Evaluating the Expectations Disconfirmation and Expectations Anchoring Approaches to Citizen Satisfaction with Local Public Services

Expectations disconfirmation and expectations anchoring aretwo increasingly influential approaches to understanding individuals'satisfaction and dissatisfaction with public services. Thisarticle assesses hypotheses from these approaches for two localpublic services in England provided by local authorities: overallpublic services from the authority and household refuse collectionservices. Consistent with the expectations disconfirmation hypothesis,performance minus expectations is positively related to thepredicted probability of satisfaction and negatively relatedto predicted probability of dissatisfaction for both types ofservice. However, the relationship is not symmetric betweensatisfaction and dissatisfaction, the predicted probabilityof dissatisfaction falls more rapidly than the predicted probabilityof satisfaction rises as performance increasingly meets expectations.The expectations anchoring hypotheses receive support for dissatisfactionand partial support for satisfaction, with a general expectationsrelationship evident for overall services but only evident inthe case of very high expectations for waste services. The findingssuggest that expectations need to be taken into account alongsidemore conventionally understood factors in using satisfactionsurveys as a performance measure, especially if performanceis not potentially to be overestimated in areas with low expectationsor underestimated in areas with high expectations. Managingexpectations, as well as perceived performance, may be an effectivestrategy for local authorities to raise satisfaction, althoughthis may not be seen as desirable.     

Aestheticisation of Politics: From Fascism to Radical Democracy

The “aestheticisation of politics”, a term coined by Walter Benjamin, refers to a critique of various modes of politics considered to be irrational in leftist, critical theory. The critique ties aestheticised politics to fascism and capitalism, thereby precluding the conceptual possibility of a radical democratic aesthetic politics. This paper challenges that position first by working through Wolfgang Welsch’s semantic clarification of the term “aesthetics”, then by deriving different senses of “aestheticised politics” from the range of meanings given by Welsch. A typology of aestheticised politics, from fascist to communist, depicts the conceptual possibility of a radical democratic political aesthetics.     

The Political Economy of Employee Ownership in the United States: From Economic Democracy to Industrial Democracy?

This study examines the development of economic democracy in the United States since the 1700s with particular emphasis on the last 30 years. The particular focus is on employee ownership, although the phenomenon of profit sharing receives some attention. The nature of research and documentation on the subject is reviewed. The study concludes that research in the area has emphasized narrative studies of particular companies and sectors until the 1980s. At that time the support for the concept by the US Federal Government created reporting requirements for companies to the US Department of Labor and the US Internal Revenue Service (the taxation authority) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These data-sets have made systematic research on the phenomenon possible. Results of the first national random sample of employed individuals and work sites on the incidence of employee ownership and profit sharing are presented. Finally, we conduct a political economic analysis of the phenomenon. We demonstrate that, despite the growth of employee ownership in particular, a form of employee ownership has developed which encourages workers to use their savings to buy stock in their companies. This form dominates employee ownership in terms of the number of workers, firms, and dollar assets involved. Nevertheless, there is significant employee ownership in a group of closely held firms that use traditional ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) and in a group of publicly traded high technology companies that use broad-based stock options. These two sectors offer fertile territory for the development of both economic democracy and nascent forms of industrial democracy.     

Toward A Renewed Sociological Jurisprudence: From Roscoe Pound to Herbert Blumer and Beyond

This article, based on the Distinguished Lecture presented on August 21, 2001, at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction in Anaheim, California, proposes a synthesis of Herbert Blumer's macrosociological perspective on the race question with Roscoe Pound's philosophy and science of law (i.e., his so‐called sociological jurisprudence), Joseph Tussman's and Jacobus tenBroek's juridical methodology, and Philip Selznick's sociology of responsive law. The compound so produced will help to establish a foundation for a praxiological sociology of American constitutional law. The article focuses on the problem of legislative‐made “classifications” and their relations to the legitimate public purposes entailed in the enactment of statutes, laws, and decrees. Such classifications become problematic when they are said to be “underinclusive,” “over‐inclusive,” or both in seeking to effect their aims. Strategic research sites for this issue are racial and ethnic classifications that single out one or a limited cluster of racial or ethnic groups for special benefits (“affirmative action”) or restitution (“reparations”). Calling for a reinvigoration of Pound's pragmatic approach to sociological jurisprudence, I show how Blumer's analysis of the “color line”—when seen in relation to the original intent of the makers of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth post‐Civil War Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and, using Tussman's and tenBroek's showing of how such categorizations might be both methodically evaluated and applied to the challenged classifications—provides grounds for reconsidering whether the latter are instances of “reverse discrimination” and, hence, violations of the constitutional requirement of “equal protection of the law.” The science of law is a science of social engineering having to do with that part of the whole field which may be achieved by the ordering of human relations through the action of politically organized society. —Roscoe Pound, Justice According to Law We did not hold it necessary to wait for nature to put a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and we shall not much longer hold it necessary to wait for nature to dig the legal canals that will give security to neglected human interests which clamor for recognition and protection. —Roscoe Pound, “Juristic Problems of National Progress”     

