Coproduction of Government Services and the New Information Technology: Investigating the Distributional Biases

This article investigates how communications advances affect citizens’ ability to participate in coproduction of government services. The authors analyze service requests made to the City of Boston during a one‐year period from 2010 to 2011 and, using geospatial analysis and negative binomial regression, investigate possible disparities by race, education, and income in making service requests. The findings reveal little concern that 311 systems (nonemergency call centers) may benefit one racial group over another; however, there is some indication that Hispanics may use these systems less as requests move from call centers to the Internet and smartphones. Consistent with prior research, the findings show that poorer neighborhoods are less likely to take advantage of 311 service, with the notable exception of smartphone utilization. The implications for citizen participation in coproduction and bridging the digital divide are discussed.     

Reviews

Joseph Fewsmith Dilemmas of Reform in China. Political Conflict and Economic Debate Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. 289 pp. £44.00. ISBN 1–56324–327‐X.

Tani E. Barlow Gender Politics in Modern China: Writing and Feminism Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1993. 307 pp. £15.95. ISBN 0–8223–1389–8.

William A. Joseph (ed.) China Briefing, 1994 Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1994. 234pp. £10.50. ISBN 0–8133–2057–7.

Y.Y. Kueh and Robert F. Ash (eds) Economic Trends in Chinese Agriculture. The Impact of the Post‐Mao Reforms Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. xii + 405 pp. £45.00. ISBN 019–828753–4.

X.L. Ding (Ding Xueliang) The Decline of Communism in China: Legitimacy Crisis, 1977–1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 230 pp. £30.00. ISBN 0–521–45138–8.

Minxin Pei From Reform to Revolution. The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1994. 253pp. £29.95. ISBN 0–674–32563‐X.

Julia F. Andrews Painters and Politics in the People's Republic of China 1949–1979 Berkeley CA: University of California Press, 1994. xv + 568 pp. $75.00. ISBN 0–520–07981–7.

E. Wayne Nafziger, Learning From the Japanese: Japan's Pre‐war Development and the Third World, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1995. xv + 221pp. ISBN 1–56324–485–3, paperback 1–56324–486–1.

Richard J. Samuels ’Rich Nation Strong Army'; National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994. 455 pp. £38.50. ISBN 0–8014–2705–3.

Alan Burnett The Western Pacific: Challenge of Sustainable Growth London: Earthscan, 1993. 276 pp. £15.95. ISBN 1–85383–1581

Tom Wells The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994. 706 pp. £27.50. ISBN 0–5200–8367–9.

Ross Garnaut, Peter Drysdale and John Kunkel (eds) Asia Pacific Regionalism: Readings in International Relations Sydney: Harper Educational, 1994. 433 pp. ISBN 0–06–312140–9.

Atu Emberson‐Bain Labour and Gold in Fiji Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 270 pp. £40.00. ISBN 0–521–36372–1.     

Disclosing Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research: Views of Institutional Review Boards, Conflict of Interest Committees, and Investigators

Strategies for disclosing investigators' financial interests to potential research participants have been adopted by many research institutions. However, little is known about how decisions are made regarding disclosures of financial interests to potential research participants, including what is disclosed and the rationale for making these determinations. We sought to understand the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of institutional review board chairs, conflict of interest committee chairs, and investigators regarding disclosure of financial interests to potential research participants. Several themes emerged, including general attitudes toward conflicts of interest, circumstances in which financial interests should be disclosed, rationales and benefits of disclosure, what should be disclosed, negative effects of and barriers to disclosure, and timing and presentation of disclosure. Respondents cited several rationales for disclosure, including enabling informed decision making, promoting trust in researchers and research institutions, and reducing legal liability. There was general agreement that disclosure should happen early in the consent process. Respondents disagreed about whether to disclose the amounts of particular financial interests. Clarifying the goals of disclosure and understanding how potential research participants use the information will be critical in efforts to ensure the integrity of clinical research and to protect the rights and interests of participants.     

CEPA: a milestone in the economic integration between Hong Kong and Mainland China

Since 1979, when Mainland China began to open up its economy, a process of economic integration has been going on between Hong Kong and Mainland China. The return of Hong Kong to Mainland China in 1997 speeded up the integration process. China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the end of 2001 further intensified the integration process. In June 2003, CEPA (Closer Economic Participation Arrangement) was signed between Mainland China and Hong Kong, which set a further important milestone in the economic integration between them. In June 2004, the concept of regional economic integration was inaugurated in the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation and Development Forum. This article attempts to review the economic integration process after the signing of CEPA. Issues related to the implementation of CEPA are also examined and discussed. It is hoped that both the Hong Kong business sector and potential foreign investors can have a comprehensive picture of CEPA so that they can design appropriate actions to benefit most from CEPA.     

Policing domestic violence: Does officer gender matter?

This research assessed whether female officers respond to domestic violence differently from male officers. Though many studies had analyzed police responses to domestic violence since the 1980s, very few had empirically examined different types of actions, especially noncoercive actions, employed by women and men in handling domestic violence. Using data collected by a large-scale observational project, this research analyzed police supportive and control actions toward citizens involved in domestic violence. Findings showed that female officers were more likely than male officers to provide support to citizens involved in domestic violence. Female and male officers, however, did not differ significantly in exercising control actions toward citizens. Regression results from separate models for female and male officers revealed that some of the variables are predictive of police actions for one gender but not the other. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

涉外商事仲裁司法审查制度刍议

随着仲裁制度在世界范围内的发展 ,对国际商事仲裁的司法审查变得尤为必要。顺应此发展趋势势 ,我国近15年颁布的法律法规及司法解释为此提供了有力的证据。对涉外仲裁的司法审查最关键的着眼点理应落在对外国仲裁裁决的承认与执行上来     

自觉:法治政府的角色意识——以言论自由中的政府为对象

短信引发的矛盾冲突实质上是言论自由与政府的冲突.基于政府是公民言论自由的当然对象,政府是公民言论自由的义务主体之一,政府自觉促使公民自觉的实现,自觉是法治政府的素质要求等等原因,"自觉"可谓是法治政府的必须,是尊重和保障公民言论自由的必要.自觉是宽容、自省、自理和积极指引.在责任感的驱使和规则的约束下,政府应自觉承认言论自由存在的意义,自觉克制敌视和恐惧心理,鼓励言论竞争取代压制言论自由,自觉地处理好政府与政府官员、官员私欲与公民权利的关系,自觉为言论自由提供保障.     

“What is it that We Call the Nation”: Cecilia Lillian Tshabalala’s definition,diagnosis, and prognosis of the nation in a segregated South Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the ideology of Cecilia Lillian Tshabalala who spent 18 years in the United States from 1912 to 1930. Within two years of returning to South Africa, she founded the self-help group, the Daughters of Africa in 1932. Tshabalala used the Daughters and the widely read newspapers—Bantu World and Ilanga laseNatal—to define, construct, and diagnose the African nation she found materially and socially wanting upon her return. Tshabalala’s experience abroad and her exposure to African-American women’s clubs and her participation at the annual Chautauqua conferences in upstate New York provided the platform for her to conduct her own social service gospel in segregated South Africa. This essay, which argues that religion served as Tshabalala’s antidote to all the social ills plaguing the African nation, traces the evolution of her ideology by discussing how she was in conversation with African-American and South African male movements, and also women on the African continent.