Contextualizing Political Terrorism: A Collective Action Perspective for Understanding the Tanzim

An attempt is made to embed the study of political terrorism within the larger phenomenon of Collective Action. It is suggested that the analysis of dynamics within and between components of Collective Action—structure of conflict, a social movement, authorities, and contention—can be beneficial for gaining additional insights into the study of group risk for political terrorism. Using the case of the Tanzim contention with Israeli forces it is demonstrated how processes within, between, and outside the conflictants affected Tanzim members' decision to employ political terrorism. Based on the analysis, several implications for counterterrorism are offered.     

Convergence of Counterterrorism Policies: A Case Study of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia

This article distinguishes the demand from the supply of counterterrorism following either a large-scale terrorist attack or campaign. On the demand side, terrorism shocks increase the willingness of civilians to sacrifice their liberties for security, thereby giving the government a mandate to augment defensive and proactive measures against the terrorists. The supply side differs greatly between domestic and transnational terrorism. Supply problems may plague countermeasures against transnational terrorism as at-risk nations act strategically. In particular, there is a strong proclivity for nations to overspend on defense and to underspend on proactive measures. These tendencies are explored using simple game theory. A country's sovereignty also bolsters the ability of targeted nations to address domestic terrorism with an appropriate mix of counter- terrorism measures.     

Evaluating Restorative Justice Programs in Taiwan

This paper aims to evaluate four restorative justice programs in Taiwan: (1) a mediation system; (2) deferred prosecution and conditional suspended sentence; (3) a youth justice system; and (4) the Taiwan Restorative Justice Initiative. In this paper, models proposed in Marshall (Restorative justice: An overview. London: Home Office, 1999) and Braithwaite (British Journal of Criminology 42:563–577, 2002b) are used as criteria to evaluate the four programs. Based on governmental documents, official statistics, and the findings of previous empirical studies, this paper will examine whose needs and power is focused and what types of value are highlighted in those four programs. This paper finds that current restorative justice programs in Taiwan place greater emphasis on offenders than on other parties such as victims and communities. In addition, maximizing and emergent standards that Braithwaite identifies are implemented more in Taiwan’s restorative justice programs than constraining standards. This paper suggests that restorative justice practices in Taiwan need to be more concerned with victims’ needs and interests, and to strengthen constraining types of restorative justice values.     

Book reviews

William Pelz, THE SPARTAKUSBUND AND THE GERMAN WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT, 1914–1919. (Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987)

Bogdan Denitch. THE END OF THE COLD WAR: EUROPEAN UNITY, SOCIALISM AND THE SHIFT IN GLOBAL POWER. (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1990.)

Terry Eagleton, ed., RAYMOND WILLIAMS: A CRITICAL READER (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1989)

Michel de Certeau, THE PRACTICE OF EVERYDAY LIFE (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988)

Judith Marcus and Zoltan Tarr, eds., GEORG LUKÁCS: THEORY, CULTURE AND POLITICS (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1989).

Ian Shapiro, POLITICAL CRITICISM. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), xii; 338pp.     

The Intergenerational Effects of Political Influence: Evidence from China

This paper considers the effects of fathers’ political influence on their offspring’s labour market outcomes in China. Political influence refers to the ability to convert political power into economic benefits. This study identifies the dissolution of political influence by exploiting an age-based mandatory retirement rule in urban China. It exploits the variation of political influence in three dimensions: bureaucrat status, retirement status, and offspring gender. A difference-in-differences approach shows that the retirement of a bureaucrat translates into a 13 per cent decrease in offspring’s income. A triple-differences approach suggests retirement of a bureaucrat father translates into a 27 per cent decrease in earnings among sons. Retirement of a bureaucrat father is associated with larger income losses for offspring working in the same industry sector as their father and in industries that have a high concentration of assets or that are controlled by the state. This paper adds evidence to the growing literature estimating the economic benefits of political connections.     

Beyond the logic of capital and the polarization model

Foreword by Alfred W. McCoy to Voices from the Plain of Jars: Life under an Air War, edited by Fred Branfman with essays and drawings by Laotian villagers. (2nd ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2013. xix+176 pp.). First published in 1972, Voices from the Plain of Jars was instrumental in exposing the massive secret U.S. bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War. In this expanded edition journalist and peace activist Fred Branfman brings the story forward in time, describing the hardships that Laotians faced after the war when they returned to find their farm fields littered with cluster munitions—explosives that continue to maim and kill today.     

A rejoinder

Industrial Growth and World Trade. By Alfred Maizels. London: Cambridge University Press. 1963. Pp. xxiii, 563.75/‐

Disguised Unemployment in Underdeveloped Areas, With Special Reference to South Korean Agriculture. By Yong Sam Cho. London; Cambridge University Press. 1964. Pp. xiv, 157. 30/‐     

冷战后的印俄关系

冷战后,印度与俄罗斯保持着密切的政治关系,两国高层互访不断。印俄关系发展源于双方没有重大利益冲突并互有重大需求。但印俄关系在一定程度上受到印美关系的影响,并对中俄关系和中印关系都产生了一定影响。     

Winnowing the chaff out of the grains: the intermixture of customary law and spiritualism in Ghana

Belief in the supernatural runs so deep in the cultural lives of Ghanaians that customary law – ‘the rules of law, which by custom are applicable to particular communities in Ghana’ – has not been spared its influence. This article asserts that state sanctioned enforcement of superstition inspired customs violates the fundamental constitutional value of freedom of conscience relative to persons who do not subscribe to such beliefs in the supernatural. But in order to accommodate the twin state interests of preserving customary laws and respecting the freedom of conscience, this article proposes the development of a body of customary laws devoid of superstition. It sets out to discuss why this idea is imperative and how it can be achieved.