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Strong and credible institutions do not only stimulate socio-economic and political development, but makes a nation great. Advanced nations of the world with such institutions ensure the promotion of social justice, a significant determinant of good governance. In Nigeria, institutions that support good governance are not only weak but lack credibility. This is responsible for slow rate of development; a trend that has enthroned corruption, lack of accountability, exploitation, marginalisation and ethnicity, consequently breeding social injustice and continuous search for peace and security in the country. The main thrust of this paper was to interrogate how institutional credibility promotes social justice in Nigeria. To seek solution to the problem of the study, the authors posed one research question and one hypothesis based on the stated objective of the study. Data was obtained through a structured four-point Likert scale questionnaire. Data were collected from 70 lecturers in the Department of Social Science Education, Department of Political Science, Department of Private Law and Department of International Law all in the University of Calabar sampled for the study. Data collected from the abovementioned categories of scholars was subjected to statistical analysis and was analysed with the aid of Multiple Regression Analysis as the tool for data analysis. Based on the findings made from the study, it was concluded that institutional credibility significantly predicts social justice in Nigeria. The recommendation is that government should build strong institutions through character formation, moral restoration and capacity building

Forensic psychology has not systematically examined the problem of evaluating the credibility of allegations of marital violence within the context of a child custody case. The importance of this issue stems from the negative effect of family violence on children, the implications for parenting effectiveness, and consideration of the feasibility of joint custody. When marital violence has not been previously disclosed or objectively documented by prosecution, there is a need to examine the credibility of the allegations because of the strategic incentive for both sides to distort historical events. A six‐factor model is presented to assist the child custody evaluator and judicial decision maker in this task. A risk assessment approach to marital violence in the custody evaluation context is presented. The need to examine the empirical basis of marital violence allegations in custody litigation should not discourage victims from raising the issue and does not diminish the seriousness of family maltreatment as a social problem.

US President George W. Bush confronts a problem as he tries to promote global democracy. When he speaks about spreading freedom, many academics, world leaders, and media pundits respond that he is trying to bolster the USA's global influence. This article explores Bush's "credibility gap." It focuses on President Bush's democracy assistance in Venezuela and how it reinforces the notion that he has a legitimacy problem. This study also identifies how President Hugo Chavez has helped widen Bush's credibility gap. Finally, by using Venezuela as a case study, this article shows that Bush's lack of legitimacy limits his ability to spread democracy.

"For some of us, projecting confidence and credibility is second nature. For the rest of us, it seems like a foreign language we'll never learn - until now. Robert Jolles, bestselling author and expert speaker, preaches that what you say actually matters far less than how you say it--it's the tune, not the lyrics, that truly convinces people. Let's face it - there are some of us who are born with a natural ability to effortlessly communicate with others and be believed. Unfortunately, not everyone possesses this natural talent, and as a result struggle with the simple act of being believed. Frequently, this inability to get others to believe becomes a significant stumbling block affecting those we interact with, and the paths we choose in life. Expert author Rob Jolles has actively mentored and coached thousands who battle with long-term unemployment, and have a particularly acute problem with presenting themselves effectively. The problem, he says, is we rely far too heavily on our words to secure the belief of others, when in reality only seven percent of the emotional impact of our message comes from the words we use. The solution he offers here is building confidence through a series of process behaviors and techniques, and learning how to cope with fear, which can significantly impact how credible others perceive our message to be. Moving past the words, and applying acting and improv skills, along with improving pitch, pace, and tone, his programs have achieved astonishing results"--

