Government capacity to contract: health sector experience and lessons

Using case-study material of contracting for clinical and ancillary services in the health care sector of developing countries, this article examines the capacities required for successful contracting and the main constraints which developing country governments face in developing and implementing contractual arrangements. Required capacities differ according to the type of service being contracted and the nature of the contractor. Contracting for clinical as opposed to ancillary services poses considerably greater challenges in terms of the information required for monitoring and contract design. Yet, in some of the case-studies examined, problems arose owing to government's limited capacity to perform even very basic functions such as paying contractors in a timely manner and keeping records of contracts negotiated. The external environment within which contracting takes place is also critical; in particular, the case-studies indicate that contracts embedded in slow-moving, rule-ridden bureaucracies will face substantial constraints to successful implementation. The article suggests that governments need to assess required capacities on a service-by-service basis. For any successful contracting, basic administrative systems must be functioning. In addition, there should be development of guidelines for contracting, clear lines of communication between all agents involved in the contracting process, and regular evaluations of contractual arrangements. Finally, in cases where government has weak capacity, direct service provision may be a lower-risk delivery strategy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resources, Group Conflict and Symbols: Explaining Anti-Immigration Hostility in Britain

This article analyses the causes of variation in attitudes to immigration policy in the UK. The key theoretical approaches emphasised are: the role of self-interest; group conflict over resources; and group conflict over important symbols of Britishness. The connection between perceptions of immigration and crime is also investigated. Based on the 2003 British Social Attitudes Survey, the findings indicate that self-interest has very little bearing on opposition to immigration and that British citizens instead appear to be most concerned with threats to ingroup resources posed by immigration, threats to the shared customs and traditions of British society (particularly those posed by Muslims) and – to a lesser extent – the potential for increased crime that may result from immigration.     

Commission Impossible? A New Approach To Workplace Relations in the PSMPC

This is a short story about turning commitment into action. It tells how the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission negotiated with its employees to create a certified agreement under the new Workplace Relations Act 1996. The authors conclude that a careful, consultative process has built greater trust within their organisation.     

Population,resources, and technology: political implications of the environmental crisis

An examination is made of the political and potentially conflicting implications of the current global predicament with regard to population growth, finite resources, and the negative environmental influence of technological development. The problem is borken down and discussed in the following manner: 1) the international implications of population dynamics, resource constraints and distribution, and technological developments; 2) the interdependencies and reverberating effects associated with efforts to cope with any one dimension singly; and 3) the ways by which the conduct of research in the academic community can address itself more clearly to environmental problems. A prime objective is to highlight the implications for the developed as well as the less developed world. Thus, the empirical analysis centers around Japan, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and the U.S.     

Prenatal diagnosis,genetics and reproductive decision-making

Recent developments in genetic science will potentially have a significant impact on reproductive decision-making by adding to the list of conditions which can be diagnosed through prenatal diagnosis. This article analyses the jurisdictional variations that exist in Australian abortion laws and examines the extent to which Australian abortion laws specifically provide for termination of pregnancy on the grounds of fetal disability. The article also examines the potential impact of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis on reproductive decision-making and considers the meaning of reproductive autonomy in the context of the new genetics.