Did they ‘Read Before Burning’? The Coalition and Quangos

Attitudes to quangos are paradoxical. On the one hand they are perceived to be undemocratic, unaccountable organisations, while on the other they are seen to improve effectiveness, limit political interference and increase public confidence in government. This paradox is reflected in the behaviour of political parties, which generally adopt a harsh line towards quangos in opposition, but come to rely on these bodies in office. Ahead of the 2010 general election it was, however, noticeable that the Conservative party rejected this dynamic by promising to pursue ‘a more sophisticated approach’. This article explores the Coalition government's subsequent ‘public bodies reform programme’, assessing its progress against recommendations contained within the Institute for Government's Read before Burning report of July 2010. It concludes that while the Coalition has addressed long‐standing concerns about the day‐to‐day governance of public bodies, it has failed to resolve a set of broader and strategic (metagovernance) issues.     

当前我国吸毒问题的特点、原因及对策

毒品违法犯罪最终都是围绕着毒品消费(吸毒)而展开的,吸毒既是毒品违法犯罪的一种,又是包括毒品违法犯罪在内的其他违法犯罪发展蔓延的重要推手。当前我国的吸毒人员以无业的男性青少年为主,吸食毒品类型以传统毒品为主,但吸食新型毒品现象发展蔓延迅速;诱发吸毒原因十分复杂,有习惯因素,也有误信其助兴、减肥、提神、治病等功效的因素;预防和控制吸毒是当前维护社会治安稳定的一项重要工作,需要加大宣传和打击管控力度及强化社区帮教、加大禁毒科技投入等多策并举综合治理。     

Parliamentary control of CSDP: the case of the EU's fight against piracy off the Somali coast

Parliamentary involvement remains a key tool for the democratic control of executive policies. This article explores the web of parliamentary involvement in decision-making on European Union (EU) military operations, using insights gained in an in-depth case study on the EU's anti-piracy mission Atalanta. We find that parliaments at all levels became involved only after key political decisions had already been made. At the member state level, we find highly uneven involvement with only some parliaments being very well informed and closely monitoring, if not influencing government policy. The European Parliament became active only after the launch of the mission but then scrutinised it intensely, profiting (in contrast to national parliaments) from its access to top military officials and key decision-makers. Finally, transnational parliamentary assemblies as well as more informal networks provided opportunities to transmit information across the boundaries of individual parliaments and party-groups thus potentially enhancing the ability of parliamentarians to scrutinise government policies.     

The Effect of Previous Traumatic Injury on Homicide Risk

Research has reported that a strong risk factor for traumatic injury is having a previous injury (i.e., recidivism). To date, the only study examining the relationship between recidivism and homicide reported strong associations, but was limited by possible selection bias. The current matched case–control study utilized coroner's data from 2004 to 2008. Subjects were linked to trauma registry data to determine whether the person had a previous traumatic injury. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the association between homicide and recidivism. Homicide risk was increased for those having a previous traumatic injury (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.09–2.99) or a previous intentional injury (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.24–5.17). These results suggest an association between homicide and injury recidivism, and that trauma centers may be an effective setting for screening individuals for secondary prevention efforts of homicide through violence prevention programs.     

Five Areas of Value Judgement in Local Adaptation to Climate Change

Abstract

Climate change has generated several new theoretical and policy challenges, many of which concern how local communities ought to adapt to a warmer climate. This paper identifies and analyses a number of value judgements that come to the fore as local authorities adapt to climate change. Five categories of judgements are discussed: evaluation (how should the consequences of adaptation be evaluated?), timing (when should adaptive action be taken?), distribution (how should the benefits and burdens of adaptation be distributed?), procedures (who should be involved in adaptation decision making?), and goal conflicts (how should goal conflicts in adaptation be dealt with?). For each category, further research is needed to assist decision making at the local level.     

An Integrated Model for the Audit,Control and Supervision of Local Government

This article considers the issue of the audit, control and supervision of local government units in a new paradigm. The author argues that the treatment of audit, control and supervision activities in the present paradigm, in which they are treated separately from each other, or only as a ‘control or audit pyramid’, has so many imperfections that it no longer represents a reliable means of modern good governance. The author presents some ideas for the operation of an integrated system of audit, control and supervision for the local government sector, focusing particularly on small, local government units. Although the author's research is based on the case of Estonia, a small, liberal constitutional democracy with an open economy, his ideas are also applicable to other democratic societies.     

Bureaucratic Discretion and Political Control of the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA)

Drawing on theories of political control and bureaucratic discretion this research examines two states' experiences with RCRA implementation and administration in the United States. This research finds that both bureaucratic actors and political actors shape the implementation of these environmental programs with money source and regional EPA offices playing a bigger role than expected.     

The Implementation Effectiveness of Trash Management in Ambon,Maluku: The Influence of Socialization,Coordination and Control to the Effectiveness of Trash Management

Principally, the policy is made to change the situation to be the desired one. The policy implementation in management context is in the terms of socialization, coordination and the control. This research is focused in the result process of public policy related to the trash management. The joint influence between the socialization, coordination and the control through the implementer and society behavior to the effectiveness of trash management in Ambon is being considered. The structural equation modeling (SEM) and Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) 20 is used to analyze the data in this research.     

German and Italian Municipalities’ Internal Control Systems: Convergence to a Neo-Weberian Reform Pattern?

This article contributes to the debate on convergence/divergence of public management reforms toward the new public management (NPM) paradigm by analyzing the internal control systems (ICSs) in Germany and Italy. Specifically, the study describes the ICS established at the normative level in German and Italian municipalities and evaluates the extent of the decisional convergence to NPM, using the INTOSAI guidelines. Although similarities between the two ICSs and the INTOSAI guidelines emerged, decisional convergence is not demonstrated. Instead, these countries seem to converge to a Neo-Weberian reform pattern since they are cautious in the introduction of new managerial tools and they maintain their domestic original ICS.     

Precision Terror: Suicide Bombing as Control Technology

Suicide bombing can be understood as a technology that successfully integrates people, cultures, and hardware into precise, intelligent, lethal weapons systems. Lacking access to the sophisticated electronic guidance systems of their enemies, terrorists have developed a cost-effective alternative technology by using social and cultural pressure to convert human beings into guidance systems for terrorist ordnance. This demonstrates that while terrorists tend to be imitative in their technologies, they can still be effective and difficult to predict. A significant implication that arises from this discussion is that the American tendency to assume that “high-tech” devices will automatically confer an advantage on the United States in the struggle against terrorism should be reconsidered.