This article explores the role of law in cultural and political disputes concerning dead bodies. It uses three interconnecting legal frameworks: cultural and moral ownership, commemoration, and closure. It begins with a critique of the limitations of the private law notion of ‘ownership’ in such contexts, setting out a broader notion of cultural and moral ownership as more appropriate for analysing legal disputes between states and indigenous tribes. It then examines how legal discourses concerning freedom of expression, religious and political traditions, and human rights and equality are utilized to regulate the public memory of the dead. Finally, it looks at the relationship between law and notions of closure in contexts where the dead have either died in battle or have been ‘disappeared’ during a conflict, arguing that law in such contexts goes beyond the traditional retributive focus of investigation and punishment of wrongdoers and instead centres on broader concerns of societal and personal healing.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/1410654

The Dead, the Law, and the Politics of the Past

Analyzing abortion as a social problem in two national contexts, this paper extends the social constructionist approach to a historical comparative problem. The two abortion problems analyzed, one in the United States, 1840–1880, and the other in Sweden, 1910–1940, shared many significant elements, including medical lobbying, pronatalist and class-specific eugenic concerns, and uncertainty around women's changing social and economic roles. And yet, the effort to curb the number of abortions led to “opposite” policy solutions in these two nations, with the United States criminalizing a previously unregulated practice, and Sweden liberalizing a previously harsh law against abortion. These different policy solutions were grounded in the different understandings of abortion that the respective claimsmaking processes produced, including different perceptions of the women having abortions, why they were having them, and what could feasibly be done about it. I argue here that the different historical legacies of abortion, the ability of the state to adopt and enforce policies, and the larger cultural arena of public problems influenced the abortion problem's specific trajectory in each nation.

Abortion as a Social Problem: The Construction of "Opposite" Solutions

This paper summarizes the results of a national random-digit-dial public opinion poll that asked 1,503 respondents if they would support various tax options for raising federal transportation revenues, with a special focus on understanding support for increasing revenues for public transit. The poll is the sixth in an annual series, and the paper compares key 2015 results with those from the earlier years of data. The eleven tax options tested were variations on raising the federal gas tax rate, creating a new mileage tax, and creating a new federal sales tax. Other questions probed various perceptions related to public transit, including knowledge and opinions about federal taxes to support transit. In addition, the survey collected data on standard socio-demographic factors, travel behavior, and attitudinal data about how respondents view the quality of their local transportation system and their priorities for government spending on transportation in their state. All of this information is used to assess support levels for the tax options among population subgroups.

What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 6 of a National Survey

This study compares the emergence of homelessness as a “ new” social problem from 1977 through 1981 in New York City and Washington, D.C. The two cases illustrate a comparative constructionist method that analyzes evolving claimsmaking activities, the context in which they were embedded, and the interplay between claimsmaking and context. The method aided in identifying why homelessness became primarily a problem of dee cient and pathological individuals requiring rehabilitation rather than a problem of poverty and inadequate housing. Resources at stake in New York caused city- and state-level government ofe cials, who advocated a medicalized view, to become central claimsmakers. This typie cation eventually became dominant nationally. Washington’ s lack of similar resources allowed advocates framing homelessness as a problem of social justice to take the lead. This proved to be a less durable typie cation. Both groups were also embedded in different relevant histories and cultures, which also ine uenced claimsmaking and its resonance with the public. The e rst wave of homelessness in the twentieth century was a product of the mass unemployment characterizing the Great Depression. That era’ s thousands of itinerant would-be working-men were dubbed “ rail-riding hobos,” “ tramps,” “ vagrants,” “ bums,” and “ derelicts” by those who recorded their plight. These images, with their connotations of eccentricity, resourcefulness, hard-drinking independence, and disenfranchisement, remained in the popular imagination long after the men who gave rise to them had all but disappeared to the war and to postwar prosperity. When homelessness reappeared as a social problem in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we turned e rst to these images to characterize the “ new” homeless. By the end of the twentieth century, however, this older image of homelessness and homeless people, with its implied rights and justice frame (Benford 1997), has given way to a medicalized one in which homeless people are predominantly

Claimsmakers and Contexts in Early Constructions of Homelessness: A Comparison of New York City and Washington, D.C.

The prostitute is a cultural icon in North America and is often romanticized in the mass media and the public imagination. The prostitute and her participation in the sex trade, however, have been subject to a number of claimsmaking campaigns, each of which attempt to define both prostitution and its practitioners in specific, often contradictory, ways. To investigate these images and themes, articles from major Canadian newspapers representing five urban centers are examined to elucidate the most prevalent themes associated with the sex trade. Four themes prevail: nuisance, child abuse, violence, and non-Western prostitution. Examples of each theme are presented and implications of such images are discussed.

