Local Government Structure and Public Expenditures

The ``Law of 1/n'' postulates a positive relationship betweenthe number of democratically electedrepresentative districts and governmentspending. Strong support for thisrelationship exists in legislatures in theUnited States (at both the state andnational level) and across countries. Fewstudies have examined this relationship atthe local level despite the fact that localgovernments operate under constraintssimilar to those faced by representativelegislatures. Using a sample of Georgiacounties we find the number of countycommissioners to be positively correlatedwith county government expenditures,indicating support for the Law of 1/nat the local level.     

The West in Flames: The Intergovernmental Politics of Wildfire Suppression and Prevention

This research examines changes in the intergovernmental policyarrangements governing the control of wildfires in the westernUnited States. For much of the twentieth century, the policymakingstructure resembled Deil S. Wright's inclusive authority modelwhereby fire policy was dominated by the U.S. Forest Servicewith the states playing a supporting role. More recently, thestates have become increasingly important in the decision-makingprocess because of changes in residential patterns and land-usepreferences that require greater intergovernmental coordinationin presuppression and suppression activities within urban/wildlandintermix areas, the rise in the number of large wildfires withinnational forests, and the willingness of Congress to approveinstitutional arrangements that give more weight to local communityinterests. Thus, the current approach increasingly resemblesthe overlapping authority model where multiple governmentaljurisdictions share decision-making responsibility on wildfirecontrol policies.     

Vandalism of vending machines: Factors that attract professionals and amateurs

A series of surveys were analyzed to determine how vending machine location and properties affected the likelihood of being vandalized. Two broad categories of vandals were identified, professionals and amateurs, by their vandalism methods. Both types were found to be rational in the sense of being drawn to areas where they could remain anonymous and could escape detection. Professionals were found to respond to the size of the monetary prize. Amateurs were drawn to public areas such as schools, parks, and grocery stores, where they appeared to be motivated by the possibility of an audience. As such, the behavior of amateurs is less amenable to economic analysis than to psychological or sociological study.     

The “Conventionalization” of Safety Crimes in the Post-Communist New Member States of the European Union

This article begins by presenting a brief overview of the neglected area of “safety crime” in the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Quantitative and qualitative evidence is reviewed, suggesting both the widespread nature of safety crimes, and a deteriorating work environment, in which safety crimes are routinely tolerated. Evidence of the “institutionalized tolerance of non-compliance” is provided through a case study of labor inspection in the new member states, focusing on Latvia, currently the worst performer in health and safety in Europe. Against a background of general violations of labor rights, current innovations in European-level regulatory strategies are critiqued, in particular, the shift towards “soft law” and compliance-based strategies, relying on appeals to corporate social responsibility, together with the encouragement of various forms of voluntary initiatives. It is suggested that such (self)-regulatory strategies may be inappropriate as forms of crime control in the new member states of the European Union. In effect, a convergence domestic and European Union policies may open the door to the further “conventionalization” of safety crimes in the new member states.This article is based on a paper first presented to a seminar, “Regulating Corporate Crime and White-Collar Crime: Developments across Europe”, Finnish Police College, Helsinki, 3–4 September, 2004. Financial support for the research was provided by a European Commission Marie Curie chair award (no: 509727). The author would like to thank Kit Carson and Steve Tombs, as well as the participants in the Helsinki seminar for their helpful comments. Any errors remain those of the author alone.