Justifying Age Discrimination

The characteristics of age discrimination as provided for inthe Employment Equality (Age) Discrimination Regulations setit apart from existing anti-discrimination schemes. The ambitof the Regulations is limited to the employment field. Withinthis area, the legislation does not simply seek to identifya characteristic of a specific minority group and then removethat factor from the decision-making process. Instead, workingfrom a quality common to all (age), the Regulations seek onlyto prevent reliance on it for purposes that are ‘illegitimate’or if the consequences of doing so are ‘disproportionate’.This is necessary: first because the Regulations do not seekmerely to protect discrete age groups, and in practice the interestsof persons of different age may well be in conflict; secondlybecause many decision-making criteria that appear objectiveare in substance, age-related. In order to sort ‘bad’discrimination from ‘good’ discrimination a notionof substantive equality must exist. The Regulations themselvesgive little indication of what equality should mean. There isno existing consensus from which the answer can be drawn, andthe rationales that have underpinned previous anti-discriminationlegislation are not easily transposed to age discrimination.The practical application of the justification defence containedin Regulation 3 will shape the substantive meaning of equalityin this area. This article seeks to identify what the properapproach should be to the provisions of Regulation 3, and suggeststhat this should be derived from considerations of transparentdecision-making, and the need to respect the dignity of theindividual.     

The Effect of Gender in the Perception of Elder Physical Abuse in Court

Two experiments investigated mock jurors' perceptions of elder abuse (EA) in a physical assault case. In Experiment 1, participants read a fictional criminal trial summary of a physical assault case in which the alleged victim was 66, 76, or 86 years old. In Experiment 2, the age of the alleged victim was 76 years old, but the gender of the alleged victim and the gender of the defendant were crossed. The results of the experiments showed that women believed the alleged victim more and rendered a guilty verdict more often than men. Overall, the alleged victim was believed more than the defendant regardless of the age of the alleged victim, and most verdicts were guilty. These results are discussed in terms of the factors that affect perceptions of alleged victims of EA in court.     

Orchestra of Treaties: A Future Climate Regime Scenario with Multiple Treaties among Like-minded Countries

The Orchestra of Treaties scenario emerges if countries share the following principles for re-building the climate regime (1) recognize the sovereignty concerns attending energy policies; (2) build upon national interests in technology and development; (3) avoid conflicts and enhance cooperation by appropriately framing core issues; and (4) address not only short-term emission cuts but also long-term technological change.In this scenario, countries will share these principles by drawing on the hard lessons of past UNFCCC negotiations. The framing of the climate change problem as the allocation of emission quota created an adversarial style of negotiation that resulted in distrust among countries. Moreover, the negotiations have been characterized by unpredictable outcomes. Since energy policies were deemed as sovereignty concerns, countries did not want to put such issues on the agenda to avoid a potentially intrusive outcome. This negotiation style brought about shortcomings of the Kyoto Protocol and may lead to a stalemate in future negotiations.The scenario captures the dynamics that emerge when multiple efforts are pursued by flexible coordination of actors motivated through diverse incentives. The emerging regime, the Orchestra of Treaties, will consist of four building blocks, of which three grow outside of UNFCCC.

Evaluative bias and issue proximity

This study identifies two forms of evaluative bias toward political objects — positivity and negativity — in addition to the familiar one of partisanship. Bias is measured, predominantly, using open-ended responses to questions on political parties in the NES studies. The incidence of varieties of evaluative orientation toward the parties over time, beginning in 1952, is reported; so also are demographic and cognitive correlates of evaluative bias. Finally, hypotheses on differential assimilation and contrast effects in candidate perception are tested.     

Federal Factions and Federated Host Parties in Israel: Some Ideological and Structural Dimensions

A new type of party has emerged in Israel—the federatedhost party. It consists of political groups and former partieswhich have the status of factions. Formal agreements set therules of the game; hence, heavy constraints are placed on thehost party in appointments and policy. The article discussesthe emergence of federated host parties and federal factions,factors of stability and unrest in the relations of host partyand factions, and the withering away of factions. Factors whichaccount for the emergence of federal factions are: persistence,differences in size of competing parties, chain reaction syndrome,countering electoral decline, crossing the lines, and secessionbrinkmanship. Comparative implications suggest six elementswhich require further study.     

Chinese Security in the Post-11 September World: Implications for Asia and the Pacific

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the Bush administration's policy changes, Chinese strategic specialists are engaged in a wide ranging and increasingly public debate over China's national security strategies and priorities. Although senior leaders continue to argue that most trends remain favorable for Chinese security interests, far more cautionary assessments are also being voiced. In this article, Jonathan D. Pollack, chairman of the Strategic Research Department, US Naval War College, points out that the increased complexity and differentiation in Chinese policymaking reveals multiple trends at work. Even as Chinese policymakers emphasize their keen desire to reinforce regional stability, the longer-term picture remains clouded, from the Taiwan straits to the Korean peninsula to Central Asia to future developments in nuclear weapons policy. Pollack argues that there is a compelling need to invigorate exchanges between senior officials in Beijing, Washington, Tokyo and other major capitals, lest China and other states undertake policies that undermine the prospects for long term regional stability and security.