Sore Loser Laws and Congressional Polarization

To enhance explanations for party polarization in the U.S. Congress, we focus on an unappreciated legal structure known as the sore loser law. By restricting candidates who lose partisan primaries from subsequently appearing on the general election ballot as independents or as nominees of other parties, these laws give greater control over ballot access to the party bases, thus producing more extreme major party nominees. Using several different measures of candidate and legislator ideology, we find that sore loser laws account for as much as a tenth of the ideological divide between the major parties.     

Control,Historic Pitfalls,and the UK Nuclear Renaissance

In September 2015, the UK government announced that future taxpayers will underwrite the construction of two European-designed nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Partly financed by Chinese utility companies, this announcement presents a fait accompli with little democratic input. Few, if any, historic lessons evident from previous attempts to manage its nuclear industry appear to have been learnt. This paper discusses the announcement with reference to the governance of the UK’s historic nuclear legacy—specifically dealing with control, stakeholder engagement, and transparency—and its implications for a nuclear renaissance.     

Liberalism,socialism and democracy: variations on a governmental theme

Liberalism is commonly understood as a political doctrine or ideology concerned with the maximization of individual liberty. However, following Foucault's work on governmentality, a different usage has been suggested, based on the idea of a liberal mode of government. I argue that the differences between these accounts of liberalism derive from a fundamental ambiguity in the liberal project, as a result of which the figure of a community of autonomous individuals appears on the one hand as given reality, serving to identify the character and the limits of legitimate government, while on the other it appears as yet to be realized positivity, serving to define the objective for a variety of governmental projects.

This paper examines the implications of that ambiguity for the understanding first of liberalism as doctrine and second of its relationship to other contemporary doctrines - democracy, socialism and the neo-liberalism in particular. Since the figure of the community of autonomous persons considered as given reality tends to dominate standard characterizations of liberalism as doctrine of government, it also plays an important part in the contrasting characterizations of democracy and socialism. We should expect the view of such a community as artefact to produce a rather different picture.     

Rational choice theory and the analysis of political action

The rational choice approach to the analysis of political action takes as its starting point the need to construct a model of the individual actor and its choices as the basis for its investigations of the interactions of a plurality of actors. This paper questions the theoretical foundations of that approach, concentrating on its postulates of rationality, homogeneity, and individualism. It argues that the conceptualisation of actors, their decisions, and the conditions in which they are made, rasies important questions that cannot be posed within the rational choice approach. A final section indicates some of the problems with recent attempts to integrate elements of the rational choice approach into marxism.     

Non‐fiction reviews

Behind the Wall: a journey through China by Colin Thubron, London: Penguin. 1988. 308pp. £4.99pb

Riding the Iron Rooster: by train through China by Paul Theroux, London: Penguin. 1989. 512pp. £4.99pb

Lords of Poverty: the free‐wheeling lifestyles, power, prestige and corruption of the multi‐billion dollar aid business by Graham Hancock, London: Macmillan. 1989. 234pp. £14.95hb

Does Aid Work in India? by Michael Lipton and John Toye, London: Routledge. 1989. 276pp. £35.00hb

The Fortunate Isles: a study in African transformation by Basil Davidson, London: Hutchinson. 1989. 221pp. £7.95pb

Modernising Super‐Exploitation: restructuring South African agriculture. Tessa Marcus, London: Zed. 1989. 207pp. £32.95hb/£12.95pb

Facing the Storm: portraits of black lives in rural South Africa by Tim Keegan, London: Zed. 1988. 170pp. £22.95hb/£6.95pb

Banking on Apartheid: the financial links report. Intergovernmental Group of Commonwealth Ministers, London: James Currey. 1989. 94pp. £4.95pb

South Africa: the sanctions mission by James Mutambirwa, London: Zed. 1989. 135pp. £6.95pb

Sanctions against Apartheid. Edited by Mark Orkin, London: Catholic Institute for International Relations. 1989. 328pp. £4.95pb

South Africa: the sanctions report. Intergovernmental Group of Commonwealth Ministers, London: Penguin. 1989. 273pp. £4.99pb

Contemporary West African States. Donal B Cruise O'Brien, John Dunn and Richard Rathbone, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. £30.00hb/£9.95pb

Power, Class and Foreign Capital in Egypt: the rise of the new bourgeoisie. Malak Zaalouk, London: Zed. 1989. 178pp. £29.95hb/£8.95pb

Pity the Nation: Lebanon at war by Robert Fisk, London: André Deutsch. 1990. 662pp. £17.95hb

Colombia: inside the labyrinth by Jenny Pearce, London: Latin American Bureau. 1990. 312pp. £18.99hb/£8.99pb

The Brazilian Economy: growth and development (third edition) by Werner Baer, New York: Praeger. 1989. 432pp. £47.30hb/£17.50pb

Samora Machel: a biography by Iain Christie, London: Zed Press. 1989. 181pp. £26.95hb/£7.95pb

A Future Preserved: international assistance to refugees by Zefime Zarjevski, Oxford: Pergamon. 1988. 326pp. £42.00hb

Third World Television Access to US Media: distributing television programs from developing countries in US television, new electronic and nontheatrical markets by Claus Mueller New York: Friedrich Naumann Foundation. 1989. 125pp

