Evaluating The Bush Menu for Change in the Middle East

These contributions were presented at a roundtable of the Conference Group on the Middle East, "Evaluating the Bush Menu for Change in the Middle East," at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, September 5, 2004.     

Western Wildfires: A Policy Change Perspective

My research objective in this article is to analyze policy change affecting wildfire suppression programs administered by the United States Forest Service and the United States Department of the Interior. Using a variant of the punctuated equilibrium approach, a content analysis of New York Times stories dealing with wildfires over the past two decades was examined in relation to both administrative and legislative policy changes. I conclude by suggesting that administrative shifts were undertaken by federal land administrators in response to crises and media attention to protect decisional autonomy as well as forest resources, while the architect of legislative change was a president taking advantage of the combined effects of increasingly intense wildfire seasons, demographic shifts involving the movement of people and structures to the high‐risk wildland urban interface areas, greater media scrutiny, and pressure to act from wildfire weary constituencies.     

Death during theft from electric utilities

Utilities that supply power are subject to theft of service and theft of hardware used to provide service. Individuals who try to steal from a power utility risk electrocution. We conducted a retrospective study of all individuals examined by the Jefferson County Coroner Medical Examiner Office from January 1981 through December 2001 and found that 8 individuals died trying to steal from a power utility. All decedents were men, with an average age of 33 years. Seven decedents were stealing copper, and 1 was stealing electricity. Only 1 decedent survived long enough to be admitted to a hospital. Five decedents were intoxicated, 3 with ethanol, 1 with cocaine, and 1 with both cocaine and ethanol. Seven decedents sustained electrical burns in keeping with the high voltage to which they were subjected. The unburned decedent died of laceration of the aorta at its origin from the heart, an injury sustained when the decedent fell from the power pole. All 8 decedents attempted their theft during daylight. Items found in the decedent's pockets, the presence of a ladder nearby, or the presence of electrical tools around the body may help to establish the attempted act of theft.     

What Drives Machinery of Government Change? Australia,Canada and the United Kingdom, 1950–1997

Machinery of government arrangements attract a diverse and detailed literature, but surprisingly little comparative research. This article provides a graphically presented indication of functional changes in the architecture of national government in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom between 1950 and 1997. An analysis finds interesting national differences, with sharp changes in practice in Australia and Canada, but more gradual incremental adjustment in the United Kingdom. The correlation between parties and machinery change is weak for Canada and the United Kingdom, but all countries demonstrate stronger links between elections, new prime ministers and machinery of government changes. Further, all tend to oscillate between many specialist departments and fewer, broader agencies
The explanation for such machinery change, we argue, is found in the political, policy and administrative calculations made by prime ministers in Westminster-style parliamentary systems     

Drowning without aspiration: is this an appropriate diagnosis?

It has been reported that 10-15% of drowning victims do not aspirate water. We have revisited the original studies quoted to reach this conclusion and find it is without foundation. Sudden cardiac standstill is known to occur on land and, therefore, may also occur when the victim is in water. In the absence of the common finding of significant pulmonary edema in the victim's respiratory system, to conclude his or her death was caused by "drowning without aspiration" is unwise. All causes of sudden death that might occur in which respiration may not take place should receive serious consideration when examining bodies with such findings that are found in water.     

THE POLITICS OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS: PROFESSIONALS IN PUBLIC BUREAUCRACY*

Abstract: This case study explores how organisational professionals cope with politics. It examines engineers responsible for synchronising traffic signals in Brisbane. How do engineers, working with complex statistical models of traffic flow, handle disruptive political demands for a pedestrian crossing or a shopping mall in the middle of an otherwise coordinated traffic signals system? And how do these organisational professionals, committed to installing and operating traffic signals, deal with politicians' recent preference for roundabouts as the preferred traffic control device? Simon's notion of “bounded rationality” is evoked, when it is suggested that traffic engineers deal with politics by restricting their world view to problem-solving rather than system control.