Japan in the coming century: Looking East or West?

The modernization of Japan's trade policies and social structure, argues Professor Ronald Dore of the London School of Economics, will increase Japan's social instability. The continuation of the outdated Japan‐US alliance, he states, only inhibits the growth of the international order; he warns that the day may come when Japan's interests lie with China rather than the US. Dore advocates that Japan adopt a proactive foreign policy, using military force not for reasons of national interest, but only to contribute to the peaceful settlement of international conflicts.     

Between subordination and she-tiger: Social constructions of white femininity in the lives of single, Protestant missionaries in China, 1905–1930

In this paper I focus on the social constructions of gender in the lives of single Protestant missionary women, exploring how they were able to expand notions of White femininity by utilising both ideologies of devotional domesticity and the personal support and professional validation of women-identified communities. I suggest that these freedoms were directly related to certain framings of indigenous Chinese men and women — specifically, the emasculated Chinese male who was seen as little threat to Western women's safety, and the victimised Chinese woman who required advocacy and rescue. To illustrate these issues, I use the writings of two White Methodist missionary women from the United States and England who served in China between 1905 and 1930, suggesting that such stretching of the parameters of femininity questioned the particularly androcentric nature of Western imperialist authority at the same time that it perpetuated the racial dynamic of a colonial social order.     

Local feminist policy networks in the contemporary American interest group system

The emergence of local feminist policy networks is set within the context of the New Federalism of the Reagan-Bush administrations and the transformation of the U.S. interest group system over the past three decades. A case study of policymaking in a single urban setting focuses on changes in four policy areas of special interest to women: sexual assault, domestic violence, child care, and displaced homemakers. Single-issue feminist policy networks, composed of feminist advocacy groups, women-run services, local elected officials, and urban bureaucrats responsible for delivering, funding or regulating each policy, have formed around these issues. Each is characterized by: responsive policy changes; frequent interactions between local legislators, bureaucrats, and feminists; interlocking directorates; a symbiotic support system; diverse strategies and funding sources; and a federal-type organization. Local feminists have been incorporated in a new group universe embedded within a complex system of intergovernmental grants, contracts, and mandates. These networks help to sustain feminism and its public policy agenda through crises and challenges.     

Public information campaigns as policy instruments

Considerable controversy surrounds public information campaigns: government-directed and sponsored efforts to communicate to large numbers of citizens in order to achieve a policy result, or what might be called government propaganda. We analyze the use of campaigns as policy instruments in three ways: (1) effectiveness in achieving substantive outcomes; (2) political benefits for public officials; and (3) consequences for democratic processes. Our review of 100 campaigns from these three perspectives reveals significant advantages and disadvantages of using campaigns in practice. We conclude that the advantages of public information campaigns justify their use as policy intruments when used appropriately and with care to mitigate the disadvantages.     

Recent research: The micro-politics of deliberation: Case studies in public participation

The contemporary emphasis on public participation in policy making derives both from concerns to increase the legitimacy of public decision making and to develop more dialogic forms of governance, and from more 'bottom-up' action intended to ensure that the voices of those excluded from policy making are heard. This has resulted in diverse forms of participative practice, including forums in which social movement organizations meet officials, and forums initiated by officials to which 'the public' are invited. This article examines four case studies of participation, studied as part of research conducted in the ESRC Democracy and Participation programme. It focuses on a micro-level analysis of the dynamics of exchanges within such forums to question the capacity of such forums to generate alternative discourses within which policy problems can be defined and addressed.