Experts and evidence in deliberation: scrutinising the role of witnesses and evidence in mini-publics,a case study

Policy Sciences - Experts hold a prominent position in guiding and shaping policy-making; however, the nature of expert input to decision-making is a topic of public debate. A key aspect of...     

Commercializing air traffic control: Have the reforms worked?

Abstract: Air navigation service providers (ANSPs) play a critical role in the operation of a modern economy. Many countries have restructured their ANSPs by granting managerial and financial autonomy and creating new mechanisms for regulation and accountability to major consumers of air navigation services. These reforms have exemplified principles often associated with the New Public Management. The United States is the major exception to this international trend. Commercialization has allowed significant improvements in service quality without substantial increases in cost of service or erosion of safety standards. Other public interest considerations have also been protected. These performance benefits can be attributed to key decisions on the governance of new air navigation service organizations. Sommaire: Les fournisseurs de services de navigation aérienne jouent un rôle crucial dans le fonctionnement d'une économie moderne. De nombreux pays ont restructuré leurs fournisseurs de services en leur accordant une autonomie financière et de gestion, et en créant de nouveaux mécanismes de réglementation et d'imputabilité envers les principaux consommateurs de services de navigation aérienne. Ces réformes ont illustré les principes souvent associés à la Nouvelle gestion publique. Les États‐Unis sont la principale exception à cette tendance internationale. La commercialisation a permis d'apporter d'importantes améliorations à la qualité des services sans entraîner pour autant d'augmentations substantielles des coûts de services, ou une érosion des normes de sécurité. D'autres considérations d'intérêt public ont également été protégées. Ces avantages en termes de performance peuvent être attribués à des décisions clés en matière de gouvernance des nouveaux organismes de services de navigation aérienne.     

Retrenchment and freedom of information: recent experience under federal,Ontario and British Columbia law

Abstract: A large majority of Canada's federal, provincial, territorial and local governments are now required to comply with freedom of information (foi) laws. Some critics have argued that long-standing problems of non-compliance have been aggravated during the recent period of public-sector retrenchment. However, good evidence of non-compliance has been lacking. In this study, statistical reports produced by government institutions are used to assess recent trends in the administration of the federal Access to Information Act and Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Limited data are also used to study British Columbia's foi law. Data suggest that policy decisions in these three jurisdictions have led to a weakening of foi laws. Three reforms are proposed: better reporting by departments and agencies on their handling of foi requests; a change in the enforcement strategy traditionally used by federal and provincial information commissioners; and a reconsideration of methods used to levy fees on individuals and organizations who make foi requests. Sommaire: Au Canada, la vaste majorité des gouvemements fédéral, provinciaux, territoriaux et locaux doivent aujourd'hui se conformer aux lois sur l'accès à l'information (laX). Selon certains, les problèmes de non-conformité, qui ne datent pas d'hier, ont été aggravés lors des récentes coupures subies par le secteur public. Les études sur la non-conformité manquent cependant. Dans le cadre de cette étude, A nous faisons appel à des statistiques produites par des institutions gouvernementales, afin d'évaluer les demières tendances de l'administration de la Loi fédérale sur l'accès à l'information ainsi que de la Loi ontarienne sur l'accès à l'information et la protection de la vie privée. On y analyse également la lai de la Colombie-Britannique en fonction de données limitées. Selon les données, les décisions en matière de politique dans ces trois juridictions auraient affaibli les lai. L'auteur propose trois réformes: les ministères et les organismes devraient mieux rendre compte de la manière dont ils traitent les demandes concernant les lai; la stratégic d'application traditionnelle que suivent les commissaires à l'information fédéraux et provinciaux devrait subir des modifications; enfin, on devrait revoir les méthodes employées pour imposer les tarifs aux particuliers ou aux organismes qui font des demandes en vertu des lai.     

From kinship to magic circle: the London commercial law firm in the twentieth century

The authors trace the successive transformations of the large London commercial law firm, which entered the 20th century as a small group of partners, typically from one or more family groups, surrounded by a large group of working class clerks who performed much of the ‘professional work’. After mid-century this firm based on kinship and class hierarchy gave way to a larger firm consisting of non-kin partners selected meritocratically presiding over an increasing band of assistant solicitors and trainees recruited on the basis of their educational credentials and taking part in a promotion-to-partnership tournament. In the last decade of the century, the central institutions and understandings of this meritocratic firm gave way to a constellation of larger, less stable, and increasingly supra-national aggregations, in a setting pervaded by a fascination, both instrumental and narcissistic, with rank and image.     

STR-typing of human DNA from human fecal matter using the QIAGEN QIAamp stool mini kit

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the QIAGEN QIAamp Stool Mini Kit against a standard phenolchloroform procedure for the extraction, quantitation, and STR-typing of human nuclear DNA from human feces. Stools from six subjects were sampled by swabbing and excision. Samples extracted with the QIAamp kit gave a wide range of DNA yields, whereas those extracted by the organic method yielded no DNA. DNA was not recovered from one subject's stools by either procedure. The QIAamp extracts were amplified with the Profiler Plus and COfiler kits, and PCR inhibition was observed with DNA extracts that were further concentrated. Substitution of water or TE-4 for the QIAamp elution buffer eliminated most, if not all, of the inhibition. A modified QIAamp procedure was used to extract thirty samples, which were subjected to one of five environmental conditions. DNA was recovered from all of these samples, and typing results were obtained on 93% of the samples.