Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper investigates the conditions under which developing and transition nations engage in currency redenomination. Given that many governments of developing countries experience high levels of inflation and deterioration in their currency’s value against other currencies, why do some elect to redenominate, while others do not? And why do some governments wait many years after a bout of hyperinflation, or after their currency is priced at 1000 or 5000 units to the dollar, to redenominate, while others do so relatively quickly? I suggest that the explanations rest in a combination of economic and political factors, including inflation, governments’ concerns about credibility, and the effect of currencies on national identity. I employ survival analysis to test these expectations, using a set of data for developing and transition nations, covering the 1960-2003 period. I find, not surprisingly, that inflation is an important predictor of redenomination. Redenomination also is related to political variables, including governments’ time horizons, the governing party’s ideology, the fractionalization of the government and legislature, and the degree of social heterogeneity.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Zero tolerance school discipline policies throughout the 1990s sought to re-establish order in schools rife with violence, weapons, and drugs. Also in the 1990s, disabled youth gained expanded rights to a guaranteed free public education. The conflicting logic between rationalization/centralization of organizational rules (zero tolerance) and expanded individual freedom (student rights) opened a new arena for legal contestation. We advance the concept of a “court climate” to understand the external pressures educational institutions face as they attempt to adopt rational rules for discipline. We analyze 1,976 state and federal appellate court cases involving student/school conflicts over school discipline. Results suggest that policy changes in the 1990s preceded an upsurge of school discipline lawsuits not seen since the early 1970s, perhaps due to increased uncertainty over appropriate school discipline. Subsequent multivariate analyses will establish how courts mediated the conflict between rationalization and rights and the implications for educational institutions and other organizations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Currently a wall divides the thoughts and perceptions of the West from the radical Islamic terrorist world. As the U.S. and its allies face the global war on terrorism, Western leaders are working to maintain favorable public opinion about their military actions in Afghanistan and other parts of the world, and trying to draw a line separating terrorism and Islam. But is this realistic? The hatred for the West felt by Islamic radical terrorists may not be based on historic jealousy or trivial differences. Instead, it is possible the hate may be entwined with a declared holy war, taking place because of perceived Western ideological and religious encroachment, globalization, modernization, and, ultimately, marginalization of Islam. What then, is needed to face this threat? No doubt, decisive military action will continue to be exercised as the war moves on to other known terrorist locations. But there are other actions that need to be considered. Clearly, if the U.S. and its allies want to solve the problem and not just address the symptoms, the conclusion must be reached that radical Islamic terrorism starts and ends in the minds of its actors and supporters. The U.S. and its allies must address the motivations behind the behavior of these terrorist groups if there is to be any long-term solution. A tool that can be used to target the attitudes, motivations, and thus behavior of such groups is psychological operations (PSYOP), which are actions taken to influence the emotions, attitudes and, ultimately, the behavior of a target audience. Integral to PSYOP is the Target Audience Analysis (TAA), an intelligence-dependant process to identify, understand, and target an audience for a PSYOP campaign. This paper argues that the use of Muslim key communicators as disseminators of PSYOP messages targeted at radical Islamic terrorist groups and their support, is the method most likely to succeed in influencing and, ultimately, altering terrorist behavior. The message disseminated by these Muslim key communicators must be designed to discredit radical Muslim leadership and their interpretation of Islam. In order to design effective PSYOP messages, modifications to the TAA process are necessary, and the use of Muslim key communicators will require the PSYOP to be covert.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Opponents of Internet voting typically claim that there is a digital divide that would violate the Voting Rights Act. Survey data suggest that there is practically no digital divide between whites and non-whites that would violate this law.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The legislative assembly of Mexico City introduced a public security law that was based on the zero-tolerance principles that were popularized by New York Mayor Rudy Giulani. This paper will review the nature of crime in Mexico City and argue that such zero tolerance policies were ineffective and irrelevant to the situation in Mexico City.