Polygraphs: Erosion of the privacy right

The polygraph is a machine which invades previously private regions in the human being. Its operation is often viewed simplistically and lacking in danger. Such naivete is the subject of this comment. The paper considers the mechanics of polygraph operation, and its theoretical basis; the legal admissibility of the polygraph in a variety of settings, and lastly the impact the polygraph has upon our private lives.Clearly, the polygraph intrudes on the private regions of each individual, and this frightening fact is cause enough to consider the human, social and constitutional implications of its use. The project considers the reliability factor of the polygraph and its questionable use in personnel and business settings; its use in disciplinary procedures and labor arbitration, as well as reviews its place in judicial process and criminal review.Most critically the paper attempts to arrive at a constitutional basis for restrictions on its use in the private sector. Ingenious arguments have been made by opponents of the polygraph, and this paper reviews the substance and content of these constitutional arguments.     

从伊斯兰教的主要内容看其社会政治影响

伊斯兰教具有自身独特的内容 ,它涉及宗教信仰和社会政治生活等诸多方面 ,这样广博而丰富的内涵 ,使得伊斯兰教不仅仅是一种宗教 ,它同时也是一种社会体系、一种生活方式、一种文化形态 ,甚至是一种社会归属认同。因此 ,伊斯兰教表现出它是一支不可忽视的社会政治力量 ,具有较大的社会政治影响力。了解和认识这一特征 ,有助于我们领会党的宗教政策、做好维护社会政治稳定工作。     

中国大城市社会发展综合评价指标体系的建构

社会发展评价指标体系作为度量社会发展水平的一种工具,自“社会指标运动”兴起半个多世纪以来,世界各国陆续建立的有不下数十种,但此前尚无一种能够适用于我国社会转型后大城市社会发展的度量。为此,我们设计了专门用于评估我国大城市社会发展水平的指标体系。这套指标体系经试测检验和国家权威机构专家的论证,认为其涵盖性和逻辑性较强,能充分体现我国大城市的社会发展特点,并能对其进行比较客观和准确的评价,亦具有较强的分析比较功能。     

Income inequality and voting for radical right-wing parties

Using a multilevel analysis method, this article tests different hypotheses for how income inequality affects voter support for radical right-wing parties (RRPs) in Western Europe. Specifically, the article shows how this ‘income inequality effect’ encourages poor people to vote for RRPs, while it concurrently discourages rich people from doing so. This finding supports the social identity hypothesis, which states that social identity (a micro-level factor) intermediates income inequality effect (a macro-level factor) on voter support for RRPs. The article's results suggest, further, that income inequality has different effects between the main supporters of RRPs with dissimilar occupations (e.g., manual workers and the petty bourgeoisie) because they belong to different income groups; and that country-level factors may have different effects on people regarding their support for RRPs.     

From Form to Function to Sustainable Solutions? Reforming Public Sectors in Low Income Countries: New Approaches and Available Evidence of “What Works”

The article reviews the evidence about success of public sector reforms in low and middle income countries, external support for such reforms, and recent ideas of how such support could be better designed and implemented. Enthusiasm for supporting public sector reforms has decreased over the past decade, and available data suggest that there has been little overall improvement. However, it also indicates that a small number of countries have significantly strengthened their public sectors over the past 10 to 20 years. The article then reviews five new approaches that have been proposed for better supporting public sector reforms. It looks at how they diagnose what has not worked and the implications of what should be carried out differently. Furthermore, it explores to what extent the available evidence of overall stagnation as well as of success cases fits with these proposed alternatives, to gauge to what extent they are likely to make a difference. The final section sets out the implications. Development agencies should seek to deliberately test a combination of the proposed alternative approaches, particularly in more difficult contexts, taking political feasibility as a basis and adding other elements. The urgency to make progress remains high. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Public Value Management: A Case Study of Transitional Change in Disability Sector Reform in Western Australia

