Governmentalities without policy capacity

The professional community of policy experts takes it for granted that all governments seek to strengthen their policy capacity, considering it a key indicator and requisite of their success. Yet this assumption is far from universal, even in some European Union countries with long and complex institutional histories. If we look at the informed and explicit use of policy analysis tools in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, we have to conclude that this paradigm is not completely integrated into their governmentality. In these countries, three disciplinary approaches warrant especial attention as generators of competencies recognized as usable knowledge for public decisions: ‘law,’ ‘public finance’ and ‘public administration.’ Where the standard operating procedures of democratic institutions appear to be fully defined on the basis of these three categories, the inclusion of the policy perspective encounters major difficulties. In these contexts, the most important obstacle is the fear that the new paradigm will threaten the balance among the constitutional bodies, especially to the detriment of the legislature, and that it will constrict the political leadership. This explains why some countries, such as France and, most recently, Italy, have attempted to resolve the impasse by resorting to the strongest of legitimations: inclusion in their constitutions of public policy evaluation as a function of Parliament. This choice is certainly important, but in itself it does not guarantee recognition of the policy paradigm as a science for democratic institutions.     

Doing gender in Spanish same-sex couples. The distribution of housework and childcare

Housework and childcare have been considered mechanisms for ‘doing gender’ through the allocation of different functions to women and to men. Women continue to devote more time and effort to this type of work, in spite of their progressive incorporation into the labour market. Same-sex couples escape this gender binarism, and so this study set out to learn the distribution criteria work, as well as the influence of gender socialization when it comes to establishing this distribution. A qualitative investigation was carried out with 21 Spanish same-sex families. The results indicate that the majority of couples position themselves in an egalitarian discourse based on the absence of differentiated gender roles and a low level of specialization. No differences were found between male and female couples. Nevertheless, the female couples show higher levels of discontent when the distribution was not egalitarian. In conclusion, it is proposed that the effects of gender socialization are perpetuated beyond heterosexual relationships and also affect same-sex couples.     

Factors influencing state progress in the implementation of Public Law 99-457, Part H

Policy implementation has been an infrequently studied process although it has become increasingly evident that the implementation processes of policy development, policy approval, and policy application can shape and delay prospective implementation of legislation. The current study analyzes the implementation of P.L. 99–457 (Part H) the Education for the Handicapped Amendments of 1986. This law provides the states with planning money from the federal government to design a comprehensive interagency, multidisciplinary program of services for children with handicapping conditions and their families. Ratings were taken from key administrators and citizens knowledgeable about the law on state progress in implementing the fourteen requirements of the law and also on proposed influential conditions that might affect that implementation. Additional demographic information was obtained for the fifty states. The factor that seemed to be most influential in a subset of 35 states was the prior presence in the state of systems for interagency planning and development. Neither prior history of early childhood services, available resources, wealth of the state, or geographic region appeared to have a significant influence on policy development. There was some indication that different factors might become influential in the next phase of implementation, policy approval. It appears that progress in state policy development may be linked to the special requirements of the legislation itself and to prior availability of institutional structures that make mandated collaborative efforts more possible.     

Disordered Eating Precursors in Pre- and Early Adolescent Girls and Boys

First- and second-year findings from a study of the development of disordered eating in pre- and early adolescents are presented. Fifth- and sixth-grade girls (n = 80) and boys (n = 85) were assessed on depression, body image, self-esteem, and eating behaviors and attitudes in Year 1 and again one year later. Weight, height, and pubertal development were also evaluated in Year 1 and Year 2. Gender differences existed on all measures in Year 2 and indicated consistently poorer scores for girls compared to boys. For girls, Year 1 Body Mass Index and pubertal development predicted Year 2 disordered eating. For boys, poor body image in Year 1 predicted Year 2 disordered eating. The importance of identifying early risk factors for eating disorders is discussed.     

Medicaid Spending Dynamics: Implications for Cost Control Strategies

Because of the Medicaid program's high cost and rapid growth, state governments see it as an attractive target for cost-control strategies. The usual ways that budgeters contain spending do not work well on the Medicaid program. Cutting the Medicaid budget is likely to have unintended consequences for state revenues and spending. States can best cope with Medicaid's cost by developing a system-wide strategy of meeting their citizens' health and human-service needs.     

Publications received for reviewing

Publications Received

Publications received for reviewing     

Computer crime enforcement in Texas: Funding,training, and investigating problems

As a new challenge to law enforcement, computer crime has recently received increasing attention from law enforcement and government officials. However, most writings about this issue are not empirical. This study fills this void by examining the attitudes of computer crime officers in Texas in two areas: general problems in dealing with computer crime, and the impact of demographic and institutional support factors on officers' attitudes. The results are: (1) more budgetary support and training are needed; (2) lack of computer skill/knowledge is the most problematic for computer investigations/forensics; (3) the idea of cooperating and sharing resources has already been utilized; and (4) officers understand the complexity of computer crime but are uncertain about its seriousness. The size of the city and whether the departments have a computer crime unit are the most significant factors that impact officers' attitudes toward the need for institutional support. This study suggests four elements (officers' attitude, institutional support, personnel, and network) that are important to successfully combat against computer crime; these elements need to be included in the development and implementation of both short-term and medium-term plans. Authors' Note: Dr. Sutham Cheurprakobkit is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Sociology, Geography, and Anthropology, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA 30144. Gloria Pena is a criminology major at The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, TX 79762.     

Brazilian judges in-between professionalism,gender and difference

This paper analyzes how Brazilian judges experience difference, focusing on how professionalism, gender, generation and diversity intersect in identity formation among women and men who are judges in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. In attempting to avoid attaching one fixed meaning to the concept of difference, we work with Avtar Brah's typology; this in turn enables us to capture how difference is perceived and experienced by our interviewees. Our results provide a look at how the specificities of the professionalization process influence the composition of the two courts we have studied (one at state and another at federal level), and how they increase or reduce the gender stratification within these careers. Being a judge is experienced through difference, in particular as the ‘Other' to those outside the career, and wherein identification is intersected by questions of gender, sexuality and generation. Although professionalism establishes boundaries between ‘us' and ‘them', it is also diluted through the ways in which the above-mentioned social markers and attributes permeate the self and professional groups. We interviewed 18 judges (women and men) from the São Paulo State Courts (Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo) and 10 judges from the Regional Federal Courts (Tribunal Regional Federal) from the São Paulo circuit.