bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of human disturbance on the mongoose lemur Eulemur mongoz in Comoros: implications and potential for the conservation of a Critically Endangered species
Authors: Nadhurou Bakri , Righini Roberta , Gamba Marco , Laiolo Paola , Ouledi Ahmed , Giacoma Cristina
Published: October 2015

The decline of the mongoose lemur Eulemur mongoz has resulted in a change of its conservation status from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered. Assessing the current threats to the species and the attitudes of the people coexisting with it is fundamental to understanding whether and how human impacts may affect populations. A questionnaire-based analysis was used to study the impact of agriculture and other subsistence activities, and local educational initiatives, on lemur abundance, group size and composition in the Comoros. On the islands of Mohéli and Anjouan we recorded 214 lemurs in 63 groups, the size and composition of which depended both on environmental parameters and the magnitude and type of anthropogenic pressure. There was no evidence of an impact of anthropogenic disturbance on abundance. In contrast, group size and composition were sensitive to human impacts. The most important threats were conflicts related to crop raiding, as well as illegal capture and hunting. The promotion of educational activities reduced the negative impact of hunting and illegal activities. These results highlight a need for urgent conservation measures to protect the species.
Relating DSM-5 section III personality traits to section II personality disorder diagnoses
Authors: Morey L. C. , Benson K. T. , Skodol A. E.
Published: October 2015

Background

The DSM-5 Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group formulated a hybrid dimensional/categorical model that represented personality disorders as combinations of core impairments in personality functioning with specific configurations of problematic personality traits. Specific clusters of traits were selected to serve as indicators for six DSM categorical diagnoses to be retained in this system – antisocial, avoidant, borderline, narcissistic, obsessive–compulsive and schizotypal personality disorders. The goal of the current study was to describe the empirical relationships between the DSM-5 section III pathological traits and DSM-IV/DSM-5 section II personality disorder diagnoses.

Method

Data were obtained from a sample of 337 clinicians, each of whom rated one of his or her patients on all aspects of the DSM-IV and DSM-5 proposed alternative model. Regression models were constructed to examine trait–disorder relationships, and the incremental validity of core personality dysfunctions (i.e. criterion A features for each disorder) was examined in combination with the specified trait clusters.

Results

Findings suggested that the trait assignments specified by the Work Group tended to be substantially associated with corresponding DSM-IV concepts, and the criterion A features provided additional diagnostic information in all but one instance.

Conclusions

Although the DSM-5 section III alternative model provided a substantially different taxonomic structure for personality disorders, the associations between this new approach and the traditional personality disorder concepts in DSM-5 section II make it possible to render traditional personality disorder concepts using alternative model traits in combination with core impairments in personality functioning.
RESPONDING TO GLOBAL INJUSTICE: ON THE RIGHT OF RESISTANCE
Authors: Caney Simon
Published: October 2015

In the debates surrounding global justice, the overwhelming focus has been on the duties that fall to the affluent and powerful, and the emphasis has been on their duties to comply with various principles of justice. In this essay, I examine what those who bear the brunt of global injustice are entitled to do to secure their own entitlements and those of others. In particular, I defend an account of what I term the “right of resistance against global injustice.” To do so I advance several methodological and substantive claims. On the methodological level: I argue that in deriving and defining this right of resistance we can (a) learn from the normative accounts developed to analyze war, humanitarian intervention, civil disobedience, revolution and anti colonialism. However, (b) the right to resist global injustice raises some distinct problems; and, thus, the normative principles that should inform any right of resistance against global injustice are not reducible to those that govern the appropriate kinds of response to other kinds of injustice. Turning now to the substantive component, I propose an account of resisting global injustice that specifies (i) who may engage in resistance, (ii) what would constitute a just cause for engaging in resistance, (iii) against whom those engaging in resistance may impose burdens, (iv) what methods resistors can employ, and (v) in what circumstances resistance is permissible.
DEGENERATE COSMOPOLITANISM
Authors: Martin Adam
Published: October 2015

