#two-level

[geniewithwifi]

Uncovered Deck Large elegant backyard deck photo with no cover

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HC upholds two-level entry RTE rules in Maharashtra schools

HC upholds two-level entry RTE rules in Maharashtra schools

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court in an important order on Friday upheld the Maharashtra government’s rules that specified two entry levels — one at the pre primary and the second one at class 1 — for admissions under the twenty five per cent quota under the Right To Education. A division bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice Vijay Achliya upheld the 25 per cent quota and asked the state to set up…

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[moonhawk-work]

Secrecy and Meta-Secrecy in International Negotiations

The Poll of Political Scientists (POPS) by Jensen, Colaresi and Schneider sent out a new five-minute poll this morning. It was mostly about the effects of the Trans Pacific Partnership's (TPP) draft text secrecy on the likelihood of 1) the agreement passing the U.S. Senate and 2) the U.S. getting a good deal in the TPP negotiations.

Thinking about this for a few seconds led me to the following thought, which I included in my survey response:

The effect of secrecy may be more complex. When citizens don't know what they don't know (secrecy with meta-secrecy), political leaders can have greater maneuverability to pass the legislation in question. However, when citizens know what they don't know (secrecy without meta-secrecy) due to media coverage and controversy about the secrecy, political leaders may be constrained.

The convention wisdom on the secrecy/obscurity of international negotiations and agreements is that they limit posturing by domestic leaders and increase the likelihood of the agreement ratification. In the era of Snowden and Wikileaks, however, draft texts can leak out and the secrecy itself---in addition to the substance of what is negotiated---can become controversial. These changes can potentially backfire and not simply reduce the benefit of secrecy but transform secrecy into a net cost for governments.

[if-benny-asks]