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The Arab Spring uprisings have released a flood of land and property conflicts, brought about by decades of autocratic rule. Expropriations, corruption, poor performance of the rule of law, patronage and sectarian discrimination built up a wide variety of land and property transgressions over approximately 30 years. The result has been the creation of longstanding, acute grievances among large components of national populations who now seek to act on them. If new, transitional or reforming governments and their international partners fail to effectively attend to such grievances, the populations concerned may act on them in ways that detract from stability. This article critiques the case of Yemen, whose transitional government, with international support, initiated a land and property mass claims process in the South in order to address a primary grievance of the southern population as part of the National Dialogue transition. A series of techniques are described that would greatly improve the mass claims process once it inevitably recommences after the Houthi conflict comes to an end. These improvements would attach more importance to socio-political realities and how to quickly attend to them, as opposed to an over-reliance on specific legalities. Such an approach could have wider utility among Arab Spring states seeking to address similar land and property grievances.

Die Dissertation zur politischen Macht von transnationalen Unternehmen entwickelt eine neue mikroökonomische Machttheorie. Mit einer politökonomischen Interpretation des Capability-Ansatzes von Amartya Sen entsteht ein Modell, um die politische Macht von transnationalen Unternehmen auf internationale Organisationen zu erfassen, wobei auf die soziologische Kapitaltheorie von Pierre Bourdieu zurückgegriffen wird. Macht wird als Reduktion von Handlungsmöglichkeit definiert und mathematisch mit Machtressourcen und Machtinstrumente abgeleitet. Die politische Macht transnationaler Unternehmen wurde durch einen Empirieüberblick an zahlreichen Einzelfällen dokumentiert. Die volkswirtschaftliche Literatur kann in der spezialisierten Neuen Politischen Ökonomik oder Public Choice Literatur oder in der allgemeinen volkswirtschaftlichen Theorie diese Machtverhältnisse nur begrenzt abbilden. Die Ideengeschichte der Kategorie Macht im Vergleich zu Wirtschafts- und anderen Sozialwissenschaften hat die wachsende Spaltung zwischen beiden Disziplinen sichtbar werden lassen. Anwendungsmöglichkeiten werden mit dem M.A.I. (Multilateral Agreement on Investment) und einer Operationalisierung vorgestellt. Ausblicke zu Public Choice (Harsanyi), Alternativkosten (Weise) oder Sprachökonomie werden aufgezeigt.

Compensation payments to farmers for the provision of agri-environmental services are a well-established policy scheme under the EU Common Agricultural Policy. However, in spite of the success in most EU countries in the uptake of the programme by farmers, the impact of the scheme on the long term commitment of farmers to change their practices remains poorly documented. To explore this issue, this paper presents the results of structured field interviews and a quantitative survey in the Walloon Region of Belgium. The main finding of this study is that farmers who have periodic contacts with network bridging organisations that foster cooperation and social learning in the agri-environmental landscapes show a higher commitment to change. This effect is observed both for farmers with high and low concern for biodiversity depletion. Support for network bridging organisations is foreseen under the EU Leader programme and the EU regulation 1306/2013, which could open-up interesting opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness of the current payment scheme for agri-environmental services.

This publication fills an important knowledge gap by providing guidance on how to assess contextual drivers of social accountability effectiveness. It aims to strategically support citizen engagement at the country level and for a specific issue or problem. The report proposes a novel framing of social accountability as the interplay of constitutive elements: citizen action and state action, supported by three enabling levers: civic mobilization, interface and information. For each of these constitutive elements, the report identifies 'drivers' of contextual effectiveness which take into account a broad range of contextual factors (e.g., social, political and intervention-based, including information and communication technologies). Opening the Black Box offers detailed guidance on how to assess each driver. It also applies the framework at two levels. At the country level, the report looks at 'archetypes' of challenging country contexts, such as regimes with no formal space or full support for citizen-state engagement and fragile and conflict-affected situations. The report also illustrates the use of the framework to analyze specific social accountability interventions through four case studies: Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Yemen, and the Kyrgyz Republic.

