Sarah Percy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199214334
- eISBN:
- 9780191706608
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214334.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. It traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval ...
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The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. It traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral because they use force outside legitimate, authoritative control. Second, mercenaries are considered to be morally problematic because they fight wars for selfish, financial reasons as opposed to fighting for some kind of larger conception of the common good. The book examines four puzzles about mercenary use, and argues that they can only be explained by understanding the norm against mercenaries. First, the book argues that moral disapproval of mercenaries led to the disappearance of independent mercenaries from medieval Europe. Second, the transition from armies composed of mercenaries to citizen armies in the 19th century can only be understood with attention to the norm against mercenaries. Third, it is impossible to understand why international law regarding mercenaries, created in the 1970s and 1980s, is so ineffective without understanding the norm. Finally, the disappearance of companies like Executive Outcomes and Sandline and the development of today's private security industry cannot be understood without the norm.Less
The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. It traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral because they use force outside legitimate, authoritative control. Second, mercenaries are considered to be morally problematic because they fight wars for selfish, financial reasons as opposed to fighting for some kind of larger conception of the common good. The book examines four puzzles about mercenary use, and argues that they can only be explained by understanding the norm against mercenaries. First, the book argues that moral disapproval of mercenaries led to the disappearance of independent mercenaries from medieval Europe. Second, the transition from armies composed of mercenaries to citizen armies in the 19th century can only be understood with attention to the norm against mercenaries. Third, it is impossible to understand why international law regarding mercenaries, created in the 1970s and 1980s, is so ineffective without understanding the norm. Finally, the disappearance of companies like Executive Outcomes and Sandline and the development of today's private security industry cannot be understood without the norm.
Philippe Cullet
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546237
- eISBN:
- 9780191705519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546237.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter brings together some of the main conclusions of the book and looks towards future outcomes. The book analyzes existing and evolving water law in a broad context, looking at the ...
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This chapter brings together some of the main conclusions of the book and looks towards future outcomes. The book analyzes existing and evolving water law in a broad context, looking at the environmental, social, economic, and human rights aspects of water. It delves deeply on water sector reforms, and more specifically, water law reforms in India.Less
This chapter brings together some of the main conclusions of the book and looks towards future outcomes. The book analyzes existing and evolving water law in a broad context, looking at the environmental, social, economic, and human rights aspects of water. It delves deeply on water sector reforms, and more specifically, water law reforms in India.
Mark S. Aber, Kenneth I. Maton, and Edward Seidman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195380576
- eISBN:
- 9780199864508
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and ...
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This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and method relevant to changing a broad spectrum of social settings (including programs, organizations, institutions, communities, and social policy) from a strengths-based perspective. Three cross-cutting concepts—a strengths-based approach to research and social action, empowerment, and narrative research methods—serve as integrating and foundational themes. Part I takes up issues of setting processes and outcomes of influence, research methods, and implications for setting and community change efforts and social policy. Part II examines how action scientists have sought to understand and amplify the voices of those individuals and communities who serve as the focus of their research and social change actions. Finally, the chapters in Part III seek to situate the rest of the volume's chapters in the context of decades of work on empowering settings, giving voice and social change.Less
This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and method relevant to changing a broad spectrum of social settings (including programs, organizations, institutions, communities, and social policy) from a strengths-based perspective. Three cross-cutting concepts—a strengths-based approach to research and social action, empowerment, and narrative research methods—serve as integrating and foundational themes. Part I takes up issues of setting processes and outcomes of influence, research methods, and implications for setting and community change efforts and social policy. Part II examines how action scientists have sought to understand and amplify the voices of those individuals and communities who serve as the focus of their research and social change actions. Finally, the chapters in Part III seek to situate the rest of the volume's chapters in the context of decades of work on empowering settings, giving voice and social change.
Jon Hanson (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199737512
- eISBN:
- 9780199918638
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737512.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Formally, the law purports to be based solely in reasoned analysis, devoid of ideological bias or unconscious influences. Judges claim to act as umpires applying the rules, not making them. They ...
