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Evolution is considered controversial by a substantial minority of Americans. Religious opposition explains this, but this opposition is comprised of a broad continuum of religious views. It runs from "young earth creationism" through "old earth creationism" (including "day-age," "gap," and "progressive creationism") to "theistic evolutionism." Historically, antievolutionists have attempted to ban evolution and to present it on an equal footing with "creation science." Scholars largely ignored antievolutionism until efforts to pass "equal time for creation and evolution" laws stimulated both political and scholarly activism. Lately, there are efforts to discourage the teaching of evolution by requiring teachers to read disclaimers before teaching it, to teach it as "theory, not fact," or to present fancied "evidence against evolution." Recently, "intelligent design theory," a restatement of William Paley's Argument from Design, has surfaced. Although rejected by scientists, intelligent design arguments and publications are appearing at the college level (in nonscience courses) as accurate representations of scientific scholarship.

In 2000 the Mozambican government initiated a process of formally recognizing traditional leaders both as representatives of local community interests and as assistants of local state organs. Twenty-five years after the FRELIMO government abolished the formal power of traditional leaders, the Decree 15/2000 provided for their re-inclusion in the performance of a long list of state administrative tasks and re-named chiefs or régulos as 'community authorities'. In line with post-war commitments to democratic decentralization, the Decree promises to enhance community participation in local administration and rural development. The role of traditional authority as intermediary between rural populations and the state is not a new problematique, but has been part of the ongoing process of state formation from Portuguese colonial rule, through post-colonial FRELIMO nation-state building, to today's liberal democratic governance. This article addresses some fundamental questions pertaining to the official recognition of traditional leaders as community authorities. It argues that the double role that they are expected to fulfil as both community-representatives and state-assistants is not equally balanced either in the Decree 15/2000 or in its implementation: the scale tips heavily towards the state-assistance role. After a brief history of traditional authority as a basis for understanding the recent official recognition, the article outlines the main techniques through which traditional leaders have been made legible as 'true' community representatives capable of working as state assistants. Based on analysis of the processes of legibility, the article scrutinizes the reified notions underpinning the Decree, such as the understanding of 'traditional rules' and the definition of 'community'. It concludes by pointing out some consequences of these reified notions for kin-based forms of community authority.

The critique of state-centrism is a crucial aspect of the restructuring of International Relations theory, widely seen as a precondition for the conceptualisation of international transformation. In this article, I argue that the terms on which this critique is framed lead to claims which are both too sweeping in their implications for a transformation to a post-Westphalian system, and not radical enough with respect to the Westphalian period itself. The critique of state-centrism is premised on the assumption that modernity was a territorial order in which states contained 'their' societies. But modern social relations always included global dimensions. If the modern social sciences discounted these global aspects of modernity, the way forward for the social sciences, and IR in particular, cannot be in embracing the notion of a contemporary shift from the national to the global, but in a reconsideration of modernity itself. Just as the new globalism is inadequate as a basis for understanding our supposedly postmodern times, so nation-statism was always defective as a basis for understanding modernity. I argue that the notion of a national/global dialectic provides a better basis for understanding the current socio-spatial transformation.

Most research and theory on the democratic state posits that state structures and policies are primarily shaped by powerful civil groups. A different approach is presented in this dissertation. The state is often able to form its own organizations and policies independent of civil groups. The state also can and does shape class formations and group interactions. ; This case study of Venezuela from the turn of the century to 1991, focuses on the predominant role of the state in society. An analysis of the relationship between state intervention in civil society and the economy, and state autonomy is emphasized. Findings suggest that incorporation of civil groups, such as labor and economic elites, into state controlled organizations at first allows the state to control their activities. State intervention in the economy, such as increasing state ownership of resources, also initially enables the state to subsidize incorporated groups to gain their loyalty. But when these groups become better organized, and when the state acquires more resources, the expectations of civil groups increase. Eventually, the state becomes rife with the competing demands of incorporated groups, and must constantly react to their claims or risk loosing legitimacy. ; Preliminary research also indicates that the consequences of state alliances with organized labor and economic elites, may exacerbate the problems of the marginalized population. Although incorporated groups tend to profit from their relations with the state, the majority of the population faces growing unemployment, decreasing real incomes, and poor medical attention, despite increased state revenues and intervention in society. These problems, however, are made worse when economic crisis erodes state resources. ; Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 1101. ; Director: James Lang. ; Thesis (Ph.D.)--Vanderbilt University, 1991.

Explores the application of constructivist theory to international relations. The text examines the relevance of constructivism for empirical research, focusing on some of the key issues of contemporary international politics: ethnic and national identity; gender; and political economy

Despite growing interest in decentralized governance, the local government systems that comprise the most common element of decentralization around the world have received little systematic attention. This article, drawing on the first systematic index of decentralization to local government in 21 countries, demonstrates a close relation between Social Democratic welfare states and an intergovernmental infrastructure that in important respects ranks as the most decentralized among advanced industrial countries. This empowerment of local government in these countries was less an outgrowth of Social Democratic welfare state development than a preexisting condition that helped make this type of welfare state possible.

This chapter aims to evaluate the country's agricultural modernization strategy under the lens of the market-driven approach. The early post-War period of economic policy relates to solving the food problem solution for low-income countries, which minimizes farmer welfare and emphasizes benefits to the wealthier, non-farming class. This prevailed until the 1970s when the interest of the farming class began to be reasserted. By the 1990s the main issue was the the disparity problems, which considers as almost equally weighty, the interests of poor farmers, as well as that of non-agricultural consumers. In the 1990s, the nation enacted numerous market reforms to address the anti-market policies of the early 1990s. However, progress in implementing market reform for agriculture was largely moribund until 2019, with the enactment of the Rice Tariffication Act (RA 11203). Despite the reforms already enforced, further measures should be implemented, namely: i) Producer support for agriculture should move away from market price support in favor of expenditure support; ii) Expenditure support programs should themselves be oriented away from commodity-specific towards support for public goods and general services such as extension, regulatory, and market assistance services; iii) Expenditure programs require careful design along with functional tasks, performance indicators, and M&E systems; iv) Design, performance indicators, M&E systems, and appropriate strategies, should be put together in the AFMP, and structured around SAFDZs; iv) Sustained political will behind the market approach is needed to adopt it more consistent in agricultural policy.

This issue of the Norwegian Journal of Epidemiology is based on the research conference Health Inequalities and the Welfare State at the Soria Moria Conference Center in Oslo, Norway, October 10-11 2006. The main purpose of the conference was to support, stimulate, disseminate and contribute to research in Norway on social inequalities in health. Nine papers are included in this issue, in addition to this introduction. One paper is based on one of the keynote lectures, while the other eight papers demonstrate some of the themes and approaches in current Norwegian research on socioeconomic health inequalities. Most of the articles have been authored by researchers who are working on a doctoral thesis or have recently attained their doctoral degree. The papers cluster into four groups. One cluster has a common denominator in intervention and policies to reduce health inequalities. A second focuses on marginalised groups, whereas a third cluster draws attention to the possible impact of the social context on individual health. The last paper addresses health inequalities among adolescents. The main focus of the Soria Moria conference was how and why social health inequalities continue to exist in the Norwegian society with a long tradition of a social democratic welfare model. We are pleased to note that health inequalities are becoming a prioritised health policy issue in Norway, and hope this issue of the Norwegian Journal of Epidemiology will contribute to a sharper focus on monitoring of, research on, and interventions to reduce social inequalities in health.