Social dilemmas: When self-control benefits cooperation

Individuals in a social dilemma may experience a self-control conflict between urges to act selfishly and their better judgment to cooperate. Pairing a public goods game with a subtle framing technique, we test whether perception of self-control conflict strengthens the association between self-control and cooperation. Consistent with our hypothesis, cooperative behavior is positively associated with self-control in the treatment that raised the relative likelihood of perceiving conflict, but not associated with self-control in the treatment that lowered the likelihood. These results indicate that it is important to understand the role of self-control in cooperation.     

论公共政策效能的衰减机制

公共政策效能衰减分为有效衰减和无效衰减两种形式。公共政策效能有效衰减是公共政策效能运行规律的反映,而无效衰减是在公共政策效能没有正常释放的情况下发生的,是影响公共政策目标实现的主要因素。公共政策共同体中,不同行为主体之间行为取向的多元化和行为方式的分散化是公共政策效能无效衰减的主要原因。公共政策共同体中各行为主体以理解为目的的交往活动,是减少公共政策效能无效衰减的重要途径。现有制度设计上的不完善,导致公共权力一定程度上的垄断化、碎片化和异质化,这是造成公共政策效能无效衰减的根本的原因。打造有利于公共政策共同体中各行为主体在平等互动基础上的有效的和全方位、深层次交往的制度性平台,实现公共权力在组织上、资源上和功能上的整合是克服公共政策效能无效衰减的根本途径。     

集体所有、村委管理与村民的行政诉讼原告资格——兼论“村”的公法人地位

村民是否有资格对村委会的集体财产处分行为提起诉讼,是当下我国村民自治实践中急待解决的法律问题。在实证法没有明文规定的背景下,法院都把集体财产处分纠纷作为民事案件处理,但对村民的原告资格问题却给出了两种相互矛盾的回答。而且,不管法院是肯定还是否定村民的原告资格,都分别隐含了把集体财产等同于村民共有财产,或者把"村"定性为私法人的理论错误,充分暴露了村民原告资格在民事诉讼制度框架下的解释困境。实际上,对依据法律和政府行为设立并承担大量公共管理职能的"村",我们只有把它定性为大陆法国家行政法上的公法人才是准确的。一旦恢复"村"的公法人面貌和地位,把村委会处分集体财产纠纷纳入行政诉讼,集体财产的均等分配性特征使村民个人和集体财产之间构成"法律上利害关系",每个村民对集体财产处分行为就都具有行政诉讼原告资格。     

民主、信息公开与国家治理模式的变迁

在很长一段历史时间内,信息公开与民主制度并无关联,因为"精英民主"模式通常与保密文化密切相关,它既不鼓励公民参与,也不希望公民知悉政府的信息。直到参与式民主在近几十年取得主流话语权,信息公开才与公共参与一道成为民主制度不可或缺的组成部分。中国《政府信息公开条例》的实施,不仅有利于国家治理模式的转变,而且未来必将有助于民主的发展。     

Assessing state substance abuse prevention infrastructure through the lens of CSAP's Strategic Prevention Framework

Although the organizational structures and operating procedures of state substance abuse prevention systems vary substantially across states, there is scant empirical research regarding approaches for rigorous assessment of system attributes and which attributes are most conducive to overall effectiveness. As one component of the national cross-site evaluation of the SPF State Incentive Grant Program (SPF SIG), an instrument was developed to assess state substance abuse prevention system infrastructure in order to measure infrastructure change and examine the role of state infrastructure in achieving prevention-related outcomes. In this paper we describe the development of this instrument and summarize findings from its baseline administration. As expected, states and territories were found to vary substantially with respect seven key characteristics, or domains, of state prevention infrastructure. Across the six domains that were assessed using numeric ratings, states scored highest on data systems and lowest on strategic planning. Positive intercorrelations were observed among these domains, indicating that states with high capacity on one domain generally have relatively high capacity on other domains as well. The findings also suggest that state prevention infrastructure development is linked to both funding from state government and the presence of a state interagency coordinating body with decision-making authority. The methodology and baseline findings presented will be used to inform the ongoing national cross-site evaluation of the SPF SIG and may provide useful information to guide further research on state substance abuse prevention infrastructure.     

