Book reviews

Global Security: North American, European and Japanese Interdependence in the 1990s Eric Grove (Ed.). Brassey's (London) 1991.109 pp. £7.50, $13.50 (PBk) ISBN 0–0804–0988–1.

Revolution and Political Change in the Third World Edited by Barry M. Schutz and Robert O. Slater. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 1991. 260 pp. £28.50 (HBk). ISBN 0–7449–0025–5.

British Security Policy; The Thatcher Years and the End of the Cold War Stuart Croft (Ed.). Harper Collins, 1991. 231 pp. £10.95 (PBk) ISBN 0–04–445819–3.

The Near East Since the First World War By M.E. Yapp. Longman: 1991. 526 pp. £24.95. ISBN 0582–09499–0.

Crimes of Obedience: Towards a Social Psychology of Authority and Responsibility By Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton. Yale 1990. 382 pp. £10.95 (PBk)

Palestinians Between Israel and Jordan By Raphael Israeli. Praeger. 1991. 206 pp. £35.95 (HBk) ISBN 0–275–93938–3.

Review of Edwina Mountbatten: A Life of her Own By Janet Morgan. Harper Collins. London. 1991. £20.

Politics and Government in the Middle East and North Africa By Tariq Y. Ismael and Jacqueline S. Ismael. Florida International University Press. Miami. 1991. 570 pp. £31.95 (HBk). ISBN 0–8130–1043–8.

Soviet Military Art in a Time of Change. Command and Control of the Future Battlefield By Robert Hall London: Brassey's. 1991. 203pp. £22.50 (HBk) ISBN 008–0413218.

Europe in Turmoil ‐ The Struggle for Pluralism. European Defence and Strategic Studies Annual 1990–91. Edited by Gerald Frost. Adamantine Press Ltd. 1991. 377pp. £32.50 (PBk) ISBN 0–7449–0029–8.     

Detecting Lies in Children and Adults

In this study, observers' abilities to detect lies in children and adults were examined. Adult participants observed videotaped interviews of both children and adults either lying or telling the truth about having been touched by a male research assistant. As hypothesized, observers detected children's lies more accurately than adults' lies; however, adults' truthful statements were detected more accurately than were children's. Further analyses revealed that observers were biased toward judging adults' but not children's statements as truthful. Finally, consistent with the notion that there are stable individual differences in the ability to detect lies, observers who were highly accurate in detecting children's lies were similarly accurate in detecting adults' lies. Implications of these findings for understanding lie-detection accuracy are discussed, as are potential applications to the forensic context.     

Equilibria and Restoring Forces in Models of Vote Dynamics

e-mail: mdmcd{at}binghamton.edu (corresponding author) e-mail: rbest1{at}gmail.com Theories of voting tell us that party vote dynamics have twocore components, long-run equilibria and more or less rapidreturns to equilibria after short-run deviations. Statisticalmodels used to represent these theories, however, tend to emphasizeone component or the other. The unbalanced emphasis leaves thetheoretical ideas underspecified and produces biased estimatesof both long- and short-run components of vote dynamics. Wespecify the two components in the familiar form of an errorcorrection model and demonstrate its advantages in terms ofits theoretical consistency, simplicity, and precise predictionof whether something is wrong. We illustrate its usefulnessby applying it to two sets of analyses reported in the literatureand showing that it usually changes the conclusions reportedin regard to both the equilibrium levels of party competitionand the strength of restoring forces.     

Public resistance to privatisation in water and energy

Since the 1990s, development agencies and international institutions have promoted private-sector involvement in infrastructure, assuming that this would inject both investment and efficiency into the under-performing public sector. In the water and energy sectors, these expectations have not been fulfilled. Private-sector investment in developing countries is falling, multinational companies have failed to make sustainable returns on their investments, and the process of privatisation in water and energy has proved widely unpopular and encountered strong political opposition. This paper examines the role of this opposition in delaying, cancelling, or reversing the privatisation of water and energy. Local civil society has successfully mobilised highly effective political activity, its opposition being based on the perceived conflicts between privatisation and equity, and over the role of the state and community in these sectors. Such opposition has involved dynamic interactions with existing political parties and structures, including the use of existing electoral and judicial mechanisms. Its success poses challenges for the multilateral and donor community, NGOs, the opposition campaigns themselves, and the future of national systems of electricity and water.     

Gender equality needs critical consideration in conflict-affected settings

The World Bank's 2012 World Development Report calls for gender equality on a global level but falls short on its analysis of conflict-affected contexts. It is critical that we understand the needs of vulnerable populations in these settings. This viewpoint draws on findings from research in health reform in conflict-affected contexts to highlight some opportunities and challenges for addressing gender equality in these settings, using the policy priorities outlined in the World Bank report. Drawing on this analysis we argue that more attention and action should be focused on addressing gender inequalities and inequities in neglected conflict-affected states.