USING PRODUCER INCENTIVES TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL OBJECTIVES: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE MARKETPLACE AND PUBLIC POLICIES

The purpose of this paper is to recast the light in which we have come to evaluate public policy initiatives and open the door for a more careful examination o f the effects markets have on the course of public policies employing producer incentives to achieve policy goals. Specifically, the paper will review the past experience of urban renewal to show the relationship between policy objectives and outcomes when policy is designed to work through the marketplace. By arguing that market incentives cons train policy outcomes, it is maintained that policies which are judged to have failed in its goals may in reality have succeeded when viewed in terms of normal market operations.     

FIGHTING CORRUPTION WITH SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS' POTENTIAL TO REDUCE CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Given the poor track record of traditional anti‐corruption initiatives, donors and governments are increasingly looking at how civil society can fight corruption in public administration. Social accountability mechanisms intend to perform this role by holding officials directly accountable through citizen engagement. However, this article argues that social accountability mechanisms are only capable of reducing corruption systemically if they activate horizontal accountability and sustain it through the sanctioning mechanisms of electoral accountability. A comparative case study analysis using the cases of the Ugandan Public Expenditure Tracking Survey and the Bangalore Citizen Report Card is applied to test this hypothesis. The Tanzanian Public Expenditure Tracking Survey and an example of citizen engagement in Mumbai are employed as shadow cases to provide additional evidence for the hypothesis. The results indicate that social accountability mechanisms must be inclusive, broad, with public effect and embedded in other accountability relationships to fight corruption effectively. Electoral accountability is key, and support to social accountability mechanisms should therefore always be well placed within a broader agenda aimed at strengthening democratic governance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE RELEVANCE OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT TO SOCIAL WELFARE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Abstract: Citizen involvement is regarded as a desirable component of public policy making, particularly policy in the social welfare field. This paper examines different conceptions of social welfare and different conceptions of citizen participation. Participation is a term with many shades of meaning, and policy makers should distinguish between sociotherapy, market research and citizen power, all of which come under the rubric "citizen participation". Different conceptions of participation are appropriate in different policy circumstances and these circumstances are examined with reference to two recent Australian participatory programs in the welfare field. The paper concludes with an examination of the applicability of participation, leadership and expertise to public administration, and argues that these three values exist in a dialectical relationship and that social justice and the effectiveness of programs will be limited if too much reliance is placed on any one of these values.     

THE BIOTECHNOLOGY OF SEX PRESELECTION: SOCIAL ISSUES IN A PUBLIC POLICY CONTEXT

Sex preselection is the ability to select the sex of one's offspring prior to conception. After a discussion of the potential methods of sex preselection, this paper explores the possible diffusion of sex preselection biotechnologies within sociopolitical systems. Ethical aspects are discussed w i t h i n the context of broad social issues, family considerations, social class effects, crime, religion, and medical services. The article concludes with an examination of the public policy choices that might confront decision makers should sex preselection become a reality.     

PLANNING AND PARTICIPATION IN CITIES THAT MOVE: IDENTIFYING OBSTACLES TO MUNICIPAL MOBILITY MANAGEMENT

The dual processes of rapidly transforming cities and administrative decentralisation demands that local government address human mobility as a means of countering urban poverty. Despite this imperative, local authorities are often poorly equipped to address the needs of poor and transient residents. Through an examination of four South African municipalities, this article helps to identify three critical factors working against effective responses: poor data and conceptual bias; institutional ambiguities and budgeting processes; and, ironically, participatory planning. Although any one of these could serve as a basis for an article, by taking them together, we better summarise the challenges' scope and outline areas for further research and policy intervention. The article concludes by considering these findings' practical and scholarly implications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FROM SOCIAL DOCTRINE TO IMPLEMENTATION: AGENDA SETTING IN COMPARABLE WORTH

Comparable worth is a policy issue with twofaces. It is both a social doctrine proposing equal pay for work of comparable value and a methodology in personnel administration, called "objective job evaluation," that introduces new evaluative criteria to assess job worth. It has achieved policy status on the subnational level through the use of multiple agenda setting and implementation strategies by coalitions of women's advocacy groups and unions. The shifting use of comparable worth as a social doctrine or as a methodology to assess jobs has varied with the distribution of power resources of the sponsors and the receptiveness of the policy setting. The paper explores how comparable worth developed as a general policy issue on the subnational level. It offers a policy framework to interpret i t s transformation into policies and programs and assesses i t s probable impact on personnel administration.     

THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN RELATION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION*

The relationship between the judiciary and public administration is founded in the constitutional principles which lie at the basis of our system of government. The three branches or arms of government, as they are known to constitutional law, are the legislative, the executive and the judicial. They are said to be equal and coordinate. There is a complex constitutional relationship between the three arms of government which does not always follow a consistent pattern. It is marked somewhat paradoxically both by mutual independence and interdependence. Public administration is carried on by the executive branch.     

ANTHROPOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY IN ALASKA: RECENT POLICY RELATED TO LEGAL SYSTEMS NATIVE SUBSISTENCE AND COMMERCIAL FISHERIES

The past and potential contributions of anthropology to public policy have been described andlor argued for by numerous writers in the past decade, but the primary application and concern have been at the national and international levels. The present paper continues this discussion, but focuses on state-level policy in Alaska. The work of three Alaskan anthropologists is presented; they have made significant contributions to policy in the areas of law, Native Alaskan subsistence rights and fisheries management. Their work is evaluated in the context of a five-step model for conducting policy analysis which begins with the assessment of policy-making environments and ends with an evaluation of policy alternatives. The primary policy concerns of the anthropologists discussed involved the traditional research focus of anthropology, Native Alaskans; however, the tools they employ and background they bring to their work, the specific kinds of policy issues and problems confronted, are not as traditional. One of the anthropologists discussed is atlingit Indian completing doctoral studies at Harvard University, another is a lawyer-anthropologist, and the third is highly trained in biological and economic theory as well as computer technology. It is argued that the "hyphenated" anthropologist, at least as exemplified in the cases discussed, is most readily equipped to make policy relevant contributions.