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41. Why Tunisia’s parliamentary electoral formula needs to be changed

Author:
Alexander Martin and John Carey
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
In light of the current political situation in Tunisia, this paper suggests that to avoid producing fragmented parliaments, the Tunisian electoral law should be amended and the Hare Quota-Largest Remainders (HQLR) formula should be replaced. A switch to either the D’Hondt or St.Lague divisors formulas would produce clearer winners and losers and foster accountability while preserving the proportional representation (PR) system.
Topic:
Elections, Democracy, Legislation, and Parliament
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

42. DEMOCRACY AND THE RIGHTS OF NON-MAJORITY COMMUNITIES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN KOSOVO

Author:
Besim Myrtezani and Ferdi Kamberi
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities and all citizens' well-being. In Kosovo, the rights of communities are regulated by the constitution and legislation, which guarantee the special rights of minority communities. One of the fundamental policies of governmental institutions was about decentralizing local self-government, designed to facilitate the creation of new municipalities of communities and their integration into the local institutions. Our purpose was to search and analyze the level of representation of communities in the local institutions, legal mechanisms that guarantee their rights, challenges in putting the rights of communities into practice, and the political steps that must be taken to achieve so. The methodology is based on quantitative research with 500 (five hundred) respondents in three municipalities: Pristina, Gracanica, and Dragash, where 59% of respondents are male and 41% are female. The results show that about 55% of the communities are somewhat satisfied with the constitutional guarantees, and 38% are represented in the institutional life of Kosovo. Implementing legal mechanisms has allowed the communities to have higher representation at institutional levels and be part of Kosovo society’s integrative processes.
Topic:
Democracy, Legislation, Institutions, Autonomy, and Community
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo

43. Why the CHIPS Are Down: Stock Buybacks and Subsidies in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry

Author:
William Lazonick and Matt Hopkins
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
Abstract:
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is promoting the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, introduced in Congress in June 2020. An SIA press release describes the bill as “bipartisan legislation that would invest tens of billions of dollars in semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research initiatives over the next 5-10 years to strengthen and sustain American leadership in chip technology, which is essential to our country’s economy and national security.” On June 8, 2021, the Senate approved $52 billion for the CHIPS for America Act, dedicated to supporting the U.S. semiconductor industry over the next decade. This paper highlights a curious paradox: Most of the SIA corporate members now lobbying for the CHIPS for America Act have squandered past support that the U.S. semiconductor industry has received from the U.S. government for decades by using their corporate cash to do buybacks to boost their own companies’ stock prices. Among the SIA corporate signatories of a letter to President Biden in February 2021, the five largest stock repurchasers—Intel, IBM, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Broadcom—did a combined $249 billion in buybacks over the decade 2011-2020, equal to 71 percent of their profits and almost five times the subsidies over the next decade for which the SIA is lobbying. In addition, among the members of the Semiconductors in America Coalition (SIAC), formed specifically in May 2021 to lobby Congress for the passage of the CHIPS for America Act, are Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, and Google. These firms spent a combined $633 billion on buybacks during 2011-2020. That is about 12 times the government subsidies provided under the CHIPS for America Act to support semiconductor fabrication in the United States in the upcoming decade. If the Congress wants to achieve the legislation’s stated purpose of promoting major new investments in semiconductors, it needs to deal with this paradox. It could, for example, require the SIA and SIAC to extract pledges from its member corporations that they will cease doing stock buybacks as open-market repurchases over the next ten years. Such regulation could be a first step in rescinding Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-18, which has since 1982 been a major cause of extreme income inequality and loss of global industrial competitiveness in the United States.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Regulation, Legislation, Strategic Competition, Subsidies, and Lobbying
Political Geography:
United States of America

44. Surplus or Shortage? The Challenge of Setting a Domestic Supply Obligation for Tanzania’s Offshore Gas BRIEFING20 JULY 2021

Author:
David Manley and Thomas Scurfield
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
One of the priorities of Tanzania’s new president is negotiating a way forward for the country’s long-planned offshore gas project. A key issue in this negotiation is the amount of gas that the government will take in the form of a domestic supply obligation (DSO). To increase the country’s energy supply, it wants a larger DSO than the currently agreed amount of around 8.5 percent of reserves. This report analyzes the implications of a larger DSO for meeting Tanzania’s energy needs, for the offshore project and the government revenues it can generate. It builds on previous NRGI analyses by the authors.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Natural Resources, Gas, Regulation, Legislation, Tax Systems, Commodities, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

45. Step by Step: Closing the Implementation Gap in Senegal's Petroleum Licensing Process

Author:
Papa Daouda Diene and Nicola Woodroffe
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Historically, Senegal has experienced significant “implementation gaps” between rules and implementation of these rules in its petroleum licensing process. Causes have included lack of legal clarity, duplicative and conflicting institutional roles, and lack of institutional capacity. However, Senegal has made good progress on closing this implementation gap. As of 2020, Senegal’s implementation gap in the petroleum licensing process as measured by the Resource Governance Index is very small and reflects recent government reforms, investments and disclosures. Despite major progress in closing the implementation gap in the licensing process, Senegal has significant room for improvement in the transparency of the oil and gas licensing process. Senegal’s government should work to improve laws on the disclosure of assets of public officials and the disclosure of the identities of the beneficial owners of companies applying for and obtaining licenses.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Regulation, Legislation, and Policy Implementation
Political Geography:
Africa and Senegal

46. EU regions with legislative powers: Exploring the appetite, capacity and direction for EU policy influencing and delivery

