Spin Control and Freedom of Information: Lessons for the United Kingdom from Canada

The United Kingdom's new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is intended to empower citizens by granting a right to government documents. However, the law will be implemented by a government that has developed highly centralized structures for controlling the communications activity of its departments. How will the revolutionary potential of the FOIA be squared with government's concern for ‘message discipline’? Experience in implementing Canada's Access to Information Act may provide an answer. The Canadian law was intended to constrain executive authority, but officials developed internal routines and technologies to minimize its disruptive potential. These practices restrict the right to information for certain types of stakeholders, such as journalists or representatives of political parties. The conflict between public expectations of transparency and elite concerns about governability may not be adequately accounted for during implementation of the UK Freedom of Information Act.     

Why Does Citizens' Knowledge of New Policy Vary Between Municipalities? The Case of the Social Support Act

Providing information to citizens is an important first step in the implementation of new policy. In this study we explain differences in the knowledge of citizens between municipalities of a newly introduced law in the Netherlands, the Social Support Act, 10 months after it became into force. This law is especially important for older people that need support in their daily functioning and participation. We focused on two aspects of knowledge related to the act, i.e. having heard of the new act, and knowing how voice with regard to policy on support is organised in the place of residence. Given that socialist local governments focus more on social topics than liberal local governments, we expected citizens of municipalities with socialist councils to have more knowledge about the new Social Support Act. Contrary to our expectations, citizens from municipalities where a liberal party or a collaboration of liberal/socialist parties is the largest, have a better understanding of how voice is organised. On the other hand, citizens in municipalities with an alderman from a combination of liberal/socialist parties have a lower chance of having heard of the Social Support Act. We argue that in view of the Social Support Act, the ideology of a local government related to citizens' responsibilities (liberal view) may have more influence on citizens' knowledge than being a government that pays attention to social issues (socialist view). As far as individual differences between citizens are concerned, as expected, older people that are more educated but in poorer health status have more knowledge about the new act. A higher educational level and an excellent mental health status are related to more knowledge about voice. Educational level is the most powerful predictor for knowledge about the act.     

All Boys Club or Gender Differences? Male Officers Perception of Female Officers’ Workplace Experiences in Federal Law Enforcement

Since the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, there has been a vast body of literature demonstrating women’s difficulties integrating into all levels of law enforcement. While scholarship continues to highlight women’s experiences in the workplace, very little research has incorporated male officers into the dialogue. Using survey data collected from 324 male and female federal law enforcement officers employed by a mid-sized federal law enforcement agency, this study examines gender differences on perceptions to women’s workplace occupational barriers. We find that there are gender differences between the experiences encountered by female officers and the perception of male officers to those experiences, most notably sexual discrimination and a perceived glass ceiling to promotions. The differing perceptions are shaped by gender stereotypes and mild remnants of a masculine culture that continue to exist throughout law enforcement.     

Expanding the opportunity for partisan activity among government employees: potential effects on federal executives’ political involvement

Almost half the respondents to a 1990 survey of federal Senior Executive Service personnel said their political activity would increase if Hatch Act constraints on partisan political involvement were removed. More than one-third predicted that if the law permitted, they would distribute partisan campaign literature, organize political meetings, and publicly endorse candidates—activities the Hatch Act now prohibits. Scaling techniques reveal respondents’ present political activity level is 2.58 (on a 1-10 scale), increasing to an estimated 4.07 with Hatch Act liberalization. The potential for expanded political activity is dispersed widely through the SES, but it appears greatest among females, non-whites, youths, newcomers, those with less than a doctorate degree, non-career executives, and respondents supervised by political executives. These findings do not measure the effect of a weakened Hatch Act on the character of the public service. However, if respondents act on their predilections and expand their political involvement, these data have implications for public sector professionalism, nonpartisan administration, and public confidence in government.     

Terror in Ireland—and Britain's response

Abstract

Reacting to the last of four distinct terrorist cam‐paigns in Northern Ireland, the British Parliament in 1973 passed the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act, which was amended in 1974. The act marks the first time in United Kingdom statute law that terrorism is defined as the use of violence for political ends. British efforts are aimed at the development of the police to the point where the military is no longer required. Terroristic acts in Great Britain, usually connected with Northern Irish affairs, have led to the introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, the powers of which are also described in this paper. The author also discusses the problem of the safeguarding of civil liberties as well as the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, drawn up by the Council of Europe.     

