The Salient Dynamics of Cross-Border Ocean Governance in a Regional Setting: An Evaluation of Ocean Governance Systems and Institutional Frameworks in the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem

This article contributes to a growing body of research on the Large Marine Ecosystems Concept. It particularly shines the light on the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME), a biodiverse maritime domain providing essential ecosystem services for the survival of a large population while at the same time under intense pressure from both anthropogenic and natural factors. With the need for coordination and cross-border ocean management and governance becoming imperative due to the magnitude of challenges and maritime domain, we examine the factors that underpin ocean governance and those key elements necessary for cross-border ocean governance cooperation in the region. The research draws on qualitative data collected from peer-reviewed literature and documents sourced from different official portals. Three countries in the region (Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon) are selected as the descriptive and comparative case studies to examine: (i) the factors that drive ocean governance (including geographical features, maritime jurisdictions, political framework, maritime activities, and associated pressures), and (ii) key enabling factors for cross-border ocean governance and cooperation in the GCLME (including marine and coastal related policy and legal framework convergence from international to national including, and shared experiences, common issues and joint solutions). We show that the biophysical maritime features, the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), otherwise known as the Law of the Sea (LOS), inherent political characteristics and the relics of colonization, and increasing ocean use and pressure on the ecosystem make ocean governance challenging in the region. Our analysis also reveals a varying level of convergence on international, regional and national legal, policy and institutional frameworks between the case studies on ocean-related aspects. Significant convergence is observed in maritime security, ocean research, and energy aspects, mostly from countries adopting international, regional and sub-regional frameworks. National level convergence is not well established as administrative and political arrangement differs from country to country in the region. These different levels of convergence help reveal procedural and operational shortcomings, strengths, weaknesses, and functional capability of countries within a cooperative ocean governance system in the region. However, experience from joint-implementation of projects, pre- and post-colonial relations between countries and the availability of transboundary organizations that have mainly emerged due to sectoral ocean challenges would play a crucial role in fostering cross-border ocean governance cooperation in the region.

The Adaptation of New Countries to Existing (Old) Institutional Frameworks

Political science as an independent academic discipline emerged in Europe after the Second World War. Moreover, up until the 1990s, it was mainly a preserve of Western Europe. The discipline began to develop in Central and Eastern Europe only after the 1989/91 political upheavals. When political science was institutionalised as a discipline in Western Europe, it was helped by international organisations such as the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). It would seem, however, that European cross-national organisations do not currently promote and facilitate European political science successfully, as only a few Central and Eastern European institutions participate fully in international cooperation. The current field of European political science is organisationally fragmented, which makes it difficult to enable new countries to adapt to existing institutional frameworks, and to create an institutionalised pan-European political science discipline. Resolving this problem is vital if European political science is to develop more fully.

How we learn whiteness: Disciplining and resisting management knowledge

In management studies, whiteness is learnt through the discipline’s epistemic norms and conventions, received intellectual history, conceptual canon, driving logics and institutional frameworks. The foundational white epistemology of management produces and secures racial inequality while insisting that race is irrelevant and racism is obsolete in a post-racial imaginary. In this conceptual piece, I explore how scholars of colour and our knowledge experience a phenomenon of seen invisibility. This dialectical condition is reproduced through mechanisms and practices by which our discipline is disciplined within the prevailing racial order. After analysing examples of these normalised mechanisms and practices through the testimonies of scholars of colour who research, review, teach and edit management theorising in the Global North, I discuss how we might unlearn whiteness in our discipline through epistemic resistance.

Trianon in Popular History in Late-Socialist and Post-Transition Hungary: A Case Study

The main purpose of this article is to show how the changing dynamics of governmental memory politics and shifting institutional frameworks influenced the space for and type of discourses about Trianon in popular historiography in the decades spanning 1979 to 2010. I first introduce the way academic historiography addressed the issue of the peace treaty and its consequences. Second, I situate popular historical discussions about Trianon within the broader landscape of historical knowledge production. Analyzing publication patterns of História (1978) and Rubicon (1989), the two most widely read mainstream popular historical journals, complemented with a discussion of Trianoni Szemle, a journal established for the purpose of discussing this single topic, I reflect both on the journals’ (self-)positioning under changing currents and the intensity of governmental interest and control. As the centennial of the signing of the peace treaty draws near, such a case study provides an opportunity to observe symptomatic mechanisms of illiberal memory politics in juxtaposition to its authoritarian and democratic predecessors.

