Linking program implementation and effectiveness: Lessons from a pooled sample of welfare‐to‐work experiments

This paper addresses the question: How does implementation influence the effectiveness of mandatory welfare‐to‐work programs? Data from three large‐scale, multi‐site random assignment experiments were pooled; quantitative measures of program implementation were constructed; and multilevel statistical modeling was used to examine the relationship between program implementation and effects on short‐term client earnings. Individual‐level data were analyzed for 69,399 sample members and group‐level implementation data were analyzed for 59 local programs. Findings indicate that, other things being equal, earnings effects are increased by: an emphasis on quick client employment, an emphasis on personalized client attention, staff caseloads that do not get too large, and limited use of basic education. Findings also show that mandatory welfare‐to‐work programs can be effective for many types of people, and that focusing on clients who are especially job‐ready (or not) does not have a consistent influence on a program's effectiveness. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management     

The Ombudsman: What's in a Name?

The role of the ombudsman is perhaps the least well understood inthe field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). This essay introducesreaders to the differing conceptions of the role; the sometimes fractiousdivide that has existed in the past between classical andorganizational ombudsmen; and a collection of essays by four well-known practitioners that shed lighton what it is ombudsmen do; the kinds of disputes they deal with and howthey operate; how they view their role (and how others view it); and boththe possibilities and limitations of the ombuds function.     

Federal tax reform and the financing of state and local governments

Although the Reagan Administration tax reform proposals would reduce federal income tax liabilities for most taxpayers, federal tax reform would also create strong pressures on state and local governments to cut taxes and public services. These pressures would arise primarily because itemizers would no longer be able to deduct state and local taxes in determining their federal income tax liabilities. In New York City and Boston, it is likely that the Administration's tax reform would induce cuts in spending that range from 2.5 to 7.5 percent. While the elimination of state and local tax deductibility may promote allocative efficiency in the provision of local public goods, the cost would be a decline in the degree of redistribution through the state and local public sector, and a reduction in local public services for the poor.     

Antecedents of deviant responses: Predicting from a general theory of deviant behavior

A statement of a general theory of deviant behavior asserts that four factors or processes intervene between the development of self-rejecting attitudes and adoption of deviant patterns. An earlier report demonstrated a relationship between antecedent negative self-attitudes and subsequent increases in seven variables that reflected these four factors. The present paper tests hypotheses that these seven variables are in turn related to the subsequent adoption of each of 22 deviant responses. Subjects were seventh-grade students (N=4694) who responded to questionnaires at T₁ and T₂ (a year later). The seven independent variables were measured by scale scores based on subject responses at T₁. Adoption of deviant responses was defined in terms of subject's selfreports of performing each of 22 deviant acts between T₁ and T₂ after having denied performance of the deviant act during a specified period prior to T₁. The results were interpreted as supporting the hypotheses, although relatively few exceptions were noted. These findings together with those of the earlier analysis were thus congruent with the theoretical position that the relationship between antecedent self-rejection and subsequent deviant responses is mediated by the subjective association of membership group experiences with feelings of self-rejection, the genesis of contranormative attitudes, the inability to satisfy the self-esteem motive through normative response patterns, and awareness of deviant alternatives to these normative patterns that in the past have failed to permit development of self-accepting attitudes.Received his Ph.D. in sociology from New York University in 1958. Current research interests are social psychiatry and, more specifically, the reciprocal relationship between self-attitudes and the adoption of deviant response patterns.     

Catastrophe and the Public Service: A Case Study of the Government Response to the Destruction of the World Trade Center

The destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, resulted in a rapid response by government to evacuate the area and, in subsequent days, to bring the city back to a semblance of normalcy. This article provides a case study of government action in New York City during and after the World Trade Center catastrophe. What is most striking is the skill and intensity of government's response to the emergency and the hard work, dedication, and bravery of New York City's government officials. This article presents government and public service at its finest, under some of the most difficult conditions one can imagine.     