Empowering Communities Through Public Work,Science, and Local Food Systems: Revisiting Democracy and Globalization*

Abstract Communities are the foundation of our society and of our overall well‐being. Unfortunately they are experiencing rapid transformations that may significantly erode their capacity to remain viable and sustainable both domestically and internationally. Issues of empowering communities are examined in regard to social justice, challenges to democracy, and globalization of the economy and other sectors of society. It is argued that the ways in which we view and structure work, generate and disseminate knowledge through science and technology, and produce, distribute, and consume food are essential factors affecting our self‐identity and the empowerment of our communities. How we shape decisions and actions around work, science and technology, and food, as well as other key factors affecting our communities, is crucial to achieving a just and sustainable agenda for the future. Finally, it is proposed that all citizens be engaged in a procedural process called discourse ethics, which is guided by the principles of justice, recognition, respect, and accountability.     

公共讨论与协商民主：基于高校网络BBS的公众参与

本文以南京大学小百合BBS使用者在“汉口路西延事件”中的参与为个案，通过问卷调查、深度访谈和文本分析探讨了大学生网民如何在事件公共化的基础上通过公共讨论、公共协商对公共决策产生影响的可能。研究发现。基于BBS的公共讨论凝聚了网民的公共表达和利益诉求，是一种议题式的公众参与。网络公共讨论促使事件公共化形成压力效应，在一定现实行动的互动下使决策部门启动协商对话并作出公共决策的调整。     

Institutional Change and Coproduction of Public Services: The Effect of Charter Schools on Parental Involvement

Recent discussions of school choice have revived arguments thatthe decentralization of governing institutions can enhance thequality of public services by increasing the participation ofintended beneficiaries in the production of those services.We use data from the Schools and Staffing Survey to examinethe extent to which the decentralization of authority to charterschools induces parents to become more involved in their children'sschools. We find that parents are indeed more involved in charterschools than in observationally similar public schools, especiallyin urban elementary and middle schools. Although we find thatthis difference is partly attributable to measurable institutionaland organizational factors, we also find that charter schoolstend to be established in areas with above-average proportionsof involved parents, and we find suggestive evidence that, withinthose areas, it is the more involved parents who tend to selectinto charter schools. Thus, while the institutional characteristicsof charter schools do appear to induce parents to become moreinvolved in their children's schools, such characteristics areonly part of the explanation for the greater parental involvementin charter schools than in traditional public schools.     

Remembering the Public in Public Relations Research: From Theoretical to Operational Symmetry

In an attempt to reconcile public relations research with a range of critical concerns, J. Grunig and colleagues have proposed a two-way symmetrical model that reformulates public relations as a more inclusive, balanced, and ethical practice. A contradiction exists, however, between two-way symmetrical theory and the asymmetrical research agenda it perpetuates: an agenda that continues to subsidize commercial and state communications at the expense of other segments of the population. To achieve real inclusion and balance in public relations, research must begin to address the public communications needs and constraints of previously excluded segments of the population     

The Theory That Won't Die: From Mass Society to the Decline of Social Capital

Though it lacks adequate empirical support, the hypothesis of declining social attachments as a source of American social problems persists. Both mass society theory in the mid-twentieth century and the theory of declining social capital in the late-twentieth century have had broad appeal. This paper demonstrates the continuities in argument and assumptions between these two theories as well as the modifications of the theory in the face of cultural change. It suggests that some of the weaknesses in the theory of decreasing social capital can be traced to the assumptions it shares with mass society theory—assumptions rooted in concerns about individualism.     

From Support to Control: A Configurational Perspective on Conjugal Quality

The topic of conjugal quality provides an empirical illustration of the relevance of the configurational perspective on families. On the basis of a longitudinal sample of 1,534 couples living in Switzerland drawn from the study “Social Stratification, Cohesion and Conflict in Contemporary Families,” we show that various types of interdependencies with relatives and friends promote distinct conflict management strategies for couples as well as unequal levels of conjugal quality. We find that configurations characterized by supportive and noninterfering relationships with relatives and friends for both partners are associated with higher conjugal quality, whereas configurations characterized by interference are associated with lower conjugal quality.     

From Engagement to Co-production: The Contribution of Users and Communities to Outcomes and Public Value

User and community co-production has always been important, but rarely noticed. However, there has recently been a movement towards seeing co-production as a key driver for improving publicly valued outcomes, e.g. through triggering behaviour change and preventing future problems. However, citizens are only willing to co-produce in a relatively narrow range of activities that are genuinely important to them and are keen that their co-production effort is not wasted by public agencies. Moreover, there are concerns that co-production may involve greater risks than professionalised service provision, although services may be quality assured more successfully through involving users and embedding them in the community. While offering potential significant improvements in outcomes, and cost savings, co-production is not resource-free. Co-production may be ??value for money??, but it usually cannot produce value without money.     

