Showing papers on "Legitimacy published in 1999"

Organizational Legitimacy Under Conditions of Complexity: The Case of the Multinational Enterprise

Abstract: We examine organizational legitimacy in the context of the multinational enterprise (MNE). After discussing three types of complexity (of the legitimating environment, the organization, and the process of legitimation) that MNEs typically face, we explore their effects on MNE legitimacy. In particular, we distinguish between the legitimacy of the MNE as a whole and that of its parts, and we develop propositions that include issues of internal versus external legitimacy and positive and negative legitimacy spillovers.

Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation

Abstract: In this book noted political sociologist Larry Diamond sets forth a distinctive theoretical perspective on democratic evolution and consolidation in the late twentieth century. Rejecting theories that posit preconditions for democracy-and thus dismiss its prospects in poor countries-Diamond argues instead for a "developmental" theory of democracy. This, he explains, is one which views democracy everywhere as a work in progress that emerges piecemeal, at different rates, in different ways and forms, in different countries. Diamond begins by assessing the "third wave" of global democratization that began in 1974. With a wealth of quantitative data and case illustrations, he shows that the third wave has come to an end, leaving a growing gap between the electoral form and the liberal substance of democracy. This underscores the hollow, fragile state of many democracies and the imperative of concolidation. He then defines the concept of democratic consolidation and identifies the conditions that foster it. These include strong political institutions, appropriate institutional designs, decentralization of power, a vibrant civil society, and improved economic and political performance. If new and troubled democracies are to be consolidated, Diamond argues, they must become more deeply democratic-more liberal, accountable, and responsive to their citizens. Drawing on extensive public opinion research in developing and postcommunist states, he demonstrates the importance of freedom, transparency, and the rule of law for generating the broad legitimacy that is the essence of democratic consolidation. The book concludes with a hopeful view of the prospects for a fourth wave of global democratization.

Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent "Yes"

Abstract: Disadvantaged groups gain advantages from descriptive representation in at least four contexts. In contexts of group mistrust and uncrystallized interests, the better communication and experiential knowledge of descriptive representatives enhances their substantive representation of the group's interests by improving the quality of deliberation. In contexts of historical political subordination and low de facto legitimacy, descriptive representation helps create a social meaning of "ability to rule" and increases the attachment to the polity of members of the group. When the implementation of descriptive representation involves some costs in other values, paying those costs makes most sense in these specific historical contexts.

Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics

Abstract: What motivates states to follow international norms, rules, and commitments? All social systems must confront what we might call the problem of social control—that is, how to get actors to comply with society's rules—but the problem is particularly acute for international relations, because the international social system does not possess an overarching center of political power to enforce rules. Yet, taken in balance with other values, a measure of order is a valued good. Some take this absence of centralized power to mean that the international system is like a Hobbesian state of nature, where only material power matters; others see it as evidence that international rules have force only when they are in the self-interest of each state. I show that these two conclusions are premature because of their shallow reading of international society and misinterpretation of the ways in which authority works in domestic society.

A moral economy of corruption in Africa

Abstract: As far as corruption in Africa is both conspicuous and generalised, it has to be studied from the viewpoint of the participants. This article starts with six general theses on corruption in Africa, which place it within a broader ‘corruption complex’, and emphasise its routine nature, the stigmatisation of corruption despite the absence of effective sanctions, its apparent irreversibility, the absence of correlation with regime types and its legitimacy to its perpetrators. Corruption is then shown to be socially embedded in ‘logics’ of negotiation, gift-giving, solidarity, predatory authority and redistributive accumulation. Any anti-corruption policy must face up to these realities.

