Showing papers on "Government published in 1979"

The many meanings of research utilization.

Abstract: This is a time when more and more social scientists are becoming concerned about making their research useful for public policy makers and policy makers are displaying spurts of well publicized concern about the usefulness of the social science research that government funds support. There is mutual interest in whether social science research intended to influence policy is actually "used" but before that important issue can profitably be addressed it is essential to understand what "using research" actually means. A review of the literature reveals that a diverse array of meanings is attached to the term. Much of the ambiguity in the discussion of "research utilization"-and conflicting interpretations of its prevalence and the routes by which it occurs-derives from conceptual confusion. If we are to gain a better understanding of the extent to which social science research has affected public policy in the past and learn how to make its contribution more effective in the future we need to clarify the concept. Upon examination the use of social science research in the sphere of public policy is an extraordinarily complex phenomenon. Authors who have addressed the subject have evoked diverse images of the processes and purposes of utilization. Here I will try to extract seven different meanings that have been associated with the concept. (excerpt)

Applied Welfare Economics with Discrete Choice Models

Abstract: Economists have been paying increasing attention to the study of situations in which consumers face a discrete rather than a continuous set of choices. Such models are potentially very important in evaluating the impact of government programs upon consumer welfare. But very little has been said in general regarding the tools of applied welfare economics indiscrete choice situations. This paper shows how the conventional methods of applied welfare economics can be modified to handle such cases. It focuses on the computation of the excess burden of taxation, and the evaluation of quality change. The results are applied to stochastic utility models, including the popular cases of probit and logit analysis. Throughout, the emphasis is on providing rigorous guidelines for carrying out applied work.

Aquatic and wetland plants of southeastern United States

Abstract: This is the long-awaited second volume of Godfrey and Wooten's definitive survey of aquatic and wetland plants of the southeastern United States. It focuses on native and naturalized dicotyledons of the region and provides well-written, concise descriptions and keys for the identification of 1,084 species. A glossary of terms, list of references, separate indexes of common and scientific names, and nearly 400 well-executed drawings complete the volume.The first comprehensive survey of the aquatic and wetland plants of the Southeast, the Godfrey and Wooten volumes will prove invaluable to botanists, ecologists, college students, government agencies involved in land-use management, and nonspecialists interested in the plant life and ecology of the region.

Public Employee Market Power and the Level of Government Spending

Abstract: Recent budgetary rhetoric emanating from Washington and other governmental capitals suggests a growing fear that public spending is getting out of control. For long periods of time the government budget has grown more rapidly than GNP in most mixed economies, and observers of these trends have begun to realize that if this process continues, public expenditures will approach very high shares of GNP and income tax rates could get close to unity.1 These scare stories are counteracted by the simple question that if government gets too large, why can't voters band together to stop its growth? Rational, informed, democratic voting processes should provide a limit to the size of the public sector; indeed they should insure that the public sector is just as large as the voters want it to be. According to what economists have come to know as the "median voter" theory, it is puzzling to know exactly how government spending could ever get too high or out of control. There have been several attempts to explain the apparent anomaly. The major focus of previous efforts has been on some aspect of bureaucratic aggrandizement, either broadly or narrowly construed. William Niskanen (1971), for example, presents a model in which bureaucracies desire to obtain as large a budget as possible for the bureau in which they are employed. (See also his 1975 paper.) Despite competition from other bureaus, the size of the overall governmental budget is larger than socially optimal because the nature of the budget process allows bureaus to act as price-discriminating revenue maximizers. Their ability to use their market power is constrained, both by competition from other bureaus and by the preferences of relevant legislative committees. As is implicit in the title of his work, Bureaucracy and Representative Government, Niskanen's major concern is with the way in which the institutions of representative government (particularly the U.S. federal government) may lead to an overprovision of public services. The model is not directly relevant to the behavior of local governments since it ignores two important constraints on local government spending. One is provided by households' opportunity to vote directly on referenda concerning tax collections, and the other by the ability of households to leave local jurisdictions in response to expendituretaxation packages which they find to be unsatisfactory.2 More general in application than Niskanen's work are a number of papers which focus on the ability of public employees to influence the political process so as to increase both wages and the size of the public sector.3 The implications of this approach have been discussed by a number of authors, but in each case the underlying model has been left unstated or undeveloped. For example, James Buchanan considers the possible ramifications of the right of public employees to vote when he argues:

