War and Peace
01 Jan 2013-
TL;DR: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives" as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives” [1]. MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky believes that the U.S. official doctrine of low-intensity warfare is almost identical to the official definition of terrorism [2]. Political commentator Bill Maher equates U.S. drone attacks with terrorist acts [3].
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TL;DR: A review of institutional theories of organizations can be found in this paper, with a brief summary of the two current theoretical approaches to institutionalization in organizations, moves to identification of indicators of central concepts and then progresses to a review of empirical research.
Abstract: Institutional theories of organizations provide a rich, complex view of organizations. In these theories, organizations are influenced by normative pressures, sometimes arising from external sources such as the state, other times arising from within the organization itself. Under some conditions, these pressures lead the organization to be guided by legitimated elements, from standard operating procedures to professional certification and state requirement, which often have the effect of directing attention away from task performance. Adoption of these legitimated elements, leading to isomorphism with the institutional environment, increases the probability of survival. Institutional theories of organization have spread rapidly, a testimony to the power of the imaginative ideas developed in theoretical and empirical work. As rigor increases, with better specification of indicators and models, it is likely to attract the attention of an even larger number of organizational researchers. Institutional theory is inherently difficult to explicate, because it taps taken-for-granted assumptions at the core of social action. The main goal of this review, then, is to make institutional theory more accessible. The review begins with a brief summary of the two current theoretical approaches to institutionalization in organizations, moves to identification of indicators of central concepts, and then progresses to a review of empirical research. It concludes with two short sections, one on points of intersection with other theories of organization, the other on the "new institutionalism" in economics and political science.
2,513 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that case studies will often be the preferred method of research because they may be epistemologically in harmony with the reader's experience and thus to that person a natural basis for generalization.
Abstract: It is widely believed that case studies are useful in the study of human affairs because they are down-to-earth and attention-holding but that they are not a suitable basis for generalization. In this paper, I claim that case studies will often be the preferred method of research because they may be epistemologically in harmony with the reader’s experience and thus to that person a natural basis for generalization.
1,952 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the adoption of liberal economic practices is highly clustered both temporally and spatially, and the authors hypothesize that this clustering might be due to processes of policy diffusion.
Abstract: One of the most important developments over the past three decades has been the spread of liberal economic ideas and policies throughout the world. These policies have affected the lives of millions of people, yet our most sophisticated political economy models do not adequately capture influences on these policy choices. Evidence suggests that the adoption of liberal economic practices is highly clustered both temporally and spatially. We hypothesize that this clustering might be due to processes of policy diffusion. We think of diffusion as resulting from one of two broad sets of forces: one in which mounting adoptions of a policy alter the benefits of adopting for others and another in which adoptions provide policy relevant information about the benefits of adopting. We develop arguments within these broad classes of mechanisms, construct appropriate measures of the relevant concepts, and test their effects on liberalization and restriction of the current account, the capital account, and the exchange rate regime. Our findings suggest that domestic models of foreign economic policy making are insufficient. The evidence shows that policy transitions are influenced by international economic competition as well as the policies of a country's sociocultural peers. We interpret the latter influence as a form of channeled learning reflecting governments' search for appropriate models for economic policy.
1,383 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1963TL;DR: The accepted tripartite divisions of the formal study both of mankind's past and present are to a considerable extent based on man's development first of language and later of writing as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The accepted tripartite divisions of the formal study both of mankind's past and present are to a considerable extent based on man's development first of language and later of writing. Looked at in the perspective of time, man's biological evolution shades into prehistory when he becomes a language-using animal; add writing, and history proper begins. Looked at in a temporal perspective, man as animal is studied primarily by the zoologist, man as talking animal primarily by the anthropologist, and man as talking and writing animal primarily by the sociologist.
1,216 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the possible separation of substance and symbolism in CEO compensation contracts by examining political and institutional determinants of long-term incentive plan adoption and use among 570 of the largest U.S. corporations over two decades.
