bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aids, Policy and Politics: East Africa in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Hyden Goran , Lanegran Kim
Published: June 2005

Policy analysis in developing country contexts poses special challenges. Very little is known about the policy process in these countries. Trying to rein the cultural, organizational and political factors that affect problem solving becomes an inductive search beyond the logic of conventional models of analysis. Using the AIDS issue as a case study, this article tries to throw light on the policy process in the three East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with a view to highlighting the challenges of policy analysis in developing country contexts.
Gender and Jail Work: Correctional Policy Implications of Perceptual Diversity in the Work Force
Authors: Lovrich Nicholas P. , Stohr Mary K.
Published: June 2005

Although women now represent a significant proportion of many (if not most) jail staffs, the degree to which their perceptions of corrections work differs from males' remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we compare female and male jail staff perceptions regarding the stress associated with work in jails, the job satisfaction to be derived from jail work, the job environment experienced in jails and the level of commitment to jail facilities across five jail settings. Our findings show important gender‐based similarities and differences that need to be understood to maximize the benefits of the work force diversity that women bring to the corrections profession.
The Unintended Effects of Social Policy Measures
Authors: Kaim‐Caudle Peter
Published: June 2005

The unintended effects of social policy measures are frequently important, controversial, difficult to ascertain and even more difficult to quantify. Some selected aspects of four types of unintended effects are discussed in this article. First, effects due to redistribution of income as well as life chances and opportunities as determined by market forces and attitudes (sexism, ageism, racism) favor some at the expense of others. Even redistribution which increases gross domestic product (GDP) often disadvantages certain groups. Second, contingency‐related benefits tend to favor population groups differently. Third, free and subsidized health services, in certain conditions, increase both the supply and demand for services—the moral hazard problem. Fourth, contingency benefits in cash and kind tend to increase the incidence of such contingencies and, if income‐related, tend to result in poverty and unemployment traps. Cross‐national comparative studies may be a useful device in ascertaining effects or the absence of effects.
Images of the Future: The Basic Income Challenge
Authors: Roebroek Joop M.
Published: June 2005

In this paper, the significance of basic income as an option in the future is investigated against the background of recent changes in society and social security systems, presented in four segments. First, the concept of basic income is presented in the context of existing social security systems. Basic income represents an elementary form of unconditional income in terms of labor and income. Second, arguments for and against basic income are studied; the social and political foundation is identified; and the relationship between the validity of the basic income as a future option and concrete socioeconomic conditions is discussed. Third, basic income is placed against the background of wider processes of social ordering—specifically, the relationship between state and society. Finally, arguments are made for reconsidering the present system of social security and its future transition.
Social Security and Third World Poverty: The Challenge to Policymakers
Authors: Midgley James
Published: June 2005

Although social security emerged in the industrial countries as a mechanism for alleviating and preventing poverty, it has had a negligible impact on the problem of poverty in the developing countries. Because of the high incidence of poverty in the Third World and the need for effective interventions, conventional social security policies should be critically reexamined. Reviewing previous attempts to formulate social security policies that focus on the poor, this paper challenges policymakers to identify innovative social security programs that address the poverty problem directly.
Adapting to Radical Innovation: Accident Compensation in New Zealand
Authors: Uttley Stephen
Published: June 2005

This paper profiles the 1974 introduction of a new system for compensating individuals who suffer accidental injuries in New Zealand. It reviews the development of this scheme through the late 1980s and highlights the increase of political pressures for subsequent reform. Among the various difficulties identified in implementation are the operation of the “no fault” principle, the effect of the duration of disability, the payment of lump‐sum compensation and the question of indexing payments. Disputes about the detailed funding of the scheme and politically inspired changes in the revenue base are explained. The major dilemma posed by different levels of compensation for those disabled by accident or sickness is examined. The paper concludes by querying whether the identified problems are a reflection of weaknesses in the original scheme or a result of less‐than‐full implementation.
Continuities in Providing for Old Age: Cross‐national and Cross‐cultural Comparisons
Authors: Bellamy Donald F.
Published: June 2005

