Book Reviews

Women and Public Policy: The Shifting Boundaries Between the Public and Private Spheres. Edited by S. Baker and A. Van Doorne‐Huiskes. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1999. Pp.234.

Environmental Movements: Local, National and Global. Edited by Christopher Rootes. Frank Cass. 1999. Pp 316. £39.50 hb; £17.50 pb.

Driving Forces ‐ The Automobile, its Enemies and the Politics of Mobility. By James A. Dunn JR. Brookings Institution Press, 1998. Pp.230. $18.95 pb; $44.95 hb.

Perspectives on British Rural Planning Policy 1994–97. By Andrew Gilg. Ashgate, 1999. Pp.154. £35 hb.

Power to the Parishes. Special issue of Local Governance. Edited by A. Coulson. Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, 2000. £10.

The Changing Nature of Local Government in Developing Countries. Edited by Patricia L. McCarney. Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto, 1996. Pp.314.

Planning Beyond 2000. Edited by P. Allmendinger and M. Chapman. John Wiley &; Sons, 1999. £22.50 pb.

Regional Policy and Planning in Europe. By P. Balchin, L. Sykora and G. Bull. Routledge, 1999. £15.99 pb.

Urban Policy and Politics in Britain. By Dilys M. Hill. Macmillan, 2000. Pp.254. £.14.99 pb.

Local Statesmen: The Story of Politics in Nottinghamshire County Council. By Peter Housden. The Local Government Centre, University of Warwick and Nottinghamshire County Council, 2000. Pp.219. £9.99 plus £2 postage and packaging.

County Borough Elections in England and Wales 1919–1938: A Comparative Analysis: Volume 1: Barnsley ‐ Bournemouth. By Sam Davies and Bob Morley. Ashgate, 1999. Pp.708. £80.

The British Police. Police Forces and Chief Officers 1829–2000. By Martin Stallion and David S. Wall. Police History Society, 1999. Pp.256. £15 pb.

Policing Provincial England 1829–1856: The Politics of Reform. By David Philips and Robert D. Storch. Leicester University Press, 1999. Pp.342. £55 hb.     

Acceptance and Support of the Australian Carbon Policy

In July 2012, the Australian government instituted the Clean Energy Legislative Package. This policy, commonly known as the carbon policy or carbon tax, holds industries responsible for emissions they release through a carbon price. Because this will have an indirect effect on consumer costs, the policy also includes a compensation package for households indirectly impacted. This study, building upon past work in distributive justice, examines the determinants of the policy’s acceptance and support. We proposed perceived fairness and effectiveness of the policy, and endorsement of free-market ideology, would directly predict policy acceptance. We tested this through an on-line survey of Australian citizens and found that policy acceptance was predicted by perceived fairness and effectiveness. More Australians found the policy acceptable (43 %) than unacceptable (36 %), and many found it neither acceptable nor unacceptable (21 %). In contrast, when asked about support, more Australians tended not to support the policy (53 %) than support it (47 %). Support was predicted by main effects for perceived fairness, effectiveness, free-market ideology, and the interaction between free-market ideology and effectiveness. We conclude by considering some of the implications of our results for the implementation of policies addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation, for theories of social justice and attitudinal ambivalence, and for the continuing integration of research between economics and psychology. Furthermore, we argue for the distinction between policy support and acceptance and discourage the interchangeable use of these terms.     

Leadership and organizational transformation

Following a discussion of recent literature concerned with leadership, the authors note that there is a tendency for many writers to marginalize contextual issues when examining the impact of leaders on organizations. Taking a study of three community transport organizations in the UK, the authors seek to apply some of the currently popular themes in the leadership literature to the coordinators of these organizations. It is shown that one can usefully be described as a transactional leader, another as a transformational leader, while the third is characterized as a ‘frustrated transformational leader’. The application of the adjective ‘frustrated’ serves as a focus for the consideration of contextual factors that inhibited this leader, who can legitimately be described as transformational, and which thwarted his capacity to see through his vision. A number of different contextual features are noted and it is shown how these severely constrained and in the end frustrated the aspirations of this coordinator. Some implications of these findings for the literature on leadership and on organizational transformation are spelled out.     

Multicultural health care? Cultural accommodation in non‐devoted policy sectors

As developed states have faced increasing ethnocultural diversity, debates have arisen over what tools the state has at its disposal to help create peaceful, tolerant, and cohesive diverse societies. This research note has two purposes. First, it builds on existing theoretical research on multicultural policies to propose a typology of multicultural policies from non‐devoted immigration or multicultural ministries. Second, it argues that there is space for policies aimed to accommodate and recognize immigrants and ethnocultural minorities in health care policy and – by extension – other policy areas. Such initiatives would both improve the quality of service for immigrants, ethnocultural minorities, and majority group Canadians and greatly enhance the likelihood of recognition and comprehensive integration of minorities.     

A Tale of Two Debtors: Responding to the Shock of Over‐Indebtedness in France and England – a Story from the Trente Piteuses

England and France have developed distinct treatment systems to address the shock of a substantial increase in over‐indebted individuals since the mid‐1980s. In France, Over‐Indebtedness Commissions, with the Bank of France playing a central role in their management, now dominate the system. A more fragmented system of private and public providers of remedies developed in England, with innovation driven by private actors modifying existing commercial procedures and increased access to bankruptcy relief a side‐effect of government promotion of entrepreneurialism. This article explains the differences between these countries in terms of the influence of interest groups, including state actors, and ideologies. Historical contingency also plays a role. The distinct responses were not hard‐wired to legal origins and the article argues that analysis of the interaction of interest groups, state actors and ideology in shaping institutions, which in turn structure future change, provides a productive approach for future comparative research in this area.     

Recognition of Early Myocardial Infarction by Immunohistochemical Staining with Cardiac Troponin‐I and Complement C9*

Abstract: The diagnosis of early myocardial infarction (MI) after death, especially in the first few hours (c. 6 h) after the onset of MI, poses a challenge to the forensic pathologists. During this time, the damaged myocardium does not show grossly identifiable morphological changes and may not be recognized even with routine histological microscopic examination. However, the infarcted cardiac tissue releases certain chemicals that can be detected microscopically, two of these being cardiac troponin‐I (CT‐I) and complement C9 (C9). This study utilizes the importance of these two biomarkers immunohistochemically in an attempt to identify this early phase of MI. This study reveals that the early phase of MI of <6 h duration may be detected through immunohistochemical staining with CT‐I and C9. The ischemic/infarcted cardiac myofibers in the <6 h group display reduced/absent CT‐I staining as well as positive C9 staining.