Political representation and legitimacy in the European Union

Abstract: How severe a problem is what many call the ‘democratic deficit’ of the EU? Despite a voluminous theoretical literature dealing with this question, there is hardly any systematic empirical investigation of the effectiveness of the system of political representation in the EU, and of the legitimacy beliefs of EU citizens that spring from it. This book elaborates a conceptual framework for the empirical analysis of the alleged democratic deficit. Four dimensions of legitimacy beliefs are identified and analysed: the European political community; the scope of EU government; the institutions and processes of EU government; and EU policies. Based upon large-scale representative surveys (the ‘European Representation Study’) among the mass publics, and different strata of the political elite of the EU and its member-states, the book examines the conditions of political representation in the EU. The results demonstrate, by and large, that legitimacy beliefs of EU citizens are the more positive the less specific the object of identification and evaluations is, and that the process of political representation works pretty well as long as issues other than EU issues are concerned. These findings are finally discussed in view of familiar strategies for institutional reform of the EU. The book is arranged in two main parts: I. Legitimacy (4 Chs) and II. Representation ( 6Chs); it also has an introduction, a conclusion, and an appendix giving details of the European Representation Study. The book is one of two companion volumes that report on the results of this study. The other is The European Parliament, the National Parliaments, and European Integration (edited by Richard S. Katz and Bernhard Wessels), and is also published by OUP.

The Effects of Negative Political Advertisements: A Meta-Analytic Assessment

Abstract: The conventional wisdom about negative political advertisements holds that no one likes them, but they work, that is, they have the consequences their sponsors intend. Moreover, many analysts have expressed concern over the detrimental effects of such negativism on the American political system. We examine the accuracy of the conventional wisdom and the legitimacy of the fears about the consequences for the political system via meta-analysis, a systematic, quantitative review of the literature. The data do not support either contention. Negative political ads appear to be no more effective than positive ads and do not seem to have especially detrimental effects on the political system. Eleven subsidiary hypotheses about particular circumstances in which significant effects are likely to be found are tested and rejected. Discussion focuses on why negative political advertisements have become so popular in practice when there is so little evidence that they work especially well.

The Legitimacy of International Governance: A Coming Challenge for International Environmental Law?

Abstract: This article is about a problem only just becoming visible: the legitimacy of international environmental law, and more specifically, the perception that the international environmental process is insufficiently democratic. Until now, international lawyers have tended to focus on what environmental standards are needed and how those standards can be made effective. But as decision-making authority gravitates from the national to the international level, the question of legitimacy will likely emerge from the shadows and become a central issue in international environmental law. This article seeks to clarify the nature of the legitimacy challenge and to survey possible sources of legitimacy for international institutions.

Political Legitimacy and the Invisibility of Politics: Exploring the European Union’s Communication Deficit

Abstract: The debate about the legitimacy deficit of the European Union (EU) has so far devoted little attention to the role of political communication in legitimating governance. The resignation of the Commission has highlighted the consequences of communicative failure and points to the new role of the media in EU affairs. The article analyses and evaluates the Commission’s media communicationand places it in the context of the EU’s broader institutional set-up and decision-making procedures. The article argues that the Commission’s public communication suffers from the fragmentation of political authority, a pervading technocratic mindset and a lack of adequate staffing. More importantly, however, the Commission is located within a system of governance which depoliticizes conflict and obfuscates political accountability. This system has been used by Member States to circumvent public scrutiny and externalize public dissatisfaction to the Commission.

Facilitating Community, Enabling Democracy: New Roles for Local Government Managers