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Formally, the law purports to be based solely in reasoned analysis, devoid of ideological bias or unconscious influences. Judges claim to act as umpires applying the rules, not making them. They frame their decisions as straightforward applications of an established set of legal doctrines, principles, and mandates to a given set of facts. As scholars who carefully study the law understand, that frame is a façade, and the impression that the legal system projects is an illusion. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. made a similar claim more than a century ago when he wrote that “the felt necessities of the time, the prevalent moral and political theories, intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious, even the prejudices which judges share with their fellow-men, have a good deal more to do than the syllogism in determining the rules by which men should be governed.” A century later, though, we are much closer to understanding the mechanisms responsible for the gap between the formal face of the law and the actual forces shaping it. Over the last decade or so, political scientists and legal academics have begun studying the linkages between ideologies, on one hand, and legal principles and policy outcomes on the other. During that same period, mind scientists have turned to understanding the psychological sources of ideology. This book is the first to bring many of the world’s experts on those topics together to examine the sometimes unsettling interactions between psychology, ideology and law.Less
Formally, the law purports to be based solely in reasoned analysis, devoid of ideological bias or unconscious influences. Judges claim to act as umpires applying the rules, not making them. They frame their decisions as straightforward applications of an established set of legal doctrines, principles, and mandates to a given set of facts. As scholars who carefully study the law understand, that frame is a façade, and the impression that the legal system projects is an illusion. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. made a similar claim more than a century ago when he wrote that “the felt necessities of the time, the prevalent moral and political theories, intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious, even the prejudices which judges share with their fellow-men, have a good deal more to do than the syllogism in determining the rules by which men should be governed.” A century later, though, we are much closer to understanding the mechanisms responsible for the gap between the formal face of the law and the actual forces shaping it. Over the last decade or so, political scientists and legal academics have begun studying the linkages between ideologies, on one hand, and legal principles and policy outcomes on the other. During that same period, mind scientists have turned to understanding the psychological sources of ideology. This book is the first to bring many of the world’s experts on those topics together to examine the sometimes unsettling interactions between psychology, ideology and law.
Georgina Waylen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199248032
- eISBN:
- 9780191714894
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248032.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This book examines the roles that women's mobilizations have played in processes of democratization and the impact of transitions to democracy on gender relations. In an over-arching and thematic ...
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This book examines the roles that women's mobilizations have played in processes of democratization and the impact of transitions to democracy on gender relations. In an over-arching and thematic analysis, it compares transitions from state socialism and authoritarianism that took place as part of the ‘third wave’ of democratization that swept the world from the 1970s onwards. Using case study material drawn from eight countries primarily in Latin America and East Central Europe as well as South Africa, the book explores the gendered constraints and opportunities provided by processes of democratization and economic restructuring. It develops an analytical framework that brings together the analysis of key actors and institutions, and shows that under certain conditions, transitions to democracy can result in some positive gender outcomes such as improvements in women's political representation and more ‘gender sensitive’ policy in areas such as domestic violence. The book argues that women's mobilization during transitions is no guarantee of success and change is easier to achieve in some areas than others. Understanding the different roles that can be played by organized women's movements, key actors, institutions, and the wider political environment, such as the international context, is crucial in helping to explain why gender outcomes vary in different circumstances. The book therefore aims to address important debates within the study of both comparative politics and gender and politics.Less
This book examines the roles that women's mobilizations have played in processes of democratization and the impact of transitions to democracy on gender relations. In an over-arching and thematic analysis, it compares transitions from state socialism and authoritarianism that took place as part of the ‘third wave’ of democratization that swept the world from the 1970s onwards. Using case study material drawn from eight countries primarily in Latin America and East Central Europe as well as South Africa, the book explores the gendered constraints and opportunities provided by processes of democratization and economic restructuring. It develops an analytical framework that brings together the analysis of key actors and institutions, and shows that under certain conditions, transitions to democracy can result in some positive gender outcomes such as improvements in women's political representation and more ‘gender sensitive’ policy in areas such as domestic violence. The book argues that women's mobilization during transitions is no guarantee of success and change is easier to achieve in some areas than others. Understanding the different roles that can be played by organized women's movements, key actors, institutions, and the wider political environment, such as the international context, is crucial in helping to explain why gender outcomes vary in different circumstances. The book therefore aims to address important debates within the study of both comparative politics and gender and politics.
