Taking Stock of the Kaiser Permanente Partnership Story

The success of the 2000 interest-based contract negotiation at Kaiser Permanente (KP) does not mean that future challenges to this approach to negotiation have evaporated. Among the factors that contributed to the success thus far were: establishing buy-in to what was a new approach for many people; effective coordination in a complex environment; deadline pressure; managing internal negotiations; effective leadership; an investment in training; facilitation; creative brainstorming; and establishing ground rules. In addition to reviewing the KP experience, the authors focus on lessons learned and guidelines for future negotiations, as well as the role of interest-based processes in an organization's daily routine.     

The study of federalism, 1960–99: A content review of several leading Canadian academic journals

Abstract: A number of observers have suggested that there is a decline in the level of “traditional” federalism research undertaken in Canada. They contend that scholarly interest has shifted away from areas like fiscal federalism and the division of powers to newer areas of interest like social movements, identity politics and citizenship issues. An interdisciplinary review of a number of Canadian journals reveals, however, that studies in traditional areas of federalism are not in decline and continue to dominate the field in English‐language federalism scholarship. At the same time, the authors did not find a robust literature on federalism‐related issues in French for the forty‐year period under review. Sommaire: Un certain nombre d'observateurs semblent indiquer que le niveau de la recherche entreprise au Canada sur le féléralisme « traditionnel » a baissé. Us prétendent que les intelleduels se sont détournés des domaines comme le fédéralisme fiscal et la répartition des compétences pour s'orienter vers de nouveaux centres d'intérêt comme les mouvements sociaux, la politique identitaire et les questions relatives à la citoyenneté. Une étude interdisciplinaire d'un grand nombre de revues canadiennes révèle cependant que les études portant sur les secteurs traditionnels du fédéralisme ne sont pas en baisse et que ces secteurs continuent à faire l'objet de la majorité des bourses d'études en langue anglaise sur le fédéralisme. Par contre, nous n'avons pas parallèlement trouvé d'études importantes en langue française sur les questions liées au fédéralisme au cours de la période de 40 ans que nous avons étudiée.     

“THE PLACE OF JUSTICE IS AN HALLOWED PLACE”1

This article discusses the concept of justice and differentiates between restorative and retributive justice. The Judeo-Christian roots of justice are explored in the context of a need to reform the adversarial nature of the process of family law.     

The thrill of victory,the agony of defeat

This paper presents experimental evidence from a rent-seeking exercise where the highest bidder wins the rent, but all bidders, including the winner, lose their wagers. This exercise closely resembles the rent-seeking dilemma facing agents in many settings. There are two main conclusions from the results. First, there is a tendency towards overdissipation of the rent. Second, some individuals are willing to pay more for a rent than its face-value would warrant. We attribute this phenomenon to a “thrill of victory” effect.