The Patrimonial-Bureaucratic Empire of the Mughals

Abstract: An earlier generation of Mughal scholars used the British-Indian Empire of the late Imperial period (c. 1875–1914) as its model for interpreting the Mughal state. The highly structured military, judicial, and administrative systems of the British Raj provided the perspective from which they viewed the material on the Mughal state contained in the Persian sources. Unfortunately, the assumptions implicit in this approach caused both a misreading of the Persian texts and a misunderstanding of the Mughal state. This essay argues that the patrimonial bureaucratic empire, a model developed by Max Weber, better captures the true character of the Mughal polity. A close analysis of the major Persian text on Mughal government, the A'in-i Akbari of Abu al-Fazl, demonstrates the superiority and appropriateness of the patrimonial-bureaucratic empire as a model for understanding the Mughal state.

Evaluation of medical practices. The case for technology assessment.

Abstract: We believe that the systematic evaluation of medical practices, especially those that are risky or costly deserves more attention. Available methods are limited, and definitive assessments of innovative or controversial practices are infrequent. Nevertheless, some evaluations have successfully enhanced the use of effective practices and diminished the reliance on ineffective ones. Greater efforts at evaluation can improve the quality of patient care, avoid waste and promote the more rational use of health resources. The cost of assessing new practices should be viewed as an intrinsic part of the cost of medical care. Physicians and medical societies bear primary responsibility for recognizing the need for this evaluation, for enlisting other experts, participating in technology assessment and working to translate the results of evaluation into practice. The commitment of government agencies, insurance companies and teaching institutions is also essential to an effective program of evaluation.

The Electoral Cycle and Patterns of American Politics

Abstract: The relationship between citizens and leaders is the core concern of democratic theory and the primary focus of students of democratic politics. Competitive elections are typically assigned the principal role in structuring this relationship. They are a means by which the public can make government officials accountable and influence the policy directions of government. The case for how elections should link public and leaders is a familiar one. Not so obvious is the strength of this link, particularly the extent to which mass electoral forces may make for fundamental changes in the behaviour of leaders and the policies of governments.

Economics, Health, and Post-Industrial Society

Abstract: Increases in medical resources, and access to care, do not lead to comparable decreases in either morbidity or mortality in modern nations. The number of years of schooling, rather than level of income, emerges as the surest correlate of good health, although progress in medical science and changes in productivity remain powerful influences. Family, religion, and especially government, are examined as institutions serving competing goals of security, freedom, and equality.

Political Participation and Government Responsiveness: The Behavior of California Superior Courts

Abstract: Students of democratic politics have long been concerned with the role of political participation in linking government and the people it serves. Whereas participation is generally defined in terms of voting, this article defines participation as the communication of citizen preferences to public officeholders. We show that aggregate sentencing decisions of California superior courts changed to reflect more closely prevailing public opinion after a large percentage of the populace expressed their preferences on a marijuana issue. The fact that members of California superior courts are seemingly immune from any effective electoral sanction serves both to underline the importance of this form of participation to a responsive system of government and to caution against conceiving of the participation-responsiveness relationship only in terms of punitive electoral devices.

Post-War Britain: A Political History

Abstract: The General Election of 1945 the Labour government, 1945 the Labour government, 1950-51 the Churchill government, 1951-5 Eden's premiership, 1955-7 the start of the Macmillan era, 1957-4 the Conservative anti-climax, 1959-64 the Labour government, 1964-6 the Labour government, 1966-70 the politics of confrontation - the Heath government 1970-74 the return of Harold Wilson, 1974-6 the Callaghan administration, 1976-9 the first Thatcher government, 1979-83 the second Thatcher government, 1983-7 from Thatcher to Major, 1987-92.

The refugee question in mid-Victorian politics

Abstract: 1. Introductory: asylum 2. The refugees 3. The view from abroad 4. 'Public opinion' 5. The government 6. The Orsini affair 7. Aftermath: conclusion.

Black Resources and City Council Representation

Abstract: S INCE THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT gathered momentum in the 1950's, changing race relations have been a prominent feature of the American political landscape. The 1964, 1965, and 1968 Civil Rights Acts were greeted as signal victories at the national level, as were various fair employment practice and open housing laws adopted at the state and local levels. In the past decade, however, the emphasis has shifted from court litigation and lobbying for general "anti-discrimination" statutes to voter registration drives, the passage of redistributive social class policy, community control of key local institutions, and the election of blacks to governmental posts, especially in city government. This last objective, that of electing blacks to public office, has received considerable public attention, and is the central concern of this report. Contemporary studies indicate that despite recent progress, blacks continue to be underrepresented on city councils.' From these and other treatments of race politics, we can infer three general hypotheses about the types of conditions most conducive to black council representation. The propositions revolve around the effects of (1) formal electoral characteristics; (2) white population char-

