Rights of Self-delimiting Peoples: Protecting Those Who Want No Part of Us

While in recent years new charters and government actions have boosted the collective and individual rights enjoyed by “Fourth-World” indigenous peoples such as the Inuit, another set of indigenous peoples has not experienced such protection: “self-delimiting” peoples. Their rights go largely unprotected because of deliberate ambiguities in the word “indigenous”; because these peoples generally avoid all contact with the larger society, and so are unknown by it and have no voice in it; and because charters and institutions generally require validation of an indigenous people as bona fide—such as a history of contact and of evident land occupation—in order for the group to enjoy full rights protections. Both practice and theory may militate against the extension of full protection. This paper argues that theory, institutions building upon it, and practice realizable from theory and institutions must be reconsidered in terms of the particular circumstances and needs of these peoples if their rights are to be fully respected and maintained. Clear, special protection for these peoples’ rights to their culture must be established.     

Factors impeding credit use in small‐farm households in Bolivia

Sample survey data show few Bolivian small‐farm households using credit, but most would like to borrow from formal market institutions. A theoretical framework is developed to formulate testable hypotheses to identify factors that inhibit credit use. Major impediments to borrowing are scale of operations, as measured by amount of useable land, and borrower's transactions costs that arise from loan paperwork, use of Indian language, remoteness from market, little education and low degree of market integration. When farmers with these characteristics borrow they tend to use informal market sources because of the lower transactions costs compared to those of formal market lenders. The policy implication is if formal market lenders are to reach more farmers they must lower transactions costs.     

Review of public budgeting and financial management

User charge is an alternative option to privatizing public service provision. But its use as a policy instrument, compared with that of asset sales or contracting out, for instance, is less researched and documented. This paper tries to fill the gap. By contrasting the experiences of employing user charge for two public services in Hong Kong with diametrically opposing results, this paper offers preliminary conclusions on several lessons, which governments, in their drive toward improved efficiency, can learn in commercializing their trading activities. Implications to public policy making are also suggested. These include: the user-pays principle has to be applied equitably, the public service market has to remain depoliticized, the management has to be transformed to behave more entrepreneurially, and the users have to be educated.     

Reviews and commentary

Lifting bob Woodward's veil

Bob Woodward : VEIL : The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987 Simon &; Schuster, New York, 1987, 543 p., $21.95.

His “Cover” Is Undercover

Steve Posner: Israel Undercover: Secret Warfare &; Hidden Diplomacy in the Middle East Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, N.Y., 1987, 350 p., $17.95.

Democracy and Intelligence: An Uneasy Compatibility

Stephen J. Cimbala, ed.: Intelligence and Intelligence Policy in a Democratic Society Transnational Publishers, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., 262 p., $37.50.

A Much‐Needed Primer

Herbert E. Meyer: R eal‐ World In teltigence. Weidenfeld &; Nicolson, New York, 1987, 102 p., $14.95.

Agee Finds Two Friends

Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald (introduction by Philip Agee): British Intelligence and Covert Action Brandon Book Publishers Ltd., Kerry, Ireland, 1983, 284 p., PB, $9.95.

Questionable Secrets‐Questionable Sources

Fabrizio Calviand Olivier Schmidt: Intelligences secretes — Annales de l'espionnage Hachette, Paris, 1988, 309 p., 148 Fr. fr.

Scaling the Wall

Vladimir Solovyov and Elena Klepikova: Behind the High Kremlin Walls Dodd, Mead, New York, 1986, 248 p., $17.95.

The USSR As a Counterintelligence State

John J. Dziak: Chekisty: A History of the KGB Heath/Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass., 1988, 234 p., $17.95.     

Participation,Dialogue, and Civic Engagement: Understanding the Role of Organized Civil Society in Promoting Active Citizenship in the European Union

Abstract

This article looks at current policies concerning the civic and political participation of youths, women, migrants, and minorities in the European Union. It highlights the ways in which active citizenship and civic engagement have become a political priority for European institutions. Representation of local policy actors at the supranational level and strategies for the inclusion of civil society provide a platform for evaluating the impact of Europeanization at the national and subnational level. The article focuses on key discourses and narratives associated with specific policy frames (e.g. European citizenship, European social policies, and the European public sphere (EPS)). Some of the key questions addressed by the article are: What are the strategies that are employed, both by the European institutions in Brussels and organized civil society (OCS), to enhance participation and reciprocal communication? What vision of governance do practices such as active engagement and civil dialogue represent? Drawing on current theories of governance, our article contributes to the debate about the EPS by evaluating the role of OCS in bridging the gap between European institutions and national polities. Equally, our focus on traditionally marginal groups provides a platform for assessing the institutionalization of the ‘European social dimension’.     

Effect of storage temperature on endogenous GHB levels in urine

Because gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is an endogenous substance present in the body and is rapidly eliminated after ingestion, toxicologists investigating drug-facilitated sexual assault cases are often asked to differentiate between endogenous and exogenous levels of GHB in urine samples.This study was designed to determine the effects of storage temperature on endogenous GHB levels in urine. Specifically, it was designed to ascertain whether endogenous levels can be elevated to a range considered indicative of GHB ingestion.Urine specimens from two subjects that had not been administered exogenous GHB were collected during a 24h period and individually pooled. The pooled specimens were separated into standard sample cups and divided into three storage groups: room temperature ( approximately 25 degrees C), refrigerated (5 degrees C), and frozen (-10 degrees C). Additionally, some specimens were put through numerous freeze/thaw cycles to mimic situations that may occur if multiple laboratories analyze the same specimen. Periodic analysis of the samples revealed increases in the levels of endogenous GHB over a 6-month period. The greatest increase (up to 404%) was observed in the samples maintained at room temperature. The refrigerated specimens showed increases of 140-208%, while the frozen specimens showed smaller changes (88-116%). The specimens subjected to multiple freeze/thaw cycles mirrored specimens that had been thawed only once. None of the stored urine specimens demonstrated increases in GHB concentrations that would be consistent with exogenous GHB ingestion.