From Accountability to Assurance – Stakeholder Perspectives in Local Government

This article reports on research which sought to explore the understanding of accountability for performance amongst constituents of local government in Western Australia. Recent trends to increase the public accountability and financial reporting requirements for local governments underline the need to understand the value and use made of this performance information by local government constituents.     

What restorative justice might learn from administrative theory

Two administrative ideal‐types related to competing forms of justice: retributive and restorative include ontological and epistemological foundations and associated organizational theory. The alternate understandings are coherently linked with the principles of justice informing retributive and restorative practices. Retributive justice is linked to formal organization based on instrumental rationality and individualist ontology, while restorative justice is linked to substantive organization based on ethical reasoning and relational ontology. Once constructed, ideal‐types can be used both to assess actual conditions on key characteristics as well as to make recommendations for organizational design. Therefore, conclusions are drawn about the importance of matching context to purpose, pointing toward further empirical research that will inform system design for restorative justice practices.     

Social rehousing policy in britain: Needs,rights, and choices

Abstract

When selecting among competing applicants for rehousing in social rented property, the perceived wisdom in Britain since the 1940s has been to award priority to households in the greatest housing need. “Need” is often defined in highly complex ways. However, a shift has occurred in local authority and housing association rehousing policies away from allocations made solely on the basis of need. This shift comes in response to the changing context in which social rented housing has operated in the past 15 years and to perceived weaknesses in needs‐based systems. Present policies are designed to address wider objectives, including developing stable communities and minimizing housing management problems.

This article examines these policy changes and the extent to which local housing allocations are used to address not only individual household needs, but also the concerns of local communities and wider housing management issues.     

The impact of tariff removal on poverty in Zimbabwe: A computable general equilibrium microsimulation

The paper uses a microsimulation computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to study the impact on poverty of a complete removal of tariffs in Zimbabwe. The model incorporates 14,006 households derived from the 1995 Poverty Assessment Study Survey. This paper's novelty is that it is one among a small group of papers that incorporates individual households in the CGE model as opposed to having representative households. Using individual households allows for a comprehensive analysis of poverty. The complete removal of tariffs favours exporting sectors. Poverty falls in the economy while inequality hardly changes. The results differ between rural and urban areas.     

Combating counterfeiting and piracy: the Commonwealth initiative

This article notes the various components of intellectual property (IP) and the traditional forms of protection for IP owners. It also explains trends in the infringement of IPR, particularly in the nature of counterfeiting and piracy, the raison d’etre and the resulting impact in Commonwealth Countries.

The article also comments on the legislative developments in Commonwealth countries designed to provide a stronger deterrence and the multi‐sector approach adopted in the implementation of the legislation. Finally, it brings attention to the collective concerns of Member Countries and the recent steps taken to develop and adopt a framework of cooperation in order to combat the menace of counterfeiting and piracy.     

Whistleblowing Around the World Law,Culture & Practice

International humanitarian law (IHL) is a field in constant evolution and the International Committee of the Red Cross works closely with states to assist them in complying with their international treaty obligations. The present update provides an overview of the main developments that have taken place in IHL, with a particular focus on Commonwealth states.     

Gray Matters: Gender Differences in the Physical and Mental Health of Older Inmates

Although there has been a substantial increase in the number of older female inmates incarcerated in the United States, there has been little scholarly attention paid to this population. The purpose of this study is to extend the current understanding of older inmates by examining gender differences in their physical and mental health. Bivariate analyses of one of the largest known samples of older female inmates (n = 142) revealed significant gender differences. Older female inmates reported a greater number of physical health conditions and mental health disorders in all three time periods: in their lifetimes, since admission to prison, and in the previous year. This research informs the need for gender-specific health programming for older female inmates.     

Public‐Private Arbitration and the Public Interest under English Law

Together with the increase in the number of public‐private contracts, recent years have seen a marked proliferation in public‐private arbitrations. This article explores the public interest implications which may arise in such arbitrations and examines how public‐private arbitration is treated under English law. We argue that, due to the lack of a developed administrative law sphere in England and the historical development of arbitration as an exclusively private mode of dispute resolution, the current legal framework of arbitration in England has developed around the private law paradigm of a commercial dispute involving private actors. This private law paradigm results in a conceptual and legal void in respect of how public interest is accounted for, and protected, in arbitrations involving public bodies under English law. Therefore, we suggest that English arbitration law needs to be amended to adequately protect the private interest in public‐private arbitration.     

Development and implementation of a quality assurance infrastructure in a multisite home visitation program in Ohio and Kentucky

As home visitation programs go to scale, numerous challenges are faced in implementation and quality assurance. This article describes the origins and implementation of Every Child Succeeds, a multisite home visitation program in southwestern Ohio and Northern Kentucky. In order to optimize quality assurance and generate new learning for the field, a Web-based system (eECS) was designed to systematically collect and use data. Continuous quality assurance procedures derived from business and industry have been established. Findings from data collection have documented outcomes, and have identified clinical needs that potentially undermine the impact of home visitation. An augmented module approach has been used to address these needs, and a program to treat maternal depression is described as an example of this approach. Challenges encountered are also discussed.     

Environmental Pollen Trapped by Tobacco Leaf as Indicators of the Provenance of Counterfeit Cigarette Products: A Preliminary Investigation and Test of Concept

Abstract: The global trade in counterfeit tobacco products is increasingly taking market share from legal brands in many parts of the developed world, with attendant adverse economic, health, criminal, and other societal impacts. Knowing the geographical source is central to developing new strategies for curbing this illicit trade, and here, the potential of environmental pollen extracted from manufactured cigarettes is examined. Two samples representing U.S. and Chinese brands were investigated for their pollen content. Results indicate that tobacco leaf very efficiently captures environmental pollen (about 1800 and 12,600 grains per cigarette, respectively) with no detectable self‐contamination by the tobacco plant. In both cases, the flora is typical of open space environments, but pollen type counts indicate very different distributions of species. This preliminary investigation indicates that palynology has the potential to constrain geographical source(s) of tobacco, particularly if regionally localized species can be recognized among the pollen.