Process evaluation of an environmental walking and healthy eating pilot in small rural worksites

Small Steps are Easier Together (SS) was a pilot environmental intervention in small rural worksites in Upstate New York in collaboration with Extension educators. Worksite leaders teamed with co-workers to select and implement environmental changes to increase walking steps over individual baseline and to choose healthy eating options over 10 weeks. Participants were 226 primarily white, women employees in 5 sites. A mixed methods process evaluation, conducted to identify determinants of intervention effectiveness and to explain differences in outcomes across worksites, included surveys, self-reports of walking and eating, interviews, focus groups, and an intervention log. The evaluation assessed reach, characteristics of recruited participants, dose delivered, dose received, and context and compared sites on walking and eating outcomes. Emergent elements of participant-reported dose received included: active leadership, visible environmental changes, critical mass of participants, public display of accomplishments, accountability to co-workers, and group decision making. Participants at sites with high reach and dose were significantly more likely than sites with low reach and dose to achieve intervention goals. Although this small pilot needs replication, these findings describe how these evaluation methods can be applied and analyzed in an environmental intervention and provide information on trends in the data.     

The unique effects of environmental strategies in health promotion campaigns: a review

Various strategies are used as tools in health promotion campaigns to increase health-related outcomes among target populations. Evaluations of these campaigns examine effects on changing people's knowledge, attitudes, and/or behaviors. Most evaluations examine the combined impact of multiple strategies. Less is known about the unique effects of particular strategies. To address this gap, we used highly systematic methods to identify and review scientifically rigorous evaluations of 18 campaigns that examined the unique effects of three sets of intervention strategies (entertainment education, law enforcement, and mass media) on changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practice with regard to various health behaviors. Results showed differences in evaluation processes based on the type of strategy used to promote campaign messages. For instance, evaluations of mass-media based campaigns were more likely to examine changes in knowledge, relative to evaluations of campaigns that used law enforcement strategies. In addition, campaign effects varied by particular strategies. Mass media-based campaigns were more likely to affect knowledge, relative to behaviors. Law enforcement and entertainment education-based campaigns showed positive effects on behaviors. The implications for planning and evaluating health promotion campaigns are described.     

Development of professional roles in the practice of public relations in Chile

Using survey responses of 577 public relation practitioners, this article examines role conceptions in Chilean public relations, as well as the effects that different individual and organizational factors have on their professional worldviews. The results show that how Chilean practitioners perceive their roles can be grouped into four different types: the long-term strategic, the short-term technical, the passive-complaisant, and the active-vigilant. In general terms, Chilean public relations practitioners distance themselves from the passive-complaisant role, giving greater importance to the other three. The findings also reveal that gender, education level, job commitment, perceived autonomy, organization type, and geographical location are the factors that better predict Chilean PR professional roles, while hierarchy level and organization's reach do not directly affect their perceptions.     

Trains,chains, blame,and elephant appeal: A case study of the public relations significance of Mary the Elephant

Using the media coverage of the hanging of Mary the Elephant, the purposes of this article are to discuss the major implications of the press agentry model of public relations, the impact of corporate decisions on the reputation of its surrounding community, and how the values related to societal issues such as animal cruelty change over time. Findings reveal that public pressure, intense police attention, and the counsel of a master press agent led the circus owner to make the decision to hang Mary and ultimately adulterate the reputation of the town of Erwin, Tennessee indefinitely.     

Farmers,trust, and the market solution to water pollution: The role of social embeddedness in water quality trading

Water quality trading (WQT) is a market arrangement in which a point-source water polluter pays farmers to implement conservation practices and claims the resulting benefits as credits toward meeting a pollution permit. Success rates of WQT programs nationwide are highly variable. Most of the literature on WQT is from an economic perspective emphasizing property rights, transaction costs, and the role of the price signal, but this institutional approach cannot fully account for the differential success rates between and within WQT programs. In this paper I turn to the role of social embeddedness and trust in helping explain these variable outcomes. Using interview data from all WQT programs nationwide I demonstrate that differential success rates between, and particularly within programs is largely determined by the presence or absence of a trusted local intermediary with relationships to the farming community. Trust helps WQT programs succeed because it makes information more credible to farmers, makes outreach to farmers more efficient, and buffers the risk that farmers may perceive in participating in the trading scheme.