bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Causality Between Revenues and Expenditures and the Size of the Federal Budget
Authors: Blackley Paul R.
Published: March 2007

Recent legislation has reduced federal tax rates and provided for indexation of the personal income tax against inflation. These changes are in part designed to reduce the relative size of government in the U.S. economy. Testing assump tions behind this proposition, this article examines the causal relation between revenue and expenditure changes in explainingfederal budget growth. Statistical causality tests reveal that revenue growth generally precedes expenditure growth, confirming that growth in revenue capacity stimulates budget expan sion rather than deficit reduction. A trivariate causal model including GNP, however, suggests that both demand and supply factors are responsible for the budget's growth.
The Structure of State and Local Government Production
Authors: Blackley Paul R. , DeBoer Larry
Published: March 2007

Static and dynamic translog cost models for the aggregate U.S. state and local government sector are estimated for 1952 to 1985. Inputs are capital, labor, and a combined nondurable goods and other services input, which includes "privatized" services. Estimates show that capital and labor are complements and own-price inelastic. The nondurable-service input is a substitute for both labor and capital and has an own-price elasticity closer to unity. It is used relatively more as the sector expands. The results offer an explanation for the characterization of the government as a low productivity industry and show an economic rather than political motivation for the privatization of some public services.
Intergovernmental Aid To Reduce Fiscal Disparities: Problems of Definition and Measurement
Authors: Downes Thomas A. , Pogue Thomas F.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the problem of structuring intergovernmental aid to correct for fiscal disparities. In general, distributing aid to equalize average tax effort will not eliminate underlying fiscal disparities. To do so requires that aid be distributed so as to equalize the local tax rate necessary to finance a base level of public services. Reviewed briefly are the potential consequences of these two approaches for horizontal equity and tax base mobility. Using data for Arizona school districts, the two approaches are shown to have widely disparate implications for the distribution of state school aid.
Incentives, Optimality, and Publicly Provided Goods: the Case of Mental Health Services
Authors: Frank Richard G. , Gaynor Martin
Published: March 2007

In this article, the authors investigate the incentives present in intergovernment transfers for public mental health care. This represents an important issue because of the large portion of mental health care that is provided by local governments, the central role of states in financing care via intergovernment transfers, and recent innovations adopted by some states altering the traditional terms of these transfers. Using a relatively simple model, the authors show that when a state government provides both financing and a free input into local government production, there will be excessive use of that input. If local government and society differ in their preferences, setting the price of the input at marginal cost will not induce optimal behavior. The optimal prices are proportional to the sum of the elasticities of the provider's expected supply of services with respect to the subsidy (tax). These results are analogous to those for optimal commodity taxation. Examination of the transfer contracts for Wisconsin, Ohio, and for Texas reveals that these contracts may not be optimal. These departures from optimal decisions may be partially due to the practical issues related to implementation of optimal transfer arrangements, such as setting subsidy or tax levels or imposing budget reductions.
The Optimal Mix of Volunteer and Paid Staff in Local Governments: an Application To Municipal Fire Departments
Authors: Duncombe William D. , Brudney Jeffrey L.
Published: March 2007

Despite the fact that the majority of local governments in the United States use volunteers to supplement paid staff, little research has been conducted on the cost of volunteers or demand for their services by public agencies. This article develops a general methodology for identifying the optimal (cost minimizing) mix of volunteer and paid staff and illustrates its use for fire protection. The cost model that is developed also allows estimation of the elasticities offactor demand for volunteers and the elasticity of substitution between volunteer and paid staff. Contrary to the common assumption of perfectly elastic demand for volunteers, the results indicate inelastic demand for volunteer fire fighters and imperfect substitution between paid and volunteer staff. In addition, the findings indicate if annual volunteer administration costs (for recructment, training, and supervision) exceed $600 per volunteer, the fire department should consider adding paid personnel.
Teaching an Old Service New Tricks
Authors: Berry Leonard L. , Lampo Sandra K.
Published: March 2007

In the face of changing customer priorities, competitors, and technologies, how can organizations design their services to survive? What is a firm to do as its traditional services become outdated and ineffective? Contrary to the focus of most recent service design literature, creating new services is not the only option. We explore another viable competitive option—the redesigning of existing services. Service firms can be innovative with what exists just as they can be innovative with what does not.
The Impact of Perceived Listening Behavior in Voice-to-Voice Service Encounters
Authors: de Ruyter Ko , Wetzels Martin G. M.
Published: March 2007

