Assessing Legitimate Structures for the Making of Transnational Labour Law: The Durability of Corporatism

In recent years, there has been greater scrutiny of the legitimacyof governance within international and regional institutionsand an emerging interest in deliberative democracy. This paperexamines the potential impact of these trends on the survivalof current mechanisms for the making of transnational labourlaw, which may be thought to reflect corporatist rather thanpluralist or deliberative practices. We focus on two examples:the tripartite constitutional foundation of the InternationalLabour Organisation, which ensures that employer and workerrepresentatives share in standard-setting alongside governmentrepresentatives, and the predominantly bipartite process ofsocial dialogue between management and labour for the formulationof European Community social policy. Despite significant differencesin approach, both organisations have chosen to prioritise participationby trade unions and employer representatives within designatedbargaining structures that are ostensibly designed to achievesome balance in their relative influence; however, the reasonsfor this preference have not always been apparent. This paperinvestigates how corporatist structures have been adapted forapplication at the international and European level, and seeksto analyse their potential for legitimacy, and thereby theirdurability.     

Overview of: “Getting the Law Involved a Quasi-Experiment in Early Intervention Involving Collaboration Between Schools and the District Attorney's Office”

Research Summary Precursors to serious and chronic delinquency often emerge in childhood, stimulating calls for early interventions. Most intervention efforts rely solely on social service programs—often to the exclusion of the juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system has been reluctant to become involved in the lives of relatively young children fearing net widening or further straining resources that could be used for older youth with documented delinquency histories. We report here the results of an early intervention program sponsored by and housed in a district attorney's office in Louisiana. Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined outcomes associated with program involvement as well as whether the obvious involvement of the prosecutor's office was associated with further reductions in problem behavior.

• 1 : The results revealed that significant reductions in problem behaviors of young children could be attributed to program participation.
• 2 : The obvious involvement of the district attorney's office, however, was associated with limited, albeit significant, reductions in specific problem behaviors.
• 3 : These findings show that successful early intervention efforts can be made part of the juvenile justice system and that in some limited situations prosecutorial involvement can result in positive outcomes.

Policy Implications The expansion of early intervention programming into the juvenile justice system offers opportunities to address early problem behavior. Our study and its results have the following policy implications.

• 1 : Closely coupled partnerships between schools and the juvenile justice system can effectively address, mitigate, and perhaps prevent an early onset of antisocial behavior.
• 2 : Even so, coupling early intervention efforts to the mission of the juvenile justice system warrants debate. Net-widening, resource diffusion, and the potential for officials to rely too heavily on the deterrent characteristics of the justice system represent serious threats to the integrity of effective early intervention programs.
• 3 : We suggest substantial debate and consideration is given before coupling early intervention efforts to the juvenile justice system.

     

Position Effect on Facial Soft Tissue Depths: A Sonographic Investigation

The head is positioned erect for an approximation; yet most facial soft tissue depths (FSTD) used are measured from supine subjects. Depth difference might be significant, but there is a paucity of data to verify. This study compared erect and supine values for 17 landmarks from 30 healthy New Zealand (European population affinity) women (18–30 or 40–55 years) in erect then supine positions. Height, weight, and sonographic FSTD data, totaling 1020 measurements, were obtained. Three midline and seven averaged bilateral values were compared using ANOVA, p values, and Pearson's correlations. Correlative strength of age and body mass index, BMI (kg/m²), was determined by values. Results showed averaged erect and supine differences were significant for four of ten FSTDs. Between individuals, difference was various and not unidirectional. In conclusion, depth differences were observed but not all significant or unidirectional, BMI significantly influenced nine FSTD values, but age group did not.     

Clarifying the Status of Policy

This essay examines ‘What is a policy?’ from the viewpoint of a public servant trying to make sense of the maze of official statements, procedures, guidelines and various other expressions of intra‐governmental opinion that might bear upon a discretionary decision. It seeks to clarify the meaning and status of policy, to explain how to determine cases which are not covered by explicit statements of policy, and to decide how much relative weight to accord to various policy documents and circumstances. Although it does not set out to rehash the old debate about the distinction between politics and administration (often misunderstood as a distinction between policy and administration), it finds Woodrow Wilson's 1886 aphorism on this subject a good place to start.     

New Labour in Perspective: A Comment on Rubinstein

In a recent issue of this journal, David Rubinstein (2000) questioned Stephen Driver and Luke Martell's characterisation of New Labour as a fundamental break with the past. Rubinstein notes important continuities between 'Old' Labour governments and the current Blair government, and correctly challenges Driver and Martell's simple 'old'/'new' portrayal. However, he underestimates the extent to which contextual changes impact upon a left-of-centre government's ability to achieve its aims.