Table of Contents
- Research Article
Lawyering in Arab Countries between the Hammer of the Executive and the Anvil of the Judiciary PDF Sherif Heikal The main argument of this article is that generally around the world lawyers are considered as specialized professionals who place the interests of their clients above their own, and strive to obtain respect for the rule of law. Consequently, any lawyer should be independent to allow him or her to give his or her clients unbiased advice or representation. Independent lawyers mean that they must be able to exercise their professional responsibilities without being influenced by the executive. However, the Arab Lawyering systems as illustrated and argued in this Article don't fully provide such protection from the executive authority. This article argues also that the independence of lawyers is not invented for the personal benefit of the lawyers themselves but is created to protect the people against abuses of power. A lawyering system based on respect for the rule of law needs strong independent and impartial lawyers. Therefore, this article provides general overview of the lawyers' guarantees according to the international standards and Regional Standards (Arab Region) and then demonstrates the Contradictory Implementation in the domestic laws. Furthermore, the independence of the Bar Associations as stipulated by the international standards are investigated in the Arab Lawyering systems. - Research Article
Integrated Communication Systems and Kinesic Code-Switching in Interpersonal Interaction PDF Mikael Jensen, Linnéa Moreira Emanuelsson The purpose of the study is to find support for the integrated communication systems hypothesis. To find support for this hypothesis a specific group of participants were selected: bicultural and bilingual individuals that were tested in four different conditions. A new and highly reliable motion capture system together with special software was used to measure gesture velocity. Two working hypothesis were formulated. The secondary hypothesis was verified: the bicultural and bilingual participants change their gestural pattern depending on what language they speak. We call this a kinesic code-switching. The tendency is somewhat stronger in the face-to-face condition compared to the audio only condition. The primary hypothesis was supported in competition with alternative hypotheses: the only hypothesis that can fit all the results in this study, all four test conditions, is the integrated systems hypothesis. The participants most likely use two intertwined communication systems when they communicate in an interpersonal situation. - Research Article
Deeping Decentralisation in Ghana: Is More Districts the Way Forward? PDF Maxwell Kwotua Petio It is statutory that creation of districts in Ghana should be determined by factors including particularly population size and economic viability of the areas concerned. From 1988 - 2012, the number of districts in the country almost doubled from 110 to 216. Similarly, population also doubled from 12 million in 1984 to 24 million in 2010.
An assessment of various revenue sources to the districts, however, revealed that general contributions of Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to the total revenue of the districts are miserably insignificant. The District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) is specifically noted to be a major developmental fund in the districts than the IGF.
Given the correspondence between population growth and the rising number of districts in the country, the study established that the creation of new districts in Ghana is influenced largely by population size to the neglect of economic viability of the areas.
It is therefore concluded that creation of more districts in Ghana is only prudent if the economic viability of the areas can be guaranteed to ensure autonomy and reduce overdependence of the districts on grants and the DACF, in particular. - Research Article
Mapping the "˜Anthropocentric-ecocentric' Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent PDF Mohamed El-Kamel Bakari This article examines the way the "˜anthropocentric-ecocentric' dualism has come to bear on the history of the American presidency since the turn of the century, with special focus on three American Presidents, namely Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and Barak Obama. The major argument in this paper is that this duality constitutes not only a philosophical divergence of views, but also a determinant factor that has guided the beliefs, decisions, and policies of American presidents over more than a century. On account of their contradictory environmental records, both Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan are believed to stand for the two extremes of an "˜anthropocentrism-ecocentrism' spectrum while Barak Obama ambivalently oscillates in the middle. Coming to power with different, sometimes conflicting, agendas, Presidents Roosevelt, Reagan, and Obama used the presidency as a bully pulpit to implement their ideological vision of nature, the environment, and economic growth in line with either "˜ecocentrism' or "˜anthropocentrism.' Spotlighting both their rhetoric and policies, this article delineates the three presidents' differentiation along the "˜anthropocentric-ecocentric' continuum and discusses the divergence of their respective political and philosophical beliefs as well as their concomitant implementation strategies. Ultimately, mapping the "˜anthropocentric-ecocentric' dualism in the history of American presidency provides a valuable insight into how this divide has been transferred from the philosophical realm to the political one.