In Defense of “Public Reason”: Supreme Court Justice William Johnson

For those of us who gravitate toward rebels and upstarts, Supreme Court Justice William Johnson has uncommon appeal, if only because he was the first member of the federal Bench to kick up his heels in a sustained, effective, and deliberate way. In 1954, Johnson's only biographer, Donald Morgan, proclaimed him “the first dissenter,” ¹ a force for democratization in the style of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, the man who persuaded Chief Justice John Marshall to compromise on the question of unitary opinions and institutionalize (if not applaud) publication of concurring or dissenting departures from the majority's official reasoning.     

A Public Faith—but for Everyone and Every Public?

Abstract

Miroslav Volf’s sets out a strong, good thesis about the freedom religious people ought to have to participate in public as fully themselves, as religious people. This thesis is in tension with the fact that some people seek to harm others, or to radically compromise public life itself, in the name of their religion. Along the way, Volf makes a number of points that seem puzzling, at least overstated, but perhaps even incoherent with other claims he makes or with data that he likely also knows. I raise the possibility that the author’s social location may help to explain at least some of these debatable features of his otherwise salutary book.     

The Reagan “Mandate,” Public Law and the Ethics of Policy Change

The development of post-election polling techniques makes it possible to examine the nature of electoral mandates more precisely, and therefore to compare them with the mandate claims of winners. On that basis, we can more accurately assess the limits of the “administrative presidency” in individual cases. This article first summarizes the evidence regarding the 1980 Reagan mandate, and then proceeds to describe prominent cases in which his administration tried (with uneven success) to reverse or greatly re-orient purported statutory intent. Finally, it sketches some propositions regarding the appropriate limits of policy change in the absence of changes in organic statutes, and evaluates the cases discussed in light of these propositions, suggesting that a legitimate part of executive discretion revolves around how to reach statutory goals but not whether to pursue them. It concludes that the limits of what has to be permissible for effective operation of the system are probably broader than critics of any particular president's policy positions may prefer to see.     

Soviet Public Diplomacy in China: “Small Steps” towards Bilateral Rapprochement (1978–1985)

The paper examines the use of public diplomacy within the framework of the ‘small steps’ policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mutual distrust, the fragility of the global balance of power and the absence of consensus within the political elites precluded China and the USSR from having productive dialogue through official diplomatic channels. Yet both sides felt the need to probe their counterpart’s intentions. The paper argues that the ‘small steps’ policy was one of the most logical options for both the Soviet Union and China at the time; it laid the groundwork for further normalisation efforts.     

Anarchy and Public Discourse: Emerson,Lincoln and the “Mobocratic Spirit” of the 1830s

Abstract

In January 1838, Emerson and Lincoln each gave a lecture on the public violence that reached a crisis with the killing of Elijah Lovejoy. For both men, mobbing represented instabilities in the process of democratization that had structural implications for public discourse. In his Lyceum Address, Lincoln argues that if mobbing became conventionalized it could legitimize an extralegal politics of force and coercion. To counterbalance the pressure he saw mobbing place on civil society, Lincoln asserts the importance of developing a culture of reverence for standards of civility in the public sphere. For Emerson, in his lecture “Heroism,” mobbing marked irrational but intentional efforts to suppress dissenting speech and thought. Especially through attacks on political reformers and other individualists, public violence distorted civil discourse and enforced both conformity and silence. For both Lincoln and Emerson, the experience of mob action challenging civil society in the 1830s marked the proximity of civil to uncivil discourse and influenced their responses to proslavery rhetoric in the 1850s. Though they reacted differently, each articulates the risks of allowing the threatened violence of proslavery rhetoric to co-opt the political structure so that civil discourse acted as a façade legitimizing mob rule.     

“Going Public” Reconsidered: Reagan's 1981 Tax and Budget Cuts,and Revisionist Theories of Presidential Power

This paper examines the thesis of the public presidency. In light of the success of Ronald Reagan, many revisionist scholars have criticized traditional models of presidential politics. Whereas traditional views emphasized the bargaining presidency, these recent scholars now argue that, today, the politics of rhetoric dominate the politics of bargaining. This paper examines the central case study of the going-public model, Reagan's 1981 tax and budget cuts, a critical case because it represents Reagan's central legislative success and because many scholars and pundits have credited this success to Reagan's frequent televised public appeals. The case reveals that a strong bargaining dynamic played a part in the 1981 process, and that going public strategies were not as dominant as previously thought.

