Medicaid in the 1990s: Trends, Innovations, and the Future of the "PAC-Man" of State Budgets

Rapidly escalating health-care inflation and congressionallymandated expansions have led to large increases in spendingfor Medicaid, the federal-state program of health care for thepoor. These increases came at a time when state budgets werealready under recession-induced stresses. In addition, 1991brought new pressures for Medicaid spending from the courtsand closer federal scrutiny and control over revenues used forthe program's state "match." Yet the Medicaid picture is farfrom bleak. Diversity, innovation, and an emerging stale policyrole also characterize the program in ways that epitomize thestrengths and weaknesses of the American intergovernmental system.     

The transition of migratory patterns in medium-sized cities

"The authors attempt to present some empirical findings regarding a phenomenon which they chose to call the 'transition in migratory patterns'.... The general hypothesis states that: changes in migratory patterns are due to an interaction between those economic, political and social processes which affect the distribution of the population; and that this interaction is also highly influenced by macroeconomic politics--an arena where technology plays a dominant role." Data are for Guadalajara and the state of Jalisco in Mexico. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The development of drug trade and drug control in the Netherlands: a historical perspective

Drug trade is widely seen as a phenomenon rather new to the Netherlands. However, at the beginning of the 20th century the Dutch pharmaceutical industries were already extensively involved in the production of both opiates and cocaine, and they went on exporting large quantities of these drugs after the Opium Act (1919) took force. Until the 1960s, arrests were not at all common, and these largely affected minority groups like Chinese opium smokers and black marijuana users. Since then, drug control efforts have increased by leaps and bounds. At first, cannabis was the main target; then the focus turned to heroin, and that was later joined by cocaine. This paper traces the history of the drug trade and drug control in the Netherlands, with emphasis on their development in Amsterdam. The conclusion is reached that, in spite of drastic changes in both drug trade and drug control, certain ideologies, constructs and strategies have remained remarkably stable.     

From coercion to deception: the changing nature of police interrogation in America

Our police, with no legal sanction whatever, employ duress, threat, bullying, a vast amount of moderate physical abuse and a certain degree of outright torture; and their inquisitions customarily begin with the demand: If you know what's good for you, you'll confess. (Ernest Jerome Hopkins, 1931)¹ Today, Ness Said, interrogation is not a matter of forcing suspects to confess but of conning them. Really, what we do is just to bullshit them (William Hart, 1981)² There is an interesting irony at work here: restrict police use of coercion, and the use of deception increases. (Gary Marx, 1988)³ In both popular discourse and academic scholarship one continually encounters references to the tradition-bound police who are resistant to change. Nothing could be further from the truth. The history of the American police over the past 100 years is the history of drastic, if not radical, change. (Samuel Walker, 1977)⁴ A longer version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology in November, 1991.     

Human rights safeguards and international cooperation in extradition: Striking the balance

Conclusion It is necessary to strike the correct balance between safeguarding the rights of the individual and engendering mutually beneficial cooperation between states in extradition matters. In the absence of effective global international human rights enforcement mechanisms, many of the traditional safeguards still have a real role to play in extradition. This article reviewed five such safeguards and found that all but the nationality exception should be retained to ensure that international cooperation and individual protection are both safeguarded for the common good of society.This is a revised version of a paper presented at an international workshop on Principles and Procedures for a New Transnational Criminal Law, organized jointly by the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany, May 21–25, 1991.LL.B., University of Exeter 1973; LL.M., Osgoode Hall Law School 1974; D. Jur., Osgoode Hall Law School 1976.     

Comprehensively Advance Reform of the Urban Housing System Opinion. [Summary 1991

On 31 December 1991, the Chinese State Council Housing System Reform Leading Group announced this Opinion, setting out targets, principles, and policies for the reform of the system of provisional housing in urban areas. Section 1 of the Opinion provides that the long-term goal of reform is to convert the distribution of housing from a system based on welfare allocation to one based on commodity exchange either by purchase or rental. Section 2 sets the following targets for reform: a) within the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, the system will be converted from one of low rent to one in which the calculation of rent will be based on cost of upkeep, administration costs, and depreciation; b) by 2000, the calculation of rent will be based on the above factors, as well as interest on investment and property taxes; and c) in the long term, the calculation of rent will be based on all of the above factors, as well as land rent, insurance premiums, and profit. Section 4 deals with policies for managing various problems such as rent increases and subsidies, sales of housing, financing for housing, the system of investment in and construction of housing, and administration of housing. This Section provides that a three-level housing investment fund based on municipalities, work units, and individuals will be established.     

Impersonal influence: Effects of representations of public opinion on political attitudes

Many phenomena of interest to political scientists involve what may be termed impersonal influence; that is, influence that derives from individuals' perceptions of others' attitudes, beliefs, or experiences. Others in this case refers not to the close friends and acquaintances that concerned the authors of classics such asThe People's Choice andPersonal Influence, but rather to the anonymous others outside an individual's realm of personal contacts. Modern mass media facilitate the influence of anonymous others by devoting considerable time and attention to portraying trends in mass opinion. This study explores the rationale for theories of impersonal influence, synthesizing existing research findings falling under this general theoretical framework, and investigating its psychological underpinnings using experiments embedded in representative surveys.     

Family types and communication with parents: A comparison of youth at different identity levels

Recent theory views adolescent behavior as nested in an ongoing system of family relationships. In keeping with this focus, differences in family functioning of high vs. low identity achievement youth were examined and variables to account for differing identity levels were explored. However, the hypothesized relationship (Circumplex Model) between family type and communication was also examined. Subjects were 411 male students, 18–24 years of age, belonging to intact nuclear middle-class homes, who resided with parents in urban areas. Measures used were the Identity Achievement Scale, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, and the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale. Results supported an association between balanced family type and effective communication (p.001). Significant differences in the family types were found (p.001), with high identity subjects belonging to balanced families, experiencing more openness (p.01) and less problems (p.01) in communicating with parents. Openness with father, mother, and problems with father emerged as significant discriminants. There are important implications for counselling and therapy with youth, placing family at the center of the psychosocial milieu influencing their development.Received Ph.D. from H.P. University. Research interests: adolescent psychosocial development, youth, identity, and family influences.Received M.A.; Ph.D. from Boston University; Panjab University. Research interests: family interiors, women studies, life stress, self image (DAP), sexuality, myths, holistic healing, and tribal women.