Call centers have become an important customer access channel as well as an important source of customerrelated information. This boundary-spanning unit has finally enabled companies to take marketing’s commonplace wisdom of listening to the customer literally. As a result, there has been an increase in voice-to-voice service encounters and in these encounters listening as an essential skill. In this article, three dimensions of listening behavior are discerned: attentiveness, perceptiveness, and responsiveness. Results of an empirical study reveal that attentiveness is a direct driver of encounter satisfaction, whereas perceptiveness is primarily related to trust. Furthermore, the responsiveness dimension is related positively to both satisfaction and trust. In addition, we find a significant association between satisfaction and trust, and, finally, both a satisfactory evaluation of the voice-tovoice encounter and the build up of trust have a significant impact on the customer’s intention to contact the call center again in the future.
The Impact of Incomplete Information on the Use of Marketing Research Intelligence in International Service Settings
Authors: van Birgelen Marcel , de Ruyter Ko , Wetzels Martin
Published: March 2007

Unfamiliarity with foreign business environments and cultures will result in higher levels of uncertainty, especially for international service organizations. To effectively deal with international uncertainty, it seems crucial to have access to information that is as complete as possible. In practice, however, information is hardly ever complete. To date, little is known about the impact of incomplete information on the decision-making processes in international service firms. This article examines the effects of incomplete information on the evaluation and use of marketing research intelligence. The results of an experimental study suggest that decision makers in international service firms are unlikely to ignore missing information. Instead, they tend to adopt a strategy of inferential, assumption-based reasoning. Furthermore, the absence of information relevant to decision making in international services marketing has distinct evaluative consequences in terms of satisfaction, trust, and intention to use information.
Customer-Employee Rapport in Service Relationships
Authors: Gremler Dwayne D. , Gwinner Kevin P.
Published: March 2007

Relationships are an important aspect of doing business, and few businesses can survive without establishing solid relationships with their customers. Although the marketing literature suggests that personal relationships can be important to service firms, little specificity has been provided as to which relational aspects should receive attention. In this study, the authors examine one specific aspect of customer-employee relationships, rapport, that they believe may be particularly salient in service businesses characterized by a high amount of interpersonal interactions. Rapport has received relatively little attention in the marketing literature; the goal of this study is to fill this gap in the literature. In two different service contexts, the authors find support for two empirically distinct dimensions of rapport. They also find a positive relationship between these dimensions and satisfaction, loyalty intent, and word-of-mouth communication. They conclude by suggesting future research directions for further academic inquiry of rapport in service contexts.
“It's Like... You Discover a New Sense of Being”
Authors: PALKOVITZ ROB , COPES MARCELLA A. , WOOLFOLK TARA N.
Published: March 2007

This qualitative study of forty men from a wide range of family contexts examines the relationships between fathering and men's early adult development. Through assuming responsibility for fathering and continued involvement in child rearing, the fathers in this study perceived significant changes in their life course and personalities. Modes of change, while pervasive and profound, varied along divergent paths. One path characterized engagement in fathering as bringing a “jolt” to the life course. Substantive, but less dramatic changes were perceived by a second group of men who characterized father involvement as a “gentle evoker” of latent personality traits. A majority of men saw fatherhood as the single greatest shaper of their lives. As such, the study offers empirical support to the theoretically and anecdotally based idea that fathering alters the course of adult male development.
Preliminary Stress Evaluation of the Effects of Gaps Between Roof Insulation Panels
Authors: Lewis James E.
Published: March 2007

The results of a study comparing double-layer to single-layer insulation from a membrane stress standpoint are pre sented. Preliminary stress analysis is discussed with emphasis be ing placed on several parametric studies completed using finite element analysis.
Polyisocyanurate Foams for Cryogenic, Petrochemical, and Solar Energy Applications
Authors: Nadeau Herbert G. , Kolakowski Richard A. , Ulrich Henri
Published: March 2007

The use of polyisocyanurate foams as thermal insulation for cryogenic, petrochemical, and solar energy ap plications is discussed.
A Comparison of Gas and Electric Radiant Panels for Measuring the Flammability of Loose-Fill Cellulose Insulation
Authors: Siddiqui Sarfraz A. , Hollier Ray L. , Damant Gordon H. , Needles Howard L.
Published: March 2007

Currently, there are two principal types of radiant panel apparatus available for fire related testing of cellulose insulation. One of these is the Flooring Radiant Panel (gas-fired radiant panel). It is an expensive piece of equipment and re quires high operational and maintenance costs The second type of radiant panel available is the Veri-Flux "100" (electric radiant panel), which is also known as the small scale radiant panel. It is currently being used as a quality control instrument in the cellulose insulation industry.

