Assessing excellence poorly: The bottom line in local government

Methods and outcomes of local governments' assessments of service excellence were examined in a meta-analysis of 261 citizen surveys administered during the last ten years to more than 200,000 U.S. residents who were intended to represent over 30 million Americans. Evaluations of local government services were calculated for good and bad assessment procedures. While assessment methods were poor whether or not applied by outside consultants, good survey methods tended to provide the same account of service delivery as did bad survey methods. Despite the meager correlation of method with outcome, improvement of assessment methods was recommended as a necessary, albeit insufficient, step in raising the enthusiasm of public administrators for meaningful outcome measures.     

Generational changes and party identification

The party identification of nonblack voters, separated by region, is examined within three broadly bounded cohorts or political generations consisting of those whose first votes were cast prior to 1932, those of the New Deal era whose first votes were cast between 1932 and 1964, and the post-New Deal generation who have come of voting age since 1964. Inter- and intragenerational comparisons are presented for three political eras reflected in NES data: 1952–60, 1964–76, and 1980–88. Outside the South, the post-New Deal generation was more pro-Democratic in the period 1964–76 than was the older New Deal generation. However, they also led the surge away from the Democrats and to the Republican party between 1980 and 1988. Nevertheless, in the latter period they were less dominantly Republican than were the members of the New Deal generation. In the South the better educated voters of the post-New Deal generation led the realignment that largely eroded the Democratic plurality between 1960 and 1988. Nationally, the policy preferences of the post-New Deal generation in the 1980s further polarized party differences between Democrats and Republicans. This occurred largely because of the substantially greater liberal cast of post-New Deal Democrats' preferences. On other issues, party differences were maintained, but Republicans as well as Independents and Democrats in the post-New Deal generation exhibited visibly more liberal preferences than did their older partisan counterparts in the New Deal generation.     

Chengdu Impression

Most of my high school experience wasspent studying Chinese on my own and working toward my ultimate goal of mastering a language and through this learn more about my own and others as well. First, it is important to understand a background of my senior year in high school when I went abroad to China.I arrived in Chengdu, capital city     

Review essay / the utility of torture

Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clarke, Torture: When the Unthinkable is Morally Permissible Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2007, pp. xiii + 114.     

Fiduciary Obligation in Clinical Research

Heated debate surrounds the question whether the relationship between physician-researcher and patient-subject is governed by a duty of care. Miller and Weijer argue that fiduciary law provides a strong legal foundation for this duty, and for articulating the terms of the relationship between physician-researcher and patient-subject.     

Through the Eyes of a Father: How PRWORA Affects Non-Resident Fathers and Their Children

Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity ReconciliationAct (PRWORA), new laws have been enacted that focus on reducingsingle-parent families’ reliance on state assistance bycollecting child support from non-custodial parents (typicallyfathers). These laws pressure fathers to pay child support throughstricter penalties for non-payment, but do not help fathersovercome barriers (eg, unstable employment) that prevent payment.In addition, PRWORA does not help fathers gain access to theirchildren, which, according to research, promotes payment andchild welfare. A literature review indicates that children whogrow up without a father experience more psychosocial difficultyand diminished well-being compared to children who grow up ina two parent household. Thus, it is recommended that the federalgovernment make greater efforts to assist fathers in their abilityto provide emotional and developmental guidance for their childrenthrough father involvement programmes. Programmes such as mediation,parenting plans, joint custody, and parental education promotethe well-being of the children and encourage non-residentialparents to fulfill their financial commitments to their offspring,reducing the need for state aid.