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The article provides evidence for a strong relationship between higher democratization and lower objective corruption levels in American state political systems. It also demonstrates that specific components of democratization thought to enhance transparency in government and probity among public officials are good predictors of lower corruption levels, whereas explicit state laws intended to reduce corruption are not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which investigated the consequences of racial diversity for levels of voter turnout or for the nature of mobilizing institutions in the United States. Measures and methods; Results; Conclusion.

Demonstrates that voters' turnout is related to class representation only under certain conditions and that the causes of class representation differ from those of voter turnout. Effect of mobilizing institutions on class representation; Factors determining class representation.

Explores the prospects for issue-voting in contemporary congressional elections in the United States. Attitudinal and behavioral changes to midterm congressional elections; Existence and accuracy of constituents' perceptions of their own representative's positions in five issue domains and on a generalized liberal-conservative dimension; Comparison of representatives' voting with constituents' personal policy preferences.

The research reported here examines the neighborhood distribution of park and library services in Houston. The analysis reveals that inequalities in distribution on the basis of race and wealth are dispersed rather than cumulative. The distribution of park acreage and facilities is equal while the location pattern is skewed in the direction of low income neighborhoods. The distribution of library resources favors upper income neighbor hoods, while the spatial distribution of branch libraries advantages black and other low income areas. Distributional decisions are made on the basis of bureaucratic rules and appear to be little affected by explicit racial and socioeconomic criteria. However, these rules may have distributional consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]