Search

Reviews the cultural, institutional, and professional factors which have inhibited the development of social sciences in Japan. Places major emphasis on the established system of graduate education and the academic culture of Japanese as factors which have limited social science development. (JDH)

Examines the relationship between teenage premarital paternity, child support enforcement, and delinquency. The non-random data were gathered from the Marian County, Indiana District Attorney's Office and Juvenile Court. Suggests that the early establishment of paternity should be pursued and that child support enforcement strategies should strongly encourage young fathers to complete high school. (KO)

Examines the extent and nature of social bias in the recruitment of school board members. Concludes that board members of both races tend to have family origins that are generally of higher socioeconomic status than those of the corresponding adult public, and that they have achieved more upward social mobility than their respective general adult publics. (Author/DB)

Discusses a study which investigated the possibility that Watergate influenced certain nonpolitical beliefs of Americans. Analysis of data indicated that many members of the public identify with political leaders to the extent that certain actions by these leaders become a reference point for basic beliefs about people in general. (Author/DB)

Explores the extent and nature of departmental discord in academic life and suggests that universities can minimize discord by putting more reliance on market principles to determine pay scales and by setting the limits on tenure at the college or university level, rather than at the department level. (Author/DB)

Describes a social science research project undertaken to determine public opinion with regard to American foreign policy. An additional objective of the project was to compare demographic correlates of foreign policy attitudes. Results based on a Likert approach are discussed. (DB)

Compares patterns of residential segregation among Mexican Americans, Blacks, and Anglos for 1960 and 1970 and finds that, in spite of a striking similarity in the overall pattern, there have been some important changes. Further, city characteristics found to be good predictors of segregation for 1960 fail to adequately account for the same types of segregation in 1970. (Author/DB)

Suggests that many of the forces which are resulting in declining enrollments in history courses originate outside the discipline and will not be affected much by remedies attempted by historians. The essay also argues that traditional historical practice will survive the current crisis if its unique identity, values, and functions are reaffirmed. (Author/DB)

Discusses a survey undertaken to determine how much attention natural and social scientists pay to the works of philosophers of science. A citation analysis revealed that social scientists are more than 25 times as likely as natural scientists to cite the works of prominent philosophers of science. Implications and explanations are presented. (DB)

Defines and explains organizational and conceptual problems encountered by practitioners of academic history today. An argument is presented for more systematic and self-conscious links between academic history and other academic disciplines that use historical data extensively. (Author/DB)

Reviews recent works of E.O. Wilson on sociobiology (the evolutionary and comparative study of social animals, including humans). Topics discussed include the nature of sociobiology, explanatory hypotheses in sociobiology, subdisciplines, biological individualism and altruism, costs of social engineering, and evolutionary perspectives. (DB)

To identify problems in communication among social science disciplines and to point out unexploited opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, the article maps the structure of interdisciplinary relationships among the various social sciences as exemplified by periodical citations in major disciplinary journals from 1936 to 1945. (Author/DB)

Discusses views of various scholars regarding the current difficulties of history as an academic discipline. Particular emphasis is placed on the works of Don Karl Rowney (Bowling Green State University) and Timothy Donnovan (University of Arkansas) who stress that history's form reveals history's function. (DB)

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00738.x Byline: M. D. R. Evans (1), Jonathan Kelley (2), Clayton D. Peoples (1) Abstract: Objectives. We investigate social consensus and dissensus within and between nations in three important justifications for pay differences: family needs, performance on the job, and education/authority. Methods. Data are from 31 nations and 66,777 individual respondents analyzed using structural equation and multilevel regression methods with multiple imputation of missing data. Results. In poor countries, but not in rich, most believe that family needs legitimate higher pay. Within countries-particularly English-speaking ones-low SES groups endorse family needs, but high SES groups reject them. Valuing performance and effort is widespread throughout the world and throughout all segments of society, high and low. Education and authority are widely valued, more in poor nations than in rich, with some demographic differences but few socioeconomic cleavages. Conclusions. There is conflict both within nations and between them as to whether need and education/authority justify unequal pay, but consensus that performance on the job does justify it. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Nevada, Reno (2)International Survey Center and University of Nevada, Reno