Advocates of cosmopolitan ideals, to the extent that they engage with questions of institutional design, typically imagine replicating or refining existing, nation-state models of governance but on an international scale. This essay argues that cosmopolitan ethics need not go hand in hand with international government, and may be better served by a different approach. I explore the concept of degeneracy as a principle of institutional evaluation and design in international politics. Degeneracy is a characteristic of complex systems in which multiple components of the system offer overlapping (but not identical) functions, and is a key component in the robustness of such systems. Non-degenerate systems, by contrast, exhibit fragility in the face of adverse conditions. When applied to systems of governance, degeneracy commends polycentricity and allows for some evaluation of the robustness of different mechanisms and forms of polycentric governance. Cosmopolitan ideals are better served by providing alternatives to existing forms of governance than by building on them. I consider some concrete policy applications of this idea, focusing on immigration and intellectual property.
COMPROMISE AND ORIGINAL ACQUISITION: EXPLAINING RIGHTS TO THE ARCTIC
Authors: Nine Cara
Published: October 2015

Up until now, political philosophy has explained the acquisition of natural resources, in one way or another, through the terms of human settlement. An agent acquires natural resources by moving into the geographic area that contains these resources. Even how we make claims to the ocean floor depends on settlement — claimants must be adjacent to settled land. This essay extends original acquisition theories so that they can respond to cases that do not presuppose any conditions of human settlement. I suggest that resource rights in the deep sea may be created, alternatively, through acts of compromise. Compromise can alleviate conflict, allowing for claimants to move beyond stalemate to acquire goods. It also allows for a large degree of flexibility in the specification of rights, and thereby can explain nontraditional rights over areas of migration. The tricky part of a theory that grants rights through agreement is explaining why external parties, those not part of the agreement, have a duty to respect those rights. A compromise under certain conditions, I argue, places all persons under a duty to respect the rights created by the compromise. Thus, when two parties compromise, they may acquire goods from the commons — creating a duty for all others to respect the parties’ rights over these goods. Importantly, rights created through compromise are constrained by a set of concerns for those excluded.
Federated query processing on linked data: a qualitative survey and open challenges
Authors: Oguz Damla , Ergenc Belgin , Yin Shaoyi , Dikenelli Oguz , Hameurlain Abdelkader
Published: October 2015

A large number of data providers publish and connect their structured data on the Web as linked data. Thus, the Web of data becomes a global data space. In this paper, we initially give an overview of query processing approaches used in this interlinked and distributed environment, and then focus on federated query processing on linked data. We provide a detailed and clear insight on data source selection, join methods and query optimization methods of existing query federation engines. Furthermore, we present a qualitative comparison of these engines and give a complementary comparison of the measured metrics of each engine with the idea of pointing out the major strengths of each one. Finally, we discuss the major challenges of federated query processing on linked data.
Precision in Determining Ship Position using the Method of Comparing an Omnidirectional Map to a Visual Shoreline Image
Authors: Naus Krzysztof , Waz Mariusz
Published: October 2015

This paper summarises research that evaluates the precision of determining a ship's position by comparing an omnidirectional map to a visual image of the coastline. The first part of the paper describes the equipment and associated software employed in obtaining such estimates. The system uses a spherical catadioptric camera to collect positional data that is analysed by comparing it to spherical images from a digital navigational chart. Methods of collecting positional data from a ship are described, and the algorithms used to determine the statistical precision of such position estimates are explained. The second section analyses the results of research to determine the precision of position estimates based on this system. It focuses on average error values and distance fluctuations of position estimates from referential positions, and describes the primary factors influencing the correlation between spherical map images and coastline visual images.
Improved Underwater Integrated Navigation System using Unscented Filtering Approach
Authors: Shabani Mohammad , Gholami Asghar
Published: October 2015

In underwater navigation, the conventional Error State Kalman Filter (ESKF) is used for combining navigation data where due to first order linearization of the nonlinear equations of the dynamics and measurements, considerable error is induced in estimated error state and covariance matrices. This paper presents an underwater integrated inertial navigation system using the unscented filter as an improved nonlinear version of the Kalman filter family. The designed system consists of a strap-down inertial navigation system accompanying Doppler velocity log and depth meter. In the proposed approach, to use the nonlinear capabilities of the unscented filtering approach the integrated navigation system is implemented in a direct approach where the nonlinear total state dynamic and and measurement models are utilised without any linearization. To our knowledge, no results have been reported in the literature on the experimental evaluation of the unscented-based integrated navigation system for underwater vehicles. The performance of the designed system is studied using real measurements. The results of the lake test show that the proposed system estimates the vehicle's position more accurately compared with the conventional ESKF structure.
Validation de l’outil d’évaluation de l’aptitude (OÉA): Une étude Delphi
Authors: Giroux Dominique , Stibre Dominique
Published: October 2015

