Taken for Granted? Managing for Social Equity in Grant Programs

Managing for social equity performance has long been a goal without much guidance for public managers. We examine social equity performance in the context of indirect governance through the administration of grant programs and, more specifically, the matching of policy responses (grant funding) to social needs. Grant program managers must allocate funding to match needs while also ensuring accountability, but common administrative models that rely on competition can undermine social equity performance. We develop a unique framework to analyze the relative social equity performance of four models of grant administration in general. These models are defined by whether competitions or formulas are used to select grantees and to allocate funding. We test the implications of the framework in an analysis of funding distributions from the nonentitlement Community Development Block Grant program in four states. Our findings suggest that social equity in grant programs is better served when grantors do not rely solely on competitive grant contracting in the selection and distribution of grant funds, which is typical in grant administration. However, policy makers and managers can design institutional arrangements that utilize competition, but in a manner that does not create a bias against more socially equitable funding decisions.     

Book reviews and notes

TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES: CASES AND MATERIALS. By R. H. Maudsley and E. H. Burn. [Butterworths. 1972. 660 pp. (inc. index). £6.60 (cased); £4.60 (limp).]

LABOUR AND THE LAW. By O. Kahn‐Freund. [Stevens. 1972. xii + 270 pp. £1.80.]

PRINCIPLES OF LABOUR LAW. By R. W. Rideout. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. xxxii+422 pp. £5.25 (hardback); £3.50 (paperback).]

BRITISH GOVERNMENT TODAY. By B. Jones. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. xv and 236 pp. £2.00 (hardback); £1.00 (paperback).]

THE LAW OF THEFT. By J. C. Smith. Second edition. [Butterworths. 1972. xxvii and 241 pp. (inc. index). £5.50 (hardback); £3.00 (limp).]

THE LAW OF TORTS. By John G. Fleming. Fourth edition. [Law Book Co. 1971. xlviii and 670 pp. (inc. index). £7.25 (bound); £4.75 (paperback).]

STREET ON TORTS. Fifth edition. [Butterworths. 1972. lxxxvii and 524 pp. (inc. index). £3.20 (paperback).]

TORT. By C. D. Baker. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. xxii and 295 pp. (inc. index). £2.50 (hardback); £1.60 (paperback).]

SELECTED STATUTES FOR BAR EXAMINATIONS: I. [Butterworths. 1972. vii and 360 pp. £2.00.]

LEGAL PROBLEMS OF AN ENLARGED EUROPEAN COMMUNITY. Edited by M. E. Bathurst and others. [Stevens & Sons. 1972. xix and 369 pp. (inc. index). £6.75.

VAT—A CONCISE GUIDE. By H. H. Mainprice. [VAT Planning & Publications Ltd., Crusader House, 14 Pall Mall, London. 1972. vii and 67 pp. 45p.]

CLARKE HALL AND MORRISON'S LAW RELATING TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS. By L. Goodman. Eighth edition. [Butterworths. 1972. xlix and 1366 pp. (inc. index). £12.00 (£9.00 for members of B.A.S.W. and N.A.P.O.).]

INTRODUCTION TO ADMINISTRATIVE LAW. By David Foulkes. Third edition. [Butterworths. 1972. xx and 290 pp. (inc. index). £4.20 (hardback) ; £2.80 (paperback).]

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LAW. By Philip S. James. Eighth edition. [Butterworths. 1972. xxxv and 482 pp. (inc. index). £3.00 (hardback); £1.20 (paperback).]

INTRODUCTION TO JURISPRUDENCE. By Lord Lloyd of Hampstead. Third edition. [Stevens. 1972. xxxix and 873 pp. (inc. index). £5.00 (paperback).]

THE MAKING OF BUSINESS CONTRACTS. By A. Harding Boulton. Second edition. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. xiv and 220 pp. (inc. index). £3.50 (hardbound) ; £1.95 (paperback).]

INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL LAW. By Rupert Cross and Philip Asterley Jones. Seventh edition. [Butterworths. 1972. xlix and 430 pp. £4.20 (cased) ; £2.60 (limp).]

ESSAYS ON CRIMINAL LAW IN NEW ZEALAND. Edited by R. S. Clark. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1971. 224 pp. £3.50 (hardback); £2.50 (paperback).]