Previously, there has been very little data published comparing the relative per formance of the two instruments. This paper analyzes the performance of 53 samples of insulation when tested by these instruments The analysis attempts to establish whether or not a direct comparison between the two instruments is viable. The results of this study will be useful to the ASTM task group, which is presently in vestigating the replacement of the larger gas-fired panel with the electric, small scale panel.
Prediction of Long-Term Density of Cellulose Fibre Insulation in Horizontal Spaces of New Residential Houses
Authors: Zaborniak Randy
Published: March 2007

Owing to the variability of loose-fill materials and installation param eters, both density and the structure of these materials may vary from place to place in the same attic space as well as from house to house. These variations may affect the settlement of the materials Previous studies on the settlement of cellulose fibre in sulations (CFI), most performed in the laboratories, did not include the effects of variability in the installation techmques This paper, reporting results of the field study, analyses both the material settlement and the effect of variation in installed density on the CFI settlement.

A method for predicting long-term density of CFI is postulated as the conclusion of this field study.
Sensitivity of Insulated Wall and Ceiling Cavities to Workmanship
Authors: Trethowen H.A.
Published: March 2007

This paper examines certain workmanship requirements applying to insulants in cavities. It presents previously reported measured values for the effects of edge gaps, and compares these results with new laboratory measured results for the heat transfer across insulated wall and ceiling cavities, in configurations which permit natural convection to flow around the insulant. The results show the ex istence of a threshold edge gap width of a few mm for the onset of convection in upward heat flow, but no threshold gap width of detectable size for horizontal heat flow. The loss of thermal performance from convection, as expected, outweighs that previously reported for non-convecting gaps.
Water Management in Exterior Wall Claddings
Authors: Brown William , Adams Peter , Tonyan Timothy , Ullett James
Published: March 2007

This paper presents results of laboratory testing on the performance of wall claddings using direct-applied (DEFS) and exterior insulation finish systems (EIFS) that incorporate water management features into their design and construc tion. The work presented in this paper is a continuation of earlier work conducted by the Institute for Research in Construction (IRC) of the National Research Council, Canada (NRCC) and the United States Gypsum Company (USG) evaluating the water penetration and moisture performance of barrier EIFS clad walls (Brown et al., 1997).

Direct-applied exterior finish systems (DEFS) are exterior wall claddings that use a water durable substrate, typically cement board, mechanically fastened to the wall framing over a sheathing membrane. A cementitious basecoat and textured acrylic synthetic stucco finish is then applied directly over the substrate. Insulation for the DEFS system is in the stud cavity. EIFS systems use a layer of foam insulation applied over the wall substrate, with basecoat and finish applied over the foam.

The performance of three water managed wall cladding designs in protecting wood framed construction from water intrusion by wind-driven rain is described. Three different drainage systems were evaluated. Performance measures evaluated in cluded cladding airtightness, pressure equalization potential, and water drainage under wind-driven rain conditions. In each of the three systems, partial pressure equalization was observed, and any water that did breach the exterior skin was stopped at the sheathing membrane and directed down and out of the wall through the flashing and weep openings.
Moisture Diffusivity of Building Materials from Water Absorption Measurements
Authors: Kumaran M.K.
Published: March 2007

Moisture diffusivity is a transport property that is frequently used in the hygrothermal analysis of building envelope components. This property is de pendent on the local moisture content. The experiments that lead to the detailed in formation on the dependence of diffusivity on moisture content are often very so phisticated. However, two recent exercises, as a part of the activities of an International Energy Agency Annex, have shown that a correct estimate of the mag nitude of the moisture diffusivity can provide useful information with regard to its application in hygrothermal analysis. This technical note presents results from a sim ple moisture absorption measurement that led to a good estimate of the moisture diffusivity of building materials. Results from measurements on a sample of spruce are presented.
Simulating Non-Isothermal Water Vapour Transfer: An Experimental Validation on Multi-Layered Building Components
Authors: Roels Staf , Depraetere Wim , Carmeliet Jan , Hens Hugo
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study is to validate different analytical relations used in hygrothermal simulations for the material properties. Therefore, a valida tion experiment on four types of flat roofs has been set up at the laboratory. All rele vant material properties of the individual material layers were determined before hand. During the experiment, temperatures, heat fluxes and moisture contents were measured. The measured data were then compared with numerical simulation results. By repeating the simulations with different expressions for the vapour per meability and for the sorption isotherm, the influence of approximate analytic rela tionships was investigated.
Cluster Analysis as a Basis for Purposive Sampling of Projects in Case Study Evaluations
Authors: Van Ryzin Gregg G.
Published: March 2007

