Non-Governmental Policy Transfer: The Strategies of Independent Policy Institutes

Discussions of policy transfer have primarily focused on official actors and networks. The non-governmental mode of policy transfer via foundations, think tanks and non-governmental organizations is a relatively neglected dimension. Accordingly, this paper addresses the role of think tanks in promoting the spread of policy ideas about privatization. The importance of think tanks to policy transfer is their ability to diffuse ideas by (1) acting as a clearing-house for information; (2) their involvement in the advocacy of ideas; (3) their involvement in domestic and transnational policy networks; and (4) their intellectual and scholarly base providing expertise on specialized policy issues. Concepts from comparative public policy and international relations such as "social learning" and "epistemic communities" are used to outline the way think tanks advocate innovative policy ideas. However, not only have think tanks been effective in promoting the transfer of policy ideas, the international spread of think tanks also exhibits organizationaltransfer.     

Judicial Review Without Rights: Some Problems for the Democratic Legitimacy of Structural Judicial Review

This article addresses an issue overlooked in most of the literatureon judicial review: the legitimacy of judicial review of a constitution'sfederal and structural provisions. Debates about the legitimacyof judicial review—at least as conducted throughout theCommonwealth—are usually focussed on rights. These debatesappear to assume that the power of courts like the AustralianHigh Court and the Canadian Supreme Court to interpret and enforcefederal and structural provisions is unproblematic. This articletests that assumption and concludes that those who hold democracy-basedobjections to constitutional rights should seriously reconsider,and perhaps oppose, federal and structural judicial review aswell.     

Otherwise than Hospitality: A Disputation on the Relation of Ethics to Law and Politics

At a time of unprecedented migration and social displacement, following a century ravaged by war and hegemonic shift, the question of hospitality presents itself with unparalleled urgency. Taking his cue from Immanuel Kant’s cosmopolitics, Jacques Derrida addressed this question by deliberating on the nature of the political obligation to the other person. Invoking the work of Emmanuel Levinas, this demand is first of all ethical, and unconditional. But Derrida was also acutely aware of the residual violence of the hospitable gesture, which always takes place in a scene of power. The resultant aporias at the heart of hospitality provoked debate between the two authors at the 2007 Critical Legal Conference, and this paper seeks to elucidate and elaborate on this encounter. At stake are the matters of the potential political forms of hospitality, whether it should always been striven for and, ultimately, how one can conceptually reconcile its ethics with its violence.

Organizational Characteristics and Funding Environments: A Study of a Population of United Way–Affiliated Nonprofits

This study examines a population of United Way–affiliated nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts (1) to test hypotheses generated by previous research on relationships between government funding and specific nonprofit organizational characteristics, (2) to compare differences in organizational characteristics between nonprofits receiving higher percentages of revenues from the United Way and from government sources, and (3) to explore associations between government funding and United Way and underexamined characteristics, including use of commercial income and racial diversity of organizational membership. The study supports previous research on the relationship between government funding and nonprofit characteristics, with one notable exception—less administrative complexity was associated with higher percentages of government funding. The study also finds differences in organizational characteristics between nonprofits with higher proportions of government funding and those with higher percentages of United Way funding, including organization size, number of board members, administrative complexity, use of volunteers, and the racial diversity of boards, staff, and volunteers.     

Co-Occurring Internalizing and Externalizing Behavioral Problems: The Mediating Effect of Negative Self-Concept

While a large body of research consistently finds that internalizing and externalizing problems are closely related and commonly co-occur, the literature is mixed regarding the unique and shared risk processes in the development of both domains of problems. The present study examined the nature and timing of relationships between internalizing and externalizing problems as well as the mediating effects of negative self-concept on both. Using a developmental cascade model as a guiding framework, we conducted a cross-lagged panel modeling on a sample of 2,844 Korean fourth graders (54% boys and 46% girls) followed over 4 years. Findings suggest that internalizing and externalizing problems were reciprocally reinforcing, each leading to increases in the other indirectly through the mediating influence of negative self-concept. Negative self-concept exacerbates the development of both internalizing and externalizing problems, which in turn further undermines one's self-concept. Although there were significant gender differences in the stability of internalizing and externalizing problems, the developmental pathways between negative self-concept and both internalizing and externalizing problems held for both boys and girls. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.     