Images of Prostitution

DOI 10.1515/cjpp-2012-0009 Calif. J. Politics Policy 2013; 5(4): 645–670 Andrew D. Green*, Max Neiman, Shel Bockman and Barbara Sirotnik Public Support for Transportation Sales Taxes in California: A Two County Assessment Abstract: Voters in California counties have been asked to approve transporta- tion sales taxes on over 75 different occasions, and according to the Legislative Analyst, revenues from local option transportation sales taxes accounted for 15% of all revenues raised statewide for transportation during fiscal year 2005/2006. While many analyses examining public support for such taxes have been under- taken using aggregate-level data, little work has been done examining the indi- vidual decision to support a transportation sales tax at the polls. In this paper, we argue that an individual’s propensity to approve or deny a sales tax extension for transportation purposes is a function of a set of attitudinal and self-interest factors. Using a two-county survey, we find that opposition to the renewal of the existing sales tax is centered among anti-tax, political conservative residents who do not trust elected officials. Furthermore, we find that while the two counties border one another, the impact of the attitudinal and self-interest factors in the model vary significantly by county. The findings are important for transportation practitioners who face future transportation sales tax elections, and for politi- cal scientists who are attempting to develop a generalizable set of factors which explain public support for transportation sales taxes. Keywords: county; elections; sales tax; transportation. *Corresponding author: Andrew D. Green, Central College, Political Science, Campus Box #0101, 812 University Pella, Iowa 50219, USA, Tel.: +641-628-5259, e-mail: greena@central.edu Max Neiman: Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Shel Bockman and Barbara Sirotnik: Institute of Applied Research & Policy Analysis, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA 1 Introduction Over a decade ago a coalition of highway-oriented interests referred to Califor- nia’s roads and freeways in the following way: California, which once had the best highway system in the country, now ranks near the bottom nationally, as investment in the state’s transportation infrastructure has failed to keep pace with population growth and burgeoning vehicle travel. (Transportation California 1999: p. 3)

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Public Support for Transportation Sales Taxes in California: A Two County Assessment

Social constructionists have produced a rich theoretical and empirical literature on the rise and fall of public issues. By focusing exclusively on claims-making behavior in a micro interactive context, social constructionists, in the tradition of Spector and Kitsuse, generally have rejected efforts to link claims-making to antecedent variables. Thus they often treat claims-making participants as activities, devoid of motives, meanings, and intentions. In this paper, ideology and interest are offered as antecedent variables to claims-making and as the critical factors which determine why some claims are more marketable than others. Interest and ideology also are examined as both subjective and structural/cultural phenomena.

Interest, Ideology, and Claims‐Making Activity*

The "aging workforce" was once defined as working individuals who are 40 years of age or older. We argue that the definition of "aging" should be expanded to include two components: chronology and knowledge currency. Recommendations are offered for business leaders who wish to maintain and support a workplace environment that encourages employees to maintain and grow their level of knowledge and expertise. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 defined the "aging workforce" as working individuals who are 40 years of age or older. It has been our experience that many business leaders accept that definition of the "aging workforce," as did we prior to receiving a fellowship in 1999 from the California State Assembly (CSU Faculty Fellows Program) to study whether economic downturns within the state had a disproportionate adverse effect on older workers. After an extensive investigation which involved reviewing the current literature, analyzing relevant economic and demographic data, conducting personal interviews with leading experts, and holding focus groups with top business leaders, we documented that older workers fared less well in a troubled economy than did their younger counterparts (Shultz, Sirotnik, Et Bockman, 2000). But in the eight years since completing our fellowship we have come to the conclusion that the definition of "aging" should be expanded to include two components: chronology and knowledge currency. Throughout most of the 20th century, the typical job required physical stamina and practical knowledge. Once a person's physical abilities faded, the worker was displaced. Such an orientation was defended by asserting that there is often a clear cost/benefit advantage in replacing the more mature worker with a younger worker who may be more physically fit for the job, willing to perform the work for less money, and able to acquire the practical experience of the mature worker in a relatively short period of time. But the 21st century occupations demand more than just physical abilities and practical knowledge. In today's world a growing number of post modern occupations require the worker to have the sophisticated technical knowledge often associated with recent college graduates. Indeed, the exponential advancements in technology, which now define the modern world, are creating a new reality. Although chronological age still matters, lack of currency in knowledge is also a major determinant of who should be considered to be "aging." In today's rapidly changing workplace environment, even a 30 year-old employee who graduated from a university a mere 8 years ago may already need to upgrade his/her skills in order to meet the evolving occupational demands. In short, the need for retraining and re-tooling has no age barriers - it is as necessary for the 20 year-old as it is for the 60 yearold. This observation clearly makes sense relative to organizations, which are on the cutting edge in developing, creating, and using the new technologies. In these organizations there is the expectation the workforce must remain current in their knowledge and skills. Within such organizations, scientists and engineers, as well as IT professionals and other technical people are prime candidates for such upgrading and retraining. But even in "lower tech" organizations in the public and private sectors, today's rapid changes make it vital that employees, regardless of specific occupation or expertise, must remain current in their knowledge and technical skills. Simply consider how marketing - once considered to be mostly an "art form" - has become overtime a mixture of art and social science methods. Marketing people are now expected to know and have a hands-on knowledge about the array of research methodologies and statistical applications which are now available for understanding consumer attitudes, preferences, and shopping behaviors. Clerical assistants are expected to adjust to changes in hardware and software applications every two to four years. …