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00739.x Byline: Augustin Kwasi Fosu (1) Abstract: Objectives. The study seeks to provide comparative global evidence on the role of income inequality, relative to income growth, in poverty reduction. Methods. An analysis-of-covariance model is estimated using a large global sample of 1980-2004 unbalanced panel data, with the headcount measure of poverty as the dependent variable, and the Gini coefficient and PPP-adjusted mean income as explanatory variables. Both random-effects and fixed-effects methods are employed in the estimation. Results. The responsiveness of poverty to income is a decreasing function of inequality, and the inequality elasticity of poverty is actually larger than the income elasticity of poverty. Furthermore, there is a large variation across regions (and countries) in the relative effects of inequality on poverty. Conclusion. Income distribution plays a more important role than might be traditionally acknowledged in poverty reduction, though this importance varies widely across regions and countries. Author Affiliation: (1)United Nations University-Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00737.x Byline: David K. Jesuit (1), Vincent A. Mahler (2) Abstract: Objective. We offer an alternative to the conventional measure of government redistribution that seeks to address problems of second-order effects whereby income guarantees arising from public pensions make it less necessary for people to save for their retirement, rendering the 'pregovernment' counterfactual to the observed postgovernment distribution unrealistic. Method. We use household-level data from the Luxembourg Income Study to calculate an alternative measure of government redistribution that includes public-sector pensions in 'pregovernment' income alongside private-sector pensions, on the assumption that each represents a claim on future income. Results. Employing the alternative method described in the article results in lower values for redistribution than the conventional measure. Conclusion. We suggest that our alternative method be used in addition to the conventional method in cross-national research, in an effort to achieve a more complete understanding of government redistribution in the developed countries. Author Affiliation: (1)Central Michigan University (2)Loyola University Chicago

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00735.x Byline: Dante Contreras (1), Paulina Sepulveda (1), Sebastian Bustos (1) Abstract: Objective. The voucher scheme introduced in Chile in 1981 allows for-profit private subsidized schools to choose their students. The objective of this article is to present evidence of this practice and examine its relationship with academic performance using information from the 2005 SIMCE test, in which parents were asked about the admission requirements for their children's schools. We present evidence indicating that student selection is a widespread practice among private subsidized schools. Methods. Using OLS and after controlling for a series of selection criteria and the segmentation effects that they produce, the evidence indicates that there are no differences in results between public and private subsidized education. Results. Our results show that a student attending a school that uses selection criteria obtains 7-9 percent higher results in standardized mathematics tests than a student from a school that does not use selection. Conclusion. The main conclusion of this study is that the basic belief behind the voucher system in Chile that competition will lead to better quality of all schools is not being met. Author Affiliation: (1)Universidad de Chile

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00734.x Byline: Jeffrey C. Dixon (1), Murat Ergin (2) Abstract: Objective. In the wake of Turkey's EU candidacy and the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Turkey's Kurdish question has drawn international attention. Due to previous data limitations, ours is the first article to analyze what explains anti-Kurdish beliefs in Turkey using nationally representative survey data. Methods. Through descriptive analyses and partial proportional odds models of the Pew Global Attitudes Survey (2002), we examine the extent and sources of these beliefs. Results. We find high levels of anti-Kurdish beliefs in Turkey, but little evidence of group competition/material interests shaping these beliefs; rather, nationalism, secularism, and, somewhat surprisingly, favorable evaluations of globalization better explain anti-Kurdish beliefs. Conclusion. Although broad processes of social-dominance orientation and authoritarianism may be factors working in the background, anti-Kurdish beliefs are better explained by the peculiar case of modernization in Turkey and these anti-Kurdish beliefs may be different from negative beliefs about other minorities. Author Affiliation: (1)Koc University, Istanbul (2)College of the Holy Cross

