The invisible constitution

Personal Rule in Black Africa: Prince, Autocrat, Prophet, Tyrant by Robert H. Jackson and Carl G. Rosberg

University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1982. xi plus 316 pp. including map, appendix, notes and index. R25.05 paperback.

African Politics by Pierre François Gonidec

Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Boston, and London, 1981. ix plus 367 pp. including figures, tables and indices. R33,37.     

The Complexity of Tolerance and Intolerance Judgments: A Response to Gibson

In a recent paper, we posited that tolerance and intolerance judgments are characterized by two forms of variance. First, the distinction between tolerance and intolerance is dichotomous in that individuals are or are not willing to extend the full rights of citizenship to all others without exception. Second, among those not so willing, variance exists in the breadth and depth of their intolerance. James Gibson challenges our view, arguing that we have advanced a fundamental shift in how tolerance is conceptualized, and that this shift is not warranted empirically because very few Americans are tolerant under our definition. In this response, we first outline the rationale for why our view does not constitute a significant shift in the conceptualization of tolerance, but rather is merely an effort to pull the empirical treatment of tolerance into alignment with the concept’s common definition. Second, we explain that Gibson’s finding that few Americans are tolerant gains noteworthy meaning and significance from the view of tolerance we present. Lastly, we demonstrate that new insight on the antecedents of tolerance and intolerance emerges when analyses attend to the two-part structure of tolerance judgments highlighted in our research.     

Constraints to agricultural production in Africa: A survey of female farmers in the Ruhengeri prefecture of Rwanda

Traditional thinking in development has emphasized the ability of the peasant farm system to adapt or ”restructure” itself during periods of intense population pressure. Adaptation typically takes the form of intensifying the exploitation of existing land and/or expansion of the resource base. This paper takes issue with that assertion and suggests that in the context of rapid social and institutional change, environmental degradation, and rampant increases in population, adaptation cannot be relied on to maintain equilibrium. The basis for the recommendations made here is a survey of 192 women farmers in Ruhengeri prefecture of Rwanda in east central Africa. Findings suggest that (1) Rwanda is experiencing serious demographic and environmental problems; (2) the traditional mechanisms of adaptation can no longer be relied upon to bring about equilibrium; and (3) the women of Rwanda are the conduits of change since they contribute the largest percentage of agricultural labor and have the most responsibility for operation of farms and production of agricultural output. In light of these findings, it is clear that special attention must be focussed on policy initiatives geared toward reducing population growth, facilitating innovation/information diffusion, restructuring the extension service, and reducing gender biases.     

Precedent, Parity, and Racial Discrimination: A Federal/State Comparison of the Impact of Brown v. Board of Education

Questions regarding Brown v. Board of Education 's short-term effect remain unanswered, particularly its comparative impact on federal district courts and state supreme courts. We test this through an analysis of racial discrimination cases in those venues in the twenty-year period bifurcated by the decision in May 1954. Our findings suggest that while federal district courts and state courts were similarly unresponsive to discrimination claims before that date, Brown exerted a significant impact on district court decisions but had little influence at the state level. Furthermore, a third pattern was found in federal appellate courts, where discrimination claims had a high likelihood of pro-minority decisions even before the Supreme Court directive.     

Rhetoric and Reality: Can Ukraine Create an Effective Navy to Protect its Interests in the Black Sea?

Abstract

Since the ‘Orange Revolution’ Ukraine has been engaged in a comprehensive programme of naval transformation aimed at building an effective coastal defence navy able to protect its maritime interests in the Black Sea: an efficient and well run Ukrainian coastal navy that is inherently defensive in orientation can maintain good order at sea and protect Ukraine's security and can also make an important contribution to regional security and stability. Over the last few years Ukraine has been making steady progress in developing a balanced, flexible and deployable coastal navy able to engage in a full spectrum of defence activities. However, continued progress is likely to be hampered in the medium term by the high cost of naval transformation, the challenges of democratic consolidation and friction between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea.