Showing papers on "Legislation published in 2004"

Elements of a Theory of Human Rights

Abstract: This chapter presents the elements of a theory of human rights, which sees them as pronouncements in social ethics, sustainable by open public reasoning. It pursues to examine whether legislation is the pre-eminent, or even a necessary, route through which human rights. A pronouncement of human rights includes an assertion of the importance of the corresponding freedoms—the freedoms that are identified and privileged in the formulation of the rights in question—and is indeed motivated by that importance. The conceptual understanding of human rights, in turn, can benefit substantially from considering the reasoning that moves the activists and the range and effectiveness of practical actions they undertake, including recognition, monitoring and agitation, in addition to legislation. The chapter emphasizes that the understanding and viability of human rights are, in this perspective, intimately linked with the reach of public discussion, between persons and across borders. Proclamations of human rights are to be seen as articulations of ethical demands.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Making of Quack Corporate Governance

Abstract: This paper provides an evaluation of the substantive corporate governance mandates of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that is informed by the relevant empirical accounting and finance literature and the political dynamics that produced the mandates. The empirical literature provides a metric for evaluating the mandates' effectiveness, by facilitating identification of whether specific provisions can be most accurately characterized as efficacious reforms or as quack corporate governance. The learning of the literature, which was available when Congress was legislating, is that SOX's corporate governance provisions were ill-conceived. The political environment explains why Congress would enact legislation with such mismatched means and ends. SOX was enacted as emergency legislation amidst a free-falling stock market and media frenzy over corporate scandals shortly before the midterm congressional elections. The governance provisions, included toward the end of the legislative process in the Senate, were not a focus of any considered attention. Their inclusion stemmed from the interaction between election year politics and the Senate banking committee chairman's response to suggestions of policy entrepreneurs. The scholarly literature at odds with those individuals' recommendations was ignored, while the interest groups whose position was more consistent with the literature - the business community and accounting profession - had lost their credibility and become politically radioactive. The paper's conclusion is that SOX's corporate governance provisions should be stripped of their mandatory force and rendered optional. Other nations, such as the members of the European Union who have been revising their corporation codes, would be well advised to avoid Congress' policy blunder.

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and University-Industry Technology Transfer: A Model for Other OECD Governments?

Abstract: Recent initiatives by a number of OECD governments suggest considerable interest in emulating the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, a piece of legislation that is widely credited with stimulating significant growth in university-industry technology transfer and research collaboration in the US. We examine the effects of Bayh-Dole on university-industry collaboration and technology transfer in the US, emphasizing the lengthy history of both activities prior to 1980 and noting the extent to which these activities are rooted in the incentives created by the unusual scale and structure (by comparison with Western Europe or Japan) of the US higher education system. Efforts at “emulation” of the Bayh-Dole policy elsewhere in the OECD are likely to have modest success at best without greater attention to the underlying structural differences among the higher education systems of these nations.

Endogenous Political Institutions

Abstract: A fundamental aspect of institutional design is how much society chooses to delegate unchecked power to its leaders. If, once elected, a leader cannot be restrained, society runs the risk of a tyranny of the majority, if not the tyranny of a dictator. If a leader faces too many ex post checks and balances, legislative action is too often blocked. As our critical constitutional choice, we focus upon the size of the minority needed to block legislation, or conversely the size of the (super)majority needed to govern. We analyze both “optimal” constitutional design and “positive” aspects of this process. We derive several empirical implications which we then discuss.

Putting the ‘rights‐based approach’ to development into perspective

Abstract: This paper seeks to unravel some of the tangled threads of contemporary rights talk. For some, the grounding of rights‐based approaches in human rights legislation makes them distinctively different to others, lending the promise of re‐politicising areas of development work—particularly, perhaps, efforts to enhance participation in development, that have become domesticated as they have been ‘mainstreamed’ by powerful institutions like the World Bank. Others complain that like other fashions, the label ‘rights‐based approach’ has become the latest designer item to be seen to be wearing, and has been used to dress up the same old development. We pose a series of questions about why rights have come to be of interest to international development actors, and explore the implications of different versions and emphases, looking at what their strengths and shortcomings may come to mean for the politics and practice of development.

The Politics of Education

Abstract: This reflection identifies education as the primary domestic priority for both major political parties Her commentary opens our conversation about education with an important question: How do you fundamentally change public education in a way that is not intrusive and over-reaching but, in the short-term, turns education around? Having learned his lesson from the senior President Bush, whose poll numbers plummeted when he vowed to abolish the US Department of Education in the 1992 presidential race, Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) vowed instead to "overhaul" it when he ran for president against Bill Clinton President Clinton, you may remember, actually ran as the "education president" He had been the "education governor" in Arkansas, after all, and championed policies that raised test scores and helped more disadvantaged kids get to college In the 2000 presidential election year, both candidates ranked education among their highest priorities George W Bush called himself the "real" education presidential candidate, and now President Bush still calls education his top domestic priority None of this is surprising Previous presidential election cycles have seen education emerge as the number one issue on which most Americans believe more federal dollars should be spent A 2000 survey by the University of Chicago revealed that over the preceding ten years, support for education had risen to the top of America's priority list, surpassing concerns about crime September 11, 2001, has likely skewed those conclusions for the upcoming presidential election, but, unquestionably, a presidential candidate's view of and plan for education is one of the issues voters prioritize in evaluating and picking their national leader President Bush has already begun to run on the issue Unlike in other presidential cycles, however, Bush faces opposition to his own education policies from within his party and from Democrats For the first time anyone I know in education can remember, state governors, legislators, and administrators are actually considering not taking Bush's federal education funds Imagine it The federal government offers hundreds of millions of education dollars to a budget-strapped state, and the state says, "Naaaaaaaaah--you keep it" It's extraordinary, particularly at a time when almost every state in the union has a budget deficit Ms Thornton, Patton Boggs partner, was chief of staff to the United States Secretary of Education, deputy advisor to President Clinton for the 1996 presidential debates, and associate counsel in the 1992 presidential transition She has written numerous articles in publications including Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, American Lawyer, Boston Globe, and Legal Times So, what's going on? In 2002, President Bush enacted No Child Left Behind, the signature piece of education legislation that he promised voters in his 2000 campaign and the bill he expected to propel him through a 2004 reelection Indeed, the fact that he--by his own admission--has not actually read the bill aside, President Bush has been traveling the country talking about the bill's importance and its early success The new law requires annual testing of students in grades three through eight and requires schools whose students do not meet the bill's standards for "adequate yearly progress" to take remedial action The schools could be designated as failing, and they are exposed to penalties, including forced transfer of students and being taken over by the state The complicated new law is more than one thousand pages long and attaches the availability of federal funding to successfully meeting the bill's stringent, high-consequence requirements …

The Swedish Law that Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services Best Practices for Prevention of Prostitution and Trafficking in Human Beings

Abstract: After several years of public debate initiated by the Swedish women’s movement, the Law That Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services came into force on January 1, 1999. The Law is the first attempt by a country to address the root cause of prostitution and trafficking in beings: the demand, the men who assume the right to purchase persons for prostitution purposes. This ground breaking law is a cornerstone of Swedish efforts to create a contemporary, democratic society where women and girls can live lives free of all forms of male violence. In combination with public education, awareness-raising campaigns, and victim support, the Law and other legislation establish a zero tolerance policy for prostitution and trafficking in human beings. When the buyers risk punishment, the number of men who buy prostituted persons decreases, and the local prostitution markets become less lucrative. Traffickers will then choose other and more profitable destinations.

The politics of constitutional review in Germany

Abstract: 1. The politics of constitutional review 2. Implementation, public support, and transparency 3. The Federal Constitutional Court in comparative perspective 4. Transparency and judicial deference 5. From the inside looking out: judicial and legislative perceptions 6. Pushing the limits: party-finance legislation and the Bundesverfassungsgericht 7. Prudent jurists Bibliography Index.

Creeping conditionality in the UK: From welfare rights to conditional entitlements?

Abstract: A widely recognised central tenet of New Labour’s ‘Third Way’ is no rights without responsibilities. The extent to which this idea underpins the British government’s approach to welfare reform has been extensively commented upon. Initially, the article places the UK reforms in the context of wider theoretical debates about welfare reform in Western states. It then highlights the ways in which a principle of conditionality is being practically applied in a wide range of sectors in the UK including; social security, housing, education, and health. The details and impact of recent relevant legislation and initiatives are discussed. It is argued that as policies based on conditional entitlement become central to the ongoing process of welfare reform the very idea of ‘welfare rights’ is systematically undermined.

COBIT and its utilization: a framework from the literature

Abstract: The control objectives for information and related technology (COBIT) is a "trusted" open standard that is being used increasingly by a diverse range of organizations throughout the world. COBIT is arguably the most appropriate control framework to help an organization ensure alignment between use of information technology (IT) and its business goals, as it places emphasis on the business need that is satisfied by each control objective by J. Colbert, and P. Bowen (1996). This paper reports on the use of a simple classification of the published literature on COBIT, to highlight some of the features of that literature. The appropriate alignment between use of IT and the business goals of a organization is fundamental to efficient and effective IT governance. IT governance "...is the structure of relationships and processes to develop, direct and control IS/IT resources in order to achieve the enterprise's goals". IT governance has been recognized as a critical success factor in the achievement of corporate success by deploying information through the application of technology by N. Korac-Kakabadse and A. Kakabadse (2001). The importance of IT governance can be appreciated in light of the Gartner Group's finding that large organizations spend over 50% of their capital investment on IT by C. Koch (2002). However, research has suggested that the contribution of IT governance varies in its effectiveness. IT control frameworks are designed to promote effective IT governance. Recent pressures, including the failure of organizations such as Enron, have led to an increased focus on corporate accountability. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 introduced legislation that imposed new governance requirements by G. Coppin (2003). These and other changes have resulted in a new corporate governance model with an increased emphasis on IT governance, which goes beyond the traditional focus of corporate governance on financial aspects by R. Roussey (2003).

The Potential Impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on Equity and Diversity in American Education

Abstract: With its overriding emphasis on accountability, testing, sanctions, rewards, and public school choice, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) raises both the hopes and fears of educators concerned with the impact of the legislation on minority groups, on multicultural curricula, and on equity issues within public education. Drawing on evidence from state-level systemic-based accountability initiatives, coupled with a detailed analysis of the legislation itself, this article assesses the potential positive and negative effects of NCLB on diversity, multiculturalism, and equity issues in schooling. After examining the strengths and weaknesses of the legislation, this article concludes that the promise of NCLB to enhance equity and opportunity by reducing the achievement gap will likely remain unfulfilled due to insufficient funding and an overly simplistic definition of the achievement gap.

Siren Song: Chilean Water Law As a Model for International Reform

Abstract: Increasing scarcity, conflict, and environmental damage are critical features of the global water crisis. As governments, international organizations, NGOs, and corporations have tried to respond, Chilean water law has seemed an attractive alternative to older legislative and regulatory approaches. Boldly introduced in 1981, the Chilean model is the worlds leading example of a free market approach to water law, water rights, and water resource management. Despite more than a decade of international debate, however, a comprehensive, balanced account of the Chilean experience has been unavailable. Siren Song is an interdisciplinary analysis combining law, political economy, and geography. Carl Bauer places the Chilean model of water law in international context by reviewing the contemporary debate about water economics and policy reform. He follows with an account of the Chilean experience, drawing on primary and secondary sources in Spanish and English, including interviews with key people in Chile. He presents the debate about reforming the law after Chile‘s 1990 return to democratic government, as well as emerging views about how water markets have worked in practice. The resulting book provides insights about law, economics, and public policy within Chile and lessons for the countries around the world that are wrestling with the challenges of water policy reform.

Financial privacy policies and the need for standardization

Abstract: The authors analyze 40 online privacy policy documents from nine financial institutions to examine their clarity and readability. Their findings show that compliance with the existing legislation and standards is, at best, questionable.

The Challenges of Offering Relationship and Marriage Education to Low-Income Populations

Abstract: Relationship and marriage education has been primarily developed for and offered to middle-class committed couples. Increasing government funding of these programs raises questions about the extent to which these curricula and programs need to be adapted for low-income populations. We review the limited body of relevant research and program experience to identify the challenges and guiding principles that need to be addressed when offering these programs to more diverse populations. Key Words: low income, marriage education, minorities, programs, relationship education. Marriage is now on the public policy agenda. Federal and state public officials have discovered the field of couples and marriage education and are beginning to invest significant public dollars in demonstration programs and research designed to promote "healthy marriage" (Brotherson & Duncan, 2004; Ooms, Bouchet, & Parke, 2004). If the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program is reauthorized as expected in 2004, there will be a major infusion of public dollars into the field-up to $300 million annually for 5 years-and much of it is expected to be targeted to low-income communities. Of the nine types of marriage activities to be funded in the TANF legislation, seven fall into the category of couples and marriage education. (For the history of the evolution of the federal government interest in marriage, the family-formation goals in the TANF program, and list of allowable activities in the TANF reauthorization legislation, see Ooms, Bouchet, & Parke, 2004, pp. 5, 7 and Brotherson & Duncan). Although policymakers are now interested in strengthening marriage in low-income populations, most traditional couples and marriage education programs have been developed for and mostly offered to Caucasian middle-class couples who are committed to each other-either engaged or already married. This raises the issue of whether existing program models and curricula are appropriate for the needs and circumstances of low-income couples from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds-many of whom are unmarried parents-and, if not, in what ways they need to be adapted (Dion et al., 2002). Here we address the following questions: What are the patterns of marriage, couple relationships, and family formation in low-income communities? What are some of the factors that appear to explain their much lower rates of marriage? Are low-income couples interested in marriage education? What is the experience thus far with providing marriage education to low-income populations? What new efforts are under way? What has been learned about how programs and curricula might be designed to meet the needs of low-income populations? Government and Marriage: Strange Bedfellows? Before addressing these questions, we acknowledge the vigorous national debate about the appropriateness of government intervention in marriage. Some believe that government has no business promoting marriage, and they view marriage as a private issue best left to individuals and religious authorities. Others believe that the negative effects of the rise in single parenthood on child well-being offer a compelling justification for government involvement (Ooms, 2002b). Among those who are persuaded that some government action may be needed, some have criticized as too narrow the federal government's emphasis on couples and marriage education as the primary marriage promotion strategy (Levin-Epstein, Ooms, Parke, Roberts, & Turetsky, 2002). Skeptics question whether taxpayer money should be spent on untested programs to promote marriage among the poor instead of on the better paying jobs, child care, housing, and health care they desperately need. Supporters assert that investments in programs to find out how to strengthen marriage are long overdue and, if successful, would help reduce child poverty. Meanwhile, three state survey indicate that low-income populations highly value marriage, with the large majority expressing interest in learning how to improve their relationships through educational programs (see discussion on p. …

Store Wars: The Enactment and Repeal of Anti‐Chain‐Store Legislation in America1

Abstract: Competition between organizational forms manifests itself in political contention over the law. The authors analyze the political strength and organization of the groups that supported and opposed state anti‐chain‐store laws. The enactment of these laws depended on intrastate political activity and the interstate diffusion of anti‐chain‐store legislation. The repeal process relied on suprastate activity, as nationally organized pro‐chain‐store forces shifted the arena of contention to the Supreme Court and forged national alliances with labor unions and agricultural cooperatives. In both enactment and repeal, the political resources and strategies of organziational forms interacted with existing institutions to determine the trajectory of institutional change.

Elected Bodies: The Gender Quota Law for Legislative Candidates in Mexico

Abstract: In the past decade, 21 countries have adopted gender quota laws that require between 20% and 50% of all legislative candidates to be women. What explains the adoption of these laws? I argue that three factors make politicians more likely to adopt gender quota laws. First, electoral uncertainty creates an opportunity for internal party reform that factions within a party can exploit to their advantage. Second, the courts play an important role because of the centrality of the issue of equal protection under the law to gender quotas. Finally, cross-partisan mobilization among female legislators raises the costs of opposing such legislation by drawing public attention to it. I examine these three claims with regard to Mexico, where the federal congress passed a 30% gender quota law in 2002.

