Determinants of Japanese Local Governments' Decisions Concerning Performance-Based Reward Systems for Teachers

This exploratory study asks: What conditions have precipitated or slowed the adoption of a performance-based reward system for teachers by Japanese prefectural governments in charge of human resource management for teachers? Qualitative scrutiny of deliberation processes in two Japanese prefectures suggests that two institutional factors of educational administration—(1) reform orientation and (2) the lack of employee entrenchment—favor the adoption.     

Vacuum metal deposition: visualisation of gold agglomerates using TEM imaging

Vacuum metal deposition (VMD) is a well-established technique that can be used for the development of latent fingermarks on a range of polymer surfaces, including polyethylene (PE) bags exposed to harsh environmental conditions. The technique has also proved to be effective on difficult semi-porous surfaces such as the polymer banknotes in circulation in Australia and in an increasing number of other countries. VMD is a two-stage technique. In the first stage, a small amount of gold is deposited under high vacuum onto the exhibit. This is then followed by the deposition, onto the gold layer, of a much thicker layer of zinc. Normal VMD development is characterised by zinc depositing all over the surface except on the fingermark ridges themselves. A phenomenon of reverse development (zinc on the ridges but not on the surface) has been reported by many authors. Recent studies indicated that this phenomenon might occur on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) when the amount of deposited gold is above an optimum quantity. The results suggested that the size of the gold agglomerates formed on the surface of the polymer plays a critical role. This preliminary study was aimed at visualising, by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the formation of gold agglomerates on polymer surfaces to gain an appreciation of how the density and size of these agglomerates changes with an increasing amount of evaporated gold.     

The "Best Place" Debate: A Comparison of Graduate Education Programs for Nonprofit Managers

This article presents a critical examination of the curricular elements of nonprofit management degree programs in colleges of business, public administration, and social work. What are the major curricular elements in each type of program? How do the curricular elements of these programs compare with generic management degree programs? What are the central challenges facing managers of nonprofit organizations, and how are these challenges addressed in each program? Based on the curricular review, is one setting more favorable for students of nonprofit management? What are the views of stakeholders regarding the “best place” to educate managers? Data collected from focus groups and surveys of stakeholders in each of these academic settings are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the future of nonprofit management education in the United States.     

Challenges Confronting Contemporary Public Budgeting: Retrospectives/Prospectives from Allen Schick

For nearly half a century, Allen Schick's works have explored and analyzed central issues in the role of budgets in modern government. In 2009, the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development published Evolutions in Budgetary Practice: Allen Schick and the OECD Senior Budget Officials, a selection of his work, together with new chapters. The book traces developments in budget practices and reforms since the 1980s, relating them to changes in the role of government, and discusses challenges to contemporary budgeting and how they might be met. This collection provides an invaluable insight into Schick's thinking about public budgeting: a perspective on the past, a practical resource for the present, and a guide to the future.     

After the Earthquake: The President's Budget for FY 1996

What changes has the political earthquake of November 1994 wreaked on the federal budget and, in particular, on the president's budget? Are the policy dynamics of federal budgets so entrenched that they transcend politics and are impervious to shocks? Or do the political changes presage radical policy changes, reversing decades of cumulative commitments? Are budgetary institutions and processes flexible enough to accommodate enhanced conflicts while maintaining their integrity and purpose? This article discusses the fate of the 1995 budget and the initial problems faced in the president's budget for 1996.     

Understanding how and when change occurs in the administrative justice system: the ombudsman/ tribunal partnership as a catalyst for reform?

ABSTRACT

This article explores the ongoing condition of the ombudsman sector through models of change adopted from the social science literature. Debates about change are fleshed out through an analysis of the ombudsman/tribunal partnership initiative currently underway. As well as providing an explanation for the slow process of reform in the ombudsman sector, the article highlights the need for further research into the partnership initiative to detail the strengths, weaknesses and sustainability of such bottom-up reform agendas in the administrative justice system. We conclude that the impact of each individual initiative is likely to be minor but as a process they represent important moments of institutional learning which, in the context of current crisis, could operate as catalysts for major administrative justice reform.     

When aid builds states: party dominance and the effects of foreign aid on tax collection after civil war

ABSTRACT

Does foreign aid strengthen or weaken post-conflict states? We examine the effects of aid on tax collection after civil war, an important dimension of state effectiveness. While the literature emphasizes aid’s perverse effects, the relationship between aid dependence and the growth of tax collection is unclear. We argue that the impact of aid reflects its political utility for ruling elites in consolidating their authority after civil war. While dominant parties subvert tax strengthening reforms to solidify their political base, elites in more fractionalized settings rely on external political backing to manage internal challenges to their authority, and are more likely to comply with donor conditions. We test this argument through a Latent Curve Analysis of tax collection rate growth in post-civil war countries from 1978 to 2012. We find that aid is associated with slower growth in tax collection in dominant party settings, and more rapid tax growth in politically fractionalized settings. The findings highlight the need for attention to internal political dynamics to explain aid effectiveness after civil war, and point to opportunities to strengthen institutions in some post-conflict countries.