Children's acquisition of political opinions

This paper reports and discusses the results of a survey of English and Welsh schoolchildren aged 11–18, conducted in March–May 2003, covering their attitudes to and knowledge of politics, politicians and political issues. It concentrates in particular on the way these attitudes develop as pupils get older, and also discusses the sources of information on which young people depend, and which may be the key to developing this neglected political ‘market’. It finds that pupils are unenthused by politics, but not ‘apathetic’. Both knowledge and interest increase as pupils grow older; however, negative or cynical attitudes to politicians and to political parties seem to grow at the same time. Yet young people also hold positive attitudes to the electoral process in general, though many do not accept that they will have a ‘duty to vote’ when old enough. The media, though distrusted, is the principal source of information, though it is clear that the family is highly influential; schools seem less influential. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

The Politics of Court Budgeting in the States: Is Judicial Independence Threatened by the Budgetary Process?

Judicial independence in American politics has been hailed as a means of preserving individual liberty and minority rights against the actions of the majoritarian branches of government. Recently, however, legal professionals and scholars of the courts have begun to question the magnitude of judicial independence, suggesting that budgeting and finance issues pose a threat to judicial independence. This article explores whether state judiciaries are being threatened on this front by soliciting the perceptions of key state officials. Using surveys of court administrators, executive budget officers, and legislative budget officers in the states, we examine three aspects of the politics of judicial budgeting: competing for scarce resources, interbranch competition, and pressure to raise revenues. The survey responses suggest that, in a substantial number of states, judicial independence has, at times, been threatened by interbranch competition and pressures to raise revenues.     

Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army: the new order no one ordered

For almost 18 years, the so-called ‘Lord’s ResistanceArmy’ (LRA) has waged war on the Ugandan government andits own people, the Acholi. The robustness of the conflict indicatesthat the forces working against peace outstrip those workingfor it. Analysis of the conflict is often reduced to describingthe LRA rebellion as the handiwork of a religious fanatic. However,the social disorder that the National Resistance Movement, ledby current President Museveni, inherited in 1986 after the downfallof the Acholi-led Okello regime, contained the root causes forcontinued insurgency. These were amplified by external circumstancesthat created the operational leeway for rebellion, gatheringforce in the absence of a credible Acholi political leadership.A deliverance couched in religious discourse resolved the quandary.The emergence and transformation of the LRA can be made comprehensibleonly in relation, or even in opposition, to the emergence anddownfall of the Holy Spirit Mobile Forces (HSMF) as a radicalstructure of rejection. Millenarian religious justificationcontextualizes violence and the use of terror as a means ofimmobilization and control of the population. As the characterand composition of the LRA evolved to include the kidnappingof children, and as the terror escalated, the insurgency becameincreasingly ensnared in a web of internal contradictions. Theresult is that the LRA has exacerbated the process of dehumanizationthe HSMF first set out to counter.     

The Struggle for Recognition: Diplomatic Competition Between China and Taiwan in Oceania

The PRC and Taiwan are competing to gain diplomatic recognition from Pacific Islands states, a number of which recognise Taiwan and serve as a barrier to its international isolation. Since much of Oceania is in Australia’s sphere of influence, this struggle has often involved Canberra. This paper focuses on the intensifying conflict–with conclusions about the local political economic situations of the countries in Oceania that are most likely to switch recognition, the dilemmas that the issue poses for Australia and its alliance with the US, and the game theory of these auctions of diplomatic recognition. The rental of recognition is analysed as a “sovereignty business” in which some Pacific Islands states engage—similar to the offshore financial centres which are prevalent in the region. Anthony van Fossen is Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences in the School of Arts, Media and Culture and member of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University. He has written extensively about the Pacific Islands, particularly in relation to its offshore financial centres and ‘sovereignty businesses’. His most recent book is South Pacific Futures: Oceania Toward 2050 (Brisbane: Foundation for Development Cooperation, 2005), the first comprehensive survey of expert views of the future of the region.     

An Analysis of Differences in Work Motivation between Public and Private Sector Organizations

This study contributes to our understanding of the differences in work motivation between the public and private sectors. Data from a survey of 3,314 private sector and 409 public sector employees in Belgium strongly confirm previous research showing that public sector employees are less extrinsically motivated. Differences in hierarchical level are more important determinants of work motivation than sectoral differences. In addition, most observed differences can be wholly or partially explained by differences in job content, not by the sector itself. Evidence is presented to show that motivational differences can be explained by a positive choice of work–life balance.     

Charity,Philanthropy, Public Service,or Enterprise: What Are the Big Questions of Nonprofit Management Today?

"Nonprofit sector" issues, both in public discourse and pedagogy, are too narrowly cast as problems confronting public-serving nonprofits and grant-making foundations. Consisting also of membership organizations, educational institutions, and political pressure groups, the sector constitutes a major force in society which, in its interactive entirety, might better be termed a "social economy." This social economy both influences and is shaped by public administration, and it is now very much under public scrutiny. The author raises seminal questions that challenge the mission, management, and resources of this critical sector of society.     

The Ethnicity of Adolescent Research

The study of adolescence may have come of age, but it remains debatable whether research appropriately considers the ethnic diversity of adolescence. Given a heightened interest in supporting a more inclusive approach to adolescent research, this study takes stock of how seriously we actually are pursuing a more inclusive study of adolescence. To do so, this study examines the extent to which six leading journals dedicated to the study of adolescence publish articles that include ethnic participants, report the nature of that inclusion, and present findings that consider the ethnic dimensions of their samples. Although results reveal some diversity among journals, trends do emerge. For example, the study of adolescence is quite international: overall, more than 40% of 1283 empirical articles (published from 2000 to and including 2006) report findings from non-U.S. samples. If we remove international studies from our analyses, we find that the vast majority of studies (93%) describe the ethnic composition of their samples. That finding diverges considerably from reports from other fields of research. Also unlike other fields of research, studies from journals on adolescence do tend to include ethnic groups. The majority (68%) of articles actually do not have samples with a majority of participants from European American groups. Over 40% of articles present empirical analyses relating to identified ethnic groups, and at least 19% present findings that focus on one ethnic group (rather than comparing one to another). We do, however, find relatively ignored groups (such as Native and Asian Americans) and a tendency to lump diverse groups into five dominant ethnic groups or into “other” groups. We place these findings in the context of research on adolescence and explore their significance. Roger J.R. Levesque is Professor of Criminal Justice, Indiana University. He is Editor of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.