Civil Service Reform as National Security: The Homeland Security Act of 2002

The events of 9/11 have influenced policy making in public administration. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security, contained language that empowered the secretary of homeland security and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish a personnel management system outside the normal provisions of the federal civil service. Why did civil service reform succeed as part of this legislation when previous attempts at large‐scale reform had failed? A case analysis of the enactment of civil service reform in the Homeland Security Act points to theories of policy emergence and certain models of presidential and congressional policy making. In this case, civil service reform became associated with national security instead of management reform. An assessment of the rhetorical arguments used to frame this policy image offers a powerful explanation for the adoption of the personnel management reforms in the Homeland Security Act. This case has implications for understanding how policy makers might approach future management reform agendas.     

Toxic waste as public business

Abstract: That there is some public responsibility for toxic waste management is a point widely taken for granted. However, there has been controversy over whether toxic waste management should become the responsibility primarily of a public corporation. Proposals for a public corporation to assume such responsibility have been advanced in Canada at the provincial level with widely varying outcomes. Through a comparison of three cases – British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario – this article examines the salient issues in this policy debate and questions the prevailing mode of problem definition in order to propose a contrasting approach to public responsibility. Sommaire: On s'accorde généralement pour dire qu'il existe une certaine responsabilité publique face à la gestion des déchets toxiques. Par contre, la question de savoir si la responsabilité de gérer ces déchets devrait incomber surtout à une société d'État a fait, elle, l'objet de controverses. Dans les provinces où on a proposé qu'une société d'État prenne en charge cette responsabilité les résultats ont été fort variés. En comparant trois cas, ceux de la Colombie-Britannique, de l'Alberta et de l'Ontario, cet article examine les principales questions de ce débat et met en doute la façon actuelle de définir le problème, afin de proposer une approche différente en ce qui concerne la responsabilité publique.     

Behavior problems of handicapped adolescent female students

Adolescent girls aged 12 through 16 years, identified as either educable mentally retarded, behaviorally disordered, learning disabled, or nonhandicapped, were rated by their teachers on the Behavior Problem Checklist. Analysis of these ratings revealed significant differences for pupil category, Behavior Problem Checklist dimension, and category-by-dimension interaction. Behaviorally disordered students showed a greater degree of maladjustment than the retarded and nonhandicapped students on all four checklist dimensions, and exceeded the learning disabled on three dimensions (not Personality Problem). Implications for further research and special educational practices based on the present findings are discussed.Received Ed.D. from University of Virginia. Main interest is the handicapped adolescent.Received Ms.Ed. from Northern Illinois University. Main interest is emotionally disturbed children.Received Ed.D. from University of Virginia. Main interest is educational programming.Received Ms.Ed. from Northern Illinois University. Main interest is educational research.     

The use of SEM/EDS analysis to distinguish dental and osseus tissue from other materials

With increasing frequency, relatively small, fragmentary evidence thought to be osseous or dental tissue of human origin is submitted to the forensic laboratory for DNA analysis with the request for positive identification. Prior to performing DNA analysis, however, it is prudent to first perform a presumptive test or "screen" to determine whether the questioned material may be eliminated from further consideration. When material is shown not to be consistent with bone/teeth, DNA testing is not performed. When such determinations cannot be made from gross morphological features, elemental analysis can be indicative. This presumptive test is made possible by applying scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) in conjunction with an X-ray spectral database recently developed by the FBI laboratory. This database includes spectra for many different materials including known examples of bone and tooth from many different contexts and representing the full range of taphonomic conditions. Results of SEM/EDS analysis of evidence can be compared to these standards to determine if they are consistent with bone and/or tooth and, if not, then what the material might represent. Analysis suggests that although the proportions and amounts of calcium and phosphorus are particularly important in differentiating bone and tooth from other materials, other minor differences in spectral profile can also provide significant discrimination. Analysis enables bone and tooth to be successfully distinguished from other materials in most cases. Exceptions appear to be ivory, mineral apatite, and perhaps some types of corals.     

An improved method for post-PCR purification for mtDNA sequence analysis

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of forensic samples typically is performed when the quantity and quality of DNA are insufficient for nuclear DNA analysis or when maternal relatives may be the only reference source. Many of the steps required in the analytical process are both lengthy and labor intensive. Therefore, improvements in the process that reduce labor without compromising the quality of the data are desirable. The current procedure requires purification of the amplicons by centrifugal filtration after PCR and prior to cycle sequencing. Because this method requires several manipulations to perform, alternate cleanup procedures were investigated. These include the use of 1) Qiagen QlAquick PCR Purification columns, 2) Concert Rapid PCR Purification columns, and 3) ExoSAP-IT reagent. When the yield of purified amplicons, quality of the sequence profile, and ease of assay were evaluated, the use of ExoSAP-IT reagent for post-amplification purification was chosen to replace the filtration method.     

Does agency competition improve the quality of policy analysis? Evidence from OMB and CBO fiscal projections

Public management scholars often claim that agency competition provides an effective institutional check on monopoly authority, and hence, leads to improvement of administrative performance in public sector agencies. This logic was central for creating the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in 1975 to challenge the policy information provided by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We challenge this conventional wisdom by demonstrating that CBO has failed to enhance the quality of U.S. fiscal policy analysis on its own terms; nor has it spurred improvements in OMB's performance. Our empirical results indicate that the quality of OMB's fiscal projections has often deteriorated since the establishment of CBO as a rival bureau. We also show that both public and private information is being shared by these agencies to produce a similar caliber of task outputs. The broader implications of our study indicate that although politicians face incentives to employ agency competition in governmental settings, this type of bureaucratic strategy does not necessarily enhance the quality of administrative performance. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management     

文化马克思主义和现代文化研究

20世纪以来,众多文化研究学者,从卢卡奇(Georg Lukacs)、葛兰西(Antonio Gramsci)、布罗齐(Ernst Bloch)、本杰明(Walter Benjamin)、阿多诺(Theodor W Adorno)、杰姆逊(Fredric Jameson)、伊格尔顿(Terry Eagleton)等人,均专注于马克思主义理论研究,分析文化形式与文化发展、社会历史的关系,了解文化形式对大众和社会生活的作用与影响。因此,要把握文化研究的发展路向,在现时期理解文化研究的各种类型和表现形式,必须了解文化马克思主义传统。一、文化马克思主义的兴起1.马克思与恩格斯马克思和恩格斯虽在研究中提及文化现象,但具体…