THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF SELF-CONTROL: TESTING THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME*

Gottfredson and Hirschi's recently introduced general theory of crime has received considerable empirical support. Researchers have found that low self-control, the general theory's core concept, is related to lawbreaking and to deviant behaviors considered by Gottfredson and Hirschi to be “analogous” to crime. In this article, we extend this research by assessing the effects of low self-control on crime and analogous behaviors and by using two distinct measures of self-control, an attitudinal measure and the analogous/behavior scale. Thus, following Gottfredson and Hirschi, we use analogous imprudent behaviors as outcomes of low self-control and as indicators of low self-control's effects on crime. We also examine an important but thus far neglected part of the theory: the claim that low self-control has effects not only on crime but also on life chances, life quality, and other social consequences. Consistent with the general theory, we found that both measures of self-control, attitudinal and behavioral, have effects on crime, even when controlling for a range of social factors. Further, the analysis revealed general support for the theory's prediction of negative relationships between low self-control and social consequences other than crime—life outcomes and quality of life.     

Public Administration in a Conflict Situation: The Case of Northern Ireland

This article examines recent developments in the public administrative system in Northern Ireland. The conflict in Northern Ireland has received widespread publicity, Yet government in the region continues. Public services are delivered. The article considers how the public administrative system has played its part in the management by the British government of the conflict. There are many other situations where there is political violence. The Northern Ireland case may offer insights to public administrators and policymakers in managing such situations.     

DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL: A CASE STUDY OF A HUNG COUNCIL

Discussions on coalition politics have tended to see the phenomenon as a feature of European national systems offering a contrast to the British tradition of (largely) single-party government. However, the 1980s saw the rise of English local governments where highly politicized party groups were forced to compromise their political programmes in order to attain a share of power; between 1985–89, half of the English county councils were hung. This situation has particular significance in Devon, where four distinct political groups were negotiating for control. This study analyses the process of administrative formation, maintenance and breakdown in Devon, using the insights of the actors involved. While icy closeness is a crucial factor in the formation of administrations, the initial distribution of office portfolios plays a critical role in the later demise of the co-operation between the Alliance and Labour. The study also highlights the importance of considerations such as past history, personal relations, institutional structures, and even geography to the formation and maintenance of political agreements. Devon's experience of hungness is interpreted using a 'multi-method' approach, with reference to both studies of hung councils and developments in coalition theory.     

INTRODUCING RACE AS A VARIABLE INTO THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF KENYA DEBATE: AN INCENDIARY IDEA

The debate on the nature and development potential of ‘indigenous’capitalism in Kenya seemed to have petered off indecisivelyin the 1980s. At that time some form of socialism was stillan option for some of the debaters. Following the seemingly-globalacceptance of free-enterprise as the developmental model ofchoice, however, the Kenya debate has been resurrected but ina different intellectual guise. In line with the revival (especiallyin the United States) of culture and ethnicity as determinantsof economic prosperity, some non-Kenyan authors have faultedthe 1980s literature for leaving out Kenyan-Asian capitalists,the principal protagonists of local entrepreneurship, who, itis argued accounted for Kenya's outstanding development performancein the high-growth years before independence in 1963, and theonset of economic regress under the Moi government in the early1980s, by dint of their industry and cultural heritage. Withoutgiving in to the undeserved Asian-bashing which this thesishas provoked in some Kenya-African political circles, this articleprovides evidence that credit for Kenya's economic achievementsis more widespread and more race neutral. So is credit for thecorruption and crass mismanagement that has characterized theMoi years. Considering the low intellectual pay-off and thehigh political dangers inherent in careless introduction ofrace and culture as operating variables to explain growth, thearticle advocates greater attention to analytical concepts thatshow more promise in accounting for inter-ethnic differencesin material prosperity. These include law-based governance,a stable macroeconomic environment, and the strengthening of‘social capital’ at community level.     

Policy Networks, Policy Communities and the Problems of Governance

This article reviews and evaluates the literature on policy networks and policy communities that has emerged in the comparative public policy field. It argues that these concepts are important innovations because they suggest a renewed attempt to be both encompassing and discriminating in describing the policy process: encompassing because they refer to actors and relationships in the policy process that take us beyond political-bureaucratic relationships; discriminating because they suggest the presence of many communities and different types of networks. Yet if the concepts are going to continue to make a contribution, some problems must be resolved. The article suggests three that are particularly important: network and community concepts encounter obstacles in incorporating the influence of ma-cropolitical institutions and the power of political discourse; they have some difficulty in accommodating the internationalization of many policy domains; they have not addressed well the issues of policy innovation and policy change.