Law and the media

I would like to thank Margaret Andersen, Dan Slater, and Ron Roesch for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this essay.     

Beneath consensual corporatism: traditions of governance in the Netherlands

This article begins with a historical account of the various styles of governance in The Netherlands from the post–war period to date. That overview reveals the persistence of an underlying more traditional form of governance, that is, the tradition of consensual corporatism. Although conventionally believed to be an invention of the Catholic Church and subsequent political theorists, the present twentieth and twenty–first–century historical review of this corporatist style of governance leads to the conclusion that its historical roots are, instead, the age–old Dutch state traditions of tolerance, pragmatism and consensus. It looks as though the worn–out clichés of 'images of the Dutch' are indeed the fundamentally underlying core–concepts behind the Dutch style of governance. The ruling, merchant, partrician families of the Dutch Republic, in order to defend their international trade interests, in the midst of somewhat dogmatic Protestant preachers, were pragmatically tolerant of deviant ideas and groups and thus were able to reach a feasible compromise.     

Interfirm collaboration as a modernization strategy: A survey of case studies

Interfirm collaboration (IFC) has been explored by organizations seeking a vehicle for the industrial modernization of small and medium-sized manufacturers. This paper offers five models of the impacts of IFC networks based on a survey of 123 case studies. The models examine the association between impacts of IFC with variables describing the origins, activities, and structures of networks. Impacts are measured through aggregate assessments of business expansion, bottom line savings, increases in projects, increases in membership, and increases in other benefits. We find that business expansion is associated most strongly with factors related to the origins of projects. Increases in membership and other benefits are most strongly associated with structural factors. Finally, bottom line savings and increases in projects are most closely associated with both origin and structural factors.     

A comparison of three institutions for monetary policy when central bankers have private objectives

Public Choice - How do different institutional arrangements for the central bank perform when central bankers have private objectives and society' objectives vary with time? This paper...     

AMERICA AND SOUTH AFRICA

The Reagan policy of constructive engagement was not really mean to succeed; it was meant to make apartheid palatable. Convinced that the contest between the United States and the Soviet Union overrides all other considerations of international relations, the Reagan administration has always been prepared to tolerate apartheid as the "lesser evil," and when apartheid is overthrown, this country may be in an active insurgency against the new regime. These policies are contrary to the American political tradition and the rules of international law.