López Ramón and Michael A. Toman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199298006
- eISBN:
- 9780191603877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199298009.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter discusses relationships between the macro economy and economic policy, and the environmental and resource situation in developing countries. It focuses on the distortive effects of ...
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This chapter discusses relationships between the macro economy and economic policy, and the environmental and resource situation in developing countries. It focuses on the distortive effects of energy and resource subsidies, poorly managed monetary policy leading to exchange rate instability and high interest rates, and financial crises which often lead to too shortsighted policies and behavior regarding the management of environment and resources.Less
This chapter discusses relationships between the macro economy and economic policy, and the environmental and resource situation in developing countries. It focuses on the distortive effects of energy and resource subsidies, poorly managed monetary policy leading to exchange rate instability and high interest rates, and financial crises which often lead to too shortsighted policies and behavior regarding the management of environment and resources.
Max H. Boisot, Ian C. MacMillan, and Kyeong Seok Han
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199250875
- eISBN:
- 9780191719509
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199250875.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management
In contrast to the neoclassical economic presumption in favour of markets, this chapter argues that organizations, not markets, should be taken as our default assumption. This argument is based on ...
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In contrast to the neoclassical economic presumption in favour of markets, this chapter argues that organizations, not markets, should be taken as our default assumption. This argument is based on information processing grounds. The chapter distinguishes between Zen and Market Knowledge. The first is embodied and hard to articulate and the second abstract-symbolic. In human evolution, the first type of knowledge came first, and, on any pragmatic definition of knowledge, it still incorporates most of what we mean by the term. The chapter takes codification and abstraction as the two data processing activities that lead to the articulation of knowledge into an abstract-symbolic form. It then develops a conceptual framework, the Information-Space or I-Space to show how far the articulation of knowledge leads to its being shared. Whereas an unlimited sharing of information and knowledge leads to market-oriented outcomes, a more limited sharing leads to organizational outcomes. A market-oriented economics has tended to look to physics for its models; the field of organization theory has tended to look to biology. A more organization-oriented economics would thus look more to biology for its models.Less
In contrast to the neoclassical economic presumption in favour of markets, this chapter argues that organizations, not markets, should be taken as our default assumption. This argument is based on information processing grounds. The chapter distinguishes between Zen and Market Knowledge. The first is embodied and hard to articulate and the second abstract-symbolic. In human evolution, the first type of knowledge came first, and, on any pragmatic definition of knowledge, it still incorporates most of what we mean by the term. The chapter takes codification and abstraction as the two data processing activities that lead to the articulation of knowledge into an abstract-symbolic form. It then develops a conceptual framework, the Information-Space or I-Space to show how far the articulation of knowledge leads to its being shared. Whereas an unlimited sharing of information and knowledge leads to market-oriented outcomes, a more limited sharing leads to organizational outcomes. A market-oriented economics has tended to look to physics for its models; the field of organization theory has tended to look to biology. A more organization-oriented economics would thus look more to biology for its models.
Georgina Waylen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199248032
- eISBN:
- 9780191714894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248032.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The final part of the book deals with the relationship between transitions to democracy, women's substantive representation, and policy outcomes. It completes the analysis of the circumstances under ...
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The final part of the book deals with the relationship between transitions to democracy, women's substantive representation, and policy outcomes. It completes the analysis of the circumstances under which a transition to democracy can alter different women's access to policymaking and with what results. After examining women's access to policymaking and gender policies under state socialist and authoritarian regimes, it moves on to look at post-transition outcomes. It focuses on the machinery of the state with regard to women, constitutional/legal frameworks, and codes, before turning to look at gender policy outcomes in three different areas: divorce and family law, domestic violence, and reproductive rights, particularly abortion. The final section examines how the social and economic transitions that have so often accompanied transition to democracy are gendered through an exploration of market reforms and welfare structuring.Less
The final part of the book deals with the relationship between transitions to democracy, women's substantive representation, and policy outcomes. It completes the analysis of the circumstances under which a transition to democracy can alter different women's access to policymaking and with what results. After examining women's access to policymaking and gender policies under state socialist and authoritarian regimes, it moves on to look at post-transition outcomes. It focuses on the machinery of the state with regard to women, constitutional/legal frameworks, and codes, before turning to look at gender policy outcomes in three different areas: divorce and family law, domestic violence, and reproductive rights, particularly abortion. The final section examines how the social and economic transitions that have so often accompanied transition to democracy are gendered through an exploration of market reforms and welfare structuring.
