Commentary on Erik Amnå: Democracy and Civil Society

Abstract

This article seeks to provide insight into the formulation of non-governmental organization (NGO) and transnational advocacy network (TAN) campaign strategy. We argue that the history of previous campaigns comprises an important aspect of the political opportunity structure faced by NGOs and TANs. We also argue that when formulating campaign strategy, campaigners should not only consider the legacies of previous campaigns, but also how their current strategies could impact on political opportunity structure and thereby influence future campaigns. This article uses the case study of the movement against seal hunting in Atlantic and Northern Canada and considers the potential for collaboration between previous opponents on other environmental issues. We examine the history of the anti-sealing campaigns looking at the various actors involved, and the impact that these campaigns had on these actors and their current relations with one another. The case study demonstrates that the history of previous campaigns matters and that history is a vital component of political opportunity structure.     

心理距离对新兴经济体企业OFDI的影响及对策——基于异质性视角

研究国家之间的心理距离对新兴经济体跨国企业OFDI的影响,并基于高管海外背景、企业所有制和海外移民网络这三个维度异质性特征下,进一步探讨心理距离对企业OFDI的影响会产生何种变化。通过理论推导得出以下结论:第一,心理距离与新兴经济体企业OFDI之间并非简单的线性关系而是存在先减后增的"U"型关系;第二,高管海外背景能够缓和心理距离与企业OFDI的"U"型关系;第三,相较于非国有企业,国有企业能够弱化心理距离与企业OFDI决策的"U"型关系;第四,当海外移民网络越丰富时,企业OFDI随心理距离先减后增"U"型趋势也更为平缓。据以上结论,提出企业和政府两方面的政策建议:一方面,跨国企业进行OFDI决策时,结合自身情况以及投资动因,对心理距离带来的风险和收益进行权衡做出合理的投资决策,同时要充分发挥高管海外背景的经验优势,重视海外移民网络的资源优势,从而提升本国企业在全球的战略布局;另一方面,新兴经济体国家应重视心理距离的优势和劣势对跨国企业的影响,鼓励和引导跨国企业进行OFDI,创建公平的营商环境,建立及时有效的海外移民网络对接平台,鼓励和帮助更多企业走出去。     

Post–Conflict Global Governance: The Case of Microfinance Enterprise Networks in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The article examines the institutional infrastructure that supports the foreign aid flows in the mcrocredit sector in postconflict Bosnia and Herzegovina. It documents the mobilization of transnational networks between different international agencies in the course of the policy formulation and implementation, and elicits the effects that certain network attributes exert on the policy choices made by individual organizations. How and why do international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, with at times conflicting goals, join forces in such networks? More important, whose goals are eventually implemented, and under what conditions? Whose goals are diluted in the process of network mobilization? What are the policy implications of such "battles" for the postconflict reconstruction? The article seeks some answers to these questions, demonstrating how transnational networks intermediate between the organizational goals and the final policy outcomes that result from such a network–based mode of global governance in postconflict regions.     

Academic Research In a Small Country: Called to Serve!

The literature on the interaction between research communities and policymaking processes comes mostly from scholars in large countries with hundreds if not thousands of people working on international environmental issues. In small countries like Belgium and The Netherlands, however, policy networks of academics and decision makers are quite small. Not only are there opportunities for academic researchers to influence policy decisions - there are high expectations that they do so.     

Encouraging Political Defection: The Role of Personal Discussion Networks in Partisan Desertions to the Opposition Party and Perot Votes in 1992

Drawing on data from a unique study of the 1992 American presidential election, this article demonstrates that personal discussion networks influence voting behavior, independent of candidate evaluations and partisanship. These social networks encouraged two different kinds of defections from otherwise-expected behavior. People were more likely to vote for Perot if their personal discussants supported him and to convert preferences for him into a Perot vote on election day. Partisans also were more likely to defect to the other major party if their discussion network failed to fully support the candidate of their own party. These results withstood controls for candidate evaluations and partisanship as well as for selective exposure to discussants and selective perception of their preferences. They show the importance of adding social context to personal attitudes, interests, and partisanship in explaining voting behavior.     

