IMPACT OF PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS ON MUNICIPAL PERFORMANCE

Recently, a challenge to the use of traditional productivity and performance measurement tools has emerged. The focus of this debate i s whether such tools are instrumental for making critical trade-off decisions or program changes. In a nationwide survey of municipalities on this subject, the authors found that performance measurement systems are used across a number of service-related functions. While their perceived contribution to overall municipal performance tended to diminish for Individual worker productivity and morale concerns, the respondents–on balance-viewed the returns from performance measurement systems as worth the costs. The work concludes with several implications for possible adoption.     

Advocacy coalitions and the practice of policy analysis

Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith (above) have presented a framework for describing the processes by which public policies change over time, and Heintz and Weyant (above) have provided an array of case studies illustrating and elaborating those processes. This article will focus explicitly on the manner in which the advocacy coalition framework bears on the practice of policy analysis, both from the perspective of the manager of analytical resources, and from the perspective of the practicing policy analyst.     

Long economic cycles and the criminal justice system in the U.S.

Long cycles in capitalist development have been utilized as an analytical tool for political economic theory¹ and to explain major shifts in the social structure within capitalist political economies.² However, the potential impact that these massive changes in the political economy have on the historical development of criminal justice institutions and policies is an area not addressed within the literature. This article explores the relationship between long cycles of capitalist development and the historical formation of criminal justice policy in the United States.Earlier versions of this paper were presented at meetings of the American Society of Criminology (1984, 1986) and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (1986).     

Civil Protection Cooperation in EU Law: Is There Room for Solidarity to Wriggle Past?

This article provides insight into the under‐researched area of civil protection cooperation and disaster response capacity in EU law. It discusses how the mechanisms set up by the EU have assisted Member States in supporting one another when faced with natural or man‐made disasters, including those perpetrated by terrorists. In particular, the article provides a critique of the Article 222 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) clause, which has introduced the principle of solidarity within the EU's security strategy. The author explores the broadened notion of ‘threat’ in Europe and assesses the significance of the Solidarity Clause vis‐à‐vis the level of commitment required by Member States for its coherent implementation. The article then contrasts Article 222 TFEU with the mutual defence clause of Article 42 (7) Treaty on European Union (TEU), and finally points into certain ‘grey areas’ that may have a diminution effect upon the political message concerning the EU as a community based on solidarity.