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

Abstract: The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (PL 108–73; MMA), signed into law in December 2003, represents the biggest expansion of Medicare in the program’s history. In addition to adding outpatient prescription drug coverage, the bill contains scores of other changes affecting the nation’s 40 million older and disabled Americans and the providers who care for them. Responsibility for implementing the complex law and educating beneficiaries about their new options falls to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is in the process of issuing regulations and preparing outreach materials for seniors to meet the deadlines mandated by Congress. During last year’s debate on the Medicare bill, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) actively lobbied for a number of provisions in the legislation, including improvements in the physician fee schedule, and enactment of the Geriatric Care Act (GCA). We are pleased to report that the MMA replaces a scheduled 4.5% decrease in reimbursement fees paid to geriatric health providers with an increase of 1.5% in 2004 and 2005 and incorporates two provisions based on the GCA, which are summarized below. In 2004 AGS is committed to educating its members about how the legislation will affect geriatric providers and their patients while pursuing other elements of its legislative agenda. Below is a summary of some of the major provisions of the MMA. Readers are also encouraged to consult the AGS Web page devoted exclusively to the law, located at http:// www.americangeriatrics.org/policy/medicare_info.shtml.

Prostitution on Demand

Abstract: Research, programs, and legislation related to sex trafficking are often premised on the invisibility of the male buyer and the failure to address men’s role in buying and abusing women in prostitution. Governments, UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and others act as if the male demand for sexual exploitation is insignificant, or that prostitution is so entrenched because, after all, “men will be men.” Little research on trafficking has focused on the so-called customer as a root cause of trafficking and sexual exploitation. And even less legislation has penalized the male customer whose right to buy women and children for prostitution activities remains unquestioned. This article looks at the demand—its meaning, the myths that rationalize why men buy women in prostitution, qualitative information on the buyers in two studies conducted by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)—as well as best practices that address the gender of demand.

Legal harmonization and reproductive tourism in Europe

Abstract: Legislation of ethical issues illustrates the uneasy mix of ethics and politics. Although the majority has the political right to express its moral views in the law, a number of important ethical values like autonomy, tolerance and respect for other people's opinions urge the majority to take the minorities' position into account. Ignoring pluralism in society will inevitably lead to reproductive tourism. Although European legislation and harmonization in the domain of medically assisted reproduction is presented as a partial solution to this phenomenon, it is argued that European legislation should be avoided as much as possible. Regulation of these private ethical matters should be left to the national parliaments. A soft or compromise legislation will keep reproductive travelling to a minimum. Reproductive tourism is a safety valve that reduces moral conflict and expresses minimal recognition of the others' moral autonomy.

A Study of Teacher Resilience in Urban Schools.

Abstract: This paper describes a qualitative research study that investigated strategies used by urban teachers to build their personal resilience. Sixteen resilient teachers from four urban districts that reported student achievement equal to or higher than the state average on standard tests of reading and mathematics were interviewed. The definition of resilience was "using energy productively to achieve school goals in the face of adverse conditions." A three cycle interview process included pre-interview, interview and review by the respondent for accuracy. Standard qualitative methods were used in the analysis. Results revealed four key findings reported in this paper. Resilient teachers act from a set of values that guides their professional decision-making. They also place a high premium on professional development and find ways, often outside the school district, to get what they need. They provide mentoring to others and stay focused on students and their learning. A teacher candidate who gives evidence of resilience, of taking charge to solve problems and find opportunities may add to the school in important ways that bolster student achievement and school success. "Resilience is a key factor in how a teacher will hold up and perform in an urban school." Elementary school teacher, 7 years experience ********** Much has been written over the last two decades about the difficulty of recruiting quality teachers for urban schools (e.g. Bobbit, Faupel & Burns, 1991; Darling-Hammond, 2000). Until recently, few scholars have recognized that the problem is not recruitment but retention (Salvador & Wilson, 2002). As teachers and teacher leaders in urban schools face the challenge of maintaining their vitality in an era of nonstop change, they struggle to remain resilient. Particularly in urban schools, teacher and teacher leader resilience is critical to schools accomplishing what needs to be done. The impact of teacher leader resilience is particularly important because of teacher leader's ability to encourage colleagues to change, to do things they wouldn't ordinarily consider without the influence of the leader (Wasley, 1991). Thus, the resilience of teacher leaders is a key factor in school reform (Patterson, 2001). The operational definition of resilience that guides this study of teachers and teacher leaders is using energy productively to achieve school goals in the face of adverse conditions. Urban schools suffer from far greater complications than rural or suburban schools. High teacher and student absenteeism, high teacher turnover, high numbers of uncertified teachers and great numbers of inexperienced teachers (Darling-Hammond, 1998) all contribute to stress of urban teachers. Urban teachers are also more likely than their suburban and rural counterparts to teach more students with fewer basic resources like books, blackboards and paper (Farber, 1991). These problems are exacerbated by federal legislation that demands a certified teacher in every classroom by 2005. For instance, a clash regarding California's new draft standards for certification demonstrated the potential financial loss to districts of the new federal legislation, No Child Left Behind. To meet the federal requirements, California proposed defining "highly qualified" teachers as including interns with emergency permits. When asked to evaluate this plan, the US Department of Education said it wouldn't meet the terms of the law. That could cost the state $5.4 billion in federal dollars (Chaddock, 2002). Outside the school, the environment is also more complex as teachers are called upon to confront social issues that many believe belong in the home or larger community. It is not surprising that many urban teachers become skeptical, cynical and "burn out." Burn out can result in isolation and caring less about the students and other aspects of teacher's work or it may lead to working harder, sometimes mechanically, to the point of exhaustion (Farber, 1991). …

