bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Age Groups in American Society and the Rise of the Young-Old
Authors: Neugarten Bernice L.
Published: March 2007

The age distributions of industrialized societies are rapidly changing, thereby altering the traditional relations between age groups. Some observers think ageism is increas ing in the United States; others, that it is decreasing. In either case, stereotypes of old age are now changing with the rise of the young—old—that is, the age group 55 to 75, who con stitute 15 percent of the population—who are relatively healthy, relatively affluent, relatively free from traditional responsibilities of work and family and who are increasingly well educated and politically active. This group will develop a variety of new needs with regard to meaningful use of time and for maximizing the opportunities for both self-en hancement and community participation. The young-old have enormous potential as agents of social change in creating an age-irrelevant society and in thus improving the relations be tween age groups.
Intergovernmental Relations: from the Legislative Perspective
Authors: Goldberg Delphis C.
Published: March 2007

Federal assistance to state and local govern ments has expanded dramatically during the past decade, with most of this growth represented by special-purpose ("cate gorical") programs intended to promote social objectives of national importance. Even before the accelerated growth of these cooperative programs, periodic efforts were made to develop a more orderly grant-in-aid system. The proliferation of grants, particularly in the 1960s, made it more difficult for many state and local governments to compete for and admin ister federal aid programs and stimulated an intensified demand for grant simplification. General and special revenue sharing were the principal instruments of former President Nixon's New Federalism for promoting more orderly and simplified relations and for decentralizing decision making in fields of intergovernmental interest. These forms of assis tance, however, conflict with a traditional congressional con cern for targeting grants to more specific social objectives and maximizing accountability.
Planning for Personal Choice: The Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act
Authors: Hawkins Augustus F.
Published: March 2007

The proposed Equal Opportunity and Full Em ployment Act is a vital piece of legislation in light of the current economic situation—continued rising inflation and rising unemployment—in the United States. The bill would establish a structure for developing goals, policies and pro grams to meet essential national needs, at the same time guaranteeing jobs to all who want to work. Specific provisions of the bill are set forth, and plans for implementation through various proposed agencies are delineated.
Guaranteed Jobs for Human Rights
Authors: Humphrey Hubert H.
Published: March 2007

This article discusses briefly the evolution and expansion of the right to meaningful employment in the United States; the impact of job guarantee legislation, in cluding the proposed Equal Opportunity and Full Employ ment Act of 1976, and other related legislation; and the relationships between employment levels and such issues as inflation, crime, political power structures, and the ethics underlying true equal employment opportunity. Passage of a strong Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act is urged.
Fiscal Barriers to Full Employment
Authors: Warner David C.
Published: March 2007

The structure of employment and technology is strongly influenced by the incidence of taxes and sub sidies. There are a number of subsidies to capital invest ment in the tax and regulatory systems which encourage the adoption of more capital intensive techniques than would otherwise be employed. Similarly, financing Social Security and health insurance through payroll taxes to which the employer contributes also appears to serve to inflate the cost to the employer of employing low-wage workers. Reorganizing the fiscal system so as to minimize these dis tortions should enhance the effectiveness of any full employ ment program enacted.
Revenue Sharing and Governmental Reform
Authors: Stenberg Carl W.
Published: March 2007

Even though the major purposes of the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972 were to provide financial relief, restore intergovernmental fiscal balance, and decen tralize decision making, general revenue sharing is far from neutral with respect to other fiscal, structural and functional reforms. Some elements of the program stimulate improve ments at the local and regional levels, while others support the jurisdictional status quo. There have been positive effects on citizen participation in the budgetary process, the equalization of fiscal disparities, and interlocal cooperation. The program has been less successful in encouraging more vigorous state revenue-raising efforts and in targeting funds to local governments having the greatest needs. It has often worked at cross-purposes with regional planning and review processes, as well as with organizations responsible for their conduct. The pending renewal of general revenue sharing will open a new chapter in the debate over governmental reform. Exclusion of limited purpose jurisdictions and removal of the 20 percent floor and 145 percent ceiling on local entitlements will likely receive particular attention as ways of providing more assistance to larger counties and municipalities. Yet, differences among the reformers them selves, probable political support for continuation of the program without basic changes, and philosophical resistance to attaching strings suggest that closer ties between general revenue sharing and government reform will be difficult to develop.
Food, Fertilizer, and the New Global Politics of Resource Scarcity
Authors: Grant James P.
Published: March 2007