Articles should deal with topics applicable to the broad field of evaluation. Implications for practicing evaluators should be clearly identified. Examples of contributions include, but are not limited to, reviews of new developments. in evaluation, and descriptions of current evaluation efforts, research problems, or techniques. Manuscripts should include appropriate references and not exceed 10 double-spaced typewritten pages.
In Response
Authors: Fetterman David M.
Published: March 2007

In Response to Dr. Daniel Stufflebeam's: Empowerment Evaluation, Objectivist Evaluation, and Evaluation Standards: Where the Future of Evaluation Should Not Go and Where It Needs to Go, October 1994, 321-338.
The Status of Management Oriented Evaluation in Public Administration and Management Graduate Programs1
Authors: Madison Anna-Marie
Published: March 2007

This paper details an assessment of the evaluation course content of graduate programs in public affairs and administration programs. The research describes the distribution of evaluation courses in these programs by academic unit, program focus, and subject matter content. The findings reveal that 85% of the programs provide at least one evaluation course and evaluation is a core requirement in 49% of the programs. Analysis of course syllabi demonstrates that these courses are more likely to focus on program outcomes and policy impact than management issues concerning the effects of organizational structures, processes, and internal resource allocations on organizational performance. The author argues that more courses in these programs should take this emphasis to enable students to use evaluation more effectively as a management tool.
Early Warning Systems for Police: Concept, History, and Issues
Authors: Walker Samuel , Alpert Geoffrey P. , Kenney Dennis J.
Published: March 2007

Early warning (EW) systems are data-driven management tools for identifying police officers with performance problems and for providing some intervention to correct those problems. EW systems have emerged as popular tools for enhancing police accountability. This article reports the findings of a national evaluation of EW systems. It argues that EW systems are more complex mechanisms than generally recognized. There are a variety of alternatives with regard to the proper selection criteria for identifying officers, the mode of intervention, and the form of postintervention monitoring for officers subject to intervention. This article discusses the issues related to these alternatives and to the larger goals of EW systems.
Spatial Dimensions in Online Communities
Authors: Gotved Stine
Published: March 2007

The spatial dimensions of online communication establish the basic conditions for online social life. The protocol-based constructions make it clear that spatial constructions matter for the sense of community. Parallel to offline life, the spatial dimensions in online communities are important for the individual's navigation, relation, and communication. This article presents a typology of online space, where three different kinds of spatial dimensions are defined. Analyzing the patterns within any online community provides useful information on the basic terms of social life. The interface serves as a visible and ontological space on the screen, a shared common spot in the vast cyberspace. The social space is mainly epistemological, based on the individual's interpretations of social interactions. The metaphorical space is purely epistemological, based on reconstructed reality and geography, and evokes the sense of a place. The typology holds the key to understanding many of the differences within online social life.
Action Learning and Reflective Practice in Project Environments that are Related to Leadership Development
Authors: Smith Peter A. C.
Published: March 2007

This article draws on the author's experience in attempting to facilitate the acquisition of reflective habits by individuals undergoing leadership development in business-related project environments. Notes that such communities accept only very practical interventions. Highlights the links between reflection and action learning. Clarifies how reflection and action learning are applied in the author's practice. Characterizes the action learning methodology used and contends that this approach forms a sound setting for reflective inquiry. Explains how the author informally embeds the principles of action learning in the project-related tasks of individuals undergoing leadership development. Describes a reflective learning framework and `tools' that are used by project participants to frame and facilitate the action learning processes. Explores the relevance of this action learning approach to building a learning organization and the development of leaders for such an organization. Gives particulars of a case study to confirm that these various elements can be successfully woven together in a real-life leadership development initiative.
The Experience of Being Evaluated
Authors: Whiteley Peter
Published: March 2007

The paper considers the analysis of a learning diary, and the feelings and ideas that it highlights about being on the receiving end of evaluation. It is significant that much of what is recorded under such circumstances is highly selective. The subsequent discussion explores the implications of this, and also the more general influence of the evaluation on structures, systems and relationships.
The Processes by which Managers attach value to Courses: Three Case Histories and their Implications for Course Evaluation and Institutional Image
Authors: Mmobuosi Ifechukude B.
Published: March 2007

