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ISHM‐Benelux has recently set up a permanent secretariat at the following address:

The purpose of this paper, which follows an earlier paper published in this journal, is to explore the shape and nature of plural policing through the lens of New Right ideology. It aims to reinforce the understanding that policy is driven by both neoliberalism and neoconservatism, not simply the former. In policy terms, it uses the vehicle of a faith-based initiative – the Street Pastors – to consider how the strategic line of plural policing may be shifting.

The research that informs this paper spans 2012 to the present day incorporating a multi-method evaluation, an ongoing observation with informal interviews, and two e-mail surveys directed at university students in Plymouth and Cardiff. In addition, the authors carried out a critical analysis of a research report produced by van Steden and a documentary analysis of national newspaper reports of Street Pastor activities.

In a previous paper, the authors provided evidence to support the contention of Jones and Lister (2015) that there has been a shift in the landscape of plural policing. The Street Pastors initiative is a movement from “policing by the state” towards “policing from below”. The authors suggest here that there may be evidence to speculate that another shift might occur from “policing from below” to “policing through the state”. Ultimately, the authors contend, such shifts reflect and serve the dominance of New Right ideology in social and public policy.

The research limitations of this paper are twofold. First, the surveys had very small sample sizes and so the results should be treated with caution. The authors have underlined this in detail where necessary. Second, it is informed by a series of related though discrete research activities. However, the authors regard this as a strength also, as the findings are consistent across the range. The implications relate to the way in which policy designed to encourage partnership might lead to off-loading public responsibilities on the one hand, while allowing co-option on the other hand.

The practical implications are indivisible from the social implications in the authors’ view. The neoliberal and neoconservative dimensions of the current dominant ideology are using local initiatives to save public money and reify disciplinary features of social and public policy.

The originality of this research relates to the way it was conducted, drawing together the products of discrete but related activities. It adds to the growing research landscape involving the Street Pastors, an important faith-based, publicly backed initiative. But more importantly, it underlines how the two dimensions of New Right ideology come together in practice. The example of the Street Pastors indicates, through the lens of plural policing, how voluntary and local initiatives are being used to refocus the priorities of social and public policy.

The members of the chapter at the annual meeting held on 27 November 1992 in Brno decided not to split after the separation of Czechoslovakia. It was suggested to organise a larger chapter from the Central European States to provide greater co‐operation and better functioning of the smaller chapters. A new name for the chapter was proposed — Central European Chapter (CEC) — to express neutrality and to point out that the chapter is open to other neighbouring chapters and to new members from the states where no national chapter yet exists.

The purpose of this paper is to use stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to estimate the efficiency of public investments and their impact on economic growth in the USA using panel data. Results of the study show highly significant and positive relationships between gross state product (GSP) and expenditures on education, transportation, health, welfare, and public safety (police and fire), and negative but significant relationships between output and employment in health care and public safety services. Inefficiencies in the study are measured using per capita tax revenue and time. Tax revenue has a very minimal positive and significant effect on efficiency, while time inversely relates to efficiency.

The present study uses SFA to investigate the efficiency of government expenditures in five service sectors – education, transportation, health, welfare, and public safety (police and fire), using recent data and economic trends. The study hypothesizes that changes in the current levels of expenditures in the public sector have a significant impact on the aggregate economy, as measured by GSP. The study uses GSP as the dependent (output) variable, and government expenditure on the five service sectors as the independent (input) variables.

Analysis of efficiency for individual states for all 21 years produced interesting results. Overall, the technical efficiency of the public sector was quite high. The average TE score across all years and all states was 0.878. This suggests that public sector operates at a relatively high efficiency level.

The current SFA model followed Battese and Coelli approach of estimating efficiency of public sectors in each state of the USA. It allowed estimation of policy impact on the overall efficiency. It was applied to macroeconomic panel data.

Little has been reported in the literature on the perception and understanding of administrative staff regarding the processes involved in performance appraisal within the higher educational establishments. At the University of Bradford appraisal for this cadre of employees has hitherto taken a voluntary form. In response to this vacuum, an empirical survey has been carried out in four departments in order to explore the perception, views and preferences of the administrative staff of the entire process and its related issues. The results indicated that lack of provision for formal appraisal has often resulted in inconsistencies, little or no provision for establishing formal dialogue between management and the staff concerning their performance expectations, misplacement of personal goals, and realistic opportunities for personal and career development. Therefore concludes that there is an urgent need for the university to disseminate its policies widely and maintain uniformity of practice throughout its departments. Moreover, attention ought to be paid to the effective training and the role and responsibilities of line managers.

This study aims to analyse the essential characteristics for the success of social projects developed with undergraduate students of higher education institutions (HEIs).

A case study was conducted to verify the main characteristics of projects in a social entrepreneurship initiative. These features were used to perform a survey with experts to understand which of these items are essential for social projects success, through Lawshe’s method.

Of the ten items evaluated, two were considered essential by the experts: “Proper alignment between project scope and actual local community needs” and “Good level of interaction between students participating in the project and the local community”.

These findings can be useful for professors and coordinators to prepare future projects in HEIs. They may also be advantageous for researchers who may use them as a starting point for future studies.

The novelty of this study is the methodological approach used: a case study of projects in a social entrepreneurship initiative in a relevant Brazilian university; and a Lawshe’s method analysis of responses of experts in social projects developed in HEIs. The findings can greatly contribute to the debates in this field. No similar research was found in the literature.