Public Sector ‘Modernisation’: Examining the Impact of a Change Agenda on Local Government Employees in England

Can public sector reform change service performance for the better? This is a hotly contested debate that carries significant theoretical and practical importance. In England, as in many countries, modernisation was at the heart of local government reform and represented an interpretation of New Public Management into a policy framework. This paper examines the role of the modernisation change agenda in England and what this has subsequently meant for ‘service improvement’. Drawing on both document analyses and qualitative interviews with local government employees, we find that while modernisation sought to establish continuous improvement, unintended consequences of modernisation have led to Staff Reductions, Skill Deficiencies, and Loss of a Competent Middle Core in local government, as well as performance outcomes creating an environment for Commissioning, Service Reduction, and Self‐Policing. Implications for the lasting roles and behaviours of public managers affected by this national change agenda are discussed, and conclusions for theory and practice are drawn.     

Pubertal Timing and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescents: The Roles of Romantic Competence and Romantic Experiences

In spite of the large literature supporting the link between early pubertal timing and depression in adolescent girls, there are some exceptions. This suggests that there may be factors that interact with pubertal timing, increasing risk for depression in some girls, but not others. This study examined two such factors, romantic competence and romantic experiences, and their role in the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms among 83 early adolescent females (89% Caucasian). For on-time maturing girls (but not for early- or late-), lower levels of competence were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms concurrently, but not longitudinally. In addition, for on-time maturing girls, more romantic experiences were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms both concurrently and longitudinally. The discussion focused on the need for greater conceptual and empirical clarity regarding the pubertal timing-depression association and its potential moderators.

Fairness, Efficiency and Effectiveness in Court-based Dispute Resolution Schemes in England

In recent years in England there has been renewed emphasis oncourt-based dispute resolution schemes (in-court conciliation)as a means to avoid the use of contested hearings in litigatedcontact cases. These alternative dispute resolution mechanismsare believed to be less likely to fuel parental conflict, morelikely to result in an outcome tailored to individual circumstancesand to be accepted by the parties as well as reducing delayand costs. Previous research has, however, raised questionsabout whether rapid negotiations in a highly pressurized courtenvironment can produce a fair, safe or sustainable solution.In this paper, we draw upon a recently completed research studyto explore the fairness, efficiency and effectiveness of disputeresolution schemes in litigated contact cases. Like others weraise concerns about some of the limitations of in-court conciliation.We conclude by arguing for the development of a more facilitativeor educational-therapeutic approach to litigated contact cases.     

Plea bargaining with budgetary constraints

In this paper, we construct a simple model that illustrates a perverse effect associated with plea bargaining in which an increase in sanctions can lead to reduced deterrence. This finding is derived from the interaction of binding budgetary constraints and plea bargaining. In an environment with these institutional features, higher sanctions are not always optimal when resources are limited, even if such sanctions are costless. Such potential phenomena may be useful in explaining the fact that many states have introduced limitations on plea bargaining. Prosecutors being concerned with their conviction rates is necessary for such a result to be present.     

The Strategic Use of Demand‐side Diversity Pressure in the Solicitors' Profession

There has been a long line of official initiatives seeking to address the poor record of the solicitors' profession on diversity. One of the latest, the Law Society's 2009 Diversity Charter and Protocol, attempts to harness client pressure as a way of bringing about change. The objective of the paper is to assess this strategic use of ‘demand‐side diversity pressure’ in the solicitors' profession, contextualizing the strategy and using different perspectives to assess it. The paper first considers the strategy as a development of ‘business case’ arguments for diversity and explores the implications of scholarly objections to this approach. Secondly, the paper uses empirical data from the City law firm sector to explore the nature and practical effects of demand‐side diversity pressures within law firms. I conclude by considering the prospects of the Law Society's scheme having a meaningful effect, factoring in the possible effects of the ongoing global economic crisis.     

The Middle Way: The Discourse of Planning in Britain,Australia and at the League in the Interwar Years*

Through an examination of speeches, articles and scholarly writing, this article traces the development of the idea of planning and the related doctrine of rationalization in Australia, Britain and at the League of Nations up to the Second World War. These terms denoted scientific control of social forces, an idea that emerged as the major response to interwar perceptions of crisis. Although rationalization and planning were viewed as potentially international in scope by the League's Economic Section, their treatment in Britain and Australia tended towards the provincial, with the rhetoric surrounding them progressively being tailored to suit local and imperial concerns and commitments. The defences of planning often relied on sentimental appeals to British character and traditions, although these same appeals were later used to undermine its rhetorical status.     

The possibility of an Asian monetary union drawing from the EMU experience

This academic exercise evaluates the possibility of formation of a monetary union within East Asia, with the European Monetary Union (EMU) providing a referential framework against which lessons and comparisons are drawn. The benefits and drawbacks to Asia of adopting such a union are discussed, and their relative magnitude weighed against each other by employing the theory of the Optimum Currency Area (OCA). Although studies under the OCA framework have not yielded irrefutable or definitive results on the economic sustainability of an Asian monetary union, it is concurred that such a union is as economically viable as the EMU. The political sentiments towards monetary unification in East Asia are also examined, and though leaders remain generally unreceptive to such an undertaking, it is receiving serious consideration as cooperative monetary efforts accelerate and integrative initiatives deepen across Asia. Attention is also given to the existing monetary union between Singapore and Brunei (MUBS) as it commands relevance in our analysis due to its residence within Asia itself, and its smooth functioning despite economic disparities between its two members. A gradualist approach towards East Asian monetary unification, whereby smaller monetary unions are first formed to be eventually merged to make up an East Asian-wide monetary union is also discussed.