The Policy Effects of Internationalization: A Subsystem Adjustment Analysis of Policy Change

This article contributes to a better understanding of contemporary policy analysis and management by setting out the parameters for analyzing policy change induced by internationalization. It first maps the dynamics of policy change in domestic settings and then explores how internationalization has affected the dynamics identified. The central proposition of the article is that internationalization promotes the restructuring of policy subsystems in such as way as to form hospitable circumstances for swifter and deeper policy changes than would otherwise be the case. However, the analysis suggests that this is a two-stage process in that once its initial impact is felt, internationalization serves to entrench and stabilize reconstructed policy systems, thus constraining the scope for further change.     

新加坡公民社会组织的兴起与治理中的合作网络

新加坡的政治文化和国家意识正在经历变迁."新加坡21远景计划"的制定反映并强化了这一变迁的趋势.这是新加坡公民社会及其组织兴起所必需的结构性因素.新加坡各类公民社会组织积极回应政治系统发生的变迁.现有组织力图淡化传统的角色功能,寻求赋予其自身新的合法性.新兴组织则利用大好机遇和可待开发的广阔社会空间努力发展自己.公民社会组织的兴起,为新加坡在稳健而又似乎缓慢的民主化进程中重新界定国家与社会的关系提供了新的路径.     

In the eye of the beholder: Meaning and structure of informal status in women's and men's prisons*

Applying an abductive mixed‐methods approach, we investigate the informal status systems in three women's prison units (across two prisons) and one men's prison unit. Qualitative analyses suggest “old head” narratives—where age, time in prison, sociability, and prison wisdom confer unit status—are prevalent across all four contexts. Perceptions of maternal “caregivers” and manipulative “bullies,” however, are found only in the three women's units. The qualitative findings inform formal network analyses by differentiating “positive,” “neutral,” and “negative” status nominations, with “negative” ties primarily absent from the men's unit. Within the women's units, network analyses find that high‐status women are likely to receive both positive and negative peer nominations, such that evaluations depend on who is doing the evaluating. Comparing the women's and men's networks, the correlates of positive and neutral ties are generally the same and center on covariates of age, getting along with others, race, and religion. Overall, the study points to important similarities and differences in status across the gendered prison contexts, while demonstrating how a sequential mixed‐methods design can illuminate both the meaning and the structure of prison informal organization.     

Network Structure and Perceived Legitimacy in Collaborative Wildlife Management

The widespread supposition that collaborative management designs enhance legitimacy must be examined empirically, and the rich diversity of different collaborative arrangements should be better acknowledged in this endeavor. This study adopts a social network perspective and examines three state‐initiated and interest‐based collaborative management arenas in Swedish wildlife management: wildlife conservation committees (WCCs). Is there a link between social network structures in collaborative management arenas and the perceived legitimacy of output by policy stakeholders? This puzzle is addressed through social network analysis combined with survey data and interviews. The empirical results confirm the notion that collaborative arenas consisting of high network closure with many bridging ties across organizational boundaries enjoy a higher level of support among stakeholders directly involved in management, as members of the committees, than networks with a more sparse structure do. This type of well‐integrated network structure seemingly increases stakeholders’ understanding of other actors’ perspectives through deliberation. Contrary to what was expected, though, the empirical analysis did not verify the effect of linking, or outreaching ties between the committee members and the organizations that they represent, on the organizations’ support of WCC decisions. Given the rapid rise of collaborative designs in public administrations, the topic elaborated in this paper is urgent and further research is encouraged.     

Statistical Approaches to Type Determination of the Ejector Marks on Cartridge Cases

While type determination on bullets has been performed for over a century, type determination on cartridge cases is often overlooked. Presented here is an example of type determination of ejector marks on cartridge cases from Glock and Smith & Wesson Sigma series pistols using Naïve Bayes and Random Forest classification methods. The shapes of ejector marks were captured from images of test‐fired cartridge cases and subjected to multivariate analysis. Naïve Bayes and Random Forest methods were used to assign the ejector shapes to the correct class of firearm with success rates as high as 98%. This method is easily implemented with equipment already available in crime laboratories and can serve as an investigative lead in the form of a list of firearms that could have fired the evidence. Paired with the FBI's General Rifling Characteristics (GRC) database, this could be an invaluable resource for firearm evidence at crime scenes.