The wheel turns for policing and local government

The article examines the impact of two main forces, localism and centralism, together with their interaction within a common law legal system, which have influenced professional policing since its inception after 1829. In particular, it assesses the ways these forces have conflicted and in doing so created a police service which although closely related to local government subsequently drifted apart. Now, through the ‘partnership approach’, developed within the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, local government and policing appear to be re‐establishing a closer relationship. In this context, the article examines the significance of the concept of community safety and the partnership approach on the relationships between local government, police authorities and the force itself.     

ASSESSING POLICY DIVERGENCE: HOW TO INVESTIGATE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A LAW AND A CORRESPONDING REGULATION

Policy designs are selected to achieve specific policy outcomes. The policy process, however, contains multiple junctures when a policy's design may diverge from its original intents. Despite this fact, few theoretically valid and methodologically reliable approaches exist to assess policy divergence as it occurs during the policy process. This article presents a method for assessing policy divergence during implementation with a comparative analysis of a legislative law and corresponding regulation. The case analysed is US organic food policy in the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act and 2002 National Organic Program regulation. The article draws theoretical leverage from Mazmanian and Sabatier's implementation framework and methodological leverage from the institutional analysis and development framework. The analysis indicates that the designs of both policies are fairly robust with relatively minor divergence. The conclusion discusses the gains and challenges in developing a comparative approach to studying policy designs and assessing policy divergence.     

Federal sector union liability for breach of duty of fair representation under title vii of the civil rights act: The problem of legal uncertainty

The duty of fair representation (DFR) was initially formulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1940s to protect racial minorities working in the private sector from discrimination by their unions. More recently, the courts have extended the protections afforded by the DFR to state and local government workers. However, the ability of federal employees to invoke this doctrine, specifically under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as amended, has not yet been resolved. This article examines the case law addressing this issue and argues that federal employee unions, just as unions operating in the private sector and at the state and local levels of government, should be subject to DFR obligations.     

台湾公立大学治理结构改革的审视——基于《大学法》的视角

台湾从1994年以来本着保障学术自由和大学自治的管理理念,以《大学法》的修订为指导,重建公立大学治理结构,其成败经验,值得大陆构建现代大学制度时思考、研究和借鉴。     

Freedom of information in local government: rhetoric or reality?

The aim of this paper is to analyse the level of implementation by Spanish local authorities of the Transparency Act (19/2013), and their voluntary information disclosure in areas where such disclosure is obligatory in other EU countries. We identify the main factors that may influence the implementation of this Act and the self-regulation policies adopted. Our analysis highlights the existence of delays among some local authorities, with notable differences between municipalities with larger and smaller populations, in implementing the Act, and also the fact that many municipalities are committed to achieving transparency, often going beyond minimum legal requirements. Factors such as population size, the political ideology of the governing party and the education level and economic capacity of the population are related to the level of implementation of transparency and self-regulatory policies in this respect by local authorities. We acknowledge that the 2013 Act was still being implemented during the period analysed.     

PUBLIC LAW

Traditionally, both the academic study and the practice of UK public administration have drawn very little inspiration from the discipline of public law. In contrast to most other European countries, in which public services are subject to extensive administrative-legal codes, and in which administrative disputes fall under the jurisdiction of separate and specialized administrative courts, UK administrative law remains – recent reforms notwithstanding – significantly undeveloped. There is a marked contrast also with the United States, where the founding scholars of the discipline of public administration saw it as being firmly rooted in public law. There is no codified British constitution and no counterpart of the US Supreme Court; and there is no British counterpart of the US Administrative Procedure Act 1946. However, there are three factors which underline the urgent need in the UK for greater collaboration and convergence between the disciplines of public law and public administration: first, the accumulation in recent years of a substantial body of research-based, academic literature on public law, which provides important insights into the changing landscape of UK public administration; secondly, the continuing development of machinery for the redress of citizens’grievances against the state – in particular, the substantial growth of judicial review proceedings and the development of ombudsman systems; thirdly, the continuing transformation of the agenda of UK law and politics by developments in the European Union.     

