Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This presentation aims to analyze the dilemmas of security in the contexts of Afghanistan and Syria. More specifically, it will focus on dilemmas of “security and democracy” in the Syrian case and “security and stability” in the Afghan case. The concept of security has been a key topic in political science and international relations. During Cold War years, there was a strong tendency to reflect whole discipline of international relations as the locus of various security dilemmas. However, post-Cold War studies on security tended to be more independent and to use inter-disciplinary approaches. Such a novelty was a result of changes in international security structure as well as the new security problems. In this presentation, we will touch upon new theoretical discussions and new challenges on the ground within the framework of dilemmas of security with that of democracy and of stability respectively. We aim to comprehend the different perspectives of the security studies in light of the specific discussions on the dilemmas of security - democracy and security - stability with the empirical evidence that the cases of Syria and Afghanistan propose. In addition to theoretical discussion and provision of our own novel framework on the issue, the presentation rests on research consisting of field trips depending mainly on observation and in-depth interviews with the policy-makers, civil society organizations, academics and public opinion leaders in Syria and Afghanistan. This presentation will attempt to link theoretical discussions with the policy making considerations in the cases of Afghanistan and Syria, which highly suffer from the implications of the security-democracy and security-stability dilemmas. The research and the presentation will contribute to literature by illuminating the complex nature of the dilemmas of security and by offering analytical tools and conceptualizations in understanding inside/outside dichotomy of security at domestic and global levels.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The high profile acquired by debates over the public recognition of sexual diversity in Canada have exposed tension between and within parties on the right that will not easily disappear. Even in the United States, morally and economically conservative constituencies often pull the Republican Party in contrasting directions, but the tensions within the present-day Conservative Party of Canada are more severe, and more typical of right parties in other western industrialized countries. This is especially obvious on issues such as lesbian/gay marriage, in part because of shifts of public opinion towards more inclusive attitudes. However, at the core of the dilemma for the right are ideological contradictions between moral conservatism and neo-liberalism.

Supporting Publications:
Supporting Document

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This presentation emphasizes successful and exemplary practices that can be developed to reduce or overcome persistent obstacles to collaboration between education and arts and sciences in the preparation of teachers. Case studies will be shared and participants encouraged to present their own examples of the dilemmas of collaboration and ways to work through them.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Early comparativists argued that the level of economic development determined whether voters chose to link themselves to politicians directly based on the exchange of goods for votes (clientelism) or indirectly based on an evaluation of national programs. More recently, comparativists concerned with electoral accountability have favored institutional analysis which examines the degree to which formal rules encourage voters to emphasize national or local concerns in making their voting choice. Empirical findings suggest that neither of these approaches fully captures the key features defining the relationship between voters and their elected representatives. The paper synthesizes the two approaches in order to present a more general theory of democratic accountability. I reformulate early comparativists' models of how economic development affects voters' choices for direct (clientelist) or indirect (programmatic) goods based on the fact that voters face a collective action problem in delegating to politicians to provide programmatic goods. This reformulation of the impact of macro variables on voter choice is then integrated with institutional theory to provide a synthesis of both macro and micro variables shaping electoral accountability. The theory yields a four-fold typology based on whether voters choose direct/indirect and national/local, with distinct and observable implications for party behavior. The theory is tested by examining party behavior in Brazil in two periods of democracy.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The relationship between administrative service performance and citizen satisfaction with service has been assumed, but not demonstrated, in the application of market models to public service delivery. Even though the citizen satisfaction literature would caution that the link between objective and subjective measures of service quality is tenuous at best, public sector professional organizations have defined a managerial focus on objective measures of service performance as accountability to citizens for outcomes. What if we?re wrong?