Like the short circuits in an overloaded electrical system, a rash of"systems overloads" in such essential fields as food and fertilizer supply are resulting from man's apparent inability to adapt his institutions rapidly enough to permit a continuation of the rapid increases in output of recent years. The food and fertilizer crises of the mid-1970s, while ac celerated by such short term factors as widespread drought and the recent unprecedented economic boom, are also very much the product of major, longer term, interacting trends. Growing demand has been outrunning traditional sources of supply for a number of essential commodities, including food, fertilizer and energy, at a time when most nations, including the United States, are becoming heavily dependent on each other for continued progress. World economic and political structures have been too slow in their response. Major disrup tions and higher inflation have been a consequence. A critical issue is whether resolution of the longer term scarcity situations needs to continue in the 1974 context of "winners" and "losers." This article examines how the United States in its role as global food manager contributed significantly through its actions in 1973 and much of 1974 to the crises of the mid-1970s which brought to the world double-digit inflation, massive recession, and innumerable premature deaths, and how the World Food Conference marked a sharp turn in United States—and world—policy toward seeking a positive-sum game approach to the food and fertilizer problems—an approach by which all principal parties might gain.
Beyond Suburbia
Authors: Fava Sylvia F.
Published: March 2007

The next stage of suburbanization is taking place at the edges of metropolitan areas as these areas merge into the megalopolis. The United States is already a nation in which suburbanites constitute the largest portion, but not yet the majority, of Americans. Many of these suburbanites will be suburban-born and bred, rather than having decentralized from the center city. Their moves will be from suburb to suburb or suburb to exurb, and they will thus have little direct life experience with high density living and central city prob lems. The questions this poses for social science theory are examined in detail in this article. Early studies of life style and attitudes beyond suburbia suggest that they differ consider ably from those of the earlier generation of suburbanites. The implications of megalopolitan structure for racial minorities and for women are also examined, with little evidence that racist or sexist patterns have been changed. Brief considera tion of these and other public policy questions indicates that the political structures to meet the various needs of a megalo politan constituency have not been developed and remain a major question.
Suburban Foundations of the New Congress
Authors: Lehne Richard
Published: March 2007

Both Congress and the American suburbs are undergoing major reformations. The election of large and increasing numbers of suburban representatives to Congress means that, today and in the future, Congress must deal with the policy positions and reform preferences of sub urbanites. This article examines the behavior of suburban legislators in the House of Representatives as a reflection of political changes taking place in the suburbs which will influence current and future congressional policy making. Competing interpretations of the political significance of the emerging American suburbs are discussed and evaluated.
The Reporter and the Presidential Candidate
Authors: Leubsdorf Carl P.
Published: March 2007

Presidential politics in the United States has undergone a revolution since 1960. Campaigns are longer and more complex. Television has created an emphasis on personality, rather than on issues, and a volatility that can change situations overnight. This has complicated the job of the press, which must concentrate more on assessing where the political situation stands than on merely reporting what candidates are saying. The relationship between re porters and candidates changes during the various stages of the campaign. It is personal and intimate during the period that precedes the election year, less so as the primaries progress. Later attitudes depend in considerable measure on whether the candidate is perceived as having a real chance of winning his party's nomination, and the presidency. By the time of the general election, intimacy is largely gone, but much depends on whether the candidate permits an "open" atmosphere. The 1976 campaign is likely to match two candi dates running open campaigns, in contrast to the 1972 con test between the open campaign of George McGovern and the closed campaign of Richard M. Nixon.
Political Image Makers and the Mass Media
Authors: Nimmo Dan
Published: March 2007

Although image making has been part of Ameri can politics for some time, recent years have focused attention upon the professional image maker and the use of the mass media in image making. There are two major theories of image making, one stresses qualities a candidate projects, the other the predispositions voters project upon candidates. Each thesis attributes differing tasks to the political image maker. A more useful view is to regard image making as a joint enterprise of candidates, profes sionals, and voters. Since voters seek certain role and sty listic qualities in their ideal candidates, professional image makers act as brokers using the mass media to highlight appropriate qualities of clients. In striving to make voters aware of, interested in, and favorable to their candidates, professionals have adopted a variety of changing tech niques in the last three decades, techniques gradually adapted to the underlying character of mass communica tion. The relative success of these techniques depends upon the specific goals sought and the increasing profes sionalization of American political campaigns.
The Place of U.S. Food in Eliminating World Hunger
Authors: Brandow G.E.
Published: March 2007

