Democracy and the Violation of Human Rights: A Statistical Analysis from 1976 to 1996

Most studies posit and identify a linear and negative relationship between democracy and the violation of human rights. Some research challenges this finding, however, suggesting that nonlinear influences exist. Within this article, we examine the structure of the relationship between democracy and repression during the time period from 1976 to 1996. To conduct our analysis, we utilize diverse statistical approaches which are particularly flexible in identifying influences that take a variety of functional forms (specifically LOESS and binary decomposition). Across measures and methodological techniques, we found that below a certain level, democracy has no impact on human rights violations, but above this level democracy influences repression in a negative and roughly linear manner. The implications of this research are discussed within the conclusion .     

North American first peoples: slipping up into market citizenship?

This article explores the nature of Aboriginal demands for a citizenship regime grounded in a substantive recognition of cultural difference and inherent rights in Mexico and Canada. It provides an overview of the different evolution of Aboriginal citizenship in each country but focuses on two recent development projects, the Puebla Panama Plan in Mexico and the Mackenzie Valley pipeline in Canada. These cases demonstrate the ways in which neo‐liberal globalism is reshaping the substantive recognition of Aboriginal cultural difference and inherent rights. While contemporary neo‐liberal rhetoric recognizes cultural difference, the models of development employed effectively separate territory from the ideas of self‐government, culture and identity. The article concludes that the neo‐liberal turn in the construction of Aboriginal citizenship undercuts potentially much richer conceptions of Indigenous citizenship offered by the First Peoples of North America.     

Decentralisation of service delivery as adopted by the Central District Council in Botswana

The Central District Council (CDC) in Botswana expanded service delivery to five sub‐districts in January 2000 using a model adapted from the South Somerset District Council, UK. As little data were available on the effectiveness of decentralised service delivery, officials and councillors throughout CDC were interviewed regarding their perception of the process. They not only provided recommendations for enhanced implementation but also identified some of the tensions resulting from it. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palestinian state‐building: police and citizens as test of democracy

This article explores police‐society relations by assessing the impact of current state‐building efforts by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank. The article presents an outline of the emerging civilian policing model and its wider implications for citizens’ rights and the dominant political order. The specific focus of the paper rests on an examination of the potential tensions associated with the perceived need for strong coercive security structures (including the civil police) as part of state‐building efforts and the desire by the population for increased freedom and pluralism. This issue is further complicated by the ambiguous nature of the current experiment in limited autonomy underway in those areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip where Israeli redeployment has taken place.     

The Shi'a of Saudi Arabia: a minority in search of cultural authenticity

This article focuses on the transformation of Saudi Shi'a resistance from one which centred on military confrontation in the 1980s to one which invokes searching for cultural authenticity (al‐asala al‐shi'iyya) in the 1990s. Today the struggle of the Shi'a for equal status among the Sunni majority draws attention to the attempts of Shi'a intellectuals to write their own regional history. Shi'a intellectuals and opposition leaders deconstruct official representations of themselves and provide alternative historical narratives which anchor their community in Saudi history and society, thus dismissing suggestions that they are a non‐indigenous community. This article examines Shi'a historical narratives in an attempt to understand the transformation in their struggle against discrimination in Saudi Arabia.     

A Longitudinal Study of Self-Awareness and Depressed Mood in Adolescence

The relationship between longitudinal variations of self-awareness and depressed mood in 479 adolescents was examined across four waves of data collection over a seven-year period. Self-awareness was significantly associated with depressed mood, and this association was strongest during midadoles-cence. Regression analyses of changes of depressed mood over time suggest mutual influence between self-awareness and depressed mood. Stressful life events, such as pubescent changes and the relationship with significant others, explained variations in self-awareness. Different influences of these life events were important at varying stages of adolescence.     

Today's leaders: Career trends of Canada's private- and public-sector executives

Abstract: Today, a great deal of attention is focused on the need to change the management of the public service in order to improve customer service and increase efficiency. In many cases, unfavourable comparisons are made to the private sector. But little comparative analysis has actually been undertaken with reference to the career profiles of senior managers in Canada's public and private sectors. The Public Management Research Centre undertook a study comparing the backgrounds and management experiences of Canada's most senior executives in the public and private sectors. Information was gathered from seventy current heads of federal departments and agencies (deputy ministers - dms ) and from sixty-three chief executive officers (ceos ) of private companies of comparable size and importance. The results of this study, published in a document entitled Today's Leaders, indicate that it is likely that the top job in public-sector organizations will never be identical to that in the private sector. However, if improving the management of the public sector means adopting some elements of private-sector management techniques (e.g., alternative service delivery, increased customer service, greater attention to cost recovery and bottom-line), the thrust for these changes must come from senior management. In addition, current criteria for recruitment, development and promotion of future public-sector leaders must be re-evaluated. Sommaire: Le Centre de recherche en gestion dans le secteur public a effectué une étude comparant l'historique personnel et l'expérience de gestion des plus hauts cadres des secteurs public et privé au Canada. Les renseignements ont été recueillis auprès de 70 chefs titulaires de ministères et d'organismes fédéraux (sous-ministres) et de 63 présidents-directeurs généraux (pdg ) de compagnies privées d'envergure comparable. Publiés dans un document intituléLeaders d'aujourd'hui, les résultats de l'étude révèlent que le poste suprême des organismes publics ne sera probablement jamais identique à celui des organismes privés. D'autre part, s'il s'agit d'améliorer la gestion du secteur public en adoptant certains éléments de gestion du secteur privé (modes-alternatif de prestation de servies, meilleur service à la clientèle, recouvre-ment des coûts et rentabilité), ce sont les cadres supérieurs qui doivent en prendre l'initiative. Par ailleurs, il faut réévaluer les critères actuels de recrutement, de développement et de promotion des futurs du chefs de file secteur public.