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Since its election in 1997 the Labour government has emphasized the need for greater ethnic diversity in the public sector, a priority which has become even more pronounced since the publication of the Macpherson Report (1999). One of the key means of achieving this goal has been the use of positive action, within a policy of 'race' equality mainstreaming. This article, drawn from a national mail survey and a supporting interview survey, suggests that this approach may fail in the National Health Service at least, owing to the suspicion that positive action naturally leads to positive discrimination. Ironically, it may be easier to take a more radical route by introducing ethnic components to selection criteria and processes, than to adopt its current strategy. Ultimately, it is argued, diversity should not be used to overcome a recruitment crisis, nor should it be employed as a cynical means of pushing responsibility on to minority ethnic communities.

This article explores the impact of changes in government housing policy on the availability of refuge and move-on accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. The residualisation of council housing and the greater involvement of housing associ ations in the provision of social housing is discussed in the context of refuge provision in Wales. Refuge provision in partnership with hous ing associations is increasing. The provision of move-on accommo dation is inadequate and only a minority of women and children leaving refuges is rehoused by local authorities or housing associ ations. Policies of housing providers towards women who are home less as a result of domestic violence vary and in some parts of Wales the prospects for rehousing are far better than in others. Increasing homelessness and reduced funding for local authority housing mean that the housing needs of women and children escaping domestic violence are not being met.

In this volume Dr Seal analyses the social roots of the rather confused stirrings towards political organisations of the 1870s and 1880s which brought about the foundation of the Indian National Congress. He is concerned not only with the politicians, viceroys and civil servants but with the social structure of those parts of India where political movements were most prominent at the time. The emphasis of this work is more upon Indian politics than upon British policy: the associations in Bengal and Bombay, the genesis of the Congress and the Muslim breakaway which accentuated the political divisions in India

Is the political support for welfare policy higher or lower in less egalitarian societies? We answer the question using a model of welfare policy as publicly financed insurance that pays benefits in a redistributive manner. When voters have both redistributive and insurance motives for supporting welfare spending, the effect of inequality depends on how benefits are targeted. Greater inequality increases support for welfare expenditures when benefits are targeted to the employed but decreases support when benefits are targeted to those without earnings. With endogenous targeting, support for benefits to those without earnings declines as inequality increases, whereas support for aggregate spending is a V-shaped function of inequality. Statistical analysis of welfare expenditures in advanced industrial societies provides support for key empirical implications of the model. (American Political Science Review / FUB)

Examines expanding pattern of harassment and intimidation of independent journalists, political activists, and members of nongovernmental organizations; implications for institutional development and for US policy.

This report discusses congress and its broad interests in human rights issues in china's far western region. It also points out implication for U.S. Policy and Political and Economic Issues.

Domestic achievements of the Spanish Workers' Party. Partial contents: Racial tensions in Melilla and Ceuta; The armed forces and the police; The economy; Foreign policy; Membership in the EEC.

This book explains why reactive conflict spillovers (political violence in response to conflicts abroad) occur in some migrant-background communities in the West. Based on survey data, statistical datasets, more than sixty interviews with Muslim community leaders and activists, ethnographic research in London and Detroit, and open-source data, this book develops a theoretical explanation for how both differences in government policies and features of migrant-background communities interact to influence the nature of foreign-policy focused activism in migrant communities. Utilizing rigorous, mixed-methods case study analysis, the author comparatively analyses the reactions of the Pakistani community in London and the Arab Muslim community in Detroit to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq during the decade following 9/11. Both communities are politically mobilized and active. However, while London has experienced reactive conflict spillover, Detroit has remained largely peaceful. The key findings show that, with regards to activism in response to foreign policy events, Western Muslim communities primarily politically mobilize on the basis of their ethnic divisions. Nevertheless, one notable exception is the Arab-Israeli conflict, which is viewed through the Islamic lenses; and the common Islamic identity is important in driving mobilization domestically in response to Islamophobia, and counterterrorism policies and practices perceived to be discriminatory.

Change from a Social-Democratic/Liberal to a Christian-Democratic/Liberal ruling coalition, 1982, and a turning-point in the relations between government and unions.

The government of the Chuvash Republic, an ethno-federal region of the Russian Federation, used a targeted and symbolic language policy in an attempt to stabilize the position of the republic's titular language while avoiding conflict with local Russophones and the Russian federal government. The resulting policy allowed the republic's government to frame the existence of an autonomous Chubash republic-as well as the local elite's form of governance-as being essential to the preservation of the Chuvash language and thus the Chuvash people. In this way, it used language politics to strengthen its position vis-à-vis both local constituents and the Russian federal government. However, the limited nature of the government's program has made its gains tenuous in the face of continuing Russian political and cultural recentralization. (Nationalities Papers)

This article considers the work of American think tanks in foreign policy-making immediately before and during World War ii. It argues that two well established organizations, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Institute of Pacific Relations, were particularly influential. Both became involved in government planning for future u.s. policy in East Asia through their wartime programs. They collaborated with official u.s. government planners through outsourcing projects, hosted official and unofficial discussion groups and conferences, supported networking, and funded policy-relevant research and publications. The activities of these two organizations helped to define the range of policy options planners and politicians considered, include the ideas of outside experts into the work of government, and facilitate cooperation between the United States and its allies on postwar planning. The interaction between the u.s. government and interwar think tanks had a lasting impact on American-East Asian relations.

It is often difficult for external agents understanding to what extent the preferences of a government are directed towards welfare enhancing policies and reforms. I develop a principal-agent model in which a domestic lobby attempts to in.uence the government.s policy choices by means of monetary transfers while the weight the government attaches to public welfare is private information. I observe that asymmetric information generally leads to a larger policy distortion in equilibrium. This simple setting serves as a benchmark for the comparison with a commom agency framework. An International Financial Institution giving policy conditional aid to the government is included as an additional principle in the analysis. Its policy objective is in conflict with the lobby's one. Whether the equilibrium distortion results lower or higher depends on the range of uncertainty over the government's preferences and on the degree of benevolence of the government.

It is often difficult for external agents understanding to what extent the preferences of a government are directed towards welfare enhancing policies and reforms. I develop a principal-agent model in which a domestic lobby attempts to in.uence the government.s policy choices by means of monetary transfers while the weight the government attaches to public welfare is private information. I observe that asymmetric information generally leads to a larger policy distortion in equilibrium. This simple setting serves as a benchmark for the comparison with a commom agency framework. An International Financial Institution giving policy conditional aid to the government is included as an additional principle in the analysis. Its policy objective is in conflict with the lobby's one. Whether the equilibrium distortion results lower or higher depends on the range of uncertainty over the government's preferences and on the degree of benevolence of the government.