Hunger in the sense of severe malnutrition is a fact for hundreds of millions of people in the less de veloped countries. Though the countries collectively have made impressive gains in agriculture, potential benefits in the form of more food production per person have been wiped out by rapid population growth. The United States has become by far the world's leading food exporter while providing large quantities of prized foods for its own popu lation. Experts disagree on whether the food situation of the less developed world will worsen, but few expect elimina tion of hunger in this century. Among the means by which the United States might give assistance are help to poor countries in developing their agriculture and direct food aid. Costs of food aid include higher food prices in the United States, reduced foreign exchange earnings, and higher taxes and, together with dismay about population growth in recipient countries, are likely to limit food aid to much less than is technically possible. Suggestions for policy to provide more food aid than the modest amount now supplied include: enlist cooperation of other advanced nations; direct food aid where it is most needed; avoid piling up unpayable debts for food; encourage expanded production, especially of food grains, in the United States; and maintain reserves of strategic foods.
The Price of Farm Products in the Future
Authors: Cochrane Willard W.
Published: March 2007

The central focus of this article is on the be havior of U.S. grain prices in the context of prospective world developments over the next several decades. We first look at the process of farm price determination. We next look at the dramatic movements in farm prices, particularly grain prices, in the period 1970-75. Given this background, we explore in some depth what is likely to be the trend in world grain prices over the next 25 years and the bases of that trend development. The conclusion is reached that world grain prices are likely to trend upward over the period 1975-2000. It is argued, how ever, that grain prices are not likely to move along a smooth trend; to the contrary, grain prices are likely to fluctuate widely, sharply, and unpredictably around trend. Finally, the policy implications of future grain price behavior are explored and some tentative policy suggestions presented.
"Quo Vadimus?"
Authors: Coffey Joseph I.
Published: March 2007

The arguments against nuclear proliferation are numerous and weighty. Further proliferation may increase the likelihood of nuclear war through accident, nuclear black mail, or escalation of conflicts. Conversely, there are reasons for leaders to support their countries' right to acquire nuclear weapons for security, power status, or economic benefits. It is very likely that additional states will seek to produce nuclear weapons, and the technical information and expertise to design and manufacture a nuclear explosive devise are readily available. Problems of safeguarding nuclear facilities from nuclear diversion and sabotage and theft by terrorists are reasons for curbing nuclear proliferation and searching for ways to reduce incentives to proliferation both through responsible behavior by present nuclear powers and through the UN and international organizations. However, problems of organizational structure and decision-making processes will confront both nations and international organizations. Judgments as to the best way to slow, channel, and limit proliferation differ markedly; however, five suggestions are: (1) the promotion of détente; (2) amelioration of differences likely to induce proliferation, (3) establishment of policies to inhibit acquisition of nuclear energy systems by additional nations while offering alternatives; (4) application of economic sanctions against detonation of nuclear devices; and (5) a greater willingness to accord status to countries on the basis of factors other than nuclear capabilities.
How States Can "Go Nuclear"
Authors: Barnaby Frank C.
Published: March 2007

As indicated by this article, the processes of nuclear fission are well known, the technology for building nuclear reactors is highly developed, and the demands for energy are inducing the construction of more (and more widely distributed) power reactors. Since each reactor is a source of plutonium, this means that the material needed for atomic weapons will be available in large quantities to many countries. Moreover, the technical information needed to fabricate nuclear weapons can be found in unclassified literature, the experts needed to do this are available, the equipment required can be bought in the open market, and the costs are comparatively small. Hence, any state wishing to "go nuclear" can readily do so, and the means of prevent ing (or even hampering) this are few indeed.
Safeguards against Diversion of Nuclear Material: An Overview
Authors: Imai Ryukichi
Published: March 2007

Non-proliferation is basically a political objec tive, which because of the technical nature of the problem and because the world is faced with the likelihood of the rapid spread of nuclear technology, requires technical means of implementation. It should be obvious that tech nology as such cannot solve what is essentially an issue of international politics, but the two have to complement each other. This point has not been well understood by the world's arms control community. International safeguards, as currently administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, have a number of definite—and expected—technical limitations. Moreover, if the system of safeguards is to be effective, answers will have to be found for a number of political questions, such as "What is a meaningful level of nuclear armament for a country?" or "What international sanctions would be available in the event of the diversion of nuclear material?" At the same time, unlike other verification measures in various arms control agreements, the system of nuclear safeguards has special features which make it uniquely feasible if applied under correct circumstances. Safeguards can be a meaningful and powerful tool of an inter national non-proliferation regime if combined with political and other considerations and properly orchestrated.
Reducing the Incentives to Proliferation
Authors: Quester George H.
Published: March 2007