Drawing on a purposive sample of 25 interviews supplemented by secondary source material, this comparative study explores the options available to elderly immigrants in two quite similar countries to achieve social security in their old age. The focus is the culturally determined perspectives and practices of aging Italian‐born and Indian‐born immigrants in the context of public and private sector social welfare policies and provisions in Australia and Canada. Government transfers, occupational superannuation, tax‐deductible personal savings, housing, and formal and informal supports are discussed. What is important to the sense of social security of the older people and how well‐off or disadvantaged they seem to be are among the questions raised. The design affords an opportunity to test the complex combination of cross‐national and cross‐cultural comparison. In the certainty that the income deficiencies of today's elderly immigrants cannot be remedied easily or quickly enough to benefit those affected, intervention strategies can be aimed at expanding ethno‐specific community supports and quality residential care; such a direction is supported by assessment of service availability in relation to estimates of aging among particular foreign‐born immigrant groups. Suggestions are made for future research at the levels of theory and application.
National Provident Funds: The Challenge of Harmonizing Their Social Security, Social and Economic Objectives
Authors: Dixon John
Published: June 2005

This paper examines the national provident funds (NPFs) that operate in 23 developing countries which seek to provide their members with basic social security protection by means of compulsory savings (see Appendix). It explores how the juxtaposition of economic, social and social security objectives has made NPFs generally resilient to fundamental change and has, in some instances, resulted in the evolution of a social security hybrid—neither a pure compulsory savings scheme nor a social insurance system.
Social Constructions of People with AIDS: Target Populations and United States Policy, 1981–1990
Authors: Donovan Mark C.
Published: June 2005

This paper examines the United States policy toward people with AIDS (PWAs) using a theory of the social construction of target populations (Schneider and Ingram, 1993). A policy narrative is developed which focuses on the ways PWAs have been categorized throughout the epidemic and how the characterization of these constructed target populations has influenced the design of policies aimed at these groups. The Ryan White Act of 1990 and the debate surrounding its passage is examined and found to be consistent with the expectations of the theory. Propositions which extend the framework are offered as a guide for future research.
The Politics of Growth Management Reform in the States: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Durant Robert F. , Thomas Larry W. , Haynes Don
Published: June 2005

This article seeks to advance our understanding of the politics of growth management reform in the American states. First, it builds on prior research on agenda processes in other policy arenas to identify four “ideal” types of growth management reforms with empirical referents in the states: quantum, emergent, convergent and gradualist. Next, the political dynamics associated with each type are culled from the experiences of eight states pursuing such reforms over the past three decades. The article concludes by reviewing the implications of these findings for future research and for those pursuing growth management reforms in the future.
The Volcker Commission Report Fades Away: A Case Study in Non‐implementation
Authors: Bartlett Robert V.
Published: June 2005

The National Commission on the Public Service, commonly known as the Volcker Commission, was created to help combat a ‘quiet crisis’ in the United States' federal civil service. The commission made a series of recommendations to strengthen the civil service. With few exceptions, these recommendations have not made their way into law. This examination of the work of the task forces on education and training and on recruitment and retention, in the framework of Daniel Mazmanian and Paul Sabatier's implementation model, focuses on what happened to the Volcker report and why it happened. It concludes with recommendations on what might be done differently in future efforts to strengthen the civil service.
Editor's Note on Policy Advocacy Essays
Authors: Rosenbaum Allan
Published: June 2005

As our legion of obviously highly observant and dedicated readers will immediately note, this issue of the Policy Studies Review is marked by the introduction of a new feature which we have chosen to characterize as policy advocacy essays. Specifically, the two essays featured in this issue—“Strategic Treasury Debt Management in Public Policy” by Campbell R. Harvey and “How the Clinton Administration Can Make Foreign Aid Work” by Neil S. Zank—are significantly different from our typical articles. They go a good way beyond the usually rather cautious recommendations for policy change that are upon occasion put forward at the conclusion of our typically quite analytical and often empirically based articles. In contrast, neither of the two essays that follow intend to be objective. Rather, both authors, as individuals with long‐time expertise in the areas about which they are writing, have quite decided opinions about significant reforms in major areas of national policy which they would like to see implemented.
Strategic Treasury Debt Management in Public Policy
Authors: Harvey Campbell R.
Published: June 2005

The Treasury should supplement its bond offerings with adjustable‐rate coupon bonds. The adjustable coupon would be linked to the six‐month Treasury bill auction yield. Given the different magnitude of adjustable and fixed mortgage rates, the interest servicing costs would be dramatically lower for the floating‐coupon bonds. This idea is already a proven winner in the corporate bond market where close to 30 percent of new Eurobond offerings in the last 10 years have been adjustable‐rate bonds. In addition to reducing servicing costs, the strategy will relieve some of the burden on the long‐maturity fixed‐coupon bonds. Reducing the supply of the fixed‐coupon bonds should increase prices and decrease long‐term yields. Reduction in long‐term interest rates enhances spending, construction and capital expenditures. Most importantly, these bonds help enforce a low inflation policy.
How the Clinton Administration Can Make Foreign Aid Work
Authors: Zank Neil S.
Published: June 2005