The course-participating manager uses the processes of a scientist- e.g. reflecting, comparing, and generalizing - to assign value to courses. He or she is not an empty slate for the educator to write on. The value-attachment processes have implications for course evaluation approaches and for the course-running insti tution's image.
One-Minute Management Education: a Sign of the Times?
Authors: Thomas Alan B.
Published: March 2007

This article is dedicated to Professor V. Smart whose witty parody, The Last-Minute Manager, I discovered, as he will no doubt be pleased to know, only at the last minute.
Management Development and Small Business Education : the Implications of Diversity
Authors: Goss David M.
Published: March 2007

This article suggests that small business education in Britain is currently underdeveloped in relation to other areas of management education, par ticularly management development. Whilst such underdevelopment un doubtedly reflects the relative novelty of the UK 'small business boom', it is also, in part, a product of the oversimplified stereotype of the small business manager held by many trainers and educators. Research findings are presented to illustrate the real diversity of small firm managerial styles and, on the basis of this data, the implications and possibilities for new forms of small business management development are explored.
Management Education
Authors: Willmott Hugh
Published: March 2007

The paper offers a broad and critical analysis of current provision of management education in the UK. It relates current questioning of the adequacy and relevance of this provision to changes in management practice and developments in public policy on management training and education. It also comments upon the comparative neglect of teaching innovation in higher education, encouraged by reductions in unit of resource and institutional pressures to concentrate efforts upon scholarship and research. In seeking to overcome the deficiencies of traditional management education, it is suggested that the forging of closer links between a post-traditional, action-oriented approach to management learning and contributions to a critical study of management. In particular, the paper commends the possibility of developing a critical action learning approach to management education in which the insights generated by critical management research are combined with an experiential pedagogy pioneered by action learning.
Doctorates by Action Research for Senior Practising Managers
Authors: Perry Chad , Zuber-Skerritt Ortrun
Published: March 2007

Traditionally, PhD programmes in management have been viewed as an entrance into academia rather than a qualification for senior managers in industry. This paper argues that it is appropriate to make a distinction between a traditional PhD and a professional doctorate in management, and that a professional doctorate can be designed specifically for the development of senior management practices. We first examine the history of doctorate degrees and establish differences between a PhD and a professional doctorate programme. Next, we examine five defences of a traditional PhD programme which are inappropriate foundations for a professional doctorate in management. Then we suggest an action research basis for a professional doctorate, but conclude that this basis is still so alien to those who accredit doctorates that more research and development is needed to convince all stakeholders that a professional doctorate by action research leads to professional and career development of senior practising managers as well as to the advancement of knowledge. Finally, we offer a framework for combining action research projects into traditional PhD theses.
Action Learning in Action
Authors: Pealtie Ken
Published: March 2007

The approach to management education taken in our universities is often criticized for being divorced from the realities of current management practice: too `academic' in the least complimentary sense of the word. The concept of action learning appeared to offer management educators a way forward, by encouraging them to bring their analytical skills and structured approach into companies, to allow managers to practise and learn about management, more or less simultaneously. The stumbling block to the development of action learning is that it does not fit easily into the way academic institutions are organized. For the academics, the companies and the learners involved, it appears to be a relatively radical learning approach to adopt. The general perception about action learning is that it has so far been restricted to relatively isolated, although often successful, initiatives. This article examines the phenomenon of the Teaching Company Scheme, which involves 70 percent of higher education institutions; a scheme which has introduced thousands of graduates, academics and company managers to an experience which could be equated to an action learning process. By drawing on the experience of four teaching company programmes, the article attempts to explore the opportunities and limitations that the scheme presents to apply and study the process of action learning.
Organizational Learning: Diverging Communities of Practice?
Authors: Easterby-Smith Mark , Snell Robin , Gherardi Silvia
Published: March 2007

This article provides an overview of current debates in the field of organizational learning through the device of examining key `divergencies' within the literature. Clear divergencies are noted in two areas: first, between the practitioner literature which is primarily engaged in creating learning organizations and the academic literature which is engaged in the study of learning processes in organizations; and, second, in the views of both academics and practitioners about the nature and essence of organizational learning. In addition, but with somewhat less significance, divergencies are noted in the preferred ways of investigating and researching into organizational learning, and ways of improving the ability of organizations to learn. The article then identifies power as an issue that has received limited attention in the literature, but which appears to underlie many of the above divergencies.
Difficulties in Reforming Education Policy: The Hong Kong Case
Authors: Godwin C. D.
Published: March 2007

