Is Biggest Best? A Comparative Analysis of the Financial Viability of the Brisbane City Council

Structural reform through forced mergers has been a dominant feature of Australian local government for decades. Advocates of compulsory consolidation contend that larger municipalities perform better across a wide range of attributes, including financial sustainability. Although empirical scholars of local government have invested considerable effort into investigating these claims, no one has yet examined the performance of Brisbane City Council against other local authorities, despite the fact that it is by far the largest council in Australia. This paper seeks to remedy this neglect by comparing Brisbane with Sydney City Council, an average of six southeast Queensland councils and an average of 10 metropolitan New South Wales councils against four measures of financial performance over the period 2008–2011.     

Ameron International: Expanding Insurance Recovery for Administrative Environmental Proceedings

In Ameron Int'l Corp. v. Ins. Co. of Pennsylvania, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited reconsideration of Foster-Gardner v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. which adopted the minority position that administrative notice letters are not “suits” that trigger a CGL insurer's duty to defend. In an important development for insurers and policyholders alike, Ameron limited Foster-Gardner, holding that an administrative process that resembles a court proceeding is a “suit” insurers must defend. This article surveys the majority rule, Ameron, and Ameron's possible impact in minority rule jurisdictions with Foster-Gardner-like precedent.     

Delayed death in sudden infant death syndrome: a San Diego SIDS/SUDC Research Project 15-year population-based report

A fraction of SIDS cases have death delayed by successful CPR, yet they have not been compared to SIDS cases which were found dead or not successfully resuscitated. Our aims were to: (1) determine the percent of SIDS cases in the San Diego SIDS Research Project database for whom death was delayed by CPR and subsequent life support; (2) compare demographics, circumstances of death and autopsy findings of delayed death SIDS cases (delayed SIDS) with those whose deaths were not delayed (non-delayed SIDS); (3) examine the evolution of pathologic changes in delayed SIDS as a function of survival interval. A retrospective 15-year population-based study of 454 infant deaths attributed to SIDS revealed 29 delayed SIDS cases (Group I) and 425 non-delayed SIDS cases (Group II). Group I cases were significantly older than Group II cases (mean age 132 days vs. 102 days and p<0.0001). Eighty-nine percent of the Group I cases were discovered between 08.00 and 19.59 h; none were found between 00.00 and 07.59 h, compared to 38% of the Group II cases. Group I infants were found significantly more often away from home (at daycare, or at the home of a relative, friend, or baby sitter) than Group II infants (45% vs. 25%, p<0.05). There were no differences between groups with regard to gender, gestational age, type of delivery, bed sharing, URI within 48 h of death, ALTEs, a history of referral to child protective services, body position when placed or found, or face position when found. Pathologic changes were semiquantitatively evaluated; findings were characteristic of anoxic-ischemic injury that generally became more severe with increasing survival intervals. Anoxic-ischemic brain injury was the immediate cause of death in all delayed SIDS cases. Aspiration of gastric contents was identified in Group I cases surviving less than 48 h and was the likely etiology of acute bronchopneumonia occurring in 83% of the Group I cases. We did not identify factors that would reliably predict which SIDS cases might be discovered soon enough to allow earlier and more effective CPR and survival without permanent brain injury.     

Political judgments,perceptions of facts,and partisan effects

We test two competing hypotheses about the impact of partisanship and information on people's political judgments and perceptions of facts using Canadians' reactions to a major scandal. Our findings with respect to subjective political judgments confirm the argument that partisan predispositions are crucial. But there is no evidence to support the argument that the polarizing effect of partisanship is most evident among the most informed. When it comes to perceptions of “objective” facts, the results are consistent with Zaller's reception axiom: the more informed people are, the more likely they are to correctly perceive objective facts. Partisanship does not appear to affect these perceptions.