Suchergebnisse

IN 1991, MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER ITS LAST MAJOR REFORM, THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS ONCE AGAIN TURNED ITS ATTENTION TO ITS INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS. THE 1970S REFORMS HAD BEEN HAILED AS USHERING IN A NEW ERA OF CONGRESSIONAL ASSERTION AND COMPETENCE, BUT BY THE 1990S WERE SEEN AS HAVING MADE MINIMAL IMPROVEMENT IN SOME AREAS WHILE FAILING UTTERLY IN OTHERS. MUCH ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF REFORM, BUT LITTLE TO THE INTELLECTUAL SEEKS TO REMEDY THIS BY EXPLORING THE THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF THE 1946 AND MID-1970S REFORMS. THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT TWO STREAMS OF THOUGHT INFORM THESE EFFORTS, ONE CENTERED IN RATIONALITY AND EFFICIENCY, THE OTHER IN DEMOCRATIZATION.

THE AUTHOR DISAGREES WITH PER RONNAS AND ORJAN SJOBERG'S ANALYSIS OF THE PROSPECTS FOR CONTINUED REFORM IN VIETNAM. RONNAS AND SJOBERG HAVE STATED THAT VIETNAM'S ECONOMIC REFORMS CANNOT CONTINUE TO BE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT MEANINGFUL POLITICAL CHANGE. HOWEVER, IN THIS ESSAY, THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT VIETNAMESE POLITICAL REFORM IS CURRENTLY UNDESIRABLE.

Judges are important not only as initiators & proponents of court reform; they are also central to its implementation. It has been proposed that judges assume a role that would also make them important instruments of reform. Recent proposals for greater judicial intervention in pretrial processing of civil cases are examined here; the degree to which these would represent a departure from current practice, & evidence for the effects of the proposed changes are examined. 2 Tables, 21 References. Modified HA.

Gillette reviews 'American Reform and Reformers: A Biographical Dictionary' edited by Randall M. Miller and Paul A. Cimbala.