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00736.x Byline: Daniel P. Aldrich (1) Abstract: Objective. Disasters are a regular occurrence throughout the world. Whether all eligible victims of a catastrophe receive similar amounts of aid from governments and donors following a crisis remains an open question. Methods. I use data on 62 similarly damaged inland fishing villages in five districts of southeastern India following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to measure the causal influence of caste, location, wealth, and bridging social capital on the receipt of aid. Using two-limit tobit and negative binomial models, I investigate the factors that influence the time spent in refugee camps, receipt of an initial aid packet, and receipt of 4,000 rupees. Results. Caste, family status, and wealth proved to be powerful predictors of beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries during the aid process. Conclusion. While many scholars and practitioners envision aid distribution as primarily a technocratic process, this research shows that discrimination and financial resources strongly affect the flow of disaster aid. Author Affiliation: (1)Purdue University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00733.x Byline: Lingyu Lu (1), Sean Nicholson-Crotty (1) Abstract: Objectives. There is disagreement in the literature on immigration attitudes regarding the relative importance of ethnic stereotypes and more general cultural and economic concerns about increasing immigration in the formation of those attitudes. We argue that the impact of stereotypes relative to these other factors may have been underestimated for a variety of reasons. Methods. We test the impact of stereotypes on immigration preferences in data from the Multi-Ethnic Module of the 2000 General Social Survey. Because the dependent variables analyzed herein are ordinal, we estimate ordered logistic regressions that correct for diagnosed hetereoskedacticity. Results. Statistical analyses confirm that negative stereotypes are a significantly larger predictor of ethnicity-specific immigration preferences relative to general attitudes about immigration. Intervening variables analyses also suggest that the impact of stereotypes has been underestimated relative to cultural and economic anxieties because these variables significantly mediate its observed impact. Conclusions. The results suggest that ethnic stereotypes are significantly more important in determining immigration preferences among Americans than has been reported in previous research. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Missouri

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00731.x Byline: Mary J. Fischer (1) Abstract: Objective. This study examines whether the use of institutional (school-based) networks may help students from disadvantaged backgrounds secure summer employment opportunities that are on a par with those of their more advantaged classmates who may possess more resource-rich personal and familial networks. Methods. The study draws on unique data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen to examine the strategies that a national representative sample of nearly 4,000 white, black, Asian, and Hispanic students on 28 campuses used to obtain summer employment and the characteristics of these summer jobs. Multinomial logistic regression techniques are applied to examine the types of contacts students used and jobs they found, while OLS regression is employed to examine the wages and occupational prestige of summer positions. Results. The study reveals that students who obtained their summer jobs through institutional contacts had significantly higher earnings and held positions with higher occupational prestige than students using most other methods (controlling for race/ethnicity, prior work experience, and parental education). I also found that minority students are at least as likely as white students to draw on these institutional networks. In addition, there were no differences by SES, suggesting that this type of capital is both accessible and accessed by a wide range of students. Conclusions. This study provides evidence that summer jobs obtained through institutional networks are more likely to be in desirable sectors, on average pay better, and have higher occupational prestige scores than jobs obtained by most other methods. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Connecticut

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00732.x Byline: Wendy D. Roth (1) Abstract: Objectives. A primary justification for collecting U.S. racial statistics is the need to monitor racial discrimination. This article aims to show how analyses of Hispanics-who may officially be of any race-tend to miss discrimination based on racial appearance by relying on data that instead capture racial self-identification, a different aspect of race that often does not correspond. Methods. The study analyzes 60 qualitative interviews with Dominican and Puerto Rican migrants in the New York metropolitan area. It employs multiple measures to represent theoretically distinct aspects of the lived experience of race. Results. Respondents interpret the Census race question in different ways corresponding to different aspects of race, which often do not match one another. Although respondents experience discrimination on the basis of phenotype, their racial self-identification is a poor proxy for measuring their racial appearance. Conclusions. Scholars need to develop a language of race that communicates the multiplicity of social processes involved. Social surveys must provide measures of these multiple components, including interviewer observations of racial appearance, to monitor discrimination on the basis of phenotype within Hispanic groups. Author Affiliation: (1)University of British Columbia

