What Future for the Ombudsman?

The ombudsman institution, in both the public and private sectors, is increasingly identified with the ethos of consumerism and the protection of consumer rights. The current trend is exemplified and reinforced by the EU ADR Directive and by the government response to a recent inquiry into complaints conducted by the Public Administration Select Committee. This article argues that the dominant consumerist ethos diminishes the ability of the ombudsman institution to fulfil its potential. If the ombudsman institution, in particular as manifest in the office of the UK Parliamentary Ombudsman, is to serve the public interest, it must instead promote human rights principles and constitutional morality, adopt a process that is marked by public reasoning and participation and seek by a whole‐system approach to realise a vision that is integrated and truly democratic.     

Parallel Systems and Human Resource Management in India's Public Health Services: A View from the Front Lines

There is building evidence in India that the delivery of health services suffers both from an actual shortfall in trained health professionals and from unsatisfactory results of existing service providers working in the public and private sectors. This study focuses on the public sector and examines de facto institutional and governance arrangements that may give rise to well‐documented provider behaviors such as absenteeism that can adversely affect service delivery processes and outcomes. We analyze four human resource management (HRM) subsystems: postings, transfers, promotions and disciplinary practices from the perspective of front‐line workers—physicians working in rural healthcare facilities operated by two state governments. We sampled physicians in one “post‐reform” state that has instituted HRM reforms and one “pre‐reform” state that has not. The findings are based on both quantitative and qualitative measurements. The results show that formal rules are undermined by a parallel modus operandi in which desirable posts are often determined by political connections and side payments. The evidence suggests an institutional environment in which formal rules of accountability are trumped by a parallel set of accountabilities. These systems appear so entrenched that reforms have borne no significant effect. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Future of the Public Service Workforce: A Dialogue

It has been widely suggested that public service delivery of the future will be different to that of today. Added to this, we are currently witnessing significant changes in terms of the nature of work. Taken together these developments signal that we will see transformation in terms of the role of public servants and the public service workforce. Against this background, this paper presents a dialogue on the future of the public service workforce between Helen Dickinson and Helen Sullivan of the Melbourne School of Government, University of Melbourne and Graeme Head, New South Wales Public Service Commissioner. This paper offers insights from academics actively engaged in teaching the future public service workforce and a public service commissioner actively working to make a reality of a vision of the future.     

Trends in the management of registered sexual offenders across England and Wales: a geographical approach to the study of sexual offending

Abstract

Social scientists, and geographers in particular, have long been interested in examining spatial patterns of offending in order to generate a “geography” of crime and criminality. This paper examines what value, if any, a geographical approach to the study of sexual offending might offer. Utilising published official data from England and Wales it presents for the first time geographical analyses of the registration, risk assessment and management of Registered Sexual Offenders (RSOs) across 42 Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) areas. In doing so it considers and evaluates the methodological issues pertaining to the use of such data and such a geographical approach. We conclude that geographical interpretations of both the incidence of RSOs and the rates of risk allocations between MAPPA areas provide valuable insights and raise new questions about the way in which RSOs are managed nationally and are thus worthy of further exploration.     

微时代下公安院校情报人才培养探析

以微信、微博、微视为主要内容的"微时代"迅速兴起、方兴未艾。在微时代,公安院校应与时俱进,自觉、自信地把情报人才的培养和形式多样的微媒体有机地结合起来。本文以微时代为背景,剖析了微时代下微媒体的传播特点,分析了微时代对公安院校情报人才培养的重要意义,探析了微时代下公安院校情报人才培养的方法和策略。     

互联网应用对网络舆情影响力指标体系构建

近些年来,依托各类互联网应用所构建起的网络信息传播体系的网络舆情影响力越发增强,易于引起社会的强烈反应。基于互联网应用的热点信息传播属性,通过构建互联网应用对网络舆情影响力的评价指标体系,可以来衡量和评价互联网应用对网络舆情的影响程度,从而为政府部门实现高效监测、控制、引导网络舆情提供新的思路和方法。     

基层公安机关刑事案件管辖模式比较研究

打击刑事犯罪是公安机关的主要职能之一。对基层公安机关刑事案件的管辖问题进行研究,将有利于在现有公安编制不变的条件下,最大限度地提高基层公安机关打击犯罪的职能作用和管理效率。而在我国的基层公安机关中,承担主要刑事案件破案职责的是基层刑侦部门(即刑警队)和派出所。因此,对目前我国比较具有代表性的"所队刑事案件管辖模式"进行较为深入地剖析和探讨,将对不同地区的基层公安机关在刑事案件管辖模式的选择问题上有所裨益,并且有利于最大限度地提高基层公安机关的管理效能。     

Till Immigration do us Part? Public Opinion and the Dilemma between Immigration Control and Bilateral Agreements

As a result of the initiative against mass immigration (MEI) Switzerland faces a dilemma between control of immigration and the continuation of bilateral agreements. This contribution raises two questions: First, have Swiss citizens' perceptions regarding the incompatibility between immigration control and bilateral agreements evolved since the vote on the MEI in February 2014? Second, what would Swiss citizens decide if they had to choose between the implementation of the MEI and the continuation of the bilateral strategy? We ground our analysis on data from the VOX surveys regarding the MEI and the more recent vote of November 2014 (Ecopop initiative). While Swiss voters still seem to be uncertain about the issue of compatibility, they nevertheless show support for the continuation of the bilateral agreements. Our analyses highlight the importance of age, trust in government and left‐right orientation for individual opinions towards the bilateral way.     

Food distribution's socio-economic relationships and public policy: Mexico City's municipal public markets

Traditional food supply systems, like municipal public markets (MPM), are in crisis. Nevertheless, MPMs continue to demonstrate importance in the lives of the cities. In this article we discuss the case of Mexico City and the importance of the public markets for its neighbourhoods. We present the results of two research projects, completed in Mexico City at two different historical times and interpreted longitudinally. The results demonstrate the importance of socio-economic relationships for MPM's survival and potential. The article concludes with public policy recommendations to permit conservation, given the MPM's importance for the city's social cohesion.     

Basic education clusters in Cambodia: looking at the future while learning from the past

School clusters have been adopted as an education policy by most Asian countries since the 1960s. In Cambodia, primary schools have been organised in clusters since 1993. Clusters were considered a mechanism for quality improvements of education and a way to facilitate sharing and interaction between schools. Primary school clusters have been partially successful. Today there is a growing interest among Cambodian policymakers for integrating primary schools (Grades 1–6) and lower secondary schools (Grades 7–9). This article provides a policy suggestion by arguing for extending the cluster mechanism to these integrated basic education schools with all grades from 1 to 9.