School systems in the Asian Tiger economies are sometimes viewed in the West as success stories, yet they also present their governments with concerns about quality. In Hong Kong the education policy machinery over the past decade has been faced not only with important quality issues emerging from the history and culture of the school system itself, but also with greater public accountability and the impending transition from British to Chinese sovereignty. This article charts the fate of two change management initiatives between 1990 and 1995, and examines their outcomes in the light of endemic features of Hong Kong civil service culture and Schein’s (1992) proposed characteristics of a ‘learning culture’.
Space and the Not-So-Final Frontiers
Authors: King Ian W. , Rowe Andrew
Published: March 2007

In recent years there has been tremendous interest in the benefits of using teams in organizations; particularly in the synergistic effects of team (collective) learning. However, this article questions whether, as yet, the full potential of these synergistic effects has been realized. It explores two concurrent possible reasons for this failing. First, because of deficiencies in the theoretical understanding of the concept of collective learning. Second, that the rather singular, simplistic, methodologies used by organizations to record their collectives' `learning' fail to capture sufficiently the nuances of collective processes. Consequently, this article demonstrates the potential of a multifarious approach to valuing the interactions of members of collectives. At present, organizations do not seem to hold this resource in high regard and hence do not employ appropriate devices to identify and utilize this layer of knowing. The methods they employ often reduce these contributions down to simplistic summaries, often focusing on outcomes, forgoing further layers of knowing. This article argues that this is insufficient if teams/collectives seek to realize improved performance.
`Dead Selves': The Birth of the Modern Career
Authors: McKinlay Alan
Published: March 2007

The rise of the modern career based on merit and open competition rather than connections or seniority was associated with the slow emergence of the managerial bureaucracy. These processes unfolded in Scottish banking in the 20 years before 1914. Inspection of local adherence to centrally specified procedures was critical to both processes. Inspectors developed and maintained central files that charted the individual's technical competence and conformity to the bank's cultural expectations. The staff ledgers provided a continuous record of salary, promotion, and punishment over an individual's entire career. Although there was no formal categorization or quantification of performance or attitude, the staff ledgers did begin to open up the individual to scrutiny by the centre. For the bank, the career was a highly efficient form of supervision that relied heavily upon individual's self-regulation. For the individual, conformity resulted in promotion and career progression. The career was not simply an economic mechanism but also a moral project without end of hope of completion.
Rationality and the Philosophy of Organization
Authors: Schipper Frits
Published: March 2007

In this article a philosophical view of rationality is developed which is relevant to our understanding of organizations, especially in connexion with problems of meaning and power. I argue that we need to overcome the traditional dichotomy of feeling and reason, and that means-end and communicative rationality are to be supplemented by another mode, which I call `relational rationality'.
Rhetorical Discourse of Local Pay
Authors: Hamilton Peter M.
Published: March 2007

This article explores the rhetorical dimensions of discourse through an analysis of the `talk' of management and trade union negotiators involved in local pay bargaining. Having rejected the contemporary negative views of `rhetoric', the analysis is conducted through utilizing a rhetorical framework emanating from Antiquity. In particular, the focus is on two of the five canons of classical rhetoric, inventio (which addresses the technical arguments employed by the speaker) and elocutio (which is concerned with the stylistic aspects of the speakers' `talk').
The Tyranny of the Visible: Problems in the Evaluation of Anti-Institutional Radicalism
Authors: Blaug Ricardo
Published: March 2007

This paper inspects our understanding of recent organizational innovations taking place at the margins of radical theory and practice. Its central argument is that political science, in its reaction to such innovations, evinces a hierarchical organizational paradigm that both distorts evidence and hampers further research. The paper then explores the nature of this perceptual failure, tries a variety of conceptual resources which might overcome it and concludes with a re-assessment of the organizational innovations themselves.
The English School's Contribution to the Study of International Relations
Authors: LITTLE RICHARD
Published: March 2007

This article attempts to sketch the broad parameters of the English school's approach to International Relations. Rather than linking the English school to a via media and, in particular, to the idea of international society, it is argued that the school, from an early stage, has been committed to developing a pluralistic approach to the subject, expressed in both ontological and methodological terms. As a consequence, members of the English school not only distinguished ontologically between international systems, international societies and world societies, but they have also tacitly acknowledged that different methodologies are required to grasp the distinctive features of each of these ontological units. International systems are associated with recurrent patterns of behaviour that can be identified most effectively using positivist tools of analysis. By contrast, international societies need to be explored using interpretivist or hermeneutic methods that focus on the language that lies behind the rules, institutions, interests and values that constitute any society. Finally, world society can only meaningfully be discussed by drawing on critical theory that identifies the direction that the society needs to take in order for human values to be realized. Whereas monists wish to privilege a particular method and ontology, the English school can be seen to favour a pluralist approach that aims to expose the various cross-currents that prevent International Relations from moving in any one direction.
Regimes, Non-State Actors and the State System:
Authors: ARTS BAS
Published: March 2007