Abstract: Dennis Hays, administrator of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, found himself in an unfamiliar role. In the presence of the governor, the mayor, and other dignitaries, Hays was asked to take the lead in a press conference announcing that the International Speedway Corporation had begun negotiating with the Unified Government as a partner in the construction of a NASCAR racetrack. His highly visible role in the project was being recognized and future expectations were being cast. Kansas City, Kansas, once a manufacturing stronghold in northeast Kansas, is a city searching for lost pride. Hays, analytical and compassionate, and educated to believe that the role of the manager is to work backstage, found himself leading a project that would have significant effect on the sense of community in this city and on his own definition of professionalism. This research, based on data gathered from open-ended survey questions, correspondence, and in-depth panel discussions, also utilizes earlier findings for a "then and now" examination of the contemporary roles, responsibilities, and values of city managers. City managers are seen as community builders and enablers of democracy. With those goals, they have become skilled at facilitative leadership and at building partnerships and consensus. Also, they have become more aware that legitimacy of the city manager role demands more than a legal foundation in council-manager government, the manager's adherence to the value of efficiency, and making recommendations based on "the greatest good for the greatest number over the long run." In today's political environment of diverse and conflicting interests, managers must anticipate and attend to claims for equity, representation, and individual rights if they are to succeed as partner to the elected officials and citizens they serve and as leader of the professional staff they supervise. The Past In my earlier review of professionalism in local government I concluded that city management had transformed itself over several decades in three fundamental ways. It had "moved from an orthodox view of a dichotomy between politics and administration to the sharing of functions between elected and appointed officials; from political neutrality and formal accountability to political sensitivity and responsiveness to community values themselves; and from efficiency as the core value to efficiency, representation, individual rights, and social equity as a complex array of values anchoring professionalism" (Nalbandian, 1991, 103). The first change represented an evolution of roles, the second a broader statement of professional responsibility, and the third set out to capture the contemporary value base of city management. Those familiar with professionalism in local government will see that to a large extent many recent changes have reinforced these transformations. During the ten years, the following changes stand out: * Community building has become part of the city management professional's responsibility. * Managers are expected to facilitate participation and representation and to develop partnerships. * There is less adherence to council manager government as the "one best form." * The manager's internal administrative role has become more process oriented. What's New Community Building Historical reviews of city management reveal a continuing search for the meaning of professionalism (Stillman, 1974). As social, economic, political, and technological trends create new contexts, the roles, responsibilities, and values of practicing professionals change. In my earlier project, I tried to define professionalism in local government as grounded in a broader array of community values than had been posited traditionally. But what I failed to articulate was the search for a sense of community as a way to conceptualize a context for contemporary professional work. …

New Firm Survival: Institutional Explanations for New Franchisor Mortality

Abstract: Why do some new firms succeed and others fail? Economists argue that new firms fail because entrepreneurs inefficiently manage production and organizational design (Williamson 1985). Sociologists (e.g., Granovetter 1985) have typically viewed this explanation as undersocialized, and argue that institutional legitimacy must also be considered to explain the survival of new firms. This paper examines the survival of 1292 new franchisors established in the United States from 1979-1996. The results show that institutional legitimacy adds to economic explanations for the survival of new franchisors and suggests the importance of a properly socialized explanation.

Political Theory: An Introduction

Abstract: 1. What is Political Theory? 2. Human Nature, the Individual and Society 3. Politics, Government and the State 4. Sovereignty, the Nation and Transnationalism 5. Power, Authority and Legitimacy 6. Democracy, Representation and the Public Interest 7. Law, Order and Justice 8. Rights, Obligation and Citizenship 9. Freedom, Toleration and Identity 10. Equality, Social Justice and Welfare 11. Property, the Market and Planning 12. Security, War and World Order 13. Tradition, Progress and Utopia

Managing legitimacy through increased corporate environmental reporting: an exploratory study

Abstract: During the last fifteen years, corporations have increased the amount of information being disclosed in the corporate annual report. Research why this increase has occurred has spawned a number of theories embracing the increasing social and environmental responsibilities of business. One such theory is legitimacy theory. This theory is based on the idea that in order to continue operating successfully, corporations must act within the bounds of what society identifies as socially acceptable behaviour. If a corporation acts outside these bounds, its future profitability and existence could be threatened. Proponents of this theory argue that a corporation can (and does) legitimise itself in the eyes of the public by voluntarily disclosing information about its social activities in the corporate annual report. The main aim of the exploratory research reported in this paper was to discover to what extent legitimacy theory may explain the presence of environmental disclosures in the annual report. In a departure from content analysis methods used in prior research on environmental disclosures and legitimacy theory, a case study approach using semi–structured interviews with senior corporate personnel from three large public corporations identified as operating in environmentally sensitive industries, was adopted. Results suggest that corporations in the study will increase environmental disclosures if a need to defend or justify negative environmental activities with which the company or industry has been associated with had been identified. The incentive to disclose increased if these environmental activities had been brought to public notice via mainstream media. Management also views that the inclusion of environmental information in the annual report may help the corporation shape public opinion. These findings are consistent with the broad thrust of legitimacy theory.

