POLICY-MAKING AND THE SCOTTISH OFFICE: THE DESIGNATION OF CUMBERNAULD NEW TOWN

The role of the Scottish Office in policy-making has been subject to a number of interpretations. It is difficult to regard it as having its own reserved policy spheres but it is clear that in certain circumstances it has the ability to forge its own policy lines. In the 1950s, in contradiction to the stated policy of the then Conservative Government. the Scottish Office was able to secure the designation of a new town at Cumbernauld. The main impetus for this policy came from the civil servants in the Department of Health for Scotland, seeking to preserve the philosophy of the 1946 Clyde Valley Plan. The case study throws considerable light on the bargaining process within government, the role of the secretary of state as spokesman for Scottish interests and the way in which the Scottish Office can gain Cabinet approval for its proposals.     

THE PUBLIC SERVICE ORIENTATION: ISSUES AND DILEMMAS

The public service orientation sets service for the public as the key organizational value, providing motivation and purposes both for the local authority and its staff. This article describes the public service orientation before focusing on the major issues which this orientation raises. In particular, it examines service for, not to, the public; the ways in which the public service Orientation differs from consumerism; and the relationship to the political process. Finally, the article surveys the dilemmas posed by the public service orientation.     

Making a Nation in Kenya

The address that follows was given by in the Hon. Michael BlundellM.L.C. former Minister of Agriculture, Kenya, at a joint meetingof the Royal African Society and the Royal Commonwealth Societyon May 7,1959. Mr. Brian Macdona, Vice Chairman of the Councilof the Royal African Society, took the chair.     

POLITICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE COLLECTIVE ACTION PROBLEM

Abstract This paper juxtaposes two important political solutions to the collective action problem in the context of a common set of core assumptions. Once the core assumptions have been discussed, the distinction between the consumption and the production problems associated with public goods provision is elaborated. These assumptions and this distinction are applied to a comparison between a theory of individualistic anarchy, and a theory of competitive political entrepreneurs. Revisions of both are required to enable them to be placed within this framework. While the two theories are neither exclusive nor exhaustive they can, between them, be used to understand public goods provision in a number of different circumstances.     

LEGAL STIGMA FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION

A field experiment demonstrated that (1) the more serious a person's criminal history involving marijuana, the fewer positive responses were received from potential employers and (2) positions requiring bonding received fewer acceptances than those that made no such specification. No interaction between the combined effects of bonding and criminal record occurred. The present and previous studies suggest that legal stigma from a criminal record may affect employment opportunities in a generalizable manner and that even nonjail penalties have negative repercussions for future employment opportunities. This suggests inherent limitations to achieving a significant reduction of the harmful effects of criminalizarion by reducing the severity of penalties: some indirect costs of legal sanction appear to be inevitable.     

THE EVALUATION OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR INNOVATION

This article is based on two premises: current innovation polices are based on very limited understanding of how Innovation occurs and the contribution to understanding that available policy research might make is severely limited by its fragmentation. The author cites Nelson's three models of the policy process as an example of the different paradigms that have guided innovation research. But, he argues, new developments suggest that the rigid boundaries are breaking down. Three examples are offered in support, each nominally based in one of the three paradigms but representing a loosening of its strictures.