Explaining Canada–US differences in attitudes toward the role of government: a test of S.M. Lipset’s ‘Continental Divide’

For decades scholars have engaged in a lively debate about the distinctiveness of Canadian and American value systems. Lipset (1990) argues that divergent responses to the American Revolution led Canada to embrace Tory values of ‘peace, order, and good government’ while Americans pursued classical liberal values of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’. Other scholars question the extent, or even the existence, of the differences Lipset describes. Using surveys of students from Canadian and American universities close to the Canada–US border, we identify compelling support for Lipset’s hypothesised differences on the role of government in the least likely setting imaginable.     

The political thought of Isaiah Berlin

Typically evaluated for the merits or otherwise of his famous account of 'value pluralism', Isaiah Berlin's more general political thought is less often discussed. However, broader reflection sheds light on three crucial elements necessary for a proper understanding of Berlin's work. First, it shows the importance and context of his analysis of Marx and Marxism in providing the basis for his distinction between pluralism and monism. Secondly, through his criticisms of Marxism, Berlin's political sympathy for a moderate nationalism, something also reflected in his personal considerations regarding Jewish identity, can more easily be gauged. Thirdly, and in conclusion, a combination of this political preference and the 'pluralism–monism' dichotomy offers an explanation as to why Berlin wrote the history of political ideas as he did.     

The Dilemma of the Unsatisfied Customer in a Market Model of Public Administration

The relationship between administrative service performance and citizen satisfaction has been assumed, but not demonstrated, in the application of market models to public service delivery. Although the citizen satisfaction literature cautions that the link between objective and subjective measures of service quality is tenuous at best, public‐sector professional organizations define a managerial focus on objective measures of service performance as accountability to citizens for outcomes. What if we're wrong?     

Experience in international travel and aversion to terrorism

Conclusion Unlike the great majority of international travelers whose purposes are mainly recreational, touring or visiting among relatives and friends, business executives are obliged by the nature of their occupations, much like airline personnel and other professional groups, to travel despite varying degrees of hazard to their persons. And it is this segment of the traveling public that has suffered the most in terrorist incidents. Within the subject populations of international travelers, the outcomes were apparent, both of which involved rationalizations in overcoming fear. For the inexperienced international travelers who depend on second hand accounts of danger, they tend to accept sensational accounts of terrorist threast and overestimate risks; experienced executives who have traveled and who possess more reliable, concrete knowledge of terrorism, react differently: in their case, reactions are also psychologically determined. They are induced by dental, but are additionally informed by more valid information and experiences about the extent and dangers of terrorism.     

Behavior Problems in Sexually Abused Children of Depressed Versus Nondepressed Mothers

Children's psychological adjustment following stressors, such as sexual abuse, is impacted by environmental variables. One such factor is parental support, which can be hampered when a caregiver suffers from psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal depression would impact the children's adjustment to sexual abuse. It was hypothesized that depressed mothers would report more behavior difficulties for their sexually abused children than nondepressed mothers. Participants were 58 children (and their mothers) who were referred for trauma symptoms related to sexual abuse. Mothers completed the Beck Depression Inventory as a measure of their depression and rated their children's behaviors on the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. The children completed the Children's Depression Inventory and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Results revealed that depressed mothers reported more conduct problems, inattention/immaturity, and psychotic behavior than nondepressed mothers. Differences were not observed for mothers' report of depressive or anxious behaviors across groups. The children of depressed mothers reported increased levels of depression, but not anxiety, when compared to children of nondepressed mothers. Although both groups of mothers reported symptoms to be clinically significant, the children did not endorse their symptoms in clinically significant ranges.