There are two very different kinds of incentives to nuclear proliferation. We are used to seeing nations deter potential enemies and win political concessions with such weapons. A newer, very different, kind of incentive stems from the economic overlap between peaceful electric power reactors and the production of weapons-grade plutonium or enriched uranium; there may now be an economic cost to steering away from the bomb, rather than a cost to making it. Reducing the political-military incentives to proliferation will require a case-by-case approach. Some of these incen tives can be decreased by extending the American nuclear umbrella, as for Europe and Japan. But a serious problem can then emerge in preventing proliferation by such "outlaw states" as South Africa, Israel, and Taiwan. For much of the world, moreover, the bomb will be more of a political- prestige item than a military tool, so that a superpower nuclear umbrella would be redundant or counter-productive. Reducing the economic incentives will also require a case-by- case approach. This cannot be achieved by simply cutting off technological assistance in the nuclear field. Rather, it must be done by using such assistance as a subtle "carrot" or "stick," to persuade the leaders of countries like Brazil and Japan to stay away from bombs.
The United Nations, the Superpowers, and Proliferation
Authors: Bargman Abraham
Published: March 2007

Although nuclear weapons are likely to spread to small and medium powers, the main problem for inter national security will be the effect of proliferation on the avoidance of nuclear war between the superpowers. It is therefore from their vantage point that this essay assesses the role of international organizations in a nuclear-armed world. A new class of disputes caused by violations of IAEA safe guards and permissible withdrawals from the NPT is destined to be placed on the Security Council agenda. These disputes, moreover, may provide the superpowers with the opportunity to cement their common interests in controlling the effects of proliferation. Further periodic Soviet-American confrontations of nuclear-crisis proportions are to be expected, albeit in a new political context complicated by proliferation. The UN can help resolve these, as it has past crises, by pro viding an organ of last resort, registering, implementing particular provisions of these agreements, and above all cap italizing on them to advance new resources for the promotion of international security. All of these roles could be better played if the UN established an International Nuclear Security Planning Group, to devise, plan for, and supervise the execution of measures which command great support— and superpower agreement. Anything more radical, un fortunately, would require a significant upsurge of insecurity which could only result from a boundary event such as the first use of nuclear weapons.
Unions and Industrial Democracy
Authors: Sturmthal Adolf F.
Published: March 2007

This article concentrates on the role of unions in a system of industrial democracy, which is interpreted as labor participation in managerial decision making. The Western industrial world is confronted with two conceptions of the role of unions in the plant: one, characteristic of the great majority of U.S. unions and a substantial part of organized British labor, sees unions as countervailing power to management; the other, predominant on the European continent, wants labor to take its place in management and to participate in both the privileges and the responsibilities of decision making. This analysis is based on a comparison of the institutional arrange ments of West Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden. In each of these countries, unions have a different role in industrial democracy. At one extreme unions operate at top managerial levels; at the other they function largely at the workshop level. These differences are further complicated by the danger of a cleavage between collective agreements concluded for an entire industry or other comprehensive unit and the reality that exists in the plant, a distinction to which the British Donovan Commission drew public attention. Moreover, efforts to combat wage-push inflation tend to concentrate union power at the top, while industrial democracy is more vital the closer to the plant level it operates.
New Focus on Industrial Democracy in Britain
Authors: Thomson Andrew W.J.
Published: March 2007

Industrial democracy in Britain has traditionally operated through the process of collective bargaining, but since 1973 the Trades Union Congress has pursued the objec tive of giving workers' representatives parity on company boards of directors with shareholders' representatives. This approach was adopted in the Labour party's election manifesto for the current Parliament, but the government, somewhat uncertain as to how to implement this objective, has appointed the Bullock Committee to investigate the issue. The com mittee's report is expected to be broadly favorable to the TUC viewpoint, but most employers and some unions want a more flexible approach to worker participation. Any government legislation in the near future is likely to be threatened by time constraints and a declining majority in Parliament, but there is general agreement in all the political parties about the need for some further development in participation, even if not about the precise form that it should take.
Between Harmony and Conflict: Industrial Democracy in the Netherlands
Authors: Albeda Wil
Published: March 2007

