Previous Regime Research Articles

Sustaining Strong Institutions Through Compliance with the Rule of Law and Good Governance in Nigeria

Africa has struggles with leadership problems over the decades. More especially, Nigeria has struggled with bad leadership of the country through corrupt practices which culminates in paucity of social and human capital. There are cases of arbitrary military decrees in the past. The cumulative effective of previous autocratic regimes is that it enthrones the rule by individuals and dethrones institutional governance structure. The methodology adopted in this paper is based on literature review, governance experiences in the course of implementing government policies, and societal reactions and feedbacks from citizens. This paper examined the concept of rule of law vis-à-vis good governance as it ought to be for promotion of institutions above individuals in Nigeria. The paper anatomised challenges and effects of building and sustaining strong institutions in Nigeria. Keywords : Rule of Law, Institutions, Good Governance DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/97-09 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Nationalism – a hard habit to break

ABSTRACTThis piece considers the intrusion of forms of nationalism into movements for democracy or social justice. It is argued that the landscape of political participation is always uneven and reflects histories of inclusion, exclusion and variations in entitlement to participate and be safe. This unevenness can lead to non-participation, opposition or non-engagement in popular movements by groups with recent histories of marginalization or persecution, with the danger that the minoritized group is regarded as aligned to a previous regime or, even more dangerously, aligned against the will of the popular movement. This piece raises some questions about the nationalism that can inform responses to such dilemmas.

Fragmentation of land ownership in Slovakia: Evolution, context, analysis and possible solutions

Land ownership fragmentation is currently a very topical issue in Slovakia. In particular, small farmers complain that even 30 years after the end of the previous (“real socialist”) regime, there has been no significant change in the structure of agricultural land use. The subject of the article is not the land fragmentation in terms of use. In Slovakia, the problem is rather the opposite. This contribution deals with fragmentation of ownership that is mostly invisible in the landscape. Usage still dominates over the ownership and the real landowner cannot get his or her own property in a simple way. The reason for this is huge fragmentation of land ownership, which makes it virtually impossible to actually claim it. Well known solution is the land consolidation that does not advance at a rate that would guarantee the rights (and obligations) of all owners in the foreseeable future in Slovakia. Neglecting the land fragmentation by authorities leads to tense situations between landowners and land tenants and also co-causes a stagnation of rural development and issues with landscape protection. The paper describes the specific state of land ownership in Slovakia and attempts to explain this complicated situation on a sample of 50 historical and modern ownership documents. This contribution has the ambition to specify the largely yet unresolved problems that arise from the current state of massive fragmentation of land ownership. The aim of the paper is also to fill in the information gap on the topic, not only in the national context.

The Gambia

The Gambia remains a fragile state, grappling with a large public debt burden and the legacy of mismanagement left by the previous regime. Considerable progress has been achieved under the transitional justice agenda and broader initiatives aimed at improving governance. Building on successful macroeconomic stabilization with financial support from the IMF, the World Bank, and other international partners, the authorities established a satisfactory performance track record through the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) covering 2019, approved by the IMF Management in April 2019.

URGENSI KONSTITUSIONALITAS PEMBENTUKAN KOMISI KEBENARAN DAN REKONSILIASI

Abstract
 As a state of law, Indonesia is obliged to provide human rights protection against the victims of heavy human rights violations. The idea of the formation of the KKR begins with the willingness of historical disclosure of truth on past interpretations that have never been dismantled as a preliminary answer to giving a sense of justice for the victims. What is expected in the reconciliation process is the recognition of past history that allows the victim to open an apology door for perpetrators of heavy human rights abuses. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a phenomenon of transition arising from the context of countries facing the transition from the authoritarian regime to the democratic regime. One of the very quaint and dilematical problems facing the new government in this situation is to answer the community's demands on human rights crimes (gross violation of human rights) occurring under the previous regime. The transitional Government sought to answer this problem by attempting to reconcile punitive tendencies on one side with a tendency to apologize or amnesty on the other side. So it can be said, the ability of transitional governments is limited to the effort to provide transitional justice that is not entirely satisfactory. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) should be regarded as a real progress in the gross violations of human rights in the past who were able to provide substantial justice to its rights to the realization of human rights protection in Indonesia.

