ABSTRACT This article discusses recent scholarly endeavours to rethink form and principles of Rousseau's political theory. Michael Sonenscher's Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Division of Labour, the Politics of the Imagination and the Concept of Federal Government is in the limelight of the analysis. Following a brief introduction into the general debate on Rousseau's political thought, the article reconstructs Sonenscher's argument that Rousseau was essentially a theorist of a federal government system. While Sonenscher achieves what earlier interpretations have failed to (...) accomplish, that is, to give Rousseau's state a form, the discussion underscores that he leaves open the question how this federal government system is supposed to function. The article concludes that Rousseau's fragmentary ideas on constitutional government can provide an answer to this question, as they shed light on the framework that allowed him to combine will (the sovereign people) and force (the government) in the political organization of a democratic state. (shrink)

This is a book about why Jean-Jacques Rousseau can be seen as one of the first theorists of the concept of civil society and a key source of the idea of a federal system.

zen vlen ekonomiky bhem druh svtov vlky pinelo americk federln vld mnoho zsadnch vzev. Klovm nstrojem pro zvldnut tohoto nelehkho kolu byla fiskln politika. V tto pevratn dob dolo k etablovn mnoha novch prvk v americk ekonomice i fiskln politice. Nkter z nich jsou patrn dodnes. Clem tto studie je analyzovat a kriticky zhodnotit hlavn trendy ve vvoji vlen ekonomiky a fiskln politiky USA bhem druh svtov vlky. Dl vzkumn otzky se tkaj role federln vldy bhem strukturlnch zmn v hospodstv (...) i vznamu vldy v hospodskm rstu v kontextu dalch vdajovch sloek hrubho nrodnho produktu. V rmci fiskln politiky je zkoumna struktura vdajov strnky federlnho rozpotu s ohledem na dominanci vlench (obrannch) vdaj, rozloen daov zte mezi ekonomick subjekty a pm a nepm dan i zpsob financovn zvench vldnch vdaj. Na zklad metody dekompozice rstu hrubho nrodnho produktu a analzy asovch ad lze tvrdit, e logicky dochzelo k vytlaovn spoteby domcnost a investic firem vldnmi spotebnmi vdaji. Pochopiteln tento zvr plat i pro vsledky strukturln analzy hrubho nrodnho produktu. Regulatorn role federln vldy tedy byla na mnoha dlch trzch zcela zsadn. Co se te fiskln politiky, vlen vdaje vznamn dominovaly vdajov strnce federlnho rozpotu. V sti nevlench vdaj se nejvce prosadily kapitoly obchod a doprava a mezinrodn zleitosti a finance. Na pjmov stran rozpotu se vrazn zvyovaly pm progresivn individuln dan, mrnji pak korportn dan. Prohlubujc se fiskln deficit byl financovn z vce jak poloviny nedluhov, tj. vym daovm vbrem, z men sti pak kumulac dluhu. (shrink)

In daily life, perceivers often need to predict and interpret the behavior of group agents, such as corporations and governments. Although research has investigated how perceivers reason about individual members of particular groups, less is known about how perceivers reason about group agents themselves. The present studies investigate how perceivers understand group agents by investigating the extent to which understanding the ‘mind’ of the group as a whole shares important properties and processes with understanding the minds of individuals. Experiment 1 (...) demonstrates that perceivers are sometimes willing to attribute a mental state to a group as a whole even when they are not willing to attribute that mental state to any of the individual members of the group, suggesting that perceivers can reason about the beliefs and desires of group agents over and above those of their individual members. Experiment 2 demonstrates that the degree of activation in brain regions associated with attributing mental states to individuals—i.e., brain regions associated with mentalizing or theory-of-mind, including the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), and precuneus—does not distinguish individual from group targets, either when reading statements about those targets' mental states (directed) or when attributing mental states implicitly in order to predict their behavior (spontaneous). Together, these results help to illuminate the processes that support understanding group agents themselves. (shrink)