A review of the main determinants and characteristics of centre-local relations in Zimbabwe

This paper examines the main determinants shaping the ultimate nature of centre -local relations in the world' s countries with particular reference to Zimbabwe. These determinants are seen to result in two broad and generalist types of centre-local relations, namely, functional and territorial centre-local relations. Zimbabwe's colonial and post-colonial centre-local relations are then examined within the framework of the two broad models of centre-local relations, and are seen to be largely consisting of functional centre-local relations despite the post-colonial politicians's rhetoric in favour of more territorial relations. The Regional, Town and Country Planning Act (1976), the Urban Councils Act, the Rural Councils Act and the District Councils Act, all indicate a functional prevalence in the content of centre-local relations. The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe's 1984 Directive on decentralisation of administrative structures and the appointment of provincial governors equally indicates a functional preference by design or default in centre-local relations. The paper concludes by emphasizing the relationship between centre-local relations and planning systems at national, regional and local levels.     

Danger: implants

The superheated debate over breast implants awakened a sleeping giant of an issue clouding "medical devices"--the government's clumsy nomenclature for any medical product that is not a drug, from breast implants and artificial hips to X-ray machines and surgical thread. Some 130 categories of high-risk devices are in use with little or no proof of safety, reliability or effectiveness. All appeared before 1976, the year that the Food and Drug Administration got the authority to regulate such products. Under activist chief David Kessler and with added clout from a 1990 law, the FDA plans to scrutinize the entire 130-item list. Five will get special attention starting early next year: saline-filled breast implants, inflatable penile implants, testicular implants, heart-bypass pumps and cranial stimulators. U.S. News has looked at all five devices, using FDA data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. In-depth computer analysis suggested that penile implants deserve closer examination. Why is clear from the following report.     

Politicisation,professionalisation, or both? Hungary's civil service system

This paper aims to determine where the Hungarian civil service system might be situated on an imaginary merit system – spoils system scale. In doing so, the Hungarian system is analyzed from two angles. Firstly, regulation is scrutinized as it is manifested in the Civil Service Act. Secondly, practice is examined relying on available statistical and survey data. The author argues that, contrary to the conclusions of most of scholarly publications, the Hungarian Law is a pseudo-merit system law, not in fact preventing the prevalence of a spoils system. Practice generally reveals, however, features of a modestly politicized system with signs of increasing professionalization. The last two sections investigate the potential explanations for these somewhat surprising findings and whether the findings for the Hungarian civil service may be generalized to some or most of the Central and East European countries.     

CITY RULES OK? POLICY COMMUNITY,POLICY NETWORK AND TAKEOVER BIDS

This paper uses the concepts of policy community and policy network to analyse the particular set of industrial policy issues related to the conduct of takeover and merger bids. Within the general context of the law, the regulatory climate is governed by the principle of voluntary self-regulation, which since 1968 has been partly articulated in a written code whose rules are interpreted and enforced by a non-statutory body, the City Takeover Panel. The panel is one of several 'insider' organizations identified and categorized in terms of policy community. Relationships between it and other 'insiders' in the policy processes are analysed in terms of policy network and 'rules of the game'. It is argued that the stability of that network is increasingly threatened by the environmental turbulence provoked by the Guinness affair and the passage of the 1986 Financial Services Act.     

The anti‐terrorism act of 1987—An update on the controversy surrounding efforts to close down PLO offices in the U.S.

Abstract

The basic intent of Congress in enacting the Anti‐Terrorism Act of 1987 was not to deprive supporters of the Palestinian Liberation Organization of expressing their opinions but to induce the PLO to renounce the use of terrorism. By reaffirming United States abhorrence of terrorism, the supporters of this legislation also hope to encourage the emergence of Palestinian leaders who are dedicated to a peaceful resolution of the Arab‐Israel conflict. While the United States Government and major Jewish organizations have supported the closing of the PLO's Washington‐based Palestine Information Office, there has been considerable questioning in these same circles of the wisdom of the Congressional action to close the PLO's Observer Mission to the United Nations. This action was challenged by the United Nations, and the International Court of Justice asked the United States to resolve this matter through arbitration. The Reagan Administration finally accepted a Federal court ruling that the law did not require closing the U.N. Mission.     

