Gibraltar at the United Nations: Caught Between a Treaty,the Charter and the “Fundamentalism” of the Special Committee

On account of Spain's long-standing claim to the sovereignty of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, “the Rock” remains one of sixteen non-self-governing territories on the United Nations list awaiting decolonization. This article examines the principles of self-determination and territorial integrity adopted by the United Nations in consideration of the issue of decolonization as they have been applied to Gibraltar, together with the consequences for the parties concerned. With the fiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Resolution on decolonization on the horizon and the recent adoption by Gibraltar of what is considered to be a non-colonial constitution, the article suggests that it is timely for the United Nations to consider taking a more flexible approach to Gibraltar's status that would put to one side Spain's claim but allow Gibraltar to be removed from the UN list.     

Utilizing Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development framework toward an understanding of crisis-driven policy

Policy Sciences - This paper examines the institutional dynamics of policymaking in a crisis. Crises have been termed a “perceptual category,” events that at least seem to be...     

Ideology Justifies Morality: Political Beliefs Predict Moral Foundations

Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) is employed as a causal explanation of ideology that posits political attitudes are products of moral intuitions. Prior theoretical models, however, suggest the opposite causal path, that is, that moral judgments are driven by political beliefs. In both instances, however, extant research has assumed rather than explicitly tested for causality. So do moral intuitions drive political beliefs or do political beliefs drive moral intuitions? We empirically address this question using data from two panel studies and one nationally representative study, and find consistent evidence supporting the hypothesis that ideology predicts moral intuitions. The findings have significant implications for MFT as a theory of ideology, and also about the consequences of political beliefs for shaping how individuals rationalize what is right and what is wrong.     

Is Information Enough? The Effect of Information about Education Tax Benefits on Student Outcomes

There is increasing evidence that tax benefits for college do not affect college enrollment. This may be because prospective students do not know about tax benefits for college or because the design of tax benefits is not conducive to affecting educational outcomes. We focus on changing awareness of tax benefits by providing information to students or prospective students. We sent e‐mails and letters to students that described tax benefits for college, and we tracked college outcomes. For all three of our samples—rising high school seniors, already enrolled students, and students who had previously applied to college but were not currently enrolled—information about tax benefits for college did not affect enrollment or reenrollment. We test whether effects vary according to information frames and found that no treatment arms changed student outcomes. We conclude that awareness is not the primary reason that tax benefits for college do not affect enrollment.     

Applying cartosemiotics to rock art: an example from Aspeberget,Sweden

This study aims to shed new light on the petroglyphs found at the site of Aspeberget 12 at the World Heritage site of Tanum, Sweden, from a semiotic perspective. We demonstrate the semiotics of power inherent in the arrangement of the petroglyphs. We start by describing the site in an archaeological way, in order to give an overview of the empirical material used in this case study. Against the backdrop of the overview, we introduce our analytical tools with reference to cartosemiotics, cultural semiotics and, Charles Sanders Peirce’s theory of signs. We suggest, in a tentative conclusion, that Aspeberget 12, as a type of “map”, displays a clear “Ego-culture” and a possible journey. We also suggest that the visual narratives at Aspeberget 12 represent the authority of the Ego-culture and its development. Details of the figurative images such as ships, axes and spears might have been displayed as markers of the high technological standard of the Ego-culture, and thus of power.     

Sustainability and the world's leading ocean cruising companies

The aim of this research note paper is to offer an exploratory review of the extent to which the leading ocean cruise companies are publicly addressing and reporting on their sustainability strategies and achievements and to offer some reflections on sustainability within the cruise industry. The paper begins with an outline of cruising and the cruising industry and a short commentary on the sustainability challenges the industry faces. The information on which the paper is based is drawn from the leading cruise companies' corporate web sites. The findings of the paper reveal a marked variation in the extent to which the leading cruise companies publicly report on their sustainability strategies and achievements. While the two leading cruise companies, namely the Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises, published extensive sustainability reports which covered a number of environmental social and economic issues, the other leading cruise companies published very limited information on sustainability. More critically the authors argued that the cruise companies' commitments to sustainability are driven by the search for efficiency gains and are couched within existing business models centred on continuing growth than on maintaining the viability of natural ecosystems and communities. As such the leading UK retailers are, at best, currently pursuing a ‘weak’ rather than a ‘strong’ model of sustainability. The paper provides an accessible exploratory review of sustainability reporting in the cruise industry, and it will interest professional working in the cruise industry and more generally in the hospitality industry as well as academics and students interested in public relations, business studies and hospitality management. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Better Retail,Better World”: A commentary on British retailers and the sustainable development goals

The British Retail Consortium's Better Retail, Better World initiative launched in 2018 and looks to mobilise the retail industry to make a leading contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This short commentary paper outlines the features of this initiative and offers some reflections on some of the challenges British retailers seem likely to face in looking to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. These challenges include the strategic prioritisation of SDGs, issues of measurement and metrics, communicating the retailers' position on the SDGs to consumers and the stakeholders, the retailers' financial commitment to the SDGs within a difficult trading environment, and fundamental tensions between sustainability and economic growth.     

Comparative Implementation Research: Directions and Dualities

Abstract

The study of policy implementation developed steadily and considerably in the 1970s and 1980s through two generations of research. Since then progress towards a more rigorous scientific “third generation research paradigm”, assumed to be crucial for further theoretical development, has been much slower and more uneven. Comparative studies figure prominently in this respect. On one hand they are strongly encouraged but on the other they are difficult to conduct according to best practice advice in the textbooks. Comparative implementation research is the theme of this special issue. In this Introduction the articles included are presented, focusing on how they deal with some of the issues posed by the norms of a rigorous “third generation” approach. Reasons for the state of affairs in implementation research are discussed. Some inherent dualities and tensions in contemporary comparative implementation research are identified as particular challenges.     

Bringing People Back in Politics: The Role of Civil Society,Political Parties,and Regional Organizations in a Changing Middle East

The Introduction briefly presents the ideas behind this collection of articles, namely to analyze popular mobilization and the role of civil society, political parties, and regional organizations in relation to the developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the last years, and to discuss theoretical approaches and paradigms of relevance for the analysis of these new regional dynamics. The MENA region experienced, in connection with and following the Arab uprisings, a hitherto unseen popular mobilization. Despite the recent highly problematic situation in several Middle Eastern states, the Introduction emphasizes the continued relevance of focusing on a repoliticized MENA reality. The Middle East is still on the move away from the established image of unshakeable authoritarianism attributed to the region, which made the upgrading authoritarianism paradigm seem forever relevant and without any realistic alternative for the decades to come—therefore, the relevance, offered in this collection of articles, of bringing people back in politics.