Beliefs About Corporate America and the Structure of Opinions Toward Privatization

This research analyzes the individual-level factors associated with public support for the private provision of public goods and services. Given that privatization requires the transfer of authority from public to private entities, we argue that beliefs about private companies are an important and overlooked source of heterogeneity in explaining public policy preferences toward privatization. We test this expectation using survey data from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study. We find that support for privatization is associated with positive beliefs about the motivation of private companies and with favorable views about corporate accountability relative to the accountability of government. Opposition to privatization is associated with beliefs about corporate influence in politics. Preferences for limited government are also associated with support for privatization. These results highlight the potential for beliefs about private companies to serve as a group heuristic in political reasoning and the ability of citizens to make reasoned choices on complex public policy issues.     

Kazin on Dreiser: What it Means to be a Literary Critic

Throughout his career as a literary critic, Alfred Kazin wrote often and with sympathy and insight about Theodore Dreiser, one of the most powerful, panoramic, and compassionate novelists in American literary history. Kazin was an intense reader and writer, committed in his books, essays, and reviews to connecting with and describing the personality of each author he examined. His interpretive work on Dreiser illuminates what it means to be a literary critic and teacher. When we read Kazin in the midst of twenty-first century theory, ideology, and professionalism, we realize all the more clearly the goal in his literary criticism that he aimed for, achieved, and represented—and that now is missing from literary education and experience.     

Regimes of Cooperation in the Western Hemisphere: Power, Interests, and Intellectual Traditions

The 1994 Summit of the Americas marked a high point in hemispherism—our label for the active attempt by the nations of the Western Hemisphere to form regimes of cooperation with one another. To explain why hemispherism has not been a more powerful trend in the last 200 years, structural, interest, and cultural variables are relevant but insufficient factors. An important and often overlooked obstacle to hemispherism has beencontrarian ideas. Specifically, constellations of intellectual traditions that question the value of hemispheric cooperation have dampened both the demand for and supply of such regimes. Only when these antihemispheric intellectual traditions were in retreat—the late nineteenth century, the mid twentieth century, and the early 1990s—has hemispherism flourished. We posit three mechanisms through which intellectual traditions can decline, thus generating amodified cognitivist argument that can supplement power-based and interest-based explanations of regime formation and robustness.     

论性侵害犯罪中受害儿童的权益保护

性侵害犯罪给受害儿童带来巨大的身心创伤.传统的刑事司法缺乏专业办案人员、及时的心理治疗和应有的国家补偿,受害儿童容易遭受二度的伤害.我国应当借鉴境外的司法制度,确立国家补偿机制,制定针对未成年被害人的办案规则,建立专家参与制或成人陪同制,设立被害人服务机构,为受害儿童提供全方位的保障.     

The intellectual legacy of J.E. Hodgetts

Abstract: J.E. (Ted) Hodgetts was influenced by both the political economy approach that he learned at the University of Toronto and by the comprehensive historical method developed by Leonard White, under whom he studied at Chicago. His first great project, Pioneer Public Service, convinced him that responsible government was impossible without responsible public administration. The authors examine how his response to management theories and practices evolved following his participation in the Glassco, Lambert and Gomery commissions. Hodgetts consistently refused the complete separation of politics and administration, and he promoted the use of management techniques to strengthen parliamentary supervision of the public service. The two key components of his legacy are thus a commitment to the democratic values of representative government and the comprehensive study of the internal dynamics of public administration in interaction with the relevant environmental factors.     

A cross‐Canada analysis of the efficiency of residential recycling services

Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to investigate the factors that predict the efficiency of residential recycling collection services in Canadian local governments. The findings are based on a survey of 128 residential recycling producers from all regions of Canada. One of the most significant findings is the lack of a relationship between private‐sector companies collecting recyclables and the overall efficiency of collection operations. The dominance of the private‐sector collection of recyclables (over seventy‐seven per cent of all producers were contracted companies) does not translate into greater efficiencies. The most important variables in the model are amenable to local control. They include tonnes collected per vehicle per year, requiring full bins, inclusion of composting operations in the overall recycling program, the number of different kinds of materials recycled, participation rate, and reliance on side‐loading collection vehicles. Among the direct predictors of unit costs, the key underlying factor is the productivity of residential recycling operations. Because recyclables are marketed, handling them takes time, reduces the weights that collection vehicles can carry, and generally reduces productivity. Even diligent efforts to improve productivity will not bring recycling costs down to the levels for residential solid‐waste collection. Sommaire: L'objectif principal du présent article est d'examiner les facteurs qui prévoient l'efficacité des services de collecte de produits recyclables résidentiels dans les municipalités canadiennes. Les résultats reposent sur un sondage réalisé auprès de 128 producteurs de collecte de produits recyclables résidentiels opérant dans toutes les régions du Canada. L'un des résultats les plus notoires est le manque de relations entre les sociétés du secteur privé qui récupèrent les produits recyclables et l'efficacité d'ensemble des opérations de collecte. La prédominance de la collecte de produits recyclables par le secteur privé (plus de soixante‐dix‐sept pour cent de tous les producteurs étaient des sociétés contractuelles) ne se traduit pas par une plus grande efficacité. Les variables les plus importantes du modèle peuvent faire l'objet d'un contrôle local. Elles comprennent les tonnes récupérées par véhicule par an, l'exigence de poubelles pleines, l'inclusion d'opérations de compostage au programme général de recyclage, le nombre de différentes sortes de matériaux recyclés, le taux de participation, et le recours à des camions de collecte à chargement latéral. Parmi les variables explicatives directes des coûts unitaires, le principal facteur sous‐jacent est la productivité des opérations de recyclage résidentiel. Comme les produits recyclables sont commercialisés, leur manutention prend du temps, réduit le poids que les camions de collecte peuvent transporter, et réduit d'une manière générale la productivité. Même des efforts diligents pour améliorer la productivité ne feront pas baisser les coûts du recyclage aux niveaux de ceux de la collecte des déchets solides résidentiels.     

Comparison of Anonymous Versus Confidential Survey Procedures: Effects on Health Indicators in Dutch Adolescents

Self-report questionnaires are frequently used in youth research, but doubt remains whether total anonymity affects the results. This study compared the responses of 704 mainly 16–17-year-old adolescents to self-report measures of various health indicators in 2 groups: anonymous and confidential collection. For most health indicators no significant differences were found. Perceived health, use of alcohol, and aggressive behavior (for boys) were reported significantly less frequently in the confidential group (small effect size). It appeared that pupils with high scores on social desirability do not respond differently at most health indicators in the 2 conditions. For most health characteristics, epidemiologically useful outcomes may be derived from confidential self-report measures, which are also valuable for detecting individual at-risk children. Similar studies in lower grades and other types of education should confirm the results.Youth Department, Municipal Health Service Rotterdam area. Main research interests are emotional and behavioral problems of adolescents, youth health care, monitoring.Youth Department, Municipal Health Service Rotterdam area. Main research interests are emotional and behavioral problems of adolescents, youth health care, monitoring.Research Department, Municipal Health Service Rotterdam area. Major research interests include emotional and behavioral problems of adolescents, suicidal behavior, youth health care, monitoring.