Drug and violence prevention: Rediscovering the critical rational dimension of evaluation research

Following criticism of government-funded drug prevention activities of the early 1990s, a spate of best practice or science-based lists of alcohol, drug and violence prevention programs have been produced by federal agencies in recent years. The writings of Donald T. Campbell on validity have had a profound influence on the development of the methodological quality scales that have been utilized in the review processes used to generate these lists. Implicit in this approach to the identification of science-based prevention programs is the idea that science is equivalent to research methodology and study design. Following Karl Popper and Campbell, I contend that, while certain designs are clearly better than others in dealing with threats to internal validity and allow for better generalization of results beyond the study population, utilization of these designs in and of itself is not sufficient to designate an evaluation study as scientific. Nor can the accumulation of data from such studies be used to proclaim an entire area of research a science, as has occurred with the field of so-called prevention science. Rather, the fundamental criterion by which to judge the scientific status of a theory is falsifiability. If the field of drug and violence prevention is truly a science, then it should be subjecting its predictions about the effects of intervention programs to genuinely critical tests and not attempting to verify these hypotheses. It is argued that it has failed to do this, and two specific examples of prevention programs that appear on a number of science-based lists of prevention programs are discussed.     

How the Framework of Implementation Science Guided an Evidence‐Based Dependency Parenting Program Initiative in Florida

In Florida, like most states, many of the parenting programs that are being utilized with families in the dependency system are non‐evidence based, and fail to provide quantifiable data on parent progress during and after completion of the programs. Providing pertinent information in court on parents’ progress in a parenting program, as opposed to simply monitoring attendance, is a growing need voiced by dependency judges and child welfare case management professionals. Clear, reliable information related to parenting skills acquisition and insight can help to ensure that families involved in the child welfare system have access to quality services that improve outcomes for their children. The purpose of this paper is to detail how a statewide initiative to increase the number of Florida circuits providing evidence‐based parenting programs to their clients utilized implementation science to guide their process, and the degree to which the participating circuits achieved full implementation of evidence‐based parenting programs.     

Increasing Evidence-Based Programs in Criminal and Juvenile Justice: A Report from the Front Line

For the past 5 years in the United States, there has been an increased emphasis on evidence-based programs, and, in particular, the promotion of experimental designs as the highest standard of evidence. This interest has been fueled by the Federal government's demand for accountability that links budget allocation with program performance. The National Institute of Justice, the research, development and evaluation agency within the Office of Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice is undertaking a number of efforts to improve the quality of evaluation research and address the need for evidence-based programs. These efforts have focused on making improvements upfront in the grant selection process so that well-designed evaluations will be undertaken and in the management and monitoring of ongoing evaluation research grants so that implementation and design issues can be identified and addressed. Evaluability assessments is a key strategy that NIJ is relying on increasingly to identify programs that have a high likelihood of being successfully evaluated. Whether these efforts will lead to an overall increase in the rigor of NIJ-supported evaluations remains unanswered at this time. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The National Academies or the National Institute of Justice.     

提高领导干部行政执行力问题研究——以吉林省为视角

行政执行力是政府权力有效运行的重要保证,而领导干部的行政执行力直接关乎着政府的行政执行力。因此,提高领导干部的行政执行力是提高政府效能的迫切要求。对于吉林省而言,领导干部行政执行力的高低决定着老工业基地振兴的成败。所以,提高各级政府和领导干部的行政执行力,确保中央政策和吉林省发展战略准确有效的执行,是吉林省政府自身建设的重中之重。     

完善我国行政问责制的对策

建立健全行政问责制,是改善政府管理、建设法治政府的一种有效制度,是构建和谐社会的必然要求。本文探讨了我国现行行政问责制的基本内涵及存在的问题,在此基础上提出了完善行政问责制的相关对策和建议。     

责任政府:内涵、形式与构建路径

依现代民主政治的发展,责任政府的外延已由责任内阁制政府扩展至所有民主政府。就责任政府而言,责任应是民主政府系统中的核心要素。我国责任政府体制包括两个组成部分:一是政治问责制,即国家行政机关要对国家权力机关负责,国家行政机关首长要对自己机关的全面工作向国家权力机关负政治责任。二是行政问责制,即行政首长要对整个行政机关的工作负全面责任,行政首长具有对政府组成部门及其首长、下级行政机关及其首长、公务员的行政问责权力。目前我国行政问责在理论、实践上还存在一些问题。从行政问责逐渐发展到政治问责是我国责任政府建构之路径。     

Juvenile Justice in Pennsylvania: Mission‐Driven; Performance‐ Based; Outcome‐Focused

Since 1995, Pennsylvania's Balanced and Restorative Justice Mission has been the driving force behind Pennsylvania's reform and system improvement efforts. Pennsylvania has made strong and steady progress towards advancing this statutory mission and the related operational goals through policy, practice and programmatic enhancements over these past 20+ plus years. Three key events spurred forth this advancement: the legislative passage of Act 33 in 1995 that statutorily established the goals of Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ), the Models for Change Juvenile Justice Reform Initiative–Additional Reform Momentum (2004) and the Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy–Evidence‐based Approach to the Reforms (2010).What follows is the story of how it all unfolded.     