Scientific research in education: A critical perspective1

Abstract: This article reviews the debate in the USA about quality in educational research which has underpinned particular approaches to educational research being mandated in federal legislation. It argues that the movement towards 'evidence-based policy and practice' oversimplifies complex problems and is being used to warrant governmental incursion into legislating scientific method. It calls for critical readings of current policy and direct engagement in policy forums--putting critical theory to work.

The No Child Left Behind Act: Challenges and Implications for Educators

Abstract: The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is potentially the most significant educational initiative to have been enacted in decades. Among the salient elements of this initiative are requirements that all students have qualified teachers and be given the opportunity to attend high-quality schools. The NCLB legislation also requires that states raise academic achievement levels for all students, including those with disabilities. Linked to these components and related issues, this article discusses the major components of the NCLB along with implications and recommendations for educators.

A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool (ASSET)

Abstract: There is widespread acceptance that the workplace can be damaging to health. Many developed industrial countries have already produced, or are actively considering, legislation intended to make organizations accept greater responsibility for the physical and mental well-being of their workforce. In the U.K., for example, the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) are intended to make employers meet their legal obligations with respect to employee health issues.

Guantanamo Bay: The Legal Black Hole

Abstract: The most powerful democracy is detaining hundreds of suspected foot soldiers of the Taliban in a legal black hole at the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where they await trial on capital charges by military tribunals. This episode must be put in context. Democracies must defend themselves. Democracies are entitled to try officers and soldiers of enemy forces for war crimes. But it is a recurring theme in history that in times of war, armed conflict, or perceived national danger, even liberal democracies adopt measures infringing human rights in ways that are wholly disproportionate to the crisis. One tool at hand is detention without charge or trial, that is, executive detention. Ill-conceived rushed legislation is passed granting excessive powers to executive governments which compromise the rights and liberties of individuals beyond the exigencies of the situation. Often the loss of liberty is permanent. Executive branches of government, faced with a perceived emergency, often resort to excessive measures. The litany of grave abuses of power by liberal democratic governments is too long to recount, but in order to understand and to hold governments to account, we do well to take intoaccount the circles of history.

The Culture of Education Policy

Abstract: This powerful book shows the many unintended ways in which social and educational policy can shape, if not constrain, the work of educating students. Focusing on the creation and history of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) from its inception in 1965 to the present, Stein shows how underlying assumptions of policymakers and bureaucratic red tape actually interfere with both educational practice and the goals of the legislation itself. This examination is especially timely, given the recent passage of the No Child Left Behind Act and its sweeping attempts to raise achievement and reduce failure, especially for underserved populations.

The new Italian IVF legislation.

