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11. When Brute Force Fails. How to have Less Crime and Less Punishment

Author:
Nicoleta Adelina Stanescu
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
With a rate of about 1 percent incarceration per capita (i.e. the highest in the world) and damage from crime reaching 10 percent of GDP, the US allocates large budget resources to tackle this issue and faces serious deadlocks in the crime control domain. Starting from these facts, Mark Kleiman's “When Brute Force Fails” raises awareness of the need to alleviate both the damages caused by crime and the burden that its control exercises on taxpayers. The analysis is based on the US experiences with crime and crime control, and that is neither a disadvantage, nor a weakness, but an almost exhaustive presentation of the evolution of crime rate, incarceration and public costs.
Topic:
Crime
Political Geography:
United States

12. Stable Outside, Fragile Inside? PostSoviet Statehood in Central Asia

Author:
Arolda Elbasani
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
Stable Outside, Fragile Inside is one of the newest books in search of the distinctive development, erratic trends and widely perceived failure of Central Asian republics to make a successful transition to democracy after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The volume seeks to explain the region's specific trajectory to independent statehood, focusing on processes of socialization with competing external norms, emanating not only the main protagonists of the Cold War, Russia and US, but also an increasingly influential EU, a myriad of international organizations and European countries, as well as regional powers such as Turkey, China, Iran, and Pakistan. At the same time, the book draws attention to the specific domestic context of awkward statehood of Central Asian polities – a set of authority structures and state society relations as well as unpredictable international behavior – which makes it difficult for the conventional frameworks to capture the current state of affairs. Opting for a flexible and comprehensive analysis of practices of statehood, the analysis claims to go beyond mainstream understanding of compliance and delve into intricate processes of 'localization', which unfold at the intersection of local conditions and the larger world system.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Russia, United States, China, Europe, Iran, Central Asia, Turkey, and Soviet Union

13. Richard H. Immerman, Empire for Liberty, A History of American Imperialism from Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz

Author:
Oana-Elena Brânda
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
The academic profile of Richard Immerman  places him in the field of US foreign relations research. That is why a book about the American Empire viewed from a conceptual and rather philosophical side came as a surprise. Empire for Liberty, A History of American Imperialism from  Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz is an effort to build along a chronological line, the argumentation to support today's existence of an American Empire. The book focuses on the evolution of the idea of an American Empire from the 18th century to present day. According to Immerman, the American Empire was built in two centuries, with extreme strains made not only by decision makers, but also by the people.
Political Geography:
United States

14. Daniel J. Galvin, Presidential Party Building. Dwight D.Einsenhower to George W. Bush (Princeton University Press, 2010).

Author:
Rasa Balockaite
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
Finding terra incognita in a world exposed for academic gaze, a place of earth, an area of life, still not trampled down by the shoes of the theorists, still not torn into parts by their academic instruments – that's the task. The relationship between the US President and his party is territory of that kind. One can enter here with a pioneering gaze talk about it unburdened by the heavy weight of academic authorities or big names in the field, undisturbed by previous famous dictums and quotations and taking all the pride (or failure) for himself.
Political Geography:
United States

15. Stephen E. Frantzich, Citizen Democracy. Political Activists in a Cynical Age. 3rd edition (Lanham, Md.: Rowman Littlefield Publishers, 2008).

Author:
Vadim V. Astashin
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
Collaboration with students is quite often a source of interesting research ideas. Teaching in the U.S. Naval Academy, Professor Stephen Frantzich noticed to his great wonder that his students, who would be in government service in future, were cynical about their government. The main task for teacher is “to provide real examples of relatively typical individuals who overcame cynism to affect public well-being”.(p.ix). Academic experience originated interesting research work which would help to prove that government could not ignore the people and had to respond.
Political Geography:
United States

16. Genocide Olympics; The Campaign to pressure China over the Darfur Conflict

Author:
Alexandra Cosima Budabin
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
What is the impact of a domestic-based social movement's efforts to promote international conflict resolution? To end the conflict in Darfur, the US-based Save Darfur Coalition (SDC) has pursued a strategy of international venue-shopping to seek additional sources of leverage on the government of Sudan. The SDC identified China as Sudan's staunch ally in the international arena. During the period leading up to the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, the SDC and its member organizations explored traditional and innovative channels for pressuring the Chinese government. This article will examine the emergence of China as a target, the development of the China Campaign, and the impact on Chinese foreign policy. The reconstruction of the strategies of the SDC is based on a systematic content analysis of the web sites, organization archival material, and newspaper accounts of activities. The main data source consists of in-depth interviews conducted with SDC leadership, Darfuri activists, Congressional legislative aides, and officials from the Chinese Embassy and the Department of State.
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Sudan

17. Online Campaign Strategy, Web 2.0 Tools, and Voter Preference in the 2008 US Presidential Election

Author:
Tommi Hurme
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
Can particular campaign strategies influence voters? How and why do campaigns adopt such strategies and how do these strategies help the campaign effort? Using journalistic and professional accounts to describe Barack Obama's and John McCain's presidential campaigns and their online strategies focused on Web 2.0 tools, the author argues that Obama's strategy was more innovative, comprehensive, and gave him an advantage in online campaigning over McCain. Using polling data from the Pew Research Center's Mid-October Election Survey, the extent to which voter engagement with campaign Web sites in fostering candidate support is presented. The study claims that campaign strategies do have an effect on voter preferences and that engaging with candidates via their Web sites greatly increases partisan voter support for candidates.
Political Geography:
United States