Internships and the State Government Human Resources Crisis

State governments face massive retirements over the next few years. Since internships have been a significant source of bright new blood, we examine what all fifty states are doing with internships. Some exemplary programs were found, but the typical state intern program serves only a few unpaid students, supervisors receive no special training, and no tracking is done to see whether interns stay in state service or what their contributions are. While many states blame stringencies, the budgets involved are comparatively modest and potential benefits significant. We propose an action agenda for state governments and the public administration community.     

The Fall and Renewal of the Commission: Accountability, Contract and Administrative Organisation

The fall of the Santer Commission, prompted by the Report of the Committee of Independent Experts, sent shock waves throughout the entire Community. This article seeks to examine the nature of the problems which beset the Commission, to place these within the broader context of decision-making by public bodies, and to consider also the responsibilities of the Council and European Parliament for the delivery of agreed Community policies. The article analyses in detail the Reports of the Committee of Independent Experts, and the subsequent reforms initiated by the Prodi Commission, in order to assess the prospects for improved service delivery in the future.     

Fiscal Responses to COVID-19: Evidence from Local Governments and Nonprofits

The rate of expansion and the breadth of COVID-19 caught the world by surprise. From the perspective of nonprofit and public entities responsible for service provision, this pandemic is also unprecedented. The authors offer a RISE framework for navigating the fiscal effects of COVID-19 and rely on recent surveys to assess the response strategies of local governments and nonprofit organizations. They find that many nonprofits were hit fastest and hardest by the pandemic and that local governments are, essentially, trying to figure out their financial condition moving into the next budget cycle.     

Cyber Security Responsibilization: An Evaluation of the Intervention Approaches Adopted by the Five Eyes Countries and China

Governments can intervene to a greater or lesser extent in managing the risks that citizens face. They can adopt a maximal intervention approach (e.g., COVID-19) or a hands-off approach (e.g., unemployment), effectively “responsibilizing” their citizens. To manage the cyber risk, governments publish cyber-related policies. This article examines the intervention stances the governments adopt in supporting individual citizens managing their personal cyber risk. The authors pinpoint the cyber-related responsibilities that several governments espouse, applying a “responsibilization” analysis. Those applying to citizens are identified, thereby revealing the governments' cyber-related intervention stances. The analysis reveals that most governments adopt a minimal cyber-related intervention stance in supporting their citizens. Given the increasing number of successful cyber attacks on individuals, it seems time for the consequences of this stance to be acknowledged and reconsidered. The authors argue that governments should support individual citizens more effectively in dealing with cyber threats.     

Impunity and Hope

Is there a duty to prosecute grave international crimes? Many have thought so, even if they recognize the obligation to be defeasible. However, the theoretical literature frequently leaves the grounds for such a duty inadequately specified, or unsystematically amalgamated, leaving it unclear which considerations should drive and shape processes of criminal accountability. Further, the circumstance leaves calls to end impunity vulnerable to skeptical worries concerning the risks and costs of punishing perpetrators. I argue that a qualified duty to prosecute can be substantiated on the basis of a single class of reasons, though also that standard justifications of international criminal law (as currently conceived) are not up to the task. The account exploits the expressive dimension of punishment, but locates the central good of criminal accountability in its capacity to appropriately enable an agential stance on the part of subjects in transitional circumstances. It can legitimate, in a way to be specified, hope. The approach also displays the cynicism of an anti‐impunity ethos in the absence of a robust commitment to securing basic human rights in transitional circumstances.     

HIV/AIDS prevention: building on community strengths in Ajegunle,Lagos

This paper builds upon field research in Ajegunle, Nigeria, which suggests that effective HIV/AIDS prevention requires a much higher degree of independent community participation. In exploring ways to achieve this, we suggest that assessing community strengths provides positive scope for understanding and utilising a much wider variety of HIV/AIDS responses which have not been previously used in the context of community development. Community-based approaches also encourage a deeper understanding of locally-specific vulnerability issues that surround HIV and AIDS. Such initiatives can be linked to trends that value the knowledge and capacities of neglected local people and build on their resources, including their networks, relationships and trust. However, the connection to, and use of, the resources of international NGOs (INGOs) remain central to success. If an interactive community-based agenda of working with local level resources receives enough acceptance at the higher levels of the INGOs, the results could be very significant. Such international/local agreements, where INGOs seek to work more closely with local community groups and their people on shared agendas, could begin to tackle some of the key structural issues, especially conflict and poverty, that exacerbate HIV/AIDS at the grassroots and are not responsive to purely medical solutions.