Homeless People in Public Space and the Politics of (In)visibility

Homeless people were a new sight in the post-1989 Czech Republic, as the previous regime effectively criminalized homelessness. Thus, in the 1990s, the new visibility of homeless people was a shock to the public eye. This paper is based on a longitudinal study of how, based on this new visibility, the representations of homeless people developed throughout the 1989–2015 period. The paper focuses on the interplay between physical visibility of homelessness and its visibility for public policy. It introduces a threefold theoretical model of how the former is transformed into the latter: I argue that, to be recognized as “problematic” in public space, a group must (a) be recognized as a distinct category (categorical visibility), (b) be recognized as a threat to the civil order (moral visibility), and (c) that public policy must have legal instruments to perceive and address the issue (the eyes and arms of public policy).

Change in landscape and ecosystems services as the basis of monitoring natural protected areas: a case study in the Picos de Europa National Park (Spain).

Services provided by protected areas (PAs) are based on their natural heritage, as stated in the conservation objectives, and many depend on their landscape, the spatial pattern of land cover patches. We study changes in the service provision of a PA based on its landscape changes. As services are defined according to the conservation objectives of the PA, this can be used in monitoring the PA conservation status. Using easily accessible historical land cover maps, landscape changes over time are identified and assessed according to changes in services provision, based on the PA conservation objectives. The PA under study is one of the oldest in Europe. Almost 80years after its initial declaration, it was increased by incorporating surrounding areas. This helps to understand to what extent the oldest PA has conserved its environmental heritage, compared with what happened in the area most recently protected and not subjected to previous conservation regime. As expected in an area managed for conservation, changes in services in the older PA are small. But changes in the recently included area are also small and very similar to those ones. As change in ecosystem services are based on landscape changes, they do not relate only to the increase or decrease in the spatial distribution of single land covers but also on their joint spatial arrangement. This allows us to assess trade-offs among services provided by different land covers implied in landscape changes.

Guardians of the previous regime: Post-CEO succession factional subgroups and firm performance

How can new CEOs – as the architects of their top management teams (TMT) – compose the executive group to realize high performance? We attend to this question by drawing on the notion of factional subgroups. We argue that TMT change after a CEO succession event can trigger a factional faultline between executives hired by the new CEO, and executives who had been TMT members prior to succession (the “guardians-of-the-previous-regime”). Such faultlines might activate disruptive TMT processes in the succession's aftermath and, thus, hurt post-succession firm performance. We also argue that the detrimental effects of factional subgroups strengthen under conditions of poor pre-succession firm performance and predecessor dismissal, but mute in situations of orderly (follower) succession. Overall, our research links faultlines theory with CEO succession research to advance our understanding of how TMT reconfiguration in strategic leadership transitions impacts organizations.

Social Policy and Political Mobilization in India: Producing Hierarchical Fraternity and Polarized Differences

ABSTRACTThis article attempts to decode the ways in which social policy that has essentially developmental and welfare imperatives is being used to pursue an exclusivist‐authoritarian right‐wing agenda in India under Narendra Modi. The authors highlight a contradistinction between the previous United Progressive Alliance regime led by the Congress Party and the current National Democratic Alliance regime led by the BJP to show the shift in the understanding and the role of social policy. In essence, social programmes have been combined with market‐oriented reforms, undoing the entitlements‐based approach to social policies of the previous regime. The authors then go on to discuss a variety of social policy programmes introduced by the Modi government with a focus on public health and sanitation objectives, but also including gender empowerment imperatives, education, training and employment programmes for socially marginalized groups.

Standardised packaging, minimum excise tax, and RYO focussed tax rise implications for UK tobacco pricing.