Important changes are taking place in the in dustrial relations system of the Netherlands, and it is not clear yet whether the long established pattern of stable and peaceful relations can be preserved. The Catholic and socialist labor federations have merged into a single organiza tion whose left wing is rethinking the issue of industrial democracy. The relatively new legislation of the early 1970s, which enlarged the rights of works councils and opened corporate board membership to representatives of employee interests, was still based on ideas generated in the 1960s. But the new structures which resulted from this legisla tion are already considered insufficient by some sections of the trade unions, although they command the support of the separate Protestant labor federation and of the expanding unions of white-collar employees. The two principal view points are based on different models or concepts of industrial relations, with the older one relying on an essentially coopera tive relationship while the new groups tend to think in terms of permanent conflict or adversary relations. Histori cally, the Netherlands has had an integrative industrial rela tions system. It remains to be seen how strong this tradition remains.
The Industrial Community in Peru
Authors: Whyte William Foote , Alberti Giorgio
Published: March 2007

The Industrial Community is a government- imposed reform program for private industry in Peru. Created in 1970, the Industrial Community was designed to im prove relations between labor and management, to increase productivity, to redistribute income and enhance social justice, and to accelerate economic progress. The record shows that the Industrial Community has fallen far short of the expectations of government leaders on all of these points. Reasons for the generally negative outcomes are examined.
Self-Management in Yugoslavia
Authors: Broekmeyer Marius J.
Published: March 2007

Yugoslav self-management is a complicated and far-reaching system of industrial relations and social or ganization that began some 25 years ago in a society that was initially still of the Soviet-type. It endeavors to eliminate any domination of nonproducers in the economy and society (the liberation of labor) through a decision-making structure that is neither a compromise nor a mixture of Western-type and Soviet-type industrial relations. The system has been steadily extended to encompass the individual worker, who in the process has ostensibly been acquiring ever more rights. However, in reality the power position of the individual worker has not changed all that much. The political party structures were, and still are, of paramount importance. On behalf of self-management it may be said that it has cer tainly alleviated the ills usually inherent to industrializa tion, that it has facilitated the transformation of a pre dominantly agrarian to an industrial society, and that it has encouraged a certain measure of political democratization. But it has not resolved basic economic differences between the several republics of Yugoslavia, nor has it diminished large-scale unemployment. It is difficult to conclude whether the achievements and shortcomings are attributable to gen eral human failings or whether they are due to specific Yugoslav conditions.
Trends and Prospects of Population in Tropical Africa
Authors: Van de Walle Etienne
Published: March 2007

Despite the uncertainty of the available statis tics, it can be said that Tropical Africa remains the region of the world with the highest fertility and mortality. Popula tion growth is substantial, and it often takes place in vul nerable ecosystems that are not suited to large populations. The Sahel and its problems of irregular rainfall illustrate the unsuitability of much of the continent for anything but bare survival. Relocation of population, some of it to cities, is inevitable; but intensified agriculture holds the key to the well-being of the increased number of people.
The Challenge of Cultural Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Uchendu Victor C.
Published: March 2007

It is the cultural content of the challenge posed by the new states of tropical Africa that is the subject of this paper. Post-colonial societies are transitional; they are making deliberate efforts to redefine their cultures. Cultural en gineering, the deliberate political effort to channel behavior toward maximizing national objectives, particularly national integration, demands the notion of culture as an intervention ist agent. Since independence, African politics has focused on the search for institutions and strategies to promote na tion-building, economic development, and national and con tinental unity. African nations face the problem of how to select national, inspirational symbols that do not alienate their traditions. A related problem is the conflict between national cultural identity and growing cultural convergence. To be effective, cultural policy must be lived by the people who are the culture-builders. It cannot be achieved without cultural strain, and even among countries sharing a similar colonial experience, cultural policy may vary.
U.S. Relations in Southern Africa
Authors: Schaufele William E.
Published: March 2007

U.S. policies in southern Africa are essentially founded on political interests, a significant ingredient of which is our concern for human rights. We believe the minority governments of Rhodesia, South Africa, and Namibia violate fundamental human rights. We cannot remain a spec tator in the decolonization of Rhodesia and Namibia and the system of apartheid in South Africa. This administration's policy has been to try to ensure peaceful changes in these countries. Violence would cause untold human suffering and also create a climate for intervention by forces from outside Africa. We firmly believe African problems should be solved by Africans themselves. The situation in South Africa is dif ferent from that in Rhodesia and Namibia, since the whites have been there for 300 years and Africa is their home. Though we have demonstrated our opposition to the apartheid system, South Africa's problems should be resolved in Africa. There are examples on the African continent which give hope that political leaders can build a future in which blacks and whites can co-exist and prosper rather than have the future imposed on them.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs: Activities Since 1945
Authors: Butler Raymond V.
Published: March 2007

