Setting the Standard in Performance Measurement Systems

A fundamental challenge in the design of performance measurement and incentive systems is the establishment of appropriate benchmark levels of performance, also known as performance standards. Drawing from the information economics, contract theory and public administration literatures, we derive theoretical implications for the construction of performance standards. We then assess alternative methods that are commonly used to construct performance standards and consider their application in performance measurement systems in public programs. We draw out important lessons for the establishment of performance benchmarks and other implications for performance standards system design in public organizations.     

Judgments of culpability in a filicide scenario

Previous research has indicated that potential jurors are likely to use personal biases, such as those based on gender and ethnicity, in their judgments of culpability of criminal defendants in addition to, or instead of, the facts of the crime. The present paper seeks to extend this literature to the crime of filicide; to examine whether male defendants are judged more harshly than female defendants, as is the case for domestic violence and sexual abuse. 214 participants were provided with a scenario of filicide in which the gender of the perpetrator, the gender of the child, and the family's social class were randomly assigned. Participants were asked to rate the culpability of the defendant in the case. Results indicated that, unlike for other violent crimes, participants did not use gender or social class biases in their judgments of criminal culpability.     

Pay‐for‐Success Development in the United States: Feasible or Failing to Launch?

Social impact bonds, known as pay‐for‐success (PFS) initiatives in the United States, have attracted attention as a novel strategy for financing and providing preventive services to the most vulnerable populations. This article provides an exploratory qualitative analysis of the Preschool PFS Feasibility Pilot grant applications and projects initiated by the U.S. Department of Education to encourage state and local exploration of PFS for implementing high‐quality preschool programs. Drawing on the public administration evidence base that informs PFS design, the authors examine the feasibility pilots’ features and investigate why grant applicants saw PFS as a promising strategy for achieving their preschool program goals. The challenges encountered, lessons learned, and perceived viability of fully executed PFS preschool programs are also discussed. Findings show that few projects are advancing toward formal PFS arrangements, with many struggling to overcome constrained capacities, structural and political barriers, and inherent incentives to minimize risk and loss.     

How Credible Is the Evidence,and Does It Matter? An Analysis of the Program Assessment Rating Tool

This research empirically assesses the quality of evidence that agencies provided to the Office of Management and Budget in the application of the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), introduced in 2002 to more rigorously, systematically, and transparently assess public program effectiveness and hold agencies accountable for results by tying them to the executive budget formulation process and program funding. Evidence submitted by 95 programs administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the PART assessment is analyzed using measures that capture the quality of evidence and methods used by programs and information on characteristics of agencies that might relate to program results and government funding decisions. The study finds that of those programs offering some evidence, most was internal and qualitative, and about half did not assess how their performance compared to other government or private programs with similar objectives. Programs were least likely to provide externally generated evidence of their performance relative to long‐term and annual performance goals. Importantly, overall PART and results scores were (statistically) significantly lower for programs that failed to provide quantitative evidence and did not use long‐term measures, baseline measures or targets, or independent evaluations. Although the PART program results ratings and overall PART scores had no discernible consequences for program funding over time, the PART assessments appeared to take seriously the evaluation of evidence quality, a positive step forward in recent efforts to base policy decisions on more rigorous evidence.     

The 2006 Landtag Election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The election of the fifth state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was, for the first time since 1990, a ‘true’ state election because it did not take place on the same day as the federal election. The opportunity for thrusting this state's own political topics into the limelight was, however, not used by any of the parties. Both the SPD which had been part of a red-red coalition with the PDS since 1998 and the CDU left the coalition question open during the campaign. Partially because of this, there was no polarization among voters. The voter turnout was quit low. Despite great losses, the SPD emerged as the strongest party. The Linkspartei.PDS made only minimal advances and the CDU dropped to a record low of less than 30 per cent of the vote. In addition to the FDP which was able to re-enter parliament for the first time since 1990, the right-extremist NPD managed to overcome the five percent hurdle. Thus, the previous three party system ended. Due to the narrow majority, Prime Minister Harald Ringstorff (SPD) decided against a continuation of the red-red coalition and instead formed a grand coalition with the CDU.     

Youth culture and European integration in Germany: back to European basics?

Using data of a representative survey among young people in Germany, the present article detects significant shifts in attitudes towards European integration over a relatively short time-span. Surveying these changing attitudes, the article explores the idea that these changing attitudes could signal more than mere short-term reactions to singular political events, but rather point to a reorientation towards the initial conceptualization of European integration as a peace project. Gudrun Quenzel is Lecturer at the Institute for Sociology at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Mathias Albert is Professor of Political Science at Bielefeld University.     

Political yardstick competition, economic integration, and constitutional choice in a federation:

This paper investigates the behavior of rent-seeking politicians in an environment of increasing economic integration. The focus of the paper is on the implications of globalization-induced political yardstick competition for constitutional design with a view to the current discussion in the European Union. In contrast to the established literature, we carefully portray the double-tiered government structure in federal systems. The number of lower-tier governments and the allocation of policy responsibilities to the two levels of government are subject to constitutional choice.     

Identification of DYS385 allele variants by using shorter amplicons and Northern Thai haplotype data

Primers currently used for amplification of locus DYS385 on the Y chromosome give quite long amplicons that are difficult to resolve on native polyacrylamide gels. We therefore designed new primers that give much shorter products for easy separation. With this system, two allele variants that were characterized by sequencing as 14.1 (GAAA --> GAAAA) and 14.2 (GA insertion), were identified in two unrelated Northern Thai men due to their decreased mobility. Interestingly, initial capillary electrophoresis mistyped the 14.1 variant amplified with the traditional primers as allele 14. Forty different haplotypes were found in 147 Northern Thais with a haplotype diversity of 0.9430. Haplotype 13-18 (frequency 0.136) is the most frequent one: for comparison: haplotype 14-18 (frequency 0.074) was found to be the most common in a population from Bangkok (n = 95) in an earlier study. This striking difference within Thailand's population probably results from genetic differences in the founding populations.     

Are the rich too rich to be expropriated?: Economic power and the feasibility of constitutional limits to redistribution

Public Choice - Why is it that, in democracies, the poor do not expropriate the rich even though they outnumber them? In this paper we analyze the commonly held belief that the rich escape...