Performance and Accountability: Budget Reform in New Zealand

Since 1984, New Zealand has made major changes in public sector management. This article describes the perceived problems with the previous New Zealand system and discusses the reforms designed to address these problems. The changes attempt to increase efficiency by: (1) separating commercial functions from other government operations; (2) strengthening lines of ministerial and executive accountability; and (3) designing budget and financial management systems to improve measurement of public sector performance. This last reform includes shifting from an input to an output-based system, changing from cash to accrual accounting, and creating different forms of appropriations for different types of government activities. While it is too early to assess whether the reforms are successful, we note potential problems.     

The provocative public sector: Domestic political protest and public sector growth in the OECD, 1965–1982

The results shown in Tables 1 through 8 above are consistent in that %GG is repeatedly shown to be significant whether making cross-national comparisons of DPP or predicting intra-national variations over time. Therefore, Hypotheses 1a and 1b are confirmed. The confirmation of Hypotheses 2a and 2b shows that, taking into account public sector size, government growth is most provocative in countries where it represents a major socio-economic change (i.e., where the public sector is small). Government growth has a neutral impact where the role of the public sector is long-established (i.e., where the public sector is large).Hypotheses 3a and 3b posited that average and annual rates of economic growth would be inversely associated with domestic protest. These hypotheses, too, were confirmed. The belief that economic growth rates would clearly provide the margin of affordability for public sector growth was not confirmed, as the coefficient of the interaction term (%GG*%GDP) was not statistically significant.     

Peer vs. parental influence in substance use among hispanic and Anglo children and adolescents

The relative influence of peer and parental influence on youths' use of alcohol and other drugs is explored among 446 Anglo and Hispanic youths, ages 9–17. Current users and abstainers are similar in age and gender. Among both groups, parental influence is more profound than that of peers. However, substance users, compared to abstainers, are more influenced by peers. Level of marijuana use by youths' friends is the most reliable predictor of drug use. Youths having viable relationships with parents are less involved with drugs and less influenced by drug-oriented peers.Funded by a grant (A-003-2) from the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, R. H. Coombs, principal investigator.Research interests include comparative socialization patterns of adolescents and young adults in substance abuse vs. conventional careers.Research interests include domestic violence, child abuse, and substance abuse.Research interests include family interaction patterns, cross-cultural differences, and substance abuse prevention and treatment.     

Social Justice and Minority Religions: A Sociological Introduction

Social Justice Research -     

Pricing public sector services: The tuition gap

The large gap between the tuition charged by public colleges and universities and private ones is likely to cause severe disruptions to the private sector institutions of higher education. If it continues, private sector institutions may once again become bastions for students who can afford their services, rather than for those who merit them, and these institutions will diminish in size and diversity as well. Public sector institutions will become relatively stronger - not solely for reasons of effectiveness, efficiency, or equity - but because of the competitive advantage that the tuition gap affords them. This paper explores the feasibility and desirability of the three methods of correcting this problem, using real cost and demand data from the University of Massachusetts for illustrative purposes. It concludes the subsidization of students (rather than institutions) and raising public sector tuitions are two possible alternatives to the present tuition gap.     

Legal aid for coroners' inquests

Inquests held into deaths perform important functions, not only in determining the facts relevant to the death, but also in investigating and making recommendations on matters of public safety. Coronial legislation allows a number of parties to appear at inquests but a right of appearance without the possibility of legal representation is an illusory right. There are persuasive arguments for allocating funding for grants of legal aid to persons appearing at inquests and particularly to families. However, the demands on public legal aid funds are overwhelming and there are many competing needs. Historically, legal aid has not been available at inquests. Justifications for this are considered and whether government legal aid funding for advice and representation should be available to individuals involved in coroners' inquests and in what circumstances. The nature of the inquest process, indications of need for legal assistance, the level of assistance currently provided, defining what is the "public interest" for legal aid purposes in an inquest and the detriment suffered by individuals or the community if assistance is not available, are examined.     

