Elements of Strategic Planning and Management in Municipal Government: Status after Two Decades

This article focuses on the use of strategic planning and management processes in municipal governments with populations over 25,000. Strategic planning has been used in municipalities for 20 years now, but little is known about how it is used and the results obtained. In particular, we explore whether municipal governments tie other components of the overall strategic management process to their strategic plans. Findings do not show a dramatic expansion in the use of strategic planning, but there is some evidence of growing sophistication, as demonstrated by links to other management and decision-making activities. Managers were enthusiastic about their experiences with strategic planning and largely satisfied with their achievement of goals and objectives. Overall, we find a raising of the bar as far as strategic planning is concerned, but the use of comprehensive strategic management is only beginning to develop in a small number of leading-edge municipalities.     

Correspondence

Sir Tony Brenton, formerly British Ambassador to Moscow (2004-2008), considers in this article the Asian dimension of Russia. He considers the historical connections and importance of Asia (as opposed to Europe) in the development of Russia and the historical balance between Asian and European influence. This section pays particular attention to the development of Siberia and early encounters between Russia and China. He then examines shifting Russian attitudes towards Asia at significant moments in Russian history including the 19^th century (the Slavophile Movement), the Communist period, the post-Soviet 1990s and the current era under President Putin. The implications of the Ukraine crisis and the current relationship with China is studied. He concludes with a discussion of whether Russia is likely to see its future orientation as more towards China and Asia, and what implications Russia's deliberation about its future direction has for the western powers.     

The Importance of Subjective Data for Public Agency Performance Evaluation

Evaluating public agency performance has typically been based on objective measurements. However, some researchers contend that evaluation is not complete without considering client perceptions of agency performance. This study supports combining subjective client perceptions with objective data in the evaluation process. Survey results and internal performance data are examined for a state agency charged with investigating citizen disputes with utility companies. Regression analyses show that the factors that most influence the client’s satisfaction with agency performance are the client’s perception of how long it took to resolve the dispute, based on survey results, and whether the case was decided in the client’s favor, from the agency’s internal records. The “real” resolution time recorded in the agency’s information system was not significant. These results indicate that subjective data provide valuable information for evaluating agency performance.     

微量物证匹配的描述:一个法律视角

本文描述了用于规范法庭科学证言的英美证据法，这些法庭科学证言主要是解释微量物证之匹配的重要性。本文根据即将出版的维基百科全书法庭科学卷部分改编。     

Revoking consent: A ‘blind spot’ in data protection law?

The flow of personal data throughout the public and private sectors is central to the functioning of modern society. The processing of these data is, however, increasingly being viewed as a major concern, particularly in light of many recent high profile data losses. It is generally assumed that individuals have a right to withdraw, or revoke, their consent to the processing of their personal data by others; however this may not be straightforward in practice, or addressed adequately by the law. Examination of the creation of data protection legislation in Europe and the UK, and its relationship with human rights law, suggests that such a general right to withdraw consent was assumed to be inbuilt, despite the lack of express provisions in both the European Data Protection Directive and UK Data Protection Act. In this article we highlight potential shortcomings in the provisions that most closely relate to this right in the UK Act. These raise questions as to the extent of meaningful rights of revocation, and thus rights of informational privacy, afforded to individuals in a democratic society.     

社会行为的进化:个体与群体选择--演进经济学对"人的利己性"的反思

本文从生物进化的个体和群体选择角度,并在引入博弈论的基础上,探讨人是利己还是利他.人的利己性假设是西方主流经济学的基本假设之一,如果这一假设被否定,那建立在该基本假设基础上的主流经济学大厦就岌岌可危,因此,本文的意义大大超过文章本身.     

Developing and Testing a Soil Property Database for Forensic Applications in Southern California

The research sought to develop and test a forensic database of surface soil variability within previously mapped geologic and soil units in southern California. This type of database could be used to link suspects to crime scenes or determine source locations of soil sample evidence. Variability was evaluated using (i) color, (ii) magnetic susceptibility, and (iii) particle‐size distribution. Soil properties were analyzed for their ability to discriminate source areas using stepwise discriminant analysis. The percent correct predictions for geologic unit groups ranged from 30% to 100%. A blind study experiment matched four of the 18 samples to their unit of origin with the first choice by stepwise discriminant analysis, and eight were matched as second and third choices. The probability of selecting the appropriate unit of origin increased by 54% over random chance and eliminated as much as 99% of the field area as a potential search location.     

The role of religious coping on problematic alcohol consumption by police officers

Problematic alcohol consumption by police officers is well documented in the literature. It also shows that critical incident stress is correlated with this behavior. A separate body of research indicates that religious coping exerts a moderate protective effect on various types of problematic behavior, including problematic alcohol consumption. We merge these literatures in an effort to determine if religious coping reduces problematic alcohol consumption by police officers and whether it mitigates the positive relationship between critical incident stress and problematic drinking. Data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997–1999 are analyzed to examine these propositions (n = 1004). Results indicate that police officers with higher levels of religious coping were in fact less likely to report problematic alcohol consumption. However, religious coping did not mitigate the positive relationship between critical incident stress and problematic alcohol consumption. The implications of our findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.