Western societies currently face the aging of their populations. New challenges are experienced by health professionals who are involved in competency assessment that may necessitate a public guardianship. This assessment is complex and its consequences are significant. The Competency Assessment Tool (CAT) can be used to provide a rigorous, objective and ethical evaluation by an interdisciplinary team. The purpose of this study was to validate the CAT. To do this, a Delphi study was conducted among 33 experts from five professions (social worker, occupational therapist, physician, neuropsychologist and nurse), working in seven administrative regions of Quebec. An expert consensus on the content of the CAT was obtained in the first round of consultation. Thus, this study has validated an assessment and decision-making process (CAT) designed for health and social professionals. This decision model can guide the competency assessment of the ability of persons with cognitive impairment to take care of themselves and to manage their finances. Further studies will be necessary to support use of the CAT in practice
What Is This Thing Called “Faculty Development”?
Authors: Gamble John King
Published: October 2015

During the 1980s, there has been an enormous amount of interest in the idea of faculty development. But what exactly does faculty development mean? Is the expression used so often and imprecisely that it loses all meaning? Surely everyone must favor faculty development?

My feeling was that faculty development was something that every good college must do as a matter of enlightened management. I decided to investigate the topic in two ways. First, I read some of the literature (mostly in higher education, but some discipline-based), looking especially at definitions and assumptions about faculty development. Second, I conducted a survey of chairs of departments of political science, suggesting a definition of faculty development and asking about their experiences.

Many articles dealing with faculty development are too broad and fail to define the term. There is also a tendency to equate faculty development with improved teaching (Lacefield, 1983; Moses, 1984). One exception is this:

Faculty development … means all the activities designed to improve faculty performance in all aspects of their professional lives—as teachers, scholars, advisers, academic leaders, and contributors to institutional decisions (Nelsen, 1983, p. 70).

Applying such a broad definition suggests that faculty development occurs constantly at all levels of an institution, which does not take us very far in trying to analyze its effectiveness.

Mosely (1981) suggests three different foci: faculty development; instructional development; and organizational development. Development of a faculty's skills should occur automatically as part of good academic administration. If Penn State provides me with a computer in my office or gives me a research assistant, I will perform better, albeit with slow, incremental improvement. More central to an understanding of faculty development are those cases where faculty achieve asubstantialimprovement in their performance. In order to assess the nature and incidence of these cases of “substantial improvement,” I surveyed chairs of departments of political science in the U.S. A questionnaire was sent to each institution with at least eight faculty where one individual had been chair for at least five years, presumably long enough to get a perspective on faculty development.
Sources on the Soviet Union
Authors: Nechemias Carol
Published: October 2015

The Soviets have complained that they know more about us than we know about them. While the veracity of this view is difficult to assess, the level of American ignorance about the USSR clearly is appalling. Many Americans do not know which side the Soviets fought on in World War II and are taken aback to discover that not all Soviet citizens are Russians. Those who engage in serious study of the Soviet Union disagree, sometimes vociferously, regarding the fundamental nature and future prospects of the USSR but an understanding of the terms of the debate should form a part of American education.

For those teachers seeking to address this need by developing new courses on the Soviet Union, the first obstacle involves resources: How do I find—and select—readings for my students? And where do I secure materials which will provide me with the background necessary to deliver lectures on topics like collectivization and socialist realism? With the current growth of interest in the USSR more high school and college instructors find themselves in the position of offering courses about the Soviet Union, while, at the same time, they seek to move from being relative novices to reasonably accomplished (and confident) teachers of Soviet politics and society.

Although every academic trained in Soviet area studies probably has his or her own recipe concerning “How to teach about the Soviet Union,” there are some fundamental approaches—and texts—which reflect a certain underlying consensus about what kinds of materials should be included in the student diet.
Teaching Public Administration in a Post-Literate Society
Authors: Brumback Richard A.
Published: October 2015

As we move farther into a condition of “post literacy” in our society (a condition where reading and writing have been displaced by television and video as the primary sources of mass entertainment and communication), the problem of students entering universities and even graduate programs with substandard communication skills is becoming more pronounced.

In addressing the problem, despite frequent references to the “art and science of public administration,” there seems to be far too little emphasis on communication skills. Most public administration schools concentrate on the behavioral and management sciences—while largely ignoring the equally important communication techniques upon which our students' competence and effectiveness will be assessed in their careers.

We aid and abet the problem by failing to recognize those skills, or lack of them, in our program guidelines. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration calls for specialized areas of study—management, program analysis, and policy analysis—that seem to assume a firm grounding in communication skills; but that assumption is so often incorrect.

