Suchergebnisse

Abstract. Legislation has traditionally been studied from different but usually limited perspectives. To analyse the process of law‐making as an extended process including the causes as well as the consequences of legislation, the initiation as well as the implemention of legislative decisions, may contribute to a better understanding of the effects and limits of contemporary politics, to the meaning of different policy styles, and to the role of interest groups both before and after formal decision making has taken place. It may also sharpen our awareness of the basic assumptions from which participants in the political process proceed and direct our attention to changes in the prevailing patterns in political decision making and their possible consequences.

Since the left came to power in 1981, French labour legislation has been redrafted. The Auroux Laws revised two‐thirds of the Labour Code and so broadly extended the rights of workers and their representatives within companies. The right of direct expression has had effects that vary as a function of situations within each work environment. Variables include: the economic branch or sector, the level and nature of employee qualifications, the size and legal status of the firm, the history of production units and their personnel. The potential in terms of managerial practices and the problems of "direct management" are discussed in the light of how the formation of direct expression groups has affected the ways in which operations are run within companies and how this innovation satisfies the contradictory interests from which it has sprung.

The author looks at the process of compliance which local unions follow in response to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, analyzing local unions as organizations. Three models of compliance are presented: the voluntary model in which compliance is initiated and sustained through a voluntary and local process, the bureaucratic model in which compliance is initiated through the international union's program and sustained through the mechanisms of the bureaucracy of the international union, and the legal model in which the local union complies as a direct result of a change in the law. The results are that none of these models fit exactly. The greatest amount of compliant activity occurs when the process is quasi‐bureaucratic, that is, when it begins as a voluntary process, but relies on bureaucratic mechanisms for completion. The author finds two other factors which are associated in a strong and positive way with the amount of local union compliance: a great objective need for change and a great amount of controversy. The study is based on in‐depth interviews with forty‐seven local union leaders and on twenty interviews with international union leaders in eleven local unions.

Extending direct elections to the "county level people's congresses" and introducing "the practice of multiple candidates for each seat."

The Comprehensive Employment & Training Act (CETA), a governmental effort to improve the employment situation of disadvantaged workers in the 1970s & early 1980s, is analyzed with respect to the likely effectiveness of the Jobs Training Partnership Act (JPTA) that took effect in 1982. The history of CETA & its major differences with the JPTA are outlined. The results of 3 studies that used unpublished data from the Dept of Labor's Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey (N = 20,000) to analyze CETA's effect on its participants' postprogram earnings are summarized. Cost effectiveness is evaluated both in direct & indirect budgetary terms. As a training rather than employment program, JPTA was found to be beneficial to the economically disadvantaged. 5 Tables, 9 References. E. Riebeling.

Since the passage of the Pa Protection from Abuse Act in 1976, many states have enacted legislation to provide civil restraining orders for battered women. Offering a civil court alternative to criminal sanctions, these court-issued temporary or permanent orders direct an assailant to refrain from further abusive conduct. Interviews with abuse victims who had obtained restraining orders (N = 89) suggest that the orders are generally ineffective in reducing the rate of abuse or violence. However, in these cases, they were effective in reducing abuse for women with less serious histories of family violence or where the assailant was less violent in general. They were ineffective in stopping physical violence. Measures to improve restraining order mechanisms should: more clearly codify abuse & violence, improve access for those not married or cohabitating, streamline procedures & shorten waiting periods, address a full range of child-related concerns, strengthen sanctions, & mandate official responses to violations. Additionally, comprehensive legislation is needed to coordinate civil & criminal remedies. 4 Tables. Modified HA.

ABSTRACTLaw is an instrument which can be used by central government to influence its environment, including other levels of government. This paper examines a number of fundamental questions about the nature of legal influence upon local authorities in Britain. Legislation affects local authorities in a variety of ways: through making direct reference to local authority organisations and the services they provide; through affecting all large organisations, public or private; and through affecting the organisations and individuals with which local authorities interact. In the 1970s a large proportion of legislation was concerned with the financial aspects of local services. Relatively few laws make substantive changes in the legal framework within which local authorities operate and much legislation can be categorised as 'anodyne'. However, particular items of legislation can produce such substantive changes in public policies and in the powers of different organisations within government.