Gathering at the AOSIS: perceived cooperation among Pacific Small Island States

The Association of Small Island States occupies a unique role at the United Nations (UN) whereby it advocates on behalf of islands states (and those with similar geographies) on issues from climate change to development to economic initiatives and trade. As part of a larger research endeavor, interviews were conducted with the AOSIS representative (or a knowledgeable delegate) from over a dozen Pacific Small Island States (PSIS) with regard to climate change planning and preparation. This research is unique in that approximately three-quarters of the sought-after island states agreed to give anonymous, non-attributable interviews about diplomatic and sensitive topics. This particular subset of the research question focused upon how PSIS self-perceive their participation and membership in the only island-based organization at the UN level speaking on behalf of islands and whether their understandings and assessment of AOSIS merged with theoretical frameworks describing productive and fruitful multijurisdictional cooperation. The findings from the research illustrate that PSIS overwhelmingly identify AOSIS as an organization that provides a stable and cooperatively balanced organizational structure that promotes collaboration and solidarity across the Pacific. With the research questions focused on climate change in particular, respondents’ answers indicate an organization seen as successfully and effectively following many of the theoretical tenets of a collaborative- and cooperative-based type of governance, often only seen in hypothetical, literature-based examples.     

Too central to fail? Terror networks and leadership decapitation

ABSTRACT

Leadership decapitation, as a means of hindering the operations and hastening the demise of terrorist organizations, has been the subject of a growing body of research. However, these studies have not examined how an organization’s position in a broader network impacts its ability to weather decapitation. We argue that highly networked organizations possess characteristics that make decapitation less effective. To test this argument, we combine data on leadership decapitation with network data on terrorist organizations and find that well-networked organizations are resilience to leadership decapitation. Our study has implications for our understanding of how terrorist organizations respond to counterterrorism efforts.     

A Computational Model of the Citizen as Motivated Reasoner: Modeling the Dynamics of the 2000 Presidential Election

A computational model of political attitudes and beliefs is developed that incorporates contemporary psychological theory with well-documented findings from electoral behavior. We compare this model, John Q. Public (JQP), to a Bayesian learning model via computer simulations of observed changes in candidate evaluations over the 2000 presidential campaign. In these simulations, JQP reproduces responsiveness, persistence, and polarization of political attitudes, while the Bayesian learning model has difficulty accounting for persistence and polarization. We conclude that “motivated reasoning”—the discounting of information that challenges priors along with the uncritical acceptance of attitude-consistent information—is the reason our model can better account for persistence and polarization in candidate evaluations.     

Losing,but Accepting: Legitimacy,Positivity Theory,and the Symbols of Judicial Authority

How is it that the U.S. Supreme Court is capable of getting most citizens to accept rulings with which they disagree? This analysis addresses the role of the symbols of judicial authority and legitimacy—the robe, the gavel, the cathedral‐like court building—in contributing to this willingness of ordinary people to acquiesce to disagreeable court decisions. Using an experimental design and a nationally representative sample, we show that exposure to judicial symbols (1) strengthens the link between institutional support and acquiescence among those with relatively low prior awareness of the Supreme Court, (2) has differing effects depending upon levels of preexisting institutional support, and (3) severs the link between disappointment with a disagreeable Court decision and willingness to challenge the ruling. Since symbols influence citizens in ways that reinforce the legitimacy of courts, the connection between institutional attitudes and acquiescence posited by Legitimacy Theory is both supported and explained.