The science of public administration can only take us as far as systematizing our search for information. Effective evaluation and interpretation of that information rests in the ability to use it persuasively. It is the normative evaluation of information, mostly absent from scientific inquiry, that is so important to effective public administration. And the normative interpretation of policy conclusions is largely contingent on persuasive ability, alacrity in the use of the art, not the science, of public administration.
The Study of American Local Governance: A Need for More and Better ‘Backyard‘ Scholarship
Authors: Oakerson Ronald J.
Published: October 2015

Occasional references to the old radical teaching that “all politics is local” notwithstanding, American political scientists have by and large treated the study of local politics as a subject of much lesser importance than national politics. The standard introductory course in “American democracy” has a national focus—often it is exclusively national. Briefly, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the study of “urban politics” occupied a more prominent place in the discipline, but interest has waned. The priority concern in both teaching and research continues to be American national government and politics.

This narrow focus leads to a distorted and truncated view of American democracy. Despite increased nationalization, state and local government has been and remains a basic element in the practice of American politics. The productivity and creativity of democracy in America are outcomes, not simply of a national political process, but of a complex system of governance in which local collective action provides much of the energy and initiative for addressing public problems. A vast amount of political activity in the United States is channeled through state and local institutions, where much of the work of public problem solving is done.
Teaching the Federalist Papers by Simulating a Constitutional Ratifying Convention
Authors: Alper Donald K.
Published: October 2015

For the past 12 years, I have regularly taught an upper-division course titled American Political Thought. This course typically enrolls between 30 and 40 students and provides the single opportunity for political science majors to focus intensively on the political thought of the Revolutionary and Constitutional eras. Like most courses on American political thought, this one includes a section on the Federalist Papers and a good deal of reading and discussion of the speeches and writings of the anti-federalists. And, like most instructors, I have often felt frustration in trying to get students excited about these “classics.”

This year, inspired by the fanfare surrounding the Bicentennial of the writing of the Constitution, I developed a constitutional ratifying convention simulation as a major component of the course. Rather than simply reading and discussing the writings of federalists and anti-federalists, the students would have to roleplay particular writers and act-out the arguments that are found in anti-federalist documents and The Federalist Papers. The class was divided into two equal-sized teams of federalists and anti-federalists, and they were given nine topical areas with corresponding readings which would form the substance of the convention debates. The students were encouraged to play the role of particular characters, for example, Madison, Hamilton and Jay on the federalist side and Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, and Melancton Smith on the anti-federalist side. To get students fully involved in their subject matter and to make the simulation fun, I made it clear that high sounding rhetoric, period costumes, and appropriate decor in the convention room would be most welcome.
International Political Economy With a Regional Focus
Authors: Minor Michael
Published: October 2015

The theories of international political economy certainly lend themselves to classroom teaching. And courses on Asian politics and society have long been offered. Typically, however, international political economy and Asian studies are not formally mixed in a single course offering.

My task was to devise a restricted-enrollment, upper-level seminar which encompassed political economy theory applied specifically to Asia. The department offered no courses in political economy, and the only offerings on Asia were two courses in Chinese politics I had taught the prior semester.

Despite the lack of supporting coursework, the topic proved to provide an interesting conceptual focus, and students became quite engaged with the subject matter. Further, it appears that an explicit geographical focus may help, rather than hinder, the teaching of political economy concepts. The body of theory in international political economy is rather abstract in the absence of application to concrete situations. The Asian areas examined (Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea) provided stimulating grist for such concepts as interdependence, the connections between “high politics” (security policy) and “low politics” (economic relations), and the dependency-vs.-developmental models of economic growth.
Politics and the Life Sciences: Current Research Questions and Teaching Biopolitics
Authors: Somit Albert , Peterson Steven A.
Published: October 2015

Biopolitics is the study of the relationship between our biological makeup and our political behavior. While this line of inquiry can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle, the contemporary surge of interest dates from the middle 1960s. Among the major contributing factors then were—take your pick—James C. Davies' Human Nature in Politics (1963), a 1964 essay by Lynton K. Caldwell, and a panel chaired by Albert Somit at the Southern Political Science Association (1967). Over the past two decades, there has been a dramatic growth of interest in “biopolitics,” as the area came to be known, to the point where some 900 works have now appeared (Peterson and Somit, in press).

