Foreign Policy in Transition? Human Rights, Democracy, and U.S. Arms Exports

During the Cold War, U.S. foreign policy was dominated by the strategic goal to contain Communism. Human rights and democracy were of secondary importance. In the post-Cold War period, the promotion of human rights and democracy as foreign policy concerns rose in prominence. In the spirit of Andrew Pierre, who once characterized arms transfers as "foreign policy writ large ," this study questions whether the transfer of U.S. arms mirrors America's foreign policy goals. To what extent do U.S. arms transfers reflect a concern for human rights and democracy? As a foreign policy instrument, do U.S. arms transfer patterns mark a transition between Cold War and post-Cold War worlds? To address these questions, I examine the empirical linkage between U.S. foreign policy goals and arms export agreements with developing countries for the years 1981–2002. I use a two-stage model to evaluate the decision-making process. The first-stage addresses whether a country is eligible to receive U.S. arms. If a country successfully passes through the selection stage, it progresses to the second stage where a decision is made about the amount of arms transferred. I use a Heckman model to estimate empirically the determinants of arms at both the initial selection stage and the subsequent amount stage. The findings indicate that during the Cold War years, human rights were not a significant determinant of arms transfers—although democracy was positively linked to U.S. arms in the selection stage. In the post-Cold War period, both human rights and democracy had a meaningful impact in determining the eligibility of a country to receive arms.     

Socio-demographic indicators of intervention program completion with the male court-referred perpetrator of partner abuse

The purpose of this study was to provide socio-demographic indicators of the court-referred perpetrator-as-client who successfully completed a perpetrator intervention program vs. the perpetrator-as-client who was unsuccessful. Significant associations were noted between alcohol use at the time of arrest and perpetrator program completion. Additional associations included perpetrator employment history by program completion status, perpetrator level of violence by program completion status, and report of victim hospitalization by program completion status. Study findings suggest that perpetrator-as-client intervention programs might benefit by implementing comprehensive screening procedures and by developing interagency cooperation in terms of job training and access to opportunities for stable employment.     

Surveying International Studies Programs: Where Do We Stand?

International studies (IS) programs have proliferated across campuses over the past decades. Given the increasing ubiquity of IS education, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of IS, most previous scholarship on IS programs has focused on issues of curricular structure. Yet there is a lack of systematic information on many key issues facing IS programs. Through a survey of directors of these programs, this study seeks to examine some of the broader issues surrounding IS as a field of undergraduate study. In particular, I examine student popularity of our programs, the various ways in which they are administratively structured, and the perceived stature of IS programs within home institutions. Additionally, some of the factors that contribute to growth in IS programs are examined. The overall goal of this study is to provide a "first step" towards building a comparative assessment and benchmark of the institutional and administrative characteristics of IS programs.     

Out of the shadows or into the dark? Economic openness,IMF programs,and the growth of shadow economies

The existence of shadow economies is an important, yet understudied, issue for international political economy and development. This study examines how two distinct types of international economic engagement—economic openness and participation in International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs—affect the growth of shadow (informal) sectors. We theorize that increased economic openness will reduce the size of countries’ shadow sectors. More specifically, we posit that eliminating market-distorting trade barriers will decrease the incentives for shadow sector activities such as smuggling. Additionally, we posit that increased participation in global production and supply chains is likely to lead to a positive, “climb to the top” effect on states’ regulatory and labor policies that enhance the prospective benefits associated with formal sectors. Conversely, we argue that participation in IMF structural adjustment programs can lead to great shadow sector activity as IMF-imposed structural conditions might cause significant near-term economic hardship and degrade states’ regulatory capacity. The results from a panel of 145 countries from 1971 to 2012 indicate that economic openness reduces the size of the shadow economy, while participation in IMF programs is significantly related to a larger shadow economy. These findings have important implications for understanding how the divergent forms of international economic engagement might affect shadow economies.     

Distal Humerus Morphological Variation and Sex Estimation in Modern Thai Individuals,

Due to differential preservation, it is necessary to develop sex estimation methods on varied anatomical regions, including the distal humerus. Sexually dimorphic differences of the medial epicondyle angle, olecranon fossa shape, trochlear extension, and trochlear constriction have been documented in several non-Asian groups. This study examines distal humerus morphological variation in 616 modern Thai individuals (f = 198; m = 418) 18–96 years old and tests the methods on a hold-out sample of 152 individuals (f = 91; m = 61). The results indicate that population-specific binary probit regression performs the best (74.1–100%), followed by composite scoring (77.0–90.1%), binary logistic regression (63.3–92.2%), and univariate sectioning points (37.7–90.1%). Age minimally effects the expression of the medial epicondyle angle in males, and trait scoring is susceptible to high intra- and interobserver error. While demonstrating relatively high sex biases, distal humerus morphology can be used to estimate the sex of Thai individuals when more sexually dimorphic regions are absent.     

When Am I My Group? Self-Enhancement Versus Self-Justification Accounts of Perceived Prototypicality

The tendency to view the self as a prototypic member of a group is thought to be at the foundation of many social psychological phenomena. Two opposing accounts of perceived prototypicality have been suggested in the psychological literature. The self-justification account portrays this as a defensive tendency that occurs in response to threatened group status. The self-enhancement account portrays this as a strategic tendency to associate the self with positively viewed groups. These competing views were tested using both a minimal group (Study 1) and a naturalistic group (Study 2). Both studies showed that perceived prototypicality increased with increasing group status. Moreover, the effect of status was moderated by group importance (Study 1) and behavioral choice (Study 2). Both interaction patterns supported the self-enhancement view, suggesting that people view themselves as prototypic group members when doing so will promote a positive identity. These findings contradict common statements in the social identity literature.