Nations without States: Political Communities in a Global Age

Abstract: Introduction. 1. State and Nation. 2. Nations without States: different political scenarios. 3. Nations and Nationalism in Native America. 4. Nationalism as a Social Movement. 5. Cultural Resistance and Political Violence. 6. Nations without States as New Global Political Actors. 7. Conclusion. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

Human Rights, Democracy, and Development

Abstract: In the past decade, development, democracy, and human rights have become hegemonic political ideals. Regimes that do not at least claim to pursue rapid and sustained economic growth ("development"), popular political participation ("democracy"), and respect for the rights of their citizens ("human rights")' place their national and international legitimacy at risk.2 Without denying important practical and theoretical linkages, this article focuses on tensions between the logics of human rights, democracy, and development. In doing so, this article challenges the comfortable contemporary assumption that, as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (adopted by the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights) put it,

No way out for the beast? The unsolved legitimacy problem of European governance

Abstract: The European Union (EU) has developed into a new type of political system which lacks many of the features associated with democratic governance. When calling for the democratization of the EU, however, it is important to remember that democratic decision-making at the European level is only one source of its legitimacy. Another is technocratic-utilitarian: the efficient and effective tackling of political challenges on the basis of its general problem-solving capacity. The third source is the indirect democratic legitimacy accorded by member states, and their parliaments, as signatories to the European treaties. As these three sources of EU legitimacy exist in uneasy tension, European governance is faced with a 'legitimacy trilemma': strengthening the one weakens the others. The quest for reforms to bestow greater legitimacy on the multi-layered European system thus appears to be a zero-sum game: the multidimensional legitimacy problem can be reconfigured, with concomitant costs and benefits, but it cann...

Betwixt and between: ‘traditional authority’ and democratic decentralization in post-war mozambique

Abstract: The end of civil war in Mozambique has been accompanied by democratization of political processes, as exemplified by the 1994 multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections. Under the rubric of democratization, the issue of state decentralization has also been raised. Current political debates focus on what role 'traditional authority' might play in local governance. Advocates argue that 'traditional authority' constitutes a genuinely African form of local governance, while detractors suggest that these institutions were irrevocably corrupted by their involvement with the colonial administration. This article challenges not only the black-andwhite framework in which the present-day 'legitimacy' of 'traditional authority' has been debated, but also questions the value of the term 'traditional authority' itself. The article explores the diverse histories of kin-based political institutions in Mozambique, arguing that the meaning and function of 'traditional authority' has been transformed many times over with changes in the larger political contexts in which local institutions have existed. As a result of historical events, the issue of 'traditional authority' is, today, intimately bound up with the divide between the ruling FRELIMO party and the opposition, RENAMO. Only by approaching the issue of 'traditional authority' through an understanding of its variegated and contentious history will policy-makers and Mozambican residents alike be able to transcend existing political divides on issues of local governance. THE ESTABLISHMENT of the Frente de Libertaf ao de Mof ambique (FRELIMO) party/state upon independence in 1975 was, for most rural Mozambicans, inseparable from FRELIMO policy on former autoridades gentilicas, meaning chiefs recognized and utilized by the Portuguese colonial regime as Harry G West is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. He has conducted research in Mozambique over the past six years. On 23 June 1999, Scott Kloeck-Jenson was killed along with his wife Barbara and their two children, Zoe and Noah, in a car accident in South Africa. Scott's death is a great loss to the community of scholars and policy-makers working in Mozambique. He and his family will be dearly missed by friends both in Mozambique and at home in the United States. Scott was in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Resident Program Manager for the University of Wisconsin Land Tenure Center's Research Project in Mozambique. He had conducted research in Mozambique over the past three years. This article draws upon both individual and collaborative research undertaken by the authors. In 1992 and 1993, West worked in Sofala, Manica, Gaza and Inhambane provinces with the support of the University of Wisconsin's Land Tenure Center (LTC) Research Project in footnote continued overleaf

