What kind of capitalism for Russia?: A comparative analysis

Post-communist governing elites had a vision of a transition to a type of society characterised by wealth, markets, private ownership, democracy and civil society. The transformation in Russia is analyzed in terms of company structure, economic outcomes and patterns of social integration, elite and class fragmentation. On the basis of a comparative political economy, different models of capitalism are defined (competitive or market-led and cooperative or negotiated). The Russian economy is defined as a perverse chaotic social formation. It is contended that policy should move towards a state-led “negotiated” type of capitalist system.     

The election of women under proportional representation: The case of Malta

It has often been noted that women's opportunities for a legislative career are enhanced in countries using proportional representation. But in Malta, which uses a variant of proportional representation, there are fewer women in parliament than in any other Western democracy. A detailed analysis of voting data shows that what accounts for the paucity of women legislators in Malta is not a shortage of ballot positions; nor a lack of qualified women candidates; nor significant voter prejudice against female candidates. Rather, Malta's exceptional performance results from the unwillingness or inability of party elites to recruit a substantial number of women candidates, even though voting patterns create an incentive for political parties to maximize the number of candidates. Since the cause of this failure to mobilize more women candidates can be ascribed neither to the workings of the electoral system nor to voter behaviour, it will have to be sought in contextual factors that still work to stifle women's political careers. Malta's experience serves as a caution against optimistic expectations that the adoption of proportional representation will lead to greater legislative opportunities for women.     

Perceptions of gangs among prosecutors in an emerging gang city

Gangs were a target of widespread political and social attention during the 1990s, and despite a short-lived lull in policy focus, gangs are recently receiving increased attention from policymakers. In spite of political concern about gangs, very little research had examined perceptions of gangs. By conducting face-to-face interviews with thirty of thirty-five county prosecutors, this study was among the first to examine prosecutors' perspectives of gangs in Gainesville, Florida, an area that could be considered an “emerging” gang city. Themes from the interviews were extracted and included prosecutorial perceptions of the: (1) definition and prevalence of gangs in Gainesville, Florida; (2) personal and social characteristics of gang members; (3) reasons people join gangs; and (4) best approaches to stop or eliminate gangs. The ways in which prosecutors' perspectives mirror prior research on gangs is highlighted.     

The mandatory notification of data breaches: Issues arising for Australian and EU legal developments

Public and private sector organisations are now able to capture and utilise data on a vast scale, thus heightening the importance of adequate measures for protecting unauthorised disclosure of personal information. In this respect, data breach notification has emerged as an issue of increasing importance throughout the world. It has been the subject of law reform in the United States and in other jurisdictions. This article reviews US, Australian and EU legal developments regarding the mandatory notification of data breaches. The authors highlight areas of concern based on the extant US experience that require further consideration in Australia and in the EU.     

Addressing Juvenile Crime

At‐risk and offending juveniles remain the most promising target group for crime reduction efforts. Many of the problems these youths faced in the 1960s remain or have intensified, and policies to address them have shifted. Yet, research on the causes, consequences, and best responses to juvenile crime has advanced considerably and provides important lessons for policy makers and practitioners moving forward. These include (a) help don't hurt; (b) provide better procedural protections; (c) continue to build, implement, and refine evidence‐based programming; (d) tailor services; (e) tackle community‐level problems; (f) really listen and work together; (g) build better data systems; and (h) invest resources in children and teens. Providing a retrospective on the 1967 U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice report, I briefly summarize and update the Commission's findings on factors related to juvenile delinquency, outline the Commission's policy recommendations, review the research on policy and practice changes since the report, and consider current implications for policy and practice.     

Analysis of Structural Variability in Budget-Making

Incrementalism as a decision theory about budget-making is empirically evaluated by post-war data within the framework of budget-making processes of some Swedish public authorities. The analysis focuses on the relevance of a structural stability hypothesis using models for the processes of budget requests and appropriations. This hypothesis is tested by CUSUM and CUSUMQ tests. The more powerful CUSUMQ test clearly indicates a rejection of the stability assumption, which implies a need for revised models based on variability assumptions. These alternative models describing budget-making processes are estimated by Kalman filtering, an estimation approach designed to allow for structural variability. The paper shows that the key decision principles of incrementalism are too crude for the understanding of budget decisions.     

Politics and Economic Growth

Traditional growth theory viewed economic growth as a resultant of economic factors, in particular capital investment. Development economics implied a broader approach, emphasizing social structure change and human capital. Finally, it was also hinted that political factors could influence the rate of change in the development of the economic system. Testing various theories of economic growth we find that institutional sclerosis is the basic political factor that is related to the process of economic growth. The next step is to analyse how political structures and public policy have an impact on the basic factor in economic growth, viz. investments.