Trustworthiness: the Commentators

Mark Thompson deplores the decline in the public trust of government and of public service institutions such as the BBC. But there has also been a decline in another form of trust: government's trust in the ability of professionals such as doctors and teachers to deliver high quality public services. And, unlike Thompson's type of trust, this decline was inevitable, because it was based on untenable assumptions concerning professional motivation. The author discusses the importance of trust in an unwritten constitution, including trust in the use made of public resources, trust that appointments are being made on merit, trust that the civil service is ‘speaking truth unto power’ behind the scenes and ultimately trust that it retains the ability to serve future governments. In a world where trust in institutions is diminishing, there are still surprising levels of trust in the world of private philanthropy. The public are only too ready to give donations without seeking to question, especially in the wake of major disasters. Yet the nature of aid agencies has changed dramatically in the past thirty years into major global enterprises with sophisticated media and marketing operations. In this case a greater degree of scepticism from those who donate and paradoxically less trust might actually result in better outcomes from aid and better use of funding. Trust is critical to the mission of the FCO. The public needs to trust the competence and sound judgment of the professional diplomats. The diplomats themselves need to be able to rely on the commonsense of their fellow colleagues. Ministers and diplomats need to trust each other. And other governments need to have confidence in the discretion of their British counterparts. This is an increasing challenge in the world of instant news. Trust can be quickly lost by indiscreet or self‐serving revelations. But the key is to be as open and transparent as possible about the processes of diplomacy. A new survey commissioned by the British Journalism Review demonstrates that public confidence in journalism has collapsed over the last five years. This is particularly true for the commercial broadcasters ITV and Channel 4, whose journalism has traditionally commanded as much public esteem as the BBC. Trust in the BBC and print journalists has also declined, and journalism suffered more than any of the other 16 occupational groups being assessed. This is partly due to the cumulative effect of various “fakery” scandals that have afflicted broadcasters over the last 18 months and partly down to a more widespread cynicism directed at those in authority.     

SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITIES UNDER DETERMINATE SENTENCING SYSTEMS: A COMPARISON OF PREGUIDELINE AND POSTGUIDELINE PRACTICES IN MINNESOTA*

After a brief review of determinate sentencing systems, this study examines the impact of Minnesota's determinate sentencing law on various presentence and sentencing outcomes. Using comparable pre- and postguideline measures, the results of this study suggest that Minnesota's reform effort was largely successful in reducing disparity within the scope of the new guidelines. However, although the direct impact of socioeconomic attributes of the offender diminished, these characteristics continued to influence sentencing decisions indirectly through various presentence decisions and case attributes not governed by the guidelines Different models of charge bargaining and sentence negotiations are also observed when pre- and postguideline models are compared. Yet, the determinants of these time-specific models are not consistent with the assumptions of a circumvention argument. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research evaluating the impact of determinate sentencing systems on achieving social neutrality in the application of criminal sanctions.     

Judicial Waivers of Parental Consent for Abortion: Tennessee's Troubles Putting Policy into Practice*

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, minors seeking abortions are entitled to petition for relief from state‐mandated parental consent. To facilitate the actualization of this right, Tennessee included procedural mechanisms that go beyond those in effect in most states in its parental consent statute. This paper examines whether these additional mechanisms allow Tennessee to succeed where other states have failed. Our findings indicate that these mechanisms mitigate to some extent the sort of implementation failure observed in other states. However, the magnitude of this mitigation is not sufficient to establish that parental consent statutes can be implemented in accordance with Supreme Court requirements.     

RIP RIPA? Snowden,Surveillance, and the Inadequacies of our Existing Legal Framework

This collection of pieces addresses questions raised by the Snowden revelations and their aftermath. All the authors were participants at a round‐table discussion at King's College London on Thursday 20 March 2014. The round table was chaired jointly by Sir Lawrence Freedman and Lord [Peter] Hennessy. Those participating were: Baroness [Onora] O'Neill, Lord [Ken] Macdonald, Nigel Inkster, Professor Thomas Rid (King's College), Ewen MacAskill (The Guardian), Gordon Corera (BBC), Jemima Stratford QC, Peter Horrocks (BBC), Charlie Edwards (RUSI), Professor Jean Seaton (Westminster University), Bill Peace (King's, ex‐SOCA), Air Vice‐Marshal Andrew Vallance (DA‐Notice), Carl Miller (DEMOS/King's), Lord (Alex) Carlile and Richard Sambrook (Cardiff University). The round table was organised by Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust, and Benedict Wilson, lecturer in Defence Studies at King's and Research Associate at KPI. It was a joint Media Standards Trust–King's Policy Institute Event. For more information please contact martin.moore@mediastandardstrust.org or benedict.wilson@kcl.ac.uk .     

THE EFFECTS OF DIRECTED PATROL AND SELF‐INITIATED ENFORCEMENT ON FIREARM VIOLENCE: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY OF HOT SPOT POLICING

Targeted policing has proven effective in reducing serious crime in areas where it is highly concentrated, but the enforcement mechanisms responsible for the success of so‐called hot spots strategies remain poorly understood. This study evaluates the effects of a 9‐month randomized controlled hot spots field experiment on firearm assaults and robberies in St. Louis, Missouri. Thirty‐two firearm violence hot spots were randomly allocated to two treatment conditions and a control condition. Directed patrols were increased in both treatment conditions, whereas the experimental protocol limited other enforcement activity in one of the treatment conditions and increased it in the other. The results from difference‐in‐difference regression analyses indicate that the intervention substantially reduced the incidence of nondomestic firearm assaults, with no evident crime displacement to surrounding areas, to times when the intervention was not active, or to nonfirearm assaults. By contrast, we find no effects of the intervention on firearm robberies. Less definitive results suggest that the certainty of arrests and occupied vehicle checks account for the treatment effects on nondomestic firearm assaults.     

Mais Médicos: Cuba's Medical Internationalism Programme in Brazil

In 2014, at the request of the Brazilian government and under the sponsorship of PAHO, the Cuban government sent 11,400 doctors to work in underserved areas. This article examines the origins and development of this programme, Mais Médicos. The significance of this programme is explored, as well as what it illustrates about south‐south cooperation as a whole.     

The Limits of Transparency

Few would disagree that more transparency is generally a good thing for democracy. Indeed so few would disagree that an unthinking consensus has developed where transparency appears to have become the political tonic to cure all ills. Political unaccountability? Let's have more transparency. Economic inefficiency? More transparency. Too close a relationship between politicians and the press? We need more transparency. These six essays by Andrew Murray, John Lloyd, Helen Margetts, Sean Maguire, Aleks Krotosky and Kevin Marsh question the sometimes unthinking consensus about the benefits of transparency. They question it from a legal perspective, from a journalistic perspective, from a governance perspective, from a technological perspective, from practical perspective, and from a civic perspective.