Improving Policy Effectiveness: Land Use Planning in a Devolved Polity

Improving public policy efficiency and effectiveness in land use planning is an established priority on the prevailing political agenda in the UK. Practical measures to enhance policy formulation in local land use development plans in Scotland offer an interesting case study of an attempt to improve policy consistency, and to secure efficiency gains in policy authorship. This article considers the specific focus on the drafting stage of public policy‐making drawing on insights provided by research into the production of model policies in Scotland. It questions the extent to which such an initiative will promote a more robust public policy‐making discipline in light of the policy cycle. The discussion of the case study illustrates a practical attempt by central government to enhance public policy‐making at the local level, while raising questions about the dangers of invoking a technocratic and instrumentalist approach to policy analysis.     

The Relationship of Abuse to Women’s Health Status and Health Habits

The present study examined the relationship between exposure to abuse and women’s health status and health behaviors in a sample of rural women. One hundred forty-eight women visiting a community health care center completed survey packets that included measures that assessed: exposure to abuse, impairment associated with exposure to abuse, physical and mental health problems, health behaviors, and the extent of health care usage. Results indicated that exposure to abuse was positively and significantly related to the adoption of a negative psychological perspective, which in turn was negatively correlated with physical and mental health, as well as with the practice of healthy behaviors. Results also showed that women exposed to abuse engage in less healthy behaviors and utilize more health care resources than do women with no such exposure. Implications for improving the assessment and treatment of abuse in health care settings are discussed. This article is based on a thesis completed by the first author with the same title as this report.     

Reviews

Stephen F. Cohen, Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution. A Political Biography 1888–1938. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973, and London: Wildwood House, 1974. xix + 495 pp. $15. £4.50.

Vladimir G. Treml, Dimitri M. Gallik, Barry L. Kostinsky and Kurt W. Kruger, The Structure of the Soviet Economy. Analysis and Reconstruction of the 1966 Input‐Output Table. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972 and London: Pall Mall Press, 1973. xxiv + 661 pp. $32.50. £14.00.

Gur Ofer, The Service Sector in Soviet Economic Growth: A Comparative Study. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1973. xi + 202 pp. $10.00. £5.00.

Morris Bornstein (ed.), Plan and Market: Economic Reform in Eastern Europe. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1973. viii + 416 pp. $15.00. £6.50.

Jan Ake Dellenbrant, Reformists and Traditionalists: A Study of Soviet Discussions about Economic Reform, 1960–1965. Stockholm: Raben T. Sjogren, 1972. 166 pp.

Abraham Katz, The Politics of Economic Reform in the Soviet Union. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972 and London: Pall Mall Press, 1973. viii + 230 pp. £6.25.

Rudolf Bi?ani?, Economic Policy in Socialist Yugoslavia. Cambridge: at the University Press, 1973. (Soviet and East European Studies Series.) viii + 254 PP‐ £4–80.

Michael Ellman, Planning Problems in the USSR. The Contribution of Mathematical Economics to their Solution 1960–1971. Cambridge: at the University Press, 1973. (University of Cambridge Department of Applied Economics, Monograph 24.) xx + 222 pp. £4.50. $14.95.

Gunnar L. Amundsen, Le Conseil d'Entraide Economique. Structures, réalisations, perspectives. Strasbourg: Université des Sciences Humaines, second printing 1972. 835 pp.

Ellen Mickiewicz (ed.), Handbook of Soviet Social Science Data. New York: The Free Press, and London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1973. xxvi + 225 pp. £7.50.

Gerhard Simon, Church, State and Opposition in the U.S.S.R. London: C. Hurst, 1974. x + 248 pp. £4.20.

Martin Dewhirst and Robert Farrell (eds.), The Soviet Censorship. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1973. vii + 170 pp. $7.50.

Paul Avrich (ed.), The Anarchists in the Russian Revolution. London: Thames & Hudson, 1973. 179 pp. £2.75 (cloth). £1.35 (paper).

Paul Hollander, Soviet and American Society. A Comparison. London : OUP, 1973. xx + 476 pp. £5.75.

Anita Dasbach‐Mallinckrodt, Wer macht die Aussenpolitik der DDR? Düsseldorf, Droste Verlag, 1972. 364 pp.

J. G. Garrard (ed.), The Eighteenth Century in Russia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. xiii + 356 pp. £6.50.     

THE DOCTRINE OF STRICT LIABILITY: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATION

Using a legal system of strict liability allowing contributory negligence as a valid defense provides an alternative to consumer protection regulation. In addition, the strict liability system allows rapid and responsive compensation to injured individuals. Corporate uncertainty as to future costs and business environment are substantially reduced, thus allowing firms to make accurate and rational long-term, strategic plans. This paper presents the basic functional constructs required for developing a viable regulatory framework using strict liability and then looks at an example where it could be employed. The scenario deals with an environmental pollution and protection problem. In the example, a strict liability system allowing for a defense of contributory negligence is shown to be conceptually more efficient and desirable than the existing regulatory system and negligence liability procedures.