Social policy, broadly understood, is an intervention by government or other public institution designed to promote the well‐being of its members or intended to rectify perceived social problems. Governmental policy can issue from legislative, executive, or judicial actions. Regulations and rules governing major public establishments, such as universities or medical institutions, and directed at promoting the aims of the larger social body can also be considered instruments of social policy. Social policy is sometimes understood more narrowly as interventions of the (...) state in the domain of distribution or redistribution, when action has been thought necessary to correct for the instability inherent in a given social structure or created by pressures for social change. In this sense, it pertains to welfare policies aimed at the poor. In this article, we will deal primarily with social policy in the broad sense, reserving a brief discussion at the end on social policy in the narrow sense, as welfare policy. (shrink)

(2000). Federal world government at the dawn of the third millennium: Old challenges and new opportunities. World Futures: Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 41-106.

The article is devoted to the changes in the conceptual understanding of the institution of local self-government that has been taking place in the last three decades. The submission to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the Draft Federal Law «On the general principles of the organization of local self-government in the unified system of public authority», which took place at the end of 2021, allows analyzing the trajectory of the development of the institute of local self-government (...) in post-Soviet Russia from the point of view of a more global time and conceptual perspective. The purpose of this work is to identify the trajectory of the development of the conception of local self-government in RF. Research attention is focused on identifying the conception of local self-government formulated in official documents, a gradual change in the conceptual interpretation of this institution. It is shown that the main shiftin the conceptual understanding of local self-government occurs along the axis of institutional independence / institutional dependence of local self-government on state authorities. The development of the conceptual understanding of local self-government in post-Soviet Russia proceeds along the trajectory from a public concept (local self-government as an independent activity) to a state one (local self-government as a form of exercising power) and to a hyperstate one (local self-government as a link in a unified system of exercising authority). (shrink)

Federal Indian law is the body of law that defines the rights, responsibilities, and relationships between three sovereigns, Tribes, states, and the federal government. This area of law has defined, oftentimes poorly, the contours of treaty rights, criminal and civil jurisdiction, economic development, among other issues. Much has been documented in terms of the implications of social, legal, political, and economic systems that perpetuate inequities amongst American Indian and Alaska Native populations. There has also been substantial research on (...) health inequalities. Yet, there has been less discussion on the role of law in perpetuating these adverse health outcomes in these populations. The social and structural determinants of health are the factors and conditions, such as housing, education, and politics, that create health disparities. For years, law has been described as a tool to promote health and even a determinant of health. And while research has explored Tribal health laws and federal Indian health policies, more needs to be analyzed in terms of the role of foundational principles of federal Indian law in perpetuating health disparities. This article argues that federal Indian law is a structural determinant of health by linking health disparities to the constructs of this body of law. (shrink)

The federal government is deeply entrenched in American public education and virtually dictates what can be taught to students. Why? At what cost? And what are the benefits to public school students? To public schools? The author challenges the constitutionality of the feds in the classroom and reminds readers that public education has, until recently, been the function of state and local governments.

Policy‐makers, bioethicists, and patient advocates have been engaged in a fierce battle about the merits and potential harms of a federal right‐to‐try law. This debate about access to investigational medical products has raised profound questions about the limits of patient autonomy, appropriate government regulation, medical paternalism, and political rhetoric. For example, do patients have a right to access investigational therapies, as the right‐to‐try movement asserts? What is government’s proper role in regulating and facilitating access to drugs that are still (...) in development? In this review, we analyze the history of the right‐to‐try movement, review the arguments put forth by supporters and opponents of the legislation, and consider the movement’s consequences. Two possible scenarios may emerge. One is that the right‐to‐try pathway may fail to meaningfully increase patient access to investigational products. Alternatively, certain companies may attempt to rely on the federal right‐to‐try legislation to sell investigational products, taking advantage of the provision that allows for direct costs, as there is currently no clear mechanism for enforcement or monitoring of cost calculations. (shrink)

