A Trojan horse: Anti-communism and the war on drugs

This work argues the U.S. War on Drugs is a misnomer. We suggest, instead, that it is secondary to traditional anti-Communist foreign policy concerns. Thus, the war on drugs serves to mask the U.S. counter-intelligence and paramilitary presence abroad.This paper in slightly different form was originally presented at the meeting of the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, D.C., October 1988.     

Using the tax system to collect fines

In this article we consider the possibility that fines could be collected through the tax and social welfare systems in the same way as higher education contributions and child support payments are currently administered. We argue that the existing system of fine collection and enforcement leads to high default rates and reduces the usefulness of fines as a sanction. We consider a range of models for the implementation of an income-related fine collection system, and discuss their possible implications for issues including judicial independence, the time taken to repay fines and aggregate fine revenue.     

Association of a Mixed Anxiety-Depression Syndrome and Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder During Adolescence

The relations between an empirically derived syndrome of Anxiety-Depression and an analogue measure of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are examined in a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Analyses of parents' reports and adolescents' self-reports indicate that there is moderate correspondence between scores on the Anxious-Depressed syndrome and symptoms of the MDD Analogue. Furthermore, scores on the syndrome predicted MDD Analogue symptoms 3 years later with sensitivities ranging from .69 to .71 and specificities from .69 to .93. Meeting criteria for either the Anxious-Depressed syndrome or the MDD Analogue was associated with low social or academic competence and high scores on other syndromes of psychopathology. Implications for integration of empirical/dimensional and categorical/diagnostic approaches are highlighted.     

Federalism and America's Public Works

On 24 February 1988, the National Council on Public Works Improvementsubmitted its final report on the nation's public works to thepresident and the Congress. The report concluded that America'sinfrastructure is not in ruins, as charged by the landmark bookentitled America in Ruins. The report did say, however, thatthe nation's infrastructure is only barely adequate and gettingworse. The council urged the nation to reverse course and givegreater attention to infrastructure renewal and expansion. Inthe council's view, federalism will be a major factor in thesuccess of the needed turnaround. Such change will require sharedresponsibilities involving the federal, state, and local governmentsplus the private sector. Significant changes in the relationshipsamong these actors have made the 1980s a decade of transition,diminishing federal influence on infrastructure issues.     

IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND POLICY FAILURE: THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1982

We examine the role of environmental assessments in the siting process mandated under the ambitious Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. We analyze the effect of these assessments in both the western and eastern United States using the original documents, critiques of the methodology of the assessments, and public comments on the siting process, including a content analysis of hearings in Wisconsin and Maine. We conclude that the major effect of the assessments on the policy process was to stimulate public and state opposition to the Department of Energy's efforts to implement NWPA, leading to what could be called policy failure and a significant redirection of the act by Congress in late 1987. The paper represents an early report of a more comprehensive and ongoing study of the politics of nuclear waste disposal.     

National Competition Policy and its Implications for Local Government

Two aspects of National Competition Policy (NCP) are likely to be the catalyst of change in Australian local government (LG): competitive neutrality and the reform of public monopolies. Competitive neutrality will be achieved in LG through the imposition of tax equivalents, removal of debt guarantees and cross-subsidisation deemed not to be in the public interest. The reform of public monopolies will open more functions to competition.
But other items of the NCP are also of significance to LG. The imposition of prices oversight of LG services will make these more cost reflective. Legislative reviews at LG level will produce deregulation in some cases and greater uniformity in others while the issue of allowing private access to LG assets has competitive potential in relation to the services and provision of roads, parks and sewerage treatment.
We emphasise the importance of recognising the present benefits of current LG operations and cite the current proposal to privatise Tasmania's water and sewerage services as an example. NCP has the potential to produce further LG boundary amalgamations, or to accelerate regional cooperation as an alternative. The role of cross-border and competitive tendering in this respect are highlighted. Finally, we analyse the implications of the NCP for the Local Government Grants Commission process.     

COMMENTARY

This is a comprehensive paper with which I find many points of agreement. An examination of evolution in Treasury thinking provides a useful perspective on attitudes at the federal level to alternative policy approaches. A distinction needs to be drawn however, between the public perception of the Treasury rationale, and the ongoing approach within the department. While the changes in public stance that Whitwell identifies are important, I would see those as representing changes in emphasis in the Treasury approach, rather than a major recasting of Treasury thinking.