The paradox of natural resource abundance and widespread underdevelopment in Africa

A crisis in leadership, political instability and extreme state control of natural resources has marred Africa’s economic development over the years. these negative extremities paradoxically exist amidst a copious and generous endowment of abundant and diverse natural resources. State actors dominate the political scene, clamping down on any form of opposition to their hegemonic rules. they appear to seek to change leadership, often unconstitutionally, not for the wider benefit of the society, but to satisfy their selfish and narrow interests. The illegitimacy of the mode of change generates feelings of insecurity that compel such leaders to want to perpetuate themselves and their cronies in office. In order to finance their costly security requirements or manage the crisis they might have created, they fall back on state resources, exploiting them unsustainably to generate income and foreign exchange without channelling such earnings towards state development. this article reviews the development trajectory and challenges facing political transformations in post-independence Africa. Africa’s development stalemate is blamed on the tragedy of self-inflicted and constantly erupting political crises; failure to raise investment capital from abundant natural resources; and limited capacity of states to provide the necessary infrastructure for development. Continued reliance on development partners for development capital has not yielded desired results.     

Dealing with populists in government: the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition in Greece

ABSTRACT

The Great Recession triggered an unprecedented level of political turmoil in Greece, leading to a major readjustment of the party system and the near disappearance of the once mighty socialists of PASOK. Gradually, SYRIZA – a radical-leftist-turned-populist party – rose to become the key electoral player under the aegis of its young and popular leader, Alexis Tsipras. SYRIZA eventually won two general elections in 2015 and ruled together with the populist radical right Independent Greeks (ANEL) as junior partner, a coalition of great analytical significance, representing the first ever governing alliance of left-wing and right-wing populist parties in Europe. This contribution investigates reactions to the SYRIZA-ANEL government, giving special emphasis to measures undertaken by domestic and external actors. A key finding that warrants further research is that, under the same conditions of economic crisis that bring populists to power, economic institutions and material constraints can play an important role in taming populist actors and socializing them into the standard rules of the liberal democratic regime.     

The Eurozone crisis and the European corporate elite: bringing corporate actors into focus

This paper uses a framework referred to as the ‘corporate reconstruction of European capitalism theory of integration’ to analyse the European Union’s response to the Eurozone crisis. Most political economy analyses of the Eurozone crisis have focused on political leaders, clashes between creditor and debtor member states and public opinions in analysing the handling of the crisis. This paper focuses instead on the input of corporate actors. It is argued that both the setting up of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the handling of its crisis were congenial to corporate preferences. Europe’s nascent corporate elite was concerned with eliminating currency risk when the EMU was set up and therefore did not push for fiscal federalism. When the flawed architecture of the Eurozone transformed that currency risk into sovereign credit risk, corporate preferences adapted and now favoured fiscal liability pooling and ultimately the setting up of a fiscal union.     

广州公安机关在危机中的传播策略检视——基于“副教授遭警察枪击致死事件”的解读

文章以发生于2007年11月13日的“副教授遭警察枪击致死事件”为个案、以《新京报》在此期间的相关报道为研究样本进行分析,通过检视广州公安机关在此次事件中的危机传播策略运用情况,为公安机关的危机传播实务提供了一个与理论依据相结合的参考平台。     

反恐应急指挥机制建设的主要问题

我国反恐应急指挥机制建设应以功能需求为牵引,以日常防范机制为基础,立足实战,突出重点,以反应灵敏、统筹得当和高效有序为目标,从指挥体制、法规、手段和保障能力、指挥队伍等方面加强建设,并应注意理顺与国家其他应急机制的关系,以充分利用各方资源,统一指挥,形成处置合力.     

试论我国经济发展中的信用问题

信用是市场经济的基石和准则,它对社会主义市场经济的确立有着非常重要的意义。但随着我国市场经济的发展,信用缺失问题日益突显。本文试从信用对我国经济发展的重要作用出发,探讨我国目前经济发展中的信用现状并对信用缺失的成因进行剖析,在此基础上提出了完善我国社会信用体系的对策,以期维护正常的市场秩序,保证我国市场经济的健康运行。     

Communication error management in law enforcement interactions: a receiver’s perspective

Two experiments explore the effect of law enforcement officers’ communication errors and their response strategies on a suspect’s trust in the officer; established rapport and hostility; and, the amount and quality of information shared. Students were questioned online by an exam board member about exam fraud (N_study1 ?=?188) or by a police negotiator after they had stolen money and barricaded themselves (N_study2 ?=?184). Unknown to participants, the online utterances of the law enforcement officer were pre-programmed to randomly assign them to a condition in a 2(Error: factual, judgment)?×?3(Response: contradict, apologize, accept) factorial design, or to control where no error was made. Our findings show that making (judgment) errors seem more detrimental for affective trust and rapport in a suspect interview, while no such effects appeared in a crisis negotiation. Notably, we found a positive effect of errors, as more information was being shared. The ultimate effect of the error was dependent on the response: accept was effective in re-establishing rapport and decreasing hostility, while contradict threatens it. Accept seems more effective for the willingness to provide information in a suspect interview, while apologize seems more effective for affective trust and rapport in a crisis negotiation.     

Examining the Role of School Resource Officers on School Safety and Crisis Response Teams

School resource officers (SROs) are being increasingly employed in schools to respond to incidents of school violence and to help address safety concerns among students and staff. While previous research on school safety and crisis teams has examined the role of school mental health professionals’ and administrators, fewer studies have evaluated the role of the SRO. The current study examined differences between SROs, school administrators, and school mental health professionals (i.e., school psychologists, school counselors, social workers) regarding experiences with crisis events, as well as perceived effectiveness of crisis prevention and response strategies. The most common crisis events across professionals included student assaults, drug offenses, and mandated child abuse and neglect reporting. While SROs and school mental health professionals had similar ratings of school safety strategies, school administrators had less effective appraisals of crisis response plans and crisis postvention activities. Implications for practice and future directions for research are reviewed.     

Issues and crisis management in a convergent environment

Increasingly issues and crisis management are occurring in an interactive environment in which activists use online communications and networks to attack organisations and promote campaigns. This paper outlines examples of such developments and suggests that there is a still a need to consider them within the context of the overall social and economic environment as well as from a technological viewpoint. It also argues that technological change accentuates issues and crises rather than creating new forms of crises. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

论罪犯危机干预

罪犯在长期的监禁生活中 ,因为要承受来自各方面的心理压力 ,容易导致心理危机。经过危机干预 ,给罪犯提供即时的帮助 ,可使陷入危机中的罪犯恢复身心平衡 ,度过危险的紧急救助时期。心理危机干预直接指向罪犯的情绪困扰和心理失衡 ,对于缓解心理冲突、避免意外事故、防止心态的进一步恶化具有显著的效果