The rising cost of the opioid antagonist and overdose reversal agent naloxone is an urgent public health problem. The recent and dramatic price increase of Evzio, a naloxone auto-injector produced by Kaléo, shows how pharmaceutical manufacturers entering the naloxone marketplace rely on market exclusivity guaranteed by the patent system to charge prices at what the market can bear, which can restrict access to life-saving medication. We argue that 28 U.S.C. § 1498, a section of the federal code that allows (...) the government to use patent-protected products for its own purposes in exchange for reasonable compensation, could be used to procure generic naloxone auto-injectors, or at least bring Kaléo to the negotiating table. Precedent exists for the use of § 1498 to procure pharmaceuticals, and it could give meaning to the federal government's recent declaration of a public health emergency around the opioid epidemic, discourage new market entrants from charging exorbitant prices, and yield important public health benefits. (shrink)

In various official documents, the European Union has declared its goal to pursue a citizen-centric governance of digital transformation. Through a critical review of several of these documents, here we show how “citizen-centric” is more a glamouring than a driving concept. De facto, the EU is enabling a federated data system that is corporate-driven, economic-oriented, and GDPR-compliant; in other words, a Digital Single Market (DSM). This leaves out societal and collective-level dimensions of digital transformation—such as social inclusion, digital sovereignty, and (...) environmental sustainability—which are acknowledged, but not operationalized, by the EU as pillars of a citizen-centric governance. Hence, the door is open to a complementary approach to the governance of digital transformation. We argue that, while a federated data model can constitute the tech-legal backbone of the emerging DSM, a commoning of data, as an ecosystemic approach that maintains a societal and collective outlook by default, can represent a complement to enact a truly citizen-centric governance. (shrink)

Governments are widely viewed by academics and practitioners as the key societal actors who are capable of compelling businesses to practice corporate social responsibility. Arguably, such government involvement could be seen as a technocratic device for encouraging ethical business behaviour. In this paper, we offer a more politicised interpretation of government engagement with CSR where “CSR” is not a desired form of business conduct but an element of discourse that governments can deploy in structuring their relationships with other social actors. (...) We build our argument through a historical analysis of government CSR discourse in the Russian Federation. Laclau and Mouffe's social theory of hegemony underpins our research. We find that “CSR” in the Russian government’s discourse served to legitimise its power over large businesses. Using this case, we contribute to wider academic debates by providing fresh empirical evidence that allows the development of critical evaluation tools in relation to governments’ engagement with “CSR”. We find that governments are capable of hijacking CSR for their own self-interested gain. We close the paper by reflecting on the merit of exploring the case of the Russian Federation. As a “non-core”, non-western exemplar, it provides a useful “mirror” with which to reflect on the more widely used test-bed of Western industrial democracies when scrutinising CSR. Based on our findings, we invite other scholars to adopt a more critical, politicised stance when researching the role of governments in relation to CSR in other parts of the world. (shrink)

After years of debate over the importance of ethical conduct in organizations, the federal government has decided to institutionalize ethics as a buffer to prevent legal violations in organizations. The key requirements of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (FSG) are outlined, and suggested actions managers should adopt to improve ethical compliance are presented. An effective compliance program is more a process and commitment than a specific blueprint for conduct. The organization has the responsibility to create an organizational climate to (...) reduce misconduct. The adoption of a FSG compliance program has the potential to substantially lessen organizational penalties if there is due diligence to prevent misconduct. Federal courts determine the effectiveness of an FSG program after a violation occurs. (shrink)

I would like to begin by discussing the legal and administrative framework of the role of the federal government in public health. At the heart of it is, of course, the Constitution. At the Department of Health and Human Services we depend, as does much of the federal government, on our power to regulate interstate commerce. Since the Supreme Court in 1942 removed essentially any restraint from the meaning of interstate commerce in Wickard v. Filburn, the federal (...) government has been regulating with wide latitude, in spite of small and, arguably, equivocal reverses in recent years. However, even though the Supreme Court no longer provides any real constitutional check on the federal government's interstate commerce power, some other restraints persist. For example, many parts of the health system have traditionally been deemed inherently state functions, such as the licensing and disciplining of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, as well as the practice of medicine itself. (shrink)

Davenport argues for a federation of democracies to replace the United Nations Security Council. This new level of government, he says, is necessary to achieve the international cooperation needed to manage a global economy and address global problems.