The journey from termination, where the federal government was trying to get out of the Indian business, to Indian self-determination, where the federal government is committed to becoming a full partner to the Indian tribes, is the major theme of Indian affairs over the past several decades. The impact of Indian self-determination on the future operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs cannot be predicted at this time. The particular nature of and direc tion of the change will depend upon how totally the tribes embrace its philosophy; the commitment of the Congress to the concept outlined in the Indian Self-Determination Act, as reflected in appropriations and supportive legislation; and the conversion of the Bureau from the role of policymaker to technical advisor. Present critical problems involving urban Indians, water, hunting and fishing rights, historic land claims, and the question of federal recognition of heretofore unrecog nized Indian groups, will challenge every aspect of the concept of self-determination.
The Integration of Americans of Indian Descent
Authors: Yinger J. Milton , Simpson George Eaton
Published: March 2007

When the members of two societies come into contact, changes in the direction of assimilation may occur on four different levels—biological, psychological, cultural, and structural, or, in more descriptive terms, amalgamation, identification, acculturation, and integration may take place. At present, most Indians favor integration but resist forced acculturation. The integration and cultural assimilation of Na tive Americans have been inhibited by a number of funda mental differences between the majority culture and the cul tures of Indian peoples. At the same time, other factors have furthered integration and cultural assimilation. Migration, urbanization, education, economic changes, and intermar riage will facilitate structural integration, a shared identity, and cultural assimilation. In time, full assimilation, or the interaction of all persons without reference to ethnic or racial descent, may come about. For the immediate future, however, pluralism, associated with increasing acculturation and struc tural integration, seems to be the most likely pattern of rela tionship between most Indians and non-Indians.
Complexities of Informed Consent
Authors: Gray Bradford H.
Published: March 2007

Informed consent has emerged as an issue both of great importance and substantial uncertainty and confusion. This paper examines some of the conceptual and practical complexities of informed consent and suggests some impli cations of our empirical knowledge about consent. Among the issues considered are the purposes of informed consent, ethical versus legal functions of informed consent, the dis tinction between informed consent and consent forms, and whether informed consent is an ideal that can never be achieved. It is argued that informed consent is presently not a reliable method of protecting subjects and patients from harm because of limited commitment of professionals to the concept of informed consent, the tendency for procedures to be substituted for substance, the dependence of the quality of consent on many factors, including the characteristics of the subjects or patients, and the tendency of human subjects review committees to confine their attention to consent forms rather than to the process by which consent is sought.
The Making of the Compassionate Physician-Investigator
Authors: Lally John J.
Published: March 2007

The author draws upon a number of studies to examine the multistaged process of selection and socializa tion—from medical school through internship and residency and into the research career—that pertains to the develop ment of research physicians with an ethically informed concern for human subjects. Recent changes relevant to this process are discussed, deficiencies are analyzed, brief recom mendations for remedies and improvements are made, and the need for supplementary controls is reaffirmed, all in the interest of more rational and better protection of sub jects' welfare and rights.
Consensus and Controversy in Medical Practice: The Dilemma of the Critically Ill Patient
Authors: Crane Diana
Published: March 2007

In response to the problems of coping with chronic disease, physicians are moving toward a social defini tion of life, that is, towards defining an individual as being alive if he is capable of performing his social roles, rather than if he simply meets physical criteria for life. A study of how physicians in four medical specialties say they would treat different types of critically ill patients shows that there is considerable consensus among physicians about the treatment of salvageable patients with physical damage and unsalvageable patients with mental damage but little consensus concerning those who are mentally damaged but salvageable or physically damaged and unsalvageable. Over 70 percent of the respondents in each specialty indicated that they would accept irreversible cessation of brain func tion as a criterion for death, permitting them to cease main taining the patient's respiratory functions. Examination of hospital records showed that physicians tend to overestimate on the questionnaires their likelihood of treating critically ill patients. In other words, there may be more consensus about not treating certain types of patients than the questionnaires suggest. The lack of consensus on these matters in other social institutions, such as law and religion, is also discussed.
Ethical Considerations in Selecting Subject Populations for Drug Research
Authors: Arnold John D.
Published: March 2007

