Restructuring British Public Sector Industrial Relations: State Policies and Trade Union Responses

This article examines how Conservative governments restructured public sector in day trial relations in Britain between 1979 and 1997, and identifies the main components of trade union strategic response to change. It argues that Conservative policy is important for its impact upon trade union strategy and practice, and that public sector unions constitute the leading edge of trade union strategic modernization in Britain.     

美国两党治国政策的重新定位--克林顿的中间路线

20世纪以来 ,美国统治阶级的治国政策曾有过两次重大转折 :第一次是 30年代初民主党总统富兰克林·Ｄ .罗斯福摒弃了 2 0年代共和党的保守主义治国政策 ,实行以“国家干预”为特征的“新政” ,克服了空前严重的经济危机。此后 ,民主党的“新政”式新自由主义路线统治美国长达 40余年。第二次是 2 0世纪 80年代初共和党的罗纳德·里根总统 ,面对日益恶化的新的“滞胀”危机和民主党新自由主义路线的失灵 ,毅然转向新保守主义 ,全面推行以“自由市场”为特征的社会经济改革 ,创造了经济增长持续 92个月的里根式经济奇迹。然而 ,里根的新保守主…     

Ethnic Inequalities in the Public Sector: A Comparative Analysis

This article uses empirical data to discuss the links between ethnicity, inequality and governance in a framework that divides countries according to their levels of ethnic polarization. It makes three main arguments. First, types of diversity, not the existence of diversity per se, explain potentials for conflict or cohesion in multiethnic societies. Ethnic cleavages are configured differently in different social structures and are less conflictual in some countries than in others. Second, relative balance has been achieved in the public sectors of countries that are highly fragmented or those with ethnicity‐sensitive policies, but not in those with ethnicity‐blind policies. Third, the article is critical of institutional approaches to conflict management that underplay background conditions in shaping choices. Consociational arrangements may not be relevant in unipolar ethnic settings or fragmented multiethnic societies, where governments may be ethnically inclusive under democratic conditions. They seem unavoidable in ethnic settings with two or three main groups or in settings with strong ethnic/regional clusters.     

Outsourcing the Business of Development: The Rise of For-profit Consultancies in the UK Aid Sector

While much attention has been paid to the ways in which the private sector is now embedded within the field of development, one group of actors — for-profit development consultancies and contractors, or service providers — has received relatively little attention. This article analyses the growing role of for-profit consultancies and contractors in British aid delivery, which has been driven by two key trends: first, the outsourcing of managerial, audit and knowledge-management functions as part of efforts to bring private sector approaches and skills into public spending on aid; and second, the reconfiguration of aid spending towards markets and the private sector, and away from locally embedded, state-focused aid programming. The authors argue that both trends were launched under New Labour in the early 2000s, and super-charged under successive Conservative governments. The resulting entanglement means that the policies and practices of the UK government's aid agencies, and the interests and forms of for-profit service providers, are increasingly mutually constitutive. Amongst other implications, this shift acts to displace traditional forms of contestation and accountability of aid delivery.     

Public School Search Policies and the "Politics of Sin"

In recent years, high school students have been subjected to greater levels of drug searching and surveillance on school grounds. The effect of such searching is potentially wide-ranging, because public schools "play an important role in socializing students according to the norms and mores of society" ( Vergari, 2000 ). Using the "morality politics" framework, this study reports and analyzes the presence of random, suspicionless drug searches in the Nebraska public schools. Whereas most studies of morality policy have focused on the state as the unit of analysis, we consider the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of principals in regards to drug policies in schools. Our findings, based on a survey of 181 high school principals, reflect several features of morality policy. There has been a significant rise in the number of random drug searches, despite the principals' observation that these measures neither lessen drug use nor catch perpetrators. The most important predictors of drug policy are pressure from local sources, perception of the problem within the community (but not the schools), and the racial composition of schools. Principals articulate limited concern for student rights, and students largely accept searches without resistance. In the discussion, we consider these findings in light of recent court rulings and introduce the potential ramifications of waging the drug war in our nation's classrooms and hallways.     

The Effect of Public Infrastructure on the Private Productive Sector of Spanish Regions

In this paper we analyze the effect of infrastructure on the cost and productivity performance of the private productive sector of Spanish regions over the period 1980–1993. We use a dual approach based on cost functions that allows us to recover the usual parameters estimated with production functions. In addition, we obtain rates of return and cost elasticities of production factors at the regional level. Our framework explicitly considers that some factors are quasi-fixed and their volume can differ from their optimal endowment levels. Our results indicate that the public sector has contributed significantly to enhance productivity and reduce costs in the private sector of almost every Spanish region. Nevertheless, there is still scope for the government to continue its investment efforts, given that there remains an appreciable gap between observed and optimal public capital, and we find that in the long run, public capital promotes private investment.     

