A COMMENT ON WILLIAM J. HOWE AND HUGH MCISAAC'S ARTICLE “FINDING THE BALANCE” PUBLISHED IN THE JANUARY 2008 ISSUE OF FAMILY COURT REVIEW

This article is a response to an article written by William Howe and Hugh McIsaac that questions their recommendations that court‐based mediation not be used when certain types of persons appear in court. We assert that it will be very difficult for the court to identify these people. Further, we argue that mediation practice has advanced so far that even these persons (those with serious issues of domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health) should be given an opportunity to participate in mediation before being referred to the adversarial court process.     

INTERNATIONAL ABDUCTION OF CHILDREN

Justice Kay discusses the abduction of children and the application of the Hague Convention from the Australian perspective. The article begins with an outline of the common law and the appropriate legislation. Signatory nations to the Hague Convention are listed and Australian case law reviewed. Statistics are also given regarding children who have been taken to what nations.     

Effects of Administrators' Aspirations,Political Principals' Priorities,and Interest Groups' Influence on State Agency Budget Requests

This article addresses a long‐standing question in public budgeting: What factors influence bureau/agency budget request decisions? Empirical results confirm the complexity of variables that explain different levels of budget requests by over 1,000 state administrative agencies. The expected significant influence of administrator (agency head) aspirations was clearly present. But other important sources enter into the decision of agencies to satisfy rather than maximize. These include the strategic roles, activities, and priorities of governors, legislatures, and interest groups. These political principals' influence operates to constrain, discipline, or even augment agency budget requests.     

Growthism and the Green Backlash

Recent years have seen the growth of a 'green backlash' movement which has argued against 'the myths of environmentalism'. Many environmentalists have pointed out the political motivation and factual errors in much of these arguments. But what has not been given much attention is their underlying philosophy. To look at this is to find an ideology, related to neoliberalism, which we might call 'growthism'; based on a utopian faith in the inevitability of endless material growth, this is animated by a revolt against the very idea of limits. This faith has a potent influence on contemporary politics, which we can best see in relief: as today the only serious challenge to the neoliberal hegemony over electoral politics comes from environmentalism, so we can see revealed in the green backlash the utopianism of that unquestioned principle at the heart of all mainstream political debate - the commitment to economic growth.