The implications of the literal interpretation of established ethical codes versus the application of ad hoc moral principles are discussed and the concerns of minimiz ing risk, maximizing the scientific value of data, and provid ing adequate subject indemnification are examined. It is con cluded that the paramount ethical consideration in selecting subject populations is the diffusion of risk and the provision of adequate indemnification. Judicious selection of subject populations is essential and ad hoc moral principles should prevail at times over the use of established written codes.
Anthropological Perspectives on Aging
Authors: Katz Solomon H.
Published: March 2007

This paper utilizes the holistic and synthetic approach of anthropology to present certain issues and problems regarding age. Such an approach integrates the processes of adaptation and evolution among the biological, sociocultural, environmental, and demographic dimensions over time. Within this context the human life cycle, and particularly postreproductive longevity, is considered as an evolutionary phenomenon. The paper also examines world wide and national demographic trends in aging and the effects of these trends on cross-cultural adaptations to the aged. It concludes by emphasizing the magnitude of the demographic shifts through which we are living and by drawing attention to the potential role of anthropology in the attendant readjust ments of society to this change.
The Aging of the Family
Authors: Brody Elaine M.
Published: March 2007

A central policy issue is the development of services for older people in the United States, specifically the extent to which families can be expected to continue to provide the bulk of needed services vis-à-vis community responsibility. Though there has been thorough documenta tion of continuing responsible family behavior toward their aged, the development of services provided by the community has been hampered by the myth of widespread family aban donment. Historically, adult children, primarily daughters and daughters-in-law, have provided the vast majority of care services for the old. The oldest segment of the elderly popula tion has been increasing proportionately at a much more rapid rate than the older population as a whole and this trend will continue. Those on whom they depend, therefore, also are older—often in the aging phase of life themselves. The fact that there now exist many of these aging families in which the adult children as well as parent(s) are old serves to reduce family resources for service provision. Another relevant social trend is the increasing entry of women into the work force, a trend which is bound to make them less available as care givers. Though family concerns, caring, and affectional ties have not diminished, the community must develop sup portive services to supplement and buttress the family's ef forts to care for its aged members.
Decisional Systems, Adaptiveness, and European Decisionmaking
Authors: Rosenthal Glenda G. , Puchala Donald J.
Published: March 2007

Decision formation in the Community has reflected an adaptability responding to different times and circumstances. The process of decisionmaking has grown in capacity, complexity and sophistication. It evolves slowly, however, to allow the diversity of its component parts to adjust and adapt. The actual EC decisional performance record indicates both the expansion of cooperative initiatives and the long range increase in joint action. The overall consensus formation capacity appears not to lead to political federation but has produced numerous noteworthy and viable means to collective programs. Some limited definitions of "European interests" have emerged in the summitry, ministerial and Commission decisions of the seventies, which illustrate the evolution of a flexible and viable decisionmaking structure as the Community faces a more demanding set of problems.
Economic Uncertainty and European Solidarity: Public Opinion Trends
Authors: Inglehart Ronald , Rabier Jacques-René
Published: March 2007

Impressive growth in public support for the European Community took place during the decade follow ing its founding; there is reason to believe that this development was partly due to the exceptional prosperity then prevailing in the Community's member nations. Con versely, there is evidence that the troubled economic conditions present since expansion of the Community in 1973 have had the opposite effect—subject to some important limiting factors. Analysis of public opinion survey data re veals a positive correlation between support for Community membership and a given nation's level of industrial pro duction at a given time point; and a negative correla tion with rates of inflation. Nevertheless, long-term in fluences seem to dominate the effects of the immediate economic context. Among these long-term factors, length of membership in the Community seems particularly important. But the presence of "Post-Materialist" value priorities, and of relatively high levels of "Cognitive Mobilization" also show significant linkages with public support for European integration.
Changing Responsibility for Personal Risks and Societal Consequences: Premature Death and Old Age
Authors: Mehr Robert I.
Published: March 2007

This paper analyzes the changing responsibility for the risks of premature death and old age of a breadwinner. This responsibility is assumed by three groups: the individual, private industry, and the federal government. The trend ap pears to be toward an increasingly important role for govern ment in meeting these risks despite the decreasing public support of and confidence in the Social Security system. On the other hand, the role of the individual in providing for his or her financial security is becoming less and less important in providing the needed resources to offset these risks. With regard to new product development for meeting the risks of premature death and old age, indexed death protection, death protection in terms of real dollars adjusted for life cycle changes, indexed income for retirement, and a geometrically increasing life annuity for survivors are essential to deal with these risks under the cloud of inflation which seems to linger.
Meeting the Risk of Unemployment: Changing Societal Responses
Authors: Williams C. Arthur
Published: March 2007