Georgina Waylen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199248032
- eISBN:
- 9780191714894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248032.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The conclusion gives an overview of how the changes in citizenship, participation and policymaking that have been part of transitions to democracy are gendered and lays out the circumstances under ...
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The conclusion gives an overview of how the changes in citizenship, participation and policymaking that have been part of transitions to democracy are gendered and lays out the circumstances under which gender outcomes can be positive. After summarizing the outcomes in the electoral, bureaucratic, and constitutional/legal arenas, the conclusion outlines the key factors involved in any explanation. Although women's movements are often central in articulating gender issues, more is needed to ensure that those issues are placed on the agenda of the transition and subsequently remain on the policy agenda in the post transition period. Any analysis therefore has to include the political opportunity structure and the roles of key actors and strategic alliances. The conclusion then outlines how the book's arguments fit into wider debates within the study of gender and politics and comparative politics.Less
The conclusion gives an overview of how the changes in citizenship, participation and policymaking that have been part of transitions to democracy are gendered and lays out the circumstances under which gender outcomes can be positive. After summarizing the outcomes in the electoral, bureaucratic, and constitutional/legal arenas, the conclusion outlines the key factors involved in any explanation. Although women's movements are often central in articulating gender issues, more is needed to ensure that those issues are placed on the agenda of the transition and subsequently remain on the policy agenda in the post transition period. Any analysis therefore has to include the political opportunity structure and the roles of key actors and strategic alliances. The conclusion then outlines how the book's arguments fit into wider debates within the study of gender and politics and comparative politics.
Edeltraud Roller
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286423
- eISBN:
- 9780191603358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286426.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This introductory chapter defines the questions and goals of the study, and provides a brief overview on the state of research regarding the performance of democracies. It seeks to answer two ...
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This introductory chapter defines the questions and goals of the study, and provides a brief overview on the state of research regarding the performance of democracies. It seeks to answer two questions: Is the effectiveness of western democracies in decline and do institutions matter for political effectiveness? The continuous decline in the effectiveness of democratic systems was a prominent theme in various crisis theories (ungovernability, legitimation crisis) since the 1970s. Since the early 1990s, it has been taken up by globalization theories. The assertion that institutions matter for political performance reaches back to the emergence of the —new institutionalism— in the early 1980s. The most relevant precursor for this study of the performance of democracies is Arend Lijphart’s Patterns of Democracy (1999). His book along with other contributions from the fields of comparative public policy and comparative sociology on the quality of life is used to clarify the contribution of this study on the institutional basis of political performance, and to elaborate to what extent it goes beyond the current state of research.Less
This introductory chapter defines the questions and goals of the study, and provides a brief overview on the state of research regarding the performance of democracies. It seeks to answer two questions: Is the effectiveness of western democracies in decline and do institutions matter for political effectiveness? The continuous decline in the effectiveness of democratic systems was a prominent theme in various crisis theories (ungovernability, legitimation crisis) since the 1970s. Since the early 1990s, it has been taken up by globalization theories. The assertion that institutions matter for political performance reaches back to the emergence of the —new institutionalism— in the early 1980s. The most relevant precursor for this study of the performance of democracies is Arend Lijphart’s Patterns of Democracy (1999). His book along with other contributions from the fields of comparative public policy and comparative sociology on the quality of life is used to clarify the contribution of this study on the institutional basis of political performance, and to elaborate to what extent it goes beyond the current state of research.
Edeltraud Roller
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286423
- eISBN:
- 9780191603358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286426.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter develops a theoretical model for evaluating the effectiveness of liberal democracies. It consists of two parts. In the first part, a set of normative criteria for evaluating the ...
