More politicians,more corruption: evidence from Swedish municipalities

In the literature on political economy and public choice, it is typically assumed that government size correlates positively with public corruption. The empirical literature, however, is inconclusive, owing to both measurement problems and endogeneity. This paper creates a corruption index based on original data from a survey covering top politicians and civil servants in all Swedish municipalities. The effect of more politicians on corruption problems is analyzed using discontinuities in the required minimum size of local councils. Despite the fact that Sweden consistently has been ranked among the least corrupt countries in the world, the survey suggest that non-trivial corruption problems are present in Sweden. Municipalities with more local council seats have more reported corruption problems, and the regression discontinuity design suggests that the effect is causal.     

Belief Publics or Elites?

At first sight, Danish survey data seem to support Philip Converse's theory on (the absence of) coherent belief systems in mass publics. An alternative model is presented, however, accounting for the same data; the existence, within a larger population, of "belief publics' holding differently structured belief systems, may distort measurement of belief coherence. The data support this model; different belief structures do exist. Finally, there is no sign of 'elites' with more coherent belief systems within the sample, although such elites should exist according to Converse's theory. Therefore, the model of 'belief publics' is regarded as the more plausible explanation for the apparent absence of patterned beliefs. The article is primarily concerned with methodological aspects of belief systems analysis, and warns against taking national correlations of opinions at face value; especially the possible existence of 'split correlations' may seriously distort measurement of, and theorizing on, belief systems.     

Assessment of violence risk in youth for juvenile court: relevant factors for clinical judgment

BACKGROUND: Assessment of violence risk in youth for juvenile court needs to be improved. AIM: To determine which items of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) are recorded in pre-trial mental health evaluations and which of these items are associated with the clinical judgment of the risk of violent recidivism. METHOD: A total of one hundred forensic diagnostic juvenile court files were rated with regard to the presence or absence of the thirty SAVRY risk items: ten historical, six contextual and eight individual items, and six protective items. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to examine the relationship between SAVRY risk items and the clinical judgment of violence risk. RESULTS: Most SAVRY-items had been recorded in the files. However, five historical items and the contextual item 'rejection by peers' did not appear in 25-62% of the files. Especially SAVRY items like 'negative-attitudes' and 'psychopathic traits' were the most powerful predictors for clinical judgment of high violence risk. Unexpectedly, historical items played a minor role in clinical judgment. CONCLUSION: Prospective research is needed with the use of SAVRY-items to improve evidence based violence risk assessment in court ordered mental health evaluations of youngsters.     

Die Verankerung von Selbstverwaltung und Sozialpartnerschaft in der Bundesverfassung

Die Verankerung der Selbstverwaltung im B-VG ist in der medialen Öffentlichkeit auf heftige Kritik gestoßen. Im Folgenden zeigt ein Mitglied jener Expertengruppe, die diese Novelle vorbereitete, dass damit im Prinzip nur bestehende Judikatur kodifiziert sowie eine systematische Regelung statt verstreuter Verfassungsbestimmungen (in Vorbereitung einer noch nicht abgeschlossenen Verfassungsrechtsbereinigung) geschaffen wurde. Neu ist ein gesetzesergänzendes Verordnungsrecht der Selbstverwaltungskörper. Neu ist auch die verfassungsrechtliche Verankerung der Sozialpartnerschaft, die sich aber im Rahmen des durch EU-Recht Vorgegebenen hält und gegenüber der gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung offen bleibt.     

The Human Rights Review Tribunal and the rights of health and disability consumers in New Zealand

In New Zealand where there is a statutory bar on the right to sue for compensatory damages arising out of personal injury, and therefore injury arising out of negligent health care, the Human Rights Review Tribunal, in certain circumstances, provides relief for people who are aggrieved by the care they have received from a provider of a health or disability service. That relief may range from a declaration that the provider has breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights to awards of compensatory and exemplary damages. The article explores the use of this tribunal by the Director of Proceedings of the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner in holding providers of health and disability services accountable and obtaining relief for consumers and their families.     

Myths and numbers on whistleblower rewards

Whistleblower rewards have been used extensively in the United States to limit procurement fraud and tax evasion, and since the financial crisis their use has been extended to fight financial fraud. There is currently debate over their introduction in Europe, but authorities there appear considerably less enthusiastic than their American counterparts. While it is important that these tools are scrutinized in a lively democratic debate, much has been written – even by important institutional players – that has no empirical backing or openly contrasts the available evidence from independent research. In this paper we review some of the most debated issues regarding the potential benefits and costs of financial incentives for whistleblowers, while trying to separate existing evidence from conjectures with no empirical support, and myths in contrast to available evidence.     

