“Acceptable risk”: The case of nuclear power

The key policy question in managing hazardous technologies is often some variant of: “How safe is safe enough?” A typical response of regulatory agencies has been to lay down minimum requirements for how hazardous facilities should be built and operated, without specifying the level of safety that it is hoping to achieve. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, charged with regulating safety in nuclear power plants, has recently tackled the safety question directly, by adopting “safety goals” that facilities must meet. The NRC's approach proves to be sophisticated in some respects, incomplete in others. More generally, it points up the inherent difficulties that exist with the concept of “acceptable risk” and with any attempt to build policy instruments around it. Lessons from the NRC case apply to other hazardous technologies, as well as to public policies unrelated to safety.     

Runaway Bureaucracy? Exploring the Role of Nordic Regulatory Agencies in the European Union

This article reports a comparative study of the Environmental Regulatory Agencies in Norway, Denmark and Finland. Increasingly and relatively independently these agencies are taking part in transnational networks in the European Union involving the European Commission. An informal penetration, fuelled by faster electronic technology, is taking place between the European Commission and the regulatory agencies, largely outside the control of the domestic politico-administrative leadership. Changes in the character of the states' public administrations serve as an important background for these developments, a distinctive feature being the 'agencification' of the administrative apparatus during the last decades. Due to their relative autonomy, the national regulatory agencies are well placed to work 'double-hatted' in the sense that they interact directly with the European Commission at the same time as they perform traditional tasks as agents of national ministries. This development may challenge the image of integrated administrative apparatus and the notion of transparent and democratic governance.     

Empires built on sand: On the fundamental implausibility of reactor safety assessments and the implications for nuclear regulation

This paper explores the nature of expert knowledge-claims made about catastrophic reactor accidents and the processes through which they are produced. Using the contested approval of the AP1000 reactor by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a case study and drawing on insights from the Science and Technology Studies (STS) literature, it finds that the epistemological foundations of safety assessments are counterintuitively distinct from most engineering endeavors. As a result, it argues, those assessments (and thus their authority) are widely misconstrued by publics and policymakers. This misconstrual, it concludes, has far-reaching implications for nuclear policy, and it outlines how scholars, policymakers, and others might build on a revised understanding of expert reactor assessments to differently frame, and address, a range of questions pertaining to the risks and governance of atomic energy.     

Public Expenditure Management Reform in India via Intergovernmental Transfers

This paper explores the possibility of using the channel of intergovernmental transfers for Public Expenditure Management reform in India. It seeks to introduce a quantifiable measure of expenditure quality which would influence intergovernmental transfers. The central message of this study is that a Quality Control Fund should be created by the Finance Commission. Inter‐se distribution from this would be in the nature of a reward to the states for their performance in the context of expenditure quality. The funds received from this incentive fund could be tied to spending on education and health. It would be a major change of approach if the Finance Commission mandated the States to set out some realistic output targets which could be monitored (would be reviewed by the next Finance Commission). This would be a big stride toward results‐based output‐oriented transfers and could herald a sea change in the very approach of budgeting and intergovernmental relations in India!     

Human Rights Abuses in Bangladeshi Policing: the Protection Capacity of National Human Rights Commission

This paper is about human rights and policing in Bangladesh, with special focus on the role of National Human Rights Commission. The protection and promotion of human rights in Bangladesh has become difficult as the law enforcement agencies, particularly the police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), are involved in human rights violations. An overall culture of impunity for human rights violations exists in Bangladesh. The National Human Rights Commission appears to have failed to break the culture of impunity in Bangladeshi politics. This paper explains the reasons why the National Human Rights Commission in Bangladesh largely fails to make the political system in particular law enforcement agencies accountable.     

Wholesaling in Electricity: Inching Along

This article discusses the incremental but increasingly assertive efforts by federal policy makers toward encouraging deregulation of the electric utility industry. Focusing on the efforts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), we conclude that the federal government is involved in a sort of two‐sided experiment. On the one hand, efforts to deregulate the electric power industry attempt to establish a competitive market pose the question: Can government provide rational guidance in the formation of markets in a complex industry? On the other hand, it asks whether the democratic process can permit agencies such as FERC to impose and implement an economically rational design on a self‐interested pubic that is mostly interested in cheap, reliable power. In a sense, FERC is auditioning for a new role for regulatory agencies—as designers and overseers of markets. This is a dramatic shift from the traditional role of “regulator as policeman.” Whether regulators are up to the task remains to be seen.     

When risk‐based regulation aims low: A strategic framework

This article develops a strategic framework for regulators to employ when choosing intervention strategies for dealing with low risks and reviewing performance, building on the analysis by the same authors in the previous edition of this journal. The framework occupies the operational “middle ground” between risk analysis and formal enforcement action. At its core is a matrix, the Good Regulatory Intervention Design (GRID), which provides a framework to categorize sites or activities on the basis of two factors: the nature of the risk and the nature of the regulatee. Using GRID, regulators can select which intervention tools to use, and determine the overall level of regulatory intensity that should apply. GRID is accompanied by the Good Regulatory Assessment Framework (GRAF) for agencies to use in reviewing their performance and provides a step‐by‐step process for enabling “double loop learning.” The article also argues that the process of developing such a framework highlighted the extent to which “low risk” and “high risk” regulation are distinct. “Low risk” means “low priority.” Justifying why certain risks should not receive much regulatory attention requires a particular type of engagement, and has a bearing on the regulatory strategies that are adopted.     

