Civil Service Development in China and America: A Comparative Perspective

How has reform changed Chinese and American civil service systems in light of China's landmark reform in 1993 by contrast to the aftermath of the U.S. Civil Service Act of 1883? While there are significant differences, remarkable administrative and political similarities also emerge. Particularly salient is the role of educational systems in the civil service development of both countries. Surprisingly, this comparative analysis finds a common struggle to balance professional expertise with political accountability and control. King Kwun Tsao of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and John Abbott Worthley of Seton Hall University argue that further comparative research is essential to hone an improved understanding of China specifically as well as civil service systems generally.     

Beneficiaries of federal housing programs: A data reconnaissance

Abstract

This article reports on a reconnaissance of information systems containing data on the beneficiaries of direct and indirect federal housing expenditures. It covers data in the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and the Treasury; the Resolution Trust Corporation; financial regulatory agencies; and secondary mortgage market actors.

Data varied widely across agencies in availability, accessibility, and quality. Data are more systematically collected for low‐income beneficiaries of housing programs than for the more affluent beneficiaries of indirect housing expenditures. The systems need improvements in data quality and coverage and database format, though they have improved recently. Many research topics can be explored with new and underused data systems: the characteristics of beneficiaries of rural housing programs, urban rental housing programs, low‐income homeownership programs, and mortgage guarantee and insurance programs. But the lack of information on the systems themselves makes data difficult to locate and access.     

A longitudinal study of moral and ego development in young adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal changes in moral judgment and ego development in a young adult sample when a concurrent measure of verbal ability was used as a statistical control. Sixty-one late adolescents and young adults, representing three educational groups, were tested in 1977 and 1979 on the Defining Issues Tests, a measure of moral judgment (Rest), the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development (Loevinger and Wessler) and Terman's Concept Mastery Test, a measure of verbal ability. No group or time differences were found in ego development. A significant increase was found between the 1977 and 1979 moral judgment scores,p<0.05, and between groups at both testing,p<0.001. Sex differences were found,p<0.01, with females scoring higher than males, which were statistically accounted for by verbal ability. These findings suggest that moral development continues into the young adult years and that verbal ability may moderate sex differences in moral judgment.     

Is it time for a progress report on violence against women in Ghana?

Ghana, like many African countries, continues to grapple with domestic violence issues. Ghana's 1992 Constitution mandates provisions that should eradicate the scourge of violence against women and children. In this paper, two main questions are asked. First, will the 1992 Constitution ultimately lead to victories over discrimination and violence against Ghanaian women? Second, has progress been made in eradicating violence against women in Ghana to date? In that regard, have governmental and non-governmental organizations supported Ghanaian women to arrive at relative stability, empowerment and freedom from violence? Progress thus far is encouraging. Presently, there are several holistic or organic approaches being used to combat domestic violence in Ghana. however, an epidemiological examination of custom and a psychosocial approach towards domestic violence may facilitate permanent meaningful solutions.     

Federalism and Workforce Policy Reform

Workforce development policy encompasses a broad array of federaland state programs designed to foster improved workforce utilization,maintenance, and development. Federalism in U. S. workforcepolicy is examined in terms of the Workforce Investment Actand the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act,laws enacted in 1998 authorizing two of the more important componentsof national workforce policy: job training and work-relatededucation. Coercive federalism in workforce policy began inthe late 1970s and is expected to persist into the future, evenas states serve as "laboratories of democracy." Whether enhanceddiscretion for workforce policy is forthcoming from Washington,states and localities will continue to demonstrate new, andpossibly better, ways of delivering workforce services. Workforcepolicies and programs will also feature an even more prominentrole for market-oriented service delivery. The comprehensivenessof national workforce policy, including broad concerns overefficiency, has yet to be addressed fully.     

Reconsidering the principal components of central bank independence: The more the merrier?

We use principal component analysis to reassess the link between different attributes of central bank independence and inflation performance. We suggest that coding problems may account for the fact that almost none of the attributes included in the Cukierman index has a systematic, plausible relationship with inflation. The multi-faceted Cukierman index also seems to be out-performed by a much narrower index focusing solely on policy independence. These findings point to the importance of using public choice analysis to isolate the real problem here: namely, finding specific central bank structures that effectively insulate central bankers from political pressures.     

ANTICIPATORY POLICY AND MARINE RESOURCES

Anticipatory policy is premised on the need to respond to warnings about future threats and opportunities by positive political action. This paper discusses the notion of anticipatory policy by using three cases from ocean policy, deepwater ports, ocean thermal energy conversion, and deep seabed mining. Such policies tend to be extremely vulnerable to changes in the economic and political environments within which they operate. In order to understand how such policies succeed or fail requires that studies of policy implementation decades, not just several years. Although there has been a move in this direction in assessing social welfare policies, this approach has been far less evident in the natural resources area.