BackgroundStandardised packaging for factory made (FM) and roll your own (RYO) tobacco was fully implemented in the UK in May 2017. Around the same time, several changes to the tax system were applied (a Minimum Excise Tax (MET) for FM products and tax increases weighted towards RYO products). The tobacco industry claims that standardised packaging will lower prices (a disincentive for quitting) by commoditising the product, yet had itself taken advantage of the previous tax regime to achieve large profits from premium brands while also keeping some products’ prices relatively low. Here we evaluate the impact of standardised packaging, the MET and the RYO focussed tax changes on price and industry profitability.Methods and findingsNielsen electronic point of sale (EPOS) data (May 2015 to April 2018) were used to calculate real (inflation adjusted) monthly price per stick overall, by cigarette type (FM and RYO) and by seven market segments. Trend estimation, using additive mixed models, assessed weighted average price (weighted by volume of sales) and tobacco industry net revenue changes. The beginning and end of the data series were compared in terms of: (a) average monthly price growth, (b) average monthly net revenue growth, and (c) undershifting and overshifting patterns after tax changes. FM and RYO real prices changed little over the 3-year period—overall prices rose by about 1p per stick. There was no evidence of commoditisation with prices of all FM segments (but not RYO) rising faster after the implementation of standardised packaging than immediately beforehand. The prices of the cheapest FM brands rose with the implementation of the MET. RYO price increases did not close the gap to FM pricing levels despite RYO focussed tax increases. Tax changes following the implementation of standardised packaging and the MET were more widely and quickly passed on to smokers in the form of higher prices than the tax change pre-implementation. The main limitations are first that because we do not know the exact mechanism by which Nielsen scales up sample data to provide UK estimates, we could only use data for a set three year period during which the same adjustments are made. Second, the tax and standardised packaging events were sometimes too close in time to separate their consequences statistically. Third, tobacco prices may also be affected by external factors such as changes in smokers’ disposable income or availability of electronic nicotine delivery systems.ConclusionsThere was no long-term lowering of tobacco prices after the implementation of standardised packaging as predicted by the industry. The introduction of the MET was successful in increasing the price of the cheapest FM cigarettes and narrowing the price gap between FM brands. The RYO tax increases were, however, insufficient to narrow the price gap between RYO and FM. Overall, undershifting became less extensive indicating that tobacco industry manipulation of the tax system which had previously kept cheap products available had declined. This suggests that standardised packaging and a MET will likely contribute to further declines in UK tobacco use.

The SEC’s Exchange-Traded Investment Fund Rule

On September 26, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final Rule 6c-11, which replaces the previous regulatory regime for many exchange-traded investment funds (ETFs). This article details the background of the new rule, its provisions, and its benefits for the ETF industry. The rule became effective on December 23, 2019. TOPICS:Exchanges/markets/clearinghouses, exchange-traded funds and applications Key Findings • The Rule covers both standard transparent active ETFs and index ETFs, allowing issuers to quickly launch and operate new products without the significant delay of first obtaining an exemption order from the Securities and Exchange Commission. • The Rule incorporates most of the important terms, conditions, and relief granted in existing standard ETF exemption orders and is expected to aid future innovation and competition by lowering the cost barriers to entry. • The Rule expands the circumstances under which custom ETF creation and redemption portfolio baskets can be used, providing flexibility in portfolio management and operations.

Effects of flushing flows on the transport of mercury-polluted particulate matter from the Flix Reservoir to the Ebro Estuary

Polluted sediments retained in water reservoirs are potential sources of deleterious materials downstream, especially during floods or flushing flows (FFs). Their interaction with these events is important for determining potential risks and evaluating management actions. In the Ebro River, the Flix Reservoir accumulated a deposit of more than 3 × 105 t of industrial waste with high Hg concentrations. Because suspended particulate matter (SPM) is the main driver of Hg pollution downriver, this study analyses the transport of particulate matter and Hg pollution from the Flix Reservoir to the Ebro Estuary during FFs. Time series of currents, turbidity and downward particulate matter fluxes were obtained by current meters, turbidimeters and sediment traps assembled in benthic tripods. They were deployed in the reservoir and at two locations in the estuary during two recording periods that each captured a flushing flow (FF) event. In addition, SPM samples were collected during the study period at several locations along the river course, from upstream of the Flix Reservoir down to the river mouth, to measure the suspended particulate matter and associated Hg mobilized downstream.A continuous background level of Hg pollution was observed during the deployment periods, but the Hg and particulate matter fluxes increased by between one and two orders of magnitude during FFs. Though the two events reached similar water discharges, the first FF was after the wet season and generated lower particulate matter concentrations and fluxes, but higher Hg contents than the second, which occurred after the dry season. The higher available particulate matter in the second event diluted the polluted Hg particle load more than the first event. Thus, similar FFs may result in different Hg concentration and sediment transport episodes, largely depending on the previous hydrological regime and the river sediment availability. These findings should be considered for FF management.

Exploring Public Procurement Reforms in Rural Local Authorities in Zimbabwe

It has been noted that prior to the introduction of public procurement reforms, Zimbabwe’s procurement system was centralised, vulnerable to corruption, inefficient and bureaucratic. In 2018, the new decentralized public procurement reforms were introduced to address the shortcomings of the previous procurement regime by giving procurement powers to procuring entities. The aim of this paper is to highlight the implications of the reforms in implementation by rural local authorities in Zimbabwe. This paper adopted a qualitative research design with desktop approach being used to review related literature. The findings reveal that the plethora of reforms are a welcome development in public procurement. It has also been noted that there are many challenges militating against rural local authorities’ propensity to implement the new set of reforms. These challenges affect the ability of rural local authorities to deliver services timeously to communities thereby retarding realization of sustainable development in rural areas in Zimbabwe.

