Domestic food policy in the United States

In this paper we review the major outlines of domestic food programs, assess their adequacy, and recommend ways to improve the relationship between food programs and hunger relief. In the Food Stamp Program we treat problems of outreach, coverage and the adequacy of benefits, and rationing access through imposition of costs on recipients. For WIC and commodity distribution programs we also discuss problems associated with the fragmentation of authority and dependence on nonprofit distributors.     

Rethinking retirement-age policy in the United States and Canada

More than legislation, the recent amendments to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act also symbolize a growing interest in the older working population, both in the United States and Canada, particularly the question of their "failing" job skills and the effects of retirement age on the economy. Sociologist Rix examines this issue in terms of demographic, economic and biomedical factors, discussing their implications for management, employee counselors, insurance and pension planners, the tax payers and employees of all ages.     

States and the politics of incrementalism: health policy in Wisconsin during the 1990s

Wisconsin officials during the 1990s seemed poised to enact innovative and comprehensive health care reform. During that era, an ambitious, popular, and reform-minded governor led the state. The state had an unusually professional legislature. The state's economy was strong. Even with these advantages, however, the report card on the state's efforts is mixed. The state enacted a fairly modest set of reforms that were financed largely by the federal government and subject to extensive federal oversight. The Wisconsin story thus seems to be about the politics of incrementalism. But while critics of incrementalist politics point out that the number of uninsured continues to grow, the catalytic federalism witnessed in Wisconsin in the 1990s may well be the best model for implementing health care reform.     

IP law and policy in the United States: trends and developments

Many scholars in political science and international relationshave discussed the obvious shift in world politics from theCold War period to the post-9/11 era. Nation-states now sharethe turbulent global stage with other important actors (eg non-governmentalorganizations and multinational corporations). The field ofUS intellectual property (IP) law is no different. The presentforces of globalization and technology have shaped the developmentand direction of IP policy. In a collection of six essays, ProfessorHugh Hansen, as editor of US Intellectual Property Law and Policy,invites readers to explore the trends of American IP law. Thesesix essays, as Professor Hansen rightly     

War and peace: Drug policy in the United States and the Netherlands

National drug policy has recently been a source of much debate and discussion in the United States. This paper provides a comparison of the key components of the respective drug policies that have been developed in the United States and in the Netherlands. It is argued that the Dutch approach has generally produced more desirable outcomes than have U.S. efforts, and that policy planners here should consider adopting and/or modifying several of these methods for local application.     

Playing fair: fairness beliefs and health policy preferences in the United States

Conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to persuade Americans to support changes in health care policy is to appeal to their self-interest - particularly to concerns about their economic and health security. An alternative strategy, framing problems in the health care system to emphasize inequalities, could also, however, mobilize public support for policy change by activating underlying attitudes about the unfairness or injustice of these inequalities. In this article, we draw on original data from a nationally representative survey to describe Americans' beliefs about fairness in the health domain, including their perceptions of the fairness of particular inequalities in health and health care. We then assess the influence of these fairness considerations on opinions about the appropriate role of private actors versus government in providing health insurance. Respondents believe inequalities in access to and quality of health care are more unfair than unequal health outcomes. Even after taking into account self-interest considerations and the other usual suspects driving policy opinions, perceptions of the unfairness of inequalities in health care strongly influence respondents' preferences for government provision of health insurance.     

Juvenile parole policy in the United States: Determinate versus indeterminate models

This paper presents an overview of eight approaches in juvenile parole policy for terminating, extending, and discharging youths from juvenile parole or aftercare. These types were derived from the results of a national survey of juvenile parole policy in the United States. This survey was sent to the departments of correction, youth service bureaus, and legislative service agencies for the 50 states. The survey sought comparative data on trends in substantive and procedural approaches for handling parole duration and discharge issues for juvenile offenders. These trends are evaluated in relation to movements toward formalism in corrections, recent reforms in juvenile sentencing, standards promulgated by various standard-setting groups, and recent shifts in juvenile justice philosophy in the United States.     

Inching toward incrementalism: federalism, devolution, and health policy in the United States and the United Kingdom

In the United States, the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 envisions a significant increase in federal oversight over the nation's health care system. At the same time, however, the legislation requires the states to play key roles in every aspect of the reform agenda (such as expanding Medicaid programs, creating insurance exchanges, and working with providers on delivery system reforms). The complicated intergovernmental partnerships that govern the nation's fragmented and decentralized system are likely to continue, albeit with greater federal oversight and control. But what about intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom? What impact did the formal devolution of power in 1999 to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have on health policy in those nations, and in the United Kingdom more generally? Has devolution begun a political process in which health policy in the United Kingdom will, over time, become increasingly decentralized and fragmented, or will this "state of unions" retain its long-standing reputation as perhaps the most centralized of the European nations? In this article, we explore the federalist and intergovernmental implications of recent reforms in the United States and the United Kingdom, and we put forward the argument that political fragmentation (long-standing in the United States and just emerging in the United Kingdom) produces new intergovernmental partnerships that, in turn, produce incremental growth in overall government involvement in the health care arena. This is the impact of what can be called catalytic federalism.     

Mental health policy in the liberal state: the example of the United States

Mental health policy arises out of the interaction of many different variables. These include (but are not limited to) the composition of the population of persons with severe mental illnesses; the means of dealing with disease and dependency; concepts of the etiology and nature of mental disorders; the organization and ideology of psychiatry; funding mechanisms; and existing popular, political, cultural, and professional values. But an often neglected but crucial factor in shaping policy is the very structure of the American political system, which played a crucial role in shaping mental health policy. Rather than emphasizing the neo-liberal theory and its accompanying hostility toward "unsuccessful" people and disdain of welfare, this article suggests that an understanding of mental health policy in the latter half of the twentieth century is better served by an examination of what actually happened. Theory, however attractive, rarely can encompass the messy data of reality.     

U.S. policy on health inequities: the interplay of politics and research

What is the relationship between scientific research and government action in addressing health inequalities in the United States? What factors increase the impact of scientific research on public policy? To answer these questions, we focus on racial and ethnic disparities in health status and health care in the United States. We first review the history of the disparities issue to elucidate how the continual and persistent interplay between political action and scientific research drives government policy. We then analyze two recent government-sponsored reports about racial and ethnic disparities to understand the strategic consequences of issue framing. We draw lessons about how disparities research can have a greater impact on public policy.     

A policy transformed by politics: the case of the 1973 Australian Community Health Program

During an era of health policy reform in Australia, community health advocates believed that community health centers (CHCs) could form a solid foundation for a new system of health care delivery. Instead, a proposal for national health insurance (Medibank) emerged as the predominant structural reform. Community health proposals were not abandoned, however, and a policy designed to give federal grant assistance for the establishment of CHCs was implemented in 1973. The historical account of how the 1973 Australian Community Health Program (CHP) was developed in the early 1970s is relevant to dilemmas faced by contemporary policy makers. Specifically, how did the CHP "survive" even though government leaders had moved away from traditional direct service models, choosing to focus more attention on indirect insurance reimbursement?