Benefits and costs of the 55 mph speed limit: New estimates and their implications

The national 55 mile-per-hour speed limit was in effect from 1974 to 1987, and over the years many analysts have attempted to measure and compare its costs (enforcement and travel time) and benefits (safety and fuel economy). In 1984 a committee of the National Research Council completed a major study of the speed limit. The following article completes the committee's calculations; summarizes the results in units of money, lives, and travel time; and divides these effects between rural interstates and all other roads. Over a range of plausible dollar values for extra travel time, the cost of saving a life is estimated to be much higher on rural interstates than on other affected roads—and higher than the cost of saving a life by other highway safety measures as well. Hence, proponents of higher speed limits on the rural interstates have a strong case in the debate, which continues in the state legislatures.     

Hans J. Morgenthau and the national interest

He is the author of Hans J. Morgenthau and the Ethics of American Statecraft,in addition to numerous articles on realism and American foreign policy. His most recent book is John Quincy Adams and the Public Virtues of the Diplomatist.     

Income of the population aged 55 and older, 1976.

This article inaugurates a biennial series of reports on the income of persons aged 55 and older. The survey on which it is based updates information on the broad economic picture for a cross-section of this population and forms the basis for an analysis of trends in the financial status of the group as a whole. In 1976, persons aged 55--61 were generally working full-time, not receiving income from pensions, and married. Those aged 73 and older were predominantly not working, mostly recipients of retirement pensions, and likely to be widows. Most persons aged 65 and older were receiving social security benefits; those with neither earnings nor a second pension constituted the largest subgroup and had the lowest median income. Married couples, as a group, were substantially better off financially than nonmarried persons because they were younger, two-person rather than one-person units, and had one member who was a man. Blacks were less likely than whites to receive pension income other than social security benefits, and their median benefits and earnings were both lower.     

Assessing the role of vocational rehabilitation in disability policy.

Since 1975, vocational rehabilitation has represented a small and declining component of federal disability policy. This trend is perhaps reflective of the relatively crude assessment techniques that have been applied to the program in the past. Using the Virginia Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program as a prototype, we outline how the data and methods of assessment can be improved for purposes of directing public policy. The key issues include identifying an appropriate comparison group for VR, analysis of longitudinal earnings data, and methods for refining measures of program cost. The analysis provides "fixed-effects" estimates of net earnings impacts for each of three postprogram years stratified by disability classification and gender. These treatment impacts are compared to total and service-specific costs. In general, this analysis suggests that evaluation of VR can be substantially improved and that these improvements can be attained at relatively modest analytic cost.     

Electoral and structural losers and support for a national referendum in the U.S.

The U.S. is one of only a few democracies in the world never to hold a national referendum. Recent national surveys reveal that a majority of respondents approve of a national referendum both cross-nationally and in America is relatively stable. Building on previous work (Bowler and Donovan, 2007), we find public opinion on a reform proposal is fluid and responsive to electoral politics, rather than stable as reported in earlier work. In this paper, we argue that contemporary support for a national referendum in the U.S. is contingent on whether a citizen is a short- or long-term “winner” or a “loser” when it comes to electoral politics. We expect that public support for a national referendum in the U.S., where legislation referred by Congress would be subject to a popular vote, may vary at the individual level because of short-term electoral fortunes as well as long-term structural conditions. Strategic voting as well as losing in candidate races and policy issues may be important, but so might be partisanship, with non-partisans the most likely to benefit from citizen law-making at the national level. Support for a national referendum might also be contingent upon state context, that is, upon use of direct democracy in the state where a person lives, as well as the population of a state. The results based on a natural experiment and 2008 panel survey data provide an important window into understanding public opinion on institutional change more broadly.     

Assessing the Experience Bonus Through Examining Strategic Entry, Candidate Quality, and Campaign Receipts in U.S. House Elections

This article examines nonincumbent fundraising through the lens of two theories that have not been applied in other studies of fundraising—strategic candidate entry and ambitious amateur candidates—to test whether candidates with prior office experience are advantaged in raising funds for U.S. House campaigns. A selection model that takes into account the strategic entry of strong candidates demonstrates that electoral experience matters for only a select subset of experienced candidates. In contrast to previous research, the results show that much of the fundraising difference between amateurs and experienced candidates can be attributed to a selection process where the strongest candidates seek the best races. The results have implications for how we understand the relative importance of various conditions that shape fundraising. Competitive local or national conditions that encourage strong candidacies also allow nonincumbents to accumulate sufficient funds to mount credible campaigns.     

J. Michael Cole,Cross-Strait Relations since 2016: the End of the Illusion (Routledge: London and New York, 2020) 202p. $35.96 Paperback; $124 Hardback; $35.96 Ebook

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

Hu Bo, (Trans. Zhang Yanpei; Ed. Geoffrey Till) Chinese Maritime Power in the 21st Century; Strategic Planning,Policy and Predictions (Routledge: London and New York, 2019) 274 p. $124.00 hardcover; $46.36 e-book

Journal of Chinese Political Science -