Thesis advisor: David Hollenbach / More than one billion people do not have access to an adequate water supply and several billion lack access to basic sanitation, which is the number one cause of diseases linked to water and water contamination. In countries such as Gambia and Haiti, people live on less than 4 liters of water per day. Cholera and dysentery, two of the more deadly water-related diseases, claim around 10 million victims each year, primarily among young children and the elderly; sadly, these diseases are easily preventable. Certain areas of the world are running out of fresh water at an alarming rate, and the global distribution of water is making it increasingly more difficult for poor people to access it. Movements to commodify water and privatize the industries that provide it are, in many cases, exacerbating this situation of scarcity and trapping poor people in a cycle of water poverty. While much research has been done on the problem of water scarcity, there is currently a void in this undertaking regarding the link between scarcity and water as a human right. Therefore, this paper seeks to address the question of whether there exists a human right to water and, if so, what obligations that entails for major market actors, such as: state governments; water corporations; and international lending institutions. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: International Studies. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Jennie Purnell / Abstract: American policy in Latin America has been primarily motivated by a desire to keep foreign powers out of the Western Hemisphere. To this end America has pursued a policy of military intervention designed to make sure that it stays the dominant power in this hemisphere. American policymakers consider this vital to national security, and have do not let concerns over the moral implications of the interventions interfere. This paper looks at interventions during the 20th century, focusing on the imperialist era of the first few decades of the 20th century and the Cold War. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

The military in Brazil has long sought to establish an arms industry in order to achieve greater independence from outside powers. Though some steps had been taken toward this end, in the 1950s Brazil produced little in the way of military goods, and exported none. After the military coup in Brazil in 1964 an arms industry was established. By the mid-1980s Brazil was one of the leading exporters of arms among Third World countries The literature concerning the remarkable success of the Brazilian arms industry offers two opposing hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. The first gives great explanatory value to the articulated ideology of the military regime: the National Security Doctrine. According to this view, the military had developed a detailed doctrine which had a profound influence on policy-making and implementation. The rationalistic developmentalist approach adopted by the regime accounts for the success of the arms industry. The second argument gives more explanatory power to the military's corporate ideology. This view sees the priority given to the arms industry as an outgrowth of the longstanding desire to achieve arms independence This dissertation examines the development of the National Security Doctrine in detail, from its roots in geopolitical thought to its dissemination by Brazil's Superior War College. The development of the Brazilian military's corporate ideology is also examined. The two hypotheses are examined against the politics and policies of the period of military rule, 1964-1985. It finds that both hypotheses are necessary to understanding the establishment and success of the arms industry, but insufficient as they stand. In order to better understand the phenomenon in terms of ideological inputs, it is necessary to add a third element: a tacit alliance between the faction in the military advocating policies based on the National Security Doctrine and the civilian technocratic elite, which shared its developmentalist goals, was involved in economic policy-making, and was given a great deal of autonomy in implementation of those policies / acase@tulane.edu

Plan of investigation. The structure of this dissertation will consist of three primary components. The first section will consist of an empirical estimation of a testable hypothesis following the work of Helpman (1987) and Hummels & Levinsohn (1995). The data is drawn from several sources including world trade flows published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, macroeconomic data from the Penn World Tables, and education data supplied by the World Bank. The second section analyzes the patterns and structure of trade flows over the past 20 years utilizing the same data set as in the first essay. The purpose is to elucidate common patterns and relate them to the broader literature on intra-industry trade and trade flows, in general. The third section focuses on the domestic policy issue of growing wage disparity. Using a three factor, two good model the inter-relationships between capital, high-skilled labor and low-skilled labor are examined. Of particular interests are the cross-price elasticities and complementarity between factors, as well as, the effect of changes in endowments, prices and technology on returns Expected results. Preliminary findings indicate that the monopolistically competitive model fairs well in cross sectional tests when the sample of countries is inclusive of OECD and developing nations. Mixed results are obtained when the sample includes only OECD nations or in panel tests of the hypothesis. This may be partly attributed to an accounting issue stemming from differences in vertical vs. horizontal intra-industry trade. This issue is taken up in the second section as trade flows are examined more closely for 'stylized facts' and trends. Of importance is the chain of production and trade of intermediate products between countries of different levels of development. Finally, the third essay concerning the role of trade, technology and factor supplies on wage inequality in the U.S. will elucidate the relative contribution of each of these components on changes in factor returns. Since other studies have found limited fluctuations in relative prices, it is expected that factor supplies and technology (particularly the substitutibility-complementarity between factors) will have a greater impact on wages then trade. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / acase@tulane.edu