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00730.x Byline: Angel L. Harris (1), Kris Marsh (1) Abstract: Objective. Fordham (1988, 1996) notes that because the larger black community has a culture that is oppositional to mainstream U.S. society, blacks who wish to maintain academic success and achieve upward socioeconomic mobility feel pressure to adopt a raceless identity. The purpose of this study is to examine whether a raceless identity leads to better educational outcomes for blacks in high school than does a nonraceless identity. Methods. Using data from the Maryland Adolescence Development In Context Study (MADICS), we create five profiles intended to capture blacks' connection to their race and determine whether racial/ethnic connections among blacks are associated with school achievement, educational aspirations, value attributed to schooling, or detachment from schooling. These links are assessed net of affective feelings about being black and beliefs about shared fate. Results. The findings are not consistent with the racelessness perspective. Specifically, blacks in the race ambivalent and race similar profiles have higher achievement and educational aspirations, and attribute more value to schooling and are less detached from schooling than are those in the race neutral profile. Conclusion. Prior studies have overstated the extent to which racelessness helps achievement. Author Affiliation: (1)Princeton University (2)University of Maryland College Park

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00724.x Byline: Jonathan T. Rothwell (1), Douglas S. Massey (2) Abstract: Objectives. Socioeconomic segregation rose substantially in U.S. cities during the final decades of the 20th century, and we argue that zoning regulations are an important cause of this increase. Methods. We measure neighborhood economic segregation using the Gini coefficient for neighborhood income inequality and the poor-affluent exposure index. These outcomes are regressed on an index of density zoning developed from the work of Pendall for 50 U.S. metropolitan areas, while controlling for other metropolitan characteristics likely to affect urban housing markets and class segregation. Results. For both 2000 and changes from 1990 to 2000, OLS estimates reveal a strong relationship between density zoning and income segregation, and replication using 2SLS suggests that the relationship is causal. We also show that zoning is associated with higher interjurisdictional inequality. Conclusions. Metropolitan areas with suburbs that restrict the density of residential construction are more segregated on the basis of income than those with more permissive density zoning regimes. This arrangement perpetuates and exacerbates racial and class inequality in the United States. Author Affiliation: (1)The Brookings Institution (2)Princeton University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00729.x Byline: Ping Xu (1), James C. Garand (1) Abstract: Objectives. The increase in income inequality in the United States over the past three decades has been well documented, though Americans differ in their perceptions of rising inequality. In this article we investigate the degree to which context shapes individuals' perceptions of rising income inequality in the United States. Methods. Using objective data on state-level income inequality and survey data from the 2004 American National Election Study (ANES), we estimate a series of ordered logit models depicting individuals' perceptions of rising income inequality as a function of state income inequality and various control variables. Results. We find that individuals residing in states with high income inequality are more likely than other individuals to perceive large increases in national income inequality over the past 20 years. We also consider possible interaction effects for state income inequality with political knowledge and family income, but our evidence suggests that such effects are limited to family income. We find that individuals from lower income strata are more likely to translate state income inequality into inequality perceptions than those with higher incomes. Conclusion. State inequality context significantly shapes individuals' perceptions of rising income inequality, particularly among those with lower incomes. Author Affiliation: (1)Louisiana State University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00725.x Byline: Andrea Hetling (1), Haiyan Zhang (1) Abstract: Objective. This study investigates whether or not domestic violence agencies are located in areas of need. Recent research indicates that community economic disadvantage is a risk factor for intimate partner violence, but related questions regarding the geographic location of social service agencies have not been investigated. Methods. Using Connecticut as a case study, we analyze the relationship of agency location and police-reported domestic violence incidents and assaults using OLS regression and correcting for spatial autocorrelation. Results. The presence of an agency within a town has no relationship with the rates of domestic violence. However, regional patterns are evident. Conclusion. Findings indicate that programs are not geographically mismatched with need, but neither are programs located in towns with higher rates of incidents or assaults. Future research and planning efforts should consider the geographic location of agencies. Author Affiliation: (1)Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00727.x Byline: James R. Elliott (1), Jeremy Pais (2) Abstract: Objectives. This research investigates the spatial redistribution of socially vulnerable subpopulations during long-term recovery from natural disaster. We hypothesize that the local environmental impact of a disaster influences this redistribution process and that how it does so varies by the urban or rural context in which the disaster occurs. Methods. To test these hypotheses, we use a novel research design that combines the natural experiment offered by Hurricane Andrew with GIS technology and local census data. Results. Findings indicate that in a more urbanized disaster zone (Miami), long-term recovery displaces socially disadvantaged residents from harder-hit areas; yet, in a more rural disaster zone (southwestern Louisiana), long-term recovery concentrates socially disadvantaged residents within these harder-hit areas. Conclusion. These findings bridge classic and contemporary research on postdisaster recovery and open new terrain for thinking about how environmental and social forces intersect to transform regions in different settlement contexts. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Oregon (2)State University of New York at Albany