Crown liability in Canada: Developing compensation policies for regulatory failure

Abstract: This article explores and criticizes the use of private tort law and the common law courts to impose liability on governments for losses associated with regulatory failure. After describing the recent history of government liability law in Canada and the traditional deterrent and compensatory rationales for tort liability, the authors argue that the requirement of personal liability of public officials, the exclusion of “policy” decisions from tort liability, a legal requirement of “negligence,” the institutional characteristics of the courts, and the assumption of a deterrent impact of tort law are all inappropriate in addressing government liability claims. The article then explores a variety of mechanisms operating within the federal bureaucracy to respond to liability claims. These include the allocation of losses to individual bureaucrats and to the Consolidate Revenue Fund within government, the allocation of legal costs within government, the incentive effects of the settlement process, the ex ante review of losses by Treasury Board, the ex post review of losses by the Office of the Auditor General, and the treatment of excluded claims. The authors then argue for the development of feedback mechanisms within government to ensure that liability signals are received by and influence administrative decision-making. The authors conclude that the existing substantive legal principles and court processes are inadequate in themselves to ensure that government liability claims are addressed so as to reflect appropriately the relationship of the individual to the state in the regulatory process, and to ensure that liability risks are adequately incorporated into the regulatory decision-making process. They argue that a different set of principles should be developed and applied in addressing government liability claims; and further that these principles should be applied either through the courts with necessary reforms in response to existing institutional limitations, or through agency-specific administrative processes. Sommaire: Cet article analyse et critique l'utilisation du droit privé de la responsabilité déictuelle et des cours de common law en matière de responsabilitéétatique pour les pertes associées aux défaillances de la réglementation. Les auteurs dérivent l'historique récent du droit de la responsabilité gouvernementale au Canada, ainsi que les fondements traditionnels de la responsabilité délictuelle que sont la dissuasion et l'indemnisation. Ils affirment que l'exigence d'une responsabilité personnelle de la part des dirigeants publics, l'exclusion des décisions de “politique ”du champ de la responsabilité délictuelle, l'exigence légale de “ négligence ”, les caractéristiques institutionnelles des tribunaux ainsi que l'hypothèse de l'effet dissuasif du droit délictuel sont toutes inadéquates lorsqu'il s'agit de régler des causes mettant en jeu la responsabilité gouvernementale. L'article examine ensuite toute une gamme de mécanismes internes de la fonction publique fédérale conçus pour faire face aux allégations de responsabilité. Ces mécanismes comprennent l'affectation de pertes à des fonctionnaires particuliers et au Fonds consolidé du revenu au sein du gouvernement lui-même, l'allocation de frais juridiques au sein du gouvernement, l'effet incitatif des règlements à l'amiable, l'examen “ ex ante ” des pertes par le Conseil du Trésor, l'examen “ ex post ” de ces mêmes pertes par le bureau du Vérificateur général, ainsi que le traitement des réclamations exclues. Les auteurs recommandent que l'on mette au point des mécanismes de rétroaction au sein du gouvernement pour s'assurer que les signaux en matière de responsabilité soient bien reçs par les décideurs administratifs et qu'ils les influencent. Selon la conclusion des auteurs, les principes de droit substantif et le processus judiciaire actuel sont inadéquats, à eux seuls, pour assurer que l'on traite les réclamations de responsabilité gouvernementale de manière à bien refléter le rapport entre l'individu et 1'État dans le processus de réglementation, et pour permettre que les risques en matière de responsabilité soient incorporés de manière adéquate au processus décisionnel lors de la réglementation. D'après les auteurs, il faudrait mettre au point et appliquer un autre ensemble de principes pour les réclamations contre l'état, et ces principes devraient être appliqués soit par les tribunaux, moyennant les réformes nécessaires face aux actuelles limites institutionnelles, soit par l'intermédiaire de processus administratifs propres à chaque organisme.