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This chapter develops a theoretical model for evaluating the effectiveness of liberal democracies. It consists of two parts. In the first part, a set of normative criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of political systems is suggested. It includes four policy goals: domestic security, wealth, socioeconomic security and socioeconomic equality, as well as the protection of the environment. In the second part, a set of indicators for measuring political effectiveness with respect to these policy goals is presented. Additionally, propositions about the relationship between the four policy goals are discussed, whether trade-offs or complementary relationships exist.Less
This chapter develops a theoretical model for evaluating the effectiveness of liberal democracies. It consists of two parts. In the first part, a set of normative criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of political systems is suggested. It includes four policy goals: domestic security, wealth, socioeconomic security and socioeconomic equality, as well as the protection of the environment. In the second part, a set of indicators for measuring political effectiveness with respect to these policy goals is presented. Additionally, propositions about the relationship between the four policy goals are discussed, whether trade-offs or complementary relationships exist.
Francis G. Castles
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199270170
- eISBN:
- 9780191601514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199270171.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Uses statistical techniques to model the determinants of aggregate social expenditure change in 21 OECD countries over the period 1980 to 1998. The main focus is on testing hypotheses relating to the ...
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Uses statistical techniques to model the determinants of aggregate social expenditure change in 21 OECD countries over the period 1980 to 1998. The main focus is on testing hypotheses relating to the impact of economic globalization and the so-called ‘new politics’ of the welfare state. The analysis suggests that neither of these accounts is persuasive. Instead, the main factors shaping recent expenditure change appear to have been programme maturation, economic growth, deindustrialization and left partisan politics.Less
Uses statistical techniques to model the determinants of aggregate social expenditure change in 21 OECD countries over the period 1980 to 1998. The main focus is on testing hypotheses relating to the impact of economic globalization and the so-called ‘new politics’ of the welfare state. The analysis suggests that neither of these accounts is persuasive. Instead, the main factors shaping recent expenditure change appear to have been programme maturation, economic growth, deindustrialization and left partisan politics.
Sydney Finkelstein, Donald C. Hambrick, and Albert A. Cannella
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195162073
- eISBN:
- 9780199867332
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162073.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy
This chapter discusses how CEO and top management team succession can affect a number of important organizational outcomes. The first section is organized around the broad kinds of changes that a ...
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This chapter discusses how CEO and top management team succession can affect a number of important organizational outcomes. The first section is organized around the broad kinds of changes that a succession might engender, how the process of succession can impact the new leader's early survival prospects, and the going-in mandate of new leaders. The second section focuses on the overall performance implications of leader succession, a topic that has garnered a great deal of research over the years. The notions of scapegoating and insider versus outsider succession are examined. The chapter then discusses contextual factors such as the stage of organizational life cycle, organization-level changes that accompany the succession event, and institutional factors (such as discontinuous change). It then reviews the literature on shareholder reactions to succession. In the next section, the discussion expands beyond the CEO level to consider both the TMT and some specific positions below the CEO level (e.g., the CFO). In the final section, a variety of issues related to succession are discussed, including temporary succession, SBU leader changes, and post-succession “settling up” among organizational leaders.Less
This chapter discusses how CEO and top management team succession can affect a number of important organizational outcomes. The first section is organized around the broad kinds of changes that a succession might engender, how the process of succession can impact the new leader's early survival prospects, and the going-in mandate of new leaders. The second section focuses on the overall performance implications of leader succession, a topic that has garnered a great deal of research over the years. The notions of scapegoating and insider versus outsider succession are examined. The chapter then discusses contextual factors such as the stage of organizational life cycle, organization-level changes that accompany the succession event, and institutional factors (such as discontinuous change). It then reviews the literature on shareholder reactions to succession. In the next section, the discussion expands beyond the CEO level to consider both the TMT and some specific positions below the CEO level (e.g., the CFO). In the final section, a variety of issues related to succession are discussed, including temporary succession, SBU leader changes, and post-succession “settling up” among organizational leaders.
John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226801
- eISBN:
- 9780191710285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226801.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Pensions and Pension Management
If transaction costs are small, standard economic theory would suggest that defaults have little impact on economic outcomes. Agents with well-defined preferences will opt out of any default that ...
