Natural Resources in Africa

2014 ◽  
pp. 552-566
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Ahmed Elbadawi ◽  
Nadir Abdellatif Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Resource Rents ◽  
Domestic Capital ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Political Governance ◽  
Global Initiatives

Empirical studies and international experiences of resource-rich developing counties (RRDCs) point to a resource bane rather than a boon. Most countries have failed to effectively deploy oil and mineral resource rents to build a broad-based domestic capital base for sustaining growth and economic diversification. In large measure this is because they started with initially weak economic institutions and “bad” political governance with limited checks and balances. Moreover, with natural resource rents flowing in, institutions were further worsened, due to weakening political accountability among other corrosive effects of the resource rents. However, though progress on the governance front is likely to be a daunting task, the recent democratic transitions in Africa hold a lot of promise for the Continent. Moreover, the two global initiatives of EITI and NRC can have substantial positive catalytic roles.

Democratic transitions and monetary policy: are democratic central banks different?

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-180
Author(s):  
Christian Bjørnskov ◽  
Martin Rode
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Market Institutions ◽  
Transitions To Democracy ◽  
Electoral Democracy ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Competing Hypotheses

Empirical studies have shown democracies to be more supportive of pro-market institutions than authoritarian regimes; however, to date, it is virtually unknown through which channel democracy might actually create institutional improvements. In addition, causality between democracy and economic institutions is anything but clear, as competing hypotheses highlight. In this article, we examine the possible association of democratisation and political instability with sound monetary policy and the independence of central banks, both of which can be considered central pillars of an economic policy aimed at producing overall prosperity. Results mainly indicate that stable transitions to democracy are followed by strongly improved access to sound money and more independent central banks, probably because stable shifts to electoral democracy create incentives for policymakers to refrain from using monetary policy for short-run gains. Conversely, we also find evidence that especially unstable democratic transitions could impede the establishment of a more independent central bank, making inflationary policies and high money growth more likely.

scholarly journals The Psychology of Religion

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-102
Author(s):  
Amber Haque
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Psychology Of Religion ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Religious Experiences ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Psychology And Religion ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
History Of ◽  
Perceived Effects

The areas of psychology and religion have been traditionally viewed as mutuallyexclusive and the relationship between them seen as one of paradox and impossibility.The book under review offers a wide coverage of the subject from its troubledhistory to the latest developments in the field in easy to understand language.In an overview of the book, the author points out how religion can be a powerfulforce in human society leading to admirable and often horrible consequences.Citing a few research studies, the author shows how the situation has changed overthe years and how the psychology of religion is emerging as a completely new fieldof study. The book is divided into seven chapters.Chapter one begins with the daunting task of defining both psychology and religionfrom the author's own perspective, after a review of some popular definitions.After presenting a couple of questionnaires to measure religious beliefs, the authorpresents a short history of the uneasy relationship between psychology, religionand discusses the concept of spirituality. The author points out that although spiritualityis common to most religions and cultural traditions, it can be a divisiveissue and is actually outside the context of organized religion. Concern is raised bythe author regarding the lack of attention given to the possible differences betweenthe religious experiences and behaviors of men and women.Chapter two focuses on how traditions outside of the western Christian context,e.g. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism view the psychology-religionrelationship. This chapter also describes "Syncretic Religions" in which differentreligious traditions are blended, and the new religious movements starting in the1960s. The chapter stresses that although psychological emphases and consequencesmay differ, psychological themes are common to all or most religions, andthese emphases and consequences need further investigation.Chapter three discusses religious behavior and examines in detail the effects ofprayer. The author gives definitions and quotations of prominent scholars andcites empirical studies showing effects and perceived effects of prayer. The use of ...

The 2019 Elections: Electoral Quality, Political Inequality and the Flames of Frustration in Honiara

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Wood
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Political Governance ◽  
Independent Country

The 2019 general elections in Solomon Islands were the country’s tenth since it became an independent country. The elections were relatively well-run, and free of violence. However, shortly after the elections, when the prime minister was announced, rioting erupted in Honiara, the country’s capital. In this paper, I describe the elections themselves before looking at election results. I then explain how comparatively peaceful elections led to riots. My central arguments are that the assistance provided by foreign aid, combined with fluid political dynamics and checks and balances within the electoral system itself, contributed to reasonably well-run elections. At the same time, political inequality is rising in Solomon Islands. And the nature of electoral politics in Solomon Islands leads to poor political governance. Poor governance, in turn, contributed to the frustrations that spilled over into riots after the prime minister was announced in 2019.

The Origins and Development of the Concept and Theory of State-Corporate Crime

2002 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Kramer ◽  
Raymond J. Michalowski ◽  
David Kauzlarich
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Crime ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Sociology Of Law ◽  
Social Harm ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Organizational Crime ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Political Governance

The important contributions made by Richard Quinney to the study of corporate crime and the sociology of law, crime, and justice have influenced the development of the concept of state-corporate crime. This concept has been advanced to examine how corporations and governments intersect to produce social harm. State-corporate crime is defined as criminal acts that occur when one or more institutions of political governance pursue a goal in direct cooperation with one or more institutions of economic production and distribution. The creation of this concept has directed attention to a neglected form of organizational crime and inspired numerous empirical studies and theoretical refinements.