Private Benefits and Public Costs: Policies to Address Suburban Sprawl

The uneven development and disparities that exist in most metropolitan regions are the consequence of a combination of private decisions and public policies. Public policy can also redress some of these inequities and redirect the pattern of growth. The article discusses individual policies—ranging from congestion pricing to regional governance—in detail. Each policy is assessed in terms of its contribution to slowing metropolitan deconcentration, its feasibility of implementation, and its power to redress inequities. Four policies appear most promising: the utilization.of impact fees, especially on a supra-local level; reverse commuting programs; special taxing districts for regionwide amenities; and continued revitalization efforts in the central city     

Voluntary Environmental Programs in the Public Sector: Evaluating an Urban Water Conservation Program in California

Solving conflictual environmental policy problems is increasingly falling under the purview of local governments and public agencies. Nonregulatory approaches, such as the development of voluntary environmental programs (VEPs), could offer a useful policy alternative as they often have greater political traction and flexibility. However, there has been little work examining the use of VEPs in the public sector. This article uses a new dataset from California to examine how political institutions affect decisions by local governments and public agencies to participate in a voluntary urban water conservation program and whether this program has improved the water conservation performance of its members. The results show that special district governments, private utilities, and water suppliers dependent on purchased water are more likely to participate in the program and to join early. However, urban water agencies that have joined the program have not reduced their per capita water use more than those that have not. These results underscore the influence of political institutions in public‐sector decision making and demonstrate that, as in the private sector, commitment to a VEP by local government and public agencies does not guarantee implementation or environmental improvements. While voluntary programs offer political and administrative advantages, in order for VEPs in the public sector to be effective they must be accompanied and supported by credible enforcement mechanisms, performance standards, and rigorous monitoring programs.     

A Multipopulation Comparison of the Diffusion of Public Organizations and Policies across Space and Time

This study examined the longitudinal spatial diffusion of state government policies and their related implementation organizations in the American states. The impact of coercive, institutional, and competitive processes on policy and state agency adoption were considered, as well as how aspects of the underlying policy can impact the degree of spatial diffusion. The rises of 27 different policy populations were analyzed over time, each representing not only a different policy form but a distinct implementation organization.
The policy adoption/spatial diffusion relationship across all populations was examined and results showed that the degree of spatial diffusion varied greatly. Analysis of potential relationship moderators indicated that federal impetus (coercive processes) led to an absence of spatial diffusion. Policies with an institutional basis also showed an absence of spatial diffusion while competition-based policies diffused spatially.     

Ireland and the Grail

Betty Potter's Dip, an unmarked roadside location at Boxted in Essex, is named after Elizabeth Potter, an eighteenth-century suicide who was buried there. Folklore has since assumed that she was a witch. This paper examines the events surrounding Elizabeth Potter's death and burial in relation to the practice of burying suicides by the roadside, and discusses why some roadside burials may have been associated with witches.     

Poverty Reduction and SAM Multipliers: An Evaluation of Public Policies in a Regional Framework

The objective of this paper is to obtain several poverty reduction effects by using multipliers based on social accounting matrices. Expressions relating them to Foster, Greer and Thorbecke poverty measures were derived, and two simulations were carried out for the Spanish region of Extremadura. In the first, we posited a per capita transfer equivalent to certain social policy instruments already existing in this region. Structural path analysis is also used to determine the paths by which poverty reduction effects are transmitted. In the second, we calculate the minimum government expenditure in transfers needed to reduce the regional poverty indices to the national values. The results confirmed that the main feature of poverty in Extremadura is incidence.     

Planning Policies,Market Processes and Public Attitudes: Evidence from Central Perth

Australian central cities have undergone fundamental changes during the last decade. They have typically experienced massive office construction, while losing much of their residential communities, architectural and cultural heritage, retailing role and some recreational attractions. Government authorities have facilitated and participated in many central city projects. A metropolitan-wide survey conducted in Perth on these subjects shows increased dependence on the private car, increased preference for suburban living and shopping, but some willingness to consider central city living, a demand for further community participation in central city planning, and a preference for the future expansion of most non-office activities in the central area. The survey indentified notable gaps between government policies for the development of Perth's central area on one hand, and the preferences of Perth's residents on the other.