The Emergence of Artificial Intelligence in Africa and its Impact on the Enjoyment of Human Rights

Meeting the rising need for development and tackling the attendant challenges in Africa requires pragmatic and innovative strategies. Although there is evidence that political governance is improving across the continent, these improvements are not meeting the expectations and needs of several sections of the society. Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be one tool with a great potential to address these current challenges. Just like every innovative technology, AI has both positive and negative aspects. This article examines the human rights implications of AI introduction into Africa in light of rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Investigating the Impacts of the Political System Components in Iran on the Existing Water Bankruptcy

Iran is suffering from a state of water bankruptcy. Several factors have contributed to the current water resources bankruptcy, ranging from anthropogenic impacts, such as an inefficient agricultural sector and aggressive withdrawal of groundwater, to climatological impacts. This paper suggests that water resources mismanagement in Iran should be evaluated beyond the policy-makers decisions, as it recognizes that the bankruptcy has been intensified due to the structural and institutional form of the political system in Iran. This study discusses the roots of the water bankruptcy and identifies four major shortcomings caused by the political system: (1) the absence of public engagement due to the lack of a democratic and decentralized structure; (2) adopting ideological policies in domestic and foreign affairs; (3) conflicts of interest and the multiplicity of governmental policy-makers and sectors; and (4) a state-controlled, resource-dependent economy. Through the development of a generic causal model, this study recommends a systematic transition towards a democratic, decentralized, non-ideological, and economically diverse political governance as the necessary–but not necessarily sufficient–adaptive and sustainable solution for mitigating the impacts of water resources bankruptcy in Iran. The insights highlighted in this paper could be employed to inform water resources decision-makers and political actors in other non-democratic and ideological political structures struggling with a water resources crisis or bankruptcy.

An analysis of how political governance of liquid fuels contributes to energy security in Papua New Guinea

<p>This study examines how political governance of liquid fuels at the institutional level contributes to energy security in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from a political economic perspective. An interpretive methodology and critical case analysis design were used to analyse LNG energy governance regime (policies, legislation, and institutions) and its relationship with energy security. The research design involved analysis of participants’ observations and documents in relation to the critical cases (instances) in the practice of the energy regime under the Somare and O’Neill governments between 2002 and 2017. By using the characteristics of the Quality Energy Governance Framework (QEGF) which emerged from the analysis of the literature on energy governance and energy security, this study shared a new policy insight that energy security is actually created through the interactions that occur between political actors and the institutions and processes of energy governance. The study found that energy governance is a system of interacting institutions, policies and legislation created by the political institutions for the purpose of achieving economic efficiency in order to produce public value. The effective functioning of this system depends on the quality of the political institutions. A strong political institution constructs a quality policy regime which, in turn, translates into operational and adaptive qualities of an energy regime that enhances energy security. Alternatively, where a political institution is weak, the operational and adaptive qualities of the energy governance system are also incrementally diminished, thus generating energy insecurity, which, in turn, affects development outcomes. Accordingly, the study concludes that in PNG the qualities of the energy governance system did not seem to effectively function efficiently as a whole due to the political-economic interests and non-compliance to the institutional qualities. This, in turn, has had the effect of generating energy insecurity rather than enhancing energy security. In effect, the practices associated with the formal governance arrangements have failed to deliver a consistent and predictable governance system for PNG LNG and development outcomes have suffered as a result. The social interaction of political and economic actors and their interests in the energy governance system is complex and quite difficult to predict, resulting in an unstable energy regime. Given the unpredictability of this energy regime, political reform should assume primacy as a first order priority to withstand emerging energy governance issues and challenges that might contribute to energy insecurity.</p>

An analysis of how political governance of liquid fuels contributes to energy security in Papua New Guinea

<p>This study examines how political governance of liquid fuels at the institutional level contributes to energy security in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from a political economic perspective. An interpretive methodology and critical case analysis design were used to analyse LNG energy governance regime (policies, legislation, and institutions) and its relationship with energy security. The research design involved analysis of participants’ observations and documents in relation to the critical cases (instances) in the practice of the energy regime under the Somare and O’Neill governments between 2002 and 2017. By using the characteristics of the Quality Energy Governance Framework (QEGF) which emerged from the analysis of the literature on energy governance and energy security, this study shared a new policy insight that energy security is actually created through the interactions that occur between political actors and the institutions and processes of energy governance. The study found that energy governance is a system of interacting institutions, policies and legislation created by the political institutions for the purpose of achieving economic efficiency in order to produce public value. The effective functioning of this system depends on the quality of the political institutions. A strong political institution constructs a quality policy regime which, in turn, translates into operational and adaptive qualities of an energy regime that enhances energy security. Alternatively, where a political institution is weak, the operational and adaptive qualities of the energy governance system are also incrementally diminished, thus generating energy insecurity, which, in turn, affects development outcomes. Accordingly, the study concludes that in PNG the qualities of the energy governance system did not seem to effectively function efficiently as a whole due to the political-economic interests and non-compliance to the institutional qualities. This, in turn, has had the effect of generating energy insecurity rather than enhancing energy security. In effect, the practices associated with the formal governance arrangements have failed to deliver a consistent and predictable governance system for PNG LNG and development outcomes have suffered as a result. The social interaction of political and economic actors and their interests in the energy governance system is complex and quite difficult to predict, resulting in an unstable energy regime. Given the unpredictability of this energy regime, political reform should assume primacy as a first order priority to withstand emerging energy governance issues and challenges that might contribute to energy insecurity.</p>