What is Constitutional Theory

Abstract: Just what is constitutional theory? How can it be, as Professor Fallon rightly says, that constitutional theory is both descriptive and prescriptive, and is supposed to produce results that seem morally right but also some results that make the theory's proponents uncomfortable? In this Reply, Professor Strauss argues that a constitutional theory tries to draw upon bases of agreement that exist within a legal culture and to extend those agreed-upon principles to resolve more controversial issues In our culture, for example, there is widespread agreement both on abstract principles-such as the idea that the text of the Constitution is important but that precedent also matters in interpreting the Constitution-and on specific points of law, such as the legitimacy of the decision in Brown v Board of Education A constitutional theory tries to organize these and other points of agreement in a way that prescribes results in cases where there is no agreement So understood, a constitutional theory is comparable to an account of the rules of grammar for a language, or perhaps to a theory of scientific or mathematical truth

Legitimacy and the European Union: The Contested Polity

Abstract: Since the Maastricht ratification debate of the early 1990s, the legitimacy of the European Union has become a subject of controversy. With unprecedented force, Europeans have begun to question the need for deeper integration. Some fear threats to established national identities, while others perceive the emergence of a distant but powerful Brussels, beyond the reach of democratic control. Legitimacy and the European Union breaks with established approaches to the problem of the legitimacy of the European Union by focusing on the recent trend towards reconceptualization of the EU not as a superstate or an organization of states, but as a multi-level, contested polity without precedent. The book examines the implications of this reconceptualization for the problem of legitimacy. Individual chapters focus on policy areas, institutions and identity politics. Taken together, they reach two main conclusions. While Europeans do not strongly identify with the EU, they increasingly recognize it as a framework for politics alongside existing national and subnational structures. And while the EU lacks central democratic institutions, the integration process has spawned significant informal and pluralist forms of representation. Rethinking recognition and representation ouside the context of the nation state points to important, if little understood, actual and potential sources of EU legitimacy.

Balancing Justice and Social Unity: Political Theory and the Idea of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Abstract: The so-called 'third wave' of democratization, which occurred from the 1970s and through the 1980s, has brought with it a novel institutional response to the injustices and evils perpetrated and encouraged by predecessor regimes. 'Truth commissions' have emerged in Latin America and Africa as an alternative to full prosecution of offenders, on the one hand, and unconditional amnesty, on the other. Advocates of these institutions generally take the view that some form of recognition and disclosure of past offences is necessary if the new democracies are to distance themselves from the past and thus establish their legitimacy. However, they also argue that a commitment to full prosecution through the criminal justice system or through war crimes trials would be equally threatening to the new democracies by provoking hostility and division. In the circumstances of the recent transitions to democracy, 'transitional justice,' and the goal of democratization, it is suggested, require something different from the demands of strict retributive justice. Skeptical critics, on the other hand, have argued that this amounts to making a virtue out of necessity or more correctly, out of a particular (and perhaps mistaken) judgement concerning necessity. On this view, truth commissions are merely political compromises, institutions spawned by an unprincipled negotiation of a transfer of power. Justice becomes the casualty of a political calculation. What are we to think of this disagreement? Does the very idea of a truth commission involve a sacrifice of justice to expediency? Some survivors of past attacks and families of victims clearly think so. Recently, Michael Walzer commented that these individuals. make 'elemental