The book deeply analyses the bilateral relations between Switzerland and the European Union and their effect on the former's sovereignty in the context of Europeanisation. This touches on philosophical debates on the complexity of sovereignty. What sovereignty is at stake when talking about Swiss-EU relations? This issue not only faces the elusiveness of sovereignty as a concept, but also the proliferation of hypocrisy on its presence within states. The book encounters the deconstructionist hypothesis stating that there is nothing to worry about but the belief there is something to worry about. Derrida's deconstruction of sovereignty allows indeed one to grasp the fictional essence of sovereignty based on the metaphysics of presence. The presence of self-positing sovereign ipseity is fictional since absent in the present, but spectrally present in the belief of its presence to come. Sovereignty is a matter of credibility, or the credible promise of a normative statement to come. Hence, the book challenges the realist/neorealist argument stating that states are credibly sovereign until proven otherwise and explains that the debate on state sovereignty calls for the unveiling of this hypocritical epistemology cunningly disguised as an objective presence. Swiss-EU relations thus become the cornerstone to not only theorise but also test sovereignty and deconstruct the two ontological and epistemological sides of the same coin, or the modern hypocrisy of sovereignty. This deconstruction constitutes the very problématique of any attempt to understand whether and how a state can be sovereign and solve the problem as to how to neutralise the différance and identify the difference between credible and incredible claims of sovereignty. This problématique connects the theory and practice of sovereignty innovatively, providing positivist evidence on the arguable credibility of the Swiss claim of sovereignty and confirming the presence of a theological dimension within politics.<

The book deeply analyses the bilateral relations between Switzerland and the European Union and their effect on the former's sovereignty in the context of Europeanisation. This touches on philosophical debates on the complexity of sovereignty. What sovereignty is at stake when talking about Swiss-EU relations? This issue not only faces the elusiveness of sovereignty as a concept, but also the proliferation of hypocrisy on its presence within states. The book encounters the deconstructionist hypothesis stating that there is nothing to worry about but the belief there is something to worry about. Derrida's deconstruction of sovereignty allows indeed one to grasp the fictional essence of sovereignty based on the metaphysics of presence. The presence of self-positing sovereign ipseity is fictional since absent in the present, but spectrally present in the belief of its presence to come. Sovereignty is a matter of credibility, or the credible promise of a normative statement to come. Hence, the book challenges the realist/neorealist argument stating that states are credibly sovereign until proven otherwise and explains that the debate on state sovereignty calls for the unveiling of this hypocritical epistemology cunningly disguised as an objective presence. Swiss-EU relations thus become the cornerstone to not only theorise but also test sovereignty and deconstruct the two ontological and epistemological sides of the same coin, or the modern hypocrisy of sovereignty. This deconstruction constitutes the very problématique of any attempt to understand whether and how a state can be sovereign and solve the problem as to how to neutralise the différance and identify the difference between credible and incredible claims of sovereignty. This problématique connects the theory and practice of sovereignty innovatively, providing positivist evidence on the arguable credibility of the Swiss claim of sovereignty and confirming the presence of a theological dimension within politics.<.

Resistance to socially desired reforms may arise from uncertainty about the consequences of reforms at the individual level (Fernandez and Rodrik, 1991). Without a binding commitment, a promise to compensate losers will not raise support for reforms due to a credibility problem. This paper shows that voting simultaneously on several reforms may solve the credibility problem. It is argued that the governmental agreement in the Netherlands has served as a means to vote simultaneously on several reforms and has helped breaking political deadlocks. Moreover, our model provides an explanation for some perceived changes in the Dutch policy making process.

Resistance to socially desired reforms may arise from uncertainty about the consequences of reforms at the individual level (Fernandez and Rodrik, 1991). Without a binding commitment, a promise to compensate losers will not raise support for reforms due to a credibility problem. This paper shows that voting simultaneously on several reforms may solve the credibility problem. It is argued that the governmental agreement in the Netherlands has served as a means to vote simultaneously on several reforms and has helped breaking political deadlocks. Moreover, our model provides an explanation for some perceived changes in the Dutch policy making process.

Information and knowledge were essential tools of early modern Europe's global ambitions. This volume addresses a key concern that emerged as the competition for geopolitical influence increased: how could information from afar be trusted when there was no obvious strategy for verification? How did notions of doubt develop in relation to intercultural encounters? Who were those in the position to use misinformation in their favour, and how did this affect trust? How, in other words, did distance affect credibility, and which intellectual and epistemological strategies did early modern Europe devise to cope with this problem?

The movement of information, and its transformations in the process of gathering, ordering, and disseminating, makes it necessary to employ both a global and a local perspective in order to understand its significance. The rise of print, leading to various new forms of mediation, played a crucial role everywhere, inspiring theories of modernization in which media served as agents of new connections and, eventually, of globalization. Paradoxically, during the entire period between 1500 and 1800, the demise of distance through various strategies of verification coincided with constructions of otherness that emphasized the cultural and geographical difference between Europe and the worlds it encountered.

