Professionalism and accountability. Controlling health services in the United States and West Germany

This paper examines the new Professional Standards Review Organizations (PSROs) program in light of a similar program ("Economic Monitoring") that has been used in West Germany for over forty years. In the first section the PSRO program is described as government-mandated peer review by professional organizations, and is compared with that of the West Germany system. The second section argues that the PSROs are likely to strengthen the organization of established medicine, to increase the bargaining power of professional organizations, and to further insulate professional behavior from public scrutiny. The third section describes some of the effects of bureaucratic rigidities in peer review on the practice of medicine: the preservation of old technologies, the development of fixed patterns of practice, and the strengthening of the technical and interventionist biases in medical care. The final section evaluates the PSRO program as a complete delegation of congressional authority and a failure of Congress to set any rules for the development and application of norms and standards. The lack of any mechanism for accountability of the PSROs to public and choices is emphasized.     

Organizational Structure as a Determinant of Academic Patent and Licensing Behavior: An Exploratory Study of Duke, Johns Hopkins, and Pennsylvania State Universities

This paper examines the influences of university organizational structure on technology transfer performance. The analysis treats the organizational structure of the technology-transfer office as an independent variable that accounts, in part, for measured differences in inter-institutional patenting, licensing, and sponsored research activities. We derive and investigate three hypotheses that link attributes of organizational form – information processing capacity, coordination capability and incentive alignment – to technology transfer outcomes. A detailed analysis of three major research universities – Johns Hopkins University, Pennsylvania State University, and Duke University – provides evidence of the existence of alternative organizational structures. The data also suggest that these organizational capabilities result in differences in technology transfer activity.     

The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and the Successful Sexual Assault Prosecution

In recent years, specialized nursing skills have proliferated. On the leading edge of this phenomenon are sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs). This article, and its supporting research, examines the relationship between the SANE, the prosecutor's office, and the disposition of sexual assault cases in Texas. All prosecutors in this highly populous state were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the contributions of SANEs to the criminal justice process. Sexual assault cases present at each stage of prosecution unique obstacles to conviction, as thoroughly explored in other publications. The gauntlet of trial is intimidating to many, if not all, of the victims of this offense. Attempts to protect the victim from unnecessary and irrelevant personal attacks have been somewhat successful. SANEs, invariably volunteers with specialized forensic training, provide professional evidence collection and continuity of support for victims and are a pragmatic innovation in criminal justice. In this article, their role is examined through the lens of the prosecutors, the criminal justice officials most significant and influential in determining the ultimate resolution of complaints filed by victims of crime. The officials polled expressed great confidence in the abilities, commitment, and overall contribution of SANEs at each phase of the process, including trial. The progress and impact of this forensic specialization in gaining judicial recognition as an expert witness is also examined.     

The British government and the sale of arms to the lesser European powers, 1936-39

For much of the nineteenth century, Canadian education-related international activities resided outside the realm of traditional diplomacy. This situation was exacerbated by Canada's colonial link with Great Britain. Obstacles that prevented educationalists from playing a more substantive role in diplomacy were local, imperial, and ecclesiastical in origin. Educational activities were also a tool in the service of governments in the era between the zenith of British Imperialism in the 1890s and the founding of the United Nations in 1945. In the post-1945 era there was greater collaboration between the federal Ministry of External Affairs and provincial ministries of education. Education also emerged in the late twentieth century as part of the new diplomacy. A flowering of new international governmental organizations dedicated to furthering creative diplomacy brought new energy to this field.     

Taking 'WA Inc' Seriously: An Analysis of the Idea and its Application to West Australian Politics

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the term WA Inc (or WA Incorporated) became a by-word in the West Australian community for the failings, especially in their commercial activities, of the West Australian Labor governments of that period. Despite popular and academic interest in the notion of 'WA Inc', it is arguable that the conceptual linkage between 'business' and government, once central to popular interpretations of the term, remains under-analysed. This article has two main purposes: to illuminate usage of 'WA Inc' by identifying several basic referents of the term and relating these to popular criticisms of the West Australian government in the 1980s and to determine the importance of those criticisms, thereby contributing to the larger debate about capacity of government to emulate private sector business.