Vicious circles and the security development nexus in Somalia

The metaphor of the vicious circle is deeply embedded in analysis of protracted conflicts. Yet in at least some instances conflicts that appear to be self‐reinforcing in the short term are in the longer run producing conditions out of which new political orders can emerge. These protracted conflicts are thus dynamic, not static, crises and require post‐conflict assistance strategies that are informed by accurate trend analysis. The case of Somalia is used to illustrate the dramatic changes that occur over time in patterns of armed conflict, criminality, and governance in a collapsed state. These changes have produced a dense network of informal and formal systems of communication, cooperation, and governance in Somalia, helping local communities adapt to state collapse, manage risk, and provide for themselves a somewhat more predictable environment in which to pursue livelihoods. Crucial to this evolution of anarchy in Somalia has been the shifting interests of an emerging business community, for whom street crime and armed conflict are generally bad for business.     

Federalism: Fuzzy Global Trends

This article examines the operation of federalism from the perspective of complex evolving socio-political systems. Emerging forms of governance that operate through a mix of formal statutory instruments, culture and the effects of fuzzy logic rather than in accordance with formal constitutional provisions are examined. The paper will canvas the implications of this approach for certain specific areas of public administration within the Australian federation.     

The administrative liberalism of R. MacGregor Dawson

Abstract: Nothing could be more characteristic of the thought of R. MacGregor Dawson than his ideas about the role of the civil service in a liberal democracy. His approach to this question forms a distinct theory which can be called administrative liberalism. This theory can be pieced together from Dawson's diverse writings and consists of three interrelated facets. First, there is a need for a reformed, merit-based civil service; second, there must be a willingness to give the civil service “official independence”; and finally, there must be a special relationship between a minister and his officials in which there is a subtle combination of mutual respect and support. The combination of these three elements forms a unique contribution to the ongoing debate over the most satisfactory method of reconciling liberal democracy and bureaucratic administration within the framework of parliamentary government. Sommaire: Les idées de R. MacGregor Dawson à propos du rôle de la Fonction publique dans une démocratie libérale caractérisent particulièrement bien sa pensée. La façon dont il aborde la question constitue une théorie particulière que I'on pour-rait appeler Iibéralisme administratif. Sa théorie, qu'il faut construire à partir de divers textes, se compose de trois volets liés les uns aux autres. Tout d'abord, la Fonction publique doit être réformée pour se fonder davantage sur le mérite. Deuxièmement, la volonté d'octroyer à la Fonction publique une “indépendance officielle” est indispensable. Enfin, il doit exister entre le Ministre et ses représentants officiels une relation toute spéciale, fondée sur un mélange subtil de respect et de soutien mutuel. L'association de ces trois éléments apporte une contribution unique au débat toujours présent concernant la méthode la plus satisfaisante pour concilier démocratie libérale et administration bureaucratique dans le cadre de notre régime parlementaire.     

Integrated planning and Bob tunings organizational conflict

Abstract: This paper examines the introduction and operation of integrated resource planning management in the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Government of Alberta, during the period 1976-86. In government planning, systems are introduced to increase task interdependencies, create common purposes and establish performance monitoring. Such a system forces the organizational units concerned to confront their differences. This is because planning systems change task interdependence from pooled to reciprocal. This change means that the differences between organizational units in terms of values, status, organizational processes and power are brought into the open. As a result conflict occurs, not so much because planning in uSis context represented an organizational change, but because reciprocal interdependence is inherently conflictual. This case shows that the planning systems are about both policy-making and organizational structure and processes. Changes in ways of making policy are changes in organizational operation. Outcomes such as incrementalism and political behaviour are derived from the pre-existing pattern of organizational differentiation and the way in which an innovative technical system, in this case integrated resource planning, interacts with that differentiation by changing task interdependence between resource agencies. Sommaire: Cet article traite de la mise sur pied et du mode de fonctionnement d'un service intégré de planification des ressources au ministére de l'Énergie et des Res-sources naturelles de l'Alberta entre 1976-86. Les gouvernements conçoivent des systémes de planification pour accroître l'interdépendance des tâches, fixer des objec-tifs communs et surveiller le rendement. Un systéme de ce genre fait ressortir les divergences qui existent entre les unités organisationnelles car l'interdépendance des tâches y est réciproque au lieu d'y être collective. Ceci met en lumiére les différences qui opposent les unités organisationnelles sur le plan de leurs valeurs, de leur statut, de leurs procédés organisationnels et de leurs pouvoirs. Il en découle un conflit, non pas tant parce que dans ce contexte la planification représente un changement organisational, mais parce que l'interdépendance réciproque est conflictuelle par essence. L'étude démontre que les systémes de planification touchent à la fois l'élaboration des politiques, la structure et les procécdés organisationnels. Modifier la façon d'élaborer les politiques débouche sur un changement du fonctionnement organisationnel. La comportimentation et le comportement politique qui en résultent proviennent du modéle organisationnel pré-existant, des divergences qu'il comporte et de la maniére dont un systéme technique novateur, en l'occurrence la planification intégrée des ressources, répose sur ces divergences pour modifier l'interdépendance des tâches entre les organismes ressources.     

