In May of 2009, Japan began formal operations of the saiban-in seido or lay judge system, a quasi-jury means of criminal trial adjudication that represents the first occasion since 1943 that average Japanese citizens will be required to fulfill a role in the criminal jurisprudential process. While the lay judge system promises to affect the methods and procedures of criminal trials in Japan, recent scholarship in the United States has raised an interesting question: to what degree can the lay participatory adjudication process facilitate greater levels of civic engagement in past citizen jurists once their service has completed? It is with this question in mind that the Japanese lay judge system is examined. In this work I first analyze how the Japanese judicial system fits within the global context, measuring it against the adversarial and inquisitorial archetypes that are followed by other liberal democracies. I then look to describe how lay adjudication is handled elsewhere around the world, finding that two major systems are employed - the Anglo-American jury and the European mixed-tribunal - with the Japanese lay judge system bearing great resemblance towards the latter. In investigating the origins of the lay judge system, and the changes this new method brings to Japanese criminal jurisprudence, I seek to detail the goals of this recent reform and the opportunities the lay judge system has to realize those aims. Finally, I look to how lay participation in the courtroom can inspire individuals to be more civically active once their service at trial is finished. In this pursuit, I look to relevant theoretical literature that describes how deliberative participation can spur further participation in civil society, as well as recent research in the United States that document linkages between jury service and an individual`s later inclination to be more civically engaged. With this evidence in hand, I return the focus to Japan and the lay judge system and ask what results can be expected under this new system. As sufficient data is not readily available to make definitive declarations as to the civic engagement-enhancing potential of the lay judge system - due to the relative newness of the institution - this thesis instead offers theories and hypotheses that may prove fruitful to later investigations on this very question. Moreover, I examine opinions prevalent in the current literature that would question the ability of the lay judge system to invigorate the civic engagement-tendencies of past lay jurists and analyze their veracity. In this manner, I seek to provide future research in this area with a more stable footing to proceed.

What explains the outcomes of ballot initiative contests? What factors determine the passage or rejection of an initiative? This paper describes and evaluates three approaches to explaining ballot initiative contest outcomes. The first approach involves using the expenditures of Yes and No campaigns as the causal factor in explaining why passage or defeat is the respective outcome of a given contest. The second explanatory approach emphasizes the logic of collective action problems. The third approach incorporates the larger constellation of policymaking institutions in which each ballot initiative process exists. Specifically, in what ways is the process shaped by the larger system of partisan attachments that structures electoral politics? This paper contains a set of three analyses which speak to each of the three respective explanatory approaches to explaining initiative contest outcomes. The results provide evidence of the importance of a contest's early competitive dynamic in determining the amount of resources made available for a campaign to spend. Left unaccounted for, this strategic financing of initiatives distorts estimates of the effectiveness of spending. The second analysis, inspired by insights into collective action problems, finds the initiative arena to be a policymaking site where there is a competitive advantage for broadly diffused interests, especially when they challenge other broad interests. Moreover, broad-based Yes groups achieved relatively high passage rates with relatively low levels of campaigns expenditures. Finally, the third analysis provides evidence of a consistently high level of correlation between Yes voting and alignment with a particular party. The lowest levels of correlation were still fairly high from a measured social science perspective. In many instances, county-level party attachment mapped almost seamlessly over initiative decision making. This suggests that ballot initiatives politics do not operate outside party politics, as has been suggested in the past.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Bibliography: leaves 237-241. / by Marion Olive Cunningham. / M.C.P.

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Thesis submitted for fifty percent completion of the degree of Master of Management in the field of Public Policy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 28 March 2017 / In South Africa, sex work is illegal, and sex workers have operated in the shadows for decades, although the profession has been around for centuries. Sex workers are marginalised and vulnerable which affects their power and authority to participate in public policy deliberations. Their ability to participate in community forums and public discussions about issues that affect them is limited mainly due to their lack of agency, social exclusion and stigma. Ultimately, their equality in the democracy they live is compromised due to social norms, cultural values and religion. This study investigated the barriers that sex workers face to participate in public policy making. This research was a basic interpretive qualitative study which was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa. Data was collected using structured and semi structured tools through focus group discussions with active sex workers and key informant interviews with policy makers, academics and legal experts. The data was collected and analysed through an exploratory lens that allowed a story to unfold and used people’s experiences to shed light on what these barriers were. The results from the study concluded that sex workers are in fact socially excluded within the communities they live and this exclusion fuels internal and external stigma. This structurally decreases their human and social agency and systematically excludes their voices, human rights, legitimate policy needs and opinions from public policy making processes within their communities. In order to address this structural disadvantage, an advanced form of behaviour change of communities, policy makers and public service personnel is recommended. / MT2017

Marine debris is an ever growing environmental and human health concern. Beach litter is a major contributor to the issue of marine debris, especially in the Global South where lack of awareness and successful policy are factors in the continuous accumulation of debris on beaches and in coastal communities. Under the community-based, participatory action framework, this study will explore beach users’ and other key stakeholders in the local government and non-governmental organization sectors’ knowledge of waste in their environment and potential solutions to the issue of plastic marine pollution. It will also examine the waste composition on a local beach in São Sebastião, Brazil by collecting, quantifying and characterizing the waste to determine the major polluters. The study will explore ways of improving awareness and environmental education of beach users, as well as investigating ways to reduce littering of waste on beaches. Results from this research will help to provide suggestions for local decision makers to improve policy that addresses marine debris and beach littering. / Graduate / 2022-04-15

This is an exploration of the potential for a citizen science project, with the goal to get the general public involved in microbial soil biodiversity around Uppsala, Sweden. Biodiversity serves an important role in how an ecosystem performs and functions. A large part of Earth's biodiversity exists below ground in soil, where microorganisms interact with plants. It would be beneficial to analyse the abundance and spread of some microorganisms in order to gain a better understanding of soil biodiversity. We suggest that one species family to study could be Phytophthora. Phytophthora is a genus of oomycetes that often are pathogenic, causing disease in various trees and other plants. It is unknown exactly how widespread the genus is today, making it extra interesting for the proposed study. For the general public to be able to do this a device needs to be developed that is easy to use and preferably could be used directly in the field. An isothermal amplification method is suitable for identifying the microorganism under these conditions. Many isothermal amplification methods are expensive, perhaps too expensive for a citizen science study, but have great potential for easy field testing. We propose a device utilizing RPA and lateral flow strips. RPA - Recombinase Polymerase Amplification is a method for amplification that might be suitable since it is simple, sensitive, and has a short run time. It is however expensive, which is an issue, but isothermal amplifications are expensive across the board. Lateral flow strips can be used to visualize the results. They utilize antibodies to detect the previously amplified amplicons, and give a positive or negative test answer that would be understandable to even untrained study participants. One of the biggest obstacles identified in this project concerns amplifying DNA from a soil sample, because an extraction step is necessary. The methods we have identified for extraction are not performable in the field, since they require centrifugation. In the proposition for a device a possible work-around for this is proposed, but since it has yet to be tested it is not yet known whether it will work or not.