Determinants of Citizen Usage Intentions in e-Government: An Empirical Analysis

Local governments have implemented official websites, making e-Government a holistic access platform for modern public administration service provision. However, academic and managerial knowledge about the success of e-Government remains limited. Given that citizen needs have become a focus of interest, it is reasonable to investigate its success factors from a user-oriented perspective. Existing scientific knowledge does not comprehensively explain the usage intentions of today’s heterogeneous e-Government city portal users. Hence, this study conceptualizes important determinants of local e-Government portals identifying key factors that determine intention to use from a citizen viewpoint.     

Outcomes for children's health and well‐being

Health outcomes are implicit in the government's major policies on reducing poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, and in environmental regeneration, as well as in explicitly targeted policies for modernising the National Health Service. The impact of policies in childhood are regarded as a key feature in determining socioeconomic outcomes in many domains, among which mental health plays a particularly important part. But although early intervention is recognised as crucial in the achievement of socioeconomic and health policy aims, outcomes in children and for children have only recently received full recognition. This article outlines the impact that government policies may have on health outcomes for children. However, the assessment of changes in health status is difficult and mostly relies on proxy measures. The evidence that any changes can be related to policy is extremely limited and mostly based on small‐scale and locally specific projects. What can be learnt from these and from collective analysis of linked projects, such as those funded through the CAMHS Innovation Grant, is discussed. Because of the attention paid by the government to evidence‐based policy, outcomes in all domains will become known before long for major national children's policy initiatives such as the Sure Start programme, highlighting the crucial and continuing need for evaluation of the ways in which policies are implemented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The education of the American political elite: 1949–2001

The two primary objectives of the paper are to develop a more complete and precise profile of the educational experiences of national political leaders and to use that profile to illuminate several significant aspects of the American educational system and process. The universe of the study consists of 578 presidents, vice-presidents, cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and congressional leaders in office from the beginning of the first full Truman administration in early 1949 through the end of the second Clinton administration in early 2001. Among the principal conclusions are that a graduate or professional degree is a prerequisite for attaining high-public office and that political elites are more extensively, but less exclusively, educated than top leaders of other sectors of American society. Twelve American universities, and one foreign institution, have had a consistently disproportionate impact on elite education for a long period of time. Having a law school significantly enhances an institution's contribution to elite education. The training of the American political elite is characterized by both institutional pluralism and homogeneity.     

The M/V Selendang Ayu disaster: Linkages between policy change, gaps, and crises

The 2004 M/V Selendang Ayu grounding in the Aleutian Islands was the worst spill disaster to hit Alaska coastal waters since the 1989 Exxon Valdez catastrophe. The grounding – resulting in several crew member deaths and 354,000 gallons of spilled diesel fuel – left stakeholders asking some basic questions. How could such a tragedy have happened? Was the tragedy a result of shortcomings in the existing policy? This case study suggests answers can be found through an examination of the linkages between crisis catalysts, policy change and subsequent gaps in statutory provisions.