The changes taking place in the world today are exposing the inadequacies of the U.S. foreign assistance program. Beyond external changes such as the fall of communism, internal changes have occurred in the policy decisions and purposes governing the program, management and operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), level of public attention on scandal, and aggressiveness of congressional oversight. After describing the purposes of the foreign assistance program, this article assesses the evolving role of the agencies involved in foreign assistance planning, budgeting and implementation processes; the processes themselves; the changes affecting the program; and the decision‐making structure. Three reforms are needed to make the U.S. foreign aid program more responsive to U.S. foreign policy interests and more effective in accomplishing its development mandate. First, a strong policy focus is needed to direct the program toward realistic objectives and the best mechanisms for achieving those objectives. Second, the foreign aid program must move away from implementing projects with limited objectives and toward programs that promote broad‐based economic growth, pluralism and democracy. Finally, AID should be merged into the State Department, and its field structure reorganized and reduced to better integrate development and foreign policy considerations.
Environmental Policy as a Political Problem
Authors: Caldwell Lynton K.
Published: June 2005

The politics of the environment may not be unique, but they present some distinctive characteristics. In undertaking policy analyses and administrative strategies an appreciation of concepts, assumptions and circumstances, and underlying environmental policy issues is needed. To ignore these fundamentals is to risk superficiality in analysis, and error in findings and conclusions. Yet getting down to basics is often rejected as diversion from the goal of analysis. It deviates from a “straight to the point” approach, adds cost and time to investigation, and seldom interests practical‐minded analysts. Even so, this paper will be prefaced by a concise reminder of some basic factors that make environmental policy problematic. Among these are: (1) incompatible concepts of man‐nature relationships—notably conflict between perceived facts and values, (2) inadequate comprehension of the complexities of nature, (3) sectoral subdivisions of knowledge, (4) assumptions, situations and motivations in environmental politics, (5) fractionated structure of laws and administration, and (6) short‐range perception of time. In addition to these conceptual factors the widely varied subject‐matter of environmental politics narrows the scope of generalization for policy purposes.
The Progressive Ratcheting of Environmental Laws: Impact on Public Management
Authors: O'Leary Rosemary
Published: June 2005

One of the problem‐making tendencies in environmental policymaking has been an incremental approach to regulation and control. Either because the full dimensions of an environmental problem are not perceived or because political resistance compels step‐by‐step action, environmental controls tend to be applied progressively, beginning with nominal, largely ineffectual, retroactive declarations. Failing to meet objectives, laws are toughened and extended year by year until the severty of sanctions begins to defeat their intended effects. The fractionized state of environmental law, focusing on specific problems of pollution and subject to changes in interpretation, makes observance and enforcement difficult. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 could have facilitated the unification of environmental policy; unfortunately presidents and congresses have not chosen to use it for this purpose. Meanwhile, because environmental protection per se is relatively new to public law and policy and has few roots in the common law, private citizens aggrieved by political obstruction of their expectations have appealed to the courts for relief and compensation. Conservative courts have granted this relief under the “taking” clause of the Constitution. Extraordinary measures in constitutional law may be necessary to resolve an impasse in public policy resulting from conflict between public interests and private rights as interpreted by the judiciary.
Struggling with Integrated Environmental Policy: The EPA Experience
Authors: Funke Odelia
Published: June 2005

Because of the interrelating, cross‐media character of many environmental problems, development of comprehensive and coherent policies for their abatement or management is difficult. This is particularly true where, as in the United States, there has been a strong tendency to focus on single issues of complex problems. Nowhere is this problem of policy and program integration more difficult than in the Environmental Protection Agency. This article uses the lead contamination issue to illustrate the obstacles to integration of policy and procedure even for a single environmental pollutant. Given the holistic and ramifying character of environmental problems, how can appropriate policies and regulations be developed in a political system characterized by sectoral, specialized structure and special interest clientele? At the time of this writing, the effects of elevating the EPA to a cabinet level department cannot fully be foreseen. The expansion of EPA to the administration of nonregulatory responsibilities will doubtless bring new problems of policy to this agency. Problems of program integration may increase unless EPA is authorized to devise and adapt more effective integrative procedures.
Risk Assessment in Environmental Policymaking
Authors: Armour Audrey M.
Published: June 2005

