Book Reviews

Abstract

Underground movements in a struggle for political independence experience processes of crystallization as well as schism. Many times, severe struggles develop in these groups and focus on issues of leadership, operations, and ideology. The success of these movements in achieving their explicit goals depends on their ability to develop an effective mechanism(s) for inner conflict(s) resolution(s). Such inner conflicts and tensions can change, in the most profound way, the way an underground movement Junctions, its ability to attract and recruit new members, and its survivability. Lehi was one of the three prestate Jewish underground groups in Palestine (the two others were the Hagana and Etzel), struggling against the British and the Arabs with the explicit goal of establishing a new Jewish state. Lehi was established in the summer of 1940 and, in the autumn and winter of 1942, was already in an advanced stage of disintegration due to the British success in arresting or killing most of its members and leadership. In the summer of 1942, two leaders of Lehi—Itzhak Yazernitzky‐Shamir and Eliahu Giladi—escaped from the British detention camp in Mazra and revived Lehi. During 1942, a severe conflict developed between these two leaders, focusing on issues of leadership, operations, and ideology. Consequently, Shamir instructed his men to kill Giladi, who was assassinated in the summer of 1943. This paper traces the development of this conflict in a political and historical context and examines the consequences of the assassination. The main conclusion is that the death of Giladi had a major impact on the reemerging Lehi.     

Adaptation and the foreign policy bureaucracy: The experience of federal states

Members of the Commonwealth do not use the title ‘ambassador’ for the heads of diplomatic missions which they send to one another. Instead, they use the title ‘high commissioner’. This article firstly examines how the office of high commissioner emerged to meet the representational needs of states owing allegiance to a common sovereign. Secondly, it explains why the office survived the transformation of the British empire into the modern Commonwealth of sovereign states. Thirdly, the article considers the factors that continue to make the office appealing to its holders and a diplomatic asset to their states.     

Book Reviews

John F. Manley and Kenneth M. Dolbeare, The Case Against the Constitution: From the Antifederalists to the Present (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharp, Inc., 1987), 199 pp.

Mark Tushnet, Red, White, and Blue: A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Law (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988), 328 pp.

Sheldon S. Wolin, The Presence of the Past: Essays on the State and the Constitution (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), 228 pp.

Peter Brown, Minority Party: Why Democrats Face Defeat in 1992 and Beyond (Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway, 1991).     

Agency and outcome expectancies for crime desistance: measuring offenders' personal beliefs about change†

Abstract

While the majority of offenders eventually desist from crime, the internal psychological mechanisms hypothesized to drive the process of desistance and offender change have not been systematically measured. This study developed scales for assessing intention to change, or offenders' beliefs regarding their perceived ability to stay crime-free (agency) and expected outcomes for crime and desistance (expectancies). Incarcerated offenders (N=142) endorsed these beliefs in a way that is consistent with theories of offender change. The structure of beliefs suggests offenders with positive expectancies for desistance and negative expectancies for crime also endorse a higher sense of personal agency to desist. Outcome expectancies for desistance were unrelated to static risk variables, suggesting these measures may be complementary to risk assessment. Overall, the scales developed for this research showed high internal consistency and evidence for concurrent and construct validity. Refining the measurement methods and assessing recidivism outcome post-release should further advance this avenue of research.     

Predicting verdicts,adherence to judge's instructions,and assumptions about the disposition of the defendant in a case involving the insanity defense

Abstract

296 college students and jury eligible adults completed attitudinal measures and read a case summary of a murder trial involving the insanity defense. The case summary included opening and closing arguments, testimony from expert witnesses, and judge's instructions. Although broader legal attitudes (the PJAQ) predicted verdicts, the Insanity Defense Attitudes-Revised scale provided incremental predictive validity. Attitudes related to the insanity defense also predicted adherence to judge's instructions, whereas more general legal biases predicted a juror's willingness to change their verdict after being provided with accurate information about the defendant's disposition following the verdict. Importantly, misconceptions concerning the insanity defense impacted verdicts and many jurors made decisions that failed to adhere to the judge's instructions, though the nullification tendency does appear to vary as a function of pretrial juror attitudes. Implications for instructing jurors in insanity defense cases will be discussed.     

Policy transfers between governments: The case of administrative reforms

Administrative reform has been a very common activity of governments in almost all industrialised democracies, including those in Western Europe. The frequent contacts among these governments, and the presence of organisations such as the OECD that are spreading the reforms, might be expected to produce widespread diffusion of administrative innovations. That diffusion is not, however, as widespread as might have been expected and there are marked differences among countries as well as among types of reform. Using Boolean algebra, this article analyses the correlates of the diffusion of reform among European countries and the implications of that diffusion for public administration in these countries.     

The (f)utility of a feminist turn to Foucault

This paper explores some of the potential problems of a feminist appropriation of the ideas of Michel Foucault. In particular, it addresses questions concerning the political consequences of such a turn focusing on (i) the microphysical versus the macrophysical; and (ii) Foucalt's supposed 'ethical quandary'. In so doing, it suggests that, for from undermining feminist politics, the turn to Foucault prompts a reassessment of the foundations of political action.     

Rural income and poverty in a time of radical change in Malawi

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. There is widespread, though not universal, agreement about the shape of poverty in the country and the policy challenge this sets. Agriculture continues to be the most obvious means to stimulate broad-based rural growth and to provide levels of food security and income needed for the majority rural population. A longitudinal study over a decade during which radical policy and political changes occurred provides the data and basis for discussing the appropriate policy directions for reducing poverty.