Large governmental payments for ecosystem services programs (PES) have frequently been criticized for their limited environmental effectiveness. The use of local intermediaries has been considered as one possibility for improving the environmental effectiveness of such programs. German Landcare Associations (LCAs) have been identified as one intermediary that holds the potential to positively influence the implementation of agri-environmental measures (AEMs). This paper empirically assesses the involvement of LCAs in the context of AEM implementation in Germany. An online questionnaire was distributed to all LCAs in Germany. In a first step, we examine if LCAs (1) provide social networks between stakeholders and (2) provide agri-environmental information and assistance to farmers. In a second step, the LCAs assess (3) their perception of how strongly their work influences farmers' participation in PES schemes and (4) if they pursue the spatial targeting of AEMs. In a third step, we relate the relative level of social networks and the provision of agri-environmental information and assistance to their stated influence on farmers' participation in and spatial targeting of AEMs. Finally we derive overall conclusions on how intermediaries can enhance the effectiveness of PES programs in general.

For some time government policy has tried to encourage permanent migrants to settle outside the major cities in so-called regional areas. This policy has met with limited success (even though the term 'regional 'has often included Melbourne). In 2003 the

An important task in research about natural resource management is to communicate the utility of different approaches from various settings. Using ecosystem services as a conceptual frame, we study a local solution to alleviate goose-human conflicts in an agricultural region in Sweden. Increasing goose numbers and crop damage led to the foundation of a goose management group (GMG), comprising landowners, farmers, hunters, ornithologists, conservation NGOs, and local and county level administration. The GMG was not given any formal or legal authority. We asked: is this management solution successful? Which problems can be solved and which remain? Can the GMG stand as a model for management of other species and in other landscapes? We interviewed present members of the GMG and analyzed minutes from its meetings. We found that the GMG has autonomy to self-organize and shows adaptive capacity over time in handling variability and complexity in its socio-ecological system. This makes the GMG a sustainable solution for local management of a resource in which goose population growth and legislation are decided at other (national or international) levels. We assessed what constitutes perceived success and found that GMG is geared toward "mediation of opposing preferences" by establishing a figurative handshake between stakeholders. By comparing how four general challenges in ecosystem service management align with formative attributes of the GMG, we discuss in which ways this management solution is applicable to other ecosystem services in other contexts.

This chapter examines the role of area-based competitions and awards in motivating local government investment in, and provision of, public services. These policy tools are compared with other motivation models such as consumer choice and targeting/benchmarking. It is argued that area-based competition is particularly useful in two aspects: motivating local authorities, and enhancing public awareness. It is especially useful in policy areas related to improving the public environment. The experience of China in organizing competition projects to improve public hygiene provides an example of how this can be achieved. A case study of Xining City, Qinghai Province is used to illustrate the roles and limitations of the approach.

Despite possessing relatively well-developed domestic legislative and policy frameworks, corruption continues to be a problem for the island states of the Pacific. The lack of effectiveness can be traced back to issues of capacity. This article shows that some of these capacity issues can be overcome through the use of regional networks and organisations. These networks and organisations can provide a way to share work across a number of different countries, as well as providing a point of articulation between frameworks at the global level and programs of reform and action at the domestic level.

This chapter examines the role of area-based competitions and awards in motivating local government investment in, and provision of, public services. These policy tools are compared with other motivation models such as consumer choice and targeting/benchmarking. It is argued that area-based competition is particularly useful in two aspects: motivating local authorities, and enhancing public awareness. It is especially useful in policy areas related to improving the public environment. The experience of China in organizing competition projects to improve public hygiene provides an example of how this can be achieved. A case study of Xining City, Qinghai Province is used to illustrate the roles and limitations of the approach.