Universals and Particulars: the Case of Liberal Cultural Nationalism

Recent work in liberal political theory has rejected cosmopolitanism to incorporate the empirical agenda of nationalism and multiculturalism. In this article three issues facing cultural national liberalism are first extracted from Rawls's Political Liberalism : the range of reasonable cultural identities under liberalism; the substantive ethical bases of the state; and the possibility of principles of cultural self-respect. I then examine three works which address these problems, Will Kymlicka's Multicultural Citizenship , David Miller's On Nationality , and Charles Taylor's 'The Politics of Recognition'. Kymlicka provides principles of cultural self-respect but is caught between conceptualising culture in universalist and particularist terms. Miller's liberal national state rests on shared meanings, but this serves to complicate the introduction of universal moral ideas. Taylor presents authenticity as an alternative self-understanding to liberal autonomy, but I argue against the notion of cultural authenticity.     

Municipal Government Financial Reporting: Administrative and Ethical Climate

This article examines financial disclosure in U.S. cities. It considers factors that affect the level of municipal financial disclosure, in particular the effect of administrative factors. It finds that participation in the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting program, and the Chief Financial Officer's familiarity with the activities of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board are positively associated with more disclosure. These latter factors are interpreted as measures of professionalism and are furthered by the adoption of municipal codes of ethics which stress openness and responsiveness to stakeholder interests. Such general policies are indirectly associated with heightened levels of financial disclosure. Financial disclosure is also associated with city size and demands from capital markets.     

The Use of Contracting in the Public Sector—Recent New Zealand Experience

This research note examines the expanding use of contracting within the public sector in New Zealand. The term 'contracting' is interpreted broadly to include both external contracting (ie outsourcing) as well as the use of more explicit or formal 'contracts' within and between public sector organisations. No attention is given here to the separate, albeit related, processes of corporatisation, commercialisation and full privatisation (ie asset sales and the termination of public funding as well as provision). The empirical data, although limited, suggest that the recent increase in contracting in New Zealand has brought significant gains in terms of fiscal savings, productive efficiency, consumer choice and managerial accountability. Recent trends, however, have also posed some important policy issues, among them the limits to contracting out and the potential dangers associated with 'hollow' government.     

Richard Rorty and the Problem of the Person1

In Richard Rorty's persuasive alternative to contemporary liberal theory he maintains that a contingent, rather than a universalist, liberalism can better engender human solidarity and that the ironic stance can better safeguard liberal freedom than any metaphysical buttress. In an internal critique I argue that irony is an aesthetic, rather than, as solidarity, a moral ideal. Moreover, Rorty's notion of agency is too voluntaristic to supply the necessary communitarian sentiments for solidarity to be achieved. Hence the twin ideals of irony and solidarity cannot both be situated in his decentered notion of selfhood.     

Workplace Relations: Friendship Patterns and Consequences (According to Managers)

This article examines orientations toward workplace friendship. Based on a survey of senior managers in cities with populations over 50,000, it addresses the following questions: Do senior managers promote, condone, or discourage workplace friendship? What risks and benefits of workplace friendships do these managers perceive? What policies and strategies that affect workplace friendship are found in organizations? How do these organizational efforts affect perceptions of employee performance? This article finds that, despite the risks, orientations in favor of workplace friendships are widespread, and many jurisdictions engage in efforts to promote them.     

Moving rocks: block-funding in pEI as an incentive for Cross sectoral reallocations among human services

Abstract: In 1993, Prince Edward Island introduced block-funding to five Health and Community Services regional boards for all human services except education. We view this as the introduction of a financial incentive (or removal of a disincentive) to undertake cross-sectoral reallocations to address the broader determinants of health. We use case-study methods to evaluate the way in which this incentive was communicated from policy makers to the regions, how the regions interpreted the policy makers' signals, and how the regions responded. The block-funding incentive became a “fuzzy” signal to the regions, because it was communicated as part of a larger reform package that included expenditure reductions, devolved governance, and the need for integration and coordination. Nevertheless, the regional boards interpreted the block-funding as facilitating cross-sectoral reallocations, but because of various concerns, including opposition expressed by their employee providers, as well as their physicians and the public, they moved only cautiously to exploit the incentive. Most regions focused more on enhancing administrative efficiency through integration and coordination than on cross-sectoral reallocations to address the determinants of health. Finally, lessons for other jurisdictions are outlined based on the PEI experience. Sommaire: En 1993, l‘île-du-Prince-Édouard a adopté le mode de financement en bloc Jonathan Lomas has a master of arts degree and is professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, and the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis. Michael M. Rachlis is a doctor of medicine and has a master of science degree. He is assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University. This study would not have been possible without the exemplary research assistance of Sameer Kumar. We are also grateful for the help of Mita Giacomini and Laurie Goldsmith, overall leader and coordinator of the larger project, “Financial Incentives in the Canadian Healthcare System,” of which this was a part. Funding for the project was provided by Health Canada through the National Health Research and Development Program. Useful comments on an earlier draft were provided by John Eyles and Jerry Hurley. Finally, the time and assistance provided by all our interviewees in Prince Edward Island were central to our ability to complete the analysis, and any misrepresentations that may remain after their input and feedback is our responsibility alone. The Journal's anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged. en ce qui concerne cinq Conseils régionaux de services de santé communautaires, pour tous les services humains sauf l’éducation. À notre avis, il s'agit là d'un incitatif financier (ou de l‘élimination d'un anti-incitatif) pour entreprendre des réallocations entre les secteurs afin qu'on s'occupe des éléments plus fondamentaux qui déterminent la santé. Nous utilisons des méthodes d’étude de cas pour évaluer la manière dont cet incitatif a été communiqué par les décideurs politiques aux régions, la manière dont les régions ont interprété ce que leur disaient les décideurs, et la réaction des régions. L'incitatif de financement en bloc est devenu un signal «vague» pour les régions parce qu'il faisait partie d'un ensemble de réformes plus vaste comprenant la réduction des dépenses, la gérance decentralisée et le besoin d'intégration et de coordination. Néanmoins, les Conseils régionaux ont interprété ce financement comme un moyen permettant de faciliter la réallocation entre secteurs, mais à cause de diverses préoccupations, dont l'opposition exprimée par leurs employés, leurs médecins et leur public, ils se sont montrès très prudents dans Sexploitation de cet incitatif. La plupart des régions se sont concentrées davantage sur l'efficacité administrative que permettaient l'intégration et la coordination plutôt que sur les réallocations entre secteurs afin de s'occuper des déterminants de la santé. Enfin, on mentionne des leçons que peuvent tirer d'autres territoires en fonction de l'expérience dans l‘île-du-Prince-Édouard.     

Italian Politics in an Era of Recession: The End of Bipolarism?

Abstract

Italian politics have undergone momentous change in the 2007–2017 decade under the impact of the eurozone crisis, whose peak in 2011–2013 could be equated to the earlier watershed years of 1992–1994. The lasting impact of the upheaval in Italian politics in the early 1990s could still be felt in the decade of economic recession, but there were also new challenges prompted by a crisis that had its roots in international financial contagion and which unravelled under the shadow of both recession and austerity. The changes were of an economic, social, cultural, institutional, policy-oriented and political nature. If one central quintessentially political theme stands out by the end of this decade it is the apparent exhaustion of the quest for bipolarisation that was initiated in the early 1990s.