Civilian support is central to the success of counterinsurgent campaigns. Harm to civilians, and who harms them, infuences when and with whom non-combatants collaborate. Drawing on newly declassi ed military records and a novel instrumental variables approach, we nd robust, direct evidence that civilians respond to victimization by insurgents by providing intelligence to security forces in Afghanistan. These results clarify the conditions under which civilian casualties can shape the course of internal war, with implications for future research on political violence.
Political protests are one of the effective ways for citizens to influence authority. Despite a widespread opinion about the preeminent role of opposition parties in the formation of protests, some research shows that the activity of ordinary citizens, activists is more valued in this matter. However, in his article a professor of George Washington University Julian G. Waller shows that everything is ambiguous. Perception of the impact of an opposition party on political protests depends on political beliefs of citizens as well as on demographic characteristics. On the presentation of the article «Popular Perceptions and the De Facto Role of Political Parties in the Euromaidan Protests of 2013-2014» this result was covered in more detail.
On June 4, 2017, the annual festival ‘The Whole World at HSE’ took place in the courtyard of the HSE building on Shabolovka Street. In our photo report, we present lectures, workshops, Armenian dances, Mongolian sweets, the nardi game from Azerbaijan, and many other things that people saw at the festival.
Do public councils matter for development of civil society? Or their activity is just window dressing? Actually, according to research, these state agencies play a rather important role. For instance, the council attached to MVD takes part in sponsor programs aimed at development of the region as well as controls police activity. On the presentation of the article «Managed Civil Society and the Realities of Police Oversight in Russia» the professor of University of Massachusetts Amherst Lauren A. McCarthy spoke about this in more detail.
Every year, the HSE family welcomes representatives of new countries and becomes more interesting and diverse. On June 4, 2017, international students will talk to visitors about their home countries and introduce them to their cultures at The Whole World at HSE festival. To give you a quick pre-festival snapshot of how international HSE is, we’ve brought together ten facts about the university international life for you.
From May 29 to June 18 students can vote for HSE’s best teachers of the academic year. This year there is no need to come to the university to vote. Students can submit their scores online via LMS.
The relationships between the government and operators are regulated by a contract. In theory such contracts offer a choice among a continuum of options, but due to the complexity, it is impossible to realize them. Therefore the government usually offers a contract with just two alternatives, for instance, a fixed-price or a cost-plus one. However, using such binary contracts instead of the ones obtained in theory leads to a sufficient decrease in social welfare. On the presentation of the article «Full versus binary menus: What are the welfare gains?» the professor of Paris School of Economics David Martimort told us how, actually, big the loss of the society is.
After the collapse of the Communist system left parties found themselves in a difficult situation. Some of them preferred to adapt to the reality and changed radical views to more democratic ones, while others remained faithful to their ideology. According to research, the last managed to retain support of workers and lower middle class. However, those left parties that had become more democratic lost their traditional constituency, most of which turned to radical right parties. On the presentation of the article «The Left Parties Choices and The Emergence of The Radical Right» the postgraduate student of Columbia University Maria Snegovaya explained why that happened.
Topic: "Do institutions cause social trust? Evidence from an institutional reform"
Interpersonal trust has a great impact on life quality and economic development. What are its origins? Why are people in some countries inclined to trust each other while in others they are not? In his work "Do institutions cause social trust? Evidence from an institutional reform» NRU HSE research fellow Denis Ivanov told us how police reform and control of corruption can influence the level of social trust.
From April 11 to 14, HSE is holding its XVIII April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development. Conference Programme Committee members Fuad Alekserov and Andrei Yakovlev discuss the key themes and main reports that will be presented at the conference. This conference will draw around 2,000 people, including 200 international participants.