公共行政视角下兰斯塔德区域规划及启示

荷兰兰斯塔德地区是国际多中心城镇群的典范,拥有着丰富的区域协调规划经验。鉴于兰斯塔德的区域规划顶层设计基本架构特征,从公共行政视角分析兰斯塔德的区域规划特征,了解兰斯塔德在区域协调中的现状障碍。文章重点介绍兰斯塔德在面临区域问题中公共行政所进行的改革策略,展现政府为实现区域规划在配置空间资源与分配社会经济资源等过程中所面临的选择与尝试,最后总结了该区域的经验教训并提出了可供参考的借鉴与建议。     

From White to Western: "Racial Decline" and the Idea of the West in Britain, 1890–1930

Abstract Drawing on British works of imperial and social commentary, this article shows how a literature of white crisis emerged between 1890–1930. It was a literature that, whilst claiming to defend and affirm white identity, in fact exposed the limits of whiteness as a form of social solidarity. It is shown how these studies drew together a variety of challenges deemed to be facing the white race and, more specifically, how they exhibited a contradictory desire to defend white racial community whilst attacking "the masses". The idea of the West, developing alongside, within and in the wake of this crisis literature, provided a less racially reductive but not necessarily less socially exclusive identity.     

Public Knowledge and Attitudes to HIV: Research From Three Decades in Sweden

The overarching objective of this article is to describe the Swedish public's knowledge about HIV and attitudes toward people living with HIV during the period 1987–2011. Within the framework of this objective, the article also directs a special focus at the association between knowledge about HIV transmission and attitudes toward people who are HIV positive. The study is based on the results of a questionnaire sent to a stratified random sample on eight occasions between 1987 and 2011. The study population comprises the Swedish general public aged 16–44 and is stratified on the basis of the respondents' age, with each of five age groups (16–17, 18–19, 20–24, 25–34, and 35–44) comprising 20% of the study respondents. A total of 21,027 individuals have completed the questionnaire in the eight surveys. The survey instrument is relatively short and comprises 27 questions on knowledge, attitudes and sexual behaviour relating to HIV. The eight surveys show that the public's knowledge about HIV and its different transmission routes is high and has increased over time. Above all there has been an increase in the level of knowledge about how HIV is not transmitted between people. However, the public's knowledge about the infectiousness of individuals receiving treatment for HIV infection is low. Public attitudes toward people with HIV have also undergone a clear shift over time, toward increased tolerance and a decline in the level of fear, especially in social situations. Despite this, a residual suspicion and stigmatisation can be seen in the public's attitudes to people who are HIV positive. This is most obvious from the questions that link HIV to sexuality and here the changes are very modest over time. Public knowledge about HIV and its transmission routes has increased between 1987 and 2011. Attitudes toward people who are HIV positive have generally become more tolerant and positive, not least in relation to different social situations. The fear of becoming infected has declined. At the same time there remains a stigma, which continues to direct suspicion at people who are living with HIV and to ascribe them negative characteristics and behaviors that are based on prejudice. The results show, however, that the public's attitudes toward same-sex relationships are clearly more accepting today than they were previously, and that the symbolic association between HIV and this group is tending to become weaker.     

Imagining the Good Place: Public Services and Family Strategies in Rural Ecuador

Recent scholarship seeks to lift up alternatives to neoliberalism that build community well‐being and a sense of place. This study follows three families in a rural highland Ecuadorean community and their investments in human capital, family businesses, and migration. It applies a human ecological model to show how complex ideologies around community well‐being, such as buen vivir (living well), are articulated at the macroscale and experienced at the meso‐ and microscales through investments in public services and their impact on rural families. Our collaborative ethnography elevates families’ voices to show how they both experience and envision community well‐being. We incorporate human capabilities and a community capitals framework to show how investments and ideologies flow across scales. We highlight the role of local social capital and regional territorial dynamics that support both economic growth and social inclusion. Our collaborative ethnography illustrates how rural residents imagine the good place (buen lugar), a resilient foundation from which they can build their family strategies. However, we find that lack of political and financial investment truncates active citizenship at the local scale, limiting the ability to achieve the full promise of buen vivir.     

公共服务均等化的发展困局与效率提升——英国的经验及启示

提要：英国在二战后通过政府的全面介入,初步实现了基本公共服务的均等化,然而政府包揽模式所存在的效率低下问题,使其在70年代政府财政缩减的情况下陷入严重的困境。英国由此推行准市场化改革,显著地提升了公共服务均等化的运行效率,有力地保证了均等化的持续发展。其历史经验、政策思路和制度设计安排值得我们借鉴。     

From Charisma to Cant: Models of Public Speaking in Early Soviet Russia

The travel accounts of Filipp Efremov, a Russian soldier who was taken prisoner in Central Asia in 1774 and Vasilii Golovnin, a naval officer who became a prisoner of the Japanese in 1811 are two works which have thus far received little attention from literary scholars but which deserve to be included in the history of Russian travel literature. This study approaches the two narratives as literature rather than documents of history; it explores the relationship between the literary travel account and that of the newly developing genre of the novel, analyzing such elements as plot, narrative technique, character development, themes, and setting. The presence of an underlying literary tension within each narrative resulting from the subtle clash of the objective informational aspects of the account and the author’s subjective personal story is considered as well.