New Methodologies in Art and Design Research: The Object as Discourse

Abstract: of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland, in September 1996. Introduction: Is Design Research of Second or Third Order Quality? Should researchers in art and design adopt and adapt methodologies developed in other academic disciplines, or should they concentrate on developing original methodologies which recognize the distinctive quality of discovery in art and design? Although the answer to this question is complicated by the broad spectrum of subjects currently being pursued under the aegis of art and design research (a Ph.D. by thesis' in, say, design history on an aspect of costume obviously will employ very different methodologies than a Ph.D. by project 2 in ceramics which explores the development of new glazes in the key area of action research by project3 and, in particular, in those projects in which the end product is an artifact which, in effect, embodies the essential research, the need to develop and to legitimize original research methodologies seem essential. While it is well documented that much original research in the various spectrum of disciplines follows a similar path, a variety of factors seem to be threatening the self-confidence of some students pursuing action research by project. The most important of these obstacles seems to be the academic blueprint inherent in the Ph.D. qualification, its demand for originality, for methodological rigor in the production of explicit data, for a defense of the reliability and validity of the research methodologies employed, for "transparency" of method, "replicability" of results, and the transmissibility of the final outcome of the research project. These requirements, of supreme importance to the legitimacy of the Ph.D. qualification in academia, can clash with artists', craftspersons', or designers' suspicions about what might be termed the "demystification of process" in creative work. In addition to this ideological conflict, action researchers by project in art and design face the familiar problems of finding suitably qualified and sympathetic research supervisors, and of negotiating the economic and political discrepancies between the entrenched research cultures of universities and those of colleges of art and design in which the idea of research continues to remain vague and contentious. The danger in all of this is that perplexed researchers in art and design will opt to "play it safe" and, rather than risking the 1 The research degree "Ph.D. by thesis" is a conventional written Ph.D. of 80,000 words. 2 The research degree "Ph.D. by project" consists of a major element of practical research supported by a minor element of related text of between 25,000 and 40,000 words. 3 Action research is research in which the process of making or designing an artifact constitutes the methodology.

Community Economic Development

Abstract: I Putting the Community into Economic Developments: Challenges to Social Exclusion and to the Economic Orthodoxy II Governance and Community: Engaging Strategically, Building Capacity and Developing Local Legitimacy III Making a Difference: Devising, Implementing and Evaluating Community Economic Development Strategies and Projects IV Conclusions: Lessons form the Past and Present, Lessons for the Future

Kurt Lewin Address: Influence, Power, Religion, and the Mechanisms of Social Control

Abstract: A power/interaction model of interpersonal influence is applied to the analysis of religions as mechanisms of social control. The original six bases of power presented by French and Raven (1959)—coercion, reward, legitimate position, expert, referent, and informational—are expanded to include variants of these bases: personal reward and coercion and legitimacy of equity, reciprocity, and responsibility (Raven, 1992). Over centuries, certain sages, seers, and chieftains, feeling that they knew what was best for their people individually and collectively, have attempted to utilize these power resources (e.g., to counter tendencies toward murder, theft, adultery, mayhem, or harmful dietary practices). To implement power strategies, various preparatory devices were developed, which include the establishment of a Deity, whose ultimate reward and coercive power is enhanced by omnipotence; whose omnipresence establishes necessary continual surveillance; and whose ultimate expertise follows from omniscience. Much of what has been developed in holy works, and in supportive art and literature, can then be seen as further preparing the bases of power for social control. Tensions result when a populace that is educated to expect informational power is faced with a religion that emphasizes extreme coercion, reward, ultimate legitimate and expert power.

Rehabilitating Health Services in Cambodia: The Challenge of Coordination in Chronic Political Emergencies

Abstract: The end of the Cold War brought with it opportunities to resolve a number of conflicts around the world, including those in Angola, Cambodia, El Salvador and Mozambique. International political efforts to negotiate peace in these countries were accompanied by significant aid programmes ostensibly designed to redress the worst effects of conflict and to contribute to the consolidation of peace. Such periods of political transition, and associated aid inflows, constitute an opportunity to improve health services in countries whose health indicators have been among the worst in the world and where access to basic health services is significantly diminished by war. This paper analyzes the particular constraints to effective coordination of health sector aid in situations of 'post'-conflict transition. These include: the uncertain legitimacy and competence of state structures; donor choice of implementing channels; and actions by national and international political actors which served to undermine coordination mechanisms in order to further their respective agendas. These obstacles hindered efforts by health professionals to establish an effective coordination regime, for example, through NGO mapping and the establishment of aid coordinating committees at national and provincial levels. These technical measures were unable to address the basic constitutional question of who had the authority to determine the distribution of scarce resources during a period of transition in political authority. The peculiar difficulties of establishing effective coordination mechanisms are important to address if the long-term effectiveness of rehabilitation aid is to be enhanced.

Globalization and Its Effects on NGOs: Efflorescence or a Blurring of Roles and Relevance?

