Understanding a Period of Policy Change: The Case of Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Policy in Colorado

This paper investigates the beliefs and framing strategies of interest groups during a period of policy change and the factors explaining policy change. We develop propositions to explore questions concerning policy change primarily from the advocacy coalition framework as well as from other theorie. The propositions are tested by examining the promulgation of a Colorado regulation requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. Using coded data of documents published by organizations involved in the rulemaking process, we find divergence between industry and environmental groups on their beliefs concerning hydraulic fracturing, as well as their portraying themselves and each other as heroes, victims, and villains, but some convergence on their more specific beliefs concerning disclosure of chemicals. Interviews point to the importance of policy entrepreneurs, timing, a negotiated agreement, and learning for explaining policy change. The findings provide both theoretical and methodological insights into how and why policy changes.     

Collaborative Teaching: School Implementation and Connections With Outcomes Among Students With Disabilities

Collaborative teaching is a widely used method of including and supporting students with disabilities to provide all students equal access to education. Yet, there is a dearth of research on its implementation and outcomes, and the few existing studies are limited to academic and testing outcomes. This study assesses the degree to which schools are implementing co-teaching practices and the relation between co-teaching and student psychosocial outcomes using a mixed method design. Data from 12 schools, which included 16 school leaders and staff, 13 teachers, and 56 students with disabilities, were examined. Schools achieved 0–75% of the co-teaching best-practices criteria, with the majority achieving 25%–50% of the criteria. Higher levels of teacher-reported co-teaching were related to higher levels of student-reported school belonging, school satisfaction, and self-efficacy for new experiences. The benefits and challenges of co-teaching, as well as implications for intervention and research are addressed.     

The ‘right to be forgotten’ or the ‘principle that has been remembered’

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled on questions referred by a Spanish court relating to interpretation of the Data Protection Directive and its application to search engine activities. In a controversial judgment, the CJEU found that search engines are data controllers in respect of their search results; that European data protection law applies to their processing of the data of EU citizens, even where they process the relevant data outside the EU; and that a ‘right to be forgotten’ online applies to outdated and irrelevant data in search results unless there is a public interest in the data remaining available and even where the search results link to lawfully published content.     

Autonomy in Extremis: An Intelligent Waiver of Appeals on Death Row

This article provides an in-depth account of the experiences of one condemned prisoner, Joseph Mitchel Parsons, who made the profound decision to waive his appeals and expedite his execution after serving eleven years under sentence of death in the State of Utah. Parsons determined that, at best, he faced years of appeals culminating in a long or life sentence that would likely end in a slow death in prison by unknown causes. Dropping his appeals, in contrast, offered a quick death in the execution chamber on a timetable under his control. The court granted Parsons the right to drop his appeals and expedite his execution. We provide evidence from this case study that the court allowed Parsons to make an autonomous decision to die on his own terms. As this research illustrates, an evaluation of the voluntariness of decisions to waive appeals in capital cases must be nested in an understanding of the death row experience of the individual under study. Case studies of the death row experience of those who waive their appeals, such as the research reported here, are integral to understanding these momentous decisions.     

Bucking the Party Line: Calavita's Invitation to Law & Society (In Which the Author Is Invited to a Party Where He Encounters Many Old and Familiar Faces,Becomes Argumentative,Stays Up Too Late,and Finally Departs in Search of New Adventures)

Intended as a short survey text, Kitty Calavita's Invitation to Law & Society expertly summarizes many of the central themes of law and society scholarship as they have developed over the past fifty years. It also clearly identifies the field's object of attention: “real” law. I use this commentary on the book as an opportunity to assess the field as it enters its sixth decade. How has the field changed? What are its defining characteristics? What is “real” law? Does law and society research have a future?     

Serious Youth Violence and Innovative Prevention: On the Emerging Link Between Public Health and Criminology

It was not so long ago that scholarly writings pointed to the vast chasm that existed between criminal justice and public health approaches to understanding and controlling interpersonal violence. Other scholarship of the day examined how criminal justice and criminology could benefit from adopting elements of the public health approach. For sure, there still exist many differences in how the two disciplines approach the violence problem, but over the years there have been some promising developments at the intersection of public health and criminology. This paper surveys the evolving link between public health and criminology, with a special focus on serious youth violence. It is concerned with both research and practice and how these efforts—across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies—are contributing to improved public health-criminology collaborations or public health-influenced programs that have a discernable impact on youth violence.     

中国官员问责发展实证研究

本文根据我国官员问责实践过程中所发生的问责事件,采用定量分析方法,以2003—2006年四年间《人民日报》和《中国青年报》中所报道的73个官员问责事件和212个问责对象为样本,在统计分析的基础上总结我国官员问责的一般特点,即问责属性主要是行政问责、问责一直保持较强的力度、处理措施总体上保持较严厉的状态,官员问责事件中81%的发起者和99%的启动者是上级党政部门。认为我国官员问责中存在内容单一、原因单一、处理形式起伏较大、问责的时间周期较长等问题,并提出了我国官员问责制度构建中的若干思考和建议。     

政府组织规模与行政成本的财政思考

合理确定政府组织规模,节约政府行政成本,构建一个成本低廉、运行高效的公共服务型政府是当前深化行政体制和财政体制改革的重要任务。本文从合理政府组织规模的测度入手,对我国目前政府组织规模的现状、政府行政成本及增长情况进行了实证分析,在此基础上提出了科学界定政府职能、深化行政体制改革、提高财政资源使用效率的政策建议。     

行政成本概念鉴辨与重构

科学准确界定行政成本的定义与内涵是深刻认识行政成本的性质和范畴、深入研究行政成本、有针对性地有效控制行政成本的前提和基础。本文提出,行政成本是政府为了获得某种收益而必须为之付出的代价,即政府为了实现对社会的公共管理和为公众提供公共服务,所耗费的各种资源,以及由其所引发出的现今和未来一段时间的间接性损失。     

崇尚民生幸福是善治政府的价值追求

政府善治与民生幸福有着本质的内在关联性。发展好民生幸福是真正落实"以人为本"善治理念的必要前提和最终目的,是检验善治政府行政能力的试金石,是善治政府的价值追求和现实基础。构建社会主义和谐社会是造福全体人民的伟大事业,其根本目的就是让人民群众在共享经济和社会发展的成果中实现最大幸福。因此,建设善治政府,发展好民生幸福是我们今后相当长的时期内的主要任务和基本国策,"为民谋福"应成为善治政府的基本理念。