Prévention du VIH/sida: développer les points forts des communautés à Ajegunle, Lagos

Ce document se base sur des recherches menées sur le terrain à Ajegunle, au Nigeria, qui suggèrent que, pour être efficace, la prévention du VIH et du sida requiert un degré beaucoup plus élevé de participation communautaire indépendante. Dans le cadre d'une étude des manières d'arriver à ce résultat, nous suggérons qu'une évaluation des points forts de la communauté donne des perspectives positives pour la compréhension et l'utilisation d'une variété beaucoup plus importante d'interventions en matière de VIH/sida qui n'ont pas été précédemment lancées dans le contexte du développement communautaire. Les approches fondées sur les communautés encouragent par ailleurs une compréhension plus profonde des questions de vulnérabilité propres au niveau local autour du VIH et du sida. Les initiatives de ce type peuvent être reliées à des tendances qui accordent une importance aux connaissances et aux capacités des populations locales délaissées et qui se basent sur leurs ressources, y compris leurs réseaux, leurs relations et leur confiance. Cependant, la connexion avec les ressources des ONG internationales (ONGI) et leur utilisation restent essentielles pour le succès. Si un ordre du jour interactif fondé sur les communautés du travail avec les ressources locales reçoit une acceptation suffisante aux échelons plus élevés des ONGI, les résultats pourraient être très considérables. Les accords internationaux/locaux de ce type, dans le cadre desquels les ONGI cherchent à travailler en plus étroite collaboration avec les groupes communautaires locaux et leurs membres sur des ordres du jour partagés, pourraient commencer à remédier à des problèmes structurels clés, en particulier les conflits et la pauvreté, qui ont pour effet d'exacerber le VIH/le sida au niveau de la base populaire et ne peuvent pas être résolus par des moyens purement médicaux.

Prevenção do HIV/AIDS: aproveitando os pontos fortes da comunidade em Ajegunie, Lagos

Este artigo baseia-se em uma pesquisa de campo em Ajegunle, Nigéria, que sugere que a prevenção efetiva do HIV/AIDS exige um grau muito maior de participação da comunidade independente. Ao explorar maneiras para se alcançar isto, sugerimos que avaliar os pontos fortes da comunidade oferece um escopo positivo para se compreender e utilizar uma variedade muito mais ampla de respostas ao HIV/AIDS que não foram utilizadas anteriormente no contexto de desenvolvimento da comunidade. Abordagens baseadas na comunidade também incentivam uma compreensão mais profunda de questões de vulnerabilidade localmente específica que cercam o HIV e AIDS. Tais iniciativas podem ser conectadas a tendências que valorizam o conhecimento e a capacidade de pessoas locais negligenciadas e aproveitar seus recursos, inclusive suas redes de trabalho, relacionamentos e confiança. Porém, a conexão com recursos de ONGs Internacionais (ONGIs) e o uso deles permanecem centrais para o sucesso. Se uma agenda de trabalho interativa baseada na comunidade com recursos no âmbito local obtém aceitação suficiente nos níveis mais altos das ONGIs, os resultados podem ser muito significativos. Tais acordos internacionais/locais, em que ONGIs buscam trabalhar de maneira mais próxima com grupos da comunidade local e suas pessoas em agendas compartilhadas, poderiam começar a lidar com algumas das questões estruturais centrais, especialmente conflito e pobreza, que agravam o HIV/AIDS na base e não são suscetíveis a soluções puramente médicas.

La prevención del VIH/SIDA: confiando en las fortalezas de la comunidad. Una experiencia en Ajegunie, Lagos

Este ensayo se centra en una investigación de campo realizada en Ajegunle, Nigeria, la cual demostró que para conseguir una prevención efectiva del VIH/SIDA se requiere de una profunda e independiente participación comunitaria. En su investigación sobre cómo lograr este objetivo, los autores sugieren que valorar las fortalezas comunitarias puede ser una base sólida para concebir y utilizar una gama de respuestas ante el VIH/SIDA más amplia de la que hasta ahora se aplica en el contexto del desarrollo comunitario. Los métodos basados en la comunidad también contribuyen a que se entiendan mejor las vulnerabilidades específicas y locales ante el VIH/SIDA. Estas iniciativas pueden contribuir a valorar más los hasta ahora ignorados conocimientos y capacidades de las personas locales, los cuales se basan en sus recursos propios como sus redes, sus relaciones sociales y su confianza. Sin embargo, el acceso a, y el uso de, los recursos de las ONG internacionales (ONGI) siguen siendo factores importantes para lograr el éxito. Si las directivas de las ONGI consideraran una agenda de trabajo interactiva con las comunidades utilizando los recursos locales, los resultados podrían ser muy significativos. Con este tipo de acuerdos internacionales/locales en los que las ONGI intentan trabajar más estrechamente con los grupos comunitarios y las personas a nivel local compartiendo estrategias, podrían comenzar a atajarse algunos de los principales problemas estructurales, en especial en situaciones de conflicto y pobreza, que agravan el VIH/SIDA entre personas de la base y que no pueden resolverse únicamente con soluciones médicas.