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Despite extensive literature examining human rights decoupling between treaty commitments and practices, little research has addressed how to fill these empty promises. This paper proposes a mechanism neglected in prior studies that might play an important role in narrowing human rights decoupling and improving world society model compliance: foreign aid. Using longitudinal analysis on a sample of 120 aid-receiving countries between 1981 and 2011, we find: total aid has a significant effect on reducing human rights decoupling; aid to good governance shows a similar pattern but the impact is much weaker; by contrast, aid to human rights has limited influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the institutionalist literature on decoupling. Based on that literature, it proposes an analytic framework to consider state characteristics that lead to decoupling: commitment, capacity and context, or 'the 3Cs'. Then, using this framework, it assesses what sorts of aid initiatives we would expect to see to answer the question 'How can aid reduce or increase decoupling gaps?' Finally, it presents several possible combinations of the 3Cs and examples of how the presence or absence of one or all of these components have increased or reduced decoupling in ongoing or concluded aid interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term ‘aid orphan’ refers to a developing country forgotten or abandoned by the development community. This metaphor has featured prominently in the development assistance policy and research literature over the past decade. Development practitioners, policy makers and researchers have defined aid orphans in manifold ways and often expressed concern over the potential fate or impact of such countries. In this paper we first examine the many definitions of aid orphans and then review the main concerns raised about them. Next we empirically examine more than 40 years of bilateral aid data to identify aid orphan countries and their common characteristics. Our findings suggest that very few countries meet the definition of aid orphan and fewer still raise the concerns collectively expressed about the orphan phenomenon. We conclude by suggesting researchers and practitioners abandon the orphan metaphor and instead focus on issues of equitable aid allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent scandals in the media have questioned the legitimacy of and public trust in international NGOs (INGOs). Yet, little research has explored the complex relationships that influence public trust in INGOs. This article addresses this knowledge gap by analysing data from an experimental survey of English-speaking Canadian residents to explore how trust varies based on the different ways INGOs are framed and the individual determinants that influence public trust. The results reveal critical factors influencing the trust of Canadians in INGOs and inform strategies to regain public trust to safeguard their role on the world development stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its implementation, several studies have asserted that theYouth Criminal Justice Act[YCJA] (2003) has been successful in lessening the number of Canadian youth sent to court and later incarcerated. However, earlier work has not addressed the limitations of the YCJA in provinces where its provisions have only been partially implemented due to limited resources. Analyses of quantitative data derived from a survey of police officers in an Atlantic province reveals that knowledge of the YCJA and YCJA procedures is a poor predictor of officers’ likelihood to use extrajudicial (diversion) measures. Analysis of the open-ended portion of our survey, however, provides an explanation: the Act has not been fully implemented here because of resource limitations, which affect an officer’s ability to adhere to the YCJA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]