A variety of indicators testify to the acceptance that biopolitics has since achieved within the discipline: formal recognition by the International Political Science Association (1972); biopolitical articles in our leading professional journals; books bearing the imprint of leading publishers; the regular inclusion of panels on biology and politics at regional, national, and international conferences; support from major foundations, such as the Rockefeller and Lilly Foundations; awards by NSF and NIA for biopolitical research; the establishment of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (1981) and its journal, Politics and the Life Sciences (1982) and, most recently, recognition by the American Political Science Association of biopolitics as an “organized subfield.”
Nowhere to Go and No Way to Get There: Congressional Relations in the Early Bush Administration
Authors: Edwards George C.
Published: October 2015

The transition and the president's first year in office is the most important period for establishing the tone and character of the White House's relationship with Congress. It is the time of closest scrutiny and the greatest vulnerability to making major mistakes. Taking the right steps early and avoiding errors can lay in the foundation for a productive working relationship. Actions taken in this period create lasting impressions. According to Max Friedersdorf, the “enemies and mistakes made in the first week will dog a President throughout his term in office.” Stuart Eizenstat adds, “I don't think Carter's image ever recovered from some of those early mistakes.”

This essay examines George Bush's relations with Congress early in his term. First I focus on the context in which the new president is operating to explore the opportunities and constraints present in his environment. Then I assess the primary components of his legislative strategy.

When George Bush took the oath of office on January 20, 1989, he was already fighting an uphill battle in his relations with Congress. He began his tenure with one of the worst strategic positions of any newly-elected president in our history. There are two dimensions of his strategic position that bear examination: his leadership resources and his leeway in taking policy initiatives.

New presidents traditionally claim a mandate from the people, because the most effective means of setting the terms of debate and overcoming opposition is the perception of an electoral mandate, an impression that the voters want to see the winner's programs implemented. Indeed, major changes in policy, as in 1933, 1965, and 1981, virtually never occur in the absence of such perceptions.
Issues and Problems in the Staffing of New Administrations
Authors: Mackenzie G. Calvin
Published: October 2015

Courses in American Government, including those which focus specifically on the presidency, rarely grant much attention to the period of transition that follows the election of a new president. That is unfortunate, for the transition period reveals in acute detail some of the enduring difficulties presidents encounter in trying to impose their influence on the structure and performance of the executive branch. Transitions especially highlight the awkwardness of the in-and-outer system of leadership selection in the United States and should be regarded, therefore, as highly valuable sources of instruction.

This brief essay looks at the principal problems confronted by new administrations in staffing the executive branch. It identifies the contours and complexities of those problems and then suggests some options for coping with them. These options, and others which students might propose, should invite vigorous debate and discussion.

A modern president-elect who has not prepared in advance for staffing an administration will suffer serious and harmful delays in launching a new presidency. It is critically important that personnel identification begin before the election. Careful planning should afford opportunities for the new President to anticipate the normal problems of transition personnel selection and to prepare to cope with them.
Recognizing the Good Essay: The Learner as Teacher
Authors: Ziegler David W.
Published: October 2015

A simple technique can help students recognize a good response to an essay question and use this knowledge to improve their own. After taking an examination, students are given three sample responses and asked to grade them, returning their grades and a short justification at the next class meeting, fly reading these three samples, written at the “A,” “C,” and “F” levels, with the close attention that grading requires, students learn to distinguish the elements of a good essay.
A Model for Teaching Writing in Large Introductory Political Science Classes
Authors: Pittendrigh Adele S. , Calvert Jerry W.
Published: October 2015

For the past two years as part of the Writing Center's writing-across-the-curriculum project at Montana State University, we have been experimenting with writing assignments in an introductory American government class with an enrollment of 130-150 students per quarter. We think we have developed a way to assign and teach persuasive writing in large introductory political science classes that helps students argue effectively but does not create a grading nightmare for the professor.

In the Spring 1988 issue of The Political Science Teacher, Richard A. Brumback notes that students are entering graduate school without the ability to write effectively. Brumback calls for instruction in writing, particularly persuasive writing, in public administration curricula. “The science of public administration can only take us as far as systematizing our search for information. Effective evaluation and interpretation of that information rests in the ability to use it persuasively.” Professor Brumback's argument should be extended to undergraduate education in political science. English departments alone cannot do the job of teaching students to write well in all disciplines, especially when they have students for just one or two writing courses. Students need to write often in a variety of disciplines if they are going to write well when they graduate.