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00728.x Byline: Andrew Gelman (1), Lane Kenworthy (2), Yu-Sung Su (3) Abstract: Objectives. Income inequality in the United States has risen during the past several decades. Has this produced an increase in partisan voting differences between rich and poor? Methods. We examine trends from the 1940s through the 2000s in the country as a whole and in the states. Results. We find no clear relation between income inequality and class-based voting. Conclusions. Factors such as religion and education result in a less clear pattern of class-based voting than we might expect based on income inequality alone. Author Affiliation: (1)Columbia University (2)University of Arizona (3)Columbia University and New York University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00726.x Byline: Alexandra K. Murphy (1), Danielle Wallace (2) Abstract: Objectives. Given the recent rise of poverty in U.S. suburbs, this study asks: What poor neighborhoods are most disadvantageous, those in the city or those in the suburbs? Building on recent urban sociological work demonstrating the importance of neighborhood organizations for the poor, we are concerned with one aspect of disadvantage-the lack of availability of organizational resources oriented toward the poor. By breaking down organizations into those that promote mobility versus those that help individuals meet their daily subsistence needs, we seek to explore potential variations in the type of disadvantage that may exist. Methods. We test whether poor urban or suburban neighborhoods are more likely to be organizationally deprived by breaking down organizations into three types: hardship organizations, educational organizations, and employment organizations. We use data from the 2000 U.S. County Business Patterns and the 2000 U.S. Census and test neighborhood deprivation using logistic regression models. Results. We find that suburban poor neighborhoods are more likely to be organizationally deprived than are urban poor neighborhoods, especially with respect to organizations that promote upward mobility. Interesting racial and ethnic composition factors shape this more general finding. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that if a poor individual is to live in a poor neighborhood, with respect to access to organizational resources, he or she would be better off living in the central city. Suburban residence engenders isolation from organizations that will help meet one's daily needs and even more so from those offering opportunities for mobility. Author Affiliation: (1)Princeton University (2)Arizona State University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00750.x Byline: Elizabeth Raleigh (1), Grace Kao (1) Abstract: Objective. Educational aspirations are an important predictor of eventual attainment. We examine if immigrant parents have higher aspirations for their children compared to native-born parents and whether they are more likely to maintain high aspirations over time. Methods. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), we document differences in the formation and maintenance of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian parents' college aspirations for their children between kindergarten, third, and fifth grades. We also examine the role of acculturation in the stability of immigrant parents' aspirations. Results. We find that immigrant parents are more optimistic about their children's educational trajectories than are native-born parents and that over time they are more likely to maintain consistently high aspirations for their children. Conclusion. Immigrant parents do not see their children's future as downwardly mobile, and instead remain optimistic, consistently reinforcing messages about college plans throughout childhood. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Pennsylvania

