A Government Ill Executed: The Depletion of the Federal Service

The federal government's "quiet crisis" of the 1980s has become the "deafening crisis" of the early twenty-first century. Virtually every measure of the state of the public service as envisioned by Alexander Hamilton has worsened over the past two decades. This lecture outlines Hamilton's seven characteristics of an energetic federal service and examines recent trends in its decline. Although the federal service still executes an enormous agenda of important missions, it is increasingly frustrated in its work.     

Assessing NASA’s Safety Culture: The Limits and Possibilities of High‐Reliability Theory

After the demise of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board sharply criticized NASA’s safety culture. Adopting the high‐reliability organization as a benchmark, the board concluded that NASA did not possess the organizational characteristics that could have prevented this disaster. Furthermore, the board determined that high‐reliability theory is “extremely useful in describing the culture that should exist in the human spaceflight organization.” In this article, we argue that this conclusion is based on a misreading and misapplication of high‐reliability research. We conclude that in its human spaceflight programs, NASA has never been, nor could it be, a high‐reliability organization. We propose an alternative framework to assess reliability and safety in what we refer to as reliability‐seeking organizations.     

Making Child Protection Policy: The Crime and Misconduct Commission Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Foster Care in Queensland

Internationally as well as in Australia, public inquiries have become one of the dominant means of scrutinising child protection services. As such, inquiries have become a policy mechanism for defining the problem of child abuse, and developing possible solutions. This article examines the 2004 Crime and Misconduct Commission Inquiry into the Abuse of Children in Foster Care in Queensland. It discusses both the problems and potential of public inquiries in promoting positive change in a contested policy field like child protection.     

Employer Liability for Employee Sexual Harassment: A Judicial Policy-Making Study

Since 1964 and 1972 when Congress passed key legislation concerning sex discrimination, the courts have been left to fashion policies on sexual harassment in employment. In 1998, the Supreme Court issued four major decisions in this area, one dealing with suits against school districts, one involving same-sex discrimination, and two pertaining to the application of common law to employer liability in sexual harassment cases. The ruling in the first case is at odds with the others, suggesting that Congress may need to intervene. The other three pose a series of complex issues that could benefit from congressional action and administrative guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Court's rulings have answered some legal questions, but posed others that will produce extensive litigation in coming years.     

The Examining Magistrate’s Function and Involvement in Investigative Matters

This article gives a brief overview of the division of roles during the investigative stage between Court, Public Prosecution Service (PPS) and Police. It explains the role either an Examining Magistrate or an Investigative Judge plays in Croatia, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, presenting his/her functions and involvement in criminal investigation and especially focussing on which actions require his/her approval.     

Job burnout among narcotics investigators: An exploratory study

In exploring the relationship between narcotics investigators and job burnout in the United States, a sample of 115 East San Francisco Bay police officers from five law enforcement departments was drawn. Three subgroups (current narcotics investigators, former narcotics investigators, and patrol officers) were used in the survey. The findings indicate that current narcotics investigators had significantly higher burnout scores than the comparison groups on most dimensions of burnout. Both former narcotics officers and patrol officers had similar burnout scores. Conclusions reached were that: (1) narcotics officers experienced a greater degree of job burnout while in the assignment; (2) this burnout was directly attributed to the working environments of the narcotics officers; and (3) burnout decreased once an officer left the assignment. Administrative and managerial implications for dealing with job burnout are discussed along with suggested techniques for dealing with, and minimizing, job burnout among narcotics officers. Future research issues are identified.