Political conditions for fair elections

Democracy is not necessarily consolidated simply by the introduction of formal democratic institutions. It is often observed in new democracies that democratic institutions are neglected and eroded in actual practice. Particularly, electoral fraud committed by a ruler is one of the main problems in this regard. This paper deals with two questions, (1) under what conditions does a ruler have an incentive to hold fair elections (or to rig elections), and (2) what makes a ruler prefer to establish an independent election governing institution? Assuming that a ruler prefers to maintain her power, basically she has an incentive to rig elections in order to be victorious in the political competition. A ruler, however, faces the risk of losing power if the opposition stages successful protests on a sufficiently large scale. If opponents are able to pose a credible threat to a ruler, she will have an incentive to hold fair elections. The problem is that information on electoral fraud is not shared by every player in the game. For the opposition, imperfect information deepens their coordination problems. Imperfect information, on the other hand, in some cases causes a problem for a ruler. If the opposition is sufficiently cohesive and have little tolerance of cheating, even unverified suspicions of fraud may trigger menacing protests. In such a case, a ruler has an incentive to establish an independent election commission to avoid unnecessary collisions by revealing the nature of the elections.

The urban middle class in the instability of new democracies

The recent revolts of the middle class in the national capitals of the Philippines and Thailand have raised a new question about democratic consolidation. Why would the urban middle class, which is expected to stabilize democracy, expel the democratically elected leaders through extra-constitutional action? This article seeks to explain such middle class deviation from democratic institutions through an examination of urban primacy and the change in the winning coalition. The authoritarian regime previously in power tended to give considerable favor to the primate city to prevent it revolting against the ruler, because it could have become a menace to his power. But after democratization the new administration shifts policy orientation from an urban to rural bias because it needs to garner support from rural voters to win elections. Such a shift dissatisfies the middle class in the primate city. In this article I take up the Philippines as a case study to examine this theory.

Establishing electoral administration systems in new democracies

The difficulty of holding fair elections continues to be a critical problem in many newly democratized countries. The core of the problem is the electoral administration's lack of political autonomy and capability to regulate fraud. This paper seeks to identify the conditions for establishing an autonomous and capable electoral administration system. An electoral administration system has two main functions: to disclose the nature of elections and to prevent fraud. We argue in this paper that an autonomous and capable electoral administration system exists if the major political players have the incentive to disclose the information on the elections and to secure the ruler's credible commitment to fair elections. We examine this argument through comparative case studies of Korea and the Philippines. Despite similar historical and institutional settings, their election commissions exhibit contrasting features. The difference in the incentive structures of the major political players seems to have caused the divergence in the institutional evolution of the election commissions in the two countries.

Boards of directors and bank performance in United Arab Emirates

This study presents an empirical analysis about corporate governance of financial institutions in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of the structure of board of directors on the performance of these institutions. To examine the effect of control exerted by particular families on bank management, we estimated models where the dependent variable is return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), independent variables are board of directors variables, and control variables are bank management variables. Our results show that the control of corporate governance by a ruler's family within a board of directors has a positive effect on bank profitability. Our results indicate that control by a ruler's family through a bank's board of directors compensates for the inadequacy of UAE's corporate governance system.

Artisan procedures to generate uniform tilings

This paper try to prove how artisans c ould discover all uniform tilings and very interesting others us ing artisanal combinatorial pro cedures without having to use mathematical procedures out of their reac h. Plane Geometry started up his way through History by means of fundamental drawing tools: ruler and co mpass. Artisans used same tools to carry out their orna mental patterns but at some point they began to work manually using physical representations of fi gures or tiles previously drawing by means of ruler and compass. That is an important step for craftsman because this way provides tools that let him come in the world of symmetry opera tions and empirical knowledge of symmetry groups. Artisans started up to pr oduce little wooden, ceramic or clay tiles and began to experiment with them by means of joining pieces whether edge to edge or vertex to vertex in that way so it can c over the plane without gaps. Economy in making floor or ceramic tiles could be most important reason to develop these procedures. This empiric way to develop tilings led not only to discover all uniform tilings but later discovering of aperiodic tilings.

Artisan procedures to generate uniform tilings

This paper try to prove how artisans c ould discover all uniform tilings and very interesting others us ing artisanal combinatorial pro cedures without having to use mathematical procedures out of their reac h. Plane Geometry started up his way through History by means of fundamental drawing tools: ruler and co mpass. Artisans used same tools to carry out their orna mental patterns but at some point they began to work manually using physical representations of fi gures or tiles previously drawing by means of ruler and compass. That is an important step for craftsman because this way provides tools that let him come in the world of symmetry opera tions and empirical knowledge of symmetry groups. Artisans started up to pr oduce little wooden, ceramic or clay tiles and began to experiment with them by means of joining pieces whether edge to edge or vertex to vertex in that way so it can c over the plane without gaps. Economy in making floor or ceramic tiles could be most important reason to develop these procedures. This empiric way to develop tilings led not only to discover all uniform tilings but later discovering of aperiodic tilings.

Determination of the distance between two spin labels attached to a macromolecule.

An EPR "spectroscopic ruler" was developed using a series of alpha-helical polypeptides, each modified with two nitroxide spin labels. The EPR line broadening due to electron-electron dipolar interactions in the frozen state was determined using the Fourier deconvolution method. These dipolar spectra were then used to estimate the distances between the two nitroxides separated by 8-25 A. Results agreed well with a simple alpha-helical model. The standard deviation from the model system was 0.9 A in the range of 8-25 A. This technique is applicable to complex systems such as membrane receptors and channels, which are difficult to access with high-resolution NMR or x-ray crystallography, and is expected to be particularly useful for systems for which optical methods are hampered by the presence of light-interfering membranes or chromophores.

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

The pamphlet-sized manuscript includes "The Book of Harvard" signed "Joseph Cummings, scriptis, Janr 7th 1767," an untitled two-page essay beginning, "Wisdom is ye Crown of life" and ending "Draught of Knowledge, let us with a laudable ambition, strive to excel each other in an ardent pursuit of Learning, then shall we raise to ourselves a monument of honest fame, which shall perish only in ye general wreak of nature," and on the last page, "An Accrostick" beginning "Jangling & Discord are thy Souls delight" and spelling out JAMES MITCHEL VARNUM dated July 3, 1767 and signed "The 3d edition revised & improved by Gove & Fogg."

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

Handwritten copy of the Book of Harvard written on one large sheet of paper and signed Boston, January 10th, 1767.

Collection of humorous verses and sketches relating to Harvard College, 1769

Manuscript volume in various hands containing three general sections: satirical poems about Harvard tutors, a section of "last words & dying" speeches of Harvard tutors, and a copy of the Book of Harvard."

Commonplace book of Clement Weeks

Commonplace book containing a transcription of the "The Book of Harvard," a satirical account of the Butter Rebellion of 1766 followed with supplementary text of "The Arguments in Defence of the Proceedings of the Scholars" and "The Confession that was made after all was done." The above occupies pp. 1-14; pp. 15-18 missing. Pages 19-23 hold excerpts from Edward Young's Conjectures on Original Composition. Pages 24-62 hold excerpts from Saint Augustine's Heresies. Finally pages 62-64 hold an excerpt of Druidical maxims from the introduction of the first volume of Paul Rapin de Thoyras' The History of England (1724).

Commonplace book : manuscript, 1820-1841

Written in several hands, some in red and black. Texts nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 are in the hand of Abdullah bin Abdulkadir.