A problem in policymaking for prevention of harm to persons and the environment concerns the probability of harm occurring—that is, the measure of risk involved. Policymakers have almost always sought to calculate the risk involved in proposed courses of action. Their methods have often been irrational and their estimates erroneous. Explicit analysis of risk to society and systematic methods for estimating it emerged with the advent of science as more reliable procedures for prediction and decision‐making. However, as with many other forms of analysis, the assessment of risk has carried its own risk—namely an undue reliance on logical quantitative techniques which fail to address the root causes of public concern and apprehension. Common‐sense assessments of risk tell us more what risks people regard as acceptable and risks arouse anxiety and protest. Carnage from accidents on the nation's highways arouse much less apprehension than nuclear accidents even though actual risk from automobiles is much greater than injury or death from nuclear reactors. The following paper makes the case that the art and science of risk assessment will fall short of social and political realities until the psychological and cultural aspects of risk receive more adequate attention.
An Ecological Approach to Decision‐making in Renewable Resource Management
Authors: Mangun William R. , Mangun Jean C.
Published: June 2005

This article examines the roles of politics and processes in the formulation and implementation of U.S. natural resource policy during the Reagan and Bush administrations. The relationship between policies and procedures during these administrations will be illustrated by their effects on renewable natural resources management in the Department of the Interior and in the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture. The political history of these agencies raises doubts regarding their voluntarily adopting an ecological approach to the management of natural resources. Historically they have been largely captives of their clienteles—farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers, hunters and fishermen. Recreation and tourism have added new clients, whose interests often clash with the older interests in the land and its resources. Further complicating the roles of these agencies has been the environmental movement and new science‐based analyses (e.g., impact assessment). Management science has introduced new methods that have increased the effectiveness of political control over policy and performance. Therefore, in evaluating the administration of environmental policies distinction should be made between the substance of policies and implementing procedures. Policies regarded as good may be poorly administered and policies harmful to the public interest may be efficiently executed.
The GATT and Environmental Policy: An Analysis of Potential Conflicts and Policy Reforms
Authors: Krutilla Kerry , Breidenich Clare
Published: June 2005

The emergence of a worldwide environmental movement in the early 1960s accompanied an international expansion of economic activity and applied technology. The principal medium through which this expansion progressed was trade. In 1947, following World War II, a series of international agreements were negotiated to regularize international relations in finance, monetary policies, and trade. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was negotiated without anticipation of an international environmental movement and new policies at the national level that did not reflect, and might be inconsistent with, economic values. Conflict between policies for freedom of trade and environmental protection did not immediately emerge. With the adoption of numerous environmental protection measures in the United States and many other countries after 1969, the incompatibility of some trade and environmental policies became political issues. Trade policies are not confined to economic changes. Policy issues developing around the agreement and environmental protection are complex, and frequently involve technological issues, as in the Mexican tuna controversy discussed in this paper.
Policy Regimes for the International Waste Trade
Authors: Shin Roy W. , Strohm Laura A.
Published: June 2005

Among the unforeseen problems of the new industrial age has been the disposal of increasing quantities of wastes—many hazardous and toxic. Industrial chemistry has produced numerous products that, while useful, are alien to nature and resistant to biodegradation or detoxification. Growing public awareness of the possible hazards and risks involved in disposal of the residuals of industrial activities is arousing a popular demand for environmental protection. But this popular awareness depends upon public information and a degree of scientific literacy—conditions which vary widely among nations. Initial consequences are environmental regulations and restrictions respecting waste disposal in scientifically developed countries, and vulnerability among less developed countries to the export of hazardous wastes from the countries of their origin. A secondary consequence is the emergence of international waste trade as a national and international multidimensional policy problem.
Presentation of this Special Issue
Authors: Correa Hector
Published: June 2005

It may be possible to trace the origins of the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s back to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories, changes in the social structure (in particular with respect to women working at home and outside the home), and, later, to the ready availability of contraceptives. This revolution brought about changes not only in the sexual behavior of men and women of all ages, but also in the characteristics and stability of families. It also resulted in a more open attitude toward sex in society as a whole and in mass media in particular.
Application of Mathematical Methods for Decision‐making to Teenage Pregnancies, Sexual Activity, and Sex Education
Authors: Correa Hector
Published: June 2005

The object of this paper is to determine, using mathematical methods for decision‐making, whether sex education is an appropriate policy instrument to reduce teenage pregnancies. The exercise helps to clarify the issues involved and the data needed to reach conclusions based on fact, and suggests some preliminary recommendations.
Which States Will Restrict Abortions? Predictions from Votes in the House of Representatives
Authors: Gohmann Stephan F. , Ohsfeldt Robert L.
Published: June 2005

