The Effects of Soil Texture on the Ability of Human Remains Detection Dogs to Detect Buried Human Remains

Despite technological advances, human remains detection (HRD) dogs still remain one of the best tools for locating clandestine graves. However, soil texture may affect the escape of decomposition gases and therefore the effectiveness of HDR dogs. Six nationally credentialed HRD dogs (three HRD only and three cross‐trained) were evaluated on novel buried human remains in contrasting soils, a clayey and a sandy soil. Search time and accuracy were compared for the clayey soil and sandy soil to assess odor location difficulty. Sandy soil (p < 0.001) yielded significantly faster trained response times, but no significant differences were found in performance accuracy between soil textures or training method. Results indicate soil texture may be significant factor in odor detection difficulty. Prior knowledge of soil texture and moisture may be useful for search management and planning. Appropriate adjustments to search segment sizes, sweep widths and search time allotment depending on soil texture may optimize successful detection.     

Making sense of the case law on Ombudsman schemes

This article analyses the case law on ombudsman schemes in the UK, with the purpose of identifying some of the key trends that underpin this branch of law pre-the first Supreme Court decision in this area, JR55 v Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints. While the law on ombudsman schemes remains based on legislation and the various grounds of administrative law available in judicial review, distinct bespoke principles have also been relied upon. These principles are beginning to provide consistent guidance on how the law should be used and interpreted in cases involving an ombudsman scheme. One task of the Supreme Court in JR55 will be to confirm these principles, or rationalize any departure from them.     

From Workers to Migrants,from Distributive Justice to Inclusion: Exploring the Changing Social Democratic Imagination

There is little awareness that from the perspective of distributive justice, a transnational market society exercises a justice‐disabling effect. No longer is society perceived to be a system of co‐operation, the net product of which is to be distributed among all participants fairly, but rather viewed as a composite of uncoordinated templates for the individual pursuit of opportunities. A society of this type does no longer regard a centralised political effort at redistribution as its essential objective; rather, its most fundamental principle concerns equal access to opportunities without regard to nationality or local preference. Such a concern with inclusion appears to be at odds with the received vision of distributive justice whose realisation presupposes bounded solidarity and, hence, closure.     

A Comment on Diagnostic Tools for Counterfactual Inference

Alexander Michaelides London School of Economics, Department of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK e-mail: a.michaelides{at}lse.ac.uk We evaluate two diagnostic tools used to determine if counterfactualanalysis requires extrapolation. Counterfactuals based on extrapolationare model dependent and might not support empirically validinferences. The diagnostics help researchers identify thosecounterfactual "what if" questions that are empirically plausible.We show, through simple Monte Carlo experiments, that thesediagnostics will often detect extrapolation, suggesting thatthere is a risk of biased counterfactual inference when thereis no such risk of extrapolation bias in the data. This is becausethe diagnostics are affected by what we call the n/k problem:as the number of data points relative to the number of explanatoryvariables decreases, the diagnostics are more likely to detectthe risk of extrapolation bias even when such risk does notexist. We conclude that the diagnostics provide too severe atest for many data sets used in political science. Author's note: We thank Komei Fukuda, Don Green, Alan Gerber,and Jasjeet Sekhon for their generous help, Mike Kane for assistancewith R programming, and five anonymous referees for constructivecomments.     

“The Mother of Reason and Revelation”: Benjamin on the Metaphysics of Language

This paper is a reconstruction of Walter Benjamin's philosophy of language, especially as it expressed in 1916's “On Language as Such and the Language of Man”. I read Benjamin's theory as a contribution to what Charles Taylor has called the “expressivist” tradition that includes eighteenth century thinkers like J.G. Herder and J.G. Hamann. Hamann's work and his interpretation of the theological concept of condescension are of particular importance. Although Benjamin's views are often regarded as impenetrable or mystical, they are relevant to and, in part, motivated by concerns of more mainstream twentieth century philosophy of language, in particular Russell's paradox. His “metaphysics of language” understands reference or designation, central to analytic theories of meaning, as derived from a more fundamental, aesthetic meaning.     

Perceptions of Discretion in Street-Level Public Service: Examining Administrative Governance in Romania

ABSTRACT

Street-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implementation, often occupying unique positions that encompass executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Osborne’s concept of the New Public Governance addresses concepts of policy implementation and interpretive activities that characterize street-level bureaucracy. Current understanding of street-level bureaucracy is, however, dominated by research focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which demonstrate differences from countries in Eastern Europe. This study uses survey data to examine street-level bureaucracy in Romania, with attention to the determinants of bureaucratic perceptions of discretion. Results indicate that proactive personality, prosocial motivation, autonomy, job satisfaction, and years of experience are related to individual perceptions of discretionary latitude among front-line workers.     

War and Peace in International Relations Theory: A Classroom Simulation

Simulations are increasingly common pedagogical tools in political science and international relations courses. This article develops a classroom simulation that aims to facilitate students’ theoretical understanding of the topic of war and peace in international relations, and accomplishes this by incorporating important theoretical concepts about the causes of war found in international relations theory into the design and implementation of the simulation. In addition to sharing a successful classroom simulation with other international relations instructors, the article makes two important contributions to the pedagogical literature on simulations. First, it shows how simulation design can be usefully based on the theoretical concepts and/or substantive problems that course instructors aim to impart to their students. Second, it demonstrates that it is possible to achieve important learning objectives with low-intensity simulations that do not require a big investment of time, energy, and resources.