LOCAL BROADCASTING AND THE LOCAL AUTHORITY

The development of local radio in Britain was expected to have significant and positive effects on local political communication. This article discusses the extent and character of local radio's engagement with the local political system, drawing upon some of the evidence obtained from a wide-ranging study of what radio stations are doing. The nature of local government coverage is discussed, with appropriate examples. The limitations of local radio's engagement with the local political system are highlighted, reflected in both the quantity and quality of its coverage. Some reasons for these limitations are suggested (size of local radio areas, lack of expertise in local government matters, attitudes of broadcasters) and the need to overcome them is stressed if the original promise of local radio in this field is to be fulfilled.     

The Organizational Context of Legal Control

This article examines interorganizational variation in determinants of police arrest decisions. Drawing on Wilson, we identify four types of police agencies by cross-classifying levels of bureaucratization with professionalism. Evidence from the analysis indicates that factors influencing arrest decisions are conditional on the organizational contexts in which such decisions occur. In different types of police agencies, officers respond to similar situations differently. Hence, "global" decision-making models are we incomplete than incorrect. We argue that consideration of the contexts within which discretion is exercised is necessary for advancing our understanding of decision-making in justice system agencies.     

THE LOGIC OF J. S. MILL ON FREEDOM

Abstract Mill's aim in Chapter 2 of Book 6 of the System of Logic, to reconcile human freedom with universal causality whilst at the same time answering the challenge of Owenite 'social fatalism', pushes him into attempting an ambitious reconstruction of the traditional Compatibilist conception of freedom as absence of constraint. An examination of the convolutions through which the argument goes before culminating in the conclusion that genuine freedom is the same as complete virtue reveals over half-a-dozen distinct varieties of freedom and a remarkably chaotic mixture of insight and confusion, much of which bears directly upon an understanding of the kind of freedom Mill was out to protect in On Liberty.     

Brangelina vs. Chinese Mercantilism in Africa

As it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, China's authoritarian development model, which has sustained high growth for two decades, is entering a fragile new stage. Tainted toys and other products have made the American consumers on whom China relies wary even as the debt‐and‐deficit ridden American economy relies on China's massive foreign reserves to keep going. In the meantime, China's aggressive search for raw materials in Africa is causing a backlash while its cyberspying probes into Western defense systems are reviving Cold War‐like tensions. The US treasury secretary, a top China expert and former intelligence officials offer their views.     

PUBLIC OPINION AND PENAL POLICY

This article discusses the issue of who should run the penal system 7he major assumption of penal administrators has been that the public was in favor of a punishment policy. This research indicates that the public is not as punishment-oriented as expected, though older respondents gave greater approval to restrictive conjugal visitation policies. Age variations may indicate a change in public opinion. The evidence also indicates that the public is more willing to support such programs as conjugal visits and work release than was previously thought. A willingness for more favorable treatment of inmates was found for those who had some contact with inmates.