The Expansion of Neoliberal Economic Reforms in Latin America

This article seeks to explain why most Latin American countries have expanded market-oriented reforms since the 1980s despite their generally disappointing economic results. To explain deepening liberal economic reform, we test panel data for 15 Latin American countries from 1980 to 1995, using Beck and Katz' panel-corrected standard errors regression. Controlling for several competing explanations, we find that, except under fragmented party systems, high inflation promotes the expansion of economic reforms. We then show how our results are consistent with Weyland's (1996) use of prospect theory as well as Rodrik's (1994) work on the distributional effects of high inflation.     

Stigma and other determinants of participation in TANF and Medicaid.

We developed a conceptual framework to examine the association between stigma, enrollment barriers (e.g., difficult application), knowledge, state policy, and participation in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and adult Medicaid programs. Survey data from 901 community health center patients, who were potential and actual participants in these programs, indicated that while images of the Medicaid program and its recipients were generally positive, stigma associated with welfare stereotypes reduced both TANF and Medicaid enrollment. Expectations of poor treatment when applying for Medicaid, enrollment barriers, and misinformation about program rules were also associated with reduced Medicaid enrollment. States that enacted strict welfare reform policies were potentially decreasing TANF participation, while states with more simplified and generous programs were potentially increasing Medicaid participation. The results suggest that the image of the adult Medicaid program remains tied to perceptions about welfare and provides guidance to policymakers about how to improve participation rates.     

Patriarchy in the Balkans: Temporal and cross-cultural approaches

The article deals with the history, distribution and ideology of Balkan patriarchy; the Balkan agnatic kinship system; and with the most significant patriarchal family structures. The demographic analyses are based primarily on the Serbian state census of 1863 (the first available census listing women) and the Federal Yugoslav census data for 1948, 1953, and 1961, coupled with archival and field data for the central Serbian village of Oras?ac for 1818–1975. Balkan patriarchy has much in common with similar well-documented systems in Asia and the Middle East. The Balkan situation was differentiated, however, in that this system existed both within and outside formal state structures. The patriarchal ideology shaped kinship and family patterns, as well as coresidential patterns within households. These patterns reproduced patriarchal structures, but the full reproduction of the system was constrained by economic circumstances.