What is a Community Service Obligation (CSO)? An Analysis of the Issues Involved in Identifying and Accounting for CSOs within Public Sector Organisations

he meaning of the term 'community service obligation' (CSO) has been a point of conjecture in recent years. This paper highlights the importance of CSOs within the context of the accountability of public sector organisations. In particular the paper advocates the need to formulate an agreed definition of a CSO. The paper seeks to distil such a definition by using academics and GBE representatives as authoritative opinions.     

Hydropower Development and Resettlement Policy on China's Nu River

Hydropower represents an important alternative form of energy in China, a country that currently uses coal to supply 78% of its electricity. However, evidence from large hydropower projects in China shows that the socio-economic and environmental costs of hydropower development are substantial. Construction on the first of the 13 planned dams on the Nu River began in the summer of 2008, and villages are already beginning to be displaced. Based on fieldwork in the area, we find that the local resettlement policies infringe upon the national regulations governing resettlement caused by major infrastructure development. This infringement includes high prices for resettlement homes, forcing villagers to leave agricultural production, a lack of programs for long-term economic development, and a lack of transparency in decision-making processes.     

Human-cyber Nexus: the parallels between ‘illegal’ intelligence operations and advanced persistent threats

‘Illegals’ are extensively trained individuals dispatched abroad under false identities with no observable links to their operating country. Technology has made possible a new kind of ‘virtual illegal,’ one that extends beyond the operating country’s borders without putting a human at risk. When this is done in a targeted manner by a sophisticated attacker it is called an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). This article draws from historical illegals cases to identify parallels in the preparation, insertion, and control of malware by APTs. Ultimately, the methods for countering the two parallel phenomena can also be similar, despite their physical differences.     

GOTJ: Get Out the Juror

Serving on a jury is both a right and a legal obligation for democratic citizens; however, the response rate to jury summonses is low in most jurisdictions. In collaboration with the Riverside (CA) County Superior Court, we conducted a randomized control trial in which we mailed various postcard reminders to citizens who had recently received a summons. While we find that all postcard reminders were effective in improving yield compared to a no postcard condition, we find that “enforcement” postcards reminding citizens that they face fines or jail time for not appearing were more effective than plain reminders or reminders that serving on a jury is a civic duty. Enforcement postcard reminders had a substantially larger causal effect than what is typically found in get out the vote randomized studies. We find little evidence that norms regarding jury service response varies across distinct regions in our sample, defined by zipcode boundaries, nor are response rates conditioned on the demographic composition of these regions.     

The Greek socialists in power

This article examines the development, organisation and policies of PASOK, and the performance of the party since it came to power in 1981. In the course of the analysis, the differences between PASOK and other European socialist parties are examined, and it is suggested that PASOK shares some of the characteristics of non‐European populist movements.     

Counter-Intelligence for counter-revolutionary warfare: The South African police security branch 1979–1990

In counter-revolutionary warfare strategy, political action forms the overwhelming part; however, also central as an off-shoot of the tenets of counter-revolutionary warfare is the elimination of insurgent structures – generally a euphemism for assassination. In reality, assassination is a subset of covert paramilitary action, implemented as a consequence of counter-intelligence or even counter-terrorism. South Africa's Security Branch presents one of the best recent examples of the use of counter-intelligence techniques for counter-revolutionary warfare. While politico-constitutional intelligence was gathered by the National Intelligence Service to support constitutional efforts to achieve a settlement of the conflict and bring about a new political dispensation in South Africa, the apartheid government relied on the covert operational capabilities of the security forces (especially the Security Branch) to not only halt the ‘Revolutionary Onslaught’ of the liberation movements, but to eliminate them as a viable political and revolutionary force. In attempting to support an unwinnable political objective, the ultimate corruption of the intelligence process and the reliance of individuals overseeing it far and away on the covert operational intelligence capabilities of the state, the apartheid government brought about its own downfall. The Security Branch was at the heart of these efforts.