Shirking and political support in the U.S. Senate, 1964–1984

Several empirical studies have suggested that legislators engage in a surprisingly large degree of on-the-job consumption, or ideological behavior. These findings cast doubt on the hypothesis that legislators can be modelled as though they seek to maximize political support. This paper attempts to determine whether commonly used proxies for ideology in fact represent behavior to which voters are averse. The results show that legislators who engage in more of this behavior lose general-election support without generally receiving compensating increases in partyprimary support. A corollary to this result is that voters punish shirking legislators significantly.     

Morphine-3-D glucuronide stability in postmortem specimens exposed to bacterial enzymatic hydrolysis

Medical examiners frequently rely on the finding of free morphine present in postmortem specimens to assist in certifying deaths associated with narcotics. In vitro hydrolysis of morphine-3-D glucuronide (M3DG) to free morphine was studied using variable specimen pH, initial degree of specimen putrefaction, storage temperature and time, and the effectiveness of sodium fluoride (NaF) preservation. Reagent M3DG was added to opiate-free fresh blood and urine and to autopsy-derived blood specimens. Reagent bovine glucuronidase was also added to certain specimens. Freshly collected and refrigerated NaF-preserved blood produced minimal free morphine, whereas four of five autopsy blood specimens produced free morphine from M3DG. Increased storage time, temperature, and initial degree of putrefaction resulted in greater free morphine generation despite the absence of viable bacteria. Hydrolysis occurring during specimen storage can generate free morphine from M3DG and may result in erroneous conclusions in certifying narcotic deaths.     

From animal cruelty to serial murder: applying the graduation hypothesis

Although serial murder has been recorded for centuries, limited academic attention has been given to this important topic. Scholars have attempted to examine the causality and motivations behind the rare phenomenon of serial murder. However, scant research exists which delves into the childhood characteristics of serial murderers. Using social learning theory, some of these studies present supporting evidence for a link between childhood animal cruelty and adult aggression toward humans. Based on five case studies of serial murderers, we contribute to the existing literature by exploring the possible link between childhood cruelty toward animals and serial murder with the application of the graduation hypothesis.     

Managing Carrots and Sticks: Changes in State Administrators' Perceptions of Cooperative and Coercive Federalism During the 1990s

The so-called devolution revolution was a significant themein American federalism in the 1990s. Opinions on the issue varywidely. Some suggest that "major changes" occurred in intergovernmentalrelations. Others were pessimistic about the occurrence of anydevolution during the decade. We investigated changes in intergovernmentalrelations between the national and state governments in the1990s on the basis of Elazar's approach to American federalisminvolving: (1) administration, (2) cooperation and coercion,and (3) regulation. We used American State Administrator's Project(ASAP) data collected in 1994 and 1998 to access state administrators'perceptions of national fiscal and regulatory impacts on stateagencies. We conclude that state administrators' perceptionof national fiscal and regulatory impacts changed only moderatelyfrom 1994 to 1998, and that evolution rather than revolutiondescribes better the character of state-national intergovernmentalchanges during the 1990s.     

Who Governs Japan? Politicians and Bureaucrats in the Policy-making Processes

The long-running debate about who governs Japan has been given a new twist by 'rat-choicers' who argue that Japan has been governed for the last thirty years or more neither by bureaucrats nor by a 'conservative coalition' of bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen but by the Liberal Democratic Party alone. This article examines their arguments and sets them in the context of other competing and conflicting explanations. It is argued that more relevant and researchable questions are what is governed and how, an approach calling for a more nuanced analysis of policy making in order to observe the impact on different policies and policy-processes of the role of the state and its institutional structures and their embedded 'collective identities'.     

L‘économie publique: suggestions pour une amélioration des choix politiques

Abstract. The problem of the distribution of resources in the public sector has often been compared to the market process of the private sector of the economy, in order to determine criteria similar to those used in welfare theory. However, the very nature of public goods is such as to make it very difficult to identify what each consumer really wants and to finance the production of public goods by making a charge. It is imperative, therefore, to initiate a decision-making process that reconciles these difficulties. This process will only be democratic if it is controlled by all citizens, who express their judgment by voting. But we do not know whether this vote expresses a choice as far as public goods are concerned. Considering the complexity and the quantity of public services being offered, it becomes impossible to identify a priority scale. Perhaps instead of choosing goods the voters can be said to choose a public entrepreneur, i.e. the government they elect. In order to find out the citizens' preferences, governments elected as entrepreneurs must provide for special communication mechanisms such as parliamentary committees and surveys of public opinion. Such surveys are not to be seen as replacing the vote but rather as supplementing it. Finally, between the entrepreneur and the consumer of public goods there stands the public service. Its role is of major importance. Public administration consists of ministries which compete with each other. Efficient central coordinating agencies have to be established to arbitrate the conflicting demands for the resources available. Out of this general plan one can provide a simplified decision-making process by levels and stages. Sommaire. Le problème de l'allocation des ressources dam le secteur public a souvent été comparé au système de marché de l'économie privée, afin de déterminer des critères normatifs d'allocation se rapprochant de ceux de la théorie du bien-être. La nature des biens publics est cependant telle qu'il est difficile d'identifier la demande réelle de chaque consommateur et de fhancer la production des biens publics en exigeant un tarif. II faut donc trouver un processus de décision qui réconcilie ces difficultés. Ce processus pour être démocratique doit être conirôle par les citoyens qui expriment leur jugement en votant. La question est alors de savoir si le vote exprime un choix de biens publics. Or éant donné la complexité et la quatité de services publics qui sont offerts, il devient impossible de dégager un ordre de préférence. Plutôt que de choisir des biens, on peut émettre l'hypothèse que le votant choisit un entrepreneur public. Pour conndîre les préférences des citoyens, un gouvernement éilu en tant qu'entrepreneur doit prévoir des mécanismes spéciaux de communications comme les commissions parlementaires et les sondages d'opinion. Ces sondages ne sont pas vus mmme un substitut au vote mais plutôt comme un complément. Enfin entre l'entrepreneur et le consommateur de biens publics se situe l'administration qui joue un rôle important. Cette administration est divisée en ministères qui sont en concurrence et l'arbitrage des demandes de ressources nécessite l'organisation d'organismes centraux de coordination efficace. On put alors déduire de ce schéma général un processus simplifié de décision par niveau et par éape.