Development under patrimonial conditions: Suriname's state oil company as a development agent

This article analyses the conditions under which the Surinamese State Oil Company (Staatsolie) has been consolidated, not only as an oil producer, but also as a development agent. Staatsolie's chances of success seemed rather slim at its creation in the early 1980s, mainly because of the non-developmental, patrimonial character of Surinamese politics and the nature of Suriname's state, which has traditionally been oriented toward patronage and clientelism. The analysis documents the origins of Staatsolie and focuses on its commitment to the acquisition and further development of technological and managerial expertise. At present, Staatsolie ranks among the most successful companies in Suriname and its contributions to the economy of this small middle-income country are considerable. The success of Staatsolie's attempt to become a development agent is attributed, in particular, to the company's double strategy. The internal part of this strategy, derived from the management vision and ideological commitment of the company's leadership, was aimed at developing technological and management skills. The external part of the strategy was aimed at steering away from political influences on the company and playing out, politically, the formal-legal position of the firm in the petroleum sector. After 25 years of Staatsolie, it is argued that the same factors that were responsible for the company's success may turn out to be the main challenges for the years ahead.     

Practice of the statutory disciplinary system for health care psychologists in the Netherlands

A statutory disciplinary system for health care psychologists in the Netherlands was introduced in 1998. To provide an indication of the contribution of this system to monitoring the quality of health care psychology all complaints dealt with in the period 1999-2002 were studied. Questionnaires were sent to all 388 members of the disciplinary boards (response 89%) and 43 practicing lawyers (response 65%). The regional disciplinary boards dealt with 68 complaints about health care psychologists. A sanction was imposed 16 times (25%), mainly for sexual intimacies or a sexual relationship, violation of professional secrecy or incorrect statement or reporting. The statutory disciplinary system appears to be an important corrective instrument for serious forms of professional misconduct for health care psychologists.     

The Anti-Politics of Development: donor agencies and the political economy of governance

This article discusses the attempt undertaken by several development aid agencies since the turn of the century to integrate political economy assessments into their decision making on development assistance. The article discusses three such attempts: the Drivers of Change adopted by the UK's Department for International Development, the Strategic Governance and Corruption Analysis (sgaca) developed by the Dutch Directorate General for International Cooperation and the new thinking on political economy analysis, policy reform and political risk advanced by the World Bank. On the basis of a political-economic interpretation of development agencies, two main factors are found to hinder the successful application of political economy assessment. In the first place, the agencies' professional outlook leads them to see development in primarily technical terms. In the second place, the nature of incentives for development professionals leads them to resist the implementation of political economy analyses.     

法官与律师关系规范化刍议

目前正在全国展开的律师队伍整顿工作将规范律师与法官的关系作为一项重点工作,拟通过教育、监督、惩治律师来彻底规范法官与律师关系的观点已得到普遍的认可。将规范律师执业行为作为切入点的做法,固然能对建立正当的法官律师关系起到一定的促进作用,但更为关键与根本的措施还在于严格规范法官依法行使审判权。围绕这一论点,论证了规范法官审判行为何以应当成为规范法官与律师关系的根本点;分析了少数法官在与律师职业交往中得以进行权力寻租的成因;并从平衡法官与律师的地位、增强律师对法官的监督与影响、阻却个别法官司法专横与防范司法腐败的角度,对规范法官与律师关系提出了一些建议。