Evaluating Others If They Stand Up for Their Moral Convictions,and Evaluating Ourselves If We Don't Stand Up

Social Justice Research - Acting on one’s moral principles is not always easy. Upholding one’s moral beliefs may run counter to one’s social environment or situational demands. It...     

Measuring Partisan Bias in Single‐Member District Electoral Systems

In recent decades, the literature has coalesced around either symmetry or responsiveness as measures of partisan bias in single‐member district systems. I argue neither accurately captures the traditional idea of an “efficient” gerrymander, where one party claims more seats without more votes. I suggest a better measure of efficiency and then use this new measure to reconsider a classic study of partisan gerrymandering. Contrary to the original study findings, I show that the effects of party control on bias are small and decay rapidly, suggesting that redistricting is at best a blunt tool for promoting partisan interests.     

Kyoto Protocol cooperation: Does government corruption facilitate environmental lobbying?

Does environmental lobbying affect the probability of environmental treaty ratification? Does the level of government corruption play a role for the success of such lobbying? In this paper, we propose that a more corruptible government may be more responsive to the demands of the environmental lobby. We use several stratified hazard models and panel data from 170 countries on the timing of Kyoto Protocol ratification to test this hypothesis. We find that increased environmental lobby group activity raises the probability of ratification, and the effect rises with the degree of corruption.     

Generational equity or privatization of social security?

He is primary author of Ties That Bind: The Interdependence of Generations,a study that examines the framing of the generational equity debate. He is currently doing research for a book concerning the planning of retirement of the baby boom generation.     

Urban youth under stress: Empirical identification of protective factors

Explored the influence of life stress as mediated or moderated by locus of control, family environment, social support, and coping style on psychological adjustment and school performance in 164 ninth graders from Baltimore. Gender differences in findings were shown. For boys, family cohesion was the only variable found to protect against the effects of stress. Family cohesion did not serve protective functions for girls, and along with overall social support, was associated with increased vulnerability to school problems. The report of problem-focused coping strategies exerted a number of protective functions for girls only. External locus of control was found to increase boys' and girls' vulnerability to the effects of life stress. Empirical development of interventions to improve the psychosocial adjustment of inner-city adolescents is discussed.Received Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1991. Research interests include evaluation of school mental health services, empirical development of interventions for children, and the impact of violence on urban youth.Received B.A. from Cornell University. Interests include stress and coping in children, identification of resilience factors, and evaluation of child mental health systems of care.Received Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1967. Research interests include psychophysiology, sleep disorders, and biofeedback and instrumentation.Received B.A. from Loyola College. Interested in applied work with adolescents and adults.Received M.D. from Duke University in 1968. Research interests include training in child and adolescent psychiatry, adolescent psychopathology, and the development of school mental health programs.     

Contracting out local government services: the B.C. experience

Abstract: This article discusses the findings of a detailed study of the practice of contracting out local government services in municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia. No similar study has been conducted in Canada to date, and comparable research in the United States has only examined the contracting of selected local government services. The findings are important for local government managers and elected officials because they indicate widespread reliance on contractors. Of all 124 local governments participating in the study, contractors were involved in the production of 32 per cent of all services. Of these, engineering services were the most likely to be produced by contractors (40.4 per cent). Specific comparisons of the B.C. findings with those in U.S. studies suggested that contracting for services was actually more widespread in B.C. than in the U.S. Further, reliance on contracting in B.C. had apparently increased over time. In 1980, 25 per cent of municipalities with a population over 10,000 contracted out the collection of residential solid waste. By 1989, that figure had increased to 54.8 per cent. Local government managers themselves saw no future reduction of the reliance on contracting; in fact, 22.8 per cent predicted an increase over the next five years. Sommaire: Cet article examine les constatations d'une étude détaillée sur la pratique des contrats de services parmi les municipalités et les districts régionaux de la Colombie-Britannique. Une telle étude n'a encore jamais été effectuée au Canada, et des recherches comparables aux États-Unis n'ont examiné que les contrats relatifs à certains services des gouvernements locaux. Les constatations sont importantes pour les gestionnaires et les élus des gouvernements locaux parce qu'elles révèlent le rôle très important des entreprises dans la prestation de services. Si l'on considère l'ensemble des 124 gouvernements locaux ayant participéà l'étude, les entrepreneurs sont impliqués dans la production de 32 pour cent de tous les services. Parmi les services fournis, ce sont les services d'ingénierie dont la plus forte proportion était assurée par des entrepreneurs (40,4 pour cent). Les coniparaisons spécifiques des ronstatations faitcs en Colornbie-Britannique à celles des études américaines suggerent que la Colornbie-Britannique fait davantage appel aux services sous-traités clue les États-Unis. Par ailleurs, la sous-traitance en Colombie-Britannique s'est apparernment accrue au fil des années. En 1980, 25 pour cent des municipaliteAs ayant une population de plus de 10 000 personnes avaient sous-traité le rarnassage des déchets solides résidentiels. En 1989, ce chiffre cyt passéà 51.8 pour cent. Les gestion-naires des gouvernements locaux eux-mêmes ne prévoient aucune réduction de la sous-traitance; en fait, 22,8 pour cent prévoient une augmentation au cours des cinq prochailies années.     

