International Migration: Pacifier or Trigger for Military Conflicts?

Whereas the impact of trade relations on conflict has been studied extensively, this is not the case for the impact of international migration. The latter might influence the size of expected costs and benefits, and hence the likelihood of military conflict between countries. In this paper, we discuss the channels through which bilateral migration can affect the prevalence of interstate military conflict. We then estimate migration’s impact on conflict using bilateral panel data between 1960–2000. We find evidence of a positive and robust impact of South-North and South-South migration on the occurrence of conflict. These effects are even larger when we control for potential endogeneity using a GMM approach.     

Is transition experience enough? The donor-side effectiveness of Czech and Polish democracy aid to Georgia

The article examines the democracy aid practices of the Czech Republic and Poland in Georgia. These two countries have recently emerged as promoters of democracy, and have argued that their own transition experience puts them in a unique position to support democratization and the consolidation of democracy in the European Union’s eastern neighbourhood. The article evaluates how these two countries provide democracy aid to Georgia along three criteria, derived from the aid effectiveness literature: supporting locally driven change, learning from results, and coordination. The results indicate that both countries have plenty of space to improve the way their democracy aid is delivered. Neither country has formal systems in place to ensure that they actually support Georgian priorities; evaluations are ad hoc and feedback loops missing; and there is significant scope to improve coordination with other donors. Nonetheless, there seems to be a general perception among stakeholders that the democracy aid provided by the Czech Republic and Poland is relevant to Georgia’s needs.     

An externally constrained hybrid regime: Hungary in the European Union

The paper focuses on the unique, role model characteristics of the Hungarian hybrid regime, the Hungarian political system’s new incarnation forged in the past years’ democratic backsliding process. Following the short review of the main hybrid regime literature and the key analyses putting the democratic quality of the Hungarian political system under the microscope, the paper argues that Hungary’s European Union (EU) membership, the competencies of EU institutions, and the scope of EU law have played a crucial role in the development of the system’s unique characteristics. Based on this argument, the paper qualifies Hungary as an “externally constrained hybrid regime”. However, the EU does not only fulfil system constraining functions regarding the Hungarian regime, but performs system support and system legitimation functions as well. Ultimately, the changing scope of these functions, determined by the European integration’s internal dynamics, influences first and foremost the Hungarian power elite’s strategic considerations about the country’s future EU membership.     

Crime and crime trends in different urban environments

This is a study of crime and crime trends in different urban environments in Stockholm. The study is in two major parts. First, on the basis of a study of the factorial social ecology of Stockholm in 1980, the city is grouped into major urban environments, and thereafter the criminality in these different urban environments is studied cross sectionally for 1982. Second, the trends in crime in the city of Stockholm and its different types of urban environments are studied over a 20-year period (1968–1987). The findings show significant differences between types of urban environments in rates of crimes, offenders and victims, crime structure, and crime and distance. Also, the trends in crime were significantly different between different types of urban environments.     

Remarks on Compassion and Altruism in the Pratyabhijñā Philosophy

Journal of Indian Philosophy - According to Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta, a subject who has freed himself from the bondage of individuality is necessarily compassionate, and his action, necessarily...     

1893–1993: FromLa Donna Delinquente to a postmodern deconstruction of the ‘Woman question’ in social control theory

Résumé Dans cet article l'auteur esquisse une réponse à la question suivante:” Qu'y a-t-il de nouveau dans les épistémologies, les théories ou les paradigmes que orientent les analyses sur la criminalisation des femmes et leur traitement par le système pénal? L'analyse présentée se fonde sur un examen extensif des travaux portant sur “la question des femmes” produits par des chercheurs-es au Canada, entre 1964 et 1992. La première partie brosse un portrait des thèmes et des perspectives théoriques ayant marqué les études criminologiques sur les femmes de 1964 à 1988. Dans la seconde partie, l'auteure ouvre plus largement sa réflexion aux travaux portant sur les femmes et le contr?le social, de 1988 à 1992. Dans la dernière partie, trois avenues théoriques prometteuses sont mises de l'avant: le constructivisme, la perspective du point de vue des femmes (standpoint) et le postmodernisme.      

Les femmes au Parlement européen: Effets du mode de scrutin,des stratégies et des ressources politiques. L'exemple de la délégation française

Cet article vise à apporter des éléments d'explication quant à la féminisation des élus français au Parlement européen. S'il semble nécessaire de prendre en compte le mode de scrutin, ses effets ne peuvent véritablement se comprendre qu'en relation, d'une part avec la position du Parlement européen dans le champ politique français et d'autre part avec la configuration propre des luttes sociales et politiques qui traversent l'espace public français au cours des années 1990. C'est dans ce cadre que le genre constitue une ressource politique plus rentable au Parlement européen qu'au parlement français, avec pour conséquence la promotion de femmes moins familiarisées avec l'exercice du métier politique; des femmes qui de ce fait s'orientent davantage vers des formes de « bonne volonté » parlementaire et des stratégies de surinvestissement des rôles politiques européens. La spécificité relative des postures qu'elles adoptent au sein de l'institution renvoie donc moins à une hypothétique « nature féminine », qu'à un ensemble de processus sociopolitiques.     

Institutional Weakness and the Puzzle of Argentina's Low Taxation

Current explanations of taxation levels have identified a host of factors, such as levels of economic development and GDP per capita, tax handles, tax morale, and political regimes. But none of them can account for Argentina's exceptionalism. Using a "transaction cost politics" approach and the case of Brazil for comparison, this article argues that the key to explaining low taxation in Argentina is political instability. Systemic instability affects the tax behavior of governments. Facing an uncertain future, incumbent governments choose to extract resources from society through inflation rather than normal taxation. This article argues that political institutions, particularly federalism, contribute to instability and thereby reduce the discount rates of government policymakers.