Social Capital and Urban Governance: Adding a More Contextualized 'Top-down' Perspective

There is growing interest in the social sciences in the concept of social capital and the role it plays in facilitating collaborative and collective actions. Within political science, it is the work of Robert Putnam which has dominated social capital research. This paper argues that the 'Putnam-school' approach is lacking in two main respects. First, the role played by public authorities in the creation of social capital is neglected. Second, the implications for governance cannot simply be read off from associational activity and 'stocks' of social capital. The concept of the political opportunity structure is offered and adapted to develop a framework for social capital analysis. Original empirical material from Birmingham is drawn upon and compared to earlier studies of the city in order to support and illustrate the arguments of the paper.     

Model of religious schism with application to Islam

This is a study of religious schism. The purpose of the research is to explore the nature and causes of religious segmentation and realignment. A model of religious schism is developed and illustrated with reference to many different religions. The model is then directly applied to Islamic history. Schism occurs because of innovations in dogma or practice. These innovations must appeal to demanders of the religious product. However, the innovations themselves may be driven by organizational conflicts within firms supplying religion. A special situation is created when schism occurs within a state-supported supplier of religion. Our study leads us to revisit the debate between Hume and Smith over the effect of state religion. We side with Smith.     

Regulation in an Episodic Policy-Making Environment: The Water Industry in England and Wales

This article describes and analyses the evolving regulatory game in the post-privatized water industry. It highlights a regulatory environment that is more complex than that which existed under public ownership, and an industry which is subject to heavier regulation in the private sector than it was in the public sector. There has been erosion of the strict public/private divide following privatization. The article highlights an episodic and seemingly incongruous policy-making environment that defies consistent characterization: sometimes private consensus is the main feature and sometimes it is public conflict. It also illustrates that while there are two broad-based constituencies of interest active in the water sector — cost and environmental — the composition of these coalitions mutates depending on the issue being considered. Indeed, there are occasions when core constituency participants 'defect' and join the 'opposing side'.     

The Case for wealth taxation

Abstract: This paper explores the reasons used to support the omission of wealth tax from the federal tax base. The primary reasons for the demise of the former inheritance tax are examined in order to anticipate arguments which may be made against the rein-troduction of wealth taxation. The author bases her main arguments on the need to enhance vertical equity in the taxation system by distributing tax burdens in a progressive manner in accordance with an individual's ability to pay. Wealth taxation may also play a role in impeding large concentrations of wealth. Moreover, if wealth taxation does in fact contribute to ameliorating income and wealth disparities, then substantive equality of opportunity may become a reality rather than a vision of Canadian society. The main concer's often voiced against the introduction of new wealth taxes are examined and found wanting. In particular the author examines the economic concerns, on both macro and micro levels, which are often raised against the imposition of wealth taxation. The author concludes that taxation on transfers of wealth and annual net worth are warranted, hit cautions that considerable care, planning and sensitivity must accompany their proposed structure and implementation. Sommaire: Cette étude explore les raisons invoquées pour recommander I'omission de I'impôt sur la fortune de I'assiette d'imposition fédéale. L'auteur examine les principaux motifs de I'abrogation de I'ancien impôt sur la succession afin d'anticiper les arguments qui pourraient être présentés contre la réintroduction de I'impôt siir la fortune. Elk fonde ses principaux arguments sur la nécessité d'accroître I'équité verticale du système d'imposition en répartissant progressivement les fardeaux fiscaux selon les capacités financières de chaque contribuable. L'impôt sur la fortune pourrait aussi contribuer à empêcher les grandes concentrations de richesse. En outre, s'il est vrai que cet impôt permet d'amenuiser les disparités de revenu et de richesse, il se pourrait qu'unk véritable égalité de chances devienne une réalité plutôt qu'une simple vision dans la société cana-dienne. 1,'auteur se penche sur les principales préoccupations exprimées à I'encontre de nouveaux impôts sur la fortune et constate que les arguments ne tiennent pas. Elk étudie tout particulièrement les aspects ékonomiques, aussi bien à une macro-échelle qu'à une micro-échelle, qui sont souvent invoqués pour faire opposition à I'impôt sur la fortune. L'auteur conclut clue les impôts sur la fortune ou les transferts sur la fortune et I'actif net annuel sont justifiés, mais elle signale que la conception et la mise en place des structures proposées devront se faire avec énormément de soin, de planification et d'attention.     

Lay perspectives on legal conundrums

Criminal law remains divided on the question of whether objectivity or subjectivity should be its dominant basis. Does liability begin with an objective act or harm, or with, subjective intent? In the first experiment, dealing with the conundrum of impossible act cases, the question is, Will respondents convict on subjective grounds (where intent to murder is clear), even when amanifest criminal act andharmful consequences are absent? The results show that they do convict, though their subjective preference moderates and even reverses with certain types of mistakes, or when thepotential harm, though not the actual harm, is perceived as high. In the second experiment, dealing with mistaken act and self-defense cases, the question is, Will subjectivity be determinative, or will respondents weigh objectivity more as the mistake gets more unreasonable? The results show that objectivity is weighed heavily, as fears of a plunge into subjective waters prove groundless Without legal guidelines, respondents navigate these conundrums by shifting their objective vs. subjective balance point, guided by good common sense.     

Building Social Capital in City Politics: Scope and Limitations at the Inter-organisational Level

This article explores the relations between voluntary organisations and the city administration in two British cities through an analysis of the impact of social capital. It provides a corrective to the dominant individual-level approach by offering an organisational-level analysis of social capital. The evidence suggests that inter-organisational social capital is not distributed equitably within cities. Voluntary organisations that regularly engage with a city administration can build networks of trust and information flows that outstrip those available to other voluntary organisations. Although it is easier to build social capital within a sector, such as the voluntary sector, building it in tight networks with voluntary organisations would appear to be an achievable goal for a city administration – but such networks do not guarantee an enhanced overall confidence in the local political system.     

Child deaths in Virginia, 1996: a review of investigations of sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths of children less than age 13

This study examines the consistency of investigative procedures used by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, law enforcement, and child protective services, when investigating the violent, sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths of children. The study also assessed the status of communication and cooperation among the investigating agencies, to determine whether improvements in the level of cooperation and communication among the systems recommended by prior legislative studies had been achieved. The subjects of this study were children from birth through age 12 who died a sudden, unexpected, or unnatural death in Virginia in 1996. The findings from this research provide both justification to celebrate the progress that has been made and the stimulus to improve the investigation into the sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths of children in Virginia. Data suggested that the level of cooperation and communication among child protective services workers, medical examiners, and law enforcement personnel in Virginia had increased between 1986 and 1996. The results demonstrated that some investigative procedures were consistent, especially within regional boundaries. However, the results also showed that inconsistencies exist in the way some deaths are investigated, and that room for improvement exists.