Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Since President Vladimir Putin will leave office in 2008, Russia is undergoing a succession scenario. Such scenarios are the Achilles heel of its political system. But they also have implications beyond the question of who rules at home. Indeed, the course and outcome of this succession have profound repercussions for foreign policy and for Russia�s further institutional development, not least as it applies to the relationship between the state and its multiple instruments of force or power structures. And from what we can already see a comprehensive strategy of internal consolidation that entails portraying Russia being a besieged fortress threatened by enemies from within and without, as well as moves towards an ever greater scope of a police state is taking shape.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: There is an inherent tension in policymaking in deciding how much information governments should make available to citizens. In democracies, the tendency has been to release more. Authoritarian societies tend to exert greater control over what types of information are released. There are numerous options in between. John Street describes three models which help us understand this spectrum of tensions between politics and technology: 1) autonomous technology, 2) technological determinism and 3) the political choice model of technology. His approach is to explain how the political process has an impact on the development of technology. This paper extends his original models and evaluates their application to the question of how these processes impact information security-related policy.When dealing with information, the debate often lies at the extremes: one side claims that government, even in an open society, has the right to limit the release of information as it sees fit. The other side claims that government has the obligation, especially in an open society, to release information to the public in all but the most sensitive of national security matters. The types of policies that limit or release information are sometimes referred to as Information Security Policies. Our research questions are: What types of information do governments control through its policies? Under what circumstances and with what arguments? This paper will determine what policies are in place, in open societies, to protect and manage the release of sensitive information. These policies fall generally into two categories: 1) those dealing with generally sensitive and private information like medical records or pension benefits; and 2) those dealing with information that has been deemed important to secure for reasons of “national security,” such as the locations/blueprints of nuclear power plants or intelligence gathering operations.We will analyze these policies and programs by compiling a data set of proposed and existing national level information security policies from various types of governments around the world. We are ultimately interested in correlating which countries release or limit which types of information and analyzing the policy content to better understand levels of control or transparency. The conclusion will apply Street’s models to the data to ascertain what might best explain any correlations that we find.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper will report on how much predictive effect, if any, the sounds of surnames, as measured by an linguistic model previously tested in general elections, might have in this year’s presidential primaries with multiple candidates.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The paper proposes that there are three basic state-religion relations: secular nationalism, ethnic nationalism, and theocratic nationalism. These paradigms form a integral part of the post-colonial state-building project. The paper discusses how Malaysia selected the ethnic nationalism paradigm and how this directed the country's political development, the way it addressed the challenge of religious pluralism, and how it is not theocracy even though Islam is the official religion. The recent March 2008 elections and the possibility of the collapse of ethnic nationalism and the transition to a more open democracy are explored.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper looks at the implications of states holding earlier primaries during the 2008 presidential election. Specifically, whether voter turnout increases as a result of holding an earlier primary is examined.