WILL THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF CONTROL?

The Government's privatization programme has acquired such momentum that hardly any public enterprise is exempt from action or proposals. Evaluation of the programme must recognize the diversity of privatization policies, and the tensions inherent within their objectives. Ideological motivation has been supported by the inability of policymakers to design a viable framework of economic and financial control over public enterprises. This has led to a view that it is impossible to manage business efficiently within the public sector, the constraints of which can only be escaped by ‘setting the enterprise free’. However, decisions now will close future options, only be escaped and may be prohibitive to reverse. A list of unanswered questions remain about future relationships between hybrids and governments, the costs and benefits of the regulatory systems which will replace public ownership, and the balance between public policy and private interests. Can the market succeed where the state has been judged to have failed?     

Parents and Drugs

This article examines three hypotheses about the relationship between attachment to parents and children's drug use when parents are perceived by their children as having used drugs. Hirschi's hypothesis that attachment to parents inhibits delinquency regardless of parental behavior is rejected in favor of hypotheses that predict variation in that relationship. In contrast to attachment to straight parents, attachment to drug-using parents does not inhibit drug use significantly and there are occasional hints at reversals in the relationships.     

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND THE POLICY PROCESS

Government departments are central organizations in the development of public policy. Yet there is very little literature on the political role of departments, their internal relationships and their relationships with other departments and other government actors and institutions. This article reviews the extant literature on government departments. It argues that much of the existing research has either focused on the role of the Prime Minister or it has been institutional and static, providing an analysis of the administration and organization of departments rather than political interactions. The article therefore provides an alternative research agenda which stresses the need to examine the relationships and networks that exist within and between departments and how departments react to events and interests in the outside world.     

CORRECTIONAL POLICY AND PUBLIC VALUES

Since 1960, research on various options in correctional policy has emphasiz ‘two basic dimensions: the offender and the community. Under the assumptions that the community and the offender are not separable concerns and that the community is a complex system with many different and conflicting elements, this study examines public values regarding several popular correctional options. Data obtained demonstrate two normative clusters, one concerned with retribution and one with rehabilitation. Examination of the social status of respondents suggests a complex relationship between community structure and norms concerning correctional programs. Recommendations for further research are outlined, as well as for ways that correctional officials could reduce public resistance to the programs favored by officials.