In response to the Supreme Court's rulings in Webster v. Reproductive Services and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, which increased the ability of states to restrict abortions, many state legislatures have reexamined their abortion policies. Several recent studies use a variety of methods to predict whether states will restrict abortion access. These studies have utilized congressional votes on abortion legislation, past state laws restricting abortions, or current attitudes by state legislators and governors. Each method has its merits and limitations. This paper uses recent votes in the states' House of Representatives pertaining to abortion issues to predict the likelihood of significant abortion restrictions. These results are compared with rankings from other recent studies.
Determinants of Pregnancy Wantedness: Profiling the Population from an Interventionist Perspective
Authors: Abma Joyce C. , Mott Frank L.
Published: June 2005

Although the incidence of unwanted pregnancies has declined since the early 1970s (Pratt and Horn, 1985; Anderson, 1981; Westoff, 1981), large proportions of women continue to experience unwanted pregnancies (Forrest, 1987; Pratt, 1985). Of particular concern to researchers is the well‐being of mothers and children from pregnancies that are unwanted or unplanned. In 1982, among women who were ever married, 10 percent of all births were unwanted, and 28 percent mistimed. Among never‐married women, fully 25 percent of all births were unwanted, and about half the remaining births were mistimed (Pratt and Horn, 1985). The focus of this research is the exploration of determinants of wantedness among women whose first pregnancies result in live births. Our analyses reflect interest in whether and how pregnancy wantedness is affected by family background characteristics, early formed attitudes, value systems, and socioeconomic aspirations, as well as maternal socio‐demographic status at the time of the pregnancy. Policy implications emerge from the findings, particularly concerning differences and similarities in the process determining unwanted first births for blacks and whites.
Public Policy Implications of the Fiscal Year 1989–90 Reduction in California Family Planning Funding
Authors: Michaels Sima D. , Kring Thomas C.
Published: June 2005

In July 1989, the governor of California reduced funding for the state family planning program by two‐thirds, from $36.2 million to $12.1 million. This article describes the family planning program, the events leading to the funding cuts, the impact of the reductions and the actions that led to the restoration of funds in January 1990. An analysis of advocacy efforts and an outline of policy recommendations concludes the discussion.
Privacy as Autonomy vs. Privacy as Familial Attachment: A Conceptual Approach to Right to Privacy Cases
Authors: Boling Patricia
Published: June 2005

This article explains why the Supreme Court's privacy jurisprudence has become deeply problematic for addressing emerging reproductive and sexual choice issues, focusing on abortion funding, minors seeking abortions, adults engaging in consenting homosexual sex, and pregnant women accused of abusing their fetuses. The article makes two arguments. First, it contends that what is private about the rights asserted in cases like Eisenstadt v. BairdandRoe v. Wade has never been fully articulated nor defended, leaving these central decisions conceptually unpersuasive. Second, the article shows that “privacy” is used in two very different senses in Supreme Court constitutional right‐to‐privacy decisions: one rooted in respect for marriage and the family, the other in notions of personal autonomy. Although both senses deserve to be protected, the court has tended to prefer the familial sense of privacy to the autonomy one, with serious consequences for privacy concerns that are not connected to family relationships or that are perceived as undercutting “family values.”
Keeping Abortion Clinics Open: The Importance of Ragsdale v. Turnock in the Post‐Casey Era
Authors: Mezey Susan Gluck , Tatalovich Raymond , Walsh Michael
Published: June 2005

In 1973, Roe v. Wade constitutionalized a woman's right to an abortion. But, while Roe removed most legal obstacles to abortion, it did not address the limited availability of abortion services in the nation. The case examined here, Ragsdale v. Turnock, revolved around an Illinois statute that imposed far‐reaching restrictions on abortion clinics, the site of most U.S. abortions since Roe. The crucial role of clinics in providing abortion services explains why the dispute represented by Ragsdale had the potential for an enormous impact on legalized abortion in the United States. Because of the number of women affected, the Ragsdale litigation could have led to the most significant judicial ruling since Roe. The suit resulted in a settlement in which plaintiffs secured the right to a legal clinic abortion during the first 18 weeks of pregnancy. Although the case was settled to the satisfaction of pro‐choice advocates, a similar law today might well survive constitutional scrutiny.
Teen Sexuality: Empowering Teens to Decide
Authors: Webb Wanda
Published: June 2005

