Tribute to Richard E. Zody

Public budgeting is multifaceted. It draws from areas of study and practice ranging from management to administration to planning. Guided by analysis—enhanced by computational and technical advances—and political systems, it overlays the public sector at every level of government, including local, state, national, and international. It is also the domain of both academics and practitioners. This tribute honors Richard E. Zody by focusing on the multifaceted nature of public budgeting to reflect the career of a man committed to many of these dimensions. The central focus of his career was on improving public budgetary and management systems, and in doing so, he deftly drew from the many dimensions of budgeting. Dick demonstrated in his study, writing, teaching, and application an intellectual interest in two particular themes: the relationship between academics and practitioners; and budgeting and management, which includes the use of analytical skill and strategic planning. Through these interests, Dick impacted many lives.     

Adapting the environmental impact statement process to inform decision makers

The environmental impact statement (EIS) process is central to the assessment of environmentally significant actions. Yet decisions about what matters in the environment and what gets studied as part of an EIS are based on values that are largely implicit and come primarily from technical experts. In this article we propose using the techniques of decision analysis (DA) to articulate values explicitly and make the EIS process more effective as an aid to decisionmakers in developing defensible environmental policies. We identify five major sources of problems with the current EIS approach, propose a new environmental decision process that incorporates DA in the EIS framework, and consider the merits, problems, and feasibility of implementing the suggested policy improvements.     

Why Overcoming Prejudice is Not Enough: A Rejoinder to Richard Rorty

Abstract

Misrecognition, taken seriously as unjust social subordination, cannot be remedied by eliminating prejudice alone. In this rejoinder to Richard Rorty, it is argued that a politics of recognition and a politics of redistribution can and should be combined. However, an identity politics that displaces redistribution and reifies group differences is deeply flawed. Here, instead, an alternative ‘status’ model of recognition politics is offered that encourages struggles to overcome status subordination and fosters parity of participation. Integrating this politics of recognition with redistribution enables a coherent Left vision that could redress injustices of culture and of political economy simultaneously.     

改革以来中国社会政治生态分析

社会政治生态指政治系统中的诸要素在运行和互动中所形成和显示出来的整体状态.公共权力是政治系统的核心要素,公共权力的运行模式和配置结构对于政治生态的形成具有决定性影响,就此而言,中国社会政治生态表现为权力主导下的渐进改革.渐进改革在历史行进中所展示出来的是国家释权与社会增权的一般过程,在这一过程中逐渐形成的国家与社会的互促型均衡结构构成了改革以来中国社会政治生态的内在规定性.     

Behavioral response to safety regulation

The effectiveness of safety regulation can be enhanced or offset by various forms of behavioral feedback. This study provides estimates of the effectiveness of motorcycle helmet laws in reducing fatalities based on pooled time-series and cross-sectional data for the United States during the years 1975 to 1984. Estimates from the model suggest that the presence of a helmet-wearing law induces a 12 to 22 percent decline in the motorcycle mortality problem. The results are consistent with the view that helmet laws are an effective public health policy, at least in the short run. However, there is also some evidence of gradual risk-compensation behavior: The immediate rise in fatalities following repeal of helmet laws appears to dissipate gradually at a rate of roughly 2.5 percent per year. This result suggests that future studies of safety regulation should consider longrun as well shortrun behavioral responses.