Animal cruelty, foie gras, pigeons, aid policy and public affairs

• Date: 01 November 2016
• Author: Phil Harris
• Published date: 01 November 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1638

EDITORIAL

Animal cruelty, foie gras, pigeons, aid policy and public affairs

This general issue of the Journal of Public affairs includes papers exam-

ining a range of subjects from development aid policy to concern about

perception of pigeons and policy towards specialist food products such

as foie gras. The articles demonstrate the international spread of con-

tributions to the journal as well as its international readership. The

journal's policy of encouraging international and interdisciplinary con-

tributions of relevance to both academics and practitioners will con-

tinue despite recent political changes on both sides of the Atlantic

which suggest a growing isolationist governmental orientation.

The first article is by Emmanuel, Yeboah‐Assiamah of the School

of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch Campus,

South Africa and Kwame Asamoah, Justice Nyigmah Bawole, and

Thomas Buabeng and is entitled “Public Sector Leadership‐Subordi-

nate Ethical Diffusion Conundrum: Perspectives from Developing Afri-

can Countries”.

It is a very interesting case focusing on research into how ethics and

values can be built up within the African public sector. It draws on two

case studies and uses the attraction–selection–attritionand sociallearn-

ing models; the study assesses how superiors influence street‐level pub-

lic employees' interactions with clients. Drawing from existing cases and

other secondary data, the authors propose a leadership‐ethical diffusion

modelthat argues that subordinates' perception and experience of supe-

riors' behavior tend to create a kind of organizational “ethical group-

think,”which spans the rank and file of the organization.

The next article is by Emma, Harris, and EP de Crom of the Applied

BehaviouralEcology and Ecosystem Research Unit, Department of Agri-

culture and Environmental, Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida,

South Africa and A. Wilson of the Tshwane University of Technology,

Pretoria, South Africa. It is entitled “Pigeons and People: Mortal Enemies

or Lifelong Companions? A Case Study on Staff Perceptions of the

Pigeons on the University of South Africa, Muckleneuk Campus”.

The authors argue that pigeons have been part of our lives as long

as we can remember some people view them with joy and others dis-

dain. Regardless of perceptions, control measures are often imple-

mented against the birds in a bid to reduce their presence in urban

environments without considering the views of members of the public

in the process. Complaints about pigeon activity are, typically, given

more attention than praise for these birds. However, people who are

supportive of pigeons are often not provided with the forum to

express their views of the birds. By considering peoples' perceptions,

attitudes, and behaviors towards urban wildlife, management strate-

gies can be significantly informed in the process of mitigating conflict.

This is a detailed study into birds and urban wildlife and their interac-

tion with staff and students on a South African University campus.

The study shows that the negative perception of pigeons, which

was assumed to be the position of all the people affected by the

pigeons at the University of South Africa's Muckleneuk campus, is in

fact incorrect. Participants would rather encourage the nesting and

breeding activities of the pigeons on campus, as they felt that the

human–pigeon interactions and the viewing of squabs in nests contrib-

uted positively to their work environment. Pigeon control strategies

should therefore not solely be on the biological aspect of a perceived

pigeon infestation and problem, but should also include the human

association and interaction with the birds, which can be appreciated

and enjoyed, and add to people's well‐being. Some people like pigeons;

others do not suspect it has always been the case, and we have been

living together for many centuries in urban areas.

The third article is by Kanol, Direnç of Political Science at Near

East University, Nicosia, Turkey and is entitled “The Impact of Democ-

racy on Interest Group System Institutionalization”. The paper argues

that it is the paper that provides the first large‐Nstudy, which mea-

sures the variation in interest group system institutionalization. It

argues that the level of democracy is a very strong determinant of

strength of interest groups across countries. Findings are corroborated

by analyzing a case on Tunisia to alleviate the reverse causality prob-

lem. Implications for comparative interest groups and democracy

research are discussed.

The next article is by Warsame, Mohammed Hersi of the Depart-

ment of Finance and Economics, University of Sharjah, United Arab

Emirates and Edward, Mugambi Ireri of ITROMID, Jomo Kenyatta Uni-

versity of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya and is entitled

“Does International Monetary AID Help or Hinder Somalia's Social

Economic Revival?”

The authors argue that the government of Somalia has been

accused of lacking transparency and proper accounting systems. This

study investigates international monetary aid in Somalia's social and

economic revival. A purposely chosen sample of Somalis living in

Kenya (N= 204) was used. Approximately 59.4% disagreed that the

lives of a great number of Somali people have improved, and 65.2%

acknowledged that there was lack of integrity and expertise in the

management of foreign aids. The study suggests that the key to suc-

cess of monetary aid in Somalia largely depends on developing good

financial infrastructure based on modern information technology and

telecommunication, the establishment of strong financial institutions

with good financial and aid policies, and enhanced transparency and

rigorous accountability of Somalia government officials.

The fifth article is by Garayar, Ainhoa of the Financial Economy I,

University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia–San Sebastián,

DOI 10.1002/pa.1638

J Public Affairs 2016; 16: 317–319 Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 317