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.     

Strong Reciprocity and the Roots of Human Morality

Human morality is a key evolutionary adaptation on which human social behavior has been based since the Pleistocene era. Ethical behavior is constitutive of human nature, we argue, and human morality is as important an adaptation as human cognition and speech. Ethical behavior, we assert, need not be a means toward personal gain. Because of our nature as moral beings, humans take pleasure in acting ethically and are pained when acting unethically. From an evolutionary viewpoint, we argue that ethical behavior was fitness-enhancing in the years marking the emergence of Homo sapiens because human groups with many altruists fared better than groups of selfish individuals, and the fitness losses sustained by altruists were more than compensated by the superior performance of the groups in which they congregated.     

Literatur

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The watchdog of Parliament: the centenary of the legislative audit

Abstract. August 1, 1978, marks the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the office of the Auditor General of Canada. This article traces the development of the concept of the legislative audit from the time of its first application in Canada to the present day. The first legislation, modelled on the United Kingdom Exchequer and Audit Departments Act of 1866 and virtually unchanged in substance from 1878 to 1931, vested in the Auditor General the dual functions of comptroller of issue and auditor of the public accounts, with the emphasis on legality and conformity with appropriation requirements. In 1931 responsibility for issue control was removed from the Audit Office and transferred to a newly created executive officer, the Comptroller of the Treasury, who assumed responsibility for a pre-audit of expenditures, leaving the Auditor General his post-audit functions. The article describes the transfer in 1969 of responsibility for pre-audit from the Comptroller of the Treasury to departments in response to the recommendations of the Glassco Royal Commission on Government Organization; the development of the ‘value for money’ concept by the Independent Review Committee on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada; and the embodiment in legislation in the 1975 Auditor General Act of the ‘value for money’ concept in which the audit emphasis is primarily on economy, efficiency and effectiveness.     

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.