More Than 'Counting Manhole Covers': The Evolution Of The British Tradition Of Public Administration

This article is a revised version of an inaugural lecture, delivered at the University of Leeds on 30 April 1998. The focus of the lecture and, thus, of this article is concerned with administrative history and the civil service. The first part of the article is about the pioneers of the academic study of public administration, and the subject's relationship with political philosophy. The second part examines the role of the Webbs and the British approach to public administration. The third part evaluates the contribution of the academics of the 'Golden Age' of public administration. The fourth part deals with changing perceptions of public administration, with a particular emphasis on developments in the civil service; it is deliberately self-referential. The final part briefly considers the future of the academic study of public administration, concluding that it has one.     

“A Short Genealogy of Realism”: Peirce, Kevelson and Legal Semiotics

Kevelson remains an important figure in legal semiotics, a co-founder, along with Bernard Jackson, of the International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law, and of course a valuable and seminal commentator on Peirce in the legal domain. This paper will examine her claim, that through his collaboration with and influence on Oliver Holmes, Peirce should be regarded as a foundational figure in a history of legal realism and modern jurisprudence, and that a legal semiotic can be identified in and not only extrapolated from his seminal writings. This paper will contend that the relationship between Peirce and Holmes should be seen as perplexed and disputatious, rather than close and directly influential, as Kevelson argues. However, regardless of its limitations, Kevelson’s historical inquiry helps provide the ground for a contemporary and historical account of the full picture of a Peircean based legal semiotic and jurisprudence.     

Ethical issues in pro‐social advertising: the Australian 2006 White Ribbon Day campaign

• The Australian White Ribbon Day 2006 campaign was severely criticized by mental health professionals and those working in the family and domestic violence sector because of depictions of suicide and self‐harm in the television advertisement and accompanying promotional materials. The White Ribbon Day (WRD) National Leadership Group (NLG) rejected all requests by concerned groups to not use these campaign materials. They and their apologists claimed that such violent imagery was necessary to attract men's attention and was being misinterpreted as depicting suicide attempts.
• With preliminary ethics approval we set out to assess reactions to the television advertisement. After 24 interviews, the testing was terminated by the university research ethics officer after two male respondents demonstrated significant distress after viewing the ad. Furthermore, the results by that stage showed that there were perceived messages of suicide in the ad. These results were sent to the WRD NLG with a request to reconsider proceeding with the television advertisement and associated materials. Mental health and domestic violence organizations lodged similar requests. All requests were rejected. The case raises a number of ethical issues for pro‐social organizations when dealing with sensitive issues and using execution techniques that may impact negatively on vulnerable audiences.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

普京政权8年总评价:特征与得失

没有像戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦那样,以一套抽象理论作为改革的蓝本,普京转而以具体的目标——在民主政治和自由经济的框架下建立一个强大的俄罗斯——作为施政蓝图。这是普京政权的显著特征,也是普京与前苏联、俄罗斯领导人的主要区别所在。为实现这一目标,普京在制定各项具体政策时,大致上遵守民主政治与自由市场的原则。总体而言,这些具体的政策有得也有失:其中促进国民团结与加强管理能力的政策,十分有效;促进经济发展和改善民生的政策,效率一般;至于遏止人口衰退和改善国民健康危机方面的政策,则效率不佳。就现时的发展水平而言,俄罗斯还未完全达到"跻身于世界强国之林"及"民主法治"的目标。     

What Gets Measured,Gets Done: Understanding and Addressing Middle‐Class Challenges

Middle‐class families face a range of challenges, including uneven income growth, imposing child care costs, and affordability gaps for higher education. The ideal policies by which policy makers and public administrators can aid the middle class are far from obvious. Policy solutions are likely to mirror our government and population, meaning that they will be decentralized and varied. Achieving a “growing and thriving middle class” requires understanding the composition of the middle class across the country. Benchmarking and measuring the middle‐class condition at the state and substate levels is critical to crafting and adopting effective policy solutions. This Viewpoint essay highlights the Colorado context to demonstrate the measurement of the middle class and tracking of its lived experiences.     

The effects of decentralization on special interest groups

Public Choice - It is well established in the literature that the number of interest group organizations varies across countries and states, with economic freedom and other institutional factors...