Within the last decade, considerable attention has been given toward teen sexuality in the United States. Adolescent pregnancy and limited contraceptive use by teens are viewed as major health and social problems in the United States today. The purpose of this paper is to propose intervention strategies for delaying the onset of sexual behavior among teens and for increasing contraceptive use among teens who are sexually active.
Resolution of Nonmarital Adolescent Pregnancy and the Transition to Adulthood: Educational Attainment and Financial Well‐being
Authors: Robbins Cynthia A. , Streetman Lee G.
Published: June 2005

This paper compares educational and financial outcomes in early adulthood for four groups of men and women: those who never experienced a nonmarital adolescent pregnancy, those who ended a nonmarital adolescent pregnancy by abortion, those who married or cohabited and became parents in response to an adolescent pregnancy, and those who became parents but did not marry or cohabit following an adolescent pregnancy. The analyses are based on self‐reports of 6,074 young men and women who were first surveyed as seventh grade students in Houston, Texas in 1971 and surveyed again between 1980 and 1988. Educational and financial outcomes in adulthood vary significantly depending on the occurrence of a nonmarital adolescent pregnancy, the resolution of nonmarital adolescent pregnancy, and the age at which adolescent pregnancy occurs. Results are discussed in relation to public policies encouraging family formation and educational support and occupational training for teen parents.
Current Policy Context for Education Efforts to Help Young Parents Meet Their Multiple Challenges
Authors: Warren Constancia
Published: June 2005

Recent increases in the adolsecent birth rate can be in part attributable to a variety of factors including limited sex education in schools, the decline in family planning services, and rising dropout rates. This paper explores the importance of education for adolescent parents, particularly the inclusion of pregnancy prevention programs and services for young parents as part of the educational mainstream.
Adolescent Health: Are We Willing to Pay the Price for Inaction?
Authors: Elders M. Joycelyn , Barnes Amy Oliver , Wohlleb James C.
Published: June 2005

Several years ago, a legislator spoke clearly of the wishful unawareness we often confront in public health. After a session of frank exchange in his committee about teen pregnancy in Arkansas, he said, “Dr. Elders, until you became the health department director, we didn't have this problem.” The facts paint a startling scenario for such people. We have not provided an environment in which our children can flourish. Instead, we have allowed the number of children who are economically, educationally, and medically disadvantaged to grow. Called “at‐risk,” their existence is an affront to democratic ideals, especially the belief that all have an equal chance for prosperity. It is time for true reform, but before that can happen, we must face the state of our children's health. After this, we must set to work at effective strategies.
Just Social Policy on Life Issues: Ethical Considerations
Authors: Bryce Rev. Edward M.
Published: June 2005

“We hold these truths to be self‐evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” These words from the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed a conviction and announced a challenge for our newly formed nation. Today, they either stir the American heart with pride or generate nostalgia for a time when any truth was self‐evident and the right to life was deemed inalienable.
Privatization Revisited
Authors: Gormley William T.
Published: June 2005

Privatization encompasses an extraordinary range of activities involving the delivery of physical services, the delivery of social services, and even regulatory enforcement. When deciding whether to privatize, how to privatize, and to whom to privatize, policymakers should keep a number of criteria in mind. This paper specifies such criteria and reviews some of the evidence on privatization's effects.
Lessons from Privatization of Argentina's National Telephone Company
Authors: Campo‐Flores Filemon
Published: June 2005

Privatization, defined as the transfer of state‐owned enterprises to the private sector, plays a vital role in the economic growth of developing countries and in the transformation of nationalized countries to market economies. Despite its importance, current literature focuses little attention on the effective management of privatization. Most research discusses the benefits and problems of privatization. This article provides additional insight into effective management of the privatization process using a case study of the sale of the national telephone company of Argentina. The study identifies certain conditions necessary for transferring government assets to the private sector. The analysis also identifies strategies for effective privatization and tasks after the process is complete.
The Glass Ceiling Revisited: Determinants of Federal Job Advancement
Authors: Naff Katherine C. , Thomas Sue
Published: June 2005

Using the results of a recent survey of federal employees and focus groups of the same population, this article extends previous research on the existence of a glass ceiling in the federal bureaucracy. Even when controlling for differences between the sexes in human capital factors, work habits, work opportunities, and personal circumstances, women who have been in the federal bureaucracy from zero to 10 years and from 20 to 30 years have not advanced in their professions as successfully as have men. In contrast to and departing from previous research, there is little evidence that a glass ceiling has been experienced among women who have worked in the bureaucracy between 10 and 20 years. Additional findings consistent with past literature include the fact that among women who have faced gender‐based barriers, those who chose to have children during their careers have been especially disadvantaged. We conclude that the glass ceiling on the federal level, where apparent, has been multidimensional and quite subtle.
Policy Theory as Argumentation
Authors: Pröpper Igno , Reneman Derk‐Daan
Published: June 2005

