Conflict reconsidered: The boomerang effect of depoliticization in the policy process

This article argues that the efforts of policy‐makers to avoid conflict in the short run can be counterproductive in the long run. Not only may policy‐makers fail to reap the benefits of conflicts when they try to steer clear, but conflict may actually increase rather than diminish. We study conflict through the conceptual lens of (de)politicization in the lengthy and highly contested policy‐making process over the multibillion‐euro ‘Oosterweelconnection’ highway in Antwerp (Belgium). An in‐depth media analysis of 739 articles is combined with data from 32 narrative interviews. We conclude that efforts to end public debate through depoliticization can have a boomerang effect, in which conflict disappears only temporarily, and that these efforts can ultimately increase conflict while wasting engagement and creativity. More attention to the productive aspects of conflict is needed in public administration literature and practice.     

Sizing the government

Is there such a thing as an optimal government size? We investigate the so-called Armey curve, which claims an inverted U-shaped relationship between government size and economic performance, using non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The DEA scores are linked to control variables, such as initial per capita income, openness, population density, urbanization, country size and family size. For 23 OECD-countries we estimate the country specific efficiency scores, which reveal the extent to which a country uses excess public resources to achieve the observed growth rate of GDP.     

Unpacking LogM: Toward a More General Theory of Party System Density

The standard model of political party system density combines two traditions to explain why some countries have more political parties than others, one tradition that emphasizes social cleavages and another that emphasizes electoral institutions, especially district magnitude. Despite its considerable success, there are several reasons to be less than fully satisfied with the standard model. We examine two of these problems associated with the scope of strategic voting and the functional form of the specification used to test the model. In doing so, we contrast the standard interpretation with an organizational ecology model that accounts for what the standard model did so well, but also accounts for important anomalies it ignores. We reexamine some of the key analyses that have been used to test the standard model to assess the severity of its limitations and the utility of the rival organizational ecology account.     

The need for performance auditing in the public sector and the best-practice frontier

The article is organized as follows. In Section 2 the arguments for performance auditing in the public sector are reviewed along the lines of the public-choice approach. An international comparison of the functions of supreme auditing institutions (Section 3) reveals that the BelgianRekenhof-Cour des Comptes lags behind, lacking a mandate for performance auditing. In Section 4 the notions of efficiency and effectiveness are clarified. Section S compares the concept of the best-practice frontier with a standard production function. In the public sector one is often confronted with a weak knowledge of the underlying technology. This poses problems of specification for a parametric estimation. Therefore a nonparametric frontier may be recommended. In Section 6 the Farrell method and the free disposal hull are presented. Moreover, when several inputs are transformed into a multiple output (instead of one single homogeneous output), data-envelopment analysis offers a solution (Section 7). These latter methods are also illustrated by an international empirical comparison of the efficiency of public enterprises: postal services in Section 6 and railway companies in Section 7. Some conclusions are reported in the final Section 8.     

Determination at the nanogram range of rilatinic acid in urine after ion-pair extraction

Ion-pair extraction and extractive alkylation of urine allows a simple, rapid, and very sensitive detection by TLC as well as EC-GLC tecnhiques, of rilatinic acid in small urine samples after the oral intake of therapeutic doses of methylphenidate.