Techniques in Innovative Policy Making: Example of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in India

The problem of social ills such as unemployment, poverty, and accelerating pace of rural-urban migration is not only enormous in magnitude, but also complex by nature in developing countries. This article introduces an innovative regulatory approach that addresses the complexity and scale of such problems. An analytical and decision-making model is presented. This model prescribes reflecting on two or more problems simultaneously. Such an approach is expected to create a fresh opportunity for policy makers and scholars in solving problem scenarios, bringing their vantage point to bear on pressing social matters. The model presented in this article is applied to analyze the NREGA or National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 in India. This Act represents a novel approach to policy-making and demonstrates the positive role governments can play in labor markets. The design, implementation, and promising initial results clearly challenge existing wisdom on how to make effective policy decisions. The framework presented in the article best explains various facets of this remarkable policy and shows how governments can intervene in the labor markets and correct for imperfections. Pioneering future applications to other social and economic challenges are suggested. Also, implications for research and policy are provided.     

National Environmental Ministries: Managers or Ciphers of European Union Environmental Policy?

European political integration has added a new and exciting dimension to the study of national political and administrative systems. However, comparatively little is know about the precise role of national ministries of state in either facilitating or retarding the shift towards joint rule making at the European level. Taking as an example the UK Department of the Environment's (DoE) involvement in the cumulative development of EU environmental policy since 1970, this paper examines the extent to which national environmental departments manage the process of integration or whether they are dragged along by it. It concentrates on the DoE's role in negotiating the 1987 Single European Act. It suggests that integration in the environmental sector since the Act has proceeded significantly further and faster than British negotiators originally expected, though through little conscious effort by the DoE. In fact, the DoE strongly opposed the introduction of majority voting, but was overruled by the core executive. These findings are examined against two theoretical approaches to European integration in order to reach a fuller understanding of what motivates (parts of) the British state to limit national autonomy in the process of developing European environmental rules.     

Immigration and the Remaking of New York

Abstract

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act abolished quotas that favored European immigrants, and for the first time placed all countries on an equal footing. The law resulted in increased overall immigration, and altered the sources of immigrants to the U.S. Since 1970, New York City has absorbed 2.6 million immigrants, primarily from non-European sources, who have dramatically altered the City's racial/Hispanic mix. Using immigration and birth records, as well as data from decennial censuses, this paper examines immigration to New York and assesses the demographic impact of these flows on the City's population.

Current immigrant flows have noticeably increased the ethnic diversity within the major race/Hispanic groups. This is largely due to increases in refugee flows, and to recent changes in immigration law that allow for “diversity” visas, which are aimed at countries that are under-represented in immigration flows to the U.S. Diversity immigration has provided New York with a continuing flow of new groups, most recently from Bangladesh, Mexico, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, who have established enclaves in many of the City's neighborhoods. The increasing diversity poses serious challenges for social service and health care professionals, who need to devise new strategies to deal with the disparate socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems of new ethnic groups. This is especially important given that New York's ethnic mix will continue to be churned, especially by way of diversity immigration and refugee flows from all parts of the globe.     

IRELAND, NORTHERN IRELAND AND 1992: THE BARRIERS TO TECHNOCRATIC ANTI-PARTITIONISM

This article examines the likely effects of 1992 on the relationship between the Republic and Northern Ireland. In particular, it seeks to assess the strategy of undermining partition through economic integration. After looking at the positions of the advocates of such a strategy and of its opponents, the difficulties in the way of the successful pursuit of such a policy are examined. These are: the extent to which the Single European Act will be made fully operative; the economic limits on cross-border cooperation; the administrative and governmental difficulties of pursuing cross-border cooperation; and the degree to which the political and cultural foundations of partition are independent of the economy. The article concludes with the argument that these barriers are such that a reliance on the pressures generated by the Single European Act and on a purely technocratic strategy of cross-border cooperation will not be sufficient to alter the constitutional relationship between the Republic and Northern Ireland.