This article presents a method to reconstruct policy theories as argumentations, illustrated by road safety policies in the Netherlands. A policy theory is defined as an actor's integrated set of assumptions with regard to a policy. To date, the literature on policy theories has not applied reconstruction methods so that the assumptions of an actor were represented as a whole. Goal and decision trees, path diagrams, and process models have, up to now, not represented all types of policy assumptions (final, causal, normative, and descriptive policy assumptions) within one integrated theory. If a policy theory is viewed as an argumentation for policy contents, a method is provided whereby all assumptions can be integrated into an argumentation. The method links the assumptions to elements of policy contents in such a way that the assumptions are premises in a policy actor's reasoning that provide the basis for the policy goals chosen, for the instruments for achieving those goals, and for the proposed timing.
Impact of Political Structures and Informal Political Processes on Health Policy: Comparison of the United States and Canadab
Authors: Rosenau Pauline Vaillancourt
Published: June 2005

A number of factors, including cultural, social, economic, political, and historical, influence policy. United States and Canada's health care systems are the conscious and subconscious outcomes of formal political structures and informal political processes. The Canadian parliamentary political system encourages centralized, organized, planned policy in health care. However, this is accomplished at the risk of leaving some individuals—physicians in this case—quite frustrated. American constitutional features, the presidential system, weak political parties, and the tireless participation of interest groups in the political process all function to discourage the formation of highly rational and efficient policy. While few special interests are ever completely satisfied with the legislation produced, seldom is any organized group completely thwarted. Therefore, it is no surprise that a tightly integrated national program of universal health insurance was not adopted by Congress in 1993–1994. Political structures and processes discourage effective, comprehensive health care reform in the United States.
Adult Education Policy Formation and Implementation: A Global Perspective
Authors: Bhola H. S.
Published: June 2005

Adult education policies around the world during the post‐World War II period owe a debt to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) both in their conception and implementation. Four UNESCO‐sponsored world conferences on adult education (UNESCO, 1949; UNESCO, 1963; UNESCO, 1972; UNESCO, 1985) and several other conference reports and surveys (Bhola, 1989b; Lowe, 1982; UNESCO, 1976) have contributed to adult education as an area of study, as a progressive movement in its own right and in developing adult education throughout the Third World, an area of special, but not exclusive, interest in this paper.
Adult Education Policy in Sweden, 1967–1991
Authors: Rubenson Kjell
Published: June 2005

To choose 1967 as the point of departure may seem strange, as Sweden has had a long and important tradition of adult education dating back to the breakthrough of the popular movements at the end of the 19th century. However, it was not until the 1960s that adult education became central to Swedish educational and labor market policies. This article analyzes the directions government policy took on adult education during these five periods with regard to context, reform ideology and strategies, and, where possible, outcomes. However, to provide a comprehensive account of Swedish adult education strategy, one has to include labor market training policy, which affects an important part of the adult education populace, although the former under the jurisdiction of the ministry of labor, not the ministry of education. The analyses starts with a general overview of labor market training that, in contrast to adult education, has remained rather unchanged during the period between 1967 and 1991.
Adult Education Policy in Micro‐states: The Case of the Caribbean
Authors: Jules Didacus
Published: June 2005

This paper contends that adult education reveals the peculiar constraints and limitations faced by small states. Some of which are the products of smallness itself, and others being a function of dependence, marginality, and the lack of resources. Many of the difficulties of policy formation point, not to size, but to lack of political will, the absence of inventive genius, and the preoccupation with traditional approaches by public policymakers. The paper also argues that adult education must be seen as a developmental imperative rather than a remedial necessity by small states. The failure to develop a strategic adult education policy which focuses on the “human capital” dimension of the modernizing mission is resulting not only in the failure of that modernization effort in critical core areas of the economy, but in a crisis of legitimacy of the small island state itself. Micro‐states have special opportunities to develop tightly integrated adult education programs, design innovative participatory pedagogues and maximize the creative use of educational infrastructure and resources as part of broader social development initiatives. Adult education should be closely related to the developmental needs of the micro‐state and civic society and should promote the expansion of democratic space, social justice, and local entrepreneurial creativity.
Adult Education Policy Between Utopia and Fatalism: A Review Essay of Policy‐related Literature
Authors: Giere Ursula
Published: June 2005

