Societal Rather than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination in Muslim-Majority Countries after the Arab Uprisings

This study examines shifts in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities in Muslim-Majority states after the Arab Uprisings by using the Religion and State round 3 (RAS3) dataset for the years 2009-2014 and by focusing on 49 Muslim-majority countries and territories. We build on threads of literature on religious pluralism in transitional societies to explain the changes in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities after the Arab Uprisings. This literature predicts a rise in all forms of discrimination in Arab Uprising states as compared to other Muslim-majority states, and an even more significant rise in societal religious discrimination since societal behavior can change more quickly than government policy, especially at times of transition. The results partially conform to these predictions. There was no significant difference in the shifts in governmental religion policy between Arab Uprising and other Muslim-Majority states, but societal religious discrimination increased substantially in Arab Uprising states as compared to non-Arab Uprising states. Understanding the nature of religion policies and religious discrimination provides further opportunities to unveil the dynamics of regional politics as well as conflict prevention in the region

Rethinking \u27What Counts\u27 As Accountability

The current accountability impasse suggests it may be time to rethink core concepts, as well as the field’s underlying theories of change. The idea of accountability is malleable, ambiguous — and contested. This fuzziness poses challenges for both theory and practice – how do we know what strategies bolster accountability – or whether accountability produces its expected effects? This think piece recognizes the challenge of defining ‘what counts’ as accountability, unpacks a longstanding theory of change - that sunshine is the best disinfectant - and considers some information-based reform initiatives to identify missing links in the causal chain between transparency and accountability

Patterns of discrimination, grievances and political activity among Europe's Roma: a cross-sectional analysis

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Muster von Diskriminierung, Missständen und politischen Aktivitäten unter europäischen Roma unter Verwendung von Daten des 'Minorities at Risk' Projektes. Das Modell, das hier geprüft wird, ist ein zweistufiges Modell, das davon ausgeht, dass Diskriminierung zu Missständen führt und diese wiederum zu Protest und Rebellion. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die Roma, im Allgemeinen, diesem Modell entsprechen, sich aber in einigen wichtigen Besonderheiten unterschieden. Die Roma sind historisch gesehen - und auch wenn man die Gegenwart betrachtet - eine der am meisten diskriminierten Minderheiten in Ost- und Westeuropa. Diese Diskriminierung wurde von Menschenrechtsreports und Wissenschaftlern dokumentiert, es wurden jedoch keine großen Querschnittsstudien zu diesem Thema durchgeführt. Der Autor liefert daher die vorliegende empirische Analyse der Muster der Diskriminierung. Die Ergebnisse werden dann mit den Ergebnissen allgemeiner Untersuchungen ethnischer Konflikte aus dem 'Minorities at Risk' Projekt verglichen. (ICD

The Political Construction of Accountability Keywords

Terminology in the accountability field is ambiguous, encompassing both top-down, technocratic control initiatives and bottom‑up efforts to challenge the abuse of power and promote equity. The main proposition is that communicating accountability strategies should rely on conceptual and cross-cultural translation rather than awkward attempts at direct linguistic translation. To illustrate how accountability keywords are both politically constructed and contested, this article briefly reflects on the origins, circulation, and transformation of six relevant terms: transparency, the right to know, whistle-blower, advocacy, openwashing, and social accountability – including reflections from accountability advocates from Pakistan, Guatemala, and the Philippines. The conclusion calls for a two-track approach to communicate public accountability strategies, which involves (1) searching within popular cultures to find existing terms or phrases that can be repurposed, and (2) inventing new discourses that communicate ideas about public accountability that resonate with culturally grounded common-sense understandings.Open Society Foundations, Vozes Desiguais/Unequal Voices, Future Health Systems consortium, the Impact Initiative and Health Systems Globa

Contested Terrain: International Development Projects and Countervailing Power for the Excluded

Conventional international development project approaches to enable participation of the excluded often fall short of building countervailing power, which is key for accountability. This study analyzes possible exceptions to identify causal pathways, as well as long-term effects beyond projects. The methodology combines the identification of positive outliers, process tracing and comparative analysis of five World Bank projects from the 1990s that were also the focus of subsequent academic research. Tangible openings from above that enabled countervailing power took two main forms: 1) institutionalized power-sharing over allocation of social funds — at local, subnational and national levels and 2) support for autonomous, multi-level social organizations, including collective titling of ethnic territories. Over the longer term, projects lacked strong national allies and their most innovative contributions were reversed, watered down or at best contained - though these differences mattered to social actors on the ground. The most analytically significant finding is that projects can have not only contested and uneven outcomes (“mixed results”), but also contradictory interaction effects. This poses the methodological challenge of how to measure and explain the relative weights of both countervailing power shifts and elite capture

The Right Ascension Children\u27s Center: Orphaned Refugee Rehabilitation, Newton, MA

An all encompassing facility placing an emphasis on safety and protection for rescued refugee children. Large open spaces are critical to the success of the children’s recovery, creating a healthy therapeutic environment. The flexibility of the building allows each child to experience the transitional functionality of living and cohabitating at the center. As the children progress through the rehabilitation process, a greater emphasis is placed on integration and community, allowing them another chance at a healthy, successful life