Correction

For some reason, the only corrections received in the last Quarterconcern the United Nations in its various forms. General Daubentonwrites to point out that the study of kwashiorkor, referredto on p. 3, 1. 19, of the present volume, was undertaken bythe World Health Organisation, as well as by the Food and AgriculturalOrganisation. A learned letter from Mr. F. R. Bray, of the InternationalLabour Office, points out the connections between the legendThe Deeds of Bokari, printed on p. 61, and the Polynesian legendof Mauitikitiki. This connection exists, but not in the originalversion, only in the mind of the teller, E. Bankole Timothy.Finally, Dr. Chalmers Wright complains of the reference to theUnited Nations publication on inquiries into household standardsof living, made in the Shorter Notices on p. 172, pointing tothe 40 columns of material provided for the inquirer. I shouldhave thought that this might have been surmised from the precedingsentence in the notice, which refers to a list of most of thefield investigation in the past decade or two. The criticismof the actual content of the notice still remains, in my opinion,valid.      

Beijing＇s Olympic Venues

AS at the end of November 2007, construction of 26 of the Beijing 2008 Olympiad venues, along with others in Hong Kong （equestrian events）, Qingdao （sailing events）, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao （soccer） were completed. The work includes 12 new constructions and eight temporary venues and the refurbishment of 11 existing stadiums. Of the 31 venues in Beijing, 10 are scattered around the Olympic Green in northern Beijing; the remainder are in the western and eastern districts, university area and northern suburbs. Construction of the National Stadium, also known as the Bird＇s Nest, will be finished in March 2008. Test events will be held there in April.     

UNEXPECTED ADVANTAGES OF LESS ACCURATE PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS. HOW SIMPLE PRESCRIPTION DATA WORKS IN A COMPLEX SETTING REGARDING THE USE OF MEDICATIONS

In this paper we argue that performance measurement can be done better by general, less accurate measurements than by complex – and possible more accurate – ones. The conclusions of this study are drawn from a case study of the Dutch Foundation for Effective Use of Medication. While most studies about performance measurements focus on the management of public service organizations, this case study – informed by the literature from Science and Technology Studies – focuses on the active role of the measurements themselves. In the paper we show that indicators do not have to be as complex as the practices they represent – as long as they are part of a chain of intermediary data that allow travelling from the general or simple indicators to detailed data in day‐to‐day practices and vice versa. Furthermore, general indicators enable stakeholders to obtain distance from each other. Rather than the involvement of stakeholders, it is this reflexive distancing that explains the degree of compliance to performance measurement and thereby the prospect for effective co‐governance.     

RESPONSES TO MANAGERIALISM: HOW MANAGEMENT PRESSURES AFFECT MANAGERIAL RELATIONS AND LOYALTIES IN EDUCATION

Management pressures in fields like education force managers to control professionals. This generates friction. Professionals will not easily comply with control objectives; they feel responsible for clients and quality. Researchers have studied how professionals are affected and how they resist managerial interference. How managers themselves are affected by managerialism, whether they adopt control logics and are ‘driven away’ from work floors, is hardly studied. This paper studies how school managers relate to managerialism and whether they are primarily loyal to managerial agendas, or to professional workers and clients. On the basis of a qualitative study, we conclude that school managers are important mediators of managerialism. They feel loyal to performance pressures, but also to teachers and pupils. How they act in specific situations depends on how they deal with this friction within managerial work.     

MANAGING PUBLIC CONSULTATION: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FROM BELGIAN CASE STUDIES

This article addresses the question of how governments can set up and manage, in an increasingly complex policy environment, processes of public consultation that lead to good outcomes. Drawing upon insights of democratic theory and literature on network and interactive governance, the article discusses the organization and outcomes of public consultation processes. The analysis of four Belgian cases shows that the absence of open process rules does not prevent good outcomes. Second, the level of managerial autonomy is positively correlated with the intensity of process design and management. Third, cases with intensive process design and management have better overall results. These findings question some normative assumptions in the literature, positing the need for open process rules regarding entrance, scope of discussion, and interaction. Intensive process design and management with rules properly accommodating the policy situation is possibly a better means of achieving good results than rule openness. These findings challenge the need for legislation stipulating in detail who needs to be consulted, about what, and how.     

The interaction between economics and politics: modelling cycles

Abstract. In this article simulation results are used to analyze the capacity of a general politico-economic model, developed by one of the authors, to generate cycles of various lengths. The model describes behaviour of individuals and organizations in the economic as well as the political sphere. The interaction between both spheres gives rise to short term (business) cycles as well as long term (Kondratieff) cycles. The analyses concentrate on the effect variations in the political sector (regarding, e.g., party identification on non-economic grounds, the sensitivity of voters, and the discount parameter for past economic results) have on the cycles found.     

The Importance of the South African Mining Industry

The address that follows was given by the South African HighCommissioner at a joint meeting of the Royal African Societyand the Royal Commonwealth Society on April 2, 1959, Sir PercivaleLiesching, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., former U. K. High Commissionerin South, Africa, took the chair.