There are other reasons, besides helping students develop writing skills, for assigning writing in undergraduate courses. Writing about course content makes students think. It gives them a chance to apply the concepts and methods of the discipline and to interpret and evaluate information. It also helps them see themselves more as active learners, less as passive receptors whose job it is to absorb information, memorize it, and repeat it on tests.
Eliciting Expertise
Authors: Mills William deB.
Published: October 2015

Constant change, unpredictable human behavior, and a complexity that defies mastery by any single student make international relations a field no one—least of all a beginner—can cope with by simply memorizing facts. One key to understanding international relations—whether for the college freshman or a professional researcher—is knowing how to ask the right questions. Constructing and using expert systems can be a highly instructional pedagogical tool in this regard.

Expert systems are programs that reach conclusions based on a set of rules that examine evidence derived either from a database or from responses entered by the user to a series of canned questions. To design a truly “expert” system—one that reaches conclusions as reliable as those of a human expert—is an extremely time-consuming task requiring not only, obviously, the participation of an expert to formulate the rules but also a topic that can be reduced to rules. Such an endeavor is not the goal here.

Instead, the goal here is the preliminary step of training students to ask the proper questions, an arena in which expert systems running on PCs can be set up to provide very pointed demonstrations. Indeed, this is easy enough so that students can easily be assigned the design of such a system themselves (see box).
The Stage as a Classroom
Authors: Smoller Fred
Published: October 2015

Orange—In a play that recalled one of the darker moments in U.S. history, an Army Colonel walked across a dimly lighted stage Monday, handed a pistol to a lieutenant and ordered the man to put the gun to his head and pull the trigger.

“You can't be serious,” stammered the horrified lieutenant as his superior officer loudly repeated the order.

Upset and confused, the lieutenant let an awkward moment of silence pass, then he quietly told the colonel, a prosecutor: “I can't do it.”

So went the chilling climax of a morality play at Chapman College's Waltmar Theater on Monday as students from the freshmen seminar program moved the study of war and peace out of the classroom onto the stage….

This is how a local paper reported a play my class wrote and performed about the court martial of Lt. William Calley. As you may recall, William Calley was the Army Lieutenant who, during the height of the Vietnam war, led his platoon into MyLai 4, a small village in South Vietnam. Expecting to find heavily fortified North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers, Calley and his men instead encountered several hundred South Vietnamese civilians, most of them old men, women, children, and babies. The civilians were herded into groups. They were then shot. Calley was later court martialled in one of the most controversial trials in our nation's history.
Political Science as Training for the Information Age
Authors: Daniel Christopher
Published: October 2015

Computers inspire mixed emotions among political scientists. Love, hate, fascination, ennui, and frustration sometimes occur during the course of a single computer work session. Individuals come to terms with the beast in varying ways; obviously personal work style and level of computer dependency are each scholar's own business. However, expanded use of information technology in the disciplinary curriculum is a common concern deserving discussion. Like earlier debates between behavioralists and traditionalists, the current discussion raises questions about the discipline's central purpose. This essay reviews proposals to “computerize” political science curricula in light of contemporary theories about information and managerial work.

Historically, political scientists' computer involvement has been limited, but it is now intensifying in response to educational, technological, and environmental influences. Political scientists have used computers as teaching tools since at least the early 1970s, when the APSA “SETUPs” began appearing, but as novelty items, diversions reflecting the devotion of idiosyncratic individuals. This publication has disseminated many such “experiments,” as have Social Science Computer Review and the National Collegiate Software Clearinghouse. Even as desktop machines began proliferating in the early 1980s, their use in the classroom was considered to be optional, something peripheral to the discipline which one could attempt if one had the inclination.

This laissez-faire ambience may be ending in the face of societal transformations. In the classroom political scientists foster intellectual skills broadly useful to former students. A student may be an activist or an avid pre-lawyer, but his or her future professional development will be built on analytical, and communications skills honed in political science courses. This linkage between political science classrooms and the professional world could weaken if we do not adopt to societal change.
Some Considerations Regarding Teaching Evaluations
Authors: Rutland Peter
Published: October 2015

These comments are mostly derived from my teaching experience at the University of Texas at Austin, which has a sophisticated and elaborate teacher evaluation system, and in the universities of London and York in England, which don't.

