Reforming regulatory relationships: The impact of medical revalidation on doctors,employers, and the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom

In 2012, medical regulation in the United Kingdom was fundamentally changed by the introduction of revalidation – a process by which all licensed doctors are required to regularly demonstrate that they are up to date and fit to practice in their chosen field and are able to provide a good level of care. This paper examines the implications of revalidation on the structure, governance, and performance management of the medical profession, as well as how it has changed the relationships between the regulator, employer organizations, and the profession. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with clinical and non‐clinical staff from a range of healthcare organizations. Our research suggests that organizations have become intermediaries in the relationship between the General Medical Council and doctors, enacting regulatory processes on its behalf and extending regulatory surveillance and oversight at local level. Doctors’ autonomy has been reduced as they have become more accountable to and reliant on the organizations that employ them.     

A Research Note on the Cost of Not Being White in Brazil

This research note revisits the theme of “the cost of not being white in Brazil.” Based on 1996 National Household Survey (PNAD) data, the results point out to still sizeable and significant monetary disadvantages suffered by nonwhites in the Brazilian labor market. It is estimated that about 18 percent of the white-nonwhite income gap can be attributed to differential rates of return to human capital investments and to other individual characteristics between the race/color groups. Nelson do Valle Silva is Researcher at Laboratorio Nacional de Computacao Cientifica and Professor at Instituto Universitario de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro. His most recent books areMobilidade Social no Brasil, Sao Paulo: Makron Books, 1999 (with J. Pastore) andCor e Estratificacao Social no Brasil Rio: Contracapa, 1999 (with C. Hasenbalg and M. Lima). He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan.     

Designating the official opposition in a Westminster parliamentary system

Of all Westminster‐type representative assemblies, Canada's presents an unusually high number of cases where parties rank equal in second place, disputing the role of official opposition, both in the aftermath of an election or during a parliamentary session when party fortunes change. Although exceptional, the phenomenon is not at all uncommon; however, the uncertainty that characterises each of its occurrences indicates that no general rule has ever been drawn from doctrine or jurisprudence, as attested by the latest (1999) decision rendered by Speaker Scott in Nova Scotia. Thus, speculation persists whenever the situation presents itself. This paper attempts some rulings based on the distinction of context proper to 12 historical cases studied. It may help remove the uncertainty that plagues democratic systems in Canada as well as in any other Westminster‐type legislatures around the world.     

Female prisoners' understanding of ‘bullying’ and their methods of coping: a multinational perspective

Abstract

Whilst prison bullying is a well-researched form of aggressive behaviour, recent studies have suggested that there may be discrepancy between how prisoners and researchers understand the term ‘bullying’. Interviews with 26 female prisoners were subject to constant comparison framework analysis. More than 150 themes were identified. These suggested that whilst there is overall agreement between prisoners and researchers as to what behaviours constitute bullying, a consensus does not exist within the prisoner population. Behaviours identified as bullying behaviours by prisoners are also reported as methods of coping. Cultural differences in behaviour and how these relate to perceptions of aggression were identified by the women prisoners. The findings of this study have implications for researching bullying in institutions such as prisons, and for managing and intervening with bullies in prisons.     

Whose shortage of affordable housing?

Abstract

Shortfalls of low‐rent units are repeatedly cited as the rationale for programs to expand the supply of affordable housing. But the poverty‐level rents studied fall well below those of major supply programs. To reassess whether HOME and the low‐income housing tax credit (LIHTC) address actual shortfalls, this article compares numbers of units with renters by measuring both affordability and incomes with the median‐income‐based metric used for all federal rental programs.

During the 1980s, there were growing surpluses of units affordable to renters with incomes between 50 and 80 percent of their area's median income, a “low‐income” range that includes most HOME and LIHTC rents. By contrast, shortages were severe and growing only at rents affordable to households with incomes below 30 percent of area median. Examination of these shortfalls and the problems they create implies that programs to expand supply are not widely needed.     

Best Value and the Market Orientation of UK Recreation Centres

This paper explores the similarities between the Best Value initiative and the well-established market orientation construct. It shows that many of the benefits that Best Value could bring to local authority recreation centres could have been achieved more easily by implementing the market orientation philosophy. A study of 67 recreation centres suggests that although market orientation will increase under Best Value, the benefits from this might be somewhat illusory and represent poor value for the administrative and operational burdens entailed.