Unpacking the Global Perspective: Examining NISPAcee Region-Focused Public Administration Research in American Scholarly Journals

Comparative and international public administration research in the United States (US) has enjoyed moments of both prestige and inattention over the last several decades, variation that is important in that it reflects the efforts of a scholarly field to contribute to improved individual and organizational performance. These contributions are, in and of themselves, worthy of attention and critical reflection. This article examines public administration research focused on the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe region published in US-based academic journals from 1997 to 2012, discussing trends that have characterized empirical and conceptual research during that period. The article concludes with comments on collaboration in public administration research.     

You Got What You Deserved

The Philosophy of Criminal Law collects 17 of Doug Husak’s articles on legal theory, 16 of which have been previously published, spanning a period of over two decades. In sum, these 17 articles make a huge and lasting contribution to criminal law theory. There is much wisdom contained in them; and I find surprisingly little to disagree with, making my job as a critical reviewer quite challenging. Most of the points on which Doug and I disagree can be found in my other published work in this field, so I will have little to say about them, except where they illuminate those few points of disagreement that arise in the particular essays I discuss. Most of what I will say will be in accord with Doug’s views and will principally explore their wider implications. The 17 essays in the book cover too many and too varied topics for one review essay. Therefore, I will focus on just three of them: “Rapes Without Rapists: Consent and Reasonable Mistake” (co-authored by George C. Thomas); “Mistakes of Law and Culpability”; and “Already Punished Enough.” Although I generally agree with the upshots of Doug’s arguments in these chapters, I think the issues they raise are worth further exploration.     

The Chinese People's Liberation Army and Space Warfare

Space warfare will be an integrated part of battle planning by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in any future conflict with the United States. The People's Liberation Army has carefully absorbed and is reacting to what the American armed forces have published on space warfare and counter-space operations. Chinese strategists and legal scholars are engaged in an internal debate on how traditional ideas of sovereignty and the laws of war apply in space. One authoritative volume explored the importance of ensuring that the People's Liberation Army sets out legal justifications for military actions in advance of any conflict. Chinese scholars believe that many of the concepts surrounding the conduct of war on the “common seas” apply in space. Also, there is disagreement between the United States and China on the American position on outer space. The United States treats “peaceful uses” to mean “non-aggressive,” whereas the Chinese interpretation is that to be peaceful uses, it must be “non-military.”     

Civil-common Law Divergence on Penalties: Is it a Thing of the Past?

Liverpool Law Review - This article examines the rationale for the common law’s penalty rule and finds it lacking. It examines the rule as applied in different common law systems since the...     

The Role of Societal Benefits and Fairness Concerns Among Decision Makers and Decision Recipients

Four experiments examined the role of costs and benefits versus procedural and distributive justice for procedural fairness and procedural evaluations among decision makers and decision recipients. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the responses of actual judges in a 2 (high versus low benefit) x 2 (search procedure conducted respectfully versus disrespectfully) randomized factorial. In both studies judges evaluated procedures differently than is typical among samples of decision recipients: outcome concerns strongly influenced both procedural evaluations and procedural fairness while procedural concerns such as voice and respect were minimally influential. Whereas fairness concerns continued to be important among these decision makers, outcome fairness was more influential than procedural fairness. Studies 3 and 4 varied role (authority versus subordinate), procedural respect, and societal benefits. Both experiments supported our predictions that procedural criteria would dominate the procedural evaluations of subordinates whereas outcome concerns such as societal benefits would dominate the procedural evaluations of authorities.     