Abstract: In this essay a set of principles is defended that yields a determinate allocation of sovereign competences across a global system of territorially nested jurisdictions. All local sovereign competences are constrained by a universal, justiciable human rights regime that also incorporates a conception of cross-border distributive justice and regulates the competence to control immigration for a given territory. Subject to human rights constraints, sovereign competences are allocated according to a conception of global democracy. The proposed allocation scheme can accommodate (...) substantial local autonomy while at the same time ensuring that everyone has a voice in the political decisions that affect his or her interests. The relevant class of affected interests is fully specified. Relevant affects are of two kinds: those that impose norms of governance on individuals, and those that impose external costs on them. The favored sense of "an external cost" is developed and defended. (shrink)

Annual Reports on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) issued by Health CanadaCanada on behalf of the Government of Canada strive to make essential information public, on this large national program that over five years has provided death to over 30,000 Canadians. The source of the information is self-reporting by physicians and nurse practitioners who offer to act as MAID assessors and providers, as well as self-reporting by cooperating pharmacists. Focus of this discussion is the latest available document in this series, (...) the Third Annual Report on MAID published in July 2022 and providing data on 10,064 deaths by MAID in 2021. In addition to reviewing essential information about MAID recipients and MAID providers, the discussion is centered on the method of data collection, the rapid and unexpected annual increase of cases, the underlying medical conditions, the nature of suffering reported by MAID applicants, the use of palliative care, the decision-making about one’s eligibility, the role of the reflection period, necessary requirement to obtain informed consent and the denial of assisted dying. In each case, the attention is drawn to missing or indeterminate elements, and essential but unavailable analysis of data, in order to identify further information that ought to be collected and used to generate future annual reports and to refine the delivery of MAID program and its oversight. (shrink)

Since the mid-1980s, internal corporate investigations have become commonplace in the U. S., with an upsurge occurring as a result of the corporate scandals of 2001-02 involving Adelphi Communications Corporation, Enron, Merck & Company, Riggs Bank, and other companies accused of financial malfeasance. After an introduction, this article first presents the U. S. public policy framework (as implemented through the U. S. Sentencing Commission, the U. S. Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission) encouraging the use of corporate (...) internal investigations and self-reporting of these results to federal authorities; second, evaluates this framework, identifying the public policy issues inhibiting companies from using corporate internal investigations and self-reporting significant results; third, proposes a policy incentive regime which attempts to ameliorate these outstanding issues; and fourth, offer policy recommendations and suggestions for further research on this topic, including increasing the maximum deduction in the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines Culpability Score available to a firm for development of an Effective Compliance and Ethics Program (from 3 to 5 points), and self-reporting the results of an internal investigation (from 5 to 7 points); evaluating the effectiveness of these enhancements in legal incentives over a period of 5-7 years after implementation; instituting a formal federal government effort to educate the American business community on the corporate reputation (and financial) benefits of an effective compliance program; and protecting attorney-client privilege and work product protection, through legislative action, to encourage company executives and directors to utilize independent, outside attorneys to conduct fair, comprehensive, and impartial internal investigations. (shrink)

As the federal government continues to expand upon and improve its data sharing policies over the past 20 years, complex challenges remain. Our interviews with U.S. academic genetic researchers (n=23) found that the burden, translation, industry limitations, and consent structure of data sharing remain major governance challenges.

