Catching the ‘Shanghai Spirit’: How the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Promotes Authoritarian Norms in Central Asia

This article examines how the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) seeks to undermine democratisation in Central Asia. Prior studies of the interplay between international organisations and democracy have tended to examine only one half of this relationship: whether, how, and under what circumstances do international organisations promote democracy? However, the opposite has been largely ignored: how do international organisations sustain autocracy? Authoritarian governments are increasingly adopting policies aimed at preserving their political power and the SCO represents an additional strategy in this regard: utilising multilateral cooperation to defend themselves against regional or global democratic trends. As such, the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ may be a sign of things to come as autocratic leaders become more bold in their rejection of democratic norms.     

Teleglobe Canada: Outside the (CRTC) regulatory camp

Abstract: This paper addresses a number of questions regarding the role of Teleglobe Canada in a rapidly changing regulatory environment. The historical reasons for Teleglobe's exclusion from CHTC regulation are looked at, together with the likelihood of its continued special status vis-à-vis the other carriers. Taking into consideration recent trends in international telecommunications policy, the impact of Teleglobe's denationalization on the domestic industry is also considered. Finally, recommendations are made aimed at resolving some of the issues associated with privatization. A greater role is envisaged for both the federal Communications minister and the CHTC with respect to Teleglobe. Special emphasis is placed on the need to establish a comprehensive national telecommunications policy involving greater precision with regard to overriding priorities and considerable flexibility, especially in view of the highly innovative character of the sector.     

Police grantsmanship: A case study

Police leadership is increasingly dependent on community oriented policing (COPS) federal grants because of diminishing financial resources. This paper demonstrates the importance of excellent police grantsmanship skills while simultaneously providing theoretical and concrete steps for achieving a successful grant package. Furthermore, a case study example is presented where COPS grants and federal funding assisted in the acquisition of community-oriented and problem-solving strategic objectives.     

Changing views of jury power

This article highlights the major events and empirical research in the continuing debate over the power and competence of the jury in civil and criminal trials. The concept ofjury nullification, the power of the jury to return a verdict based upon their moral conscience despite the evidence and the law, is used as a convenient filter to discuss the legal and behavioral assumptions about jury power and performance. The legal, historical, and even behavioral contexts reflect a bipolar theme in the level of trust Americans have exhibited towards the jury system. One pole reflects the notion that juries lack predictability and rationality in their verdicts and are moved by emotional concerns. Antipodally, juries have been thought to reflect an historical competence at applying common sense notions of equity and rationality to conflicted and ambiguous cases. This article traces the history of these two views of jury power and competence. A critical review of the empirical research that may inform the debate about the jury's competence in both criminal and civil arenas is provided.     

Democracy at Rest: Strategic Ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment

The Prohibition (Eighteenth, 1919) and repeal (Twenty-First,1933) amendments, which represent the only case of a later amendmentdirectly reversing an earlier one, were ratified by the twodifferent methods allowed by Article V of the United StatesConstitution: the former by state legislatures, the latter bystate conventions. This essay examines the legislatures-or-conventionsdichotomy as a microcosm of William Riker's treatment of liberalismand populism, with specific attention paid to the state conventionsthat ratified repeal. Using previously uncollected county datafrom the special elections to choose the 1933 convention delegates,this study demonstrates that invocation of the convention methodwas strategic, and intended not only to legitimate the Twenty-FirstAmendment but also to improve its chances of passage.