Are counter-terrorism strategies effective? The results of the Campbell systematic review on counter-terrorism evaluation research

The events of September 11th have led to massive increases in personal, commercial, and governmental expenditures on anti-terrorism strategies, as well as a proliferation of programs designed to fight terrorism. These increases in spending and program development have focused attention on the most significant and central policy question related to these interventions: Are these programs effective? To explore this question, this study reports the results of a Campbell Collaboration systematic review on evaluation research of counter-terrorism strategies. Not only did we discover an almost complete absence of evaluation research on counter-terrorism interventions, but from those evaluations that we could find, it appears that some interventions either did not achieve the outcomes sought or sometimes increased the likelihood of terrorism occurring. The findings dramatically emphasize the need for government leaders, policy makers, researchers, and funding agencies to support both outcome evaluations of these programs as well as efforts to develop an infrastructure to foster counter-terrorism evaluation research.     

关于完善我国行政问责制的思考

全面推进行政问责制是我国政治体制改革的一项重要内容。本文分析了在推进行政问责制的进程中所面临的权责不清、行政监督虚置、问责文化滞后等主要问题,并针对这些问题提出了相应的对策。     

国外非政府组织社会责任研究述评

随着非政府组织在数量、组织以及活动范围的不断扩大,其作用越来越大,已经成为权力结构的一部分,由此引发了关于其社会责任问题的研究。本文对国外非政府组织的角色和功能做了历史分析,对于其社会责任的争议做了评述：从非政府组织的社会责任概念、逻辑形式、类别、代表性问题、相关利益者责任、责任机制等方面进行了比较分析。     

When Are Local Incumbents Held Accountable for Government Performance? Evidence from US School Districts

Do voters hold local officials accountable for government performance? Using over a decade of panel data on school district elections and academic achievement in California, I causally identify the effect of test score changes on school board incumbent re‐election rates and show that incumbents are more likely to win re‐election when test scores improve in their districts—but only in presidential election years. This effect disappears in midterm and off‐years, indicating that election timing might facilitate local government accountability.     

论在政府绩效评估中引进多元评估主体

政府绩效评估中引进多元评估主体具有重大意义，它增加了公众和专家的参与，并能促使政府从传统的管制型政府向服务型、责任型和回应型政府的转变。目前的政府绩效评估虽然实行的也是多元评估主体体系，但存在着主体缺位和错位、独立性不够以及主体间的权重比例不够科学等问题。应该在评估主体中进一步增加公众和专家的评估比重，并由第三部门主导政府绩效评估工作，加强信息公开与透明，建立科学的绩效信息系统，以提高政府绩效评估的科学性和有效性。     

Prison labor and recidivism

This study examines recidivism among inmates who participated in prison industry programs during confinement and a comparison group of inmates who were not employed in prison industry. Industry participants had lower recidivism rates than nonparticipants, but when differences between the groups on other characteristics associated with recidivism were controlled, the recidivism rates of participants and nonparticipants were virtually identical. A proportional hazards regression model was estimated that showed that, net of other variables, the effect of prison industry participation on the probability of postrelease felony arrest was small and insignificant. The findings are discussed in the context of existing correctional outcome research and recent developments in prison work programs.     

试论政府善治视域下我国行政问责制的建构

在我国目前的政治语境下，建立和实施行政问责制具有重要的现实意义。行政问责制是建设责任政府、推进民主政治的一个重要途径，也是实现政府良好治理的关键。然而，目前我国行政问责制在实践中仍面临异体问责薄弱、问责法律缺失、政府信息公开匮乏等诸多困境。因此，将成为加强异体问责，实现问责主体的多元化；健全行政问责的法律体系；推行政务公开，实现“阳光行政”。     

Revisiting the Role of Private Military and Security Companies

Abstract

This essay addresses the role of private military and security companies (PMSCs) in security governance. In this context, it offers a historical overview of some of the main developments in the evolution of private warfare and critically discusses some of the key challenges confronting the quest for holding PMSCs accountable in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian norms.     

被问责官员复出机制探析

从法理和情理上讲,被问责官员复出本身并没有问题,但若被问责官员在被问责后不久即复出就是问题.本文认为,针对被问责官员草率复出的问题,应完善我国的被问责官员复出机制,加强被问责官员复出机制的法治化、规范化建设.这不仅有利于消解公众对行政问责的信用危机,对被问责官员的合法权益进行保护,同时也有利于克服被问责官员复出的草率性和随意性,提高政府行为的公信力和执行力.