Book reviews

Daniel Pipes, Greater Syria: the History of an Ambition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990, viii, 240 pp.

Roger Zetter (Ed.), The Odyssey of the Pontic Greeks. Oxford University Press/Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford, 1991, 111 pp., Illus. Maps.

Nikki R. Keddie and Beth Baron (Eds), Women in Middle Eastern History. Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1991, 343 pp., $35/£19.95.

John L. Esposito, Islam: the Straight Path. Oxford University Press, New York, 1991, xvi + 251 pp., $21.95.

Joyce N. Wiley, The Islamic Movement of Iraqi Shias. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder and London 1922. ix + 193 pp., N.P.

Joel Gordon, Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution, Oxford University Press: New York and Oxford, 1992, vii + 254.

Jo‐Ann Gross (Ed.), Muslims in Central Asia: Expressions of Identity and Change, Duke University Press: Durham, 1992, xiv, 224 pp, $39.95, PB $18.95.

Louise L'Estrange Fawcett, Iran and the Cold War: the Azerbaijan Crisis of 1946, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1922, XII, 227 pp., $34.95.

Mark J. Gasiorowski, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran, Cornell University Press: Ithaca, N.Y 1992, xvi, 242 pp. $35.00.

Robert A. Lewis (Ed.), Geographic Perspectives on Soviet Central Asia, Routledge: London, 1992, XVIII, 323 pp., $69.50 U.S., $87.50 Canada.     

Book Reviews

Arabs and Islam in Uzbekistan. History of Middle (Central) Asia from the ruling dynasties to today Buribai Ahmedov and Zahidulla Munavvarov Nematulla Ibrahimov (editor) Beirut‐Lebanon: Sharikat al‐matbu at li al‐Tawzi va al‐Nashr, 1996, 464 pp (in Arabic)

Central Asia: Conflict or Stability and Development Shirin Akiner London: Minority Rights Group, 1997, 51 pp ISBN 1 897693 36 2, £4.95

Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand Calum Macleod and Bradley Mayhew Hong Kong: Odyssey Guides/London: Hi Marketing Ltd/Lincolnwood, Illinois, US: Odyssey Passport, 1997, 328 pp, Illus, £14.95, A$29.95

Bihzad: Master of Persian Painting Ebadollah Bahari London: I. B. Tauris, 1996, 272 pp, index, illus. £65

Traditional Jewelry of India Oppi Untracht London: Thames and Hudson, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1977, 431 pp., Illus, Biblio, Index, £55

Security Politics in the Commonwealth of Independent States: The Southern Belt Mehdi Mozaffari (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, xiv, 234 pp., £42.60

Minorities, Mullahs and Modernity: Reshaping Community in the Former Soviet Union Mark Saroyan (Edward W. Walker, ed.), with Gail W. Lapidus Berkeley, California: International and Area Studies, Research Series, No. 95, 1997, 231 pp., $22.95

Energy Choices in the Near Abroad: The Haves and Have‐Nots Face the Future Robert E. Ebel Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1997, VII, 376 pp., $39.95     

Adolescent Sexual Timetables

Young people's age expectations for the Initiation by boys and girls of a range of sexual practices were elicited from a sample of 522 15- and 16-year-olds. As expected, there was a progression in the modal ages nominated from the least intimate (kissing) to more intimate behaviors (sexual intercourse). There were few gender differences, either for age expectations of the practices of boys and girls or between male and female respondents. There was a strong relationship between sexual timetables and timetables for autonomy and use of common drugs such as alcohol, and several marker sexual behaviors were identified that may signify the appropriateness of a range of sexual practices, It is suggested that there is a group of young people whose desire for early autonomy, substance use, and belief in early sexual activity may put them at risk.     

“Just give me a number!” Practical values for the social discount rate

A major reason the quality of cost‐benefit analysis (CBA) varies widely is inconsistent use of the social discount rate (SDR). This article offers guidance about the choice of the SDR. Namely, we recommend the following procedures: If the project is intragenerational (does not have effects beyond 50 years) and there is no crowding out of private investment, then discount all flows at 3.5 percent; if the project is intragenerational and there is some crowding out of investment, then weight investment flows by the shadow price of capital of 1.1 and then discount at 3.5 percent; if the project is intergenerational and there is no crowding out of investment, then use a time‐declining scale of discount rates; if the project is intergenerational and investment is crowded out, then convert investment flows during the first 50 years to consumption equivalents using a shadow price of 1.1, and then discount all of these flows at 3.5 percent, and discount all flows after the 50th year using time‐declining rates. We then compare current discounting practices of U.S. federal agencies with our estimates. Consistent use of the recommended rates would eliminate arbitrary choices of discount rates and would lead to better public sector decision‐making. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Strategy and Accountability: Structural Reform Litigation and Public Management

Structural reform litigation involves legal action against public bureaucracies alleging that an official has violated the legal rights of an agency's client. A pattern of rights infringements raises the specter of systemic dysfunction. If the court finds for the plaintiffs, or if the defendant agency agrees to settle, the remedy reconstitutes agency operations. What are the incentives faced by public managers whose agencies are involved in structural reform litigation? How might public managers retain public accountability while strategically using the institutional arrangements present in such cases? This article examines these questions through a spatial bargaining model and discusses its analytical implications in the context of a comprehensive suit against the child welfare agency in Kansas City, Missouri.     

Building the Administrative State

Books reviewed in this article:
Daniel P. Carpenter, The Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy: Reputations, Networks, and Policy Innovation in Executive Agencies, 1862–1928
David E. Lewis, Presidents and the Politics of Agency: Design Political Insulation in the United States Government Bureaucracy, 1946–1997