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If transaction costs are small, standard economic theory would suggest that defaults have little impact on economic outcomes. Agents with well-defined preferences will opt out of any default that does not maximize their utility, regardless of the nature of the default. In practice, however, defaults can have sizable effects on economic outcomes. This chapter summarizes the empirical evidence on defaults in savings outcomes, which strongly suggests that defaults affect savings outcomes at every step along the way. The different types of US retirement income institutions and some of their salient characteristics are described. Empirical evidence from the USA and other countries, including Chile, Mexico, and Sweden is presented on how defaults influence retirement savings outcomes at all stages of the savings life cycle, including savings plan participation, savings rates, asset allocation, and post-retirement savings distributions. The chapter then examines why defaults have such a tremendous impact on savings outcomes. Finally, it considers the role of public policy toward retirement saving when defaults matter.Less
If transaction costs are small, standard economic theory would suggest that defaults have little impact on economic outcomes. Agents with well-defined preferences will opt out of any default that does not maximize their utility, regardless of the nature of the default. In practice, however, defaults can have sizable effects on economic outcomes. This chapter summarizes the empirical evidence on defaults in savings outcomes, which strongly suggests that defaults affect savings outcomes at every step along the way. The different types of US retirement income institutions and some of their salient characteristics are described. Empirical evidence from the USA and other countries, including Chile, Mexico, and Sweden is presented on how defaults influence retirement savings outcomes at all stages of the savings life cycle, including savings plan participation, savings rates, asset allocation, and post-retirement savings distributions. The chapter then examines why defaults have such a tremendous impact on savings outcomes. Finally, it considers the role of public policy toward retirement saving when defaults matter.
Barbara Monroe and David Oliviere (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198515814
- eISBN:
- 9780191730498
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198515814.001.0001
- Subject:
- Palliative Care, Patient Care and End-of-Life Decision Making, Palliative Medicine Research
Patient participation and user involvement are central to current thinking about the effective delivery of desired healthcare outcomes. Working with the person who lies behind every patient is core ...
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Patient participation and user involvement are central to current thinking about the effective delivery of desired healthcare outcomes. Working with the person who lies behind every patient is core to palliative care. A voice can only become significant when it is listened to and acted upon. With palliative care increasingly addressing the needs of people with a variety of conditions in a range of settings, as well as with advances in research, technology, and information, the challenge to be ‘a voice for the voiceless’ is greater than ever. This book addresses key aspects in the provision of patient-centered palliative care and tracks significant developments in user involvement. It sets the philosophy within the cultural, social, and political context of modern healthcare, particularly addressing issues of quality, standards, education, and bereavement. A key component in the delivery of high-quality palliative care is the multi-professional team. Following a discussion of teamwork, five core professions present a critical analysis of their working practices. The book concludes with a commentary from a palliative care user and a bereaved carer. It is often somewhat glibly asserted that the patient is, or should be, at the centre of care. There have been few attempts to examine how to keep him or her there without professional needs and protocols crowding him or her out. This book asks how we listen and why we listen, and focuses on the challenges of how professionals can keep the needs of the patient central in clinical care.Less
Patient participation and user involvement are central to current thinking about the effective delivery of desired healthcare outcomes. Working with the person who lies behind every patient is core to palliative care. A voice can only become significant when it is listened to and acted upon. With palliative care increasingly addressing the needs of people with a variety of conditions in a range of settings, as well as with advances in research, technology, and information, the challenge to be ‘a voice for the voiceless’ is greater than ever. This book addresses key aspects in the provision of patient-centered palliative care and tracks significant developments in user involvement. It sets the philosophy within the cultural, social, and political context of modern healthcare, particularly addressing issues of quality, standards, education, and bereavement. A key component in the delivery of high-quality palliative care is the multi-professional team. Following a discussion of teamwork, five core professions present a critical analysis of their working practices. The book concludes with a commentary from a palliative care user and a bereaved carer. It is often somewhat glibly asserted that the patient is, or should be, at the centre of care. There have been few attempts to examine how to keep him or her there without professional needs and protocols crowding him or her out. This book asks how we listen and why we listen, and focuses on the challenges of how professionals can keep the needs of the patient central in clinical care.
Bernard Gert, Charles M. Culver, and K. Danner Clouser
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195159066
- eISBN:
- 9780199786466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159063.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter shows the importance of recognizing the probabilistic nature of medical diagnosis and treatment. It discusses the possibly serious effects of physicians not understanding Bayes theorem, ...