Regime analysis has become a popular approach in International Relations theory and in international policy studies. However, current regime models exhibit some shortcomings with regard to (1) addressing non-state actors, and in particular nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), (2) the balancing of actor and structure in analyses and (3) the conceptualization of social and political change in the international system. To overcome these shortcomings, this article constructs a regime model on the basis of the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens. In doing so, it takes a position in the agent-structure debate that has recently overwhelmed the study of International Relations, but `positioning' is not the main objective of this article, as it particularly aims at expanding regime analysis. The article first presents neoinstitutionalist, neorealist and political economy models on regimes. It then challenges their main focus on states as well as their ontological claims. From that discussion, structuration theory is presented as a means to address these issues more properly and, subsequently, an alternative model is proposed. Finally, this `structurational' regime model will be discussed.
Competing Identities:
Authors: CEDERMAN LARS-ERIK
Published: March 2007

This article offers a dynamic approach to nationality formation within a multi-ethnic state. Instead of reifying national identities, these are conceptualized as political platforms both determining and determined by the power balance between the state's core and periphery. A simple computational model provides a test-bench for exploring the interaction between material and cultural factors. It is found that the more powerful the centre is compared to the opposition, the more inclusive the latter's national identity needs to be in order to guarantee revolutionary success. The article ends with an application of the theoretical framework to the historical development leading to the creation of Yugoslavia in World War I. The analysis suggests that an ecological selection mechanism war at least partly responsible for the rise of pan-Yugoslavism.
Self and Other in International Relations
Authors: NEUMANN IVER B.
Published: March 2007

The study of identity offers a possibility to theorize on the human collectives of world politics, to give them an ontological status, and to discuss how they are constituted and maintain themselves. The first part discusses social theorizing of collective identity along the ethnographic, the psychological, the Continental philosophical, and particularly, the `Eastern excursion' of theorizing; Bakhtin, Levinas and Kristeva are lauded for jettisoning a dialectical mode of analysis in favour of a dialogical one which respects difference. The second part discusses how Der Derian, Shapiro, Campbell, the `Copenhagen coterie' and Wendt have brought this theorizing into IR, and assesses their work in terms of that discussed in the first part. The study of identity formation should do away with psychologizing conjecture and focus on the drawing on social boundaries and the role played by groups who are ambiguously poised between the self and the others. Collective identities are overlapping and multifaceted phenomena which must not be reified and studied in isolation from one another.
On Mead on American National Character
Authors: Stearns Peter N.
Published: March 2007

Mead’s (1930/2001) essay on national character must be assessed in several ways. First, its reliance on evidence from intellectuals, without carefully checking for representativeness and resonance, is questionable by today’s scholarly standards; and key omissions, such as race, in the reliance on essentially middle-class standards are a serious weakness as well. Mead’s assumptions about social homogeneity and about key continuities from the past, as in the area of capitalist commercialism, are overdone. But three aspects of Mead’s presentation do deserve exploration in national character terms: American hesitancy about formal culture and highbrow education; American attitudes to the state; and the national propensity to religious moralism. Finally, however, current changes, such as the apparent decline in political civility and voluntary associations, raise inevitable questions about whether the national character, to the extent it exists, is holding still.
Culture As Patterns: An Alternative Approach to the Problem of Reification
Authors: Adams Glenn , Markus Hazel Rose
Published: March 2007

To challenge the treatment of culture and self as reified entities, Hermans (2001) proposes a model of both culture and self as a multiplicity of dialogical positions. We question whether this model fully responds to his challenge. First, the notion of positioningitself appears to reify culture by treating flowing patterns as fixed locations. Second, the notion of dialogueappears to neglect the possibility of automatic influence from implicit cultural patterns. This implies a core, universal self whose functioning is insensitive to cultural variation. We suggest an alternative approach to the problem of reification: to conceive of culture not as group, but as patterns. Corresponding to this shift, we propose a distinction between the negotiation of cultural identity and the cultural grounding of self. As a model of identity negotiation, Hermans’ dialogical self makes important contributions: it emphasizes the multiplicity of identity, highlights the agency of the self as a constructor of identity, and suggests the importance of psychology—and the study of self, in particular— for the study of culture.
Beyond Dichotomy: An Embodied Active Agent for Cultural Psychology
Authors: Overton Willis F.
Published: March 2007

