The Public Service Mutual: Theories of Motivational Advantage

Public service mutuals are a form of employee‐led organization in which service workers spin out of the public sector to form “mutuals” that contract back with government to provide a service. This article draws on economic and psychological theory to demonstrate that mutuals can align both self‐interested and altruistic or public service motivations so as to serve the social good; moreover, by offering greater autonomy to public service professionals, mutuals are predicted to encourage energetic and persistent behaviors. In both cases, there is an advantage over alternative forms of organization such as the public sector bureaucracy, the shareholder‐owned private firm, or the nonprofit organization. The employee‐led mutual form, however, may not appeal to risk‐averse workers, its collective decision‐making systems may be inefficient, and external mechanisms may be required to ensure that organizational outcomes are always directed toward the social good.     

How irresponsible are rising powers?

Rising powers like Brazil, China and India have recently made significant gains in their capabilities as states. Therefore many IR scholars are claiming that these powers must now contribute more to the provision of global public goods like a clean environment, free trade and human rights. This article will argue that reasonably democratic international political discourses are another global public good whose greater supply is sorely needed and that rising powers are having a positive impact on the creation of such discourses. Thus rising powers are not behaving as irresponsibly as many IR scholars assume.     

Species loss revisited

Among his books are The Economics of Population Growth; Effort, Opportunity, and Wealth;and Population Matters: People, Resources, Environment, and Immigration (the latter was published by Transaction).     

Industrial Relations and Public Sector Reform: The Victorian Case

Few anticipated the radical program of public sector reform introduced by the Kennett government. A commitment to downsizing, markets and privatisation has transformed employment relations in the Victorian public sector. Familiar institutions have disappeared, major employment areas have been restructured, and jurisdiction for much public sector industrial relations has been transferred to the Commonwealth. Despite some industrial unrest, and occasional successes, public sector unions have been unable to fend off this ideological assault on traditional patterns of public sector employment.     

The Ocean of Yoga: An Unpublished Compendium Called the Yogārṇava

Journal of Indian Philosophy - The Yogār?ava (‘the ocean of yoga’) is a Sanskrit compendium on yoga that has not been published, translated or even mentioned in secondary...     

Ethics for Lawyers or Ethics for Citizens? New Directions for Legal Education

The Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education andConduct (ACLEC) has called for the reconstruction of the ethicalfoundations of legal education. However, it has not justified its premisethat teaching legal values at the initial stage will enhance professionallegal ethics. It is argued that the present system of education, given itstechnocratic, individualistic, and authoritarian tendencies, cannot meetACLEC's challenge. A more ethical legal education can be envisagedwithin a neo-Aristotelian framework. This perspective emphasizes thereflexivity between micro and macro ethics, and utilizes the active andparticipatory learning approaches which should enable students to engagein meaningful moral discourse and problem solving.