Federal Highway Assistance Funds in the State Infrastructure Bank Programs: Mechanisms,Merits, and Modifications

In response to the declining financial resources for state transportation infrastructures, the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (P. L. 104–159) authorized the establishment of the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) Pilot Programs. This paper shows how the federal assistance funds deposited into the SIB equity fund can maximize state highway resources through a simulation. From 1998 to 2003, one dollar of the federal funds augmented state highway expenditures by 5.24 dollars in a specific year in contrast to the original intention of perpetuating state highway spending. This study further suggests ways to modify and improve the current SIB mechanism.     

Behind the Walls and Beyond: Restorative Justice,Instrumental Communities,and Effective Residential Treatment

Although restorative justice principles and practice have been applied extensively in community‐based juvenile justice settings, implementation in residential treatment facilities has been far less common. We describe recent experimentation and possibilities for broader application to disciplinary infractions, the response to harm and crime, promoting community and citizen input, “community building” for conflict resolution skill development and changing the culture of facilities, and reentry. We conceptualize three “communities” as most relevant to addressing needs of incarcerated youths, their victims, and support groups, and then discuss theoretical frameworks and empirical research supportive of restorative practice in this context. Challenges to implementation of restorative practice, compatibility with other treatment and disciplinary agendas, and concerns about preserving the integrity of the model are also considered.     

The Application of the Transcendental Meditation Program to Corrections

In 1976, Lockheed Corporation was charged with making secret payments of at least $25 million to Japanese officials during the early 1970s. It was alleged that these payments were made in order to secure aircraft sales contracts with several Japanese airlines. At that time, Lockheed executives claimed that Japanese officials insisted that consideration of Lockheed as a contractor would require advance payments to several government officials. In spite of this claim, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 which treats these payments as bribery, rather than extortion, and prohibits them with the threat of criminal penalties. During the last 10 years, Japan has tried and convicted 15 former government officials of bribery and other crimes in the Lockheed affair. This paper assesses the effects of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in regulating business conduct, and the validity of the claims by Lockheed and the Japanese officials 10 years later, now that the trials are over.     

Deinstitutionalization and Its Impact on Swedish Corrections

The dominant approach in Swedish corrections is to deinstitutionalize as many offenders as possible. This started in the 1960's when Sweden decided that rehabilitation, and secondarily deterrence, would be the overriding goals of its correctional program. This has remained true despite the statistical evidence indicating that the goal of rehabilitation has not been achieved to any significant extent. The dominant belief in Sweden is that prison is harmful and counterproductive when the overall aim is to reintegrate the offender into society.     

Stochastic Models of Crime Rates

Empirical-stochastic models of index crimes are developed in ten major metropolitan areas. Detailed examples of the model building and forecasting ability of the models are illustrated. Characteristics of the resulting model forms are briefly discussed relative to their use in forecasting and resource assignment in criminal justice planning. The existence of uniform underlying causal mechanisms for given crime types are also discussed from re-occurring model forms.     

Exploring Explanations of State Agency Budgets: Institutional Budget Actors or Exogenous Environment?

Budgetary incrementalism argues that three institutional actors—agencies, executive budget offices, and legislative committees—dominate budget outcomes. The complexity and interdependency of public programs expands this expectation to include the influence of exogenous budget factors. Findings from a survey of state agency heads reveal that budget environments do influence state agency budget outcomes. However, the institutional budgetary participants, especially governors and legislatures, envisioned in classical incrementalism retain their principal and primary influence on state agency budgets. A significant departure from classical incrementalism is that agencies are not as influential as previously depicted.     

Effects of Administrators' Aspirations,Political Principals' Priorities,and Interest Groups' Influence on State Agency Budget Requests

This article addresses a long‐standing question in public budgeting: What factors influence bureau/agency budget request decisions? Empirical results confirm the complexity of variables that explain different levels of budget requests by over 1,000 state administrative agencies. The expected significant influence of administrator (agency head) aspirations was clearly present. But other important sources enter into the decision of agencies to satisfy rather than maximize. These include the strategic roles, activities, and priorities of governors, legislatures, and interest groups. These political principals' influence operates to constrain, discipline, or even augment agency budget requests.