Beyond Participation,Hierarchies, Management and Markets: ‘New’ Governance and Place Policies

This paper argues that a ‘new local governance’ discourse offers some promise as a policy framework that can re‐conceptualise the state‐community (and market) relationship and deliver improved community outcomes, particularly in the context of place based or spatial policies and programs.     

Book Reviews

Michael Graham Fry (ed.), Power, Personalities and Politics: Essays in Honour of Donald Cameron Watt (London: Frank Cass 1992) £35. ISBN 0 7146 3428 X.

John L. Offner, An Unwanted War: The Diplomacy of the United States and Spain over Cuba, 1895-1898 (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1992), $43.95 (hb), $16.45 (pb).

Michael Leifer and John Phipps, Vietnam and Doi Moi: Domestic and International Dimensions of Reform, RIIA Discussion Paper No. 35 (London: The Royal Institute of International Affairs: 1991) 40 + ii pp. £5. ISSN 0951-4171.

Michael C. Williams, Vietnam at the Crossroads (London: Pinter Publishers for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1992) 104 + viii pp. £22.50 (hb); £8.95 (pb). ISBN 1-85567-051-8 (hb); 1-85567-052-6 (pb).

Neville Brown, The Strategic Revolution: Thoughts for the Twenty-First Century (Brassey's: London, 1992), 248 pp.     

Big decisions and a culture of decisionmaking

“Big” decisions are defined as discontinuous, abrupt, and unique, in contrast to “little” decisions, which are marginal, commensurable, and additive. We can model big decisions, as well as a wider range of little decisions, if we enlarge our notion of decisionmaking to include legal interpretation, rites-of-passage ritual and conversion experience, heroic leadership, critical judgment of works of literature and art, and entrepreneurship. These models are exemplary of a more encompassing “culture of decisionmaking,” involving six practices: marginalism, untouchableness, gaps, action, judgment, and entrepreneurship. Although big decisions may often be reduced to sets of little decisions, when a decision is treated as big it becomes a powerful mode of initiation, commitment, and justification of a project.     

T.V. crooks: Implications of latent role models for theories of delinquency

Reviewing the literature on the effect of television viewing on behavior, the authors suggest that if indeed the content of television programs can encourage antisocial behavior in some groups of viewers, the image of crime and characteristics of criminal actors presented on television may play an important role in the adoption of criminal behavior by lower-class adolescents. Data are presented that indicate the variance between the view of crime presented by the television media and that found in official statistics. The implications of this discrepancy for models of delinquency are discussed.     

The ‘Hybrid Order’: origins and usage

The hospital direction (Hybrid Order) was inserted into the Mental Health Act (MHA) in 1997 (Crime (Sentences) Act, 1997). It enables higher courts to direct hospital admission for offenders, whilst still imposing a prison sentence. The origins of the ‘Hybrid Order’ and its patterns of usage are examined. Comparisons are made with its Scottish equivalent, Section 59A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Both the ‘Hybrid Order’ and Section 59A have been used infrequently. This may reflect the fact that they were strongly resisted on ethical grounds at their point of inception and that they force the psychiatrist into the position of ‘punisher’, rather than ‘treater’. Since the 2007 Amendment of the MHA in England and Wales which expanded the remit of the ‘Hybrid Order’ to include all legal categories of mental disorder, not solely psychopathy, its use has unsurprisingly increased – this article delineates the considerations that need to be given in its recommendation.     

When Second‐Best is Still a No‐Brainer: Why Labour Should Shoot for a Majority Coalition in May 2015

The chances of Labour winning the 2015 general election with a comfortable overall majority are vanishingly small. It could, however, emerge as the largest party or finish just a handful of seats behind the Conservatives. Either scenario would give it at least a chance—and a bigger chance than many realise, we argue—of forming a government. In that event, Labour may be faced with a choice between getting together with another party (or parties) to form a majority coalition or else forming a minority government (either on its own or with one or more partners), which could assemble different majorities for different pieces of legislation or try to negotiate a ‘confidence and supply’ agreement. Given the precedents from the UK and overseas, we argue that, faced with this dilemma, Labour should do all it can to form a majority coalition. We also argue that Labour can learn some useful lessons from the Cameron–Clegg coalition.     

The Rise of the Far Right in Debtor and Creditor European Countries: The Case of European Parliament Elections

While the 2014 European Parliament elections were marked by the rise of parties on the far right‐wing, the different patterns of support that we observe across Europe and across time are not directly related to the economic crisis. Indeed, economic hardship seems neither sufficient nor necessary for the rise of such parties to occur. Using the cross‐national results for the 2004, 2009 and 2014 EP elections in order to capture time and country variations, we posit that the economy affects the rise of far right‐wing parties in more complex ways. Specifically, we compare the experience of high‐debt countries (the ‘debtors’) and the others (the ‘creditors’) and explore the relationship between far right‐wing party success on the one hand, and unemployment, inequality, immigration, globalisation and the welfare state on the other. Our discussion suggests there might be a trade‐off between budgetary stability and far right‐wing party support, but the choice between Charybdis and Scylla may be avoided if policy‐makers carefully choose which policies should bear the brunt of the fiscal adjustment.