Doctor/politician. Physicians often shocked by political reality

What motivates doctors to get into politics? Some say it's a broader sense of accomplishment--helping not only patients, but society as a whole. Learn how some doctor/politicians got into the game, and what they're learning as they play it.     

Mission Impossible? Defining Nongovernmental Organizations

This paper provides a synopsis of current interpretations of the term nongovernmental organization (NGO). Although NGOs have become recognized actors in international affairs, particularly over the last decade, it has not yet been clearly defined what the term NGO encompasses. It is argued that two major tracks of NGO interpretations can be distinguished: the juridical approach, and the sociological perspective. In juridical studies, the emphasis is placed on the legal status of NGOs in the national context and their implications for international law. Sociological works, instead, are based on studies of societal actors, and try to capture the term while examining more specifically the composition and functions of NGOs in the transnational arena. Acknowledging both tracks, the paper concludes with a comprehensive definition of the term NGO.     

The Gambling Self-Efficacy Questionnaire: An Initial Psychometric Evaluation

Instruments to assess individuals' self-efficacy for the control of addictive behaviors have been useful for monitoring behavior change, predicting maintenance of treatment gains, and identifying potential relapse situations. The Gambling Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GSEQ) was developed to assess perceived self-efficacy to control gambling behavior. A demographically diverse sample of 309 adult gamblers completed an initial set of 42 items, of which 16 were selected to form the final version of the GSEQ. The GSEQ showed high internal consistency ( = .96) and good test-retest reliability (r = .86). A factor analysis provided some support for a unitary factor structure. As expected, GSEQ scores were negatively correlated with reports of problematic gambling behavior. Participants experiencing problems related to their gambling behavior scored significantly lower on the GSEQ than those who were not experiencing gambling problems. This psychometric examination of the GSEQ supported its potential utility for treatment planning and outcome evaluation with problem gamblers.     

Urban Dispersal in Australia

In a recent issue of the Journal, Professor R. E. Lonsdale argued that the relatively successful American experience of decentralization suggests serious difficulties in attempting a comparable programme in Australia. His comparisons, while illuminating many of the problems which must be faced by a realistic regional development policy, are unduly pessimistic in their assessment of the Australian situation. The barriers to urban dispersal in Australia lie less in economic and social conditions than in political attitudes and governmental structures.     

Familism Values,Perspective Taking,and Prosocial Moral Reasoning: Predicting Prosocial Tendencies Among Mexican American Adolescents

Mexican American youth often engage in relatively high levels of prosocial behaviors. We theorize that this may be due to a cultural value system that encourages familism values, which, in turn, may foster the development of sociocognitive processes that promote prosocial behaviors. Two hundred and five Mexican American early adolescent youth (M_age = 10.9 years, SD = 0.84; 51% girls) reported their familism values, perspective taking, prosocial moral reasoning, and six types of prosocial behaviors. The results indicated that perspective taking partially mediated the relation between familism values and the specific prosocial tendencies theoretically linked to the Mexican American culture. The study demonstrated the utility of integrating cultural and traditional developmental mechanisms in attempting to explain prosocial behaviors.     

“THE WAR FOR THE FARE”: HOW DRIVER COMPENSATION AFFECTS BUS SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

Prior to 2007, two systems of bus driver compensation coexisted in Santiago, Chile: one paid drivers per passenger transported, while the other paid a fixed wage. Per‐passenger drivers engaged in “The War for the Fare,” altering their driving patterns to compete for passengers. Examining these systems on similar routes in Santiago, we observed two key findings. Compared with the fixed‐wage system, the per‐passenger system leads to (1) 13% shorter passenger wait times, via reduced bunching of buses and (2) 67% more accidents per kilometer driven, via more aggressive driving. We discuss implications for the design of incentives in public transit. (JEL L92, M52, R41)     

Engaging Indigenous Communities: Towards a Policy Framework for Indigenous Community Justice Programmes

Community engagement has come to the fore as a policy and programme approach that seeks to connect citizens both with each other and with government in order to deliver improved social and economic opportunities and outcomes. This model has become a key aspect of the intervention approach within Indigenous communities and is seen to have particular application in addressing community justice issues. This article examines a suite of community justice initiatives being used in Indigenous communities in Australia with a view to ascertaining how the principles of community engagement are operationalized. The article draws on this information and argues that community engagement is only one aspect of a number of community‐oriented justice initiatives currently being applied. These initiatives range from concepts of community as a location, community as an interest group, and the leveraging of community capital so as to tap into and build better and stronger relationships. In so doing, the latter attempts to increase the social infrastructure, resources and capacity of communities. However, despite government attention in this area, there is a lack of a policy and programmatic framework to guide a coherent and apposite approach to issues of community in specific policy settings. The article contributes to the development of a framework that begins the process of differentiating and assessing justice administration interventions.