Deepwater or Troubled Water? Principal–Agent Theory and Performance-Based Contracting in the Coast Guard’s Deepwater Modernization Program

In the mid-1990s, the United States Coast Guard began planning a modernization effort known as the Deepwater program to replace an aging inventory of cutters, aircraft, and small boats. This effort involved a consortium of corporations to develop a “system of systems” to meet performance-based requirements and build the new equipment. This article examines the Deepwater program through the lens of multilayered principal–agent theory and evaluates the performance-based contracting (PBC) method used to alleviate strains linked to accountability from the principal–agent relationship. The findings help better understand the dilemmas prescribed from multilayered principal–agent theory and PBC by illustrating the accountability issues faced by smaller organizations when engaging in complex, large-scale procurement.     

Apocalypse Now!: From Freud,Through Lacan,to Stiegler’s Psychoanalytic ‘Survival Project

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - The objective of this article is to explore the value of psychoanalysis in the early...     

The US stay-behind operation in Iran, 1948-1953

This article explains a US initiative to prepare resistance forces for use in the event of a Soviet invasion or communist attempt to seize power in Iran during the early Cold War era. It begins by discussing similar ‘stay-behind’ operations in Europe in this era and the conditions that led US officials to develop one in Iran. It then explains what this stay-behind operation consisted of and why US officials eventually abandoned it. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the stay-behind operation in Iran differed from those in Europe and the important role it played in the decision-making that led to the 1953 coup in Iran.     

Does Nationality Matter? A Comparative Assessment of Perceptions Related to Litigiousness among Americans and Germans

Prior research has examined the salience of civil rights and freedom, core tenets of American life, and their impact on court accessibility and litigiousness. We extend this research by using a nationally representative sample of US and German residents to examine the impact of reported civic involvement and the perceived effectiveness of these activities on three outcomes related to litigiousness – use of a lawyer, seriously considering suing, and actually suing. The findings indicate that, with the exception of boycotting, civic involvement is not a significant predictor of litigiousness. Those who believe litigating is an effective way to participate in public life are more likely to litigate. Notably, Americans also are less likely than Germans to see litigation as effective and are substantially less likely to sue.     

What Exactly Have We Learned from Decades of Applying “Business Solutions” to Public Organizations?

Editor's Note: The Perspectives in this issue are from prominent higher education leaders with roots in public administration and public policy. I asked the contributors to reflect upon experiences or principles grounded in our field that they have found meaningful during the course of their careers. My thanks to Rebecca Blank, Michael Crow, Mark Emmert and Kenneth Ruscio for their thoughtful and stimulating essays. JLP     

The Universal Adversary will attack: pigs,pirates, zombies,Satan and the class war

This article explores a category to have recently emerged out of the national security state: the Universal Adversary. The category appears in emergency planning documents and suggests a new way of thinking about the enemy that is becoming embedded in the logic of security and emergency. However, the radical expansiveness of the category offers new possibilities for thinking about the “universality” with which the enemy of bourgeois order has historically been considered and offers new ways of connecting this universality with a particular figure: the disgruntled worker.