Unemployment is enforced idleness among persons who are willing and able to work. Unemployment was not a serious problem until the Industrial Revolution produced a more complicated, interdependent, impersonal society. Unemployment may be classified according to its cause as aggregate, selective or structural, and personal. Un employment rates vary greatly according to business condi tions ; they also vary greatly among different classes of the population. Most unemployment currently lasts less than fifteen weeks. Until the Great Depression society did little to help the unemployed. Friends and relatives were the major outside sources of support, other sources being private chari ties, public relief, and employer or trade union plans. The Great Depression produced the highest unemployment rates ever experienced and a climate favoring federal intervention. The Social Security Act of 1935 encouraged the formation of state unemployment insurance programs, now only one of several government and private efforts to control unemploy ment or alleviate its economic consequences. The current principal control measures are: (1) monetary and fiscal policy designed to reduce unemployment, (2) automatic stabilizers, (3) manpower development and training, (4) labor-market information, and (5) public employment. The principal al leviative measures are unemployment insurance, public as sistance, and private employee benefit plans, unemployment insurance being clearly the most important.
Violent Crime Losses: Their Impact on the Victim and Society
Authors: Meurer Emil M.
Published: March 2007

Crimes of violence have increased rapidly since 1950. In the face of increasing crime, the rights of the criminal have been protected and increased. At the same time, the rights of the victim of crime have remained relatively unchanged. The traditional rights of the victim have proven largely ineffective in providing compensation for losses suffered as a result of violent crimes. Against this setting, a number of states have seen fit to enact victim compensation programs. The existing state programs indemnify only losses which result from medi cal expenses and loss of earnings. They do not cover intangible personal losses or property losses. While far from a perfect solution, these laws emphasize the changing attitude of society toward the victims of violent crime.
Medical Malpractice Problem
Authors: Hall Charles P.
Published: March 2007

The medical malpractice problem is extremely complex and is perceived very differently by health care pro viders, patients, and other segments of society. As a widely recognized problem, it is of relatively recent origin. Its poten tial societal consequences include disruption of health serv ices, waste and maldistribution of economic and human re sources, and a severe strain on a variety of our traditional social institutions. The "crisis" of malpractice is a product of many forces, including a disturbing level of negligent and improper medical care, frequently unrealistic patient expecta tions, and the growing "philosophy of entitlement" which is rampant among Americans. Responses to the problem have sometimes been ill-advised and emotional. Most often, the problem is seen as one of inadequate or overpriced malprac tice insurance, though careful analysis suggests that insurance issues are merely symptoms of the real problem. Neverthe less, insurance-based solutions have proven to be politically expedient and have produced at least temporary alleviation of the problem. Ultimately, though, other approaches will be necessary, and careful, objective research is required to iden tify and test long-term options.
Products Liability Problem
Authors: Schweig Barry B.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents an analysis of the changing impact of products liability risk on various individuals, firms, and institutions in today's society. After defining products liability and products liability risk, the pendulum-like evolu tion of products liability law is documented. Then an analysis of some of the most important factors responsible for the recent increases in the frequency and severity of products liability litigation is presented. Several of these elements have appar ently combined to produce a synergistic increase in products- related lawsuits. These elements include recent development in the law of products liability, together with a newly emerging products claim consciousness, public concerns about product safety, and the plethora of old and new products in use today. Finally, the paper concludes with an analysis of the potential impact of enacting one or more of the many proposed solutions to the problem of products liability risk.
The Changing Societal Consequences of Risks from Natural Hazards
Authors: Kunreuther Howard
Published: March 2007

In recent years, the federal government has pro vided substantial relief to victims of natural disasters. A pri mary reason for this assistance is that many of the individuals suffering damage have not protected themselves with insur ance. Standard coverage, normally required as a condition for a mortgage, offers protection against fire, wind, and hail damage; flood and earthquake policies can be purchased sep arately, and most residents of hazard-prone areas have not voluntarily bought this coverage. Recent empirical evidence on individuals' decision processes with respect to protection against events which have a relatively small chance of oc curring but can result in severe losses is summarized. Unless individuals have been made graphically aware of the conse quences of disasters, typically through past experience, they are unlikely to even consider purchasing insurance protec tion. Once their interest is stimulated they use informal net works such as friends and neighbors to guide them in their actions. Tradeoffs between using voluntary means of promot ing insurance or some other form of required coverage are discussed. Policy decisions have to reflect both the decision processes of individuals as well as value judgments on the appropriate role of the private and public sectors in natural disasters.