South Atlantic relations: from bilateral trade relations to multilateral coalition building

South Atlantic relations, under the leadership of Brazil and South Africa, have recently received a fresh breath of life. This article provides a general overview of developments and assesses aspects such as preferential trade agreements, multilateral coalition building and security cooperation in the context of South–South relations. The renewed impetus has resulted in improved influence and leverage from less developed Southern countries over the global political and economic agenda. New initiatives that have helped place the leaders of the South at the centre of the decision‐making process have emerged and are widely regarded as viable options for future progress in the developing world. These initiatives, which are driven by the growing strength of South Atlantic relations, are looked at in the broader context, from a practical perspective where tangible results are required over and above the ideals of solidarity to ensure sustainable socioeconomic development.     

Target Selection Models with Preference Variation Between Offenders

Objectives

This study explores preference variation in location choice strategies of residential burglars. Applying a model of offender target selection that is grounded in assertions of the routine activity approach, rational choice perspective, crime pattern and social disorganization theories, it seeks to address the as yet untested assumption that crime location choice preferences are the same for all offenders.

Methods

Analyzing detected residential burglaries from Brisbane, Australia, we apply a random effects variant of the discrete spatial choice model to estimate preference variation between offenders across six location choice characteristics. Furthermore, in attempting to understand the causes of this variation we estimate how offenders’ spatial target preferences might be affected by where they live and by their age.

Results

Findings of this analysis demonstrate that while in the aggregate the characteristics of location choice are consistent with the findings from previous studies, considerable preference variation is found between offenders.

Conclusions

This research highlights that current understanding of choice outcomes is relatively poor and that existing applications of the discrete spatial choice approach may underestimate preference variation between offenders.

     

“Internationalizing the curriculum:” challenges to public administration

It is tempting to “internationalize the curriculum” in professional graduate programs by adding courses and units that deal with strategies to improve the international competitive position of the United States. The study considers three strategies for dealing more credibly with international and global issues. The more difficult and challenging are those that attempt to incorporate multi- and interdisciplinary activities. The study describes several topics with global implications that would benefit from interdisciplinary study. In the meantime, the traditional perspective of Public Administration is not very relevant to global concerns because of the close connection to nation-states and hierarchical organizations. There are, however, a number of trends in the field that could enhance its ability to contribute to a global perspective such as a growing attention to new institutional arrangements, more emphasis on consultations rather than regulatory controls, and more interest in the role of managers.     

Communication induced distortion in scholarly research -- the case of action theory in american public administration

The history of action theory in American Public Administration provides the basis for development of a conceptual scheme for understanding how the operating codes that define communication processes used by theorists can distort scholarship. Transaction is a mode that induces distortion; relationship is a mode that helps avoid it. Some suggestions for reissuing the current operating code -- in the direction of making it better fit the relationship model -- are presented.     

Traditional aboriginal values in a Westminster parliament: The legislative assembly of Nunavut

This article examines the interplay of structure and culture in the Legislative Assembly of the newly established territory of Nunavut in Canada's eastern Arctic. This institution combines the Westminster cabinet-parliamentary system with traditional Inuit culture, many features of which are antithetical to British-style ‘responsible government’. The distinctive ‘consensus government’ system which characterises the Nunavut Legislative Assembly has important features consistent with Inuit values and approaches, for example, the absence of political parties. Based primarily on personal interviews with Members of the Assembly, the article considers whether Inuit culture has significantly recast the structures and the political imperatives inherent in the Westminster system or if the powerful values and constraints of that system have effectively overridden Inuit values. Perceptions and reflections of members serving in the First Assembly (1999–2004) suggest that while substantial adaptations to the conventional Westminster system have been made, these are indeed adaptations rather than fundamental alterations to the system.