Ten leading scholars of the early modern world address the relationship between distance, information, and credibility from a variety of perspectives. This volume will be an essential companion to those interested in the history of knowledge and early modern encounters, as well as specialists in the history of empire and print culture.

During the past ten years a combination of the Soviet strategic nuclear missile and submarine buildup, improved accuracy in these forces, and a failure to build defenses against them, specifically SDI, has steadily eroded the credibility of the 'US commitment' building block of European security. (SJO)

"This paper asks whether developing countries can reap credibility gains from submitting policy to a strict monetary rule. Following earlier work, we look at the gold standard era (1880-1914) as a "natural experiment" to test whether adoption of a rule-based monetary framework such as the gold standard increased policy credibility. On the basis of the largest possible dataset covering almost sixty independent and colonial borrowers in the London market, we challenge the traditional view that gold standard adherence worked as a credible commitment mechanism that was rewarded by financial markets with lower borrowing costs. We demonstrate that in the poor periphery -- where policy credibility is a particularly acute problem -- the market looked behind "the thin film of gold". Our results point to a dichotomy: whereas country risk premia fell after gold adoption in developed countries, there were no credibility gains in the volatile economic and political environments of developing countries. History shows that monetary policy rules are no short-cut to credibility in situations where vulnerability to economic and political shocks, not time-inconsistency, are overarching concerns for investors"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site

List of tables and figures -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Reflections after a long day in Moscow -- 2. On the rational choice of culture -- 3. On the theory and practice of social capital -- 4. Social capital in the social democratic welfare state -- 5. How is social capital produced? -- 6. The problem of institutional credibility -- 7. Trust and collective memories -- 8. The transition from mistrust to trust -- 9. The conditions of trust and the capacity for dialog -- Bibliography -- Index

"Der Moralisierung gesellschaftlicher Verhältnisse kommt nach wie vor eine erhebliche Relevanz in der Kommunikation zwischen Politik und Öffentlichkeit zu: Aufrichtigkeit, Verantwortung, Verläßlichkeit, Schuld usw. sind Schlüssel- und in ihrem Verwendungskontext oft auch Kampfbegriffe der politischen Kommunikation. Dies geschieht einerseits unter den Bedingungen der modernen Gesellschaft, die keine einheitlichen normativen Orientierungen mehr kennt und deren Teilsysteme gerade nicht mehr über Moral organisiert und integriert sind. Andererseits können weiten Teilen der Öffentlichkeit politische Entscheidungen und deren Begründung wie überhaupt eine undurchsichtig gewordene gesellschaftliche Wirklichkeit nur durch eine starke Vereinfachung verständlich und akzeptabel gemacht werden. Moralisierungen bilden dabei eine besonders leistungsfähige Strategie der Vereinfachung und sind als handlungsnahe Deutungen in der Allianz von Politik und Massenmedien wirksam und unverzichtbar. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, wie der Mangel an einer normativ abgestützten der modernen Gesellschaft von den Subjekten kompensiert werden kann und welche Folgen dies für die Kommunikation zwischen Politik und Öffentlichkeit hat. Als vorläufig letzte Bastion bleibt hier der Rückzug auf die eigene, als authentisch wahrgenommene Subjektivität. Für die politische Kommunikation würde das bedeuten, daß der Kampf um Glaubwürdigkeit eine immer wichtigere Rolle spielt. Die Personalisierung der Politik setzt dieses Problem in die Frage der subjektiven Sinngebung in Glaubwürdigkeit der Politiker um. Wenn man nicht vermitteln kann, daß es einem ernst damit ist, verlieren moralisierende Deutungen unabhängig von ihrer normativen Begründbarkeit an Überzeugungskraft. Eine Moral der subjektiven Glaubwürdigkeit schafft allerdings große Probleme, denn sie ist diskursiv nicht in gleicher Weise wie Fragen der normativen Rechtfertigung überprüfbar: Glaubwürdigkeit schreibt man einer Person auf Treu und Glauben zu. Sollte sich der neue Typus einer durch persönliche Glaubwürdigkeit gestützten und nur noch dadurch überzeugenden Moral durchsetzen, würden deshalb große Unsicherheiten in der politischen Kommunikation entstehen, wobei nicht abzusehen ist, wie sie zu bewältigen wären." (Autorenreferat)