Иранский нефтяной контракт (IPC) – новое поколение нефтяных контрактов

Objective: to estimate the new generation of contracts (IPC, IOC) in the initial sector of oil industry and to compare them with previos contracts of other types used by the global producers in this sector.Methods: dialectical, comparative, descriptive, abstract-logical, and the method of system analysis.Results: in Iran of the post-sanctions period, the new model oil contracts (IPC) are becoming increasingly attractive to foreign investors. Under certain conditions, foreign oil company acquire the opportunity to reserve stocks, but foreign companies still cannot own oil deposits. One of the key advantages of the new contracts is the possibility to intensify development, search and optimal exploitation of oil and gas deposits, and to increase the coefficient of oil and gas extraction. The article presents a general characteristics of the new oil contracts, identifies the key spheres of their application. The key problems are systematized, related to the previous buy-back regime, which are either concealed in the new contract model, or information is insufficient for complete comprehension of the supposed risk distribution, such as the issues of buyback, commercialization, management, etc. The main advantages of the new integrated oil contracts are identified, such as: cost reimbursement, more complicated price structure, and transition to the model of a joint venture, as well as the advantages of the new contracts compared to buy-back contracts.Scientific novelty: the article presents a comparative analysis of the new integrated oil contracts in Iran and buyback contracts, and systematizes the key advantages and disadvantages of the new contracts.Practical significance: the research results can be used in scientific and academic activity of universities, as well as by state authorities when elaborating state policy in the sphere of oil production and processing.

Public Interest Versus Indigenous Confidence: Indigenous Engagement, Consultation, and 'Consideration' in the Impact Assessment Act

Following a long and contentious law reform process, Canada’s new Impact Assessment Act came into force in 2019. While the Act constitutes more of a retrofit than a rebuild of the previous regime, it does include significant changes with respect to engagement and consultation with Indigenous communities. This article presents these dimensions of the Act, noting differences and improvements over the previous regime. It then goes on to explore how the new Act relates to Crown consultation obligations with respect to Indigenous communities, with particular focus on the duty to consult and accommodate, and, in a preliminary way, implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and associated notions of consent. Overall, the analysis shows that while the Act includes many opportunities and requirements for Indigenous engagement and consultation, it fails to provide much needed clarity around implementation of the Declaration, Indigenous consent, and the duty to consult in the project-level assessment realm. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Act represents a relatively narrow interpretation of UNDRIP and the associated concept of free, prior and informed consent. Ultimately, under the new Act the rights and interests of Indigenous peoples become “considerations” within a new public interest decision-making paradigm that is premised on final decision-making power held by the federal government. This structure may jeopardize achievement of the original law reform impetus of restoring public confidence – and Indigenous confidence - in the federal assessment regime.

Reform and amendment of Russian petroleum fiscal term: trends and implication to asset acquisition

This article analyzes reform and amendment of petroleum tax policy in Russia to investigate instability of tax regime which is one of the main concerns for decision making in asset acquisition. Historical and recent amendments of upstream fiscal terms in Russia are reviewed and studied in an attempt to understand the trends of reform. Tax burden of four different cases is modeled with the change of tax policy to analyze the effect of tax incentives. The recent “tax maneuver” of transferring export duty to Mineral Extraction Tax (MET) is studied in detail to analyze effects to upstream, refinery, and customers. Net present values of three field cases under previous tax regime and new Added Income Tax (AIT) regime are comparatively studied with cashflow modeling. The article concludes that recent “tax maneuver” has indirect influence on upstream sector but may lead to upward pressure on retail. New AIT regime introduces a universal taxation system and requires less government intervention, which may reduce aboveground risk of unstable fiscal regime and boost international investment in Russia. Also, key suggestions are summarized for international investors who are interested in oil and gas asset in Russia.

