Understanding public agency communication: the case of the Swedish armed forces

This article suggests a diagnostic framework of public communication intended to capture new communication strategies used by Armed Forces across Europe to legitimize new tasks and recruit new personnel. Three distinct communicative models that impact differently on democratic values and public support are suggested: an Old Public Administration (OPA) model influenced by bureaucratic values, a New Public Management (NPM) model fuelled by market values and a deliberative model labelled ‘New Public Service’ (NPS) that is largely influenced by proponents of ‘e‐democracy’. A case study of the communication of the Swedish Armed Forces identifies a lingering bureaucratic (OPA) ideal. The market ideal (NPM) however clearly dominates. The article concludes that communication along market purposes, principles and practices risks distancing Armed Forces further from society. Yet, an embryonic deliberative ideal (NPS)—much fuelled by the use of social media such as blogs—was also identified. This growing ideal holds the potential of infusing deliberative vigor into the organization and presumably facilitates the bridging of the gap to society. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward a Signaling Explanation of the Private Choice of Corporate Law

Corporate actors can choose their corporate domicile and haveconsiderable freedom to choose terms in corporate charters.Although contractarian corporate law literature almost alwaysanalyzes the private choice of corporate law through the lensof agency costs, this article considers the choice for its informationalcontent. A particular law may be chosen by an entrepreneur notbecause it reduces agency costs, but because it signals qualityto outside investors. The article considers the choice of aDelaware domicile. Higher expected litigation costs for relativelylow quality firms that accompany a Delaware domicile could implythat choosing Delaware signals a relatively high quality firm.Alternatively, the size and structure of the franchise tax inDelaware could give rise to a signal of quality from locatingthere. The article considers the ambiguous welfare implicationsof the signaling analysis and the debate over mandatory versusenabling rules in corporate law. It also suggests how the signalinganalysis might apply to the debate over the private choice ofa securities regulation domicile.     

Alternatives to trusts: a brave new world?

The UK's changes in the taxation of trusts have not inspiredconfidence in the long-term tax treatment of trusts in the UKand practitioners are considering new alternative mechanisms.The author examines the alternatives.     

Searching for civil society: changing patterns of governance in Britain

To understand governance, we ask who is telling the story from within which tradition. We argue there is no essentialist notion of governance but at least four conceptions each rooted in a distinctive tradition. The first section of the paper describes the relevant traditions: Tory, Liberal, Whig and Socialist. The second section describes the different notions of governance associated with each tradition; intermediate institutions, marketizing public services, reinventing the constitution and trust and negotiation. We explain these distinct conceptions of governance as responses to the dilemmas of inflation and state overload. In the conclusion, we summarize how and why traditions change, concluding, there is no such thing as governance, but only the differing constructions of the several traditions.