The state of public affairs after 11 September

There is a curiously subtle relationship between the public affairs function and the political world which it seeks to influence. A shock to the political system of the magnitude of the attack on the World Trade Center has effects on the practice of public affairs. Some of these impacts are obvious. Others will only become apparent with the passage of time. In its 15 years of existence the European Centre for Public Affairs has sought to be a ‘safe space’ in which the elements of the political world could meet and discuss in an independent manner and with a degree of academic rigour. From the moment of our founding, we rejected the idea of a world divided between government and lobbyists. It has always been our view that journalists and the media, lobbyists, both from civil society and from the corporate sector, and ministers, members of parliament and civil servants all form part of one seamless political world. They have the same fascination with power and with process. They are intimately and umbilically linked. With this holistic view of the political world, it is natural for the ECPA to be interested in assessing the impact of the events of 11 September on the practice of public affairs. Jointly with The Journal of Public Affairs and The Public Affairs Newsletter, we created a seminar at Chatham House on 9th January, 2002 entitled ‘Public Affairs and the World Crisis: What has changed since September 11th?’ Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

The Effect of Body Mass on Outdoor Adult Human Decomposition

Forensic taphonomy explores factors impacting human decomposition. This study investigated the effect of body mass on the rate and pattern of adult human decomposition. Nine males and three females aged 49–95 years ranging in mass from 73 to 159 kg who were donated to the Complex for Forensic Anthropology Research between December 2012 and September 2015 were included in this study. Kelvin accumulated degree days (KADD) were used to assess the thermal energy required for subjects to reach several total body score (TBS) thresholds: early decomposition (TBS ≥6.0), TBS ≥12.5, advanced decomposition (TBS ≥19.0), TBS ≥23.0, and skeletonization (TBS ≥27.0). Results indicate no significant correlation between body mass and KADD at any TBS threshold. Body mass accounted for up to 24.0% of variation in decomposition rate depending on stage, and minor differences in decomposition pattern were observed. Body mass likely has a minimal impact on postmortem interval estimation.     

Whitewashing: How Obama Used Implicit Racial Cues as a Defense Against Political Rumors

Political Behavior - Although Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, some Whites nevertheless penalized him because of his race. In part, these penalties involved persistent rumors about his...     

The organizational justice effect among criminal justice employees: A meta-analysis*

Organizational justice has been shown to be an important predictor of criminal justice employees’ work-related perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. In this study, we take stock of the organizational justice effect on criminal justice employees’ work outcomes by subjecting the literature to a meta-analysis. Multilevel modeling based on 1,924 effect size estimates drawn from 143 studies (95 independent data sets) was used to establish the empirical status of the organizational justice effect. The results indicate a sizeable relationship between organizational justice and justice system employee work outcomes (Mz = .256, CI = [.230, .283]). The findings also demonstrate that the organizational justice effect size varies slightly across several methodological variations. Specifically, the organizational justice effect size is larger when the concept is measured with scales that contain survey items tapping into all four dimensions of justice. Also, we found that outcome type, presence of confounding mechanisms, research design, and sample characteristics moderate the justice effect. We conclude that organizational justice theory is a useful framework for developing a more theoretically informed understanding of justice system employees’ work outcomes. We discuss the theoretical implications of the meta-analytic findings and avenues for future research based on the results.     

Death at high altitude in the hypobaric chamber

A small number of accidental and suicidal deaths have occurred in the hypobaric, or high altitude, chamber. A case of an unusual suicide in a hypobaric chamber is presented. The changes that resulted from decompression and hypoxia are discussed.     

The sense and the nonsense of school effectiveness

Hanushek misinterprets the data on which he bases his conclusion and draws inappropriate policy implications from them. The goals of a school system affect how its resources are used. Educational goals are highly diverse. Accordingly, the measures of output used in Hanushek's studies are inappropriate. To develop more effective measures, the nature of the teaching and learning process must be much better understood. Fortunately, a solid beginning has already been made among specialists in education on that critical task; but more work is needed.