Amerikos lietuvių konferencijos 1943 metais vaidmuo

The Lithuanian-American Conference that took place 1943.9.1-2 in Pittsburgh was referred to as the Lithuanian-American Congress in later historiography. Since delegates from the influential and patriotic U.S. Lithuanian nationalist movement did not participate in that conference, it had less weightier consequences than a Congress might have had. The Conference was called in response to the successes of the Allies (the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain) on the European Front and in response to the emerging opportunity to liberate Lithuania from the Nazi occupation. The fact that Leonardas Šimutis, Pijus Grigaitis and other stalwarts of the Lithuanian-American Council (ALT) took the lead in calling this conference reflected their desire to retain and strengthen their own position as leaders of the diaspora community in the struggle for Lithuanian independence. In that period the Lithuanian nationalists in America attempted to unify their ranks so they could effectively participate themselves in efforts to reestablish Lithuania’s independence. But it proved difficult to unite all the Lithuanian patriotic forces in the United States, mainly because the diaspora nationalists (first of all the editor of the weekly “Dirva” newspaper Kazys Karpius) felt offended by the stalwarts of the Lithuanian American Council (ALT), particularly the socialists. The latter did not support President Antanas Smetona, demanded that upon liberation a “democratic Lithuania” be established, incessantly castigated the previous authoritarian regime, and failed to invite the nationalists’ political organization, the Union to Free Lithuania, to the conference. The still active Lithuanian Communists in the United States fully rejected participation in the conference, which their newspapers “Vilnis” and “Laisvė” denounced as an effort to revive “Fascist rule in Lithuania.”[...]

THE END OF POSTCOMMUNISM AND THE TRENDS OF THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF EX-POSTCOMMUNIST COUNTRIES

The article is devoted to clarifying the problem of the end of postcommunist transformations and the essence of the further development of the ex-postcommunist countries. The avalanche collapse of the communist regimes at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s led to the beginning of postcommunist transformations. Today it can be stated that this process is over. The author argues this conclusion with the following considerations: 1) any transformational process, the essence of which is to replace one quality of society or its political system with another, cannot go on indefinitely, it must end someday; 2) the end of the transformation process is due to the establishment of a new quality; 3) the totalitarian nature of the previous communist regimes presupposes the multivariate end of postcommunist transformations. Various postcommunist countries have achieved different results during transformations. In Central-Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and a number of countries in South-Eastern Europe, postcommunist transformations have culminated in the establishment of democracy. The transformations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was over the establishment of authoritarian regimes. Neo-totalitarian regimes have emerged in Belarus, Russia, and Turkmenistan. In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine, political development fluctuates between democracy and authoritarianism for a long time. The author concludes that the period of postcommunism in all these countries finally over in the middle of 2010s. The end of postcommunism marked the beginning of a new stage in the socio-political development of the ex-communist countries. Its main tendencies are revealed in this paper. The author includes in such: 1) a fall the level of democracy in Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe; 2) a strengthening differentiation of political development of single regions and the countries; 3) a growth of nationalism; 4) a changes in relations with the EU; 4) a strengthening Russia's interference.

Индонезия: права человека. Современная ситуация

The level of securing of basic human rights in Indonesia has raised significantly during the period of democratic reforms beginning from 1998. Still Indonesians have to overcome complex heritage of communal traditions and that of the political culture which emerged during previous authoritarian regimes. The recent rise of Islamic radicalism also plays its negative role. The author touches upon the situation in the provinces of Aceh and Papua as well as upon social processes that stand in the way of securing more completely the human rights in the country.

Transitional justice and constitutionalism: The case of Ghana

The delicate process of constitution-making during transition covers a range of issues, but usually features questions on how to address past human rights violations, change repressive laws, recognise basic rights and reform state institutions. Hence, the constitution-making process can have significant implications on the transitional justice mechanisms that are adopted and how they are implemented. In the case of Ghana, the 1992 Constitution came into force after decades of political instability. On 28 April 1992, a draft constitution for Ghana’s fourth republic was approved in a referendum. As part of the transitional provisions in the 1992 Constitution, amnesty provisions were enshrined to protect members of all previous military regimes from prosecution. However, the 1992 Constitution did not contain express provisions for initiation of other transitional justice mechanisms. In a bid to reflect on the rarely examined relationship between transitional justice mechanisms and constitutionalism, this paper shall examine Ghana’s amnesty laws, truth commission and reparative measures in relation to the constitution-making process and constitutional norms. The paper opines that as separate processes towards a common end, proper synchronisation of Ghana’s transitional justice processes and constitution-making could have shaped the country’s transitional justice mechanisms in the right direction towards achieving their perceived goals.