Overcoming Dilemmas of Democratisation: Protecting Civil Liberties and the Right to Democracy

2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-506
Author(s):  
Joseph Siegle
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Democratic Government ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Right

The on-going global shift toward democratic government, vividly joined in recent years by the Arab World, is tempered by the many challenges of democratic transitions. The toppling of an autocratic leader does not automatically mean the rise of democracy. Elections do not guarantee the protection of civil liberties. And democratic leaders are not immune from the seductions of power and the incentives of dismantling democracy’s institutional checks and balances. The costs to a society and the international community for democratic reversals are high in terms of civil liberties, human rights, human development and political instability. Strengthening international legal instruments including mechanisms to enhance accountability for violence against journalists and proscribe the subversion of democratic institutions as a crime against democracy can help overcome these conundrums.

Political Violence

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Besley ◽  
Torsten Persson
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Theoretical Modeling ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Resource Rents ◽  
Probability Of Transition ◽  
The Common

This chapter attempts to integrate two different strands of research on political violence, developing a theoretical model to analyze the common roots of repression and civil war. Under specific assumptions about the conflict technology, it shows that peace, repression (one-sided violence), and civil war (two-sided violence) become ordered states depending on a common underlying latent variable, which is shifted by shocks to the value of public goods, wages, aid, and resource rents. But these effects only emerge when political institutions do not provide sufficient checks and balances on the ruling group or adequate protection for those excluded from power. The chapter also shows how to start bridging the gap between theoretical modeling and econometric testing. Under specific assumptions on what can be observed, the predictions from the model can be taken to the data by estimating either an ordered logit or the conditional probability of transition from peace to violence or from non-civil war to civil war. The empirical strategy here is much sharper than in earlier chapters and shows that the kind of theory we are building can help us approach the data in a specific way.

Local Content and the Prospects for Economic Diversification in Mozambique

2020 ◽  
pp. 209-231
Author(s):  
Evelyn Dietsche ◽  
Maria Esteves
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Local Content ◽  
Private Sector Development ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Domestic Capital ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Hydrocarbon Deposits

In recent years, Mozambique has made international headlines for the significant hydrocarbon deposits found offshore. These have increased the country’s extractive resource endowments, in addition to its mining and onshore natural gas sector. It is expected that these industries will contribute to economic diversification and social development, not least by means of procuring locally produced goods and services and hiring Mozambicans. A key factor to achieve this is building domestic capital—in people, institutions, and infrastructure. Looking at the policy environment, this chapter argues that the prospects are extremely challenging for ‘local content’ to provide the link between the extractive industries and the economic diversification of the local economy. The country needs institutional changes that support broader and rural-focused private sector development.

scholarly journals Clinically Relevant Outcome Research in Individual Psychotherapy New models guide the researcher and clinician

1994 ◽  
Vol 165 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth I. Howard ◽  
David E. Orlinsky ◽  
Robert J. Lueger
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Psychotherapy Research ◽  
Randomised Clinical Trial ◽  
Individual Psychotherapy ◽  
Trial Methodology ◽  
Clinical Trial Methodology ◽  
Medical Interventions ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Over 40 Years ◽  
Relevant Outcome

How can we design relevant psychotherapy research? The answer must be shaped by the objectives and potential consumers of such research. For over 40 years, “does psychotherapy work?” (Eysenck, 1952) held the attention of psychotherapy researchers, and randomised clinical trial methodology seemed the most appropriate empirical option for answering this question. There are now well over 500 studies that attest to the efficacy of psychotherapy (see Smith et al, 1980; Shapiro & Shapiro, 1982; Lipsey & Wilson, 1993, for meta-analytic research summaries); it seems that psychotherapy is one of the best documented medical interventions in history. But the conclusion that psychotherapy “works” is akin to finding that antibiotics “work”. We are left with the daunting task of determining which of the wide variety of treatments (psychotherapies, antibiotics) are appropriate for which variety of illnesses (psychopathologies, infections). Morris Parloff (1982) warned us of this need for specificity in his classic article, “Bambi meets Godzilla”, but our preoccupation with documenting the efficacy of psychotherapy has only recently abated enough to mount empirical studies of such specificity.

Children's Performance on a Binaural Fusion Task

1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce L. Plakke ◽  
Daniel J. Orchik ◽  
Daniel S. Beasley
Keyword(s):  
Enhancement Effect ◽  
Sensation Level ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Filter Bandwidth ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Presentation Modes ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Better Than

Binaural auditory fusion of 108 children (4, 6, and 8 years old) was studied using three lists of monosyllabic words (WIPI) presented at two sensation levels (30 and 40 dB). The words were processed to produce three bandwidth conditions (100, 300, 600 Hz) and were administered via three presentation modes (binaural fusion 1, diotic, binaural fusion 2). Results showed improved discrimination scores with increasing age, sensation level, and filter bandwidth. Diotic scores were better than binaural fusion scores for the narrower bandwidth conditions, but the diotic enhancement effect was seriously compromised in the widest bandwidth (600 Hz) condition. The results confirmed the contention that prior research results were equivocal due, in large measure, to procedural variability. Methods for reducing such variability and enhancing the clinical viability of binaural fusion tasks are suggested.

Experience With Grant Writing: Where Do I Even Begin?

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-24
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Grant Writing ◽  
Personal Journey ◽  
Know How ◽  
Daunting Task

Abstract At first, grant writing may look like a daunting task. You may ask yourself, “Is it really worth the time and effort?” With today's economic situation, teachers and therapists need ways to supplement their programs and grants provide such an opportunity. However, many of us do not know how to get started. After a few experiences and many lessons learned, I have come to enjoy researching and writing grants to supplement my students' learning. It is well worth the time and effort. This article provides information about a personal journey, lessons learned, and resources to get you started.

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