Economies of scope and scale in green advocacy

Environmental advocacy is a large and growing activity. Whilst a number of economists have analysed the advocacy process, no systematic attempt has been made to understand the factors influencing the organisation of the sector. We explore the relationship between economies of scale and scope in advocacy. Under the most popular specification of a Tullock-type contest, economies of scope arise when (and only when) the scale of that activity is sufficiently large. The incentives for merger are socially efficient, implying no need for policy intervention.     

Security and governance in an uncertain world

This special issue has its origins in series of discussions within the Governance Research Centre, University of Bristol concerning the changing nature of conflict, security and development and debates about different conceptual lenses for explaining and understanding these changes. Our interest is in the relevance and the extent to which the multifaceted concept of governance explains security challenges in a world in which many previous certainties appear far less certain. Following a call for papers in 2003, we held a two-day workshop in December 2004 sponsored by NATO Public Diplomacy Programme and the International Policy Institute, King's College London to present and debate drafts of the papers, which were peer reviewed and revised for this special issue.     

An Evolutionary Approach to Political Leadership

We combine evolutionary and neurobiological models to provide a theoretically rigorous framework for understanding the origin of political leadership in democratic structures and how such qualities interact with institutional incentives and constraints. Evolutionary, behavioral-genetic, neuropsychological, and physiological studies have identified biological systems related to particular types of leadership behaviors as well as the emergence of leadership itself. These biological systems emerge during specific life stages and interact with a person's life history, influencing the environments one selects into and the perception of those experiences and subsequent reactions to them; these circumstances reinforce, suppress, and inspire various leadership characteristics. Our framework provides insight into the foundational basis of leadership qualities and explains why and how we observe variation in such traits. The evolutionary functions of leadership, including approaches to collective action problems, leader–follower dynamics, institutional and organizational environments, and leader attributes are discussed, and in so doing, we propose several novel questions that can be addressed from this perspective, which suggest new and fruitful lines of research in leadership studies.     

Preclinical Assessment of Safety and Efficacy of Fluorescent Dye for Detecting Dermal Injuries (the injuries were both abrasions and incision) in a Murine Model

Objective documentation of tears and abrasions to the external genitalia after sexual assault is an important part of the forensic examination. A 1% aqueous solution of toluidine blue (TB) dye is often used to highlight injury, but the dye can be difficult to see on dark skin. We evaluated a fluorescent dye for detecting injuries on all skin colors in a relevant preclinical murine model. We compared the ability of trained, blinded observers to detect unstained wounds and wounds stained with 1% fluorescein sodium (FL) and with TB. We also evaluated the cutaneous wound healing response after application of both dyes. The no‐dye group had significantly fewer (p < 0.05) true‐positive identifications compared to all the dye groups. No differences in effectiveness were detected between dye treatments. All groups exhibited statistically similar healing rates. These findings support the evaluation of fluorescein sodium in a future clinical study with human subjects.     

Protecting Ohio's Children: Ohio Juvenile Court Jurisdiction to Prevent Nonparty Interference in the Protection of the Best Interest of a Child

Ohio Rule of Juvenile Procedure 2(Y) allows juvenile courts to do what other courts cannot: designate additional parties to an action, allowing juvenile courts to better accomplish their statutory purpose of pursuing the best interests of children. However, sometimes this can lead to confusion about juvenile courts’ actions to protect children, especially when courts invoke Rule 2(Y) to stop interference with proceedings. This article will examine the historical foundations of Ohio's juvenile courts, the unique authority that they possess, and the conflicts that can arise due to interference with juvenile court proceedings. Ohio's juvenile courts have unique authority, and they can use that authority in a way that does not conflict with constitutional rights, while still working to protect the interests of children.     

The role of the united nations in East Timor's path to independence

East Timor has been the subject of a substantial peace keeping and peace building operation. Will the role of the UN be judged a success? Despite the evident flaws in the operation, there is little doubt that the UN played an essential role in restoring peace and stability to East Timor. Even its most controversial episode, the 1999 ballot and surrounding violence, in hindsight, can be seen as a success given the constraints of the international environment at the time. The statements of leading Indonesian officials during 1999 betrayed an incorrect reading of the East Timor problem, and generally perpetuated the myth of a civil conflict between two politically opposed sides — the reality was that the violence was the near exclusive domain of the pro‐integrationist militia groups. East Timor has now undergone a massive reconstruction of infrastructure and aspects of governance, it has had constituent elections, and full independence is expected by mid‐2002.