Immigrant Engagement in Participatory Budgeting in New York City

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a welcome experiment in participatory democracy in New York City (NYC), one that could produce greater civic engagement of traditionally marginalized groups and more equitable resource distribution. By engaging immigrants, PB aims to affirm and elevate their voices, help develop their civic capacities, and promote their political participation and community empowerment. During the past four years, participation by immigrants (foreign-born residents) in New York City’s PB process (PBNYC) has steadily increased, growing from nineteen to twenty-eight percent of all PB voters. Yet, immigrant participation lags compared to their numbers, with great variation among PB districts. Using a mixed methods approach that incorporates surveys of and interviews with immigrant community members, staff at immigrant serving community-based organizations, and City Council staff, this article aims to parse out the logistical and affective barriers to participation immigrants face in PB districts and how PBNYC’s design attempts to circumvent said barriers and facilitate participation. Ultimately, our study reveals a complex mix of promising practices and structural constraints involved in working toward PB’s “inclusive” and “equitable” aims.     

Beware the razorwire: Psychology behind bars

Nearly 2 million people are incarcerated in federal, state and local correctional facilities in this country. Individuals with serious mental disorders increasingly fill these ranks. The roles psychologists and other mental health professionals adopt while working with this population can become an issue of silent consternation. As a point of departure, some (e.g., Levinson, 1985) have suggested that psychologists rightly function as institutional mediators of conflict, a virtual Marcus Welby of the collective correctional “psyche”. In practice, it is not uncommon for some clinicians to retreat from this approach and do little, or conversely, march in one hundred directions at once. The authors suggest that as psychology service delivery has matured in the past few decades this latter, well-intentioned but unrealistic position should be reconsidered. We suggest that greater depth and definition in the area of forensic psychology, coupled with recently developed ethical and professional standards of care, may serve to guide the clinician when providing services “behind bars”. Authors' Note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and may not reflect the opinions of the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, other state or local criminal justice agencies, or the University of Texas at Austin.     

Parental Smoking-specific Communication,Adolescents’ Smoking Behavior and Friendship Selection

In this study, we investigated whether parental smoking-specific communication is related to adolescents’ friendship-selection processes. Furthermore, we investigated whether adolescents and their best friends influence each other over time, and what role parents play in this process. In the present study we used data from the Family and Health project in which at baseline 428 full families participated. In this 2-year, three-wave longitudinal study data were available from fathers, mothers, early adolescents (aged M = 13.4 years, SD = .50), and middle adolescents (aged M = 15.2 years, SD = .60). The majority of the participating adolescents were of Dutch origin (>95%). There was an almost equal distribution of boys and girls, and adolescents with lower, middle, and higher educational levels were equally represented. Analyses were conducted by means of Structural Equation Modeling. Results demonstrate that a high quality of the smoking-specific communication is related to a lower likelihood of adolescent smoking, whereas the frequency is positively associated with adolescent smoking. Both the quality and frequency of parental smoking-specific communication were related to adolescents’ selective affiliation with (non-)smoking friends. The findings suggest that parental smoking-specific communication is associated with adolescent smoking directly but also indirectly by influencing the friends the adolescents will associate with.

Towards a more diversified Canada: economic arguments for re-confederation

Abstract: In the ongoing Canadian debate on confederation, variations across the country are almost invariably viewed as conditions that must be removed or at best tolerated. This paper provides an alternative view and model of confederation that builds on portfolio notions of diversification. Here, instead of seeing regional differences as barriers to a strong confederation, we envision building solidly on these differences and encouraging regions to differentiate themselves. Canada's diverse regions might then realize futures that are most appropriate to their resource endowments and human aspirations and that at the same time improve the economic growth and growth-volatility characteristics of the nation as a whole. Regions might pursue their comparative advantages rather than having to forego their distinctness in striving for a “national mean” - a mean all too frequently defined by values at the centre of economic and political power. The ensuing discussion expands this argument and applies it using two specific examples: securities regulation and housing policy. The paper concludes with some suggestions for instituting a more differentiated, diversified and decentralized form of confederation. Sommaire: Dans le cadre du debat perpetuel sur la confédération au Canada, on con-sidère presque toujours que les variations qui existent à travers le pays doivent être éliminées ou, au mieux, tolérées. Dans cet article, on présente un autre modèle de confédération qui s'inspire de la notion de diversification du portefeuille. Au lieu d'envisager les differences régionales comme autant d'obstacles s'opposant à une confédération forte, on veut bâtir du solide sur ces differences et encourager les régions à se différencier entre elles. Les régions variées du Canada seraient alors à même de suivre le cherninement le mieux adaptéà leurs richesses naturelles et aux aspirations de leurs populations, tout en améliorant les paramétres de croissance et de volatilité de la croissance de la nation toute entiére. Les régions poursuivraient alors leurs avantages comparatifs, au lieu d'abandonner leurs traits distinctifs pour tendre vers une moyenne, nationale trop souvent tributaire de valeurs situées au centre du pouvoir économique et politique. On élargit ensuite cet argument et on l'applique au moyen de deux exemples concrets: la réglementation des valeurs mobilières et la politique sur le logement. En conclusion, l'article offre quelques suggestions pour quel'on adopte une confédération plus différenciée, plus diversifiée et plus décentralisée.     

Rational Management, Performance Targets and Executive Agencies: Views from Agency Chief Executives in Northern Ireland

The way in which central government services are delivered in both Britain and Northern Ireland has changed significantly since 1988. Executive Agencies have been created with the aim of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, with changes being supported by an increasing focus on the rational management model as a basis for improving management in the public sector. This paper is a case study of nine agencies within the Northern Ireland 'family of agencies' and is the first study of its type in the UK. It presents the results of a series of interviews with agency Chief Executives that attempted to identify perceptions with respect to the development, use and impact of mission statements, objectives, targets and performance measures (components of a rational management approach). The main findings of the research include: Northern Ireland Chief Executives perceive an increased focus on quantification since agencification; this focus is viewed as helpful in providing a basis for improving management; systems in practice are considered to be much more flexible than a rigid management model would normally suggest; and, it is thought that the potential adverse consequences of such an approach can be managed.     

Medico-legal secrecy in New Zealand

In the absence of the right to sue for medical negligence, the New Zealand Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT) have become the centrepieces of New Zealand's medico-legal system. This article examines the claim that for both bodies secrecy, by name suppression, is the default position and that the private interests of doctors are elevated above the legitimate public interest in the performance of medical professionals. In particular, it examines HDC's blanket policy of suppressing the names of complainants, practitioners, hospitals, District Health Boards and geographical locations, and HPDT's stated but wavering commitment to openness. The authors conclude that both bodies may have failed, albeit in different ways, to recognise the legitimate and significant public interest in the names of those few practitioners found in breach of professional standards.     

Transnational Information Politics: NGO Human Rights Reporting, 1986–2000

What shapes the transnational activist agenda? Do non-governmental organizations with a global mandate focus on the world's most pressing problems, or is their reporting also affected by additional considerations? To address these questions, we study the determinants of country reporting by an exemplary transnational actor, Amnesty International, during 1986–2000. We find that while human rights conditions are associated with the volume of their country reporting, other factors also matter, including previous reporting efforts, state power, U.S. military assistance, and a country's media profile. Drawing on interviews with Amnesty and Human Rights Watch staff, we interpret our findings as evidence of Amnesty International's social movement-style "information politics." The group produces more written work on some countries than others to maximize advocacy opportunities, shape international standards, promote greater awareness, and raise its profile. This approach has both strengths and weaknesses, which we consider after extending our analysis to other transnational sectors.