The evolution of informed consent

Informed consent and the changes in what is expected over the 21st century provide an instructive case study of the mutual influence on one another of medical law and medical ethics. Over the years we have moved from a doctor-centred standard to a patient-centred standard and from a one-size-fits-all patient-centred standard to a more individual requirement that engages with the needs of a particular patient It is unreasonable to expect those changes to be reflected in anything less than an extended conversation in which the health care professional gives out some version of what a reasonable patient would expect to hear from an informed health care professional and then responds to the patient's questions as informatively and helpfully as he or she can. It is therefore convenient to refer to spontaneous and responsive disclosure as a very concrete implementation of the health care professional-patient partnership that is contemporary health care and at the heart of health care ethics.     

GIVING CHINA DUE CREDIT

The Man Who Loved China By Simon Winchester 352 pages US $15.99 (paperback) Published in US by Harper Perennial THINK in oceans. It was a piece of childhood advice that the British scientist Joseph Needham     

Weighing the parody factor in a trade mark infringement and dilution case

On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court'sdecision that Haute Diggity Dog's (HDD) parody pet toys of famousbrands was not likely to cause confusion with those of LouisVuitton Malletier's (LVM) products. LVM's copyright, trade markdilution, and other claims were also rejected.     

Cross-Border cooperation in the Rhine-Meuse region: Aachen (D) and Heerlen (NLs)

This article considers the role of land in (regional) development and the financing of such development. Specifically the article reflects on the application of legal provisions relating to the use of land and development, including considering how fiscal instruments can be used to promote economic development in a cross-border legal entity. The article concludes with recommendations as to how cross-border economic development can be improved. The article takes as its starting point the intention of the regions of Parkstad Limburg (NLs) and Aachen (GER) to establish a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), with a view to promoting cross-border economic and spatial development.     

Managerial Strategies for Spontaneous Privatization

Two Western economists examine the rapid changes in property and business forms of enterprises in the former Soviet Union using evidence from intensive interviews conducted through December 1991 and involving 80 industrial and commercial organizations. After reviewing the reforms that provided the legal basis for the process, they describe different managerial strategies employed in spontaneous privatization and examine the ensuing changes in contractual relations of firms with other entities such as ministries or banks. The authors also interpret spontaneous privatization on the basis of literature covering property rights and identify several groups that lose or derive benefits from the transformation. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, L2.     

The European policy-making machinery in the Berlin republic: hindrance or handmaiden?

This article examines European policy-making in the Berlin Republic. The basic puzzle explored is whether the policy machinery is able to facilitate the projection of a ‘new European policy’, characterised by greater emphasis upon national interests. In order to suggest answers, the article reviews the origins of the policy machinery and the changes made in the pre-unification period. It then explores the current situation in the Berlin Republic. It argues that the legacies of the past – institutional pluralism and the post-war adoption of a European identity – are not easily cast off. Although the machinery has been reorganised since 1990, notably under the Schröder/Fischer coalition, and there have been some adjustments to bilateral relations, a new European policy has not yet emerged, although it is a possible future scenario.     

Contrast and Foundation of the Public Oversight Roles of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.K. National Audit Office

This paper examines and compares, according to the New Public Management approach, the U.S. watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, in its ability to oversee and call to account the executive branch of government, and its U.K. counterpart, the National Audit Office. Results of this examination indicate that the Government Accountability Office is more effective than its U.K. counterpart. Its greater effectiveness is attributable to the fact that it derives its powers and legitimacy from a written constitution; in contrast, in the United Kingdom there is no equivalent document defining the relationship between the state and the citizenry. As a consequence, the powers, duties, and self-perception of the National Audit Office are significantly weaker and more mutable than those of the Government Accountability Office.     

Beyond anxiety and fantasy: The coital experiences of college youth

Counting virgins is described as social bookkeeping, a necessary but not sufficient task for social scientists. More important is the development of an understanding of the social processes which encourage or inhibit coital behavior. The analysis in this paper uses the socialbookkeeping approach to document the relatively stable rates of early and premarital coitus since the Kinsey report. The data are drawn from a 1972 study of 14–18-year-olds and a 1967 study of college students. When appropriate controls for educational attainment and age are introduced, it is shown that, in comparison to the change in rates at the beginning of the century, the rates since the 1940's have increased only a fourth as much. More importantly, coital behavior is shown to be still strongly linked to traditional patterns of restraint and facilitation. Traditional factors, such as relationships with parents and religious attendance, are shown to restrain early coital experience (defined as coitus before age 18), while factors linked to the courtship process such as dating frequency, facilitated this early behavior. During college both restraining and facilitating factors were operative, but levels of coital behavior in most cases stayed surprisingly low. Rates of frequent coitus rarely reached 40% among female college seniors and the proportion of college female seniors with three or more partners never reached 20%. The factors which encourage sexual activity during college are the courtship factorsdating behavior and being in love. In terms of initial coitus, women overwhelmingly report that they were in love with their partner. Given the relative stability of rates of early and premarital coitus and continuity of the role of courtship factors in facilitating this behavior, popular discussions of the contemporary sexual revolution are seen as being out of touch with reality and possibly inducing anxiety among young people when they do not experience the sexual revolution.Data analysis for this paper was carried out under NICHD grant HD 04156 and Illinois Law Enforcement Commission grant 2-09-25-0410-02, and also General Support Grant 5-SO1-RRO-5666-05.Received Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago. Research interests include post childhood socialization, social change and deviance, and urban social studies.Received Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago. Main research interests include adolescence, urban social studies, and adult socialization.Received Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago. Main research interest is social change and deviance.