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Daily Archives: January 30, 2018

Ensuring Access to Information: International Law’s Contribution to Global Justice

Benvenisti, Eyal, Ensuring Access to Information: International Law’s Contribution to Global Justice (December 1, 2017). GlobalTrust Working Paper Series 2017-09; University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 17/2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3106885

“This essay examines the role of international law is in promoting indirectly global (and domestic) distributive justice. This focus on institutions and processes at the global level is grounded on the assumption that questions of the just allocation and reallocation of resources are ultimately resolved through processes of public deliberation or open contestation (including through the involvement of courts). I argue that the key to approaching a more just allocation of resources is by addressing the democratic deficits that underlie the skewed distribution (or the lack of redistribution) of assets and opportunities. My claim is that international law can play a role in the political empowerment of weak constituencies (within and between states). In doing so, international law can indirectly shape the distribution and redistribution of resources, in a manner that is more dignified and preferable to handing them charitable contributions. Just like the empowerment of labor by the freedom of association, legal intervention that empowers disadvantaged communities will not only increase their bargaining power, but also enable them to function as agents rather than as charity recipients.”

The Business of Planting Trees

The Nature Conservancy: “Approximately 41 million trees are cut down every day—far faster than we are currently replanting them. The consequences of deforestation and other types of land degradation are severe, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, and declines in ecosystem services that hundreds of millions of people depend on. In response, governments around the world… Continue Reading

Citizen Satisfaction with US Federal Government Advances to 11-Year High

American Customer Satisfaction Survey (ACSI) – Federal Government Report 2017: “Citizen satisfaction with U.S. federal government services improves for a second year, increasing 2.5% to 69.7 on a 0 to 100 scale. This uptick follows a huge gain in 2016, which was the biggest one-year improvement for government in nearly 20 years of ACSI measurement.… Continue Reading

Review – best free anonymous browsing software for Windows

TechRadarPro: “If you’re looking for the best free privacy software to help you browse the web anonymously, then you’ve come to the right place, as we’ve listed the top choices to help protect your privacy. There are plenty of legitimate reasons why you’d like to use privacy software to browse anonymously.  As well as preventing… Continue Reading

Banking Law: An Overview of Federal Preemption in the Dual Banking System

CRS report via FAS: Banking Law: An Overview of Federal Preemption in the Dual Banking System, Jay B. Sykes, Legislative Attorney. January 23, 2018. “Banks play a critical role in the United States economy, channeling funds from savers to borrowers and thereby facilitating economic activity. To address the risks of bank failures and excessive risk-taking,… Continue Reading

Metrics Toolkit provides evidence-based information about research metrics across disciplines

“The Metrics Toolkit is a resource for researchers and evaluators that provides guidance for demonstrating and evaluating claims of research impact.  With the Toolkit you can quickly understand what a metric means, how it is calculated, and if it’s good match for your impact question. The Metrics Toolkit provides evidence-based information about research metrics across… Continue Reading