The Policy-Theory Relationship

The relevance of knowledge to practice has always been fundamental in the examination of the utility of the university to the society in which it is embedded. As a result, politicians as well as the general public wish to know whether knowledge produced in a university setting can be used to promote the goals or serve the needs of the society broadly defined. Central to this concern is the relationship between theory and policy.

One of the main goals of the Journal of Political Science and Public Affairs (JPSPA) is to provide a forum where scholarship meets the needs of practitioners. Consequently, this inaugural editorial will seek to address the theory-policy relationship. Although its focus will be on International Relations, which constitutes my own specialization, similar or even identical concerns can be raised for the field of Political Science as a whole.

Sex Offender Treatment: Two Promising Approaches?

It is with great pleasure that I share the following editorial, “Sex Offender Treatment: Two Promising Approaches” published in the inaugural issue of Sociology and Criminology. This innovative open access journal promises to appeal to a wide range of audiences interested in criminology and criminal justice. The OMICS Group Special features of the journal ensure rapid dissemination of high quality studies in the discipline. This commentary focuses on an important and controversial public policy issue in our field–sex offender treatment. It argues that in conjunction with punishment, treatment efforts should also be considered for sex offender management in the U.S.

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The Syrian Jhad, Sectarianism and the Al Qaeda's Newest Affiliate

The current revolt against the Syrian regime has strong historical antecedents. The Muslim Brotherhood insurgency from 1978-1982 challenged Hafez al- Assad Baathist regime’s right to rule. The Baathists were secular Arab nationalists who borrowed from European fascistic, anti-Semitic and communist ideas. They embraced a sectarian policy of support for minorities building upon the colonial era patronage of Muslim and Christian minorities within the context of a secular socialist state. They, however, were careful not to alienate the Sunni majority and under successive regimes forged alliances with Sunni economic elites.

Assad’s 1970 seizure of power in a military coup against a party rival reinforced the position of Christian, Druze and Alawite minoritiesin Syria building upon France’s colonial manipulation of sectarian fissures.Geographically concentrated in impoverished coastal northern mountains, Druze and Alawite minorities had been exploited for generations by the dominant Sunni landed gently. They saw the Baathists state and party as a catalyst for upward social mobility.

Jodi Arias from a Sociological Perspective

What fascinates me most about crime patterns is how closely they correlate with contemporary gender rules and roles. So in reading about the sensational Jodi Arias trial for the murder of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander these past few months, I couldn’t help but look at it through a sociological lens. As a read about the case, I kept thinking about the gendered cultural rules that modern-day women are expected to follow.

Before the 1960’s, most young women believed that finding a husband was their primary goal. But by the late 1960's these cultural rules had become more complicated and building a career also became an objective–a shift that was largely the result of the Women’s Liberation movement. But despite this change, a large strand of cultural thought still urges contemporary American women to seek emotional and economic dependence through their husbands and boyfriends. 

Political Transition in Economic Decentralization: Bargaining Coalition between Central and Provincial Government in China: 1978-1993

Economic decentralization in China has created autonomous leverages for the provincial governments, and it is through bargaining,concessions, and cooperation with the provincial governments that the central government has promoted rapid economic growth. These are the existing cases of coalitional politics within Leninist reform.

However, such phenomenal circumstances have not been given serious consideration by most current students of the China’s reforms, who usually neglected the irreversible political transitions away from Leninism in Communist countries; nor do my findings support theories of political development, which see political coalitions only as alignments between the state and organized social interests, such as parties and interest groups. The deficiency of both types of explanations prohibits them from correctly explaining new political events in the Chinese economic decentralization.