The dissertation considers the origins of the European Council and related theoretical reflections and concerns. It examines the role of other European Community (EC) institutions in preparing a European Council and in influencing the extent to which the European Council has become integrated with the 'normal' EC decision-making process. Internal preliminary preparations in member governments and actual meetings of the European Council are considered to comprehend the entire process of policy input. The multiple functions of the European Council are explored in a section on its role in European Political Cooperation and in two case studies on European Council decision-making The dissertation concludes that the European Council has become institutionalized in its complex interactions with other EC institutions and national governments. Furthermore, it performs functions which are beneficial to the EC. This institution has not caused a serious deviation from the 'normal' EC decision-making process. Evidence demonstrates that it has contributed to integrative decision-making. In addition, the European Council and the Commission have developed a mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship. This has occurred even though it was originally feared that there would be antagonism between them to the detriment of supranationalism in the Community. These findings support the desirability of the institutionalization and legitimation of the European Council / acase@tulane.edu

The European Union (or the European Community) challenges both academic scholarship and political leadership by presenting a phenomenon that is rather unique in the international milieux. The integration of the twelve member states of the European Union questions the fundamental assumption of international politics, namely, the nation-state as the primary entity in the international system. This dissertation purports to expand our understanding of international integration by comparing the federal and national integration of Germany with that of the European Union By comparing and contrasting integration theories such as functionalism, neofunctionalism and federalism with intergovernmentalism the dissertation attempts to shed some light on the future course of the European Union. Such an exercise is conducted by examining German integration which began in early nineteenth century. German unification in the nineteenth century started with the building of a customs union which was the forerunner to regional confederal arrangements and finally the Bismarckian federation of 1871. The integration of the member states of the European Union closely resembles the patterns of German unification Furthermore, a close examination of the German federal system reveals that intergovernmentalism is not antithetical to federalism. The German federal system as designed by the 1949 federal constitution is characterized as intergovernmental federalism. An implication of this for international integration theory is that the differences between supranationalism--as espoused by functionalist, neofunctionalist and federalist theorists--and nationalism (as advocated by intergovernmentalists) can be bridged by emphasizing that intergovernmentalism can coexist with federalism and that they are not mutually exclusive categories. Thus, by delving into comparative politics scholarship on German federalism, this dissertation attempts to find a common ground for drawing parallels and to learn some lessons for international relations theory as it applies to the institutions and processes of the European Union / acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of this study is to add to ongoing research in the field of international political economy, particularly to explanations of how economic policy is made. It responds to calls for less research regarding systemic theories, which currently dominate explanations of state behavior, and more research on how domestic variables affect a country's foreign economic policy. System centered approaches treat states as unitary decision makers and stress a country's relative position in the international system of states as the primary influence on its behavior. This research takes a 'politicized state-centric' approach, which contends that policy is created and destroyed at the state level, but is influenced by ideology, past experience, and various interest groups The study provides explanations for two time periods that can not be explained by the theory of hegemonic stability (currently the most popular systemic theory): the 1920s and 1930s in Great Britain and the 1960s in the United States. This study was narrowed to the steel industry because of its economic importance and the fact that both countries' policies toward steel reflect patterns in their general economic policies during the two key periods under discussion. Finally, the study contributes to cognitive theories on how a population's ideologies, values, beliefs, and available knowledge affect state behavior. Overall, the British case study gives insight into the American experience, and both studies have implications for the position of liberal states in a world of protectionism The conclusion finds many variables that affect the way states behave. These include: ideology and past policies; individualism; public opinion; past relationships between labor, industry, and government; the organization of industry, its economic importance, and past activities; interest group activity; party politics; the bureaucracy; the state of the economy; the political system; the will and capacity of a country to carry out policies; the complexity of the attempted policies; the country's position in the international system and its international economic and political concerns; the policies of other countries and their number and relative power; and the status of war and independence between states / acase@tulane.edu

