Back to Basics Mexican Style: Radical Catholicism and Survival on the Margins1

Abstract— The significance of radical Catholic movements among the urban poor in Latin American cities has been the subject of much debate over recent years, though Mexican cases have received less attention. This paper argues that their practical, material objectives cannot be understood in isolation from the holistic religious and moral community in which participants project for themselves. It is also argued that the social justice sought within the base communities is as much a product of a long, if varied, radical, Christian tradition as it is of the particular circumstances of political and economic marginalisation in contemporary Mexican cities.     

STRICTLY LIABLE: GOVERNMENTAL USE OF THE PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP AS A BASIS FOR HOLDING VICTIMS LIABLE FOR THEIR CHILD'S WITNESS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Studies estimate that between three and ten million children in the United States witness domestic violence annually. Although studies have demonstrated a co‐occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse, there is no concrete evidence to support the assumption that a child's exposure to domestic violence increases the risk to the child of abuse or neglect. Recently the New York State Court of Appeals determined that a child's witness to abuse does not suffice, in and of itself, to show that removal of the child is necessary or that removal is in the “best interests” of the child. Programs which have developed alternatives to presumptive removal understand the importance of viewing the interests of the battered parent and children as being in accord with each other rather than in opposition. Private and government sponsored programs have demonstrated some success in protecting the parent‐child relationship, ensuring the safety of both parent and child, and increasing accountability of batterers while reducing the necessity for removals. Alternative programs are less costly to the state than foster care, and emotionally less costly to the families.     

Gestion des ressources humaines et Nouveau Management Public: Opinions de gestionnaires federaux et québécois

Sommaire: Comme Ies gestionnaires jouent un rôle prépondérant dans I'application et la réhissitc dcs programmes gouvernementaux, nous en avons interrogé plusieurs wuvrant dans les fonctions publiques fédérale et québécoise ‐ tous situés au Québec ‐ pour connaître leurs opinions sur le Nouveau Management Public (nmp). À priori, nous pensions qu'ils seraient favorables à I'introduction de cette nouvelle façon de gerer. Toutefois, une partie d'entre eux ne considèrent pas les techniques de gestion du personnel déoulant du nmr aussi favorablement qu'escompté. Certains résukats surprennent: nous avons noté des divergences d'opinion significatives entre Ics réponscs des gestionnaires du palier fédéral et du palier provincial. Nous observons ainsi que les gestionnaires fédéraux sont généralement plus cnclins que leurs homo‐logues québécois à approuver et à utiliser des techniques managérielles découlant du nmp et nous avons tenté de déouvrir pourquoi. Nous avons développé une explication qui inclut un point de vue historico‐institutionnel pour comprendre Ies différences observées entre les visions des gestionnaires des deux paliers gouvernementaux. Tandis que les gestionnaires fédéraux ont une longue expérience dcs rbformes managériellcs, I'csprit égalitaire des réformes bureaucratiques des années 1960 et 1970 aurait pousséIes gestionnaires québécois à rejeter I'individualisme com‐petitif du nmp. Abstract: Since managers play a predominant role in the implementation and thus the success of government programs, the authors interviewed several in the Canadian and Quebec public services, all working in Quebec, to learn their opinions about the new public management (npm). It was expected that managers would be inclined to favour the introduction of this new form of state administration. However, a number of them did not view favourably some of the new techniques of personnel management stemming from the npm. Federal managers interviewed were generally more inclined to favour and to use such techniques. In an effort to explain the observtd differences, the authors have developed a historical‐institutional argument. While federal administrators have a long experience of managerial reforms, the egalitarian bureaucratic ethos of the sixties and seventies may have led Quebec managers to resist the individualist and competitive techniques of the npm.