Skill Acquisition Rates and Patterns reviews and synthesizes the data and findings from the literature on skill acquisition, learning, retention, and transfer. This integrative review deals with the domain of time as it influences performance, i.e. with changes in capability to perform that occur as a function of time of practice. The author stresses the applicability of available information to the estimation of an appropriate time course for training and to related areas of potential training improvements.
Nationally recognized scholars and practitioners examine opportunities in which services traditionally provided by local governments are offered by the private sector though a contract or are transferred to a private business completely. Many large U.S. cities have contracted services for many years. With the movement to rightsize governments in recent years there has been renewed interest by local governments in similar ventures. Privatization, in its many forms, is now seen as a viable alternative to traditional ways of providing public services and can bring substantial benefits to residents. With greater accountability being demanded and pressures on local officials to hold the line on or reduce taxes, efforts to find innovative service delivery methods will probably increase. Cities, such as Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Charlotte, are examples showing that contracts with private businesses can work to benefit all parties. Local officials must move ahead cautiously, and not all attempts at privatization or contracting have succeeded. Some cities, after an evaluation, have decided to provide services with municipal employees. The main issues underlying privatization decisions will be addressed conceptually so that practitioners and academics benefit from a review of the current thinking on the issues. At the same time, exemplary practices and case studies are included so that readers can understand how privatization and managed competition have been implemented in local governments. Special attention is paid to administrative questions that may arise during the implementation process. For example, ways in which cities have worked with employees who fear displacement because of the privatization process are described. The book breaks new ground by including references to recent innovations in public-private partnerships and describing how privatization may evolve in the future.
Participation in America represents the largest study ever conducted of the ways in which citizens participate in American political life. Sidney Verba and Norman H. Nie addresses the question of who participates in the American democratic process, how, and with what effects. They distinguish four kinds of political participation: voting, campaigning, communal activity, and interaction with a public official to achieve a personal goal. Using a national sample survey and interviews with leaders in 64 communities, the authors investigate the correlation between socioeconomic status and political participation. Recipient of the Kammerer Award (1972), Participation in America provides fundamental information about the nature of American democracy.
Arenas of Power represents the first time that Theodore J. Lowi's model of policy analysis has been presented together with key applications and case studies drawn from his long history of scholarship-all in one place. Lowi's signature four-fold typology is shown as conceived and then as extended to include that most relevant of contemporary phenomena-"social regulatory policy." As Lowi says, when radicals add morality to the goals of public policy, the system may be turned on its head. This volume shows the evolution of the public policy arena over more than forty years of writing and thinking and presents some never before published material including helpful analytical introductions. The book concludes as Lowi looks ahead to an internationalizing U.S. political economy and the need for a global political science.
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