Are federal prosecutions of non-federal officials for corruption likely to improve non-federal government? This essay suggests that such prosecutions can undermine the distinctive style of democracy at the state and local level, an effect that can be harmful to democracy in America overall. This conclusion rests on a larger argument about the different nature of federal and non-federal democracy in the United States. To insure that each official maintains impartial loyalty to values defined by a (...) single, popularly accountable policymaker, the federal system of bureaucratic populism strictly separates the officials’ public and private interests, through various devices such as civil service protection for executive officials, Article III life tenure, and fixed salary for federal judges, specialized training for federal officers, and conflict-of-interest rules that bar federal officers from acting when their judgment could be compromised by private interests. By contrast, participatory populism rejects this separation of the public and private spheres, instead mixing professional and lay decision-making by using thousands of part-time, under-paid executive and legislative officers who are expected to have substantial private interests in the communities that they represent. The essay argues that each style of democracy has mutually exclusive advantages and disadvantages. However, enforcement of federal anticorruption law against non-federal democracies can undermine their system of mingled private and public interests, reducing the degree to which such governments can provide laypersons with opportunities for political activity. As an illustration of the overextension of federal criminal law, I examine the First Circuit’s interpretation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1346, the federal mail fraud statute in United States v. Sawyer. Sawyer comes dangerously close to declaring that any undisclosed state or local officer’s conflict of interest constitutes a violation of § 1346 when it involves the U.S. mails. I argue that this view of § 1346 is an error. Participatory populism requires that private and public tasks be closely mingled in ways that bureaucratic populism forbids. Undoubtedly, this mixture of public and private creates a risk that public office will be used for private gain. However, it also avoids some of the bureaucratic sclerosis and lack of lay participation that can be endemic to the more centralized federal tradition. In conclusion, I suggest that federal prosecutors ought to content themselves with using § 1346 to enforce already-existing state criminal conflict-of-interest rules, for the sake of preserving a place in our federal regime for participatory populism. (shrink)

This paper seeks to determine whether or not the divesture of Nigeria’s state-owned enterprises by the Federal Government of Nigeria is ethical. Towards this end, it employs an analytic methodology to undertake a conceptual examination of the divesture of Nigeria’s SOEs by the FGN. The paper’s findings are: A large proportion of the Nigerian citizenry is opposed to its government’s privatization policy. A conducive socio-economic environment for privatization is lacking in Nigeria.The paper concludes that although privatization in general may (...) be a “good” policy, it is ethically wrong for the FGN to privatize some of its SOEs, given the absence of a conducive socio-economic milieu. (shrink)

The galvanising purpose of Federation was the creation of the Commonwealth and the distribution of power between it and the former colonies, simultaneously elevated to Statehood. But beyond this simple fact, consensus about Australian federalism has traditionally been elusive and is, if anything, only increasingly so. While the contemporary political debate over federal reform proceeds from a shared sense that our existing arrangements have manifest shortcomings, there is far from unanimity as to which of its particular features are strengths, (...) and which are deficiencies. The structure of this paper is as follows. In Part II, the range of understandings as to the character of the federal relationship between Australian governments is canvassed. Consideration is given to the views of the Constitution’s Framers and commentators, but most centrally to members of the High Court since these have brought about great change in federal arrangements. The significance of the Court’s marked preference for adhering only to constitutional structure and its inability or unwillingness to develop ‘a federal jurisprudence’ is examined in two respects. First, the effect of the Court’s arid Engineers’ Case methodology has been to reject any suggestion that fidelity to a concept of ‘federal balance’ is consistent with both the contents and purpose of the Constitution and also the principles of divided government. Particular consideration is given to the limitations of a commitment to federalism in only a structural sense, as revealed by the judicial reasons of the majority and dissenting judges in the recent case of New South Wales v Commonwealth. Second, the tension between competing assumptions of the kind of federal system established by the Commonwealth Constitution has produced an unstable and uncertain environment for the development of cooperative schemes between the Commonwealth and States. In Part III we consider how an attempt to ‘constitutionalise’ the relationship between the tiers of government as one underpinned by cooperation and respect would impact on the Court’s approach. Drawing on foreign constitutions, and adapting these in light of Australia’s politico-legal conditions and history, we suggest how a commitment to cooperative federalism might best be shaped for possible inclusion in the Commonwealth Constitution. (shrink)