Boesch's developmentally oriented cultural action theory is explored in the context of relational-developmental metatheory. This metatheory provides an avenue for moving beyond either/or debates to an inclusive understanding concerning the nature of developmental change, expressive-constitutive and instrumental-communicative fcunctions of action, and the nature of the person-action-culture relationship. Moving beyond dichotomy in cultural psychology requires taking seriously the notion of embodiment and describing the person of cultural psychology according to the dimension of embodiment, action and agent. Boesch's approach is identified as a concrete instantiation of these interrelated dimensions.
More Women Constituency Party Presidents
Authors: Tremblay Manon , Pelletier Réjean
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to explore the idea that the gender of constituency party presidents makes a difference in the recruitment of women as candidates in federal politics in Canada, notably by examining the attitudes of female and male party gatekeepers towards the presence of women in politics. Two hypotheses inspired us. The first suggests that female presidents are more likely than male presidents to assess candidates using traits more likely to be possessed by women. The second hypothesis proposes that women are more likely than men to support measures for increasing the number of women in politics. The first hypothesis is not confirmed: female presidents do not appreciate feminine traits any more than male presidents. The second is only partly confirmed. Far from being the only variable to influence support for measures promoting women candidates, gender appears to be a secondary determinant when the variables of political party and the feminist consciousness are taken into account. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to neglect the gender variable because, depending on the political party, a woman president can make a difference, especially when it comes to the Right and Centre parties.
Parliamentary Opposition in Bangladesh
Authors: Ahmed Nizam
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the role of the opposition in the fifth parliament in Bangladesh (1991-5). It identifies two distinct but interrelated aspects of the role of the opposition, referred to here as proactive and reactive. The evidence presented in the article shows that the opposition MPs fared better than their ruling party counterparts in both respects. The level of activism of the opposition MPs in the fifth parliament was much higher than it was in the earlier parliaments. The government, despite its suspicion of the opposition's motive, was nevertheless more tolerant of its role, at least compared with the past. The article argues that the potential of the parliament, however, could not be harnessed in full because of lack of preparedness of the opposition and the government to acknowledge each other's legitimacy and to abide by the `rules of the game'. Both these factors discouraged the growth of a stable pattern of parliamentary politics in Bangladesh.
Theories of Government Formation and the 1996 General Election in Japan
Authors: Kato Junko , Laver Michael
Published: March 2007

This paper takes a number of theories that have been used to analyse government formation in West European parliamentary democracies and applies them to the government formation process in Japan after the 1996 general election. These models underline the continuing importance of the LDP in the government formation process, despite the loss of its overall majority. The application of government formation models to the Japanese case also highlights the weakness of the typical assumption that sees parties as unitary actors. The paper thus concludes with some speculations as to how this assumption might usefully be relaxed to incorporate party factions, splits and fusions and thereby generate more dynamic models of the making and breaking of governments.
Developing Critical Evaluation
Authors: Everitt Angela
Published: March 2007

Drawing upon the experience of the Social Welfare Research Unit in undertaking evaluations with public-sector organizations and projects, this paper contributes to the development of a critical methodology for evaluation. The Unit undertakes research and evaluation to promote social welfare. Researching for change for the better involves us in critical social research methodologies, engaging in research and evaluation to contribute to changing policies and practices. The research program of the Unit is eclectic in its methods, analysing data both quantitatively and qualitatively, drawing upon feminist methodologies and upon the contribution to research methodology made by new social movements such as disability research (e.g. Oliver, I992). This paper is concerned with evaluation methodology. Its purpose is to explore ways in which evaluation may be developed as critical, informed by critical social research methodologies and by postmodernist approaches to discourse and values.
The Construction and Export of Culture as Artefact: The Case of Japanese Marital Arts
Authors: CHAN STEPHEN
Published: March 2007

The Japanese martial arts are suggested to the West, and to the Japanese themselves as `old'. They are less old than the suggestion and are, indeed, part of an attempt to make the Japanese suitably `samurai', in the first instance, so that an export of an image can take place in the second instance. Under outer shells and forms, however, something spiritual is indeed old, but people - Japanese and non-Japanese alike - have tended within modernity to reify the shells and forms.