From Greek Temple to Bird's Nest: Towards A Theory of Coherence and Mutual Accountability for National Integrity Systems

Since the 1990s, recognition has grown that the answer to corruption–political, bureaucratic or corporate–does not lie in a single institution, let alone a single law. Rather the institutionalisation of integrity through a number of agencies, laws, practices and ethical codes is increasingly recognised as the best option for limiting corruption in many societies. This article addresses the key issue of coherence between these various institutions, picking up on the third and final theme of the Australian national integrity system assessment. The assessment has shown, firstly, that concepts of ‘horizontal’ or ‘mutual’ accountability are important but also need to be developed and better contextualised as a framework for designing integrity systems; secondly, that integrity system coherence can be usefully measured and mapped using standard network analysis approaches, helping more clearly identify the need for more deliberate strategies for coordination of integrity policies; and thirdly, that new metaphors can and should be developed for communicating the nature and significance of the institutional interactions that constitute integrity systems. The new metaphor suggested here is that of a bird's nest, in which a multitude of often weak institutions and relationships can combine to more effectively protect and promote the fragile goal of public integrity.     

‘What is to be done?’ Anticipating the future and mobilizing prudence

Various social and political factors often block the emergence of good ideas — e.g., the presence of an overbearing leader, the loquaciousness of some actors and the shyness of others, conventional and doctrinal thinking, the political climate, etc. — and devices have been invented to overcome some of these obstacles in decisionmaking settings: the Delphi technique, idea writing, and the nominal group technique are all front-end operations designed to encourage the blossoming of possible solutions to problems. Devices for generating ideas have not been helpful in coping with the volumes of ideas produced, however, and this had led some theorists to give up on the human mind as a solver of problems. Following a summary of the factors impeding rationality in decisional settings, the advantages of Q methodology are presented, and a case study is described in which Q, in conjunction with front-end operations, has been used to assist groups in clarifying their own perspectives and in gaining access to collective wisdom (political prudence) for purposes of problem solving.

(Aristotle,Metaphysics)

Revised from a paper read at a meeting of the Policy Sciences Annual Institute, School of Law, Yale University, October 16–18, 1992, and at a meeting of the International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity, University of Missouri, Columbia, October 7–9, 1993. We are grateful for the helpful comments from reviewers for this journal.     

Reviews

Gert Leptin and Manfred Melzer, Economic Reforms in East German Industry, London, OUP, 1978, xxv + 200 pp. £12.00.

Jiri Kosta, Abriss der sozialökonomischen Entwicklung der Tschechoslowakei 1945–1977 (An Outline of the Socio‐Economic Development of Czechoslovakia 1945–1977), Edition Suhrkamp No. 974, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1978, 217 pp.

Vladimir V. Kusin, From Dub?ek to Charter 77: A study of ‘normalisation’ in Czechoslovakia 1968–1978. Edinburgh: Q Press, 1978. x + 353 pp. £8.50.

Leon Boim and Glenn G. Morgan (ed. & trans.), The Soviet Procuracy Protests: 1937–1973; A Collection of Translations. Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1978. xvi + 603 pp. Dfl. 190.00/$88.50.

Gordon B. Smith, The Soviet Procuracy and the Supervision of Administration. Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff and Noordhoff, 1978. xii + 154 pp. Dfl. 55.00/$25.50.

Peter Kenez, Civil War in South Russia, 1919–1920: The Defeat of the Whites. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977. $17.50; £12.25.

Kendall E. Bailes, Technology and Society under Lenin and Stalin: Origins of the Soviet Technical Intelligentsia, 1917–1941. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton U.P., 1978. xiii + 472 pp. £20.10.

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George Ginsburgs and Alvin Z. Rubinstein (eds.), Soviet Foreign Policy Toward Western Europe, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1978, 295 pp.

Malcolm Lader, Psychiatry on Trial, Penguin Books Ltd., 1977. 201 pp. 80p.

George F. Putnam, Russian Alternatives to Marxism: Christian Socialism and Idealistic Liberalism in Twentieth‐Century Russia. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1977. xii + 233 pp. $13.50.

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Barbara Evans Clements, Bolshevik Feminist. The Life of Aleksandra Kollontai. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1979. 352 pp. $15.00.     

Competition and health care policy: experience and expectations

Since 1970 federal policymakers have tried to strengthen competition and incentive-based market forces as alternatives to regulation in containing health costs. The effort to stimulate the growth of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) throughout the country has had limited results, and federal plans to promote competition by enacting changes in the health insurance market have so far come to little. Coalitions in some localities have shown growing interest in flexible HMO variants, however, and the intellectual force of the HMO critique of mainstream practices remains strong. Moreover, the federal government has shown new interest in prospective reimbursement of hospitals--a proposal that draws from both HMOs--competition--and hospital rate-setting programs--regulation--the element of prospectivity.     

An investigation of two methods of DNA recovery from fired and unfired 9 mm ammunition

Cartridge cases are often recovered from crime scenes involving firearms and, in the United Kingdom (where gun possession is strictly controlled), these are commonly from 9 mm calibre ammunition. The ability to obtain informative DNA profiles from touch DNA on recovered cartridges could have a significant impact on the investigation of that type of offence. However, this avenue may not be routinely considered as investigators in the UK have historically had a low expectation of obtaining useful DNA profiles. This stance may not be unreasonable given that (a) only trace amounts of DNA are likely to have been transferred onto the cartridge cases through handling; and (b) when the cartridge is spent, the potential deterioration of that DNA caused by the act of discharging the weapon.We introduce a novel semi-automatable method using direct lysis for the recovery of DNA from ammunition and compare it with a traditional double-swabbing method (using wet and dry swabs). DNA profiling of the DNA recovered using both methods was carried out using the ESI17 FAST STR system (Promega). This demonstrated a significant increase in DNA recovery using the direct lysis approach, and correspondingly improved STR results.We also investigated the effect on the recovery and profiling of DNA from fired, and unfired, 9 mm cartridges using the direct lysis technique. These results demonstrate that DNA suitable for STR analysis can still be recovered from fired ammunition with only slightly reduced yields compared to unfired ammunition. In these experiments, the handler of the ammunition was most commonly either the sole contributor or the major contributor to the recovered DNA profile.