In this brief paper, offered as a policy viewpoint, I introduce what I believe to be a novel concept for supporting individual citizen interaction with the U.S. Federal government, termed the individual social account. I explore whether and how the concept might be implemented so as to strengthen the U.S. social safety net and further citizen trust and responsibility in e-government interactions. I illustrate and develop the concept as a platform for reform and suggest and discuss design criteria, surfacing (...) various issues. I conclude with additional thoughts with which to stimulate further research and discussion of the concept and its practicalities. (shrink)

Prior to its election to office in 2007, the Australian Labor Party announced a commitment to introduce Trade Training Centres (TTCs) into all Australian secondary schools as an initiative of its Education Revolution. TTCs were proposed as a key element of Federal Labor's education and training policy that aimed to manage future risks to Australia's competitiveness in the emerging global economy and to support school-to-employment transitions for young people. This analysis adopts a governmentality framework to conceptualise the Federal (...) Government's introduction of TTCs alternatively as a key strategy for nationalising social investment politics in Australia. The paper draws on recent Australian policy documents to argue that TTCs are social technologies that work to open up social spaces in and around schools for governing relationships between schools and other community stakeholders, particularly businesses and families. The paper concludes by examining policy implications, including those of social justice, for promoting school community partnerships through TTCs. (shrink)

In the fall of 1945, Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace handpicked Edward Condon, a respected theoretical physicist, to become director of the National Bureau of Standards. Already regarded by many academic and industrial scientists as a second‐rate research institution, the Bureau had deteriorated further during the Great Depression. An ardent New Dealer who favored government action to prevent anticompetitive behavior in the marketplace, Wallace claimed that giant corporations leveraged their extensive patent holdings and research capabilities to manipulate markets and restrict (...) competition at the expense of smaller firms without similar resources. Through a revitalized Bureau of Standards, Wallace intended to mitigate monopolistic behavior among large companies by transforming the Department of Commerce into an effective clearinghouse for scientific research that would stimulate technological innovation in small businesses. The Bureau’s postwar expansion, however, foundered on congressional efforts to dismantle the legacies of the New Deal, Condon’s lack of commitment to the technical requirements of the small business community, and the intense competition for resources within an institutionally pluralist federal research establishment dominated by the exigencies of the Cold War. Without sufficient financial support from congressional appropriations committees, Condon turned to the military to fund new research programs at the Bureau of Standards. These programs, however, owed their institutional growth to the demands of the national security state, not to the fading influence of Henry Wallace’s New Deal liberalism. (shrink)

This book uses post-structuralist theories of power and discourse to study European integration and the associated forms of governance.

