The Diffusion of Rights: From Law on the Books to Organizational Rights Practices

How does law change society? To gain new leverage on this long‐standing question, this article draws on two lines of research that often ignore each other: political science research on the mobilization of law, and sociological research on the diffusion of organizational practices. Our insights stem from six case studies of diverse organizations' responses to the accommodation provisions in the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state laws. We found that different modes of exposure to the law combined with organizational attributes to produce distinct “rights practices”—styles of standard operating procedures and informal routines that reflect the understanding of legal requirements within an organization. The diversity of the organizational responses challenges simple dichotomies between compliance/noncompliance, change through deterrence/change through norms, and mobilization/nonmobilization, and it underscores the importance of combining political science and sociological perspectives on law and social change.     

How do international development agencies approach peacebuilding in a sub-national conflict?

International development agencies often promote approaches that link aid and peacebuilding. However, the gap between what agencies say and what they actually do is demonstrated by the mixed response to subnational conflict in Thailand's Far South between 2007 and 2012. Over this period, numerous agencies demonstrated little interest in addressing the conflict. Some agencies did over time try to support peacebuilding, although domestic government resistance and practical barriers generated obstacles. Conflict guidelines and toolkits were rarely used, while only a few agencies implemented the context-driven and knowledge-based approaches to local partnerships that peace promotion in a complex and politically sensitive environment demands.

Comment les agences de développement internationales abordent-elles la construction de la paix lors d'un conflit infranational ?

Les agences de développement internationales promeuvent souvent des approches qui relient l'aide et la construction de la paix. Cependant, le fossé entre les dires des agences et leurs actions est démontré par la riposte peu constante au conflit infranational dans l'extrême sud thaïlandais entre 2007 et 2012. Durant cette période, de nombreuses agences n'ont guère fait preuve d'intérêt concernant la résolution du conflit. Certaines agences, au fil du temps, ont tenté de soutenir la construction de la paix, mais la résistance gouvernementale au sein même du pays et les barrières d'ordre pratique ont engendré des obstacles. Les lignes directrices et les trousses à outils pour remédier aux conflits ont été rarement utilisés, et rares ont été les agences qui ont mis en ?uvre les approches impulsées par les contextes et basées sur les connaissances concernant les partenariats locaux que requiert la promotion de la paix dans un environnement complexe et politiquement sensible.

¿De qué manera las agencias de desarrollo internacionales abordan la construcción de paz en un conflicto subnacional?

Frecuentemente, las agencias de desarrollo internacionales promueven enfoques que vinculan la ayuda con la construcción de paz. Sin embargo, la brecha entre lo que dicen las agencias y lo que en realidad hacen queda demostrada por la respuesta matizada ante el conflicto subnacional que tuvo lugar en el Extremo Sur de Tailandia entre 2007 y 2012. Durante este periodo, numerosas agencias demostraron poco interés en abordar el conflicto. A pesar de los obstáculos que representaron la resistencia del gobierno nacional y las barreras prácticas, con el transcurso del tiempo algunas agencias intentaron apoyar la construcción de paz. Sin embargo, en pocas ocasiones usaron las normas y los manuales existentes en torno a conflictos. Sólo unas pocas agencias implementaron los enfoques basados en el contexto y en el conocimiento para crear alianzas locales, las cuales resultan imprescindibles para promover la paz en un entorno complejo y políticamente sensible.

Como as agências internacionais de desenvolvimento abordam a construção da paz em um conflito subnacional?

As agências internacionais de desenvolvimento frequentemente promovem abordagens que fazem a conexão entre ajuda e construção da paz. Porém, a variação entre o que as agências afirmam e o que elas realmente fazem é demonstrada pela resposta mesclada a um conflito subnacional no extremo sul da Tailândia entre 2007 e 2012. Durante esse período, várias agências demonstraram pouco interesse em abordar o conflito. Algumas agências realmente tentaram, no decorrer do tempo, apoiar a construção da paz, embora a resistência do governo local e barreiras práticas geraram obstáculos. Orientações e kits de ferramentas sobre o conflito foram raramente utilizados, enquanto que apenas algumas poucas agências implementaram abordagens direcionadas ao conflito e baseadas no conhecimento de parcerias locais que a promoção da paz demanda em um ambiente complexo e politicamente delicado.     