Although societies have increasingly embraced policies to enforce international human rights norms and greater demand for accountability when confronted with internal mass violence, war or transition from repressive rulings (Licklider 2001), population-based research have rarely been used to inform the design, implementation and the evaluation of such policies. Yet, after over a decade of applied transitional justice, program developers, scholars and policymakers are still exploring what contributions such mechanisms make to the process of building a lasting peace. Against this background, this study introduces a quantitative approach to explore, from a population perspective, the relation between peace and justice in the aftermath of mass violence using empirical evidences from Northern Uganda A victim-based model of peace and justice is proposed to explore associations between victimization, views on the mechanisms that can achieve peace and support for selected transitional justice policies. The findings of this study show that support for trials is associated with psychological trauma and views that negative mechanisms, such as waging a war, can achieve peace. This suggests that support for trials is associated with desire for revenge and punishment. It is therefore possible that trials contribute to building peace by providing an alternative to the use of violence as a means of revenge. This further implies that, in the eyes of victims, there is a contradiction in pursuing trials (associated with negative means to achieve peace) while at the same time negotiating peace. Support for amnesty was associated with peace talks and other positive mechanism to achieve peace and absence of psychological trauma, suggesting that among this group, returning to normal life is the priority Psychological trauma impacts views on peace and justice. Addressing the psycho-social impact of the conflict should therefore become part of any transitional justice mechanisms. The way forward in Northern Uganda must therefore be driven by a comprehensive strategy that addresses the psycho-social component influencing support for specific mechanisms. With that in mind, a strategy taking advantage of all the mechanisms and the needs of the victims can be developed and receive support from the population / acase@tulane.edu

The development impact of remittances in Mexico at all scales if of particular interest for government and development institutions given the growing influence these financial flows have on the macro economy as well as on communities and households. The existing literature frames migrants use of remittances as primarily focused on consumption, although there are strong voices arguing that expenditure on health care, education, and housing contribute to economic productivity. Based on a framework that examines the individual, household, community and macroeconomic factors associated with the use of remittances, this study utilizes development paradigms to examine how these factors influence Mexican migrant remittance investment. Utilizing survey data from 3395 migrant heads of households from the Mexican Migration Project 107 (MMP107), this study developed three different random effects logit models based on three definitions of productive use, stratified into urban and rural cases. The dependent variables were based on the literature's productive use definition as well as the basic needs and sustainable development paradigms. The findings from this study highlight that migrants invest their remittances in basic needs such as health care, housing and education rather than consumption. There were important differences between the factors that influenced migrants from rural vs. urban areas. The rural model for productive investment of remittances for example highlighted a strong positive association with the level of education in the community. The primary factors associated with the investment of remittances were economic assets, wealth, and marital status. However, social networks, education, and community participation also influenced remittances investment. The study findings have important implications for both future research and policymaking. The findings suggest that in order for remittances to be a catalyst for economic growth, addressing the recipients' basic needs is an essential prerequisite / acase@tulane.edu

While immigration detention and the use of detention transfers are necessary components of the US immigration enforcement system, there are several human rights principles that may be violated during detention and deportation processes. This study highlights the utility of record linkage methodologies of data analysis in illuminating the reality of immigration enforcement for millions of non-citizens and developing evidence of potential rights violations. It is hoped that this study provides a direction and exemplifies a course of action for how ICE data can be explored to produce a greater understanding of the realities of US immigration enforcement practices US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) frequently releases immigration enforcement data to researchers via Freedom of Information Act requests. These datasets often contain unique variables attributable to the same detainees or may contain detention actions absent of the identification variables necessary to group actions to individual detainees. This report demonstrates the utility of record linkage in analyzing such datasets. It examines linked records through a human rights lens and provides quantitative estimates of several potential human rights violations Intra-system record linkage was used to successfully link over 95 percent of records in an ICE database of 5,061,411 detention actions. The methodology supplies data on detention transfers by determining who was transferred where, thus providing aggregate evidence of detentions transfers which arguably violate several human rights principles concerning the right to defend against deportation Inter-system record linkage was utilized to successfully match 33 percent of the records from a second database to corresponding records in the main database, thus increasing the number of variables per matched individual as well as ascertaining the immigration outcomes of matched detainees. I utilize the crime variable gained via record linkage, along with detention facility variables, to provide additional evidence of immigration detention potentially violating the principle of proportionality in sentencing / acase@tulane.edu