Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Attitude toward Clients: A Study of Work Group Influence in the Dutch and Belgian Tax Administration

Abstract

Classic street-level bureaucracy literature has suggested that individual bureaucrats are shaped by their work group. Work group colleagues can impact how bureaucrats perceive clients and how they behave toward them. Building on theories of work group socialization, social representation, and social identification, we investigate if and how the attitude of individual street-level bureaucrats toward clients is shaped by the client-attitude of the bureaucrat’s work group colleagues. We also test whether this relation is dependent on conditions of attitudinal homogeneity and perceived cohesion of the work group. Results of a survey among street-level bureaucrats in the Dutch and Belgian tax administration (1245 respondents from 210 work groups) suggest that different mechanisms underlie the work group’s impact on the individual street-level bureaucrat in this specific attitude. The analysis furthermore reveals that work groups have a limited impact on the individual’s client-attitude. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Selective culturing and genus-specific PCR detection for identification of Aeromonas in tissue samples to assist the medico-legal diagnosis of death by drowning

The detection of autochthonous aquatic bacteria in tissue samples from drowning cases is increasingly considered as an alternative approach to assist the medico-legal diagnosis of death by drowning. Bacteria belonging to the genus Aeromonas may be suitable candidates for this application as they are ubiquitous in natural aquatic environments but are generally not part of the human microbiota. The research aims of this study were (i) to develop a sensitive, specific and rapid screening and confirmation method for Aeromonas species in tissue samples and (ii) to evaluate aseptic sternal puncture as a post-mortem sample technique and bone marrow as an alternative matrix to provide evidence of death by drowning. The presence of Aeromonas in tissue samples was verified by cultivation using the selective media Ampicillin Dextrin Agar (ADA) and Ryan's Aeromonas Medium. The use of ADA medium was found most optimal for the sensitive, inexpensive and quick detection of aeromonads in human tissue samples. Positive culture plates were confirmed by harvesting all colonies for DNA extraction and subsequent PCR amplification using Aeromonas genus-specific primers. Aeromonads were detected in lung swab, blood and bone marrow of drowned bodies (n=3), but were negative in these three matrices for all negative controls (n=90) tested. Bone marrow proved to be a suitable alternative matrix and can be sampled post-mortem by an aseptic sternal puncture. In conclusion, this study confirms previous indications that aeromonads in cultures from blood of water bodies can be considered a potential marker for drowning. Given the fact that the number of immersed bodies (drowned and non-drowned) included in this study is statistically not significant, however, more tissue samples need to be investigated to confirm the validity of these methods to aid the diagnosis of death by wet drowning.     

Marianne’s liberty in jeopardy? A French analysis on recent counterterrorism legal developments

ABSTRACT

This article analyses two recent French counterterrorist legislations (Law No. 2016–386 – hereafter OCT&F law and the Law No 2017–1510 – hereafter the OCT&Flaw) through the lens of distinct yet complementary theoretical frameworks. Combining the State of Exception thesis of Giorgio Agamben, the Enemy Penology as framed by Günther Jakobs as well as the more recent scholarship contributions on Pre-Crime, the article seeks to contribute to the scholarly debate on the use and the consequences of the use of criminal and administrative law in the fight against terrorism. In view of the numerous terrorist attacks that France has faced in recent years, the article aims to provide deeper knowledge of the French case by drawing substantially from the unfamiliar French scholarship. The article argues that the measures recently adopted seem to deepen the exceptional and pre-emptive logic in which potentially dangerous subjects have to be identified as “the enemy” as soon as possible in order to then be contained and dealt with.     

The organisational and geographic diversity and innovation potential of EU-funded research networks

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Public funding of research improves the systemic conditions of entrepreneurial ecosystems. It provides early-stage financing to technologies that form the basis...     

‘My Neighbour Drinks Clean Water,While I Continue To Suffer’: An Analysis of the Intra-Community Impacts of a Rural Water Supply Project in Mozambique

Rural water planners assume the positive impacts of community water projects are spread evenly across the population. We test this assumption by looking at the distribution of benefits within communities that received handpumps in rural Mozambique. Using survey and qualitative data we analyse the characteristics of those groups who benefited from the handpumps and also explore household decision-making processes. Handpump use was determined by distance, availability of other sources, perceptions of water quality, political affiliation, and wealth. We argue that the handpumps reinforced existing social divisions related to income and political affiliation and created new geographic divisions within communities.     

Quantitative indices for anti-human trafficking policies: based on reports of the U.S. State Department and the Council of Europe

Quantitative ratings of policies of national governments are an important tool for the monitoring of compliance with international standards in many domains. In this article we present a global index of anti-human trafficking policies developed by a research consortium using the TIP country reports of the U.S. State Department (the 3P index) and an index based on the reports of the monitoring body of the Council of Europe Convention against Human Trafficking (GRETA). Although the global 3P index gives more favorable ratings to most European countries than the GRETA-based index, a moderately strong correlation was found between the two indices. This is an encouraging result lending support to the validity of the assessments of both monitoring mechanisms as well as to their transformation into quantitative scores. We also demonstrate that the detailed GRETA-based index can be used to identify best practices in anti-trafficking policies and specific areas where these policies are most in need of improvement, e.g. legal aid and compensation for victims. Our analyses of the relationships between the various items of the index revealed positive correlations between the existence of units of specialized prosecutors and the numbers of convictions of traffickers. Our paper, then, demonstrates the potential of quantitative indices of counter human trafficking policies as tools for both effective monitoring of the implementation of international standards and for analytical purposes.     

Legal aspects of text mining

“Text mining” covers a range of techniques that allow software to extract information from text documents. It is not a new technology, but it has recently received spotlight attention due to the emergence of Big Data. The applications of text mining are very diverse and span multiple disciplines, ranging from biomedicine to legal, business intelligence and security. From a legal perspective, text mining touches upon several areas of law, including contract law, copyright law and database law. This contribution discusses the legal issues encountered during the assembly of texts into so-called “corpora”, as well as the use of such corpora.     

Government spending cycles: Ideological or opportunistic?

This paper examines whether partisan and opportunistic motives affect government expenditure growth in the Netherlands. The time series analysis, covering the period 1953–1993, allows for different types of government spending. In general, spending is inspired by ideological and opportunistic motives: all government expenditure categories show an upward drift during election times and the ‘partisan’ motives behind government spending are clearly revealed: left-wing cabinets attach greater importance to social security and health care than right-wing cabinets and right-wing cabinets value expenditure on infrastructure and defense more than left-wing parties.