Counter-Reform in the American Welfare State: Ideas,Institutions, and Progressive Taxation

The Nixon/Ford years were a pivotal period when severe fiscal problems emerged whose resolutions constrained the ambit of social policy afterward. A shared diagnosis of economic challenges produced divergent effects in the electoral fortunes of the major political parties and set the stage for an upward redistribution of wealth. Horizontal equity became synonymous with overall tax equity. This article examines how economic ideas acquire political traction.     

Essential medicolegal death investigation services: standardization of a survey instrument based on the Essential Public Health Services

The National Academy of Sciences recommends that states assess the performance of medicolegal death investigation agencies. To aid in performance assessment, we adapted an instrument based on the CDC's 10 Essential Public Health Services by translating the terminology to that of essential medicolegal death investigation services. This produced a survey that could be used to standardize reporting practices and services of agencies. To validate the instrument, a stratified random sample of 12 death investigation chiefs in 12 states was interviewed. This sample represented both medical examiner and coroner jurisdictions within the varying medicolegal structures. A cognitive testing process elicited how well participants could respond to and interpret the survey questions. The response was favorable in that the respondents agreed that given specific revisions toward question clarification, the instrument would be a useful and relevant tool for assessing system performance.     

2009 H1N1 Fatalities: The New Mexico Experience

Abstract: Histopathologic features of New Mexico 2009 H1N1 fatalities have not been representative of those reported nationwide. We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all New Mexico 2009 pandemic influenza A (pH1N1) fatalities (n = 50). In cases in which autopsy was performed (n = 12), histologic sections and culture results were examined. In contrast to previously published studies, the majority of our fatalities did not have diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) (2/12; 16.7%). Common findings included pulmonary interstitial inflammation and edema, tracheobronchitis, and pneumonia. Two cases had significant extra‐pulmonary manifestations: myocarditis and cerebral edema with herniation. The majority had a rapid disease course: range from 1 to 12 days (median, 2 days), and Native Americans were disproportionately represented among fatalities. These findings suggest that New Mexico H1N1 fatalities generally did not survive long enough to develop the classic picture of DAD. Pathologists should be aware that H1N1 may cause extra‐pulmonary pathology and perform postmortem cultures and histologic sampling accordingly.     

Counteracting Identity Fraud in the Information Age: The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act

The advent of the information age has created new challenges to the ability of individuals to protect the privacy and security of their personal information. One such challenge is that of identity theft, which has imposed countless hardships upon its victims. Perpetrators of this fraud use the identities of others to steal money, obtain loans, and generally violate the law. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 makes the theft of personal information with the intent to commit an unlawful act a federal crime in the United States with penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. The Act designates the Federal Trade Commission to serve as an advocate for victims of identity fraud. This article first examines the problem of identity fraud and the inadequacy of existing remedies, and then assesses the need for and likely impact of the Act, as well as issues relating to the effectiveness of its future enforcement.     

Hungary

European Journal of Political Research -     

Intellectuals and Politics in Western Germany

The present political characteristics of German intellectuals, now largely associated with a left‐wing outlook, can be traced back to the effects of dictatorship and to the ‘restoration’ they perceived in the post‐war period. Their first reaction was a mood of resignation, which only changed during the upheaval of the students’ revolt in the 1960s. Many intellectuals then adopted extreme Marxist positions and have had a pervasive influence in various cultural spheres. Their intolerance of piecemeal reform, intransigence, and polemical style have made fruitful dialogue impossible. They have abandoned empirical criteria of judgment; the loss of realism which has resulted means that these intellectuals cannot be true to their calling.