Abstract: Last February, the Italian Parliament gave final approval to a new Law regulating assisted reproduction technology. The new legislation fell short of the expectations of infertile couples and of all specialists in the field. There are three problems with the new Italian law; they involve social issues, human rights and the application of technology. The present paper focuses on the fact that the new rules infringe upon basic human rights and the proper application of IVF technology, because they mandate procedures that are against the best interest of the woman seeking pregnancy. The main point of controversy is the combination of a mandatory limit of three embryos for transfer, and an obligation to reimplant all produced embryos; cryopreservation of excess embryos is prohibited. Obviously, this decreases the chances of most women to achieve pregnancy, while at the same time it increases the number and complexity of procedures they need to undergo and may expose some to an unacceptable increase in the risk of multiple pregnancy. The new law is inspired by the desire to protect every newly produced embryo; this is a commendable aim, although it is in total opposition to a law passed over 25 years ago that liberalized voluntary termination of first trimester pregnancies. This means that today Italy has a law that protects every early, pre-implantation embryo, and another that allows the 'suppression' of every post-implantation one. From a technical point of view, given the low level of human fecundity, the only way to prevent the 'loss' of even one preimplantation embryo is to simply ban IVF altogether, an option that Italian legislators obviously did not have the courage to opt for. The tragedy is that Italian infertile couples are now confronted with new rules that not only severely limit the ability of physicians to correctly apply IVF technology, but are so confused that, depending on the interpretation, anyone may try to nullify the main ideological premise upon which the entire law has been structured.

Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey

Abstract: Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey. Toby Mendel. New Delhi, India: UNESCO, Regional Bureau for Communication and Information, 2003, 134 pp. (free) pbk. (Available online at ) Since the post-September 11 terrorist attacks, freedom of information has taken on a growing sense of urgency. Toby Mendel, law program director of ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression, notes: "There is a massive global trend towards legal recognition of this right [to access government information] as countries around the world that aspire to democracy either have adopted, or are in the process of preparing, freedom of information laws." His book, Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey, showcases how freedom of expression is more than freedom from the government in a growing number of established and emerging democracies. One of the foundations making freedom of expression more practical is recognition of a right to access government records, for no participatory democracy is possible without a well-informed citizenry relating to government affairs. Over the years, a number of books, monographs, and scholarly journal articles have been published about freedom of information as a right. Nonetheless, few of them have examined the subject from an international and comparative perspective. Among the rare exceptions are Sandra Couver et al.'s secrecy and Liberty: National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information; Venkat Iyer's Freedom of Information: An Asian Survey; and Norman S. Marsh's Public Access to Government-held Information: A Comparative Symposium. What makes Mendel's Freedom of Information distinctive is the book's informative overview of the international and national framework of the FOI right as a human right. Also unique about the book is its discussion of ARTICLE 19's principles, which serve as a benchmark for FOI legislation. Most valuable to those who need a comparative survey of various FOI laws is the book's seventy-five-page "Country Profiles" chapter. It is the author's survey of ten countries: Bulgaria, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Some readers, the reviewer included, most likely will wonder why these particular countries, not others, were selected. Mendel explains: "The choice of countries was based on a number of factors including geographic distribution, progressive and/or longstanding legislation and the familiarity of the author with the country/legislation." In each of his country-by-country analyses, Mendel first offers a brief introduction on the FOI statute. He then discusses the right of informational access, the government's duty to publish information, the exceptions to access to public information, the appeals from access denials, and the government's promotion of access to public records. …

Commentary: use of evidence-based interventions in schools: where we've been, where we are, and where we need to go

