Social justice as a Holy Grail: The endless quest

This paper gives the author's impressions on the following aspects of justice: desert, equity, equality, need, and intergenerational equity. The author concludes that these different aspects cannot be reconciled but instead must be compromised. An example of such a compromise is provided by a discussion of welfare reform. The author claims that rights are correlative with duties, and that asserting the former has little meaning without specifying the latter. He then discusses justice toward groups rather than individuals. He proposes that maintaining cultural variety in the presence of a homogeneous superculture is a major problem of the contemporary world. The paper concludes with a discussion of various forms of power, particularly the integrative power that people acquire over each other by virtue of ties of loyalty and identity.     

Bicommunalism in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a bicommunal society in which Protestantsare numerically dominant; Roman Catholics constitute virtuallyall of the remaining population. On the island as a whole, Protestantsare heavily outnumbered; the Republic of Ireland (the "South")has a population that is about 96 percent Catholic. Social segregationof the two northern communities is relatively distinct, andthere is little crosscutting between groups that might lessenbicommunal conflict. A reciprocal relationship exists betweenthe social system and political structures. Northern Irish politicalinstitutions followed the Westminster model, which facilitatedthe political exclusion of Catholics and impeded social as wellas political integration. The bicommunal social structure hasimpeded the development of more accommodating political structures.Geographic issues and external linkages compound the politicalproblem. Northern Irish politics can be viewed as a "dual dyad"in which the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland arecritical components. Psychological dimensions of Northern Irishbicommunalism further exacerbate the conflict.     

Special report on liability and insurance. An update on assignment of patient benefits under ERISA

While the holdings in Davidowitz and Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield arose in different contexts, they both reflect the courts' increasing willingness to consider the importance of cost containment in the health insurance arena, even though patient accessibility to health care may be restricted as a result. If the holding in Davidowitz is not successfully appealed, providers may need legislative relief in order to retain their ability to take valid assignments of patient claims for payment from ERISA plans. It is uncertain whether such legislation can be sought at the state level or must instead come from Congress due to ERISA preemption of state legislation. Clearly, the district court decision on remand in Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield will be closely watched for any light it may shed on this question. On a pragmatic note, providers who have not entered into "participation" agreements with insurers or other private payors may now have a greater incentive to do so, and "nonparticipating" providers who continue to obtain assignments from patients in order to collect directly from insurers or other private payors should determine on a case-by-case basis whether the source of the patient's benefits is a group health plan--which is likely to fall under ERISA and may contain nonassignment provisions--or some other form of coverage. For an additional perspective on insurers' responses to copayment waivers, see Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 10, October 1991, at 7.     

The development of drug trade and drug control in the Netherlands: a historical perspective

Drug trade is widely seen as a phenomenon rather new to the Netherlands. However, at the beginning of the 20th century the Dutch pharmaceutical industries were already extensively involved in the production of both opiates and cocaine, and they went on exporting large quantities of these drugs after the Opium Act (1919) took force. Until the 1960s, arrests were not at all common, and these largely affected minority groups like Chinese opium smokers and black marijuana users. Since then, drug control efforts have increased by leaps and bounds. At first, cannabis was the main target; then the focus turned to heroin, and that was later joined by cocaine. This paper traces the history of the drug trade and drug control in the Netherlands, with emphasis on their development in Amsterdam. The conclusion is reached that, in spite of drastic changes in both drug trade and drug control, certain ideologies, constructs and strategies have remained remarkably stable.     

Facing the powers that be

Lobbyists, entrenched forces in congress and self-interested friends will try to stymie Clinton's efforts. A look at four key arenas of combat.     

Widows and neighbors,cornfields and magueys. The impact of population increase in the Toluca Valley: the case of Tenango del Valle during the eighteenth century

The author examines the effect of rapid population growth due to migration on the parish of Tenango del Valle, Mexico, during the eighteenth century. She gives special consideration to the impact on quality of life in indigenous villages, especially for widows and female heads of households who were impoverished as a result of discriminatory land transactions. Data are mainly from the parish register for 1770.