Teaching public policy in a public administration program

An overlooked aspect of academic concern in public administration is the realm of public policy. Policy intrudes into administration at a number of crucial points; administration influences the direction and emphasis of policy in various ways. These interrelationships warrant more attention in the training of public administrators. Regrettably, they have remained largely off-limits in the training of public administrators. Why and how we should proceed to alter this state of affairs is the essence of the symposium that follows.     

Popular representations of race: the news coverage of BiDil

The BiDil story offers an ideal opportunity to explore the nature and tone of media representations of race and genetics. For example, was a biological view of race emphasized? Or was the notion of race presented in a critical fashion?     

Posttraumatic stress disorder in murderers

Three case histories of men who suffered posttraumatic stress disorders after committing homicides are presented. These men were relatively young and had chaotic childhoods and minimal criminal histories. Each had killed a woman with whom he had a significant but intensely turbulent emotional relationship. The killings all occurred during altered mental states that were unrelated to the use of drugs or alcohol. The clinical significance and some of the medicolegal implications of this phenomenon are discussed.     

Legal Disciplinary Practices – Who Needs Them?

The recent publication of the government's Review of the Regulatory Framework for Legal Services in England and Walesin March 2004 heralds a new era regarding the way in which legal services are to be delivered to the public. In the wake of the Enron-Arthur Andersen debacle, and growing disenchantment amongst policy-makers and market players with the involvement of 'elite' accountancy firms in the provision of legal services, interest and attention has now shifted away from the formation of Multi-Disciplinary Practices towards a new model of legal services provider– Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDPs), where the focus is at all times on the provision of legal services, albeit widely defined. The purpose of this article is to explore, and subsequently critique, the rationales behind the formation of LDPs and to outline the dangers which the provision of legal services through such business structures is likely to pose not only for the legal profession, but also for society more generally.