Abstract: Both authors contributed equally to the paper. The helpful comments of Jerry Davis, Paul Hirsch, Matt Kraatz, Joseph Moag, James Walsh, and seminar participants at MIT and Stanford University are appreciated. We also thank Ann Yoo for assistance in data collection. This study theoretically and empirically addresses the possible separation of substance and symbolism in CEO compensation contracts by examining political and institutional determinants of long-term incentive plan (LTIP) adoption and use among 570 of the largest U.S. corporations over two decades. We find that a substantial number of firms are likely to adopt but not actually use-or only limitedly use-LTIPs, suggesting a potential separation of substance and symbol in CEO compensation contracts. Analyses suggest that this decoupling of LTIP adoption and use is particularly prevalent in firms with powerful CEOs and firms with poor prior performance. Further analyses show that whereas early adopters are more likely to pursue alignment between CEO and shareholder interests substantively, later adopters may pursue legitimacy by symbolically controlling agency costs. More generally, the study highlights how decoupling in organizations can be understood in terms of both micro-political and macro-institutional forces.'
801 citations
References
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TL;DR: The mood of the people they could see was very mixed and in fact generally opposed to violent action, according to the New York Times report on the mood in New York, including places where the memorials are for the victims of the terrorist attack.
Abstract: Q: There is rage, anger and bewilderment in the U.S. since the September 11 events. There have been murders, attacks on mosques, and even a Sikh temple. The University of Colorado, which is located here in Boulder, a town which has a liberal reputation, has graffiti saying, "Go home, Arabs, Bomb Afghanistan, and Go Home, Sand Niggers."What's your perspective on what has evolved since the terrorist attacks? A: It's mixed. What you're describing certainly exists. On the other hand, countercurrents exist. I know they do where I have direct contacts, and hear the same from others. In this morning's New York Times there's a report on the mood in New York, including places where the memorials are for the victims of the terrorist attack. It points out that peace signs and calls for restraint vastly outnumbered calls for retaliation and that the mood of the people they could see was very mixed and in fact generally opposed to violent action. That's another kind of current, also supportive of people who are being targeted here because they look dark or have a funny name. So there are countercurrents. The question is, what can we do to make the right ones prevail?This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
25 citations
TL;DR: There is no more justification for condemning total (simple) mastectomy than there is for recommending its use to the exclusion of other procedures, and biological considerations are even more compelling than clinical ones.
Abstract: To the Editor.— As difficult as it may be for some to accept, it has not been unequivocally demonstrated that total (simple) mastectomy is a procedure that should or should not supplant radical mastectomy. 1 From the total clinical evidence available, there is no more justification for condemning total (simple) mastectomy than there is for recommending its use to the exclusion of other procedures. It is a simple fact that there has never been a comparison made of the two operations by randomly performing one or the other on a single, well-defined population of patients. Halsted indeed demonstrated that radical mastectomy reduced the incidence of local recurrence in his patients as compared to that observed by other surgeons of that era, but to the best of my knowledge, he never presented information to indicate that the operation actually enhanced survival. Biological considerations are even more compelling than clinical ones (which
11 citations
TL;DR: Schivone as mentioned in this paper is an editor of the Alternative Media and Literary Journal and winner of the 2007 Frederica Hearst Prize for Lyrical Poetry, and his most recent books are Interventions (City Lights, 2007), Failed States (Metropolitan Books, 2007) and Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky (Monthly Review Press, 2007).
Abstract: Noam Chomsky is an Institute Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His most recent books are Interventions (City Lights, 2007), Failed States (Metropolitan Books, 2007), and Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky (Monthly Review Press, 2007). Gabriel Matthew Schivone is an editor of Days Beyond Recall: Alternative Media and Literary Journal and winner of the 2007 Frederica Hearst Prize for Lyrical Poetry.This article is based on an interview conducted by telephone and e-mail November 27, 2007-February 11, 2008. The interviewer thanks Mary Elizabeth Barnes for help with editing and transcribing this interview… This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
6 citations