Accountability and global governance: The view from paternalism

A standard view is that global governance institutions require strong accountability mechanisms to perform effectively and legitimately. Yet these institutions are much better at preaching than practicing accountability. A standard explanation for this gap references interests. For various reasons, institutions and their creators would rather be less than more accountable, and they are quite content to live with the hypocrisy. This article points to an alternative possibility: the public interest. An article of faith is that modern governance should be staffed by relatively autonomous experts who use their specialized knowledge for the greater good; accordingly, they cannot be accountable to those who are affected by their decisions. Too much democracy, therefore, can be a source of dysfunction. Yet expert authority's virtues also can become vices; namely, insulation from those affected by their decisions can also be a source of dysfunction, most closely associated with the “iron cage.” Although the possibility that expertise is both a virtue (effectiveness) and a vice (dysfunction) is well known in the literature on domestic governance, it has been neglected in discussions of global governance. Indeed, the dangers of, and dysfunctions associated with the iron cage might be greater in global governance than in domestic governance precisely because of the absence of institutional checks that often are produced by a preexisting social contract between the rulers and the ruled. I probe this possibility in the area of humanitarian governance.     

Legal reforms appropriate for cohabitants and LATs

Cohabitants and LATs (couples who “live apart together”) do not fit the traditional categories and rules of our family law system. This article describes what we know about both cohabitants and LATs in the U.S., compares the two institutions, and makes recommendations about legal reforms with respect to each. For cohabitants the reforms would assimilate cohabiting couples to marriage after the passage of time, based on the evidence of their economic interdependence and the probability that there are children in their households. As to LATs, the reforms proposed are limited to those that would support the caretaking functions LATs perform for each other, resulting in benefits to society as a whole.     

Errors in the estimation of the distance of fall and angles of impact blood drops.

This paper presents derived equations for the estimation of the variances in the estimated distance of fall and the estimated angle of impact for blood droplets. The derived equation for the variance of the estimated distance of fall predicts that as the blood drop size approaches that of a blood droplet falling at terminal velocity, the variance of the estimate grows without limit. The derived equation for the variance in the estimated angle of impact shows that as the angle of impact approaches 90 degrees, the variance grows without limit. The validity of the equation for the estimated variance of the angle of impact was tested for five angles of impact (15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 degrees); the equation correctly predicted the observed variance up to an angle of 60 degrees.     

Transfiguring the golem: technicism,human relations technology,and the human project

The original Minnowbrook perspective is described as part of a broader human relations technology movement in which the organization of human activity could be accomplished without the negative features of bureaucracy—routinization, rationalization, depersonalization, mechanization, computerization. But, the problem is really not bureaucracy, it is technicism—the technological imperative. The article contrasts masculine and feminine perspectives on organizations and the implications of this contrast for wars between nation-states, human and organizational communication, and human relations technology. In this technicism era, public administered institutions are the best bet to hold together the fabric of society.     

The watch committee and the national indications center: The evolution of U.S. strategic warning 1950–1975

A new pearl harbor villain: Churchill

Introductory Commentary

James Rusbridger and Eric Nave: Betrayal at Pearl Harbor: How Churchill Lured Roosevelt into World War II. Summit Books, New York, 1991, 303 p., $19.95.

A cryptologic analysis

Behind the drums and bugles

Trevor N. Dupuy (USA ret.): International Military and Defense Encyclopedia Brassy's/Macmillan, Washington, DC, 1993. 6 volumes, ca 3,200 p., $995.00 and $1,250.00 (after 1 January 1994).

Breaking the German codes

David Kahn: Seizing the Enigma: The Race To Break the German U‐Boat Codes, 1939–1943 Houghton &; Mifflin, New York, 1991, 336 p., $24.95.

Whales in the air

Curtis Peebles: The Moby Dick Project: Reconnaissance Balloons Over Russia Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1991, 250 p., $45.70.

Getting the message through

C and A Entwistle: Undercover Addresses of World War II Bloomfield, Perth, Scotland, 88 pps., £6. (Available in the United States from L. D. Mayo, Jr., Box 20837, Indianapolis, Ind., $8.00.).

Intelligence: the first line of defense

Samuel M. Katz: Soldier Spies: Israeli Military Intelligence Presidio Press, Novato, Calif., 1992, 389 p., $21.95.     

The personal impact of delivering a one-to-one treatment programme with high-risk sexual offenders: Therapists' experiences

Abstract

Previous research suggests that delivering treatment for sexual offenders can have both positive and negative effects on therapists. We know less about the specific impact of conducting such work in different ways; for example, individually rather than in groups. This study aimed to explore the experiences of sexual offender therapists delivering a one-to-one programme with clients. Eleven therapists delivering an individual intervention with high-risk sexual offenders in English prisons took part in interviews and focus groups about the impact this work has had upon them. One participant also completed a diary charting their experiences while delivering the intervention. Content analysis identified that participants felt they experienced changes in how they viewed themselves, others and the therapeutic relationship, in both positive and negative ways. They also described experiencing intrusive thinking and feeling overly responsible for the outcome of treatment. However, positive effects were also identified. Findings suggest that the provision of structured supervisory support was particularly key in mitigating the impact of treatment delivery.     

Role-Switching in the Dutch Parliament: Reinvigorating Role Theory?

The lack of explanatory power of roles in the study of legislative behaviour has led to questioning of the utility of role theory. The problem may be that scholars tend to focus on classifying legislators according to one role orientation, thereby running the risk of oversimplification. Using questions from the 1990, 2001 and 2006 Dutch Parliamentary Studies, this study explores whether MPs specialise in a particular role or switch between roles depending on the situation at hand. A general trend towards specialisation in the partisan role is detected, accompanied by a decrease in the number of role-switching MPs. Furthermore, it is found that whereas government MPs tend to specialise in the role of the parliamentarian, opposition MPs are more prone to put on their partisan hats.