The last half-century : societal change and politics in America

Abstract: "The Last Half-Century" represents the culmination of a lifetime of scholarship by Morris Janowitz. In this comprehensive and systematic analysis of the major trends in American society during the past fifty years, he probes the weakening of popular party affiliations and the increased inability of elected representatives to rule. Centering his work on the crucial concept of social control, Janowitz orders and assesses a vast amount of empirical research to clarify the failure of basic social institutions to resolve our chronic conflicts. For Janowitz, social control denotes a society's capacity to regulate itself within a moral framework that transcends simple self-interest. He poses urgent questions: Why has social control been so drastically weakened in our advanced industrial society? And what strategies can we use to strengthen it again? The expanation rests in part on the changes in social structure which make it more and more complicated for citizens to calculate their political self-interest. At the same time, complex economic and defense problems also strain an already overburdened legislative system, making effective, responsive political rule increasingly difficult. Janowitz concludes by assessing the response of the social sciences to the pressing problem of social control and asserts that new forms of citizen participation in the government must be found.

Commentary: The Double Helix: Science and Myth in the Act of Creation

Abstract: A. Carl Leopold in "The Act of Creation: Creative Processes in Science" (1978) postulated that certain components of the social structure of science inhibit creativity, in particular the pattern of information flow and the reward system of science. Other authors have singled out either or both of these areas for critical comment (Anderson 1952, Bernal 1939, Egler 1962, 1964, Mahoney 1976, Margulis 1977). Leopold's (1978) particular contribution is to recognize that the increasing complexity of modern science, requiring expensive equipment and extensive technical assistance, has resulted in "bureaucratic science." This makes the individual scientist increasingly dependent on two interacting factors: (a) government granting agencies, foundations, or business interests as sources of funds; and (b) the scientific establishment, which through peer review determines who does what research. This factor determines placement into the better jobs, allocates access to the more prestigious publications, and advises granting agencies as to which research projects should be funded.

Medieval and early modern theories of mental illness.

Abstract: • Historians of medieval and early modern psychiatry have utilized limited source materials in their research. They have focused on printed works, particularly formal treatises by celebrated authors, and neglected manuscript collections. The resulting histories depict early European psychiatric thought as dominated by demonology. Examination of the archives of an early English legal incompetency jurisdiction flatly contradicts this picture. Starting in the 13th century, the English government conducted mental status examinations of psychiatrically disabled individuals, using commonsense, naturalistic criteria of impairment; private, supervised guardians were appointed for such persons. Furthermore, etiological theories entertained by royal officials and laymen relied on physiological and psychological notions of psychiatric illness. These findings raise serious questions about conventional accounts of this period and underline the need for more research using original manuscripts.

Reliability of a Presumptive Diagnosis in Sudden Unexpected Death in Adults: The Case for the Autopsy

Abstract: THE VALUE of autopsy performance in establishing a cause of death, assisting in the determination of the manner of death, comparing the premortem and postmortem findings, producing vital statistics, and monitoring the public health, among other things, has been documented for many decades. 1 In all legal jurisdictions of the United States and most other countries of the world, autopsy is not performed after every death. In some hospitals in the United States and in some other countries, autopsy is routine after almost every death. Since the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals recently eliminated its requirement of a certain fixed percentage of autopsies on deaths occurring in the hospital, many now believe that the American autopsy percentage has dropped to new modern lows. In these days of compulsory peer review, government involvement in quality of medical practice, frequent liability suits, questions of industrial health and environmental epidemiology, and the

The impact of the centralization of educational funding and control on state and local organizational governance

Abstract: American education is distinctive in the decentralization of its funding and control. Despite recent expansion, the role of the federal government is still restricted to funding and authority in special programs and situations, while both states and localities have authority to define educational purposes, programs, and policies. At all levels of the administrative organization, administrators must consider relationships with groups outside the educational hierarchy, such, parent, community, and legislative bodies. Centralization of authority and funding at the federal level would theoretically reduce\ the power of these outside groups and increase the importance of relationships within the vertical hierarchy, while simplifying and\ritualizing administrative functions. If. funding alone or authority alone were centralized, it would appear that many of the same results would occur. The American case is one of fragmented centralization, featuring unrelated federal funding programs processed through several independent channels. The situation seems to read to a massive middle-level educational bureaucracy, poorly linked with the classroom world below, little integrated around broad educational policies or purposes, organized for the function of reporting to a wide, fragmented funding and control environment, and less and less able to respond to the legitimate authority of local systems. (Author/PGD) NN U.S. OEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION £WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO. DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT -NECESSARLLY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY Institute for Research on Educational Finance anco,vernance SCHOOL OF EDUCATION STANFORD UNIVERSITY tt