A part les contraintes imposées aux décisions publiques par 1a mobilité, l’analyse reçue des choix publics postule que le processus politique fonctionne essentiellement de la même façon en régime fédéral qu’en régime unitaire. Il s’avère cependant qu’il existe une dimension du processus politique en régime fédéral qui se prête spécifiquement à l’analyse économique, nommément le fait que, là où les fonctions se recoupent dans un même territoire, il se trouve deux niveaux de gouvernement qui se concurrencent dans l’offre des mêmes (...) services à un même groupe de votants. Si alors on définit les votes comme des inputs dans la production d’outputs politiques, on se trouve en situation de concurrence par deux offreurs ou plus visà- vis d’une même ressource placée en propriété commune. On peut supposer que l’analyse conventionnelle de l’allocation des ressources en régime de propriété commune puisse jeter un éclairage sur l’aboutissement du processus politique fédéral. Dans ces conditions, il y va de l’intérêt de chacun des deux offreurs de chercher à s’attirer les votes et donc d’être le premier à offrir l’output politique en question. En l’absence de droits exclusifs sur le bassin de votes, le chevauchement amène les deux joueurs à vouloir réaliser le profit politique, de crainte de le perdre à l’avantage de l’autre partie. Et pourtant, le profit s’en trouvera ultimement dissipé ex post pour les deux parties après l’avènement du deuxième joueur. On découvre ainsi que les forces mises en branle dans un régime fédéral type sont de deux ordres : une force restrictionniste d’abord, fondée sur la mobilité des ressources entre les entités décentralisées, et une force expansionniste liée à la dynamique politique étudiée dans ces lignes. Ce résultat peut expliquer pourquoi le dossier empirique reste ambigu sur la contribution du fédéralisme au freinage de la croissance du secteur public. Les conséquences de ce processus sont dégagées et les avenues possibles de solution explorées.Except for the mobility constraints imposed on political decisions of lowerlevel governments, public choice analysts assume that the working of the political process under federalism remains the same at all levels of government as under unitary state. This paper argues that one dimension of the political process in a federalist framework lends itself to specific economic analysis, namely the fact that, once constitutional limits break down and functions overlap, two or more levels of government compete for the same voters in the supply of services in a given territory.Viewing votes as inputs in the production of political outputs, the conventional analysis of allocation under cnmmon-property rule should shed light on the outcome of this process. The analysis shows that it is in the interest of both suppliers to seek to gain the votes in being first to implement programs.There are thus two forces operating in a typical federalist system, an expansionist one rooted in the political dynamics analyzed here, and a restrictionist one based on the mobility of resources among decentralized entities. This may explain why the empirical record is rather mixed on the contribution of federalism to containing government growth. The consequences of this process are derived and possible avenues for improvement are explored. (shrink)

Aux Etats-Unis les gouvernements des Etats tout autant que le gouvernement fédéral jouent un rôle important dans le traitement des effets des sinistres naturels. Le gouvernement fédéral subventionne l’assurance-inondations pour les individus, les entreprises privées et les gouvernements d’Etats et locaux, et il affecte des fonds sur une base ad hoc pour reconstruire après de très importants sinistres naturels tels que de fortes inondations ou des tremblements de terre. Les gouvernements des Etats réglementent l’assurance-seïsme et l’assurance-ouragan en imposant à l’ensemble (...) des assurances et à certains de leurs utilisateurs de subventionner d’autres assurés. Cet article analyse les diverses formes d’implications gouvernementales dans l’assistance des sinistres et évalue de manière critique les arguments normatifs pour ces formes de participations et de réglementations. Il propose que le gouvernement fédéral se retire du marché de l’assurance-inondation et que les gouvernements des états arrêtent de réglementer les marchés d’assurance privés qui obligent des gens à subventionner l’assurance pour d’autres.Government at both the state and federal level in the United States has an extensive role in dealing with the effects of natural disasters. The federal government provides subsidized flood insurance to private individuals, businesses, and state and local government, and it appropriates f unds on an ad hoc basis for rebuilding after highly visible natural disasters such as large floods and earthquakes. State governments regulate earthquake insurance and hurricane insurance in ways that force the insurance industry and some of its customers to subsidize other policyholders. This essay details the various forms of government involvement in disaster assistance and critically evaluates the normative arguments for these forms of government involvement and regulation. It proposes that the federal government should withdraw from the flood insurance market and that state governments should stop regulating private insurance markets in such a way that some people are forced to subsidize insurance for others. (shrink)

Government has played a pervasive and largely overlooked role in journalists' ethical decision making. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules governing program content, and a libel law system run amok, are only two wats government influences journalists' behavior. This substitution of government ethics for private ethics creates minimum standards of conduct rather than challenging journalists to an ethical ideal. More subtly, government erects structural barriers to the development of the very technologies (like cable TV) that can offer journalists a more (...) ethically hospitable environment. In the information age, ethicists will need to be aware of, and wary of, government attempts to control development of the very media that hold the greatest ethical promise. (shrink)