Body Dissatisfaction,Living Away from Parents,and Poor Social Adjustment Predict Binge Eating Symptoms in Young Women Making the Transition to University

The current study explored how body dissatisfaction and challenges associated with the transition to university predicted symptoms of binge eating. Participants were 101 female full-time first-year university students (M=18.3 years of age; SD=.50) who completed a background questionnaire and a web-based daily checklist assessing binge eating. Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling results showed that participants who were more dissatisfied with their bodies were three times as likely to report symptoms of binge eating compared to participants who were less dissatisfied. Participants who lived away from home were three times as likely to report symptoms of binge eating compared to participants living with parents. Finally, poor perceived social adjustment to the university context was associated with an increased likelihood of binge eating. Discussion calls for more research exploring the role that university challenges and adjustment play in predicting eating problems.

Mapping the Genome of American Political Subcultures: A Proposed Methodology and Pilot Study

The landmark work of Daniel Elazar spawned a generation of researchsuggesting that regional subcultures produce consequences forpolitical behavior, governance, and representation across theUnited States. However, little attention has been paid to directlymeasuring the degree to which citizens living in particularcommunities actually share particular value orientations thatdiffer markedly from those of citizens living in other communitiesand whether such differences are consistent with Elazar's theory.This article proposes a research program devoted to these questions,offers a methodology designed to address them, and describesa pilot study to that effect. Although Elazar's framework standsup to empirical scrutiny in some important respects, a thoroughreexamination is in order.     

The Canada Health Act and the cabinet decision-making system of Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Abstract: The cabinet decision-making system of the last Trudeau government was the object of much criticism. The system purportedly frustrated individual ministers, relied excessively on central agencies, and made policy-making difficult. Based on a study of the manner in which the federal government dealt with the issue of direct patient charges, this article argues that the failings of the Trudeau decision-making system were exaggerated. Instead of being seen as a flawed attempt to structure how Ottawa decides, the Trudeau system of 1980–84 should be viewed as an important contribution towards the development of an effective cabinet decision-making process. Sommaire: Le système de prise de décisions en vigueur dans le dernier gouvernement Trudeau a fait l'objet de nombreuses critiques. Le systètme était vraiment frustrant pour les ministres, s'appuyait beaucoup trop sur les organismes centraux et rendait toute décision politique difficile. En s'appuyant sur une étude portant sur la facon dont le gouvernement fédéral a abordé la question des frais directs aux patients, cet article montre que les faiblesses du système de prise de décisions sous le gouvernement Trudeau n'étaient pas aussi graves qu'on l'a dit. Plutôt que d'y voir une tentative infructueuse d'encadrer les méthodes décisionnelles d'Ottawa, on devrait considérer que le système en vigueur de 1980 à 1984 a largement contribuéà mettre sur pied un processus de prise de décisions efficace au sein du Cabinet.     

Measuring the Impact of Lotteries on State per Pupil Expenditures for Education: Assessing the National Evidence

State‐operated lotteries have recently been asserted by public administrators and academicians as panaceas for eradicating revenue disparities existing across public school districts in the American states. The purpose of this research project is to empirically test the hypothesis that lottery revenues raise the state expenditures for public education. A state‐level national dataset, which includes fifty American states over the period 1977–1997, was used for the analysis. Pooled time‐series cross‐sectional and ARIMA modeling was employed to test the hypothesis. This study finds that lottery revenues had a positive influence on state per pupil expenditures for education. The evidence for the impact of lotteries on state per pupil expenditures for education was robust and statistically significant.     

Mapping the New South Wales Public Integrity System

This article summaries conclusions from the New South Wales public sector component of the National Integrity System Assessment. The evidence here suggests that the NSW public sector integrity activity is relatively complex and that the existence of multiple integrity agencies has disadvantages for complainants, integrity agencies and agencies under their scrutiny. The coherence of the NSW integrity system must therefore be questioned. The capacity of integrity agencies is hard to determine, with money and staffing levels not in themselves resolving debate over where capacity ought to be directed. The evidence suggests that the long‐running debate between those who want capacity directed to coercive investigations and those who want it aimed at systemic and cultural change is a false one, with the best strategies coupling the two types of activity. Judgements differ on the consequences of public sector integrity activity. Greater agreement exists that integrity has improved over the last decade or so, but while external integrity oversight appears to be responsible for some of that improvement, activities within public sector agencies appear to have been equally important.     

From Greek Temple to Bird's Nest: Towards A Theory of Coherence and Mutual Accountability for National Integrity Systems

Since the 1990s, recognition has grown that the answer to corruption–political, bureaucratic or corporate–does not lie in a single institution, let alone a single law. Rather the institutionalisation of integrity through a number of agencies, laws, practices and ethical codes is increasingly recognised as the best option for limiting corruption in many societies. This article addresses the key issue of coherence between these various institutions, picking up on the third and final theme of the Australian national integrity system assessment. The assessment has shown, firstly, that concepts of ‘horizontal’ or ‘mutual’ accountability are important but also need to be developed and better contextualised as a framework for designing integrity systems; secondly, that integrity system coherence can be usefully measured and mapped using standard network analysis approaches, helping more clearly identify the need for more deliberate strategies for coordination of integrity policies; and thirdly, that new metaphors can and should be developed for communicating the nature and significance of the institutional interactions that constitute integrity systems. The new metaphor suggested here is that of a bird's nest, in which a multitude of often weak institutions and relationships can combine to more effectively protect and promote the fragile goal of public integrity.