Income Inequality in the Federal Civilian Government

Abstract: An analysis of income inequality by race and sex within the federal civil service yields three findings of importance for income attainment and human capital research. First, large differences in salary between minority/sex groups remain after occupational stream and a number of employment-related variables are controlled. Second, institutionalized discrimination explains only one-half of these salary differences. Finally, within the federal civil service, the pay structures of minority and nonminority women are more similar to each other than are the pay structures of any other two groups of employees.

Ungovernability: Is There Fire behind the Smoke?:

Abstract: Ungovernability is a catchword of the moment, but analytically the term is a nonsense. A modern Western society can no more do without political authority than it could do without money. This paper defines the supposed threat to governability as the prospect of a fully legitimate government losing its effectiveness, losing popular consent, or both. One threat to effectiveness is an imbalance of resources, with the fiscal dividend of growth failing to keep up with the inertia growth in the costs of public policy. Another is an accumulation of government organizations, losing efficiency by increasing costs of co-ordination and losing effectiveness by adopting contradictory objectives or ends without known means. Authority is only seriously jeopardized by citizens growing increasingly indifferent to an ineffectual government, turning their backs on government and relying upon other major institutions of society to provide for their needs.

Implementing a human services program: how hard will it be?

Abstract: A framework is presented for examining obstacles to the implementation of human services delivery programs. These obstacles appear to arise from three basic sources: (1) from the operational demands implied by a particular program concept, (2) from the nature and availability of the resources required to run the program, and (3) from the need to share authority with, or retain support of, other bureaucratic and political actors in the implementation process. Within these three broad categories, fifteen areas deserve special attention: the people to be served, the nature of the service, the likelihood of distortions or irregularities, the controllability of the program, money, personnel, space, supplies and technical equipment, and intersections with overhead agencies, other line agencies, elected politicians, higher levels of government, private-sector providers, special-interest groups, and the press. By searching each of these fifteen areas diligently and systematically--with the aid of some 44 "factors for consideration"--it appears possible to make relatively powerful predictions about the obstacles that the implementation of a given human services program will entail. In addition, the framework can be used as a comparative instrument in allocating scarce political, managerial, and financial resources among human services programs, and as an aid to decision-making within particular programs and to identifying obstacles that cut across programs. Finally, some general guidance is offered on how implementing agency managers might deal with one of the more important and difficult dimensions of program implementation--namely, getting the cooperation of players in the implementation game whom the managers do not control, and who have different interests and agendas.

Working for wildlife : the beginning of preservation in Canada

Abstract: Twenty years ago, Working for Wildlife was published to wide acclaim. It remains the definitive history of the beginnings of wildlife consciousness in Canada. When Banff National Park was established by the federal government in the late 1880s, wildlife protection was not a top priority. By 1922, however, the government had hosted the first Dominion-Provincial Conference on Wild Life Protection, and wildlife preservation had become part of established government policy. Janet Foster shows how, in the early decades of this century, a small band of dedicated civil servants transformed their own goals of preserving endangered animals into active government policy. Today, the names of these individuals are scarcely known to most Canadians. Yet it was their commitment and dedication that charted the course of today's ecological movement. This new edition of Foster's important book will be welcomed by students of environmental studies, geography, and Canadian history, as well as by members of naturalist clubs and conservation societies. Lorne Hammond's new material places the book in context and provides readers with a sense of what has happened in the field since.

Comment on “Neighborhood Revitalization and Displacement: A Review of the Evidence”

Abstract: The issue of neighborhood revitalization and displacement certainly does have a deja vu quality to it While government officials, academic housing analysts, and even neighborhood groups seem to approach the problem as if it were a brand new phenomenon, in reality the recent history of displacement under urban renewal, the interstate highway system, and other government programs is very relevant What is remarkable in the spate of literature that recently has emerged on the issue—of which Sumka's article is quite representative—is the failure to acknowledge that history and the lessons it might offer

Technology versus Tradition: Communication in the Iranian Revolution

Abstract: Analysis of the “conflict between the official culture of the government … and the traditional culture of the masses rooted in Iranian national and religious traditions.”