The State of Democracy in Asia and the Pacific 2021: Old Resilience, New Challenges

The Covid-19 pandemic initially broke out in the Asia and the Pacific region in late 2019, with the first cases in Wuhan, China. The pandemic has served as a magnifier of pre-existing democratic strengths and weaknesses within governing systems around Asia and the Pacific. In the majority of cases, the region’s hybrid and authoritarian regimes tightened their grip on society in response to the pandemic. Quality of democracy continued to decline in number of region’s democracies. Despite these challenges, in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Asia and the Pacific region has demonstrated impressive democratic resilience and innovation. In contrast to other regions, several countries already had legal and institutional frameworks in place tailored to dealing with global health emergencies and were able to activate these rapidly. Importantly, experiences by several Asian countries have highlighted the fact that such a crisis can be contained while respecting legal constraints and coordinating across an array of elected and unelected institutions. All democracies needed to balance between individual and collective rights. This Report provides lessons and recommendations that governments, political and civic actors, and international democracy assistance providers should consider in order to counter the concerning trends in the erosion of democracy, and to foster its resilience and deepening.

Standardized PPP Contract in Korea and its Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean

The standardization of PPP contracts in Korea has played a key role in establishing PPP institutional frameworks in the civil law system in which there must be legal and institutional safeguards for the long-term PPP contracts. The reliability of standardized contracts is secured due to the fact that the standardized PPP contract has been prepared by the statutory PPP agency under the approval of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, an influential ministry within the government. The standardization of PPP contracts has been of great utility for both the competent authorities and private partners. The standardized contract has streamlined negotiations. The private partner was able to trust in the major risk allocation declared through the standardized contract in handling land acquisition, construction completion, operation and demand, and termination. We found out through our survey that there are similarities between Korea and LAC countries in that most LAC countries have adopted the civil law system and the countries have developed similar payment types for PPP and risk allocation principles. The experience and lessons on standardized PPP contract in Korea can be of great utility to LAC countries.

Do institutions matter for tourism spending?

Institutional frameworks are important for individuals’ attitudes and behaviours, and thus they are important for travel decisions. This study endeavours to examine the influence of various formal and informal institutional factors on tourism spending for a global sample of 120 countries from 2002 to 2019. Applying the two-step system generalised method of moments estimate, the results are robust and consistent. First, informal institutions, that is, colonial history, socialist history, origin of the legal system, religion and language, are important explanatory factors for differences in tourism spending between countries. Second, improvements in formal institutions appear to increase domestic tourism spending while they decrease outbound tourism spending. The results have important policy implications. JEL code: E02, Z30, Z32.

The legal and institutional framework for, and challenges to the payment of reprographic fees in academic libraries in Ghana

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the legal and institutional frameworks for, and the challenges to the payment of the reprographic fees in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was employed to address the objectives of the study. This involved focus group discussion sessions with twelve purposively sampled postgraduate students (six each from the private and public institutions) and the five Technical Committee members of CopyGhana; and qualitative interview sessions with the head librarians of four academic universities (two private and two public).FindingsThis study shows that CopyGhana derives its existence from Copyright Act 2005, (Act 690) section 49, and Copyright Regulations (L.I. 1962) 2010, sub-regulation 18. Copyright Regulations (L.I. 1962), 2010, sub-regulation 18 mandates CopyGhana to identify all the outfits that engage in photocopying for immediate licensing, and to protect the economic rights of foreign rightsholders within the jurisdiction of Ghana. Though students and library staff generally agree to the payment of the reprographic fees (the students however want to see it legally insulated against possible future arbitrary increases), the position of university authorities possesses a big challenge to its implementation.Originality/valueThe paper evaluated the legal and institutional frameworks for the payment of the reprographic fees, and the challenges in its implementation, and proposes that CopyGhana may have to activate its legal right to sue in order to overcome the challenges posed by university authorities, as is being done in other jurisdictions.

Factories` Observance to the Legal Framework for the Protection of the Environment: A Case Study in Debre Berhan Town

This study mainly focused on industrial pollution in Debre Berhan town and observance of the legal frameworks concerning industrial pollution. The researcher gives more emphasis to identify the cause and effect of pollution in the town. It is also given due attention to various measures being taken by factories, pertinent government bodies, and the society based on relevant laws and observance of legal frameworks by them, in order to prevent pollution. This study used the primary and secondary source of data. The sampling technique which was selected for the study was purposive sampling. At the end, the research intended to address the extent of pollution and the overall challenges that are impediments which limit the achievement of creating a healthy environment that suits for the life of human being, fauna and flora. Accordingly, some of the final findings of the study are; the extent of pollution in Debre Berhan Town is increasing from time to time, while such pollution is mainly emanated from the fault of concerned government bodies, factories, societies. Keywords: Environment; Factories; Pollution; Pollutants; Legal Framework and Institutional Frameworks.