Using military forces under international auspices and democratic accountability

This article reports on a research project that deals with howto ensure democratic accountability when military forces areused under the auspices of international institutions. The internationalcommunity has developed a range of ways in which military forcescan be used. States have also decided that in some cases militaryforces can be deployed to pacify intra-state as well as inter-stateconflicts. States have developed a mixed system to deal withthe issues of democratic accountability. Although military operationsare conducted under the auspices of international institutions,states maintain control over decisions to deploy their troops. Democraticcontrol and accountability have been maintained through national institutionsand procedures. International authorization, preferably by theUN Security Council, is important to establish internationaland domestic legitimacy, but it is not the essential mechanismfor ensuring democratic accountability.     

The politics of minority statistics

Harold Orlans, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was formerly on the staff of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. His books include The Nonprofit Research Institute, Contracting for Knowledge, Private Accreditation and Public Eligibility,and Nonprofit Organizations.Philip Lyons helped to gather the information in this article.     

Beyond cognition: the role of disordered affective states in impairing competence to consent to treatment.

Most of the criteria for competence in current use emphasize cognitive rather than affective dimensions. Our clinical experience indicates that affective disorders may impair competence in a detectable and identifiable way. In particular, patients with major affective disorders can retain the cognitive capacity to understand the risks and benefits of a medication, yet fail to appreciate its benefits. A case study of a pathologic grief reaction is introduced to illustrate how cognitive and affective impairments may coexist and require separate remedial strategies for restoration. Further empirical work on the role of affective disorder in impairing competence is warranted and planned.     

Demographically disaggregated projections of prison populations

The need for improved long-run projections of prison populations has increased in recent years because of record-high numbers of inmates and severe overcrowding in state and federal prisons, and because of the growing importance of changing demographic factors in influencing corrections populations. A model is developed for projecting: general population demographics; demographic- and offense-specific arrest rates, imprisonment probabilities, and times served; and then the size and composition of prison populations. Model parameters are estimated for Pennsylvania and are shown to be sensitive to demographic factors, particularly age and race. Projections of future arrests, prison commitments, and prison population are developed for Pennsylvania using projections of demographic changes in the state's population. Arrests are expected to peak in 1980, prison commitments are expected to peak in 1985, and prison populations are expected to peak in 1990, with the subsequent declines reflecting the maturation of the postwar baby boom children out of the highly crime-prone ages and, somewhat later, out of the highly prison-prone ages.