Juvenile Delinquency in Central European Cities: A Comparison of Registration and Processing Structures in the 1990s

The authors trace and compare the developments in recorded juvenile delinquency in Hamburg, Prague, Cracow and Budapest from 1991-1997 and then analyse the processing and selection procedures of the various justice systems. They devote special attention to ethnic minorities within this filtering process. The most salient feature is that the crime rates and processing structures in the former socialist countries display considerable similarities. It would almost be possible to speak of a specific type of criminal justice system with a typical form of reaction. While in the West, the large number of suspects is considerably reduced during later stages of selection to a much smaller number (those actually sentenced and/or imprisoned), what the authors call a funnel model, in the East a smaller number of suspected offenders enters this selection process, but tends to remain within it and be sentenced - the cylinder model. These procedural structures have changed little in the 1990s, and there has certainly not been any increasing alignment of the Eastern systems with the Western one. Indeed, the difference has, if anything, become greater. These lower crime statistics as compared with the West - represented here by Hamburg - are, however, not only the result of equally large discrepancies between the real crime rates, but in this regard the pro-active crime prevention measures of the police, which in Hamburg have caused the inclusion of an increased number of juveniles and foreigners in the crime statistics since 1995, have also had a great effect. The research project thus clearly demonstrates the importance of interpreting crime statistics neither as a true representation nor as a distorted reflection of the activities of a criminal justice system. Instead, these statistics should be seen as reflecting specific processing procedures and methods of crime control.     

American Grand Strategy in a World at Risk

If there is no single long-standing American grand strategy, one nonetheless sees through the course of U.S. history the tracks of a grand strategy. It started with the idea of a U.S. monopoly in the Western Hemisphere, along with balances of power in the chief theaters of the world; with belief in the primacy of sea and air power and the need for an economic system to support these; and the objective of transforming international politics. Since 9/11, even if the strategic hierarchy, intensity, and political basis have changed, the Bush administration has largely been continuing in this same project, with a sensible strategy but poorly considered tactics.     

The role of people in information-sharing: perceptions from an analytic unit of a regional fusion center

Information sharing research has largely focused on capturing operational practices related to the exchange of information. A noticeable shortcoming of this developing literature is the lack of scholarly attention focused specifically on analytic personnel. The present study employs semi-structured interviews with 23 personnel that comprise the analytic unit within a regional fusion center located in a large metropolitan area in the United States. Findings indicate that there is significant ambiguity surrounding the organizational and geographic audiences to which intelligence products should be tailored. Moreover, it appears information sharing is sparse and reliant upon personal relationships between analysts and external organizations. Lastly, analysts do not receive feedback pertaining to the content and effectiveness of intelligence products created. These findings may be generalized to other analytical organizations whose primary goal is to gather, analyze and disseminate intelligence. Action steps for policymakers are provided.     

Jahresregister 2007

Zusammenfassung Seit einem Jahr liegen die thematische Strategie für den Bodenschutz und der Entwurf der Bodenrahmenrichtlinie vor, mit denen die Europ?ische Kommission das europ?ische Umweltrecht komplettieren und einen nachhaltigen Umgang mit den Bodenressourcen erreichen will. Jahrzehnte vorher hatten schon die Welt-Boden-Charta und die Europ?ische Bodencharta eine nachhaltige Bodennutzung gefordert, um der anhaltenden Bodendegradation Einhalt zu gebieten. Vor 15 Jahren hatte die Weltgemeinschaft die Rio-Deklaration über Umwelt und Entwicklung und einen Aktionsplan für diese Deklaration, mit denen nachhaltige Entwicklung, nachhaltige Ressourcennutzung und nachhaltiger Bodenschutz umgesetzt werden sollen, vereinbart. Der Beitrag stellt die Strategie, die Rahmenrichtlinie und den Diskurs zwischen den am Entscheidungsprozess beteiligten Organen und Interessenvertretungen von Landwirtschaft und Industrie, der noch im Gange ist, dar. Auch werden einige Schlüsselthemen der Weiterentwicklung des Bodenschutzes, l?sungsbedürftige theoretische Fragen, die im Hintergrund der Auseinandersetzungen stehen, skizziert.     

A peculiar institution? Greco–Roman monogamy in global context

In what sense were the ancient Greeks and Romans monogamous, and why does it matter? This paper addresses this question from a transdisciplinary and global cross-cultural perspective. It considers the physical and anthropological record of polygyny, delineates the historical expansion of formal monogamy, and critiques complementary social science models of mate choice. This approach allows us to situate Greco–Roman practice on a spectrum from traditional polygamy to more recent forms of normative monogyny. Whilst Greco–Roman legal and social norms stressed the nexus between monogamous unions and legitimate reproduction, they accommodated a variety of men's polygynous relationships outside the nuclear family. Greco–Roman monogamy's historically most significant consequence was its role in shaping Christian and later ‘Western’ marital norms that eventually gained global influence.     

Administrative reform in the federal public service: the first faltering steps

Abstract. This paper is complementary to one by H. L. Laframboise published previously in Canadian Public Administration (14, no. 3, fall 1971, pp. 305–25), ‘Administrative reform in the federal public service: signs of a saturation psychosis.’ Where Laframboise stresses the serious concerns that have arisen on the part of many managers over an accumulation of initiatives in administrative reform and seems generally to be advocating that we slow down the pace of such reform, the position taken here is that in our managerial practices we are very seriously below the level required to handle the enormous and complex demands facing the federal public service and therefore must attend far more energetically to administrative reform, albeit more expertly. The paper identifies four key needs to be met in managing public organizations effectively, and treats each of these in some detail: placing men and women of appropriate managerial mind and bent in managerial positions; identifying, developing and using appropriately the growing range of managerial support specialties; facing up to and countering the insularity that seems to afflict even the best of managers; and assuming a managerial approach suited to the dynamic nature of what Warren Bennis has termed ‘the temporary society.’ The paper concludes with a discussion of managing as a set of paradoxes. Sommaire. Cet article traite du même sujet qu'un autre article que publiait dans I'ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA (14, no 3, automne 1971, pp. 303–25) par H. L. Laframboise, intitulé“Administrative reform in the federal public service: signs of a saturation psychosis”. Alors que Laframboise soulignait les préscupations sérieuses de plusieurs administrateus devant le grand nombre d'initiatives en matière de réforme administrative et semblait préconiser de façon générale le ralentissement du rythme de cette réforme, l'on soutient ici que nos méthodes de estion sont bien loin de pouvoir répondre aux exigences nombreuses et compexes de la fonction publique féérale, et que partant, nous devons poursuivre la réforme administrative de façon beaucoup plus dynamique et plus experte. L'article détermine quatre exigences primordiales de la gestion efficace des administrations publiques et traite chacune d'elles en détail:affecter à des postes de gestion des hommes et femmes d'esprit et de tendance idoines; déterminer, établir et employer à bon escient l'éventail de plus en plus vaste des spécialités du soutien administratif; combattre la tendance que semblent avoir les meilleurs de nos gestionnaires de se renfermer dans leur coquille; adopter une méthode de gestion adaptée à la nature dynamique de ce que Warren Bennis appelle “la société temporaire”. L'article se termine en assimilant le processus de gestion à une série de paradoxes.