Research Roundup

In its first survey of a US-based corporation for human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch details Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association, a 214-page report detailing the "sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of [Wal-Mart's] anti-union apparatus and actions" -tactics that take advantage of failings in United States labor law which allow companies to deny US workers internationally recognized labor rights.

Americans are impatient with political leaders and want immediate action to address the threat of global warming, according to a new survey by the Center for American Progress and pollsters Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.   Among the findings,  60% of the public believe that pollution is causing global warming and “we must take action now or it will be too late to stop it.”?

In Oklahoma, the Community Action Project has a new issue brief, Growing Oklahoma's Economy, which reviews the evidence of what policies drive regional economic growth.  The report emphasizes that the most effective strategies focus on public investment in schools, health and infrastructure to provide the context for vibrant business growth.  Tax cuts, on the other hand, are generally unfocused and do little to effect investment decisions by businesses.

Better data collection and use of information technologies by government can dramatically improve our ability to address key problems from environmental management to better coordination of public employee time.  The Center for American Progress outlines case studies of success by government using information technology in Governing by the Numbers and The CitiStat Model.

In Tipping Frames, the corporate social responsibility consultancy Lifeworth surveys how global mobilizations on issues like climate change, fair trade, and human rights are putting new pressures on businesses to change their practices-- or leading those businesses to try to strategically co-opt criticism by "reframing" business actions to appear more benign than they really are.