To Elect or Not to Elect: Leaders,Alternation in Power and Social Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper investigates whether and how multiparty elections, introduced in many African countries since the early 1990s, affect a government’s commitment to welfare policies. We hypothesise that contested multiparty elections and turnovers between different leaders and political forces in government – even when democratic standards are not met – positively impact the promotion of social welfare. We test these hypotheses through a cross-sectional and time-series research design, making use of our new, comprehensive ‘Africa Leadership Change’ (ALC) dataset. Empirical results confirm that leaders elected through multiparty elections and countries that experience political alternations in government are associated with higher levels of social welfare.     

Does Democratization Foster State Consolidation? Democratic Rule,Political Order,and Administrative Capacity

The established view in political science is that a sound and functioning state has to be in place before democracy can be introduced. State first, and then democracy. While acknowledging the existence of a basic state infrastructure as a necessary starting point, we examine the possibility that democratization itself may play an important role in the subsequent development and consolidation of the state. We do this by addressing the major conceptual and methodological shortcomings of existing research on this topic. The results of our panel analysis, covering a population of 122 countries, show that both a country's level of democracy and the interaction between degree and duration of democracy positively and significantly affect the consolidation of the state and of its two key individual dimensions, namely, political order and administrative capacity.     

Are lions democrats? The impact of democratization on economic growth in Africa, 1980–2010

If we look back at the past two decades, timing seems to point to a close connection between democratic reforms and economic growth in sub-Saharan states. Most countries in the area introduced multiparty politics and made dramatic – if incomplete – democratic progress between 1990 and 1994. Quite strikingly, it is exactly from 1994 to 1995 (and particularly from 2000) that the region began to undergo a period of significant economic progress. Because of the undeniable temporal sequence experienced in the region – that is, first political reforms, then economic growth – some observers pointed to a nexus between democratic progress and economic performance. But is there evidence in support of a causal relationship? As of today, no empirical research has been conducted on the democracy–growth nexus in the early twenty-first century's so-called “emerging Africa”. To fill this gap, we discuss the different arguments claiming an economic advantage of democracies, we present our theoretical framework and carry out an empirical analysis of the growth impact of political regimes in 43 sub-Saharan states for the entire 1980–2010 period. Our findings confirm that African countries, many of which had long suffered the combination of authoritarian rule and predatory practices, derived some economic dividends from democratic progress.     

Custody and Visitation in Families With Three (or More) Parents

New technological and legal developments have enabled the formation of three‐parent families. Now that these families have arrived, families—and family law—must adapt to allocate responsibilities among the responsible adults.     

Do new democracies deliver social welfare? Political regimes and health policy in Ghana and Cameroon

Democratic reform processes often go hand in hand with expectations of social welfare improvements. While the connection between the emergence of democracy and the development of welfare states in the West has been the object of several studies, however, there is a scant empirical literature on the effects of recent democratization processes on welfare policies in developing countries. This is particularly true for Africa. In a dramatically poor environment, Africans often anticipated that the democratic reforms many sub-Saharan states undertook during the early 1990s would deliver welfare dividends. This article investigates whether and how the advent of democracy affected social policies – focusing, in particular, on health policy – by examining one of the continent's most successful cases of recent democratization (Ghana) and comparing it with developments in a country of enduring authoritarian rule (Cameroon). Evidence shows that democracy can indeed be instrumental to the expansion and strengthening of social policies. In Ghana, new participatory and competitive pressures pushed the government towards devising and adopting an ambitious health reform. Despite façade elections, no similar pressures could be detected in undemocratic Cameroon and health policy remained almost entirely dictated by foreign donors.     

Unusual basal skull fracture in a vehicle equipped with an air bag

A woman who was the lap/shoulder belt-restrained driver of a car equipped with a full-size air bag was involved in an oblique frontal collision with a tractor-trailer combination. She was extremely out of position, i.e., witnessed to be slumped over the steering wheel before impact. This preimpact positioning led to fatal injuries resulting from the inflating air bag. Postmortem examination showed an unusual partial ring fracture of the base of the skull, which to the authors' knowledge has not previously been reported.     

American media messages and public opinion on the Palestinian uprising

The article opens with a review of recent developments which have caused the Neutrality Act of 1794 to reemerge as a legal issue. The article then examines the origins and purposes of the Act, as well as the political climate in the United States and the circumstances that led to its passage. The Neutrality Act was passed with the specific intention of remedying the practice of “privateering.” This problem was prevalent at the time the Act was passed but is no longer a problem today. The article examines early case law interpreting the Act, with specific attention to the definitional problem of how to interpret key words and phrases used in the Act. The early case law demonstrates that the activities of private citizens who fund the Contras do not violate the Act. Another important issue addressed is how the Executive Branch interprets the Act. The article supports the position of the current administration, namely, that the Neutrality Act does not apply to the President when he is exercising his power as sovereign over this nation's foreign affairs. Basically, the article attempts to show that those who are attempting to invoke this law to prohibit private citizens from assisting the Democratic Resistance in Nicaragua are misinterpreting the purpose and scope of the law. Moreover, it would be a great exaggeration of the law to extend it to the activities involved here.