Business as Usual: Heroin Distribution in the United States

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. McBride

This article criticizes the predominant analysis of heroin use as a social aberration and argues instead that the normal structure and functioning of U.S. capitalism generate both the market for the drug and the industry which supplies it. The structure of the distribution industry is much like those for comparable legal goods, but with distinctive features which provide reduced risk for dealers and long term stability for the industry as a whole. The expansionary dynamic of the industry and the key role of syndicates in it are analyzed. The heroin industry is deeply integrated into the economy, and far-reaching social and economic change will be necessary if heroin use is to be significantly reduced.

Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
John C. Morris

The role of the policy entrepreneur in the policy process forms an integral part of our understanding of the formulation and implementation of policy in the United States. For all its theoretical importance, however, little work has been done to develop or test the propositions of entrepreneurship offered by Kingdon (1984). By examining the life of Ansel Adams (1902-1984), this paper explores more fully the concept of policy entrepreneurship and seeks to develop a more robust concept that accounts for the long-term, diffuse series of activities that precede Kingdon’s “stream coupling” in the policy process. The analysis suggests that such an approach offers some promise for capturing a broader spectrum of policy activity.


Interpreting ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Mikkelson

Various federal and state statutes in the United States define the role of the court interpreter with clear and unequivocal rules. This definition is based on the underlying principles of the U.S. legal system, which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon common-law tradition. Consequently, the distinctive features of that system, including the jury trial and the concept of adversarial proceedings, make the function of the court interpreter quite different from that of his/her counterparts in other countries. In recent years, the judiciary has made an effort to enhance the public's access to the justice system, but at the same time, the latest wave of immigration comprises individuals from societies in which cultural norms differ greatly from those of the United States. Moreover, many of these immigrants have received little or no formal education. As a result, judiciary interpreters feel somewhat constrained by the rules that govern their profession when they strive to bridge the cultural and linguistic gap. This paper reexamines the function of the court interpreter in light of these circumstances and an analysis of prevailing practices in other countries, and proposes a new approach to the interpreter's role.


Author(s):  
Alasdair Roberts

This chapter assesses the role of planning in the design of governance strategies. Enthusiasm for large-scale planning—also known as overall, comprehensive, long-term, economic, or social planning—boomed and collapsed in twentieth century. At the start of that century, progressive reformers seized on planning as the remedy for the United States' social and economic woes. By the end of the twentieth century, enthusiasm for large-scale planning had collapsed. Plans could be made, but they were unlikely to be obeyed, and even if they were obeyed, they were unlikely to work as predicted. The chapter then explains that leaders should make plans while being realistic about the limits of planning. It is necessary to exercise foresight, set priorities, and design policies that seem likely to accomplish those priorities. Simply by doing this, leaders encourage coordination among individuals and businesses, through conversation about goals and tactics. Neither is imperfect knowledge a total barrier to planning. There is no “law” of unintended consequences: it is not inevitable that government actions will produce entirely unexpected results. The more appropriate stance is modesty about what is known and what can be achieved. Plans that launch big schemes on brittle assumptions are more likely to fail. Plans that proceed more tentatively, that allow room for testing, learning, and adjustment, are less likely to collapse in the face of unexpected results.


2020 ◽  
pp. 089590482090473
Author(s):  
Michael Ian Cohen

Business-inspired school reform policies in the United States date back to the late 19th century. In the last four decades, however, while school reformers have continued to borrow policies and practices from the business world, the dominant business model itself has changed dramatically as part of the financialization of the economy. Once a bureaucratically governed social institution, focused on long-term stability and committed to multiple stakeholders, the corporation has become a destabilized network of temporary contracting relationships, singularly focused on maximizing shareholder value. This conceptual article explores what it means for schools, as public and democratic institutions, to emulate business in the era of financialization. Through analysis of several recent trends in business-inspired school reform policy, I demonstrate the diffusion of financialization logic and practices into public schools. I argue that while business may have historically been a problematic model for educational policy, business is now a uniquely unqualified model.


Author(s):  
Paul Alexander ◽  
Janice M. Burn

Over the last decade, organisations have been forced to re-examine the role of ICT as a support tool and accept that it has become a major driver for business change (Ash & Burn, 2003, pp. 297-308.). Indeed, new business opportunities have arisen solely based on e-business: e-fulfilment is one such example (Alexander & Burn, 2004, p.1). These services were estimated to be worth US$1,006 Trillion in the United States alone, or 10.1% of their GDP in 2000 (Rogers, 2002). Furthermore, 21% of all logistics transactions are expected to be online by 2005, with the long-term possibility that traditional freight companies will ultimately cease to exist (Homs, Meringer, & Rehkopf, 2001). This article explores the concepts which are encompassed in the term e-fulfilment, and presents a model of e-fulfilment activities. This model is then validated through the analysis of e-fulfilment capabilities of 48 UK based e-fulfilment companies. The findings from this analysis lead to an extension of the model and suggest a long term transformation model for the industry as a whole.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
B. Zorina Khan

Knowledge and ideas, incentives, and institutions are central for understanding technological change and long-term economic growth. This book bridges the current disconnect between the economics of technological change and the analysis of institutions. The discussion draws on detailed information about the experience of over one hundred thousand ingenious men and women in Britain, France, and the United States, whose inventions helped to create the modern knowledge economy. These results overturn longstanding myths of invention about elites, innovation prizes, and “entrepreneurial states,” and instead highlight the pivotal role of property rights and markets in ideas in explaining technological progress and the wealth of nations.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-196
Author(s):  
ALEX J. STEIGMAN

THE SPECIAL ARTICLE by Stewart and Pennell, "Pediatric Manpower in the United States and Its Implications," is interesting and timely. It will be viewed differently by various readers, by some as seen from their personal perch, by others in terms of the broad reaches past and present of pediatrics as a discipline. The purposes of the Special Article are to highlight the manpower situation and to point out long-term trends and implications in the light of the growing responsibility of pediatrics. The authors say that one requires a "delineation of the role of the specialty of pediatrics in child health care," and "while this role may be shared by other types of physicians, the responsibility for the development, maintenance, and improvement of child health services was clearly assumed by pediatrics when, as a specialty, it adopted as its objectives the protection and promotion of the health of children."


Author(s):  
Sharon Ndolo

This research study examines the role of grit in the success of Kenyan immigrants in the United States. It gives an illustration as to why grit is more relevant than IQ in the accomplishment of long-term goals. It will also examine the importance of learning from a motivational point of view. Finally, it will investigate how Kenyan immigrants with grit handled challenging situations that they faced while in the United States and the positive outcomes that resulted after their decision to be passionate on their set goals. A qualitative approach was selected as the research design for this study using unstructured interviews. The research findings indicate that grit contributed to the success of the five Kenyan immigrants in the United States. Challenges that people face in life can lead to feelings of worthlessness and giving up on set goals. However, the grit predisposition present in all the five participants in the study enabled them to overcome their challenges as noted in the findings, and they all accomplished their set goals.


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