Secession crises,human welfare and conflict resolution

Violent and persistent inter-group conflict often results from antagonisms that arise between minority groups and central governments over the oppressive treatment of the minority group and over efforts by the minority group to secede from the parent state. The legal principles that have guided international involvement in these secession crises, namely self-determination of peoples and territorial integrity of the state, have not been effective or consistent inducements for resolution or prevention of the outbreak of conflict. This paper considers how international recognition of secessionist claims could be made dependent on whether the relevant minority group or central government lays out the most convincing plans for enhancing the welfare of the population, avoiding exclusionary policies, and promoting inter-group cooperation and stability rather than inter-group conflict and disorder. The authors urge policy makers to develop judgment criteria that reflect knowledge of these concerns to induce conditions more favourable for stability and peace.     

Asking the Right Questions: Utilizing a Judicial Checklist to Track the Educational Success of Youth in Foster Care

Asking about the educational objectives for children in foster care has not been a priority in most juvenile and family courts. Research has shown that compared to the general school population, children in foster care have lower grade point averages, change schools more frequently, earn fewer credits toward graduation, and are more likely to be placed in special education programs. In response, Casey Family Programs, in collaboration with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Permanency Planning for Children Department, developed a Judicial Checklist with key educational questions to be asked from the bench. The Checklist has become a useful tool for juvenile and family court judges when assessing the effectiveness of current educational placements of the children who come before their courts, tracking their performance, and in making a positive future impact on their educational outcomes.     

Noneconomic Motives Predicting Cooperation in Public Good Dilemmas: The Effect of Received Respect on Contributions

The present research examined the extent to which feeling respected, versus feeling disrespected, influences people's willingness to contribute to the public good. Further, it was investigated why such a positive effect of respect should occur. The findings showed that respect indeed had a positive influence on contributions. In addition, it was shown that respect also positively influenced people's feelings of belongingness and that this feeling was found to mediate the effect of respect on contributions. These findings thus indicate that research on social decision-making, and more specifically social dilemmas, has to start devoting more attention to people's noneconomic motives that are independent of outcome concerns when explaining the act of cooperation.     

Accruing Retirement Costs for Federal Employees

The president's 2003 budget proposed that federal agencies pay the full cost of their employees' pension and retiree health benefits as such benefits are earned starting in 2003. The main reason for the proposed change is to provide policymakers and agency managers with a more complete measure of the cost of providing current services. The main disadvantage of the proposal is that estimates of the accrual costs of retiree health benefits are subject to large errors. The proposed change would not increase total outlays, nor would it affect the budget deficit or surplus.     

Advising for impact: lessons from the Rae review on the use of special‐purpose advisory commissions

Abstract: Ontario's recent Postsecondary Review, led by former premier Bob Rae, was dramatically more successful than previous reviews by special‐purpose advisory commissions on postsecondary education conducted in Ontario. The authors argue that the success of special‐purpose advisory commissions ‐ defined as the extent to which a commission's recommendations are implemented in a timely way ‐ is dependent on environmental variables (such as the economy, fiscal situation and political cycle), process variables (such as reporting relationships, characteristics of the commissioners and stakeholder strategies) and the political acuity with which the commission develops recommendations that can command broad public support. The Rae review benefited from political conditions that favoured stronger investments in postsecondary education, despite a difficult fiscal situation. The report also benefited from a stakeholder community that was able to put aside most internal differences for the sake of a perceived common good. Within this environment, the review created a highly focused process that involved extensive consultation, the support of expert panel members and frequent interaction with decision‐makers. The review developed recommendations that were sensitive to long‐standing patterns of public opinion, articulated new public goals, recognized the important role to be played by each major stakeholder and proposed a new institution to entrench positive change in the long term. This experience offers lessons for governments, stakeholders and future commissions on how to manage special‐purpose advisory commissions in a way that maximizes their policy impact. Sommaire: La récente étude de l'éducation post‐secondaire en l'Ontario, menée par l'ancien premier ministre provincial Bob Rae, a remporté beaucoup plus de succès que les études antérieures entreprises en Ontario par des commissions consultatives spécialisées en éducation post‐secondaire. Les auteurs prétendent que le succès des commissions consultatives spécialisées ‐ défini par la mesure dans laquelle les recommandations d'une commission sont mises en œuvre de façon adéquate ‐ dépend de paramètres environnementaux (tels que l'économie, la situation financière et le cycle politique), de paramèrres de traitement (tels que les rapports hiérarchiques, les caractéristiques des commissaires et les stratégies des intervenants) et de l'acuité politique avec laquelle la commission élabore des recommandations qui peuvent susciter une forte adhésion du public. l'étude Rae a bénéficié d'un contexte politique favorable à de solides investissements dans l'éducation post‐secondaire, malgré une situation financière difficile. Le rapport a également tiré parti d'une communauté d'intervenants qui ont pu mettre de côté la plupart de leurs différences internes au profit de l'intérêt commun. Dans ce contexte, l'étude a donné lieu à un processus hautement focalisé qui a comporté de nombreuses consultations, l'appui des membres d'une commission d'experts, et de fréquentes interactions avec les décisionnaires. l'étude a mis au point des recommandations sensibles aux tendances ancrées dans l'opinion publique, a formulé de nouveaux objectifs publics, a reconnu l'importance du rôle à jouer par les principaux intervenants et a proposé qu'une nouvelle institution garantisse des changements positifs à long terme. Cette expérience offre des leçons aux gouvernements, aux intervenants et aux futures commissions sur la manière de gérer les commissions consultatives spécialisées afin de maximiser l'impact de leurs politiques.