The influence of analysis on U.S. defense policys

Much of the policy literature holds that rigorous policy analysis as practiced in the defense policymaking community has a much greater influence than analysis performed in the nondefense or ‘domestic’ sectors. This argument is examined by, first, offering several examples of quantitatively driven decisions in the U.S. Department of Defense and, second, inquiring more precisely as to the nature of the actual decision variables. The conclusion is that the defense and domestic modes of policy analysis and decisionmaking are not as disparate as they are usually perceived. In practice, both camps share many of the same problems and could benefit from shared solutions. Paper prepared for delivery at the 1985 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, the New Orleans Hilton, August 29–September 1, 1985. Revised for the Seventh Annual Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy and Management, Washington, D.C., October, 1985.     

CONTAINING REFORM: THE UK STANCE ON THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY ElA DIRECTIVE

After a decade's deliberation, the European Community EIA Directive bccomes operative on July 3, 1988. Member states spent 7 years refining the proposals and were given 3 years to devise implementation procedures. In this paper the attempt by the UK government to contain the impact of the Directive on domestic policy is reviewed. While the UK government was successful in eroding many provisions during formulation, it has been prevented from exempting many projects from mandatory EIA in its im- plementation procedures. The most significant reform is that many projects are subject to formal EIA for the first time.     

Herbert Alexander Simon

Introduction

Herbert Alexander Simon     

Fatal outcome of poisoning with the benzodiazepines flunitrazepam and diazepam

On a wintry day a 29-year-old woman was found dead beside her car showing head injuries and signs of hypothermia. Several empty packets of sedative and hypnotic drugs were lying inside the car. Toxicological analysis revealed the presence of flunitrazepam (heart blood of the left and right chamber 0.033 mg/L each), norflunitrazepam (left heart blood 0.029 mg/L, right heart blood 0.027 mg/L), 7-amino-flunitrazepam (left heart blood 0.090 mg/L, right heart blood 0.104 mg/L), diazepam (left heart blood 0.395 mg/L, right heart blood 0.386 mg/L), nordazepam (left heart blood 0.112 mg/L, right heart blood 0.115 mg/L) and temazepam (left heart blood 0.034 mg/L, right heart blood 0.033 mg/L). Neither alcohol nor other drugs were found. It was concluded that benzodiazepine intake led to a disturbance of consciousness. Whether the woman died in this situation due to the icy temperature as a result of hypothermia or whether she died or would have died solely due to benzodiazepine overdosage could not be clarified.     

Suicide,gender, and age variations in India. Are women in indian society protected from suicide?

A new set of data concerning the pattern of suicide in India between 1991-1997 are presented. Suicide rates rose over this period despite a small decline in the Indian suicide rate in 1995 and 1996. It was found that between 1995 and 1997 there was a modest fall in the suicide rates among under 29-year-olds of both sexes, and an increase among those 30 years and older. The pattern of suicides in India is bimodal: the incidence of suicides is highest for those in the 30-44-year-old category of both sexes and tends to decline in higher age categories. Suicide rates were nearly equal for young women and men, a contrast with the pattern of suicide sex ratios in eight developed countries.     

Accidental drowning due to tropane alkaloid abuse

The cause of drowning deaths in good swimmers may be difficult to solve. After homicide, suicide and other kinds of immersion deaths have been ruled out, not only alcohol and narcotics, but also other psychotropic substances such as thornapple and angel's trumpet should be taken into consideration--at least in adolescents and young adults. The article reports on an accidental death by drowning under the influence of tropane alkaloids after consumption of a decoction of the flowers of angel's trumpet.     

Antitrust, health care quality, and the courts

Antitrust law represents the principal legal tool that the United States employs to police private markets, yet it often relegates quality and nonprice considerations to a secondary position. While antitrust law espouses the belief that vigorous competition will enhance quality as well as price, little evidence exists of the practical ability of courts to deliver on that promise. In this Article, Professors Hammer and Sage examine American health care as a vehicle for advancing understanding of the nexus among competition, quality, and antitrust law. The Article reports results of a comprehensive empirical review of judicial opinions in health care antitrust litigation between 1985 and 1999, with specific attention to courts' handling of quality and other nonprice concerns. Professors Hammer and Sage conclude that, although antitrust law cannot be expected to serve as the sole oversight mechanism for industries as complex and quality dependent as health care, courts have been successful incorporating some nonprice factors into antitrust analysis.