Abstract: This article begins by describing attributes of the NGO sector, including its phenomenal growth, its new legitimacy and reputation, and national and regional differences among NGOs. It then discusses the tensions, tradeoffs, trends, and strategies posed by globalization as the political economy in which NGOs operate is changed. It notes that in the global marketplace of altruism, NGOs risk seeing the positive promise of NGO globalization far outweighed by the dangers of commodification of their work. Finally, the author concludes that a return to the roots of altruistic activism may prove the best strategy in response to today's challenges.

The Influence of Religious Legitimacy on Grievance Formation by Ethno-Religious Minorities

Abstract: While there is considerable agreement that religion can bolster the legitimacy of governments, those who oppose them, and just about any political action by any individual or group, there has been no previous large-N cross-sectional study of the subject. This study tests the effects of religious legitimacy on grievance formation by ethnic minorities using data on 105 ethno-religious minorities from the Minorities at Risk Phase 3 dataset as well as data on religion collected independently. For operational purposes, a minority is an ethno-religious minority when at least 80% of that group's members are of different religious denominations than that of the dominant ethnic group of the state in which they live. The findings show that religious legitimacy does influence grievance formation but that influence is not the monolithically positive influence that would be expected. Religious legitimacy tends to facilitate the formation of grievances over non-religious issues when religion is not an issue in the conflict but deters the formation of grievances over these issues when religion is an issue. The presence of religious legitimacy is also positively associated more indirectly and weakly with the formation of religious grievances.

The school curriculum since apartheid: Intersections of politics and policy in the South African transition

Abstract: In the wake of South Africa's first non-racial elections in 1994, the new Minister of Education launched a national process which would purge the apartheid curriculum of its most offensive racial content and outdated, inaccurate subject matter. At a first glance these essential alterations to school syllabuses sounded reasonable and timely, given the democratic non-racial ideals of the new government. However, these syllabus alterations had little to do with changing the school curriculum and much more to do with a precarious crisis of legitimacy facing the state and education in the months following the national elections. The haste with which the state pursued a superficial cleansing of the inherited curriculum is explained in terms of the political constraints, conflicts and compromises which accompanied the South African transition from apartheid.

Seduction, Surrender, and Transformation: Emotional Engagement in the Analytic Process

Abstract: What are the actual clinical implications of a relational approach to psychoanalytic therapy? Does recent theorizing about "mutuality" and "intersubjectivity" really change the way analysts work with patients? In her answer to these questions, the author calls on analytic therapists to "show some emotion!". "Seduction, Surrender and Transformation" demonstrates how interpersonal psychoanalysis obliges analysts to engage their patients with geniune emotional responsiveness, so that not only the patient but the analyst too is open to ongoing transformation through the analytic experience. In so doing, the analyst moves from the position of an "interpreting observer" to that of an "active participant and facilitator" whose affective communications enable the patient to acquire basic self-trust along with self-knowledge. In her previous book, "The Power of Countertransference", Maroda was among the first analytic therapists to argue for the legitimacy of the analyst's self-disclosures. Here she further develops her interpersonal approach by grounding her technical recommendations in a clinical theory of affect. Drawing on the current literature on affect, Maroda argues that psychological change occurs through affect-laden interpersonal processes. Given that most patients in psychotherapy have problems with affect management, the completing of cycles of affective communication between therapist and patient becomes a vitally important aspect of the therapeutic enterprise. Through emotionally open responses to their patients and careful use of patient-prompted self-disclosures, analysts can facilitate affect regulation responsibly and constructively, with the emphasis always remaining on the patients' experience. Moments of mutual surrender - the honest emotional giving over of patient to analyst and analyst to patient - epitomize the emotionally intense interpersonal experiences that lead to enduring intrapsychic change. The author shares with the reader how her own personality affects her thinking and her work. Indeed, she believes her theoretical and clinical preferences are emblematic of the way in which the analyst's subjectivity necessarily shapes theory choice and practice preferences in general. "Seduction, Surrender and Transformation" is not only a brief for emotional honesty in the analytic relationship, but also a model of the personal openness that, the author argues, psychoanalysis demands of all its practitioners.