The health care state in the information age

The computerization of the medical record has important implications for the governance of health care, and the importance of health care means that changes wrought there are indicative of changes in government as a whole. This paper draws on work in public policy, medical sociology and studies of science and technology, as well as on cross–national empirical research in Britain and France. It describes the recent development of information policy in health care as an exercise in state–building, realized specifically in the governance of the health professions. The paper concludes with a discussion of what is both new and not so new in the form and extent of state power which emerges.     

宵禁令时代已衰落

青少年宵禁令制度曾经在美国许多地区广泛实施,并成为美国青少年的一种生活方式.然而作者通过一次在加利福尼亚对青少年宵禁令制度的调查,结果却发现青少年宵禁令制度对并不能有效地减少青少年犯罪.而且笔者认为青少年宵禁令制度在实施过程中存在种族歧视、司法资源的浪费、伤害青少年的问题,实际是政府权力的过度扩张,因此笔者认为这一制度已走向衰亡.     

The variation of the mean age of suicides in the United States

In the United States from 1968-1996, the mean age of suicides was positively associated with measures of domestic social integration. It is suggested that the mean age of suicides could be an interesting dependent variable in suicidological research.     

The moral purpose of US power: neoconservatism in the age of Obama

The ‘neoconservative moment’ is widely assumed to have come and gone with the George W. Bush administration. This article argues, however, that the hope that the neoconservative chapter in US foreign policy will be definitively closed under Barack Obama's administration is unlikely to be realized in practice, owing to the continuing influence that neoconservatives are able to exercise over national debates regarding the ‘moral’ use of US power in order to shape the international environment. While the moral agenda of the ‘neocons’ is often misconceived as simply a mask for the naked pursuit of the United States' material and strategic interests, this article demonstrates that this misrepresents the rationale that underpins the neoconservative perspective. Exploring the re-articulation of morality in neoconservative thought reveals the nexus that both links the neoconservative domestic agenda for political change to its foreign policy goals and also provides a framework for understanding the ‘staying power’ that neoconservatism continues to exhibit. Although the Obama presidency is widely heralded as a repudiation of this agenda, the neoconservative conception of the United States as a moral power is deeply rooted in US foreign policy traditions and is domestically allied to traditional expressions of social conservatism, which enables neoconservative ideas to continue to resonate in US foreign policy debates.     

The forgotten worker: Neglected aspects of public service in an information age

One of the most consistent themes among contemporary administrative theorists is that the workplace of the future will be a more hospitable environment for public workers than is currently the case. Decentralization, participative management, and intrinsically satisfying work are commonly forecast. Using survey data from state employees, this study identifies a large class of civil servants that has not yet, and probably will not, enjoy the enriched jobs that are so often predicted. The discussion identifies a number of factors in the work environment of these workers that are likely to frustrate attempts to make their jobs more meaningful and pleasant. Having acknowledged their existence and assessed their plight, the study concludes with a summary of measures that can be taken to address the needs of these “forgotten workers.”