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00751.x Byline: Dylan Conger (1) Abstract: Objective. In 1975, the Puerto Rican community successfully sued the New York City Department of Education, mandating the city to provide bilingual education to its Spanish-speaking English learner (EL) students. The settlement, known as the 'Aspira Consent Decree,' has been amended over time to include EL students of all language groups and now requires public schools that have at least 15 students of the same language group in two contiguous grades to offer bilingual education. Yet observational studies of bilingual education classrooms in the city document that Spanish-speaking EL students may be the only language group that receives native-language instruction, while students from other language groups who are enrolled in bilingual education primarily receive English instruction. Method. I use this difference in treatment dosage to estimate the effect of bilingual education on the time that it takes students to learn English. Results and Conclusions. Students who enroll in bilingual education classrooms learn English less quickly, but the effect of bilingual education is the same for Spanish-speaking and other students, implying that negative selection mechanisms are at work. Author Affiliation: (1)George Washington University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00749.x Byline: Garrick L. Percival (1) Abstract: Objective. To test the influence of local (county) politics on minority incarceration rates. Methods. Data are collected at the county level in California to create a pooled cross-sectional data set. OLS regression models predicting black, Hispanic, and white incarceration rates (in state prison) are used in the analysis. Results. Counties' ideological orientations and racial and ethnic contextual characteristics significantly impact minority incarceration rates. Greater ideological conservatism within counties is associated with higher rates (as a proportion of their population) of both black and Hispanic incarceration. Consistent with racial threat theory, results show counties with greater racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to incarcerate blacks and Hispanics. Tests for interaction effects indicate that greater county diversity decreases the punitive effects of ideological conservatism on minority incarceration. Conclusion. Political forces nested within states systematically shape how state government incarceration power is distributed across different racial and ethnic groups. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Minnesota, Duluth

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00747.x Byline: Patricia Y. Warren (1) Abstract: Objectives. Survey research has demonstrated that there is significant race variation in perceptions of the police, with black citizens holding lower levels of trust than do whites. Although these differences have been well documented, few studies have examined if and how these differences vary across police organizations. Using survey data from the North Carolina Highway Traffic Study, the objective of this research was to explore the influence of vicarious experience and perceptions of racial profiling in accounting for racial variation in trust across two levels of policing-highway patrol and city/local police. Methods. Ordinal logistic regression was utilized to assess both their independent and combined influences as the methodology. Results. The results suggest that across both police agencies, the race gap in trust is strongly associated with vicarious experience and perceptions of racial profiling. Conclusions. The results provide some support for examining perceptions of police across levels of policing as the results suggest that perceptions of one police organization are not necessarily generalizable across them all. Author Affiliation: (1)Florida State University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00748.x Byline: Walter Clark Wilson (1) Abstract: Objective. This article examines dynamics related to the sponsorship of Latino interest bills in Congress. I focus particularly on the influence of Latino representatives. Methods. I employ an original data set that includes all bills sponsored during the 109th Congress (2005-2006) and use negative binomial and standard OLS regression techniques to test hypotheses that Latino representatives are more active sponsors of Latino interest bills than non-Latino representatives. Results. Findings demonstrate that both the size of Latino constituencies in congressional districts and descriptive representation significantly and positively predict Latino interest bill sponsorship. Descriptive representation appears particularly influential regarding sponsorship of bills that deal with Latino concerns explicitly. Conclusion. The analysis establishes that descriptive representation enhances the substantive representation of Latinos in bill sponsorship. An important aspect of this phenomenon is a legislative style on the part of Latino representatives that more openly, actively, and specifically embraces the interests of Latino constituencies in policy proposals. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Texas at San Antonio

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00744.x Byline: Sangmoon Kim (1), John Skvoretz (2) Abstract: Objectives. Previous work on trade, mostly from an economic perspective, assumes dyadic independence, and thus that trade can be explained by attributes of such dyads. We critique these contentions from the perspective of structural embeddedness, hypothesizing that sharing common third-party trading partners encourages dyadic trade. Methods. We analyze international trade data of 78 countries in 1975 and 1996, using cross-sectional and longitudinal regression. Results. Regression analyses support our hypothesis. A BIC analysis suggests that the structural embeddedness variables significantly improve the model fit. Conclusion. International exchange of commodities, like other social interactions, is shaped and constrained by structurally determined opportunities. Thus, an explanation of economic behavior, including trade, is not complete without reference to the triads in which a dyad is embedded. Author Affiliation: (1)University of North Carolina Wilmington (2)University of South Florida

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00745.x Byline: Madhav Joshi (1), T. David Mason (2) Abstract: Objectives. We seek to investigate the determinants of Nepal's relapse into authoritarianism and resort to violence rather than reform as a response to the Maoist insurgency. Revolutionary insurgency emerged in Nepal after a transition to parliamentary democracy, whereas democracy is supposed to inoculate a nation against the risk of civil war. We present a theory of how the level of violence varies across districts with variations in the distribution of peasants among land tenure categories. Methods. We use district-level data from Nepal and test hypotheses by using negative binominal statistical analysis. Results. Our results indicate that the level of violence varies across districts with variations in land tenure patterns, the level of electoral participation, and the extent of poverty. Conclusions. Our study provides insights into how the concentration of landed resources and political power creates incentives for a landowning coalition that dominated the state to use violence against those segments of the peasantry that have incentives to support an insurgency that promised to redistribute land. Author Affiliation: (1)Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame (2)University of North Texas