Power, the Press and the Technology of Freedom by Leonard R Sussman, New York: Freedom House. 1989. 496 pp. $24.95hb

Security and Economy in the Third World by Nicole Ball, London: Adamantine Press. 1988. 432pp. £32.50hb     

Improved learning for greater effectiveness in development NGOs

Learning is a critical component of organisational effectiveness, particularly in the complex world of development NGOs. Drawing from the literature on organisational learning, this article highlights the key dynamics of a strong learning organisation and proposes an integrated ‘leverage-learning’ model adapted to the NGO context. This model integrates learning domains that are critical for greater effectiveness, or leverage. The model is then applied to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning culture and commitment of a specific development NGO, World Vision Burundi. The model shows promise as an heuristic tool to evaluate NGOs and help them become more effective in aid delivery.

Amélioration de l'apprentissage pour parvenir à une efficacité accrue dans les ONG de développement

L'apprentissage est un élément crucial de l'efficacité organisationnelle, en particulier dans le monde complexe des ONG de développement. En s'inspirant des écrits portant sur l'apprentissage organisationnel, cet article met en relief la dynamique clé d'une organisation apprenante robuste et propose un modèle intégré d'« apprentissage par effet de levier » adapté au contexte des ONG. Ce modèle intègre les domaines d'apprentissage qui sont cruciaux pour une efficacité accrue, ou pour parvenir à l'effet de levier. Ce modèle est ensuite appliqué pour évaluer l'efficacité de la culture d'apprentissage et l'engagement d'une ONG de développement précise, World Vision Burundi. C'est un modèle prometteur comme outil heuristique pour évaluer les ONG et les aider à devenir plus efficaces dans la prestation d'aide.

Mejorando el aprendizaje para lograr mayor eficacia entre las ong de desarrollo

El aprendizaje constituye un componente clave de la eficacia organizacional, particularmente en el complejo mundo de las ong de desarrollo. Apoyándose en los conocimientos existentes en torno al aprendizaje organizacional, el presente artículo pone de relieve las dinámicas más importantes de una fuerte organización de aprendizaje, presentando un modelo integrado de “aprendizaje-apalancado” que ha sido adaptado para el contexto de las ong. Dicho modelo incorpora los ámbitos de aprendizaje que se consideran vitales para lograr mayor eficacia o apalancamiento. El modelo se utilizó para evaluar la eficacia de la cultura de aprendizaje y el compromiso de una ong de desarrollo específica, Visión Mundial en Burundi, demostrando tener posibilidades como método heurístico orientado a evaluar a las ong y a apoyarlas en su esfuerzo por ser más eficaces en la entrega de ayuda humanitaria.

Um melhor aprendizado para uma maior efetividade nas ONGs de desenvolvimento

O aprendizado é um componente crítico para a efetividade organizacional, particularmente em um mundo complexo das ONGs de desenvolvimento. Baseando-se na literatura sobre aprendizado organizacional, este artigo destaca as dinâmicas essenciais da organização de um aprendizado sólido e propõe um modelo integrado de “alavanca de aprendizado” adaptado para o contexto das ONGs. Este modelo integra os setores que são cruciais para uma maior efetividade, ou alavanca. O modelo é, então, aplicado para avaliar a efetividade da cultura do aprendizado e compromisso de uma ONG de desenvolvimento específica, a World Vision Burundi. O modelo mostra um compromisso de ferramenta heurística para avaliar ONGs e ajuda essas ONGs a tornarem-se mais efetivas na implementação da ajuda.     

European Union Security and Defense Policy: Response to Unipolarity?

The European Union has, since 1999, moved deliberately, if slowly, to develop the capability to undertake autonomously a range of demanding political military operations beyond Europe's borders. This effort, the European Security and Defense Policy (esdp), is a puzzle insofar as post-Cold War Europe is very secure, and most European nations are members of an established alliance, the u.s.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization. esdp is best explained by the international relations theory known as structural realism, the modern guise of balance of power theory. Balance of power theory is contrasted with balance of threat theory. Though European states are not motivated by a perception of an imminent threat from the United States, they are balancing u.s. power. The concentration of global power in the United States, unipolarity, is uncomfortable even for its friends who fear the abandonment that u.s. freedom of action permits and who wish to influence the global political environment the United States could create.     

Butalbital and Driving Impairment

Butalbital (Fiorinal^®), used in the treatment of migraines and muscle pain, is the most commonly encountered barbiturate in impaired driving cases. It has central nervous system (CNS) depressant properties, including sedation, drowsiness, and feelings of intoxication, which can contribute to driving impairment. Twenty‐six driving under the influence cases are reviewed including results from field sobriety tests and toxicology testing. Blood samples were screened using enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique immunoassay, and the presence of butalbital was confirmed and quantified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, gas chromatography with flame ionization detection, or gas chromatography nitrogen/phosphorus detection. Butalbital concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 30.2 mg/L, with a mean and median of 16.0 mg/L. General impairment indicators in these cases included horizontal and vertical nystagmus, lack of convergence, poor motor coordination, and balance and speech problems, which are common to CNS depressant intoxication, similar to that associated with alcohol. These findings indicate the importance of toxicological testing for butalbital in cases where CNS depressants are indicated.