Lists and Lotteries: Rationing in the Housing Choice Voucher Program

This article investigates how the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program rations subsidies. HCV is the largest low-income housing assistance program in the United States. Despite the program’s size, millions of HCV-eligible households go without subsidy each year. Because the demand for support exceeds the supply of subsidies, HCV assistance is rationed through several mechanisms. These mechanisms and their relationship with the HCV system from both the client and administrator perspectives will be discussed. Implications of HCV rationing will also be discussed.     

Naturschutz bei der Ausbringung von gentechnisch veränderten Organismen – Teil 2

Im ersten Teil des Aufsatzes ging es um die Beachtung des Naturschutzes bei der Freisetzungsgenehmigung, der IVB-Genehmigung, den nachmarktlichen Ma?nahmen und den sog. vereinfachten/differenzierten Verfahren. über diese klassisch umweltrechtliche Anforderung hinaus ist denkbar, dass manche Fl?chen von GVO ganz freigehalten werden, damit neben der Gentechnik einsetzenden Landnutzung naturn?here ?kosysteme erhalten bleiben. Dieser Frage widmet sich der zweite Teil. Er schlie?t mit einer Zusammenfassung des ganzen Beitrags ab.     

Transnational Information Politics: NGO Human Rights Reporting, 1986–2000

What shapes the transnational activist agenda? Do non-governmental organizations with a global mandate focus on the world's most pressing problems, or is their reporting also affected by additional considerations? To address these questions, we study the determinants of country reporting by an exemplary transnational actor, Amnesty International, during 1986–2000. We find that while human rights conditions are associated with the volume of their country reporting, other factors also matter, including previous reporting efforts, state power, U.S. military assistance, and a country's media profile. Drawing on interviews with Amnesty and Human Rights Watch staff, we interpret our findings as evidence of Amnesty International's social movement-style "information politics." The group produces more written work on some countries than others to maximize advocacy opportunities, shape international standards, promote greater awareness, and raise its profile. This approach has both strengths and weaknesses, which we consider after extending our analysis to other transnational sectors.