1. Students' evaluations of their teachers do not depend solely on the qualities of the teacher. If objective evaluations are to be obtained, a multivariate statistical analysis should be conducted, controlling for such factors as:

a. class size—the smaller the class, the better the evaluations.

b. expected grade—one of the strongest correlates of teacher evaluations proved to be the grade the student expects to receive—the higher the expected grade, the “better” the course. This too can be controlled for—by asking the students on the form what grade they expect to receive.

c. whether the class is required or optional—compulsory courses will obviously be less popular. One way to test for this is to ask students on the evaluation form to rate the class relative to their expectations of the class (above, below, or as expected).

2. A statistical study at Texas by J. Sidanius showed that student evaluations of teachers tend to be biased against women and minority teachers. Apart from the intrinsic worries this raises, such information, if true, could be used in court actions over denial of tenure for women/minorities where teacher evaluations played a role.

3. There is of course the general philosophical question of whether students are best able to assess whether they are learning anything from a given teacher.
Putting the Final First
Authors: Morris Stephen D.
Published: October 2015

The familiar final exam survives as a fundamental component of most college courses, but usually proves frustrating and disappointing to both student and instructor. The culmination of the undergraduate teaching and learning experience, the completed exam usually exhibits a rapid display of facts and figures gleaned from countless lectures and months of readings. It rarely reflects thoughtful, mature analysis or the application of the substantive knowledge acquired during the course to particular problems or themes. A strong factual knowledge of course material hardly prepares the student for such a task. Even if the final challenges the student to exercise rudimentary analytical skills, the end product tends to suffer from time constraints as the task of writing generally outweighs that of organizing and pursuing thoughts.

Instructors normally entertain certain objectives in elaborating a course which may or may not be incorporated into the syllabus. These demarcate the scope of material to be covered and the theoretical and analytical abilities to be mastered by the student; but rarely are these incorporated or represented in the content of the final exam. Usually, these pedagogical goals are more comprehensive and rigorous than what is actually tested or graded on the final given its traditionally limited and constrained format. Consequently, the final's impact on the student's grade tends to surpass its role in shaping the learning experience; the course suffers from treating the final as solely an evaluative instrument rather than a learning device.

Just as central research questions and an elaborate strategy guide sophisticated scholarly research, issuing the final exam questions at the course's outset can help focus and steer the learning process and more appropriately correspond to course objectives. A number of advantages result from issuing the final exam up front.
Undergraduates for a Better Education— A Lesson in Politics
Authors: Coplin William D.
Published: October 2015

Undergraduates for a Better Education (UBE) is an official student organization at Syracuse University which grew out of an informal study group that started in the fall of 1986. The purpose of this article is not just to tell you about this organization but to exhort you to try a similar activity on your campus. Working for UBE provides students with the opportunity to develop skills and test theories about politics in a policy area that is very important to them. And even if you don't buy the proposal on pedagogical grounds, you certainly can appreciate the justness of UBE's cause —to pressure administrators and fellow faculty to give higher priority to teaching. However, you may want to think twice before embarking on this road especially if you are not a tenured full professor.

A study group composed of seven students in my freshman course, PAF 101: Introduction to the Analysis of Public Policy, met in the fall of 1986 to discuss public policy issues. From this small number of students, a highly visible student organization emerged with representation from across the university. The organization has had an impact at Syracuse University and has held two national conferences attended by twenty different schools from across the United States. As its faculty advisor, I played a major role in its creation but at this time play a smaller role. (I talk or meet with officers about once a week and attend a meeting once a semester.) Michael K. O'Leary, a political science professor, has served in an advisory role on several projects. Other professors have offered private support but kept a public distance from the organization.
Opposition in International Law – Alternativity and Revisibility as Elements of a Legitimacy Concept for Public International Law
Authors: LEY ISABELLE
Published: October 2015

As international law is widening in regulatory scope and intensity, it arguably suffers from a legitimacy deficit. This article conceives of this deficit as a deficit in possibilities to politicize, criticize, and contest international law-making proposals in the way a loyal opposition does in a domestic constitutional context: through the representation of relevant societal interests, the voicing of critique, and the safeguarding of alternative proposals for the future. The author of this article tries to bring together the current debate in political theory on the value of legitimate disagreement and dissent in political institutions and the ongoing discussion on the legitimacy of international law. Therefore, a concept of an institutionalized opposition for international law-making processes is developed, referencing authors such as Hannah Arendt and Claude Lefort. Next, the author analyses whether one can already find instances of an institutionalized opposition in international law – in parliamentary assemblies and in international agreements which are designed to present a legal–political counterweight to specific legal concepts and institutions.
Narrative Kill or Capture: Unreliable Narration in International Law
Authors: WINDSOR MATTHEW
Published: October 2015