Abstract: Schools have emerged as the great hope for diverse sectors of our society (e.g., legislators, policymakers, the business community, families, advocates, the general public, and so on) as providing solutions to the many social ills that plague our daily lives and threaten our future. From drug and sex education to citizenship training, many continue to view schools as performing surrogate parenthood roles that should produce youth who are well socialized, motivated to achieve, and who abide by accepted standards of rule governed behavior. These value-added outcomes are in addition to the development of literacy, which remains as the school system's primary mission. It seems clear, even to the casual observer of public schooling, that achievement of these lofty expectations is still well beyond the reach of most public schools. The pressures on school leaders and staff to better respond to the demands and expectations of these various stakeholder groups have been enormous. The school reform movement and the No Child Left Behind legislation reflect broad dissatisfaction and severe criticism of public schooling in this regard. Further, the U.S. mental health constituency has been vocal in documenting (a) the continuing unmet needs of students with mental health needs who are not served or are underserved by schools, and (b) educators' failure to access and use evidence-based intervention approaches for those students who are served. There has been considerable speculation as to why this is the case-most of which fails to take into account key features of the school culture, setting, and process as explanatory factors. Hoagwood and her associates have written extensively about this issue (see Burns & Hoagwood, 2002; Hoagwood, 2001; Rones & Hoagwood, 2002) and they cite the following facts and developments to buttress their case: (a) fully 1/5th of today's students meet the necessary diagnostic criteria for a recognized mental disorder, (b) 5% to 9% meet criteria for a severe emotional disturbance, (c) many such students are comorbid for more than one disorder thus further increasing their vulnerability and risk, (d) only about 16% of children and youth receive any services or treatment for their mental health problems and approximately 70% to 80% receive those services within school settings, and (e) schools typically do not access and implement proven or promising interventions and treatments that have a scientific evidence base in support of their effectiveness. The arguments of Hoagwood et al. raise contentious arguments about both the proper role of schooling in today's society and who is ultimately responsible for the existence and remediation of the dysfunctional school adjustment of the growing at-risk student population. The conservative perspective argues that schools are about the academic development of all students and should not be expected to address the mental health problems that students bring to the schooling process. A more progressive view points to the documented connections and interrelationships among academic, social, and mental health dimensions and argues that all should be addressed in an integrated fashion through the instrument of schooling. Regardless of one's perspective(s) on these arguments, there appears to be relatively little disagreement about whether schools can and should improve their performance in implementing evidence-based practices. There is a broad consensus that schools do not have a good record in accessing the available knowledge base on empirically validated interventions and adapting them for effective use within school settings. However, schools should not bear all the blame for this development because developers and advocates of effective practices have a shared responsibility with educators to create the awareness, conditions, incentives, and context(s) that will allow achievement of this important goal. The remainder of this commentary briefly addresses where schools have been, where they currently seem to be, and where they need to go regarding this issue. …

Learning from Thailand's health reforms

Abstract: Providing all of Thailand's population with subsidised health care required radical changes in the health system Thailand took a “big bang” approach to introducing universal access to subsidised health care. In 2001, after years of debate1–3 and slow progress,4 5 it extended coverage to 18.5 million people who were previously uninsured (out of a population of 62 million). This move was combined with a radical shift in funding away from major urban hospitals in order to build up primary care. Such an approach has merits but also risks. We discuss the implementation and some of the problems. Prime Minister Shinawatra obtained a landslide victory for his Thai-Rak-Thai (Thais love Thais) Party in 2001 on a platform including the “30 baht treat all” scheme for universal access to subsidised health care. Under the scheme, people pay 30 baht (£0.50, €0.7, $0.86) for each visit or admission. Thailand previously had four public risk protection schemes (box 1) with widely differing benefits and contribution levels. These schemes protected a total 43.5 million people, leaving 18.5 million paying fees for care from public or private providers. The initial plan was to merge resources from the four schemes into one universal coverage scheme to remove overlaps in coverage and improve equity. This met resistance from government departments running the other schemes and from civil servants and trades unionists benefiting from the two employment based schemes. The government therefore decided to fund the 30 baht scheme by pooling the Ministry of Public Health budgets for public hospitals, other health facilities, and the low income and voluntary health card schemes and providing some additional money. This could be done without legislation, enabling progress to be made while legislation was prepared and debated. The National Health Security Act was passed by parliament in November …

Ideas, private institutions and American welfare state ‘exceptionalism’: the case of health and old‐age insurance, 1915–1965

Abstract: Traditional theories of welfare state development divide into two camps: societal accounts and institutional accounts. The aim of the present article is to amend and enrich the institutional approach to US social policy by reconsidering key aspects of the genesis of the American welfare state: 1) showing that concepts such as ‘policy feedback’ and ‘path dependence’ need to be extended to encompass the effect of private social policies; and 2) taking policy paradigms and agenda setting more seriously than is the norm in institutional scholarship. The empirical analysis is divided into two parts. The first part explores the activities of the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) in the decade beginning in 1910 and the genesis of Social Security in the 1930s, while the second part examines the effect of the private benefit developments on policy choices between 1935 and 1965.