The Aging Workforce: An Expanded Definition

Background: To determine the value of specific educational designs for improving healthcare professionals’ knowledge of bioterrorism, we conducted an exploratory study to compare the effectiveness of live and Web-based learning modules and specified levels of interaction with regard to the acquisition and retention of knowledge of bioterrorism agents by healthcare professionals. The primary goal was to identify the most relevant continuing medical education approach. Methods: This large educational intervention study included 4 different experimental groups in a 2 × 2 design (2 levels of delivery mode and 2 levels of instructor– participant interaction). Civilian and military healthcare professionals (eg, physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners, pharmacists, public health officials) were recruited. The 2 educational-delivery modes used were “live” instruction and Web-based instruction (asynchronous/archived). Study participants were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 levels of interactivity (interactive versus didactic), which were used to teach content about the recognition, diagnosis, and management of patient exposure to avian influenza, smallpox, toxins, and anthrax. The relative efficacy of the 2 delivery modes and interactivity was evaluated by participants completing a precourse test, a postcourse test immediately after participation in the course, and follow-up tests at 3 months and 6 months after course completion. Statistical significance was set at an α level of .01. Results: A total of 472 healthcare professionals registered for courses. Despite the large drop-off in participation for the 3-month and 6-month follow-up tests (61% and 74%, respectively), the vast majority of learners completed the precourse test (98%) and the postcourse test (97%). The precourse and postcourse test scores indicated that participants achieved a higher level of knowledge regarding bioterrorism agents in all activities. Although there was a statistically significant decrease in knowledge after the activity, as evidenced by the decrease between the postcourse and 3-month follow-up test scores for all topics ( P .01, all topics). Additionally, the 6-month scores remained higher than the precourse test scores for all topics—evidence of some long-term retention of knowledge. There was no difference in learning between the participants in the live and Web activities for 2 of 3 topics (avian influenza and smallpox), but there was a significant difference in the activities related to the toxins topic: Participants in the live activities showed a 30% increase in mean postcourse test scores, compared with an 11% increase for those participating in the Web activities (P < .001). The anthrax course was presented in live mode only, so comparisons between delivery modes were not possible for this topic. Conclusions: This exploratory study showed that educational interventions regarding bioterrorism led to learning by healthcare professionals, regardless of the educational-delivery mode (live or Web-based instruction) or level of instructor–participant interaction. Although participants in the study did tend to lose some of their newfound knowledge in the 3 months after completing the courses, further erosion of knowledge between the 3- and 6-month follow-up tests appeared to be limited. Generally, Web-based activities were as effective as live activities, with a few exceptions favoring the live format. Further study is needed to confirm these findings.

An Exploratory Study of Live and Web-Based Education on Bioterrorism for Healthcare Professionals: Knowledge Acquisition and Retention

The use of information and communication technologies in the public sec-tor has continued to grow and develop over the past several years. Now, many governments have developed sophisticated e-government platforms that provide rich and vital information to the public. While there appears to be an evolution of e-government, using technology to enhance citizen en-gagement has yet to follow. Furthermore, it is unclear whether e-government has been utilized to create online deliberative democracies within local government. This study addresses three key issues regarding e-government and deliberation. Local government websites should be de-signed to enhance government-to-citizen (G2C) communication. After achieving G2C communication, e-government can then be used as a tool to facilitate deliberative democracy. Finally, public managers are likely to be more interested in implementing online deliberative democracies. The re-sults of this study consider limitations, challenges, and possibilities to uti-lizing e-government to facilitate online deliberation.

Shel Bockman

Papers

Public Support for Transportation Sales Taxes in California: A Two County Assessment

Interest, Ideology, and Claims‐Making Activity*

The Aging Workforce: An Expanded Definition

An Exploratory Study of Live and Web-Based Education on Bioterrorism for Healthcare Professionals: Knowledge Acquisition and Retention

Missed Opportunities : Improving Deliberation through Digital Democracy