Using Cultural Theory to Analyze the Metagovernance of the Nuclear Renaissance in Britain,France, and the United States

The governments of Britain, France, and the United States are seeking to promote renewed investment in nuclear power through metagovernance. Metagovernance describes the way governments can leverage state power and resources to shape the behavior of networked actors to advance policy goals. To metagovern, governments use a variety of policy tools but the factors shaping the design of these policy tools remains unclear. Grid‐group cultural theory is used to show that the design of the policy tools used in metagovernance reflects both an underlying cultural bias within government and prevailing institutional circumstances. The paper demonstrates the utility of cultural theory in the study of metagovernance.     

Defending the Articles of Conferation: A Response to Sobel

A fundamental mystery of the Articles of Confederation is why the statescontributed sizeable resources to the confederation government when theywere allegedly caught in a collective action problem. In a recent article,Russel Sobel denies the collective action problem and suggests that ourresearch on the incentive structure of the confederation contradicts theevidence. This note clarifies both of our arguments, introduces the typeof evidence that would determine whether national public goods weresub-optimally supplied, and explains why states contributed in a mannerthat is consistent with the evidence and with a deficient institutionaldesign.     

The politics of partnerships: a study of police and housing collaboration to tackle anti-social behaviour on Australian public housing estates

This paper draws on the findings from a research project on partnership arrangements between the police and housing departments on three Australian public housing estates to tackle problems associated with illicit drug activity and anti-social behaviour (ASB). The analysis focused on the setting up of the partnerships and the interactions that followed from these institutional arrangements. The assumption that informs the paper is that when studying partnerships there is a need for a more critically framed analysis. The temptation to posit "a successful model" of what partnership entails and then to judge practices in relation to this model is considerable, but it inevitably falls into the trap of constructing a narrative of partnership success or failure in terms of individual agency (that is, the degree of commitment from individuals). The analysis undertaken in this paper has therefore sought to fathom a more complex set of organizational processes. Rather than confine the discussion to issues of success and failure, the study foregrounds the subjective accounts of individuals who work within partnership and the constraints they encounter. The paper therefore makes explicit the cultural tensions within and across agencies, contestation as to the extent of the policy "problem," and the divergent perspectives on the appropriate modes of intervention.     

Within cities and suburbs: Racial residential concentration and the spatial distribution of employment opportunities across sub‐metropolitan areas

This article examines and compares the spatial distributions of new jobs and people across sub‐metropolitan areas for Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles. The jobs data come from the Multi‐City Study of Urban Inequality and the data on people come from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The results indicate that less‐educated people, public assistance recipients, and especially poor females with children mostly reside in areas heavily populated by minorities where the availability of less‐skilled jobs is quite low, while the availability of these jobs relative to less‐educated people in suburban areas heavily populated by whites is high. Large fractions of the less‐skilled jobs in these metropolitan areas are not accessible by public transit. Furthermore, there is significant variation within both central cities and suburbs in the ethnic composition of residents and in less‐skilled job availability. The ability of various minority groups to gain employment in each area depends heavily on the ethnic composition of the particular area. © 2000 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Steroid Use and School Violence,School Violent Victimization,and Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents

School violence, school violent victimization, and suicidal ideation among adolescents are serious public health concerns. This pilot study investigated the influence of steroid use on problem behaviors. Secondary data analyses of the 2014 PRIDE Questionnaire were performed based on information collected from 38,414 high school adolescents. Results indicated high rates of school violence, school violent victimization, and suicidal ideation. Steroid use was directly related to all three problem behaviors. Results varied based on sex, race, grade level, and ethnicity. Health professionals, schools, and prevention specialists may benefit from the findings of this study. Examination of other factors related to steroid use in relation to the aforementioned problem behaviors is imperative.     

The spatial mismatch hypothesis: A review of recent studies and their implications for welfare reform

Abstract

In 1992, Housing Policy Debate published John Kain's comprehensive review of the extensive scholarly literature on the spatial mismatch hypothesis. This hypothesis maintains that the suburbanization of jobs and involuntary housing market segregation have acted together to create a surplus of workers relative to the number of available jobs in submetropolitan areas where blacks are concentrated.

Since Kain's review, more than two dozen new studies on the spatial mismatch hypothesis have been completed. Generally, these studies use more suitable data and superior methodologies than earlier studies and therefore provide the most reliable evidence to date on the spatial mismatch hypothesis. This article critically reviews the new studies and assesses what implications can be drawn for welfare reform.