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This chapter shows the importance of recognizing the probabilistic nature of medical diagnosis and treatment. It discusses the possibly serious effects of physicians not understanding Bayes theorem, and hence, not appreciating the importance of knowing the prevalence of a disorder in the population to be treated or screened. It shows the importance of doctors knowing about volume-outcome studies, geographical variation studies, and practice guidelines.Less
This chapter shows the importance of recognizing the probabilistic nature of medical diagnosis and treatment. It discusses the possibly serious effects of physicians not understanding Bayes theorem, and hence, not appreciating the importance of knowing the prevalence of a disorder in the population to be treated or screened. It shows the importance of doctors knowing about volume-outcome studies, geographical variation studies, and practice guidelines.
Anthony King (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253135
- eISBN:
- 9780191599675
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253137.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
A widely held belief concerning democratic elections is that the votes of many individuals are influenced by their assessments of the competing candidates’ personalities and other personal ...
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A widely held belief concerning democratic elections is that the votes of many individuals are influenced by their assessments of the competing candidates’ personalities and other personal characteristics and that, as a consequence, the outcomes of entire democratic elections are often decided by ‘personality factors’ of this type. Experts on the electoral politics of six countries – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Russia – set out to assess how far this emphasis on personality and personal characteristics is actually warranted by the available empirical evidence. Using a variety of methodologies, the authors seek to isolate and weigh the role played by personality both in influencing individual voters’ behaviour and in deciding election outcomes. They conclude that, even with regard to the United States, the impact of personality on individual voters’ decisions is usually quite small and that, more often than not, it cancels out. They also conclude that, largely for those reasons, the number of elections whose outcomes have been determined by voters’ assessments of the candidates is likewise quite small : much smaller than is usually supposed. Moreover, there are no signs that the importance of personality factors in determining election outcomes is increasing over time.Less
A widely held belief concerning democratic elections is that the votes of many individuals are influenced by their assessments of the competing candidates’ personalities and other personal characteristics and that, as a consequence, the outcomes of entire democratic elections are often decided by ‘personality factors’ of this type. Experts on the electoral politics of six countries – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Russia – set out to assess how far this emphasis on personality and personal characteristics is actually warranted by the available empirical evidence. Using a variety of methodologies, the authors seek to isolate and weigh the role played by personality both in influencing individual voters’ behaviour and in deciding election outcomes. They conclude that, even with regard to the United States, the impact of personality on individual voters’ decisions is usually quite small and that, more often than not, it cancels out. They also conclude that, largely for those reasons, the number of elections whose outcomes have been determined by voters’ assessments of the candidates is likewise quite small : much smaller than is usually supposed. Moreover, there are no signs that the importance of personality factors in determining election outcomes is increasing over time.
Matthew Soberg Shugart and Martin P. Wattenberg
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199257683
- eISBN:
- 9780191600241
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925768X.003.0026
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Reviews the experiences of several existing mixed‐member electoral systems in an effort to assess the likely prospects for the continued spread of this mode of electoral reform. There are three ...
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Reviews the experiences of several existing mixed‐member electoral systems in an effort to assess the likely prospects for the continued spread of this mode of electoral reform. There are three sections. The first, ‘Inherent and Contingent Factors in Electoral Reform’, looks at extreme electoral systems and systemic failure, act‐contingent explanations of pressures for reform, and outcome‐contingent explanations of political compromise leading to reform. The second section, ‘The Best of Both Worlds’, looks at the interparty and intraparty dimensions of mixed‐member electoral systems, and offers an assessment of these systems. The third section briefly assesses the prospects for continued spread of the mixed‐member idea.Less
Reviews the experiences of several existing mixed‐member electoral systems in an effort to assess the likely prospects for the continued spread of this mode of electoral reform. There are three sections. The first, ‘Inherent and Contingent Factors in Electoral Reform’, looks at extreme electoral systems and systemic failure, act‐contingent explanations of pressures for reform, and outcome‐contingent explanations of political compromise leading to reform. The second section, ‘The Best of Both Worlds’, looks at the interparty and intraparty dimensions of mixed‐member electoral systems, and offers an assessment of these systems. The third section briefly assesses the prospects for continued spread of the mixed‐member idea.
