Prescriptions for punishment: Official ideologies and jall overcrowding

This study assesses key actors’ “worlds of fact” regarding jail overcrowding in California through an examination of their perceptions of causes and effects, support for different solutions, and adherence to major punishment ideologies. How policymakers define and structure a specific problem Gail overcrowding), can influence how policy options are differentially weighed as well as how existing policy processes can be improved. A mail survey was sent to two key decision making groups who largely regulate the intake and outflow of local jails: sheriffs and chief probation officers of the 58 California counties. Group differences in responses were predicted from the perspectives of blame avoidance, domain dissensus, and punishment theory. Relationships were examined among perceived causes, effects, solutions, and punishment ideologies. While both sheriffs and probation chiefs advocated highly similar “control-oriented” punishment ideologies, probation chiefs advocated more “progressive” solutions to jail overcrowding. Perceived causes and effects of jail overcrowding, along with support for deterrence ideology, were strongly related to elite support for three potential solutions: building more institutions, passing tougher laws to deter potential offenders, and using shorter sentences for low-risk offenders. Implications of these results for understanding jail overcrowding and policy processes are discussed.     

Quangos—What's in a Name? Defining Quangos from a Comparative Perspective

Without definitional clarity the "quango debate" is inherently flawed and meaningful progress undermined. A possible solution to this problem is proposed in this article by way of a subsectional map which aims to clarify the quango topography. This accepts the diversity inherent in the quango debate while allowing for increased clarity and focused research. This, the authors believe, is the only way forward for practitioners, academics and policymakers working within the sphere of quasi-government. There is a need to address precise forms or subsections of the quango continuum as studies or reforms which focus on one type of quango would not necessarily work if applied to all quangos, or quangos in other countries.     

Lesbian and gay theory,sexuality and citizenship

David Evans, Sexual Citizenship: The Material Construction of Sexualities, (Routledge, London 1993). 352pp. ISBN 0–4150–058007

Didi Herman, Rights of Passage: Struggles for Lesbian and Gay Equality, (University of Toronto Press, London 1994). ix+198pp. ISBN 0–8020–7231–3.

Anthony Giddens, The Transformation of Intimacy, (Polity Press, Cambridge 1992). 212pp. ISBN 0–8047–2214–5.

Ken Plummer, Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds, (Routledge, London 1995). xii+244pp. ISBN 0–415–10296–0.

Jeffrey Weeks, Invented Moralities: Sexual Values in an Age of Uncertainty, (Polity Press, Cambridge 1995). xiii+209pp. ISBN 0–7456–1369–1.

Angelia R. Wilson (ed), A Simple Matter of Justice? Theorising Lesbian and Gay Politics, (Cassell, London 1995). xi+226pp. ISBN 0–304–32955‐X.     

The Politics of Public–Private Partnerships

Since 1 May 1997 the Labour government in the United Kingdom has implemented a number of public–private partnerships (PPPs) as a central tool of governance within their wider modernisation agenda. To date, the introduction of PPPs has largely been evaluated through conceptual lenses that emphasise either the administrative, managerial, financial or technical dimensions of this reform strategy. This article seeks to complement this wider literature by arguing that PPPs raise a host of political issues and tensions that have largely been overlooked. Five specific themes are set out in order to provide a framework or organising perspective. These are: efficiency; risk; complexity; accountability; and governance and the future of state projects. The main conclusion of the article is that PPPs represent a Faustian bargain in that forms of PPP may deliver efficiency gains and service improvements in some policy areas but these benefits may involve substantial political and democratic costs.     

Talking the Vote: Why Presidential Candidates Hit the Talk Show Circuit

The 2000 presidential election found the major party presidential candidates chatting with Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell, and Regis Philbin, trading one-liners with Jay Leno and David Letterman, and discussing rap music on MTV. This study investigates the impact of entertainment-oriented talk show interviews of presidential candidates, using the 2000 election as a case study. I consider why such shows cover presidential politics, why candidates choose to appear on them, and who is likely to be watching. This discussion yields a series of hypotheses concerning the effects of these interviews on public attitudes and voting behavior. I test my hypotheses through a content analysis of campaign coverage by entertainment-oriented talk shows, traditional political interview shows, and national news campaign coverage, as well as through a series of statistical investigations. I find that politically unengaged voters who watch entertainment-oriented TV talk shows are more likely to find the opposition party candidate likeable, as well as to cross party lines and vote for him, relative to their counterparts who are more politically aware or who do not watch such shows .     

Blunt Craniofacial Trauma as a Manifestation of Excited Delirium Caused by New Psychoactive Substances

The body of a 19‐year‐old male was found apparently concealed underneath bushes with recent head and facial trauma, and multiple superficial abrasions. Subsequently, it was discovered that the decedent had been running into objects and buildings following the ingestion the evening before of what was thought to be lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Blood staining of a nearby wall close to where the body was lying was in keeping with the described behavior. Toxicology revealed 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy), in addition to two only recently available drugs 2‐(4‐bromo‐2,5‐dimethoxyphenyl)‐N‐[(2‐methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine, (25B‐NBOMe), and 1‐(3,4‐methylenedioxyphenyl)‐2‐(1‐pyrrolidinyl)‐1‐butanone, (MDPBP). At autopsy, the skull was fractured with cerebral swelling, contusions, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Death was due to blunt cranial trauma against a background of mixed drug toxicity. The case demonstrates a rare cause of death in a drug‐induced acute delirium, as well as highlighting two new designer street drugs that may result in significant aberrant behavior.     

The Development of the Public Benefit Requirement for Charitable Trusts in the Nineteenth Century

The first express judicial reliance on the public benefit requirement for charitable trusts to conclusively determine charitable validity seems to occur in 1862, although implied references to similar ideas are seen up to a century previously. With limited exceptions, the origin of the public benefit requirement has been under-examined. This article argues that a multi-factorial and contextual approach best explains its adoption in the nineteenth century. Three developments in nineteenth-century law and society encouraged judges to broaden charity law: (1) increasing religious pluralism, (2) increasing state education, and (3) regular income taxation. These changes, combined with the formalization of the doctrine of precedent, required both some limit on the scope of charity law and a new substantive justification for novel decisions on charitable validity. This article argues that judges and lawyers, whether intentionally or subconsciously, borrowed ideas of public benefit from closely related mortmain cases to develop the public benefit requirement.