Psychometric Properties of Revised Conflict Tactics Scales: Portuguese Sibling Version (CTS2-SP)

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2, Straus et al. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316, 1996) were conceived to measure Psychological Aggression, Physical Assault, Sexual Coercion, Injury and the use of Negotiation towards a partner in a marital, cohabiting or dating relationship. The CTS2-SP was designed for obtaining data on conflict tactics between siblings. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the CTS2-SP Portuguese version. Data were collected among 590 Portuguese university students. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.65 to 0.81 for the perpetration scales and ranging 0.66 to 0.84 to victimization scales. Significant correlations between different forms of the CTS2 illustrate its construct validity. The psychometric characteristics of CTS2-SP Portuguese version were found to be adequate. The CTS2-SP offers a reliable and valid measure to be used within the Portuguese population.     

中美政府人事管理价值的历史演进与比较分析

价值的进路是深入到政府人事管理内核的必由之路。美国政府人事管理价值的历史演进体现了政治回应、道德主义、效率、个人权利、专业的职业化、社会公平等价值,其发展趋势是维护传统理念、加强管理弹性和以结果为本。中国政府人事管理价值的历史演进体现了宗族主义、政治回应、道德主义、公平竞争、分权等价值,其发展趋势主要是法治主义、效率和分权。美国和中国在政府人事管理价值历史演进和发展趋势上呈现了许多共同点和差异。     

以人为本:我国政府的价值定位

强调以人为本,是对政府与社会之间关系的准确解读,也是校正政府价值定位的新起点。本文首先对以人为本的科学内涵进行解读,其次分析了以人为本在我国近现代以来的历史传承,并分析了以人为本理念下的服务型政府建设对全能主义模式下"为人民服务"的继承与超越。本文的结论是,以人为本理念的确立不仅是党和政府服务宗旨的再次张扬,而且是我国制度建设的逻辑起点,为政府行为模式的确定和制度体系的全面建设奠定了基础。     

Navigating the System: A How-To Guide for Implementing a Kinship Navigator Program

This article describes key programmatic and evaluation elements that guided the implementation of the San Diego County YMCA Kinship Navigator Program. A 3-year demonstration project funded by the Administration on Children Youth and Families designed to build a regional navigator system in collaboration with the local child welfare agency to support kinship caregivers. Kinship caregivers (relatives and non-relatives) play a significant role in the well-being of the children in their care. The findings suggest that successfully implemented kinship navigator models are a viable preventive intervention for addressing the needs of kinship families.     

Implementing the Borda outcome via truncated scoring rules: a computational study

This study is an attempt to empirically understand the likelihood of choosing the Borda outcome through a truncated scoring rule when n voters are asked to report only part of their linear preferences over m alternatives. We run Monte Carlo simulations through a grid search algorithm as we employ an impartial culture model to sample voters’ preferences. Given the range of parameter values we consider, we report the truncated scoring rules that maximize the likelihood of implementing the Borda outcome and how the maximum likelihood changes with m and n. We also present our results on the relative performances of some popular truncated voting rules, such as plurality and approval voting, in implementing the Borda outcome and demonstrate that two-level approval voting performs significantly better than the plurality rule. Moreover, we propose the expected Borda rule as a good proxy for the best implementor of the Borda rule among all truncated rules.     

The causes of legal rents extraction: evidence from Spanish municipalities

This paper analyzes the causes of legal political rent extraction by using a direct measure of it, namely, local top politicians’ wages. In particular, we investigate whether local politicians’ incentives to extract rents by setting their own wages are influenced by the degree of political competition and voter information. We use a sample of the largest Spanish municipalities over the years 2008–2010. The results indicate that weaker political competition and lesser voter information are related to more rent extraction. In an additional analysis, we show that higher wages do not ensure better financial management. These findings confirm that when politicians can set their own salaries, higher wages do not mean better management, but they are just political rents.     

The OECD and “The Rest”: Analyzing the Limits of Policy Transfer

Abstract

Prompted by the rise of the emerging economies and the growing importance of the G20, the OECD has formally announced its intention of establishing itself as a key actor in global policy coordination. As part of this ambition, it has embarked on cultivating closer relations with five G20 countries it designated as key partners through the so-called “Enhanced Engagement” programme: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. This article mobilizes concepts from the policy transfer literature to explain why the OECD’s attempts to increasingly involve all five countries in its policy have fallen short of its original ambitions, and also why the transfer of its policy work has been uneven across policy and country issue.     

The Chilean big business lobby: a long-standing and major influence on public policy

Elements of the business lobby, particular sectors of big business and its peak associations, have been a continual influence, sometimes a dominant force, in Chilean politics since the second half of the 19th century. This prominence and sustained influence is particularly noteworthy since the 1930s, given the various forms of democracy experienced in Chile, the harsh military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s, and because the return to democracy in 1990 has meant increasing competition among interest groups. This article offers an explanation of the political significance of the big business community by reference to both common factors that shape the influence of business across political systems and especially the developments in Chile's political economy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genetic data on 11 STRs (CSF1PO,TPOX, TH01, F13A01, FESFPS,vWA, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, F13B,LPL) in an Argentine northeast population

Allele frequencies for 11 short tandem repeats (STRs) loci (CSF1PO, TPOX, TH01, F13A01, FESFPS, vWA, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, F13B and LPL) were obtained from a sample of 225 unrelated individuals born in the Entre Ríos state of Argentina.