New Technology Meets an Old Teaching Challenge: Using Digital Video Recordings, Annotation Software, and Deliberate Practice Techniques to Improve Student Negotiation Skills

There is a world of difference between teaching negotiation theory, which pertains to conceptual understanding, and teaching negotiation skills, which pertain to actual behavior in real‐world situations. The principle of reflective practice is widely used for theoretical instruction. Deliberate practice, however, is a more powerful model for skills training. Cognitive scientists have discovered that subjects will learn skills best when they perform well‐defined tasks at appropriate levels of difficulty, and when they are given immediate feedback, an opportunity to correct their errors, and an opportunity to practice until the tasks become routine. To satisfy the deliberate practice conditions for large graduate‐level negotiation courses (some as large as seventy students), students were assigned to use webcams with their laptop computers to video record their negotiation exercises. Before each exercise, students were assigned to prepare for and to concentrate on performing two or three well‐defined tasks. Students reviewed these recordings and commented on their performances in a journal before uploading the videos and journals to an assigned network folder. The instructor and teaching assistants then reviewed the journals and specified portions of the videos and provided individual written feedback to the students. The instructors found that student negotiating skills have improved significantly using this new system. In comparison with earlier semesters, students also felt they were involved in a more intense and personal learning experience. A majority of students reported they intend to apply the principles of deliberate practice in their professional lives after graduation. The authors have found this method continues to challenge their ability to identify and describe the skills used by expert negotiators. As an addition to this new methodology, two of the authors have spearheaded the development of video annotation software, known as “MediaNotes,” to help students and instructors review, comment upon, and learn from video recordings of negotiations. Based on their experiences using the software to support deliberate practice, the authors expect this tool to initiate a significant advance in our ability to recognize and describe expert negotiation behavior and in students’ ability to improve their negotiating skills.     

Back to first principles: a new model for the regulation of drug promotion

The US Food and Drug Administration''s (‘FDA’ or the ‘Agency’) current regulatory framework for drug promotion, by significantly restricting the ability of drug manufacturers to communicate important, accurate, up-to-date scientific information about their products that is truthful and non-misleading, runs afoul of the First Amendment and actually runs counter to the Agency''s public health mission. Our article proposes a New Model that represents an initial proposal for a modern, sustainable regulatory framework that comprehensively addresses drug promotion while protecting the public health, protecting manufacturers’ First Amendment rights, establishing clear and understandable rules, and maintaining the integrity of the FDA approval process. The New Model would create three categories of manufacturer communications—(1) Scientific Exchange and Other Exempt Communications, (2) Non-Core Communications, and (3) Core Communications—that would be regulated consistent with the First Amendment and according to the strength of the government''s interest in regulating the specific communications included within each category. The New Model should address the FDA''s concerns related to off-label speech while protecting drug manufacturers’ freedom to engage in truthful and non-misleading communications about their products.     

COMMENTARY ON WARSHAK'S "BLANKET RESTRICTIONS: OVERNIGHT CONTACT BETWEEN PARENTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN"

In a previous issue of this journal, Richard A. Warshak provided a summary of the developmental literature as it bears on overnight restrictions during custody arrangements. Here, the authors comment on points of agreement and disagreement with Warshak based on their reading of the theoretical and empirical literature on development. Particular reference is made to Warshak's interpretation of attachment theory and research. Points of agreement include the importance of fathers and all caregivers in the infant/young child's life as well as the overstatement in the literature of the significance of separation experiences and a "sensitive period" for attachment. Points of clear disagreement include what the author contends is an erroneous review of the empirical literature on overnights with other caregivers. Based on their review of the data on overnight visitation, the authors conclude on a more cautious note.     

The Ombudsman Revisited: Thirty Years of Hawaiian Experience

This article examines the classical, or real, ombudsman. Unlike quasi ombudsmen, which are bureaucratic control mechanisms subject to executive leaders or agency administrators, real ombudsmen are operationally independent officials of the legislative branch. In 1969, the state of Hawaii was the first to create a real ombudsman. Although Iowa, Nebraska, Alaska, and Arizona have since followed Hawaii's lead, no intensive, long-term study of American ombudsmen has yet been published. This article examines the ombudsman as a monitor of Hawaii's bureaucracies and considers the extent to which the office has become institutionalized over the past 30 years. Nearly 75,000 citizens have had their complaints investigated by the ombudsman, and more than one-fifth of them were rectified, that is, the agency reversed its original action. This study indicates that the classical ombudsman can become institutionalized in the United States. The findings have policy implications as jurisdictions at the federal, state, and local levels consider the creation of ombudsmen or quasi ombudsmen.