PARTICIPATION AND APATHY IN TRADE UNIONS

Abstract: Trade union concern with participation in industry and in public decision-making has stimulated further interest in unions' own internal decision-making processes. This paper notes the low level of active membership involvement in the formal democratic procedures of most unions notwithstanding the very extensive legal framework and regulatory machinery on which these procedures rest. It also notes the higher degree of participation that sometimes exists on a more informal level, particularly in matters which directly affect terms and conditions of employment. Conditions conducive to membership participation or apathy are discussed and the implications of stability of incumbent leaders for participation by rank and file members are considered.     

Freedom, Law, and the Colonial Project

In this essay I develop a Marxist-informed anticolonialist position, and from this position I assess the role of law in the early Canadian settler-state. I claim that the flexibility of law is a measure of its restitutive and exploitative facets, such facets that operate dialectically as a means of moderating between the settler-state’s liberal democratic ideals (e.g. individual freedom and enfranchisement) and its capitalist imperatives (e.g. privatization of land, expansion, and profit). Law plays an integral role in this context because, by performing this moderating function, it stabilizes the socio-economic order of the emergent settler-state. In the second half of this essay, I enrich my theoretical analysis by examining the variable legal subjectivity of early Ukrainian immigrants to Canada. This historical perspective allows me to illuminate the intricacies of the logic that informs law’s flexibility, and to show how the liberal democratic principle of freedom was—and continues to be—both extolled and compromised by the law’s moderating function.     

Geopolitical Implications of the US Unconventional Energy Revolution

The unconventional oil and gas revolution is certainly a game changer in the current international political setting, since it will bring the United States close to energy self-sufficiency. However, it seems unlikely that this new energy status will dramatically redefine US foreign policy and security priorities. In strategic regions such as the Middle East, US interests are expected to remain unchanged, while the new energy status will contribute only in part to modifying the US approach towards the EU’s energy posture vis-à-vis Russia. What the new American energy condition is likely to change are the tools and policy options available to Washington to cope with the strategic challenges – China’s power in primis – emerging in the multipolar international relations system.     

The legal constitution: United Kingdom parliament and European court of justice

Membership of the EC has transformed the legal status of the UK parliament. Prior to British accession, Acts of Parliament were the supreme law of the land, unchallengeable in any court. This paper argues that EC membership raised the courts ‐ national as well as European ‐ above parliament and that at the time of accession parliamentarians were almost wholly unaware of this fundamental change. The author links MPs’ ignorance to the highly political, rather than legal, nature of the British constitution and traces the evolution of their constitutional understandings. Identifying a new dynamic interplay between British judiciary and parliament, the study argues that the creeping hegemony of law within constitutional politics merits continuing analysis by legislative scholars.     

Evaluation of preliminary isotopic analysis (13C and 15N) of explosives A likelihood ratio approach to assess the links between semtex samples

Currently, the use of isotopic ratio as corroborative evidence in criminal trials is explored. Beyond the analytical challenges that have been reported elsewhere, the crucial issue of the interpretation of analytical results in a fair and balanced way remains poorly documented. The aim of this paper is to propose a likelihood ratio approach for the evaluation of stable isotope data acquired from semtex samples. It will also lead to recommendations in relation to the acquisition of normalised international data.     

Toxicologic analysis in cases of possible sudden infant death syndrome: a worthwhile exercise?

The diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is one of exclusion. At the Department of Forensic Medicine, Westmead Hospital, toxicologic analysis is performed as part of the postmortem examination of all apparent SIDS deaths. The results for the 5-year period January 1, 1994, to December 31, 1999, were audited to determine whether such routine testing was worthwhile. During this time there were 117 cases with a history consistent with SIDS. Drugs were detected in 19 (16%) of these cases. In 1 case, death was attributed to the finding of methadone. The presence of methadone was regarded as a possible contributing factor to death in a further 2 cases. The presence of possible methadone toxicity had not been expected from the history given before the examination in these 3 cases. In 114 cases there was a suitable sample for alcohol testing; in no case was alcohol detected. In 13 cases the postmortem examination revealed an anatomic cause of death (including 3 cases consistent with whiplash/shaken baby/impact head injury), which excluded a diagnosis of SIDS. In conclusion, routine toxicologic testing in all possible cases of SIDS death supplements the postmortem examination in excluding cases of non-SIDS.     

Political research and practitioner approaches: a review of the research methods used in voting behaviour research

Quantitative research has been the dominant methodological approach used to study voting behaviour. There is an emerging recognition, however, that there are alternative ways of attempting to understand how voters decide. The academic preoccupation with measurement, reliability, validity and generalisability may obscure some of the findings that are uncovered by practitioners using qualitative research. Practitioners of politics, both in the USA and the UK, tend to utilise both methods when formulating policy and exploring voter attitudes towards these policies. This paper will review the arguments for each tradition and examine the apparent divergence of practitioner and academic political research. Finally, it will look at how both positivist and interpretivist methods can be utilised to complement each other when attempting to build a picture of voting behaviour. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications