Women Ninety Years On: a quiet revolution

In this article, the 2008 annual lecture of The Women’s Library, London Metropolitan University, the author reflects on the ninety years since 1918 when certain categories of women over the age of thirty (about 8 million) won the right to the parliamentary vote in Britain. In particular, women’s participation in politics in societies worldwide is discussed.     

Comment

Abstract

THIS article surveys some of the most significant issues facing Australian legal education today. Although referencing the research of others, the views expressed in this article are necessarily personal to the authors; they represent a “reflective practitioners'” insight into Australian legal education. The perspectives drawn in this article are painted with a broad brush on a large canvas and in an impressionistic style. As with all ‘overviews’, most of the areas discussed warrant further discussion and research. While some of the concerns raised will be of immediate interest to Australians, the broader issues encompass areas relevant to legal educators in countries facing similar problems and undergoing, as is the UK, a major review of legal education.¹     

The Commonwealth of Nations today: historical anachronism or focus for universal values?

The creation of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) in July 2010, to report on future structures of the Commonwealth of Nations, focuses attention on the activities that the Commonwealth and its Secretariat perform well and those that require improvement. The author, now a member of the EPG, explains how the Commonwealth evolved out of the British Empire; the importance of the links of law, language and tradition that bind it together; and the activities that are well performed: professional links; education and publications; electoral observations; provision of good offices; and consensus over core values. He notes useful new initiatives, including periodic human rights reviews; outreach to youth; pursuit of women’s equality; and the use of new information technology. However, he also identifies a number of areas of weakness: publicity and communications; secretariat organisation; the focus of some activities; and effective attention to reported human rights abuses. Given the creation of the EPG, this is a timely survey of the challenges that lie before it and the Commonwealth.     

Environmental attitudes and concerns of the environmental protection bureaucrats in guangzhou,people's republic of china: Implications for environmental policy implementation

This article analyzes the questions of implementation failure in environmental policy in China. Using empirical data collected in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, die article documents the environmental attitude of Guangzhou's Environmental Protection bureaucrats. In interpreting the data, the article seeks to assess and evaluate the present state of environmental administration in China. This article provides evidence that although China has made much progress in developing environmental legislation and a regulatory framework, the economic growth and devolution of power unleashed by reforms have also created new environmental stresses and, to some extent, reduced the regulatory capabilities of governments in China.     

Business Management Reform in the Department of Defense in Anticipation of Declining Budgets

Business management reform efforts have been part of the U.S. Defense Department agenda for decades. Current reform efforts have explicitly established the goal of generating, harvesting, and reinvesting savings from business management reform to buy more capital items; that is, they have focused on a measurable reallocation from operating and support costs to investment within a given budget top line. Recent increases in the defense top line, largely related to the war on terrorism, are not likely to persist; in addition, an examination of the factors affecting the top line suggests that a decline in the near term is likely. An examination of current and past defense management reforms suggests that efficiency‐seeking business management reforms are not likely to generate sufficient resources to cover a budget decline. Instead, management reform should be sustained for reasons of stewardship and accountability.