This article evaluates the benefits of a ‘turn to narration’ in international legal scholarship. It argues that significant attention should be paid to the narrators who employ international law as a vocabulary to further their professional projects. Theories of unreliable narration help map consensus within international law's interpretive community in a manner that is acutely sensitive to point of view and perspective. The article examines the existence and extent of unreliable narration through a case study: the practice of targeted killing by the Obama administration in the United States. The struggle for control of the narrative, by narrators with different professional roles and cognitive frames, is ultimately a struggle for interpretive power, with the resulting ability to ‘kill or capture’ divergent narrative visions. Unreliable narration offers a critical heuristic for assessing how narratives are generated, sustained, and called into question in international law, while fostering reflexive inquiry about international law as a professional discipline.
Arctic Networks and Legal Interpretations of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
Authors: GRABEN SARI , HARRISON PETER
Published: October 2015

The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is expected to play an essential role in delineating the rights of the Arctic states to seabed resources in the Arctic Ocean. In this article, the authors look to the effect of scientific discourse on Commission authority. The authors argue that in addition to the conferral of its authority by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Commission draws its authority in the Arctic from the way its regulatory frameworks, aimed at containing or closing off disputes about jurisdiction and sovereign rights, correlate with discursive practices used by transnational networks to reach scientific agreement.
Vultures in Courts: Why the UNCTAD Principles on Responsible Financing Cannot Stop Litigation
Authors: MEGLIANI MAURO
Published: October 2015

The decision of the US Supreme Court rendered in NML v. Argentina has enabled the vulture funds to enforce in full their claims against the payments to be made by Argentina in favour of those holders who had tendered their bonds under a previous exchange offer. This scenario may have a disruptive impact on the functioning of the financial markets and endanger the restructuring processes of sovereign debt. The race to the courts by the vulture funds could be stopped under the UNCTAD Principles on Responsible Financing where the behaviour of those creditors who acquire debt instruments of sovereigns in distress and remain aloof from a restructuring to secure preferential treatment is marked as abusive. Unfortunately, so far the legal status of this abusive behaviour is unable to overturn the interpretation of the pari passu clause under New York law given by the US Federal Courts which stands at the base of the problem. To overcome this impasse the suggestion is to insert in the UN proposal of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign restructuring processes a specific provision qualifying as overriding a mandatory restructuring plan approved through a certain quorum which has received certification by the IMF. This qualification would serve the purpose of applying the plan to all creditors, and not just to those who register under the process. Moreover, this qualification would be considered as part of the public policy of the states participating to the UN proposal so as to block the enforcement of judgments rendered in non-participating fora.
Balkanizing Jurisdiction: Reflections on Article IX of the Genocide Convention in Croatia v. Serbia
Authors: AKHAVAN PAYAM
Published: October 2015

When it first encountered the Genocide Convention in its 1951 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice recognized that the treaty reflected the ‘most elementary principles of morality’. Its provisions were to be read broadly, in light of the Convention's transcendent object and purpose. This expansive approach stands in contrast with the narrow interpretation of Article IX in the recent Judgment in Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia) case. This article is a commentary on the retroactive obligation to punish genocide under the Convention with regard to acts occurring prior to its entry into force for that state. It concludes that the Court's narrow interpretation of its jurisdiction ratione temporis raises wider questions for its contemporary jurisprudence, namely, whether it will interpret human rights treaties enshrining fundamental values any differently than other international instruments.
When Ethnic Cleansing is not Genocide: A Critical Appraisal of the ICJ's Ruling in Croatia v. Serbia in relation to Deportation and Population Transfer
Authors: STEINFELD MARTIN
Published: October 2015

This article critically examines the concept of ethnic cleansing in light of the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Croatia v. Serbia. It suggests that the lack of overt reference to it in the Genocide Convention constitutes a significant lacuna in judicial recognition and protection of atrocities committed in both the Former Yugoslavia and more generally, which the ICJ categorically refused to address. Having examined how the ICJ attempted to conceptualize ethnic cleansing as evidence of both the actus reus of genocide (particularly in relation to Article II(c) of the Convention) and its mens rea, the article then critically assesses the Court's reasoning in its refusal to rule that a violation of the Convention had taken place in relation to deportation and forcible transfer. The article then concludes by contending that the Court simply failed to provide a much-needed and workable precedent to properly include ethnic cleansing within the legal and factual matrix of genocide.