Coalitions of Contention: The Case of the WTO Protests in Seattle

Coalitions of organizations are cooperative arrangements that require ongoing management of conflicts among members and potential members. Using data on both successful and unsuccessful attempts at coalition building during the 1999 protests against the WTO in Seattle, we explain the variation in the formation of one type of coalition of organizations, the 'event coalition', in which social movement organizations coalesce around a specific protest event. We find that objectively common organizational interests and framing are necessary but not sufficient for explaining coalition partnering. Organizational representatives must also calculate a benefit from pooled resources and be able to commit credibly to delivering promised resources and to resolving the inevitable tensions that arise among coalition partners.     

Challenging the ‘invariance’ thesis: procedural justice policing and the moderating influence of trust on citizens’ obligation to obey police

Objectives

This paper examines the effects of a procedural justice policing intervention on citizens’ feelings of obligation to obey police. It examines whether the efficacy of procedural justice on citizens’ obligation to obey police may be contingent on citizens’ level of trust in police during a police–citizen encounter.

Methods

This research draws on survey data from the Queensland Community Engagement Trial (QCET). QCET was a randomized controlled field trial implemented by the Queensland Police Service. The trial exposed citizens to either a procedural justice experience (experimental condition) or standard police practice (control condition) during a random roadside stop. Survey responses were received from 1107 drivers in the experimental condition and 1655 drivers in the control condition.

Results

Compared to the control condition, the procedural justice condition yielded higher levels of trust in the police officer conducting the roadside stop. No differences in obligation to obey police were observed between the two conditions. Importantly, citizens’ level of trust in the officer moderated the effect of the intervention on obligation to obey police. Specifically, the procedural justice condition had a negative effect on obligation to obey for those reporting low trust in police. For those high in trust, the procedural justice intervention had a slight but insignificant positive effect on obligation to obey.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that procedural justice effects can vary between individuals; specifically, the findings reveal that procedural justice interventions can sometimes be counter-productive, depending on the level of trust a citizen exhibits toward police during an encounter. Police agencies should therefore be aware of potential counter-productive effects when implementing procedural justice in the field.

     

The articular surfaces of the hindfoot: sex assessment of prehistoric New Zealand Polynesian skeletal remains

Prehistoric Polynesian skeletal remains are frequently being recovered in New Zealand due to the increasing pace of urbanisation. Since such material must often be reinterred quickly, it is important that the sex of individuals be determined from the remains in a relatively short time. For this purpose, discriminant function analysis was utilised for sex determination of prehistoric adult New Zealand Polynesian tali (24 male and 27 females) and calcanei (26 males and 22 females). Two measurements of the trochlear articular surface of the talus and two measurements of the posterior talar articular surface of the calcaneus were taken and subjected to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) discriminant function analysis. For the single discriminant function derived, accuracy in sex determination was 92.3% and reduction in error over random assignment by sex was 85%.     

Tragedy at Tunnel 13. The d'Autremont brothers and "The Edison of Crime Detection"

Train robbery was frequent in the United States from the late 1800s through the 1920s. On October 11, 1923, the southbound Southern Pacific Express was halted by three men at Tunnel 13 in southern Oregon just north of the California line. The railway mail car carrying +40,000 was then blown apart by an explosive charge, killing the clerk and rendering the money unobtainable. The men shot three other train crew members before escaping into the mountains. The investigation was headed by Chief Agent Dan O'Connell, who soon asked that California criminalist, Edward Heinrich, examine soiled overalls found nearby. Using primarily botanical evidence, Heinrich identified them as those of a woodsman, leading to the identification of three Oregon d'Autremont brothers as suspects. After an intensive manhunt, one was captured 3 years later in the Philippines and was tried and found guilty. The twins, captured in Ohio, then pleaded guilty. This crime, typical of those in which unforeseen events lead the perpetrators to panic and to murder, helped to establish criminology and particularly botanical studies as valid scientific disciplines. Its investigation and solution also remain models of scientific crime detection.     

AFTER THE ANCIEN REGIME: THE WRITING OF JUDGMENTS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS 1979/1980

“Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss; A fool might once himself alone expose, Now one in verse makes many more in prose.” (Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism.)