Regulating Atomic Energy in the American Federal System

Congress totally preempted the regulation of ionizing radiationin 1946. In 1954 it authorized the private development and useof atomic energy. In 1959, Congress authorized the Atomic EnergyCommission to enter into agreements with states under whicha state can assume certain regulatory responsibilities. As of1987, twenty-nine states had signed agreements. Congress hasenacted several statutes structuring national-state relationsin the field of atomic energy since the Atomic Energy Act of1959. The Low Level Radioactive Policy Act of 1980 makes statesresponsible for disposing of low-level radioactive wastes generatedwithin their respective borders. The Nuclear Waste Policy Actof 1982 established a procedure for locating a site for a high-levelwaste facility. The Secretary of Energy can select a site subjectto a veto by a governor or state legislature and an overrideof the veto by Congress. Two major regulatory developments occurredin 1987. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission amended its rulesand regulations to allow the licensing of new nuclear powerplants in the absence of state and local government participationin emergency evacuation plans for residents living near suchplants. In addition, Congress disregarded its 1982 procedurefor selecting a high-level radioactive waste site by choosingNevada as the site.     

The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: A Failure of Policy Not Strategic Intelligence Analysis

Abstract

The 9/11 terrorist attacks have been intensively examined as both tactical and strategic intelligence failures but less attention has been paid to the policy failures which preceded them. Perhaps this is due to the presumption that intelligence analysis influences decision-making as a precursor to and foundation for policy. This assumption about the influence of analysis on decision deserves a much closer examination. The 9/11 terrorist attacks provide a good case to study for greater understanding of the influence, or lack of influence, that intelligence analysis has on decision-making. Specifically, the 9/11 Commission Report identifies as a significant failure the lack of a National Intelligence Estimate on the terrorist threat between 1998 and 2001, and implies that if one had been produced it might have helped enable decision-makers to prevent the 9/11 attacks. In other words, a failure of strategic intelligence analysis lay at the foundation of the failure to prevent 9/11. But was this really the case? This article takes a closer look at the case of the missing National Intelligence Estimate by first evaluating what decision-makers knew about the threat prior to the 9/11 attacks, the policies they were implementing at the time, and the extent to which the hypothetical National Intelligence Estimate described by the 9/11 Commission would have mattered in terms of influencing their judgement and policy for the better. It concludes that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were more a failure of policy than strategic intelligence analysis.     

Prospects For Monitored Retrievable Storage Of High-Level Nuclear Waste

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 authorized the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate monitored retrievable storage (MRS) as an option to manage spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. In 1987, the DOE sought Congressional approval for construction of an MRS at a site identified in Tennessee, despite adamant opposition from the State. An amendment in late 1987 nullified DOE's proposal, and established the MRS Commission and the High-Level Nuclear Waste Negotiator, institutions created as a result of the DOE/Tennessee dispute. This article analyzes DOE's siting attempt in Tennessee, the actions of the Commission and Negotiator, and examines the prospects for implementation of nuclear waste policy.     

Jurisdictional and constraints on effective competition: The case of rail access regimes

The Commonwealth Government in November 2002 released the AusLink Green Paper which is a blue print for a long term national land transport plan. The release of this document followed the Review of the National Road Transport Commission Act 1991 which recommended the abolition of the Australian Road Transport Commission and to replace it with a National Transport Commission – the new body which would have the responsibility for a national approach to both road, rail and intermodal development. AusLink was established in July 2004 and while an excellent government strategy, a national land transport plan demands the inclusion of an integrated rail network. Prior obstacles to the development of a national focus in rail have been overcome – gauge standardisation of the track and the abolition of state government monopolies. Despite deregulation, however, and the removal of the physical and jurisdictional constraints, other impediments are now appearing which are likely to prevent the effective implementation of a national focus. This is a product of the mechanism of deregulation itself and the development of state based and state focused access regimes which are now a barrier to the effective implementation of national network.     

Political Science and Public Administration: The Saga of a Difficult Relationship

This paper is based on 'The perennial ugly duckling — public sector education in tertiary institutions before and after Coombs', an invited contribution on management education delivered at the Sydney Academics Symposium on the Coombs Commission in Retrospect, IPAA National Conference, 28 November 2001.     

SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS AND ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS

Social Impact Assessments (SIAs), prompted by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and by complementary legislation in certain states, are prepared, ostensibly, to provide expert scientific analyses of human societies; to project the probable consequences to those societies from largescale projects planned for their environments; to suggest ways to mitigate deleterious consequences; and to aid decision makers. The majority of SlAs prepared in relation to proposed energy developments have not been based on expert scientific analysis; omit crucial topics; are seldom based on primary analyses of the communities that will be affected; and often suggest ways to mitigate infrastructural problems (roads, houses and utilities) but l i t t l e else. Interests of the corporations that seek development permits are served by research houses commissioned to prepare SIAs, and by the agencies that approve the SlAs and subsequently grant permits to the corporations to commence with their energy-related projects-the interests of the community residents are not served. The responsibility of social scientists in preparing SlAs for communities that are scheduled for energy-related projects and state-of-the-art analyses of those communities are discussed.     

From Machiavelli to Ms: differences in male-female power styles

While the concept of power has always been a concern to students of political science and public administration, it has been examined only peripherally in the last few years. Recent work by McClelland has indicated that power may be a very important variable in explaining managerial behavior and organizational effectiveness. Starting with a definition of power provided by McClelland, this paper develops a conceptual framework for analyzing power-related behavior in an organizational setting. The framework is then applied to a problem area of particular interest to the authors--the question of whether or not women managers can be expected to behave differently than their male counterparts because of possible differences in their orientations toward power. We conclude that differences in power needs will not impede the effectiveness of female managers, but women may be at a disadvantage in the work environment due to possible differences in the way they express these needs.     

The End of Traditional Anti-systemic Movements and the Need for a New Type of Anti-systemic Movement Today

The aim of this article is to examine the systemic parameters that gave rise to the flourishing of anti-systemic movements in the 19th and 20th centuries and their subsequent decline in the era of neoliberal modernity. It is shown that their recent decline is not irrelevant to the nature of the traditional anti-systemic movement that challenged a particular form of power rather than power itself, as a result of the one-dimensional conception about the 'system' adopted by these movements which typically saw one form of power as the basis of all other forms of power. Today, the issue is not anymore to challenge one form of power or another but to challenge power itself, which constitutes the basis of heteronomy. In other words, what is needed today is a new type of anti-systemic movement that should challenge heteronomy itself, rather than simply various forms of heteronomy. The anti-globalisation 'movement', which is seen as a continuation of the democratic movement that began in the 1960s, has the potential to develop into such a movement provided that it starts building bases at the local level with the aim to create a new democratic globalisation based on local inclusive democracies that would reintegrate society with the economy, polity and Nature, in an institutional framework of equal distribution of power in all its forms.     

The Volcker Commission Report Fades Away: A Case Study in Non-implementation

The National Commission on the Public Service, commonly known as the Volcker Commission, was created to help combat a 'quiet crisis' in the United States' federal civil service. The commission made a series of recommendations to strengthen the civil service. With few exceptions, these recommendations have not made their way into law. This examination of the work of the task forces on education and training and on recruitment and retention, in the framework of Daniel Mazmanian and Paul Sabatier's implementation model, focuses on what happened to the Volcker report and why it happened. It concludes with recommendations on what might be done differently in future efforts to strengthen the civil service.     

Report of the Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons (the McKay Commission)

The report of the McKay Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons is reviewed. The Commission, which contained experts on parliamentary procedure, raised a number of important and difficult questions; the answers are less impressive than the questions. In view of the difficulties of any scheme, including that proposed by the Commission, for what is popularly known as “English Votes on English Laws,” policymakers should revisit one of the options that was specifically ruled out of McKay's terms of reference. This would be a reduction in the numbers, but not the powers, of MPs from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in the way that applied to Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1979.     

Needs,welfare and the limits of associationalism

This paper presents a critical account of current associationalist proposals for welfare reform. It argues that contrary to the associationalists' own case, the institutional structure suggested by associationalism would not better provide for the needs of welfare recipients. After a detailed exposition of the fundamental claims of proponents of associational welfare, the paper challenger two of the key normative judgements that underlie the associational project. First, it criticizes the associationalist tendency to emphasize unregulated choice in welfare provision, arguing that such a settlement would ignore the important disinction between ‘needs’ and ‘preferences’. Second, it rejects the associationalists' acceptance of significant inequalities in welfare provision, suggesting that such inequlities would, almost by conceptual definition, leave many recipients' needs unfulfilled. The paper concludes by indicating that any proposed welfare reform intended to enhance provision for needs should be located within the current statist tradition.     

Meet the critics: Analyzing the EU Commission's Regulatory Scrutiny Board through quantitative text analysis

As part of the “better regulation” agenda, the European Commission created a semi-independent institution, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, to monitor the preparation of policy proposals. The position of this Board is potentially wide-ranging. A proposal that is not given the green light by it cannot proceed in the Commission's internal decisionmaking process. But so far, the Board has only received scant scholarly attention. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board on the Commission's policy preparation. Using machine learning techniques and quantitative text analysis, we study 673 Board opinions and compare almost 100 draft and final policy proposals. Our findings show that the Board is an active watchdog that is taken seriously by the Commission's departments. A full understanding of policy preparation in the EU therefore requires more scholarly attention to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.