Continuity and change: the administration of George W. Bush and US policy toward Taiwan

This paper examines recent modifications in American policy toward the Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan). It contends that, while the George W. Bush Administration may have carried out a significant readjustment of US policy, available evidence suggests that it will not endorse any major upgrades in ties with Taipei during the foreseeable future. Like previous administrations, the Bush Administration now recognizes the value of engaging the People's Republic of China (PRC). This development holds important implications for the future trajectory of America's relations with Taiwan and the PRC and for peace and stability in the Western Pacific.     

Canadian public service employee satisfaction and its main drivers

Using the results of the 2005 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), this paper identifies which factors have the greatest effect on employee satisfaction in the Canadian public service. Several hypotheses are tested against the backdrop of existing literature. In general, public servant satisfaction is affected by belief in opportunities for promotion, fair classification, adherence to client service standards, life balance, recognition by immediate supervisors, team relationships with colleagues, how well information is shared and, finally, belief in the abilities of senior management. Some interesting elaborations of these basic findings emerge when other variables are controlled. The discussion considers how the public service can be seen as a more desirable career choice.     

Bicameral bargaining and federation formation

This paper takes a political economy approach to fiscal centralisation through federation formation. We analyse a two-region model of federalism with inter-regional policy spillovers. Departing from a state of independence with decentralised provision of public policy, we analyse the proposed formation of a federation to internalise the spillovers. We consider equilibrium allocations under alternative institutional environments involving: simple majority voting, a restriction of uniform taxation, and regional bargaining through a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism facilitates federation formation for the largest set of parameter values of the model, which is consistent with the observation that bicameralism and federalism often appear together.     

Turning Governance Thinking Upside-down? Insights from ‘the politics of what works’

Mainstream thinking within international development around what constitutes ‘pro-poor’ forms of politics is increasingly at odds with the growing evidence-base on the politics of development. Ideological bias towards Weberian modes of governance and rational actor models of political behaviour, and a growing belief in the power of ‘evidence-based policy making’ fail to reflect the extent to which informal and patronage-based forms can sometimes play a positive role in enabling poverty reduction, as well as the fact that political elites respond to a wider range of incentives than commonly assumed, including a role for political ideology and discourse rather than evidence per se. These findings offer further support for a fundamental rethinking around the role of politics in shaping development.     

Howzat! Navigating Gender Disruptions in Australian Young Women’s Cricket

ABSTRACT

“Howzat” is colloquially used by cricketers to ask the umpire “How is that?” when they believe a batter is out. We employ this question here to frame interrogations of young women’s experiences as they navigate elite pathway cricket in an era of significant change. The global sports entertainment industry is, it seems, undergoing a form of gender disruption. The remuneration for Australian women cricketers rose by over 500 per cent between 2012 and 2017, providing opportunities for women and girls to transition to professional sport in ways quite different from historical amateur pathways. While on the surface this shapes as a time of great opportunity for aspiring sportswomen, there are unintended consequences that warrant consideration—particularly for females involved in sports with a legacy of masculine privilege. This article draws on qualitative research concerning five female pathway players and their respective parents, coaching and administrative staff who support them as they navigate the demands of playing elite cricket during adolescence. We employ Foucault’s concept of a “history of the present” to make sense of this dispositif to problematise how young women navigate gendered experiences in sports with “masculine” traditions amid a growing profile of women’s sport in Australia.     

Development of a human-specific real-time PCR assay for the simultaneous quantitation of total genomic and male DNA

A duplex real-time quantitative PCR assay was developed for forensic DNA analysis, which provides simultaneous quantitation of total genomic human DNA and human male DNA. The assay utilizes two spectrally resolved fluorogenic probes in a 5' nuclease (TaqMantrade mark) assay. Within the range of organisms empirically tested and based upon theoretical specificity using National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank sequences, primer and probe sequences were shown to be human specific, and the Y-chromosome probe, male-specific. A mixture-challenge study resulted in accurate quantitation of 25 pg male DNA in a mixture of up to 1:5000 (male:female DNA). Additional experimental results include comparisons with the slot blot method and commercial real-time PCR kits. The assay developed addresses the shortcomings of the traditional slot blot method as well as the commercial real-time PCR kits. This method is shown to be specific, relatively simple, rapid, has low limits of detection, and consumes limited sample in addition to reporting both the male and total genomic DNA concentrations present.     

The disutility of advance directives: we know the problems, but are there solutions?

Advance directives (ADs) are recognized in some form by the laws of every state. Despite the availability of ADs for more than twenty years, few adults have completed any type of AD document. Even when ADs are validly executed, physicians routinelyfail to honor patients' wishes. The lack of communication between physicians and patients may be the primary reason why AD completion rates remain so low. The failure to honor an AD may stem from the physician's belief that to honor a directive would not be in the patient's best interest. The adoption and enforcement by all states of the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, recognition of a physician's ethical duty to assist patients in AD formulation, and routine third-party payor reimbursement to physicians for their role in patients' advance care planning will encourage and facilitate the completion and subsequent honoring of patients' directives.