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00746.x Byline: Victor Brajer (1), Andrew Gill (1) Abstract: Objective. We extend the scope of the often-asked question 'who talks more-men or women?' by analyzing gender differences in talking via electronic communication. We do this by conducting a controlled experiment to elicit email communications and personal characteristics from a sample of college students. Methods. An integration of the disparate fields of communications, education, women's studies, and economics guides our approach, which uses multivariate regression to explain word counts from our electronic survey. Results. We find a positive and significant effect of being female on number of words used, especially when communication is with a female professor, consistent with a female role model hypothesis. Conclusion. Overall, we find that women 'talk' more than men-sometimes. The results depend on the topic of conversation and to whom they are talking. Electronic communications may level the playing field, or even give females an advantage, in certain communication situations. Author Affiliation: (1)California State University, Fullerton

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00742.x Byline: Alexander L. Janus (1) Abstract: Objective. Immigration scholars have found that the highly educated and political liberals are considerably less likely to support restrictionist immigration policies than other groups. I ask whether the influence of social desirability pressures in the survey interview is responsible for this finding. Methods. An unobtrusive questioning technique known as the list experiment is used to measure Americans' support for immigration restrictionism. The list experiment can easily be embedded in a standard telephone survey and has been used by previous investigators to study racial attitudes. Results. Restrictionist sentiments are found to be more widespread among the U.S. populace than previous studies have estimated, especially among college graduates and political liberals. Conclusion. My findings have implications for immigration scholars and social scientists who study other sensitive attitudes and behaviors. The most commonly employed strategies to reduce socially desirable responding may not be enough. Author Affiliation: (1)University of California, Berkeley

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00743.x Byline: Rebekah Herrick (1) Abstract: Objectives. This article updates and expands the research on sex differences in legislators' relationships with constituents. Methods. A 2008 survey of legislators from 26 states is used to collect data on constituent-initiated contact, hours legislators spend keeping in touch with constituents or conducting casework, legislators' use of constituent information, and accuracy of legislators' perceptions of constituents. Results. The findings suggest that female legislators do not differ from male legislators in the time they spend contacting constituents or doing casework or in the accuracy of their perceptions of constituents. However, female legislators received more contact from constituents, and were more likely to attend meetings and use constituent-derived information. Conclusion. Although sex has small effects on the amount of contact legislators have with constituents, it does affect the way legislators contact their constituents. This is likely because engagement has become an important role for legislators. Thus, while legislators all have to be actively engaged, they have some flexibility in how they engage with constituents. Author Affiliation: (1)Oklahoma State University

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00741.x Byline: Joseph A. Aistrup (1) Abstract: Objective. This study develops and tests a model of political regionalism that posits that if regions are politically exceptional, then individuals sharing the same profile but living in these different regions will have divergent presidential voting patterns (King, 1996). Methods. Analyzing presidential voting behavior from 1952 to 2004, I use logistic regression techniques to test a regional model of homogeneity (southern exceptionalism) versus a unit model of homogeneity (South and Non-South are statistically similar). Results. The findings show that the South's presidential voting patterns are exceptional in the 1950s and during the civil rights era but, starting in the Reagan era, southern exceptionalism waned. These findings also show that the South is converging with the non-South (northernization) relative to the influences of race, family income, union membership, in-migrants, and gender, and the non-South is converging with the South (southernization) relative to the influences of education, blue-collar workers, and age. Conclusions. Both economic class and race variables contribute to the demise of regional exceptionalism; however, race plays a more persistent role. Given the process of 'southernization' and the instability of the predictors of presidential voting for the South over time, I conclude that the study of the South as a region should continue until the process of change subsides and a new equilibrium is found. Author Affiliation: (1)Kansas State University