“Havens of mercy”: health, medical research, and the governance of the movement of dogs in twentieth-century America

This article argues that the movement of dogs from pounds to medical laboratories played a critically important role in debates over the use of animals in science and medicine in the United States in the twentieth century, not least by drawing the scientific community into every greater engagement with bureaucratic political governance. If we are to understand the unique characteristics of the American federal legislation that emerges in the 1960s, we need to understand the long and protracted debate over the use of pound animals at the local municipal and state level between antivivisectionists, humane activists, and scientific and medical researchers. We argue that the Laboratory Animal Care Act of 1966 reflects the slow evolution of a strategy that proved most successful in local conflicts, and which would characterize a “new humanitarianism”: not the regulation of experimental practices but of the care and transportation of the animals being provided to the laboratory. Our analysis is consistent with, and draws upon, scholarship which has established the productive power of public agencies and civil society on the periphery of the American state.

Norm-Based Governance for Severe Collective Action Problems: Lessons from Climate Change and COVID-19

The world has surpassed three million deaths from COVID-19, and faces potentially catastrophic tipping points in the global climate system. Despite the urgency, governments have struggled to address either problem. In this paper, we argue that COVID-19 and anthropogenic climate change (ACC) are critical examples of an emerging type of governance challenge: severe collective action problems that require significant individual behavior change under conditions of hyper-partisanship and scientific misinformation. Building on foundational political science work demonstrating the potential for norms (or informal rules of behavior) to solve collective action problems, we analyze more recent work on norms from neighboring disciplines to offer novel recommendations for more difficult challenges like COVID-19 and ACC. Key insights include more attention to 1) norm-based messaging strategies that appeal to individuals across the ideological spectrum or that reframe collective action as consistent with resistant subgroups’ pre-existing values, 2) messages that emphasize both the prevalence and the social desirability of individual behaviors required to address these challenges, 3) careful use of public policies and incentives that make individual behavior change easier without threatening norm internalization, and 4) greater attention to epistemic norms governing trust in different information sources. We conclude by pointing out that COVID-19 and climate change are likely harbingers of other polarized collective action problems that governments will face in the future. By connecting work on norms and political governance with a broader, interdisciplinary literature on norm psychology, motivation, and behavior change, we aim to improve the ability of political scientists and policymakers to respond to these and future collective action challenges.

The Theory and Practice of Compassionate Reasoning

It is through cultivation of neural pathways of prosocial feelings that the mind can be motivated to utilize reasoning for sustainable life. Empathy with the suffering of others is a strong prosocial emotion that is helpful to peacebuilding. But in excess, empathy leads to “burnout” which can include withdrawal, antisocial feelings, post-traumatic stress disorder, and metabolic abnormalities. Compassion, however, is perhaps the most esteemed prosocial emotion in the history of ethical theories, philosophy, religions, and contemporary psychology. Compassion’s extensive application to all people and all living things makes it a powerful ally of moral reasoning and moral habits. Compassion entails sustainable prosocial care for oneself and for others, regardless of skin color or religious, tribal, or national differences. Training in compassion, and then in reasoning that is guided by and motivated by compassion, constitutes a new approach to cultivation of the self, relationships with others, educational innovation, social policy, and political governance.

Non-Partisan School: A Conservative Education Initiative in Brazil

The main goal of this article is to analyse the Non-Partisan School movement (EsP, or Escola sem Partido) which articulates social and political actors around a conservative agenda for education in Brazil. Based on Ball’s studies, this article analyses political governance networks using a free software, GEPHI, using a qualitative network methodology. The article analyses some relevant social actors in this conservative initiative. The research shows that the Non-Partisan School, though presented as an initiative against ideological indoctrination, is in fact the result of a strong combination of ideological, conservative and partisan interests. The article shows that EsP is a conservative agenda among other movements in the struggle for ideological hegemony in the educational field.

Association of Urban Liveability with Cancer Incidence in Iran: A Nationwide Ecological Study

Background: Urban liveability is a multidimensional concept associated with many domains of human health. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the association between urban liveability and cancer incidence in Iran. Methods: The data of provincial-level urban liveability were obtained from reliable sources. The data of cancer incidence were inquired from the population-based cancer registry of the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education in 2016. Urban liveability scores were determined in all provinces of Iran by utilizing the Global Liveable City Index (GLCI) method. Negative binomial Poisson regression was used to examine the relationship between urban liveability and cancer incidence. Results: Provinces with a higher urban liveability had a higher likelihood of cancer incidence. Higher economic score was significantly associated with higher incidence in colorectal (IRR = 1.49, P = 0.005), liver (IRR = 1.48, P = 0.002), leukemia (IRR = 1.39, P = 0.005), lung (IRR = 1.39, P = 0.039), breast (IRR = 1.38, P = 0.011), and prostate cancers (IRR = 2.11, P < 0.001). Also, provinces with higher environmental friendliness and sustainability had significantly more stomach (IRR = 1.53, P = 0.004), colorectal (1.79, P < 0.001), lung (IRR = 1.43, P = 0.014), and prostate (IRR = 1.50, P = 0.032) cancer incidence. Provinces with higher political governance had significantly more breast cancer (IRR = 1.34, P = 0.002) and leukemia (IRR = 1.30, P = 0.016) incidence rates. Conclusions: Along with the development of urban liveability, the incidence of cancers is increasing in Iran. Cancer control strategies should be implemented especially in settings with higher urbanization.