Low Crime Rates in Bahrain: Islamic Social Control-Testing the Theory of Synnomie

This pioneer work builds upon the systems of social control (synnomie) developed by Freda Adler (1983). Its intent is to assess the low crime profile of Bahrain and in so doing to offer explanations for this country's low crime rates. While there is crime in Bahrain, this country appears to be the exception to the rule that rapid industrialization breeds high crime. The unique situation in Bahrain will be analyzed by: giving an overview of the country of Bahrain, examining recent crime statistics reported by official agencies in Bahrain, the United States, and in addition, the state of Vermont. The official sources of these data are not considered to be the most reliable indicators of crime, but they are the most comparable. Vermont is used for the comparison of numbers since it has an approximate population to Bahrain.

Low statistics of the amount of crime are reported for Bahrain which form the foundation for this paper. This paper offers possible explanations of low crime by using as its base the theory of synnomie (the consistency of norm and values sharing); and summarizes the main points in this paper and draws conclusions which point in the direction for the future of Bahrain, its citizens, and incidences of reported crime as Bahrain continues with its mission of modernization.     

Sentence disparity in the federal courts and the adoption of sentencing guidelines

Pressure in the 1970's to reform the sentencing process can be attributed to a change in perceived public sentiment regarding the utility of treatment and to the belief that sentencing disparity was a severe problem in the sentencing process. Primary reform occurred in the federal judicial system with the development and implementation of rigorous sentencing guidelines. An evaluation of sentencing patterns for one federal judicial district indicates that sentencing disparity was not severe. Most federal offenders are relatively mild and consistently receive relatively mild sentences.     

Institutionalising Gender Equality in Spain: From Party Quotas to Electoral Gender Quotas

This article accounts for the particular steps Spain took to institutionalise gender equality in political representation. While some West European countries, where the ‘incremental track’ was considered too slow or too ineffective, recently shifted to the ‘fast track’ (notably, Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal), Spain adopted a legislative quota in 2007, when women's representation had already reached very high levels. Indeed, 10 years earlier, the quotas adopted by left-wing Spanish parties in the late 1980s had already reached parity and triggered a contagion effect within the party system. Comparatively speaking, Spain has followed the incremental track in a narrow time frame since democracy was restored in 1978. Finally, although the legal quota reform encountered political and juridical opposition, Spain managed to introduce it without the need for constitutional reform.     

Executive power and policy‐making patterns in France: Gauging the impact of fifth republic institutions

This article attempts to gauge the impact that the institutions of the Fifth Republic have had on governmental behaviour and patterns of policy‐making in France. It is argued that the institutional changes introduced in 1958 have produced profound effects largely in line with the founders' intentions. The enhancement of executive power has produced strong governments capable of dominating the legislative process even in face of the most adverse political contingencies. However, the extraordinary powers of the executive have also generated some consequences unintended by the founders. The strong government system, designed to cure the malaise of the Fourth Republic, has combined with the nature of the party system to produce a distinctive Fifth Republic malaise that has proven most difficult to cure.     

Book reviews

Martin McCauley and Stephen Carter, eds., Leadership and Succession in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1986. xiii, 256 pp.

Murray Yanowitch, Work in the Soviet Union: Attitudes and Issues. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1985. 196 pp.

Elizbieta Szczepanik, Republiki Azji Sródkowej. Oblicze gospodarczo‐spolteczne. Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk, 1983. 310 pp.

David Berger, ed., The Legacy of Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact, Social Science Monographs‐Brooklyn College Press: 1983. 187 pp.

Janka Kupala andJakub Kolas in the West: Bibliography. Vitaut Kipel and Zora Kipel, compilers., New York: Belorussian Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1985. 350 pp.

Borys Lewytzkyj, Politics and Society in Soviet Ukraine, 19531980. Edmonton, Alberta: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1984. 219 pp.

James E. Mace, Communism and the Dilemmas of National Liberation; National Communism in Soviet Ukraine, 1918–1933. Cambridge, Mass. Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S., 1983. 334 pp.

Taras Hunczak, ed., Ukraine and Poland in Documents, 1918–1920. Parts 1 and 2. New York ‐ Paris ‐ Sydney ‐Toronto: Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1983. 456 pp., 468 pp.

David Saunders, The Ukrainian Impact on Russian Culture; 1750–1850. Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1985. 415 pp.

J[urij] Bojko‐Blochyn, ed., Ukrainische Romantik and Neuromantik vor dent Hintergrund der europäischen Literatur: Symposium der Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München und der Weltvereinigung der ukrainischen Exilschriftsteller, Literaturwissenschaftler und Kritiker “Slovo” am 11. und 12. Januar 1983. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1985. 152 pp.

Stephan M. Horak, The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. 373 pp.

Stephan M. Horak, ed., Eastern European National Minorities 1919–1980: A Handbook. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. 353 pp.

Bela K. Kiraly ed., East Central European Society and War in the Era of Revolutions, 1775–1865. New York: Brooklyn College Press, 1984. 651 pp.

Steven L. Sampson, National Integration through Socialist Planning. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, 1984. 352 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1984.

The Birth of Solidarity: The Gdansk Negotiations, 1980, translated and introduced by A. Kemp‐Welch. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.

Anthony Hyman, Afghanistan Under Soviet Domination, 1964–1983. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984. 247 pp.

Paul Bödy, Joseph Eötvös and The Modernization of Hungary, 1849–1870. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, CLXXIV, 1985. 134 pp. 2nd revised edition.     

Training on a Battlefield: Iraq as a Training Ground for Global Jihadis

This article aims to describe and analyze the training that foreign jihadis in Iraq have received, how this may impact on the future of the insurgency in Iraq, and the potential spillover effect from the Iraqi jihad scene. The nature of the training in Iraq has been influenced by the difficult conditions the jihadis were operating under, and much has consisted of on-the-job training inside safe houses. The foreign jihadis were dependent on the support of the local Iraqis in order to conduct training, but the increasing use of suicide attacks has turned their erstwhile allies against them.     

Neo‐revisionism or the emperor's new clothes: Some reflections on Niall Ferguson on the origins of the first world war

Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War (London: Allen Lane/The Penguin Press, 1998). xlv + 623 pp., £18.99 (hb), ISBN 0–713–99246–8.

Niall Ferguson (ed.), Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals (London: Picador, 1997). 548 pp., £20 (hb), ISBN 0–330–35132‐X.     

One perspective on “democracy vs. efficiency”: Testing mutuality via the laboratory approach

Much social commentary has fixated on the theme of “democracy vs. efficiency,” but observers have directed attention at modes of decision-making alternative to the usual bipolar foci. Gaenslen takes the latter tack in suggesting a third mode, and this note at once shares in his intent while seeing problems with his approach. Specifically, this note outlines a fourth mode for decision-making, based on the “laboratory approach to organization development”; it sketches some of its underlying theory and practice; and the narrative details a number of ways in which the demands of economic efficiency and political democracy can be met with substantial mutuality by learning designs consistent with the laboratory approach.