Economic Voting in Danish Electoral Surveys 1987-94

Economic issue effects ("sociotropic" effects) are found to eclipse "pocketbook" effects on the vote for shifting Danish governments in cross-section surveys of the general elections of 1987. 1990 and 1994. Voter stands on the economic issue, Denmark's economic conditions, are in turn affected by left-right orientation and by images of the competing governments as managers of the economy and in the aggregate differ markedly from real economic growth.     

National Varieties of Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs): A Comparative Analysis of PPP-Supporting Units in 19 European Countries

Most countries that have adopted the public–private partnership (PPP) model as a means of implementing infrastructure projects have launched dedicated supporting units to guide policy development and stimulate project implementation. This paper draws on the theoretical notion of PPP-enabling fields to carry out a comparative analysis of the roles and functions of PPP-supporting units across 19 European countries with varying PPP experiences. We distinguish four categories of national support of PPPs, from skeptical systems of zero support to full-fledged PPP systems. Furthermore, we take initial steps to analyze the possible link between national differences in institutionalized PPP support and the amount of implemented PPP projects. Finally, pathways for further research on PPP-supporting units are discussed.     

Contracting out local road and park services: economic effects and their strategic,contractual and competitive conditions

ABSTRACT

The economic rationale for contracting out local services is increasingly contested by empirical research. This article aims to contribute to this literature, first by scrutinising the economic effects of contracting out in local road and park services and, second, by exploring how characteristics such as markets, contracts, municipal strategies and contracting history influence these outcomes. Drawing on original survey data from Danish municipalities, we find that competitive tendering has on average reduced costs. Further analysis shows that savings are not associated with lower quality, thus indicating that ‘quality shading’ was not taking place. Another finding is that municipalities that repeatedly contract the services experience smaller savings, suggesting that competitive tendering is subject to declining marginal returns. Finally, we find that larger municipalities and those emphasising expenditure cuts realise larger savings, whereas the characteristics of markets and contracts do not seem to explain variations in cost savings.     

Asking Routinely About Intimate Partner Violence in a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic: A Qualitative Study

Among children visiting child and adolescent psychiatric clinics (CAP), the prevalence of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is reported to be approximately 25 %. The extent to which CAP clinicians are aware of this violence, however, is unclear. Some researchers recommend asking about IPV at intake, both to raise disclosure rates and to ensure adequate treatment. Many clinicians are reluctant to do so as a matter of routine when there is no indication of occurrence of IPV in the family. When we interviewed 14 clinicians about their experiences using a standard questionnaire about IPV, three themes emerged: (a) constraint (the questions hinder the development of good relationships with patients), (b) uncertainty (upon reflection, screening is acknowledged as important, but somewhat deficient), and (c) utility (the questionnaire provides a useful framework). Our findings indicate that clinicians’ negative feelings and ambivalence make the implementation of routinely asking about IPV a long process.     

Environmental Enforcement Undertakings and Possible Implications: Responsive,Smarter or Rent Seeking?

Enforcement undertakings have recently been added to the Environment Agency's list of mechanisms available for the enforcement of certain environmental offences. An enforcement undertaking is a written agreement between the regulator and the offender in which the offender proposes to undertake particular actions in relation to the relevant non‐compliant activity. This article examines the use of enforcement undertakings by the Environment Agency, arguing that the undertakings have significant regulatory implications and give rise to a series of possible problems. Notwithstanding this, the article concludes that enforcement undertakings possess a number of potentially positive features, making them a useful alternative to existing enforcement mechanisms.     

Convergence and conflict perspectives in Scandinavian studies of the legal profession

This article focuses on classic Scandinavian studies of the legal profession. These classic studies, which followed World War II and the development of the Scandinavian welfare states, focused on national developments in the legal profession and its relevance to the development of the states and the markets. The studies are divided into convergence perspectives with Aubert's studies dominating on the one hand, and conflict perspectives with Mathiesen's studies dominating on the other. This article examines their similarities and differences in theoretical backgrounds, methodology and empirical data. It demonstrates how the two research traditions, despite their different theoretical perspectives, build their research on comparatively the same kind of empirical data and methodology and how they reach some of the same conclusions.     

Legal aspects of sexual violence--does forensic evidence make a difference?

A survey was done of 307 alleged victims of sexual violence reported to the police departments in Greater Aarhus, Denmark, in 1999-2004. The legal disposition was ascertained and related to victim and assault characteristics together with the forensic medical and laboratory findings. The police pressed charges in more than half of the cases and 11% turned out to be false allegations. Nineteen percent of all cases ended with sentencing of the defendant. Sperm was detected in 35% of the examined and analysed cases, and in 46% consumption of alcohol prior to the assault was reported. Information in the forensic report regarding injury documentation, intoxication, and detection of sperm and DNA match between victim and alleged assailant did not aid in the prosecution of the case. Severe coercion used by the assailant increased the likelihood of conviction. Intoxication estimation and sperm detection suffered from low sensitivity compared with laboratory analyses. Results suggest the need for new research and optimising the sexual assault examination protocol to strengthen the legal impact of forensic evidence.