EXECUTORSHIP LAW AND ACCOUNTS. By J. N. R. Taylor. [Macdonald & Evans. 1972. xv and 159 pp. (inc. index). 55p.]

PHIPSON'S MANUAL OF THE LAW OF EVIDENCE. By D. W. Elliot. Tenth edition. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. xxxvi and 338 pp. (inc. index). £3.50 (hardbound); £2.75 (paperback).]

STROUD'S JUDICIAL DICTIONARY. VOLUME 2, D.‐H. By John S. James. Fourth edition. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. xvi and 601 pp. £10.50.]

A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LAW. By Sir William Holdsworth. Volume XVII: General Index. By John Burke. [Methuen /Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. 551 pp. £8.00.]

CLERK AND LINDSELL ON TORTS: THIRD CUMULATIVE SUPPLEMENT TO THE THIRTEENTH EDITION. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1972. £1.75.]

WHILLAN'S TAX TABLES AND TAX RECKONER 1972–73. By George Whillans. Twenty‐fifth edition. [Butterworths. 1972. 23 pp. 70p.]

CASEBOOK ON COMPANY LAW. By R. S. Sim. Third Edition. [Butterworths. 1971. 382 pp. £1.60.]

THE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF MAGISTRATES. By Brian Harris. [Justice of the Peace Ltd. 1969. xlviii and 365 pp. (inc. index). 1970 Supplement, x and 38 pp. £6.]

BUTTERWORTHS’ MATRIMONIAL LAW STATUTES. [Butterworths. 1971. 547 and (index) 20 pp. £4.20 (casebound); £2.20 (limp).]

DIVORCE AND FAMILY LAW WITH TEST QUESTIONS IN A NUTSHELL. By L. McGuiness and G. O'Connor. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1971. xiii and 103 pp. 75p.]

THE COMPANY DIRECTOR. By Alfred Read. Fourth Edition. [Jordan & Sons Ltd. 1971. xxxi and 232 pp. £2.10.]

JURISPRUDENCE IN A NUTSHELL. By Charles Conway. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1971. vii and 69 pp. 60p.]

CONVEYANCING WITH TEST QUESTIONS IN A NUTSHELL. By Peter Kleiner. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1971. xiii and 134 pp. 80p.]

LAW AS FACT. By Karl Olivecrona. Second Edition. [Stevens & Sons. 1971. vii and 320 pp. £3.75.]

HANBURY'S MODERN EQUITY: SUPPLEMENT TO THE NINTH EDITION. By R. H. Maudsley. [Stevens & Sons. 1971. 14 pp. 25p.]

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO APPEALS IN CRIMINAL COURTS. By Peter Morrish and Ian McLean. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1971. xxxv and 153 pp. (inc. index and appendices) £2.25.]

BUILDING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING STANDARD FORMS: FIRST SUPPLEMENT. By I. N. Duncan Wallace. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1970. 39 pp. 50p.]

EVIDENCE. By Richard Clayton. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1970. xii and 72 pp. 60p.]     

Towards an Integrated Model of the U.S. Supreme Court's Federalism Decision Making

Disputes involving the boundaries of state versus federal powermake up a substantial portion of the U.S. Supreme Court's docketand have undergone extensive analysis. Yet, the conventionalwisdom regarding the justices’ choices in these casesis that they are highly inconsistent. I argue that this is primarilya function of the failure of scholars to develop a comprehensivemodel of the justices’ federalism decision making. Toremedy this, I introduce an integrated model of the individualjustices’ choices in these cases, which is then subjectedto empirical testing in the Rehnquist Court era (1986–2004).I explore a host of determinants of the justices’ decisionmaking, including attitudinal, institutional, legal, and personalattributes, as well as the role of organized interests in theCourt. The findings reveal that the choices justices make inthese cases are not as discordant as most commentators suggest.Rather, they are relatively predictable through the applicationof an integrated model of judicial choice.     

Estimates of a Model of Male Participation in the Market for Female Heterosexual Prostitution Services

In this paper a simple model is presented that considers the factors influencing male decisions concerning whether or not to consume, at the margin, female prostitution services. Data from an extensively piloted and sophisticated national survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles were used to test the predictions. Health risks of consumption, religious denomination and factors signalling variations in inherent risk disposition are shown to explain consumption of such services.