COVID-19 and the policy sciences: initial reactions and perspectives

Policy Sciences - The world is in the grip of a crisis that stands unprecedented in living memory. The COVID-19 pandemic is urgent, global in scale, and massive in impacts. Following Harold D....     

Weight-Related Teasing in the School Environment: Associations with Psychosocial Health and Weight Control Practices Among Adolescent Boys and Girls

Weight-related teasing has been found to be associated with low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, body dissatisfaction, and weight control behaviors in adolescents. While research has typically examined weight-related teasing directed towards the individual, little is known about weight-related teasing at the school level. This study aimed to determine the association between the school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing and psychosocial factors, body dissatisfaction and weight control behaviors in adolescents. Adolescents (N = 2,793; 53.2 % female) attending 20 US public middle and high schools were surveyed as part of the Eating and Activity in Teens (EAT) 2010 study. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the association between school-level weight-related teasing and health variables, controlling for individual-level weight-related teasing, clustering of individuals within schools, and relevant covariates. A greater school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing was associated with lower self-esteem and greater body fat dissatisfaction in girls, and greater depressive symptoms in boys, over and above individual-level weight-related teasing. Dieting was associated with the school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing in analysis adjusted for covariates in girls, but not following adjustment for individual-level weight-related teasing. Unhealthy weight control behaviors, extreme weight control behaviors, and muscle-enhancing behaviors were not associated with the school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing in girls or boys. Findings from the current study, in conjunction with previous findings showing associations between weight-related teasing, psychological concerns, and weight control behaviors, highlight the importance of implementing strategies to decrease weight-related teasing in schools.     

The Most Unique of all Unique Species

This article identifies the shortcomings of “orthodox neo-Darwinians” such as Richard Dawkins, George Williams and Daniel Dennett in their efforts to describe human nature and human pro-social behavior. As an alternative to the views of these thinkers, the efforts of Peter Richerson, Robert Boyd, and other “dual inheritance” theorists to describe the evolution of human nature are also characterized. It is argued that dual inheritance theorists have surpassed the orthodox neo-Darwinians in their explanations for very important and uniquely human features such as our extensive sociability, complex cumulative culture and morality.

Candidate Valence and Ideological Positions in U.S. House Elections

We examine the relationship between the valence qualities of candidates and the ideological positions they take in U.S. House elections based on a study of the 2006 midterm elections. Our design enables us to distinguish between campaign and character dimensions of candidate valence and to place candidates and districts on the same ideological scale. Incumbents with a personal‐character advantage are closer ideologically to their district preferences, while disadvantaged challengers take more extreme policy positions. Contrary to conventional wisdom, challengers can reap electoral rewards by taking more extreme positions relative to their districts. We explore a possible mechanism for this extremism effect by demonstrating that challengers closer to the extreme received greater financial contributions, which enhanced their chances of victory. Our results bear on theories of representation that include policy and valence, although the interactions between these two dimensions may be complex and counterintuitive.     

A Comparative Study of Resource Nationalism in Russia and Kazakhstan 2004–2008

In neighbouring countries like Russia and Kazakhstan, resource nationalism that may look similar to outside observers has a different character and is driven by different circumstances in each state. To assess the underlying nature of state-centric models of resource-led development in the two post-Soviet states, we contrast recent state interventions into their respective resource sectors. In Russia, heightened state involvement in the resource sectors, including oil and gas pipeline networks, is characterised mainly by political goals, whereas Kazakhstan's resource nationalism is primarily motivated by economic goals. More specifically, Russia leverages its energy sector to achieve geopolitical objectives and domestic political stability. By contrast, Kazakhstan seeks widely dispersed economic development.