Larry M. Bartels
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253135
- eISBN:
- 9780191599675
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253137.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The aim of this chapter is to provide a systematic test of the conventional wisdom that personality is key in contemporary American electoral politics. Using survey data from the six most recent ...
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The aim of this chapter is to provide a systematic test of the conventional wisdom that personality is key in contemporary American electoral politics. Using survey data from the six most recent presidential elections, the contours are examines of the candidates’ images (traits), the bases of those images in voters’ more fundamental political predispositions, and the impact of voters’ assessments of the candidates’ personal qualities on individual voting behaviour and on aggregate election outcomes. In stark contrast with the popular conception of contemporary electoral politics as candidate–centred and image–driven, it is argued that candidates’ images are largely epiphenomenal and have only a modest impact on election outcomes. This conclusion is underlined by the analysis given of the 2000 (Bush vs. Gore) presidential election, in which the estimated impact of voters’ assessments of the candidates’ personalities was even smaller than in the previous five elections considered here, although quite probably large enough to be decisive in an election decided by a few hundred votes in a single state.Less
The aim of this chapter is to provide a systematic test of the conventional wisdom that personality is key in contemporary American electoral politics. Using survey data from the six most recent presidential elections, the contours are examines of the candidates’ images (traits), the bases of those images in voters’ more fundamental political predispositions, and the impact of voters’ assessments of the candidates’ personal qualities on individual voting behaviour and on aggregate election outcomes. In stark contrast with the popular conception of contemporary electoral politics as candidate–centred and image–driven, it is argued that candidates’ images are largely epiphenomenal and have only a modest impact on election outcomes. This conclusion is underlined by the analysis given of the 2000 (Bush vs. Gore) presidential election, in which the estimated impact of voters’ assessments of the candidates’ personalities was even smaller than in the previous five elections considered here, although quite probably large enough to be decisive in an election decided by a few hundred votes in a single state.
John Bartle and Ivor Crewe
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253135
- eISBN:
- 9780191599675
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253137.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
There has been a widespread belief in Britain in recent years (which appears to be corroborated by survey evidence) that leaders’ personalities strongly influence the way that people vote and ...
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There has been a widespread belief in Britain in recent years (which appears to be corroborated by survey evidence) that leaders’ personalities strongly influence the way that people vote and therefore the results of elections, although in a parliamentary system such as Britain’s, this is less obviously correct than in presidential systems such as the United States, France and Russia. However, British political science has usually reached negative conclusions on this belief, pointing out that popular leaders have often lost elections, and that only two of the eleven elections fought since 1964 (those of 1964 and 1997) stand out as elections in which leaders’ personalities may have been decisive. This chapter looks at the 1997 election, for which three separate studies belonging to the British Election Study are available: the cross–sectional study, XBES; the campaign study, BECS; and the British Election Panel Study, BEPS. It first discusses the effect of leaders’ personalities by constructing a series of vote models, and then looks at the relationship between leaders’ personalities and the vote. Each of the three British Election Studies are then analysed; only the BEPS study (which has the least comprehensive data set) indicates that leaders’ personalities had anything other than a marginal effect on the election outcome.Less
There has been a widespread belief in Britain in recent years (which appears to be corroborated by survey evidence) that leaders’ personalities strongly influence the way that people vote and therefore the results of elections, although in a parliamentary system such as Britain’s, this is less obviously correct than in presidential systems such as the United States, France and Russia. However, British political science has usually reached negative conclusions on this belief, pointing out that popular leaders have often lost elections, and that only two of the eleven elections fought since 1964 (those of 1964 and 1997) stand out as elections in which leaders’ personalities may have been decisive. This chapter looks at the 1997 election, for which three separate studies belonging to the British Election Study are available: the cross–sectional study, XBES; the campaign study, BECS; and the British Election Panel Study, BEPS. It first discusses the effect of leaders’ personalities by constructing a series of vote models, and then looks at the relationship between leaders’ personalities and the vote. Each of the three British Election Studies are then analysed; only the BEPS study (which has the least comprehensive data set) indicates that leaders’ personalities had anything other than a marginal effect on the election outcome.
