Benign Neglect: America's Threat to the Anglo-American Alliance

The United States can ill afford to lose the loyalty of proven allies. Yet it risks currently weakening one of its most important and enduring friendships. British popular support for America has been shaken and elite commitment to the special relationship faces a potentially formidable array of contrary strategic and partisan arguments. Some of these are overstated but there is a further danger that is little mentioned but just as corrosive—American benign neglect. If in the pursuit of new allies and objectives America is not to squander extant assets, then it must do more to nurture the reflexive British Atlanticism that has helped sustain Anglo-American relations through their numerous crises.     

The chief administrative officer in urban administration

One cause of the urban crisis in America id ineffectual executive leadership and administration. Charter reorganization often fails to improve the city' condition because objectives are not clear. As such authorities as Lineberry and Fowler, and Adrian have noticed, larger cities often seek better executive andds administrative performance through the strong mayor-council form of government, thereby leaving the reform tradition's model council-manager form. But close observation of several large cities reveals the position of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) as a close asociate of the mayor and a substitute for a City Manager (CM). Although more than 2000 cities have a CAO, the city management professional literature has created an ambiguous, somewhat critical view of the position. Criticisms expressed are that a CAO is only the personal assistant of the mayor, lacks full appointive and budget powers, and is not as profesional as a CM. However, study of the charters of several cities such as San Francisco, Albuqerque, and New Orleans, and results of analyses by Hogan, Sayre, Nolting, and others indicate that CAOs possess significant appointive, policy and budget authority and are highly successful professionals. The need for strong executive political leadership in larger cities is often more than the CM institution can acomodate. The city management profession has not fully recognized the mayor-CAO combination as a valuable alternative to the council-manager government. However, the succes of the CAO position in numerous cities, and the close working realtion acheived betwen mayors and CAOs uncovered by Hogan, indicate that the CAO is here to stay, and merits a place alongside the venerable CM Institution in the constant effort to improve American city management.     

Ulysses Contracts in Medicine

Ulysses contracts are a method by which one person binds himself by agreeing to be bound by others. In medicine such contracts have primarily been discussed as ways of treating people with episodic mental illnesses, where the features of the illness are such that they now judge that they will refuse treatment at the time it is needed. Enforcing Ulysses contracts in these circumstances would require medical professionals to override the express refusal of the patient at the time treatment is required, something that is generally problematic both ethically and legally. In this paper I will argue that despite appearances Ulysses contracts can make it the case that treating a patient in such circumstances is an instance of treating him with his consent, although safeguards are needed to ensure that this is the case. Given the potential benefits to patients I further argue that modified Ulysses contracts should be made legally enforceable.     

Liberal collectivism and national economic policy

The subtlety of contemporary philosophical reflection, proclaimed and magisterially displayed in Gillian Rose's The Broken Middle, is an effect of postmodern challenge, rather than inner tendency of modern thought; above all, this applies to the acceptance of inherent ambiguity of ‘:the middle’ - the space where possibility is recast into actuality, and hence of the infinity of philosophy's task. ‘The middle’, though already structured by the law (the ethical codification of morality), was through modern times the locale of moral solitude: what was determined was inescapability of choice. ‘The middle’ has been ‘broken’ - a site of freedom/ unfreedom, uncertainty/determination - from the start, yet the recognition of its nature has been hard earned mostly through the experience of persons/ categories refused or refusing ‘assimilation’ into the Law modernity stood for; what is called ‘postmodern condition’ is the universalization of that experience. Universalized, this experience is increasingly wary of the two most tried modern attempts to ‘repair’ ‘the middle’ - through the ‘general will’ or through the escape into privatized self.     

(Why) should we require consent to participation in research?

It is widely accepted that informed consent is a requirement of ethical biomedical research. It is less clear why this is so. As an argumentative strategy the article asks whether it would be legitimate for the state to require people to participate in research. This article argues that the consent requirement cannot be defended by appeal to any simple principle, such as not treating people merely as a means, bodily integrity, and autonomy. As an argumentative strategy the article asks whether it would be legitimate for the state to require people to participate in research. I argue that while it would be legitimate and potentially justifiable to coerce people to participate in research as a matter of first-order moral principles, there are good reasons to adopt a general prohibition on coercive participation as a matter of second-order morality.     

Talleyrand and England, 1792–1838: A Reinterpretation

Talleyrand fascinated his contemporaries and later historians alike on account of his wit, style, and epigrams, and perhaps even his policies. Talleyrand drifted across the Channel many times, and so did his policy towards Britain. This article examines his mission to London, 1792–94, and his later attitude towards Britain during the Napoleonic and Restoration periods. In so doing it seeks to demythologise Talleyrand's role as the founder of the Entente Cordiale. His policy, like the Entente itself, was based on ideals rather than realities.     

Hobbes on Democracy

Hobbes is often cited as a precursor of modern liberalism, both on the grounds of his individualism and of his endorsement of intellectual and moral autonomy. Yet Hobbes supports absolutist government rather than democracy. This is partly explained by his rejection of autonomy understood as self-government. But Hobbes's case against democracy is more comprehensive than this. This article considers Hobbes's case against democracy.