Executive federalism and Medicaid demonstration waivers: implications for policy and democratic process

Executive federalism emphasizes collaboration between the executive branches at the national and state levels to transform grant programs through the implementation process. In this regard, Medicaid demonstration waivers loomed large during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. This article documents and compares the volume and substance of section 1115 Medicaid waiver activity under the two presidencies. From the perspective of policy performance, Medicaid demonstration waivers provide modest support for the view that states serve as laboratories for policy learning in the health care arena. More broadly, the waivers have not yielded a major solution to the problem of the uninsured and are unlikely to do so. At the same time, they have not (as some have suggested) been a subterranean force for the erosion of Medicaid. To the contrary, these waivers have often enhanced health services for low-income people; above all, they have helped preserve Medicaid as an entitlement by undercutting support for those seeking to convert the program into a block grant. From the perspective of the democratic process, we find that Congress has been a more significant player in shaping waivers than the executive federalism model suggests. While the decision processes surrounding Medicaid waivers often fall short of democratic standards with respect to transparency and opportunities for public input, they still compare favorably to certain alternatives.     

Resourceful communities: empowering traditional knowledge holders

Community Resources is itself a community resource (CR), interrogatingand reframing the debate over IP and traditional knowledge (TK)with a range and spirit that is rare in dense, arid academicliterature. With energy, insight, and originality, it probesthe dilemmas of global governance initiatives that aim to addressintrinsically local TK systems. The hundred-page bibliography, itself a CR, measures both theauthor's industry and the diffuse academic discourse this bookaugments. TK is a rich resource for the academic community.Yet can this analytical effort respect the irreducible diversityof those communities for whom TK is integral to their collectiveidentities? Community Resources systematically critiques international efforts,underscoring their limitations and embedded values, before settingout the conceptual foundations for a new form of internationalgovernance, with CR as the central organizing idea. How canjustice be done to the cultures, values, and interests of disparate     

Task allocation in a multifunctional organization: an examination of demand,organizational growth and reserve capability †

Abstract. This research note suggests that organizational performance may be better understood through initial analysis of the types of demand which lead to organization and organizational growth. Certain organizational methods of meeting emergency demand are discussed and the disadvantages of strict budgetary control are explored. Sommaire. L'auteur de ce bref commentaire indique que les performances des organisations pourraient êthe mieux comprises par l'analyse initiale des types de demandes qui ont eu pour conséquence les organisations et leur essor. Il expose certaines méthodes des organisations pour répondre à une demande durgence et il étudie les inconvénients d'un budget strict.     

University-industry consortium agreements Center for Process Analytical Chemistry: A case study

There is a surfeit of articles, books, and conferences on the subject of university-industry collaboration, but few of them address specific, pragmatic issues related to the development of an operable sponsorship agreement. This article focuses on the terms of the agreement negotiated with industry sponsors of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (IUCRC), established at the University of Washington in 1984 as the Center for Process Analytical Chemistry (CPAC). Over the past 11 years, CPAC has grown dramatically and achieved important successes, but some of the terms in the initial agreement have proven to be problematic, particularly those dealing with intellectual property rights. This article reviews the nature of the problems and explains the solutions negotiated by participants as part of a revised agreement implemented in 1992.     

Determining the Toxicological Significance of Pregabalin in Fatalities

Pregabalin has become more widely prescribed and abused in recent years but is still not always included in laboratory analysis. An LC‐MS‐MS method has been developed and applied to measure pregabalin in 93 postmortem cases, including drug‐related deaths, alternative causes of death, and fatalities where pregabalin was likely to have contributed to death. Other drugs or alcohol was detected, and the most common drug types (in decreasing frequency) were antidepressants, opioids, benzodiazepines, opiates, alcohol, antipsychotics, cocaine, cardiac drugs, amphetamines, cannabis, anticonvulsants, and antihistamines. New psychoactive substances (methoxphenidine and synthetic cannabinoids) were only found in two cases. The results provide further data to assist in evaluating the significance of postmortem pregabalin concentrations and a toxicologically significant concentration of 25 mg/L is proposed. Pregabalin, especially with concomitant use of other CNS depressant drugs, presents a significant toxicological risk and existing laboratory protocols should be reviewed for their suitability to detect pregabalin.     

Perceptions of the Police by LGBT Communities

The purpose of this study is to explore how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities perceive the police. Historically, relationships between LGBT communities and the police have been strained due to a legacy of discriminatory actions, although some police agencies have more recently taken steps to build relationships with LGBT communities. A survey was administered to a sample of LGBT and heterosexual respondents (n = 787) to measure perceptions regarding police fairness, policing qualities, policing outcomes, and police interactions with LGBT communities. Across a number of measures and scales, the perceptions of LGBT participants were significantly more negative than those of other participants, including when the variables of race, income, location type (e.g., rural, small town, suburban, urban), prior service as a police officer, and quality of prior interactions with the police, are controlled in multivariate modeling. Implications for police training and policy are discussed, as well as theoretical contexts that frame the results.