Restraining the Governors: The Nordic Experience with Limiting the Strong State

The combination of a tradition of arbitrary royal government and popular intolerance, with the existence of extensive, unitary and highly centralized institutions of government, and with the dominance of government by a single, reformist party for more than a half century would seem a potent recipe for governmental abuse of individual and minority group rights. That is especially true in the absence of the formal constitutional safeguards used to preserve rights elsewhere Yet the Nordic democracies have in fact proved exemplary in protecting civil liberties Why? This article challenges the view that Nordic political societies are consensual historically or by nature, and it describes the limited traditional institutional checks on abuse of individual and minority rights by government Instead it finds the basis for the Nordic democracies' excellent record in civil liberties in the combination of (1) the development of new, non-traditional institutional checks on government. (2) the use of direct democracy as a check on parliamentary majorities. (3) the pervasive use of corporatist channels encompassing the major oppositional interest groups to draft and implement legislation, and (4) the effective constraints placed on decisions by parliamentary majorities by the pattern of fierce partisanship in the finely balanced parliamentary party constellation These protections for individual and minority liberties arise primarily from the assumption that basic conflicts of interest are a fact of political life and that they should be institutionalized.     

Validation of a 16-locus fluorescent multiplex system

STR multiplexes have been indispensable for the efficient genotyping of forensic samples. The PowerPlex 16 System contains the coreCODIS loci, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, CSF1PO, FGA, THOI, TPOX, vWA, the sex determinant locus, amelogenin, and two pentanucleotide STR loci, Penta D and Penta E. This multiplex satisfies the locus requirements for most national databases and is the most efficient currently available system due to its single PCR amplification. To provide the groundwork for judicial acceptance, including the publication of primer sequences, and to evaluate laboratory-to-laboratory variation, a developmental validation for casework on this commercially available system was performed in 24 laboratories and produced the following conclusions. Amplification was reliable on a variety of thermal cyclers and product could be analyzed on either an ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyzer or an ABI PRISM 377 DNA Sequencer. Genotyping using single source samples was consistent between 0.25 and 2 ng of input DNA template with a few laboratories obtaining complete genotypes at 0.0625 ng. However, heterozygote allele imbalance (<60% peak height balance) caused by stochastic effects was observed at a rate of 13% with 0.125 ng DNA and 22% at 0.0625 ng DNA. Mixture analyses were done using a total of 1 ng of DNA template. Most alleles were detected in mixtures of 4 to 1 and some minor alleles were detected in mixtures of 19 to 1. Optimum amplification cycle number was dependent on the sensitivity of the detection instrument used and could also be adjusted to accommodate larger amounts of DNA on solid supports such as FTA paper. Reaction conditions including volume, annealing temperature, and concentrations of primer, AmpliTaq Gold, and magnesium were shown to be optimal yet robust enough to withstand moderate variations without affecting genotype analysis. Environmental, matrix and standard source analyses revealed an ability to obtain complete genotypes in all sample types except those exposed to 80 degrees C for 12-48 days. Finally, comparison of genotype results from the PowerPlex 16 System with other commercially available systems on non-probative reference and forensic samples showed consistent results.