Political analysts, policy makers, and aid agencies concerned with Melanesia have recently begun to pay attention to the role of Christian churches in governance. As Douglas notes, “churches, with their intensely local roots but broadly global reach,” are increasingly being seen “as alternative structures in the context of ineffective or even absent state institutions” (2007, p. 158). The impor...

The notion of stewardship, drawn from the literature of management and organization in the United States, may offer a useful window into this broader understanding of governance. Stewardship depends on a willingness to be accountable for results without using control as the means to reach them. This demands a choice for service with partnership and empowerment as basic governance strategies. St...

Informed consent is reviewed as it applies to psychiatric patients. Although new legislation, such as the Mental Health Act 1983, provides a useful safeguard for the protection of the civil rights of patients, it could actually reduce their humane care unless applied with sensitivity for the nature of their unique difficulties. In order to guard against this possibility, we suggest that legal r...