Nakasone Yasuhiro Peace Institute—Looking Back Over Our Past and Looking Ahead to Our Future—

The Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS), an independent, non-profit research institute founded in 1998 by former prime minister of Japan Yasuhiro Nakasone, has pursued an ambitious research program that covers the fields of international politics, economics, security, energy, and the environment for 30 years. The Institute also convenes international symposia and seminars on important political and economic issues and conducts joint projects with other research institutes in Japan and internationally. Research findings and policy proposals are published in print and on the website.

On the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the Institute’s founding, and to commemorate the 99^th birthday of Founder and Chairman Yasuhiro Nakasone, as well as recognize the background and purpose of the research work and further clarify the mission for future research endeavors, as of January 1, 2018, the Institute has been renamed Nakasone Yasuhiro Peace Institute (NPI).     

Gender and work: How far have we come?

Lisa Adkins, Gendered Work: Sexuality, Family and the Labour Market (Open University Press) Buckingham, 1995.

Janet Siltanen, Locating Gender: Occupational Segregation, Wages and Domestic Responsibilities (UCL Press) London, 1994.

Harriet Fraad, Stephen Resnick and Richard Wolff, Bringing it all Back Home: Class, Gender and Power in the Modem Household (Pluto Press) London & Boulder, Colorado, 1994.

Ellen Malos, The Politics of Housework (1980) (New Clarion Press) Cheltenham, 1995.     

Predicting and Preventing the Theft of Electronic Products

The research presented within this paper was conducted as part of a 2-year project (Project MARC) to develop and render operational a mechanism to assess the risk of theft of electronic products. Clarke and Newman (Secured goods by design - a plan for security coding of electronic products. London: Department of Trade and Industry, 2002) proposed the use of two checklists—one to measure vulnerability, the other to measure security—as a means of categorising products according to their vulnerability to theft. Consultation with key stakeholders yielded the common view that such a mechanism was worth pursuing, but that it must reflect the language of those who would use it. An extensive consultation with stakeholders from ten European member states ensued. Participants were asked to rate a range of electronic products in terms of vulnerability and security, and to explain their ratings. Their responses were used to develop two checklists that incorporate a variety of factors, weighted according to the frequency with which they were expressed. The crime vulnerability checklist developed within this paper is judged fit-for-purpose as a provisional measurement but we urge caution in relation to the security checklist.

走到十字路口的日本法科大学院制度

本文介绍了日本借鉴美国法学教育模式建立的日本法科大学院制度和新司法考试制度的背景、理念,重点阐释了日本法科大学院在实施中出现的问题和挑战,对新的法律职业教育模式与旧有制度之间的冲突和矛盾进行了深入分析,并将日本制度和韩国的制度改革作了比较法上的研究,提出了一些值得深入思考的看法。     

Democratic Representation and the Property Franchise in Australian Local Government

Australia remains one of the last liberal democracies to retain a property franchise at the local government level. This particular feature is both the result of historical particularities and contemporary political arrangements. This article analyses the property franchise in the City of Melbourne, the capital of the Australian State of Victoria, based on democratic theory and an empirical study. It illustrates the tensions between the democratic principles of representation and political equality in defining structures for representation at the local government level. The authors suggest that a more nuanced interpretation of representation can be adopted at a local level based on territorial residency rather than legal citizenship. Despite this, based on analysis of both electoral and non‐electoral mechanisms, the property franchises are found to be anachronistic and indefensible from a democratic perspective and unrelated to the status of capital city. The article concludes that, at a local level, deliberative democracy holds the promise to better represent various interests, including property interests.