What has changed significantly is the balance of incentives and constraints that influence strategic choice and the kinds of politicians in the Oval Office who make them. Contemporary presidents, after carefully considering their options, will choose going public over bargaining more often than did their predecessors.

–Samuel Kernell, Going Public     

The Public’s Archaeology: Utilizing Ethnographic Methods to Link Public Education with Accountability in Archaeological Practice

This paper discusses exploratory PhD research which utilized ethnographic methods in an attempt to understand the myriad connections to archaeology, history, and heritage in a small Indiana town. I rejected an initial hypothesis that archaeological resources are an integral part of collective cultural identities and, instead, discovered that talking with living people can facilitate more effective communication and collaboration between archaeologists and local communities by making research and educational efforts contextualized and community-based. Through discussions with local stakeholders, I believe all archaeologists have better opportunities to link the professional ethics of accountability, public education, and stewardship in their research.     

When Does Cooperation Improve Public Policy Implementation?

Interorganizational cooperation is often considered valuable in the public sector. However, in this article it is suggested that the impact of cooperation on public policy implementation is dependent on the type of policy being carried out. It is argued that complex policies are more effectively put into practice if agencies cooperate a lot, whereas less difficult tasks are handled just as well without interorganizational cooperation. Thus, two policies within the Swedish active labor market policy are examined. The empirical test focuses on the cooperation between Public Employment Service offices and municipal labor market administrations. In agreement with the hypothesis, the findings suggest that policy matters. The implementation of one of the policies—the complex policy—is enhanced if cooperation between agencies increase. On the other hand, cooperation does not improve implementation of the less complex task. The study is based on quantitative data.     

“邻”“里”“街”“坊”

“乡”、“县”、“州”这些今天还在沿用的行政单位,在诞生之初与“家”的概念息息相关。古代统治者为了加强国家的统治,便于政令的实施,完善赋税的管理,把一定数量的“户”固定在一定范围的土地之内,     

The Press and Public Diplomacy in Iran, 1820–1940

The under-appreciated role of the press as a tool of public diplomacy was rooted in its origins as a Qajar state project in the nineteenth century, but also cultivated by a shared impulse of Iranian journalists and statesmen to represent Iran effectively in the court of world opinion. Moreover, foreign governments often reacted to the Iranian press generally, not just the official newspapers and not just newspapers produced in Iran, as a forum though which to advance or protect their interests in Iran. The Pahlavi state integrated the press as part of a larger state-run mass communication policy in the 1930s that would eventually include new technologies such as radio, and retained public diplomacy as an essential purpose of the media. This study draws upon archival material, press accounts, and memoirs.     

Public Health: Neue Perspektiven für Geographinnen und Geographen

Gesundheitswesen und Gesundheitspolitik stehen vor neuen Herausforderungen und Problemen, deren L?sung der Entwicklung innovativer Konzepte bedarf. Der Wandel des Krankheitspanoramas, der Anstieg von Durchschnittsalter und Lebenserwartung, die rasante Neu- und Weiterentwicklung diagnostischer und therapeutischer Methoden und die nicht zuletzt damit in Zusammenhang stehende Kostenentwicklung im Gesundheitswesen sind wesentliche Aspekte dieser komplexen Problematik.     

Non-governmental Organizations in Africa: Can They Influence Public Policy?

As non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accumulate experience at implementing development projects, they sometimes attempt to increase their influence by engaging in policy advocacy. This article analyses the organizational conditions under which national NGOs in Africa have been able to influence the formulation of agricultural and rural development policies. Case studies are presented of three African NGOs that have sought, with varying degrees of success, to represent the ‘voice’ of the rural poor to policy-makers. Comparative analysis of these cases leads to the conclusion that policy advocacy is most likely to be effective in organizations that have several key characteristics: an homogeneous membership, a federated structure, a focused programme, informal ties with political leaders, and a domestic funding base.