Incomplete Democratization and the Outbreak of Military Disputes

Whereas most research on the democratic peace has focused on relations within pairs of states, research on the relationship between democratization and armed conflict has centered primarily on the behavior of individual states. Moreover, the existing literature has placed primary emphasis on explaining the effects of democratization on war, rather than military disputes more generally. In this article, we find that certain types of democratic transitions markedly increase the risk of such disputes within dyads, even when economic and political relations between states are taken into account. Particularly prone to violence are dyads in which either state undergoes an incomplete democratic transition; that is, a shift from an autocratic to a partially democratic (or anocratic) regime that stalls prior to the establishment of consolidated democratic institutions.     

The Supreme Court and Police Practices: The Last Two Terms

The 2003–2004 term of the Supreme Court was noteworthy because it decided a relatively large number of cases dealing with police practices, many of which were of special significance. The next two terms (2004–2005 and 2005–2006 terms) were not quite as noteworthy, but still the Court decided eight police practices cases, dealing with such important issues as the detention of the residents of a home while executing a search warrant, the use of canine sniffs during a traffic stop, the validity of anticipatory search warrants, and the validity of third party consent to search when another person with authority to consent is present and objects to the search. These two terms do not provide enough cases to permit a confident prediction about the approach that the two new members of the Court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, are likely to take in police practices cases. However, their positions in the cases discussed in this article suggest that both will take positions in support of the police in these cases.     

Measuring dynamic collaborations: Collaborative health assessment tool

The changing nature of organisations in the public sector means that collaboration has become an imperative for many. Notwithstanding considerable scholarly agreement about factors contributing to successful collaboration, a broadly accepted model of collaborative practice has not coalesced. In this paper, we put forward an augmented collaboration assessment tool. Building on existing research, we argue that systems thinking can help us better account for the dynamic and multidimensional nature of collaboration – a process in which partner organisations are interconnected and organised in a way that seeks to achieve a common purpose that they could not have achieved alone. We tested the validity of our tool using a three‐stage, iterative mixed‐methods approach. Our research confirms the value of a diagnostic tool to assist collaboration partners navigate an often uncertain terrain. It further establishes the value of our tool in illuminating a collaboration's dynamic interactions as a means to evaluate ‘collaboration health’.     

Deterritorialisation: Reconceptualising Development in the Pacific Islands

Development, as an idea and an industry, is premised on the assumption that all states have the ability to raise the material wellbeing of citizens. For many this appears to be working but the ideal is problematic for a sub-set of the world's smallest countries: the Pacific Island states. These states have sought to develop conventional export trade-based economies but are disadvantaged in this, and in service sector development, by a combination of well-known factors, including resource bases, size and location. By default, migration has become a least-worst development option for many island peoples and governments, involving engagement with the periphery and contributing to income generation and poverty alleviation. This deterritorialisation presents an alternative to mainstream development theory and practice in its current state-centric form, and emphasises the emerging significance of non-state approaches to development.     

Do Open Primaries Improve Representation? An Experimental Test of California's 2012 Top‐Two Primary

To improve representation and alleviate polarization among US lawmakers, many have promoted open primaries—allowing voters to choose candidates from any party—but the evidence that this reform works is mixed. To determine whether open primaries lead voters to choose ideologically proximate candidates, we conducted a statewide experiment just before California's 2012 primaries, the first conducted under a new top‐two format. We find that voters failed to distinguish moderate and extreme candidates. As a consequence, voters actually chose more ideologically distant candidates on the new ballot, and the reform failed to improve the fortunes of moderate congressional and state senate candidates.