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This article attempts to explain why, despite nearly identical cultural & economic landscapes & the potentially homogenizing pressures of globalization, social policies differ in Ghana & Cote d'Ivoire, two neighboring countries in West Africa. In Ghana, the government has generally attempted to strengthen the informal social welfare systems of the extended family & community through a more decentralized social policy, whereas the government in Cote d'Ivoire has tried to replace these informal social networks with the centralized arm of the bureaucracy. The article shows how different legacies of colonial rule produce these divergent social policies in a complex & iterative process over time. While domestic institutions do mediate the effects of globalization, the domestic factors highlighted in this article are not the formal political institutions cited in most studies. Rather, the analysis reveals the critical role of informal institutions, or normative frameworks, that existed under colonial rule & continue to endure in the postcolonial state. The article also contributes to current theories of institutions by showing how formal & informal institutions dynamically interact in the construction of the state & the African family. 1 Table, 57 References. Adapted from the source document.

The eastern water rat, Hydromys chrysogaster, lives in inland waters, estuaries, sea beaches and islands from Queensland to South Australia and Tasmania. It is adapted to semiaquatic life and changes in its molar teeth may be an adaptation to diet of crustaceans and molluscs. The present study was of 408 stomach contents and 316 contents of caecum with rectum, collected in New South Wales in 1970-73 from permanent Typha swamp. From elsewhere there were 12 other stomach and 11 gut contents and live rats were observed. At any time of day but particularly in evenings the rats swam along the bank or between logs or reed clumps, foraging and catching fish. Captive rats crushed small mussels and left large mussels to open by exposure. Diet varied with season and included crustaceans, mostly the yabbie, a crayfish (Cherax destructor), spiders, all Araneida with one identified as of the suborder Pisauridae, a fishing spider. Insects were the main food and were eaten in all seasons, and included larvae, nymphs and adults. Only 1% of rats had the freshwater mussel Veksurio ambiguus but the flesh was difficult to identify and empty shells were often found. Fish were eaten all the year, and were found in up to 35% of rats in autumn and winter; fish may be underestimated because flesh is not easily recognised and hard parts are not much eaten. Several species of fish, mostly introduced, were identified, their ages estimated from their scales, and length was calculated to be up to 36 cm. Frogs and macquaria tortoise (Emydura macquarii) were eaten. Birds were eaten all the year and were in up to 10% of stomachs in winter. Personal communications are quoted, from persons having seen H. chrysogaster capture large adult birds including duck and mutton bird (Puffinus tenuirostris). Captive rats were able to open cracked hen's eggs but left intact eggs. Plant material was eaten as food and possibly also in stomachs of prey. For 3 rats half the starch content was plant; 3 other stomachs had 5, 40 and 50% plant material, Azolla fuliculoides. Differences in diet with age are described. H. chrysogaster was an adaptable and opportunist feeder, making use of transient plenty of insects, exploiting plagues among other species and using plants during shortage of food. They may control introduced pests such as perch, or control yabbies in irrigation ditches.

In 8 periods between February 1967 and June 1968, covering a severe drought and subsequent rain, samples of 66 species of dicotyledons and 50 species of monocotyledons were collected from a large paddock in semiarid 'mulga-box' country in south-western Queensland. The mean N content of the dicotyledons ranged from 1.51 to 2.85 g/100 g DM, and that of the monocotyledons from 0.70 to 1.86 g/100 g DM.Stomach or faecal samples were analysed for plant parts. When known plant mixtures were given to 2 grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and two sheep there was no species difference in the digestibility of the different plants or in the size distribution of faecal particles. Comparison of stomach and rectal samples from 5 shot kangaroos and 7 shot sheep showed quite good agreement. Samples of the faeces of sheep, grey kangaroo and a few red kangaroo (Megaleia rufa) were collected from the ground at the same intervals as the plant samples, dried and analysed for N and for plant parts. Detailed results are given. The grey kangaroos consistently ate more grasses than the sheep. The N content of sheep faeces was higher than that of kangaroo faeces, reflecting the higher protein intake of the sheep. The results confirm those of an earlier study (NAR 38, 1829) made in 1963–4 in a period of average rainfall. The authors conclude that competition between sheep and kangaroos is small.