Die Zukunft der Verfassung

Aus Anlass des 90. Geburtstages des B-VG unternimmt es der Beitrag, in mittel- und langfristiger Perspektive zukünftige Herausforderungen für die ?sterreichische Bundesverfassung zu identifizieren. Ausgangspunkt ist eine Gegenüberstellung der ?nderungsh?ufigkeit und detailreichen Regelungsdichte der Bundesverfassung im Vergleich zu einer insbesondere in der Rechtsprechung immer bedeutender werdenden, im Verfassungstext selbst aber kaum verankerten verfassungsrechtlichen Grundordnung. Mittelfristig identifiziert der Verfasser die Bundesstaatsreform als unverzichtbare Herausforderung; weniger Gewicht wird demgegenüber der Notwendigkeit einer Grundrechtsreform beigemessen. L?ngerfristig sind insbesondere überwachungsstaat, Gentechnologie und Migration und Multikulturalismus die zentralen Herausforderungen an die Verfassung. Freilich nicht nur an die nationale sondern an die ?sterreichische Verfassung im europ?ischen Verfassungsverbund.     

The dynamics of doping: Lance Armstrong,the United States Anti‐Doping Agency and the regulatory governance of professional cycling

On 10 October 2012, the United States Anti‐Doping Agency published an investigative report on the use of performance‐enhancing drugs by professional cyclist Lance Armstrong. The report paints a disconcerting picture of the doping program that Armstrong and his US Postal Service professional cycling team managed to carry out for several years, despite being subject to many inspections. It contains a wealth of unique empirical data, including a large number of affidavits. In this article, we use this data to answer the question of how Armstrong was able to prolong prohibited behavior. In doing so, we focus in particular on the interactions between Armstrong and the many doping inspectors he encountered. Our analysis results in a variety of answers to this question. First, inspectors were confronted with an inspectee who behaved as an “amoral calculator” and acted strategically. The strategies of inspectors were not adequately attuned to such behavior. Second, the team's internal professional control was neutralized by various factors, including its strict hierarchy and the many friendships within the team. And, finally, the environment created strong incentives to start doping and subsequently deny doing so. We argue that the dynamics underlying doping necessitate a combination of measures to regulate the use of performance‐enhancing drugs in the field of professional cycling and beyond.     

Identity Formation in Adolescence: Change or Stability?

The aim of this five-wave longitudinal study of 923 early to middle adolescents (50.7% boys; 49.3% girls) and 390 middle to late adolescents (43.3% boys and 56.7% girls) is to provide a comprehensive view on change and stability in identity formation from ages 12 to 20. Several types of change and stability (i.e., mean-level change, rank-order stability, and profile similarity) were assessed for three dimensions of identity formation (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration), using adolescent self-report questionnaires. Results revealed changes in identity dimensions towards maturity, indicated by a decreasing tendency for reconsideration, increasingly more in-depth exploration, and increasingly more stable identity dimension profiles. Mean levels of commitment remained stable, and rank-order stability of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration did not change with age. Overall, girls were more mature with regard to identity formation in early adolescence, but boys had caught up with them by late adolescence. Taken together, our findings indicate that adolescent identity formation is guided by progressive changes in the way adolescents deal with commitments, rather than by changes in the commitments themselves.     

Identity Processes and Coping Strategies in College Students: Short-Term Longitudinal Dynamics and the Role of Personality

Coping strategies and identity processes are hypothesized to influence one another over time. This three-wave longitudinal study (N?=?458; 84.9% women) examined, for the first time, how and to what extent identity processes (i.e., commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration) and coping strategies (i.e., problem solving, social support seeking, and avoidance) predicted one another over time. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that processes of identity exploration seemed especially to be intertwined with different coping strategies over time, suggesting that identity exploration may resemble problem-solving behavior on the pathway to an achieved identity. Commitment processes were found to be influenced by certain coping strategies, although identification with commitment also negatively influenced avoidance coping. These temporal sequences remained significant when controlling for baseline levels of Big Five personality traits. Hence, evidence was obtained for reciprocal pathways indicating that coping strategies and identity processes reinforce one another over time in college students.