STATE URBAN POLICY: "New" Federalism In Virginia, New Jersey and Florida

The recent rediscovery of federalism has left the nation's governors with expanded responsibility and limited federal support. In return, they were promised greater fiscal flexibility, a real partnership in program design, and protection from unfunded mandates. However, states seem unwilling to offer the same guarantees to their cities that they sought from the federal government, even as they expand city responsibilities and limit state aid. This paper explores the extent to which Virginia, New Jersey and Florida have provided the fiscal flexibility and partnership, except in the area of economic development, but the diminished fiscal capacity of some distressed communities relative to their suburban counterparts render them unable to benefit from such efforts.     

Law and Social Inquiry: Commentary on a Psychoanalytic Semiotics of Law

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

The Philosophy of the Gift and the Psychology of Advocacy: Critical Reflections on Forensic Mental Health Intervention

This article examines mental health advocacy,exploring the philosophy of the gift and thepsychology of forensic intervention. Byselectively, though strategically, reviewing the workof Hobbes, Emerson, and Nietzsche,we argue that egoism, charity, and pity displace altruistic, selfless gift-giving. To furtherlegitimize our analysis, we consider Derrida's semiotic deconstructionism and Lacan's psychoanalytic semiotics. Derrida points outhow gift-giving is an aporetic reality; that is,it represents an (im)possibility. Lacandemonstrates how the mirror stage of development givesrise to the self-other ego, in which the subjectis always and already divided. We subsequentlyexplain, therefore, how the gift of mental healthadvocacy must necessarily proceed, in part, from self-interests (i.e., egoism), making the virtuousact of mental health advocacy an (im)possibility.     

Government Credible Commitment to the French and American Nuclear Power Industries

Backlash against nuclear power, although widespread, affected nuclear power programs differently in the United States than in France owing to their differing institutional setups. This article uses a transaction costs economics approach to examine government credible commitment to the French and American nuclear power industries. Positive political theory sheds light on the comparative institutional environment in each industry. The American combination of fragmented power, little reliance on bureaucratic expertise, an independent judiciary, and opposing interest groups greatly undermines the ability of the U.S. government to credibly commit to the nuclear power industry. In France, despite substantial anti‐nuclear interest groups, the impermeability of the institutional setup—no division of power, weak judiciary, and reliance on bureaucratic expertise—effectively prevents activists from influencing policy outcomes. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

An assessment of the 2000 US presidential election: a set of political marketing guidelines

This paper comprises a set of marketing guidelines using the 2000 presidential election as an example, and analysing the image building of the two candidates, Al Gore and George W. Bush. It is not hard to understand, with hindsight, why Bush was the winner. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

The Probabilistic Genotyping Software STRmix: Utility and Evidence for its Validity

Forensic DNA interpretation is transitioning from manual interpretation based usually on binary decision‐making toward computer‐based systems that model the probability of the profile given different explanations for it, termed probabilistic genotyping (PG). Decision‐making by laboratories to implement probability‐based interpretation should be based on scientific principles for validity and information that supports its utility, such as criteria to support admissibility. The principles behind STRmix? are outlined in this study and include standard mathematics and modeling of peak heights and variability in those heights. All PG methods generate a likelihood ratio (LR) and require the formulation of propositions. Principles underpinning formulations of propositions include the identification of reasonably assumed contributors. Substantial data have been produced that support precision, error rate, and reliability of PG, and in particular, STRmix?. A current issue is access to the code and quality processes used while coding. There are substantial data that describe the performance, strengths, and limitations of STRmix?, one of the available PG software.     

Homicidal Ideation and Individuals on the Autism Spectrum

Interest in the relationship between autism and violence has increased in recent years; however, no link has clearly been established between them. Researchers remain curious if autistic people with certain traits (e.g., a history of trauma) are at greater risk of violence than those individuals with autism alone. In this article, we detail two individuals with homicidal ideation (HI) admitted to inpatient psychiatric units who were found to have a diagnosis of autism without language impairment. These cases illustrate the need for mental health providers to consider autism in their differential diagnosis when evaluating an individual with HI. Broadly, we consider how an autistic individual could be susceptible to developing HI and explore treatments specific to autistic individuals that may be helpful in such cases.