Keeping public officials accountable through dialogue: resolving the accountability paradox

How can public officials be held accountable, and yet avoid the paradoxes and pathologies of the current mechanisms of accountability? The answer, claims Harmon (1995), is dialogue. But what exactly is dialogue, and how is it created? More importantly, how can dialogue ensure acountability. To address these questions, I begin with a brief description of dialogue and its basic features, distinguishing it from other forms of communication. An example illustrates how dialogue occurs in actual practice. Not only does dialogue demonstrate the intelligent management of contradictory motives and forces, it also supports Harmon's claim that it can resolve the accountability paradox and avoid the atrophy of personal responsibility and political authority. I suggest the dialogue's advantage outweighs its cost as a mechanism of accountability under a particular set of conditions: when public officials confront "wicked problems" that defy defnition and solution, and when traditional problem solving methods have failed, thus preventing any one group from imposing it definition of the problem or its solutions on others

Spanning "Bleeding" Boundaries: Humanitarianism, NGOs, and the Civilian-Military Nexus in the Post-Cold War Era

How do nongovernmental (NGO), international (IO), and military organizations cope with their dependencies and address their perceptual and real diff erences in order to coordinate their fi eld operations? Th is question is addressed through the creation of a matrix grouping civilian (NGOs and IOs) and military operations into four general types: peacekeeping; disaster relief; complex humanitarian emergencies/warfare; and stabilization and reconstruction. Second, using Galbraith’s information processing approach to organizational design, a range of formal coordination mechanisms that organizations use at the strategic and operational levels to help them cope with their dependencies in diff erent fi eld operations is identifi ed. Th ird, the author underscores how communities of practice are emerging as informal mechanisms of coordination among civilian and military organizations. And fi nally, a framework of organizational forms that views communities of practice as an alternative to hierarchy and markets is off ered. Believing communities of practice hold the most promise for coordination in the human security domain when hierarchies are politically untenable and markets lack accountability, the author concludes with implications for interorganization coordination research and practice

The dilemma of planning in large-scale public organizations: the case of the United States Navy

Planning enables organizations to coordinate their activities. Yet planning can have dysfunctional consequences, especially as organizations increase in size. If the requirements of the planning cycle exceed an organization's ability to respond in a timely fashion to its external environment, then the organization is forced to use alternative planning approaches. We first outline some alternatives developed in business and then illustrate how similar approaches have been used in the United States Navy. We conclude with recommendations for planning in other large-scale public organizations that need to compensate for size as they engage in organizational planning.N-OO

The vincennes incident: Another player on the stage

The article of record as published may be found at ttps://doi.org/10.1080/0743017950840564

ARE THERE ELECTRICAL DEVICES THAT CAN MEASURE THE BODY'S ENERGY STATE CHANGE TO AN ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT? Part l, The Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA-21J Device

The general field of energy medicine is growing strongly but is still in great need of reliable monitoring instruments to assess the relative energetic state of humans with respect to a health/pathology ratio. Two commercial instruments: Bio-Meridian's MSA-21 and Korotkov's GDV were selected for an in-parallel study of the following question, "Can they meaningfully discriminate the effects of acupuncture treatment on the body's energy state?" In this part 1 paper we discuss the results obtained by Bio-Meridian' MSA-21. the experimental design was to determine if the MSA-21 and the GDV could discern a quantifiable difference between an authentic acupuncture session and a sham acupuncture session for 34 subjects. The single research hypothesis was, "If energy is added to andlor redistributed in the body via true acupuncture needling, as contrasted with sham acupuncture needling, a worthy measurement instrument must (at least) be able to discriminate this energy change contrast in a statistically significant fashion." Indeed, the MSA-21 instrument passed this test in good order and provided much useful adjunct information as well

Dynamic Properties of Fine-Grained Coal Refuse

A simplified method of slope stability analysis is presented for upstream-constructed coal tailings dams subjected to earthquake shaking. The method employs a conventional method of slices approach, in which dynamic loads are represented as psuedostatic forces applied to each slice. Excess pore water pressures are estimated from cyclic triaxial tests performed on specimens of fine coal refuse. Cyclic triaxial test results are presented for fine coal refuse materials from six sites in the western Appalachian region. Measured excess pore water pressure values appear to be influenced by fine coal processing procedures, although material plasticity and grain characteristics are also important. Additional studies are ongoing

Communication in Young Children with Fragile X Syndrome: A Qualitative Study of Mothers’ Perspectives

Purpose: The purposes of the study were to provide descriptive and qualitative information about communication in young children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and about how families react to and accommodate communication differences in their children. Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 55 mothers of young children with FXS. Interviewers asked mothers to describe their children’s communication, strategies they used to help promote their children’s communication, communication-related frustrations, their expectations for their children and the roles that they perceive for themselves. Results: Over half the children were nonverbal and learning to communicate with augmentative or alternative communication (AAC). Mothers reported using strategies that were developmentally appropriate and recommended by early childhood experts, such as reading and talking to their children. Many mothers identified challenges faced in helping their child to communicate, and some cited difficulty obtaining speech-language services as a challenge. Mothers identified their roles as caregiver, teacher, therapist and advocate. Conclusions: The perspectives offered by mothers are valuable because they indicate how children with FXS communicate in natural contexts. Information about mothers’ expectations and roles may help clinicians to be sensitive to variables that will impact working with young children and their families.NIH P30 HD003110-38S1NIH P30 HD0252

Soil Application Effects of Metarhizium anisopliae on Japanese Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Behavior and Survival in Turfgrass Microcosms

The effect of mycelial and conidial formulations of the insect pathogenic fungi, M. anisopliae, on the survival and behavior Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, larvae and ovipositing adults in turfgrass-soil microcosms was explored. Changes in Japanese beetle grub feeding site selection on sod roots, movement patterns, and survival in Metarhizium anisopliae inoculated soil were examined in greenhouse studies and through the use of radiographic analysis in the laboratory. Our studies indicate that the application of mycelial particles in soil affected the behavior of both larval and adult Japanese beetles. Japanese beetle grubs avoided soil that contained high concentrations of pathogen for up to 20 d after application. Conversely, the incorporation of mycelial particles increased oviposition in both choice and no choice studies. Our findings on scarab response to inundative applications of M. anisopliae mycelium may help explain some of the inconsistency in results that often occur when fungal pathogens are used to control insects in the fiel

Cover Story: A Modus Vivendi? Sex, Marriage and the Church

The article presents divergent views on an analysis by historian Eamon Duffy of the Catholic Church\u27s response to shifting attitude towards sex and marriage in the West. Duffy noted that the church is increasingly confronted with the need to evolve a modus vivendi with social trends. Many Catholics are said to have disregarded the church\u27s teachings on sex and marriage. Other topics tackled include the increasing rate of divorce, premarital sex, same-sex unions and sexual education