Linking decentralization and centralization: A critique of the new development administration

This article examines the orientation of what is here called the ‘New Development Administration’ (NDA), as put forth by Esman (1988). It does so using political elasticity theory. The article is sympathetic to the NDA's emphasis upon decentralization, community development, deregulation, privatization, minimal government, popular participation and flexible forms of foreign aid. However, it argues that these require an administrative framework to be effective, including strong leadership, effective bureaucracies, the cooperation of beneficiaries and the ability to shift from soft to hard forms of power. While the importance of a bureaucratic reorientation is generally recognized, NDA supporters seem unclear about the requisites needed. Without adequate supervision and control, NDA objectives cannot be achieved.     

Social experimentation

He is author of The Broken Apple: New York City in the 1980s;and Social Science Theory,both published by Transaction Publishers.     

Negotiating National Identity and Self-Determination in Ethnic Conflicts: The Choice Between Pluralism and Ethnic Cleansing

The contradictions of ethnonational identity, which make it a prime force in both the promotion and the destruction of human dignity and social justice, have become more pronounced with the ending of the Cold War. It is necessary to reconceptualize national identity and develop new norms for accepting a group's right to national self-determination through establishment of an independent state expressing its national identity, and even far accepting its claim to national identity itself This article proposes that (1) implementation of a group's right to self-determination cannot be left to the group alone, but must be negotiated with those who are affected by that decision, particularly minority populations; and (2) national identity itself must be negotiated — explored and discussed — with those who are affected by the group's self-definition.     

德国与欧盟的社会标准:全球化及欧洲一体化的影响

本文一方面旨在探究全球化和欧洲一体化对民族国家社会标准以及社会政策行动空间和分配空间的潜在影响;另一方面概述发达民主国家在过去二十年里社会政策的核心发展趋势,并讨论这样一个问题,即改革结果到底是由全球化和欧洲一体化这些外部条件变化促成的、还是因社会经济现代化进程以及社会福利国家自己造成的问题状况等内因导致的,或是所有上述因素综合影响的结果。最后本文简要阐释在欧盟层面进行社会政策再规制的可能性。讨论这一问题之所以具有重要意义,是因为很多学者将国家间和超国家的社会标准看作是维持西欧福利国家成就的救命稻草,这尤其因为在经济全球化时代,民族国家已经无力提供有力支撑。     

Literatur

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

State mortgage foreclosure policies and lender interventions: Impacts on borrower behavior in default

Due to the rise in foreclosure filings, policymakers are increasingly concerned with helping families in financial distress keep their homes. This paper tests the extent to which distressed mortgage borrowers benefit from three types of state foreclosure polices: (1) judicial foreclosure proceedings, (2) statutory rights of redemption, and (3) statewide foreclosure‐prevention initiatives. Based on an analysis of borrowers in default who reside in 22 cross‐state metropolitan statistical area pairs, state policies generally have weak effects. Both judicial foreclosure proceedings and foreclosure prevention initiatives are associated with modest increases in loan modification rates. Using a matching procedure, a lender's letter promoting mortgage default counseling was associated with increases in loan modifications, decreases in loan cures, and decreases in foreclosure starts. The effects of the letter were also stronger in states with judicial proceedings. © 2011 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.