Author:
Alison Hunter, Perle Petit, and Marialena Pantazi
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
How can EU regions with legislative powers amplify their presence through the RLEG initiative and play a stronger role in EU decion-making? Made up of 16 regions with legislative powers, the RLEG initiative aims to contribute to and improve the functioning of EU multilevel governance systems. The joint initiative also aims to bring citizens closer to the EU, such that a stronger ‘line of sight’ is generated between them and the EU’s multilevel governance system. This requires that the role of regions with legislative powers is better acknowledged by key partners. However, that recognition is not currently present, which directly impacts the role RLEG can play in EU decision-making. This report recommends that RLEG improves the positioning of their agenda for greater coherence and visibility so as to foster improved dialogue with decision-makers.
Topic:
European Union, Legislation, Autonomy, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Basque Country

47. Behavioural Data in Credibility Assessment: Case Study of Kaja Godek’s Explanatory Statement of Anti-LGBT Law

Author:
Patryk Wawrzyński
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
Institution:
Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract:
The paper explores the application of behavioural data analysis in the credibility assessment of a speaker. It presents how researchers investigate non-verbal communication, expressions of emotions or indicators of arousal to evaluate congruency using audiovisual material. Furthermore, the case study of Polish political activist Kaja Godek’s explanatory statement of an anti-LGBT bill on October 28, 2021, suggests possible ways, in which the automated system FaceReader (and Facial Action Coding System as its theoretical background) may enrich methods of social science. As a result, it offers an example of an innovative approach towards political communication and the credibility of an argument.
Topic:
Politics, LGBT+, Legislation, Behavior, Case Study, and Credibility
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

48. Fact Sheet: Anti-Protest Legislation and Demonstration Activity in the US

Author:
Sam Jones and Roudabeh Kishi
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:
Since the wave of demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020, state governments have proposed more than 90 “anti-protest” bills to restrict demonstration activity around the country (Al Jazeera, 22 April 2021). Republican lawmakers have introduced 81 bills in 34 states during the 2021 legislative session alone, more than double the number introduced in any other year, according to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (New York Times, 21 April 2021; International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, 22 April 2021). These bills have become law in states like Oklahoma and Florida, with new legislation increasing the penalties for “unlawful protesting” and “granting immunity to drivers whose vehicles strike and injure protesters in public streets” (New York Times, 21 April 2021). Although officials have cited instances of protest violence over the past year to justify this new legislative push — with Governor Ron DeSantis labelling Florida’s law “the strongest anti-looting, anti-rioting, pro-law-enforcement piece of legislation in the country” (New York Times, 21 April 2021) — most of these states have experienced low levels of violent or destructive demonstration activity. ACLED data show that, on average, the states in which strict “anti-protest” laws have been proposed are home to the same rate of peaceful protests — 97% of all events — as states that have not pursued such legislation, meaning that violent demonstrations do not feature more prominently in the former than the latter. States like Florida and Oklahoma, which have promulgated some of the most restrictive new laws, have actually seen a lower proportion of demonstrations involving violent or destructive activity than most other states in the country.
Topic:
Social Movement, Protests, Legislation, Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Racial Justice
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

49. Cow Protection Legislation and Vigilante Violence in India

Author:
Shreya Maskara
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:
In India, over 500,000 students signed up for the government-sponsored nationwide ‘Cow Science’ exam this year, which was scheduled for 25 February 2021. The ‘Cow Science’ exam, a free-of-cost voluntary exam, was purportedly meant to test people’s knowledge about cows, thus furthering curiosity about cows among the public (CNN, 8 January 2021). After widespread criticism of the course material, the exam, a product of the National Cow Commission or the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA), was indefinitely postponed (Scroll, 22 February 2021). Scientists and educational institutions questioned the reference material as unscientific and critics claimed it was a mass indoctrination attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has linked the protection of cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — to its Hindu nationalist policies and rhetoric (Times of India, 22 February 2021). Since the BJP came to power in 2014, laws protecting cows have been amended in several states to include stricter punishments for cow slaughter. Right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and other cow vigilantes have been emboldened to attack minority groups, including Christian, Muslim, Dalit (formerly known as “untouchables”), or Adivasi (Indigenous) communities, under the guise of protecting cattle. This report analyzes trends in political violence connected to nationalist rhetoric around cow protection in India.
Topic:
Minorities, Violence, Legislation, and Vigilantism
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

50. Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act: An Anti-Minority Cudgel

Author:
Neil DeVotta
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
East Asia Institute (EAI)
Abstract:
Upon its enforcement, Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been condemned both domestically and internationally for its draconian measures. In this Issue Briefing, Neil DeVotta, Professor at Wake Forest University, claims that anti-terrorism legislation in South Asia was instituted on the basis of penal codes from the colonial era. In Sri Lanka, the PTA was designed as a mechanism to counter Tamil rebellion movements that stemmed from the community’s failed pursuit of securing a separate state of Eelam. Nonetheless, Professor DeVotta states that the PTA does more harm than good; the act has, in essence, brutalized the Tamil community and fuelled pre-existing sentiments of Islamophobia in the country. On top of that, the arbitrary enforcement of the PTA, illustrated by the detainment of key Muslim personalities, further supports prevalent claims that the PTA is imposed onto the Muslim community on unfair grounds. In this regard, the author calls for the government to scrap up the PTA for the upkeep of democracy and to mitigate anti-Muslim attitudes in Sri Lanka.
Topic:
Terrorism, Minorities, Democracy, and Legislation
Political Geography:
South Asia and Sri Lanka