Engaging stakeholders on TikTok: A multi-level social media analysis of nonprofit Microvlogging

Nonprofits are slow adopters of new social media platforms, yet many have joined TikTok. Successful microvlogging on sites like TikTok, Instagram, and SnapChat requires different types of engagement than microblogging on sites like Facebook and Twitter. The authors conduct a mixed-method social media analysis to answer three questions: Do microvlogs support traditional social media functions? How are nonprofits engaging with stakeholders through microvlogging? Which function in the hierarchy of engagement framework best engages stakeholders? The authors qualitatively coded 1160 microvlogs on TikTok from 58 nonprofits. The qualitative dataset was merged with TikTok metadata to capture quantitative measures of user engagement. Findings indicate nonprofits employ community-building strategies more than information-sharing and action strategies. Users engage more often with the nonprofits' community-building microvlogs. The authors conclude that nonprofits adapt their strategy to more effectively engage stakeholders when microvlogging, which suggests there may be a “new hierarchy” of engagement for microvlogging platforms.     

Governing the multicultural city‐region

Abstract: This article reports on a study that identified the challenges posed by large immigrant populations for the governments of eleven Greater Toronto Area municipalities and the way those challenges were being addressed by municipal agencies that provided nine local services: government‐assisted housing, land‐use planning, policing, public education, public health, public libraries, public recreation, public transit, and social services. Many of the agencies were trying to accommodate their multicultural clienteles in a variety of ways. There were large differences in agency responses, however, not only among municipalities but also among agencies providing different services within the same municipality, and even among district offices of the same municipal agencies. Moreover, municipal agencies often found it difficult or impossible to adapt to new clienteles, even when they were seriously committed to doing so, in the face of provincial government indifference, cuts in provincial and local funding, and community ambivalence or antagonism. The study concluded that municipal agencies are unlikely to devote many resources to helping the immigrant settlement process without financial and legislative support from central governments. Sommaire: Le présent article porte sur une étude qui a cerné les défis que posent d'importantes populations d'immigrants aux gouvemements de ome municipalités de la Région du Grand Toronto, et sur la manière dont ces défis ont été relevés par des organismes municipaux assurant neuf services locaux: logement subventionné par le gouvernement, aménagement du territoire, services de police, enseignement public, santé publique, bibliothèques publiques, loisirs publics, transport en com‐mun et services sociaux. Un grand nombre de ces organismes ont essayé de répondre aux besoins de leurs clientèles multiculturelles par différents moyens. Cependant, les écarts étaient grands dans la manière d'y parvenir, non seulement parmi les municipalités mais également parmi les organismes foumissant différents services au sein de la même municipalité, et même parmi les bureaux de districts des mêmes organimes municipaux. En outre, les organismes municipaux trouvent souvent qu'il est difficile, voire même impossible, de s'adapter à de nouvelles clientèles, même lorsqu'ils se sont sérieusement engagés à le faire, face à l'indifférence du gouvemement provincial, aux compressions budgétaires à I'échelle provinciale et locale, et face à I'ambivalence ou à I'antagonisme de la colledivité. L'étude a conclu qu'il y avait de fortes chances que les organismes municipaux ne consacrent pas d'énormes ressources à I'aide au processus d'établissement des immigrants s'ils ne reçoivent pas un appui financier et législatif des gouvernements centraux.     

Drug courts for DWI offenders? The effectiveness of two hybrid drug courts on DWI offenders

The effectiveness of drug courts for illegal drug-involved offenders has been well documented (Belenko, 1998, 2001; Wilson, Mitchell, & MacKenzie, 2006), however, few studies had examined whether they work for repeat “driving while intoxicated” (DWI) or “driving under the influence” (DUI) offenders. The current study examined sixty-six offenders who had completed one of two hybrid DUI/drug courts (compared to eighty-six similar parolees) operating in two small cities in a single midwestern state. Results suggested that among non-DUI offenders, completion of the drug court program reduced recidivism, as might be expected; however, among the subsample of chronic DUI offenders no significant recidivism reduction was noted. These results add to the small, but growing literature suggesting that DUI courts (as they are currently being implemented) may not be an effective way to reduce the occurrence of repeat DUI offenses. Suggestions for DUI court implementation and future research are presented.