Securing security through prosperity: the San Francisco System in comparative perspective

The integrated system of political–economic relations that has prevailed in the Pacific since the September 1951 treaty of peace with Japan, known here as the San Francisco System, is distinctive in comparison with subregional systems elsewhere in the world. This paper outlines key defining features, such as (1) a dense network of bilateral alliances; (2) an absence of multilateral security structures; (3) strong asymmetry in alliance relations, both in security and economics; (4) special precedence to Japan; and (5) liberal trade access to American markets, coupled with relatively limited development assistance. After contrasting this system to analogous arrangements elsewhere, especially in the Atlantic, it explores both the origins and the prognosis of this remarkably durable political–economic entity. Complementary domestic political–economic interests on both sides of the Pacific, reinforcing a brilliant original Japan-centric design by John Foster Dulles, account for persistence, it is argued, while forces for change center on the dynamic emerging role of China.     

Delaying Justice(s): A Duration Analysis of Supreme Court Confirmations

Presidents traditionally have had great success when nominating justices to the Supreme Court, with confirmation being the norm and rejection being the rare exception. While the confirmation process usually ends with the nominee taking a seat on the Court, however, there is a great deal of variance in the amount of time it takes the Senate to act. To derive a theoretical explanation of this underlying dynamic in the confirmation process, we draw on a spatial model of presidential nominations to the Court. We then employ a hazard model to test this explanation, using data on all Supreme Court nominations and confirmations since the end of the Civil War. Our primary finding is that the duration of the confirmation process increases as the ideological distance between the president and the Senate increases. We also find evidence that suggests that the duration increases for critical nominees and chief justices and decreases for older nominees, current and previous senators, and nominees with prior experience on state and federal district courts .     

Changes in living arrangements during the late 1990s: Do welfare policies matter?

Using data from the 1997 and 1999 National Surveys of America's Families, the authors examine the consequences of state welfare policies and practices on the living arrangements of low‐income families with children. Results from a multivariate difference‐in‐difference‐in‐differences model suggest that more effective collection of child support and family cap policies are correlated with declines in single parenting and increases in dual parenting. Other policies such as sanctions and special restrictions that apply to two‐parent families have no clear, consistent association with living arrangements. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The Cost of Good Intentions: Thermal Discomfort in Traditional Public Housing Units With Preset Thermostats

Cold and hot housing environments are known correlates of physical and psychological health conditions, decreased productivity, and issues with quality of life. The purpose of this study is to establish whether the use of preset thermostats creates disproportionate thermal discomfort (a housing unit feeling hot or cold) for people in older housing (n = 296). In-depth qualitative interviews (n = 25) elaborate on resident experiences. Implications for evaluation, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Canadian Federalism in the 1990s: Once More in Question

Failure to ratify the Meech Lake Accord in 1990 has produceda constitutional crisis in Canada and sharpened the polarizationbetween Quebec and the rest of Canada. The future of Canadianfederalism and of Canada as a nation is now in question. Proceduralfactors contributing to the failure of Meech Lake included flawsin the constitutional amendment process, inadequate public involvement,distrust of executive federalism, inept political leadership,and ratification of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Morefundamental factors, however, involve significant social andpolitical changes within Quebec and the rest of Canada. Thecrisis is expected to reach a peak by the fall of 1992 whenQuebec may hold a referendum on sovereignty.     

The Bureaucratic Politics of Welfare-State Crisis: Sweden in the 1990s

This article suggests that key bureaucrats play a decisive role in times of welfare crisis. It argues that key bureaucrats, through their advice, define both the type of welfare crisis and the range of possible solutions, which have at least two important consequences: First, it broadens the distribution of welfare cuts, as key bureaucrats—contrary to politicians—have no interests in targeting special voter groups. Second, it enables political compromises, as both the government and the opposition trust the key bureaucrats' expertise. These suggestions are tested empirically in a case study of Sweden in the 1990s. It shows that key bureaucrats did indeed influence both the distribution of the cuts and enabled a compromise between the center-right government and the Social Democratic opposition.     

20世纪八九十年代台湾少数民族政治运动初探

20世纪80年代的台湾,受各种政治因素的影响,国民党当局的统治受到严重冲击,被迫进行"本土化"、"民主化"的政治革新,台湾少数民族政治运动由此兴起.在党外反对势力支持下,台湾少数民族政治运动围绕"正名"、"还我土地"、"自治"三大诉求,向国民党当局抗争维权,这一运动到20世纪90年代末逐渐走向消沉,其原因值得深思.台湾少数民族政治运动虽然历时短暂,却在台湾政治运动史上占有重要地位.     

Financing growth in the 1990s: New challenges for OECS countries

This article argues that the world as we know it is becoming increasingly integrated and that the traditional providers of foreign assistance for infrastructure and other purposes, are about to increase the demand that poorer nations like the OECS countries must do more for themselves during the process of social development. The article admits that poorer countries like the OECS have developed revenue raising structures that facilitate indigenous development but the post-Cold War reality intensifies the need for countries like the OECS to do more for themselves than ever before. The reasons for this occurrence have been stated largely as being attributed to financial, economic, attitudinal changes in major industrial countries, particularly in North America. These changes suggest difficult limes for industrial countries in the future and are likely to have serious impacts on countries like the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The article offers a specific approach to dealing with this anticipated demand from donor countries to do more for themselves. The author advocates the following: (1) expand the existing revenue structure of the OECS countries to include specific revenue instruments to finance new growth and development in these countries; (2) broaden the concept and practice of ‘pay-as-you-go’ to ‘pay-as-you-grow;’ (3) require new growth to pay its own way or at a minimum, to shoulder a large proportion of the cost; (4) let those who primarily benefit from new growth pay for it. ‘Impact’ or ‘development’ fees have been suggested to be a new method of financing growth, particularly in countries that are experiencing new levels of growth. The author argues that this method will not be unusual to developers-foreign investors from North America, or OECS nationals who may be returning temporarily or otherwise to their home country. This discussion on pay-as-you-grow, it is hoped, will contribute to the growing literature on Caribbean public finance.     

Dynamics and dilemma: The mainland and Taiwan in the 1990s

This paper examines the political and strategic dimensions of the cross-strait relations that are affected by the recent internal and external dynamics of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It argues that the main factors behind this recent tension are the lack of political trust, absence of political contact, and a growing gap of perceptions at the high political level on both sides over each other’s intentions, policies and rhetoric. Economics, though it can influence politics considerably, is by no means a supplement to political interactions between the two sides. Some policy implications are discussed at the end of the paper.     

Interpreting reproductive rights: institutional responses to the agenda in the 1990s

This article reviews the way in which three very different international organisations concerned with reproductive health policy responded to the reproductive rights agenda during the 1990s. The intention is not to evaluate these responses but to describe how these organisations saw their roles with respect to establishing and promoting reproductive rights in developing countries. We seek to explore their different strategies of defining and interpreting rights, to examine the imperatives behind these strategies and to consider how these variously fed into the practical actions and agendas with which these organisations were engaged. The organisations included were the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights, the International Federation of Family Planning Associations and the UK's Department for International Development. Their diverse understandings about implementing reproductive rights contribute to a plural political environment in which these rights and their interpretation are debated. For all the three, their particular conception of reproductive rights is an important organising principle through which their efforts around reproductive health are given wider meaning. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.