofthe efficiency of its point estimates and the accuracy of itsSEs. We illustrate the application of alternative estimationapproaches using a clustered experiment in which Rock the VoteTV advertisements were used to encourage young voters in 85cable TV markets to vote in the 2004 presidential election. Authors' note: We thank Rock the Vote for permission to usetheir public service announcements in this field experiment.The authors are grateful to Alan Gerber for suggestions throughoutthe design phase of this project. We are also grateful to DanKotin and Margaret Coblentz, who worked with cable operators,distributed the advertisements, and assembled the data. We thankTerence Leong for his programming expertise. Replication materialsare available on the Political Analysis Web site.     

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Within a Social Disadvantage Framework: Distinguishing Unique, Cumulative, and Moderated Contributions to Adult Mental Health

The deleterious impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) may be confounded with frequently co-occurring social disadvantage. In this analysis we test the effects of ACE on adult mental health within a social disadvantage framework, using a population-based survey (n?=?7,444; mean age?=?55.2 years) from Washington State. We also examined the protective effects of socioemotional support, and the distinct and combined contribution of the measured ACE factors. Results demonstrated sustained impact of ACE on mental health many decades later, even net of social disadvantage and demographic contributors. Protective factors provided both direct and moderating influences, potentially masking the elevated effects of ACE for those with few resources. Toxicity examination of ACE items evinced differential effects of ACE experiences on mental health. These results demonstrate that interventions ameliorating the effects of ACE and bolstering protective resources such as socioemotional support may be effective toward augmenting mental health even late in life.     

The impact of adult drug courts on crime and incarceration: findings from a multi-site quasi-experimental design

Objectives  

To test the impact of adult drug courts on future criminal behavior and sentence length on the precipitating criminal case; and to examine whether the magnitude of the drug court impact varies based on drug use or criminal history, social ties, mental health, or offender demographics.     

The WTO, Science, and the Environment: Moving Towards Consistency

Governments are increasingly using taxes to address a varietyof environmental concerns. World Trade Organization (WTO) rulesrecognize that, like regulatory instruments, governments mayuse taxes for protectionist purposes. The rules are designedto prevent protectionist behaviour while allowing use of suchinstruments for genuine purposes such as environmental protection.Interestingly, however, there are some notable anomalies inthe rules arising from differential evidentiary requirementsin different situations. First, the rules are different dependingupon whether a country's measure aims to protect on one handhuman, animal, or plant health; or on the other, the environment.Second, the rules are stricter where a country's measure takesthe form of a regulation than where it takes the form of a tax.The article argues that there is no principled rationale forthe differential evidentiary requirements by instrument (regulationversus taxes) or area (health versus environment) but findsthat there may be both a historical and political economy explanation.It also discusses the desirability for consistency in WTO lawacross instruments and risk-related policy areas.     

Governing under advanced liberalism: sport policy and the social investment state

Since the election in 1997 of a New Labour Government in the United Kingdom, a growing number of analyses have provided insights into, and critiques of, what has been termed the “social investment state”. To date, these analyses have interrogated particular developments and distinct issues in a number of key social welfare policy-related sectors, including education, citizenship, the family, and poverty/employment. Notable by its absence, however, is the contribution that policies for sport and physical activity are now playing in the realisation of New Labour’s social investment strategies. This article therefore interrogates and registers the growing salience of sport policy interventions for the construction of a social investment state within the broader political context of governing under “advanced liberal” rationalities. The “active citizen”, and children and young people, in particular, are valorised and appear centre-stage as the focus for these interventions. This child-centred focus is problematised, as is the argument that, under prevailing political rationalities of advanced liberalism, government “steers” rather than “rows” and “enables” rather than “commands”. Under these conditions, while children are deemed deserving of investment, there may be other groups who are deemed less deserving, for example, older people who, unlike children and young people have little currency in a future-oriented world.