Rape Without Consent

This article is a defence of a differentiated offence of rape.A differentiated offence is an offence which can be completedin a number of different ways that cannot be captured in a simpledefinition. It is argued that such an offence would meet severalconcerns that have been expressed in the feminist literatureabout the law of rape. It would assist certainty, it would reducethe extent to which the offence focuses on the conduct of thecomplainant, it would allow the law to express that violenceis central to the offence of rape where violence is present,but it would also allow convictions of rape where there is noviolence. The argument is developed through critical engagementwith the law of rape as set out in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.The Sexual Offences Act, it is argued, fails adequately to meetthe concerns outlined above.     

Methodological Artifacts in Measures of Political Efficacy and Trust: A Multiple Correspondence Analysis

Many authors report a positive relationship of education andpolitical interest with political efficacy and trust, but itis well known that both of the former are associated with responsestyles, such as a tendency to "strongly agree." Since they arerelated to both a substantive concept (political efficacy andtrust), and to methodological effects (agreement bias and atendency to give non-substantive responses) it is importantto assess whether the substantive relationship is due to methodologicalartifacts. Applying multiple correspondence analysis to the1984 Canadian National Election Study, we will discuss a methodwhich allows to test a set of items for measurement effectssuch as ordinality and response sets. In the given example,ordinality of the political efficacy and trust items could beconfirmed only for politically interested respondents. For respondentswith low political interest, there is clear evidence of a responseset resulting in a tendency to "strongly agree" regardless ofthe direction of the items. Taken together, these findings callinto question the substantive relationships reported in theliterature.     

Public opinion and the measurement of consumer satisfaction with government services

Abstract: This paper measures Canadian consumer satisfaction with six government services in two time periods, 1983 and 1988. A taxonomy of government services is developed based on heterogeneity of consumer needs and extent of consumer experience with government services. This framework is used to organize the analysis of regional and demographic differences between satisfied and dissatisfied individuals. Results of the study indicate that the majority of people are very satisfied with all six government services in both time periods. Variation does exist across types of services, and several regional and demographic variables are found to be significantly different across satisfied and dissatisfied respondents within each service. Sommaire: Ce rapport kvalue la satisfaction du consommateur canadien à I'égard de six services gouvernementaux à deux époques: en 1983 et en 1988. Il élabore une taxonomie des services gouvernementaux en se fondant sur I'héterogéneité des besoins des consommateurs et I'étendue de leur expérience avec les services gouvernementaux. Ce cadre sert à structurer I'analyse des différences régionales et démographiques entre les personnes satisfaites et celles qui ne le sont pas. Les résultats de I'étude montrent que la plupart des consomrnateurs sont trés satisfaits des six services en question au cours des deux époques étudiées. Il existe des variations selon le type de service et des différences marquées dans plusieurs variables régionales et démographiques entre les répondants satisfaits et insatisfaits a I'égard de chaque service. Many liberal political theorists maintain that “the will of the people” is highest authority in a democracy, and should be directly reflected in policy initiatives sponsored by the government of the day. It is important to understand the fundamental principles which underpin western liberal democracies when studying consumer satisfaction with government services. Given the exalted position granted public opinion in these countries, one can hardly dispute the premise that reference to the wishes of the people is correct. Summary and Conclusions Contrary to past studies, this study found no massive dissatisfaction with government services. Differences in satisfaction do exist and these can be explained primarily by experience levels and heterogeneity of consumer needs. In particular, a strong interaction between experience and needs indicate that services with high experiencelheterogeneous needs receive a low evaluation. Also, satisfaction evaluations remain relatively stable over time but vary greatly across regions. Demographic differences in satisfaction are generally consistent with heterogeneity of needs and experience levels. The relatively high levels of satisfaction found in the study would, prima facie, imply that the government need not be too concerned about improving public services. But two characteristics, heterogeneity of consumer needs and extent of consumer experience, are useful for the categorization of government services on likelihood of dissatisfaction. Public services must be monitored, and monitored differently, depending on the average consumer's experience and need. It is evident that, in the short run, lower-quality services provided to high experience/heterogeneous needs consumers are most likely to generate dissatisfaction and complaints and thus put pressure on governments. A more serious, long-run problem may, however, exist with services provided to low experience/homogeneous needs consumers. It is possible that these services may deteriorate very badly before consumers complain and hence corrective action is taken. On the other hand, perhaps this is the essence of government service supply strategy.     

Mistaken Attribution: The United States and Inter-Korean Relations

The US-South Korea alliance has been one of the most successful relationships to be forged out of the Cold War era. Since the June 2000 inter-Korean summit, however, one area of consistent friction between the two countries has been over North-South relations. In this article, Victor Cha, associate professor of Government and D.S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, argues that a key dynamic at play is one of perception, involving errors of attribution. Allied complaints about the other are heard, but attempts to address these complaints are dismissed by the counterpart as having been determined by the situation rather than by volition--that is, disposition. This results in mutual frustration. Since the "axis of evil" appellation attached to North Korea by US president, George Bush, both sides have interpreted North Korean behavior as confirming their own convictions on how to proceed. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the result has been a dichotomy in the way the two governments approach inter-Korean relations.