This paper contributes to the study of public value management (PVM). PVM is distinguished from other approaches to public administration in its focus on establishing community networks and collaborative capacity building for the creation of public value. We explore PVM through a case study of a public–community sector partnership strategy called the positive behaviour framework (PBF), a state government initiative designed to transform services for people with disabilities. The development and implementation of the PBF is analysed via a transitional change or ‘sector awareness’ model. Each phase of the model is illustrated through ‘positive stories’ that depict key moments in the change process and in the activities that public sector managers employed to raise awareness, build capacity, and promote collaboration. We discuss the implications of the study for disability sector change management and for the further study of the PVM approach to public sector administration.     

Investing in Not‐for‐Profit Sector Capacity: The Australian Capital Territory's Community Sector Development Program (CSDP)

In 2013 the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government's Community Services Directorate (CSD) initiated a suite of projects designed to address the not‐for‐profit (NFP) community services sector's capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing policy and operational environment. In common with other Australian governments, the ACT relies upon NFP organisations to deliver a wide range of community‐based human/social services. The procurement of services rendered to, or on behalf of, government by a third party provider under contract accounts for about 94% of the CSD's investment in the NFP community services sector. The ACT government, therefore, has a vested interest in ensuring that NFP providers are operationally capable, financially viable, and economically sustainable. Accordingly, the government launched a Community Sector Reform Program (CSRP) focussing on red tape reduction, sector development, and the establishment of a community sector outcomes framework. What lessons might the CSRP offer for other jurisdictions?     

Public Sector Collaboration: Are We Doing It Well and Could We Do It Better?

Improving collaboration by public sector agencies is an important element of many public sector reforms. Common approaches include introducing responsibilities under legislation and policy decisions, the provision of information and guidance, and strengthening third‐party oversight. To identify how collaboration is being practised, this paper reviews evidence from over one hundred reports by Auditors‐General and Ombudsmen in Australia and New Zealand to identify key attributes of collaboration, and assesses these further by examining three reports in detail. It concludes that problems that have been known for many years continue to constrain public sector effectiveness. Although continuing existing approaches may assist in improving collaboration, the paper argues that there is a need to adopt more systematic approaches to organisational capacity for collaboration. It further identifies that changes in the external environment such as technology‐based innovation may demand rapid progress and change in relation to collaboration.     

On the measurement of low self-control in Add Health and NLSY79

Limited attention has been devoted to the dimensionality of the low self-control scales commonly constructed in two nationally representative datasets routinely used to test self-control theory (SCT) – Add Health and NLSY79. We assess the measurement properties of the low self-control scales by comparing a series of exploratory and confirmatory models that are appropriate for the categorical nature of the observed items, including unidimensional, correlated factors, second-order factor, and bifactor models. Additionally, based on these results we explore the predictive validity of the respective scales on adolescents’ delinquent behavior. The results indicate that the low self-control scales in these data have acceptable levels of internal consistency but do not represent unidimensional latent factors. Rather, scales are best represented by a second-order factor structure. When measured this way, our Add Health scale is associated with delinquency in a cross-sectional context and our NLSY79 scale predicts delinquency longitudinally. This study reveals that low self-control is best conceptualized as a multidimensional construct within these data. The results of this study provide guidance to researchers measuring low self-control in either dataset (or other data sources) and inform the larger SCT measurement literature.     

The Issue of Ethics and Authority for Licensed Mental Health Professionals Involved in Parenting Coordination

We examine the ethics of licensed mental health professionals accepting the authority inherent in binding arbitration when acting as parenting coordinators (PCs). PCs execute their duties under the umbrella of their professional identity and standards of practice. Fundamental differences exist in how the law and the behavioral sciences conceive human behavior and authority, in particular, authority by role and authority by status. Ethical concerns arise when licensed mental health professionals accept the authority to render binding judgments and ask clients to surrender their autonomy through informed consent. We offer recommendations for PCs to avoid these ethical complications.