Nondemocratic nonplanning: The French experience

During the de Gaulle and Pompidou regimes, the French executive claimed that its Economic and Social Development Plan fitted an ideal model of democratic planning. It was democratic in both process and substance, devised after wide consultations, and designed to pursue the welfare of the nation as a whole. It also met the standards of planning, outlining a coherent set of actions which could realistically be taken during each planning period, and which were rationally calculated to further carefully-defined long-term aims. An analysis of the preparation process and of the quality of the Plan as written and executed, however, indicates that it did not meet the standards of either democracy or planning. The conclusion of the paper expresses serious doubt about the possibility of ever achieving the ideal of democratic planning in France.This article was written while the author was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut. The research was supported by the University's Research Foundation. The author is now employed by the Office of Political Research, Central Intelligence Agency. The views expressed here are her own and do not reflect those of the Agency.     

Public management and productivity towards an appraisal of the productivity of alternative forms of public service delivery

Although independent administrative units are used worldwide as alternate forms of public service delivery, only limited systematic knowledge is available as how to apply these organisational forms with the maximum positive effects. This paper aims to explore the productivity gains achieved by administrative units increasing their degrees of independence, shifting from organisational independence to budgetary and legal independence. Focusing on self-operating decentralised units, on public law enterprises and on publicly owned private law enterprises, this appraisal reveals that continuously increasing independence is accompanied by productivity gains, but, depending on varying service delivery conditions--in terms of divergent service concepts or notions of productivity--this may be in terms of quality of output, technical efficiency or allocative efficiency.

Consequently, in order to make the best possible organisational choice, a contingency model has to take into consideration that alternative forms of service delivery find their maximum positive effects not only under varying task contexts but equally in the pursuit of different productivity targets.     

The determination of psilocin and psilocybin in hallucinogenic mushrooms by HPLC utilizing a dual reagent acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence detection system

This paper describes a procedure for the determination of psilocin and psilocybin in mushroom extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography with postcolumn chemiluminescence detection. A number of extraction methods for psilocin and psilocybin in hallucinogenic mushrooms were investigated, with a simple methanolic extraction being found to be most effective. Psilocin and psilocybin were extracted from a variety of hallucinogenic mushrooms using methanol. The analytes were separated on a C12 column using a (95:5% v/v) methanol:10 mM ammonium formate, pH 3.5 mobile phase with a run time of 5 min. Detection was realized through a dual reagent chemiluminescence detection system of acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II). The chemiluminescence detection system gave improved detectability when compared with UV absorption at 269 nm, with detection limits of 1.2 x 10(-8) and 3.5 x 10(-9) mol/L being obtained for psilocin and psilocybin, respectively. The procedure was applied to the determination of psilocin and psilocybin in three Australian species of hallucinogenic mushroom.     

Three-dimensional computer visualization of forensic pathology data

Despite a decade of use in US courtrooms, it is only recently that forensic computer animations have become an increasingly important form of communication in legal spheres within the United Kingdom. Aims Research at the University of Nottingham has been influential in the critical investigation of forensic computer graphics reconstruction methodologies and techniques and in raising the profile of this novel form of data visualization within the United Kingdom. The case study presented demonstrates research undertaken by Aims Research and the Department of Forensic Pathology at the University of Sheffield, which aims to apply, evaluate, and develop novel 3-dimensional computer graphics (CG) visualization and virtual reality (VR) techniques in the presentation and investigation of forensic information concerning the human body. The inclusion of such visualizations within other CG or VR environments may ultimately provide the potential for alternative exploratory directions, processes, and results within forensic pathology investigations.     

The Effects of Youth Mentoring Programs: A Meta-analysis of Outcome Studies

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Mentoring programs, which pair youth with caring, non-parental adults with the goal of promoting positive youth development, are an increasingly popular strategy...     

Institutional Framework for the Province of all Mankind: Lessons from the International Seabed Authority for the Governance of Commercial Space Mining

This article addresses the current lack of a legal framework for the use of space resources found on asteroids and other celestial bodies. In a world of growing inequality and in face of the increasing commercialization of space, governance structures are needed to ensure that the benefits of the “province of all mankind” are not solely reaped by those industrialized nations that have the technological and financial capabilities. Drawing upon the practical achievements of the International Seabed Authority governing the extraction of natural resources from the seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction, a discursive policy framework for the equitable development of the global commons of space is proposed. Acknowledging the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach, the normative structure is complemented by the insight gained from stakeholders from across sectors, in a critical effort to unite political, ethical, and commercial considerations.     

The activists decide: the preferences of party activists in the 2016 presidential nominations

ABSTRACT

One view of presidential nominations in the United States [Steger, Wayne P. 2007. “Who Wins Presidential Nominations and Why: An Updated Forecast of the Presidential Primary Vote.” Presidential Research Quarterly 60: 91–97; Cohen, Marty, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller. 2008. The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Silver, Nate. 2016. “The Republican Party May Be Failing.” FiveThirtyEight. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-republican-party-may-be-failing/] claims that the support of political elites is causally related to success in the nomination. The mechanisms for this relationship include party activists, who follow the cues party leaders send and provide necessary support to candidates in primaries and caucuses. This mechanism has not been explicitly tested. This paper explores the preferences of party activists in light of the unified elite preferences among Democrats and the lack of such unity among Republicans. Some activists in each party resist the signals from elites, but the resistance is far less widespread in the Democratic Party, where party leaders exhibited consensus support for the eventual nominee.