For the purpose of this review essay on international policy‐related English language literature on adult education from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the following models of recent adult education policy options, aiming at social change and redistribution of power under varying conjunctures, have been constructed from the literature available: the revolutionary/transformational model, the humanist model, the rationalist economic model, the post‐industrial society model, the new social movement model, and the welfare state model. These models are not exclusive—there may be others—nor are they to be forced into a chronological order. However, they may occur in an interconnected as well as in a dialectic sequence. Choice or application of any or a combination of these models have not brought about redistribution of knowledge or power. Whatever the philosophy, individualist or collective; whatever the approach, selective or campaign; whatever the economy, free market or centrally controlled; whatever the political system, capitalist or socialist; whatever the geographical region, developing or industrialized; indeed, whatever the conditions, the forces resisting an enduring redistributive effect seem to have capacities to reestablish or even reinforce hierarchies challenged by attempts at transformation.
A Pragmatic Framework for the Evaluation of Policy Arguments
Authors: Ball William J.
Published: June 2005

A policy argument is an oral or written statement that advocates adopting a policy or justifies the decision to adopt a policy. This article advances the study of policy arguments by establishing a simple and general framework for their evaluation that is inspired by pragmatic philosophy. A pragmatic framework recognizes that all policy arguments are normative in purpose and that a good policy argument supports its normative claim with factual and value‐based “good reasons.” Establishing an argument's claim mediates these supporting reasons. A pragmatic approach delineates the nature and purpose of policy arguments more clearly than has been done in the past, providing a more suitable framework for study.
Autonomy in Action: Bureaucratic Competition Among Functional Rivals in Denver Water Politics
Authors: Ellison Brian A.
Published: June 2005

Ascribing motivation to bureaucratic behavior has been a longstanding problem in public policy scholarship. Most examinations of bureaucratic motivation explore two competing theories. Some contend that government managers are primarily motivated by the quest for more resources, widely known as aggrandizement. Others assert that government managers are preoccupied with organizational maintenance and the desire for autonomy. Scholars look for evidence of agency competition in situations where functional rivalry exists as a means of examining these theories. Recently, Kunioka and Rothenberg (1993) concluded that government managers in the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service were more concerned with agency autonomy than with aggrandizement because they did not show competitive inclinations. This article seeks to demonstrate that government managers in autonomous agencies reveal competitive behaviors when core tasks are threatened. It also presents an analytical framework based on three overt behaviors that can be used to examine autonomy in action. The analytical framework is applied to the Denver Water Board's behavior in the context of Colorado water politics.
Presidential Influence Versus Agency Characteristics in Explaining Policy Implementation
Authors: Shull Steven A. , Garland David
Published: June 2005

We posit three rival models of policy implementation in the realm of civil rights: presidential influence, bureaucratic discretion, and prior activities. The first model, presidential influence, works better than the bureaucratic discretion or prior activities models. In fact, as modified in the analysis, presidential influence explains half of the adjusted variance in civil rights cases filed but just under a quarter of adjusted variance in cases closed. A combined model using the most powerful variables from each of the three models improved predictability only slightly and only for cases filed. The findings were encouraging, particularly when one considers the major problems that occur when analyzing data at the agency level.
Ideas, Networks, and Policy Streams: Privatization in Britain and Germany
Authors: Zahariadis Nikolaos , Allen Christopher S.
Published: June 2005

This article utilizes insights from work on policy networks and John Kingdon's multiple streams approach to examine the evolution of privatization ideas in Great Britain and Germany. It is argued that differently structured networks affect policy innovation. This study elaborates the different types of networks and their impact on ideas, shows how previously adopted solutions channel subsequent debates by privileging some solutions over others, and suggests that policy ideas are associated with particular political coalitions.
Policy Strategies Along the Information Superhighway
Authors: Read William H. , Youtie Jan Linker
Published: June 2005

Policymakers and politicians have become focused on information infrastructure as a means of achieving economic development. The authors have examined this question in order to assess the impact of publicly induced or financed infrastructure investment in advanced telecommunications as a strategy to spur growth. Their findings, based on case studies, shed new light on why some strategies are more promising than others. They conclude, however, that the formulation of policy strategies rests less on economic theory than on political willingness to seek growth through information infrastructure investments.
Nonprofit Organizations and Public Policy
Authors: Lowry Robert C.
Published: June 2005

Private, nonprofit organizations constitute a growing portion of the United States economy that has, until recently, escaped significant attention by many scholars interested in public policy. The papers in this symposium address four types of interactions between nonprofits and public policymakers—service provision and program implementation, policy advocacy, public policies toward nonprofits, and public/private partnerships. In addition, many private nonprofit organizations produce public goods that can supplement or substitute for government action.