Perceptions of the expenditure budget process: survey of federal and provincial legislators and public servants

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a mailed questionnaire survey of a sample of elected and appointed officials in the federal and provincial levels of government in which the respondents' opinions were requested concerning some procedural, technical and political aspects of the expenditure budget process in their jurisdictions. The results were tabulated so as to permit comparisons between the opinions of respondents within each of the two levels of government and from politicians and bureaucrats at each level separately and at both levels combined. There were three unstated hypotheses to be tested: whether political rather than technical barriers inhibit the evaluation of government expenditure programs; whether politicians are more “realistic” than bureaucrats; and whether officials, both elected and appointed, at the provincial level of government are more “realistic” than those at the federal level. The evidence obtained seems to support, although obviously in a non-rigorous fashion, the first two propositions; the third is not supported. Sommaire: Cet article présente les résultats d'une enquête au cours de laquelle un questionnaire fut envoyéà des représentants élus des gouvernements fédéral et provinciaux et aussi des fonctionnaires nommés de ces mêmes gouvernements. On demandait à ces personnes de donner leur opinion sur un certain nombre d'aspects concernant le processus suivi pour le budget des dépenses dans leursjuridictions. Les résultats ont été classifiés de façon P pouvoir comparer les opinions des répondants au sein des deux niveaux de gouvernement et celles des politiciens et des bureaucrates à chacun des niveaux pris séparément et aux deux niveaux ensemble. Il s'agissait de vérifier trois hypothèses qui n'étaient pas formellement énondées: des obstacles politiques plutôt que techniques empêchent d'évaluer les programmes de dépenses du gouvernement; les politiciens sont plus réalistes que les bureaucrates; les représentants élus aussi bien que les fonctionnaires nommés des gouvernments provinciaux sont plus réalistes que ceux de gouvernement fédéral. Bien que de toute évidence d'une maniére peu rigoureuse, les réponses obtenues semblent confirmer les deux premières hypothèses, ce qui n'est pas le cas de la troisième.     

What is so special about [free] speech?

Legal and political philosophers (e.g., Scanlon, Schauser, etc.) typically regard speech as special in the sense that conduct that causes harm should be less subject to regulation if it involves speech than if it does not. Though speech is special in legal analysis, I argue that it should not be given comparable status in moral theory. I maintain that most limitations on state authority enacted on behalf of a moral principle of freedom of speech can be retained without supposing that speech is entitled to a degree of protection not afforded to (most) other forms of conduct. My argument questions some standard assumptions made by philosophers about the relationship between moral and legal principles.     

Policy sciences perspectives on implementation processes

Implementation, from which flows operational policy, is an integral part of the policymaking process. This phenomenon is examined briefly as a socio-political process, an administrative task, a follow-on from systematic analysis, a problem in the diffusion and utilization of knowledge, and a basic capacity which is differentially distributed among organizations and subject to deliberate change. A three-dimensional framework for assessing the nature of implementation tasks and for making strategic choices in planning implementation is proposed and illustrated. Finally, implementation processes in a federalistic system are described as requiring multi-level participation of four classes of participants: administrative-bureaucratic, political leadership, rational-analytic and constituent elites. A variety of functions must be performed at federal, regional, and local levels to assure policy execution consistent with both policy designs and local contingencies.Revision of a paper delivered to American Association for the Advancement of Science, 138th Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, December 27, 1970.     

Using strategic planning and organizational development principles for health promotion in an Alaska native community

Health promotion aims to support people in their efforts to increase control over factors that impact health and well-being. This emphasis on empowerment and contextual influences allows for a more holistic conceptualization of health and approaches to promoting health that are anchored in principles of community development and systems change. Piciryaratgun Calritllerkaq (Healthy Living Through A Healthy Lifestyle) is a collaboration between a Yup'ik village in rural Alaska and researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The goal was to improve nutrition, increase exercise, and decrease stress. The project utilized elements of organization development and strategic planning to develop a local infrastructure and process and to promote local expertise. The project team developed goals, objectives, action, and evaluation plans that integrated local traditions, Yup'ik culture, and research.     

Targeting dispositions for drug-involved offenders: A field trial of the Risk and Needs Triage (RANT)™

Purpose

This field trial examined the process of assigning drug-involved offenders to dispositions based on their criminogenic risks and needs.

Methods

Probation officers administered the Risk and Needs Triage (RANT)™ to 627 felony drug and property offenders at the pre-trial stage or shortly after sentencing to probation. The RANT™ was evaluated for internal scale consistency, factor structure, and predictive validity for re-arrest and re-conviction rates within 12 months of case disposition. Exploratory analyses examined whether recidivism was lower for participants who were assigned to an appropriate disposition given their assessment results.

Results

The RANT™ demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and factorial validity, and significantly predicted re-arrest and re-conviction rates within 12 months of case disposition. There was no racial or gender bias in the prediction of recidivism. Non-significant trends favored better outcomes for participants who were assigned to the indicated dispositions.

Conclusions

The results lend support for the RANT™ as a dispositional triage tool for drug-involved defendants and probationers at or near the point of arrest. The results also lend tentative support to the hypothesis that outcomes might be better if drug-involved offenders were matched to appropriate dispositions based on their risk-and-need profiles. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Enduring Love? Attitudes to Family and Inheritance Law in England and Wales

This paper reports on the findings from a large-scale study of public attitudes to inheritance law, particularly the rules on intestacy. It argues that far from the assumption that the family' is in terminal decline, people in England and Wales still view their most important relationships, at least for the purposes of inheritance law, as centred on a narrow, nuclear family model. However, there is also widespread acceptance of re-partnering and cohabitation, producing generally high levels of support for including cohabitants in the intestacy rules and for ensuring that children from former relationships are protected. We argue that these views are underpinned by a continuing sense of responsibility to the members of one's nuclear family, arising from notions of sharing and commitment, dependency and support, and a sense of lineage.     

Examining the Role of Interrogative Suggestibility in Miranda Rights Comprehension in Adolescents

This study aimed to further clarify the association between interrogative suggestibility and Miranda rights comprehension in adolescents; in particular, we examined whether intellectual ability (IQ) serves as a mediator of this relationship. Participants completed Grisso’s Miranda Instruments, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, and the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale. Many youth demonstrated poor comprehension of their rights, particularly younger and less intellectually capable adolescents. Both yield and shift components of interrogative suggestibility were inversely related to rights comprehension; however, IQ fully mediated these relationships. Neither demographic variables (gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status after controlling for IQ, and English as a second language (ESL) status) nor previous police experience were significantly associated with rights comprehension in the present sample. The implications of these findings are discussed.