ALTERNATIVES TO HIERARCHYTHE ROLE AND PERFORMANCE OF LATERAL STRUCTURES INSIDE BUREAUCRACY

Abstract: Lateral structures are the various cross linking arrangements which enable staff at similar levels to undertake project, policy or operational work in cooperation with officials in other divisions or departments. Their reliance on the expertise, judgment and commitment of their membership, and their comparative freedom from direct line control helps define these structures as an alternative to conventional hierarchies.
This study examines the commonly made but rarely tested claim that lateral structures are one of the main ingredients in the organisation's capacity to achieve high quality results in situations requiring superior levels of skill and efficiency (Mintzberg 1973; Galbraith 1977). The study provides an empirical assessment of a number of important aspects of these work arrangements and reports the results of an investigation into the performance of lateral structures in the Australian public sector between 1987 and 1989. These data indicate that lateral structures outperform conventional hierarchy in quality of results, capacity to manage internal conflict, time-management and technical competence. The research also identifies the importance of professional and political commitment in explanations of the success of these structures.     

SUPERFUND FINANCING ALTERNATIVES

In 1980 Congress created the Superfund to pay for the selective cleanup of hazardous waste disposal sites. The original Superfund program was financed by earmarked "feedstock" taxes on petroleum and 42 chemicals, and by a "waste-end" tax on hazardous waste received a t disposal facilities. Budgetary authority for the program expired in September 1985. Over a year elapsed before Congress renewed budgetary authority for the program by expanding the feedstock taxes, suspending the waste-end tax, and imposing a new broad-base tax on corporate income. This paper examines the efficiency and equity effects of the current and several alternative Superfund tax policies. Special emphasis is given to the administrative and compliance costs associated with each tax, and the capacity of each to complement EPA regulation of hazardous waste externalities.     

POLLUTION CONTROL ALTERNATIVES

Elizabeth H. Haskell . The Politics of Clean Air
Robert W. Crandall . Controlling Industrial Pollution
Eric Ashby and Mary Anderson . The Politics of Clean Air     

PRIVATE PRISON MANAGEMENT: PANACEA OR PRETENCE?*

Abstract: Private prison management has been examined as a policy initiative by at least two state governments in Australia. Queensland boasts the only privately managed gaol in the country, and New South Wales has expressed interest in the possibility of contracting out the management of one of its new gaols. In the United States where it had its genesis, private management of adult correctional facilities has existed since the mid-1980s. Governments in America at federal, state and local levels have turned to private prison management because of budgetary constraints and chronic levels of overcrowding in their prisons and gaols due to an escalating rate of crime and incarceration. Private prison management in the United States has provided a last resort to a crisis situation. Among policy-makers in Australia there seems little appreciation of the factors which have motivated private prison management in the United States. In Queensland and New South Wales there is a view at government level that the private sector may well be a better manager of gaols than government, and that private management will achieve cost savings for government. Even in the United States, however, private prison management is still at an experimental stage and there is no evidence as yet to support assumptions about superior management and cost effectiveness. Governments in Australia are not experiencing the same crises which have prompted certain governments in America to adopt private prison management. Instead of introducing private corporations into the field of corrections in Australia, governments should be attempting to improve the performance of their own gaols and to make greater use of the private sector in those areas where its contribution can be of most significance — in the design and construction of prison facilities.     

REMEDIES WITHOUT RIGHTS? THE LEGAL BASIS OF BROAD-GAUGE DECREES IN PRISON CONDITIONS CASES

This paper examines the legal basis for "broad-gauge" or "administrative intervention" decrees in the sort of lawsuits which have come to be known as extended impact cases, polycentric disputes, or public law litigation. It concludes that equity provides an adequate basis for such decrees and that the Supreme Court's recent use of a narrower view of judicial equity powers, sometimes called the tailoring principle, is not compelled by precedent. The paper further argues that the Supreme Court appears headed in the direction of using the tailoring principle in prison conditions cases (e.g., Bell v. Wolfish ), although some support for a broader view of judicial equity power is found in Hutto v. Finney .