Voice and choice in health care in England: understanding citizen responses to dissatisfaction

Using data from a five-year online survey the paper examines the effects of relative satisfaction with health services on individuals' voice-and-choice activity in the English public health care system. Voice is considered in three parts – individual voice (complaints), collective voice voting and participation (collective action). Exercising choice is seen in terms of complete exit (not using health care), internal exit (choosing another public service provider) and private exit (using private health care). The interaction of satisfaction and forms of voice and choice are analysed over time. Both voice and choice are correlated with dissatisfaction with those who are unhappy with the NHS more likely to privately voice and to plan to take up private health care. Those unable to choose private provision are likely to use private voice. These factors are not affected by items associated with social capital – indeed, being more trusting leads to lower voice activity.     

Core Concepts and Key Ideas for Understanding Public Sector Organizational Networks: Using Research to Inform Scholarship and Practice

This article provides an overview of the key research findings and core concepts on the topic of organizational networks. The primary focus is on goal‐directed “whole” service delivery networks, which are prevalent in the public and nonprofit sectors. The findings and ideas presented are especially salient for helping public managers build, maintain, operate, and govern multiorganizational networks in ways that will enhance their effectiveness. Because research and theory on networks extend well beyond the boundaries of public management and administration, the authors draw on thinking from a number of fields, providing a broad understanding of public networks and network functioning. The article is intended to provide usable information on networks for both practitioners and students, as well as to suggest directions for future research for the many public management scholars who now study organizational networks.     

Buying Negative Agenda Control in the U.S. House

We explore the foundations of the legislative party cartel, as theorized by Cox and McCubbins (1993, 2005) , to determine how majority‐party moderates who suffer net policy losses from the majority leadership's use of negative agenda control are kept from defecting from the cartel arrangement. First, we identify formally the group of majority‐party members who are net policy losers. We find that those members occupying the initial 30% of the space within the majority‐party blockout zone—that space closest to the floor median—are hurt on a pure policy basis by the cartel arrangement. Second, we find that members in this “30% zone” are rewarded disproportionately by majority‐party leaders (relative to members in other intervals on the same side of the floor median) via side payments in the form of campaign contributions. In addition, majority‐party members within the 30% zone receive side payments commensurate with their particular policy loss.     

Discordance of Gross and Histologic Findings in Estimating the Range of Fire of Gunshot Wounds

Forensic pathologist use soot and/or stippling surrounding entrance gunshot wounds in categorizing range of fire. If absent, some pathologists suggest utilizing histology when the range is diagnostically critical. This study investigates the concordance of macroscopic and microscopic findings in estimating range of fire by evaluating gunshot entrance and exit wounds made through human tissue analogs at defined distances using two handgun calibers. Examination of over 150 entrance wounds verified the ease of visually detecting soot from a muzzle distance of contact to 1 foot (30.5 cm), and its absence at 9 feet (274.3 cm). Distinctly apparent was bullet wipe surrounding the entrance wounds regardless of muzzle distance. Although variations existed, dark material was histologically identified in many skin, soft tissue, and bone sections at all ranges with both calibers. These nonparallel results decrease the dependability of histology for range of fire estimation and reinforce using gross observation.     

Development and Pilot of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Trauma‐Informed Juvenile Court Self‐Assessment

Trauma‐informed practices in the juvenile justice system are increasingly recognized as effective for promoting public safety through case management, rehabilitation, and treatment that is responsive to a traumatic event exposure and current trauma reactions. As court systems explore integration of trauma‐informed practices, tools for identifying best practices and strategically implementing trauma‐informed approaches are integral for judges and court administrators aiming to develop trauma‐informed courts. The current paper reviews the National Child Traumatic Stress Network's development of the Trauma‐Informed Juvenile Court Self‐Assessment (TI‐JCSA). Implications for self‐guided strategies to shift court practices and policies to align with trauma‐informed approaches will be discussed.     

Punishment in Indian Country: Ironies of Federal Punishment of Native Americans

Native Americans are US citizens, but they are also tribal nationals subject to complex and unique criminal jurisdiction arrangements over Indian lands. Tribal nations typically have tribal court jurisdiction over less serious crimes, but for serious crimes the federal justice system often supersedes tribal authority, exposing Native Americans to more severe punishments. In addition, recent federal programs have attempted to foster greater tribal/federal criminal justice coupling. Yet, examinations of criminal punishment of Native Americans are few, and most are outdated and/or of very limited generalizability. We examine the punishment of Native American defendants in federal court, focusing on 28 federal districts with substantial Indian presence. Using recent US Sentencing Commission data, as well as contextual data from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal courts, we focus on differences in the federal sentencing of Native American defendants, and how these differences are conditioned by indicators of tribal-federal criminal justice coupling.