Goldfarb and Mathews: legal challenges to the dependency test for spouse's benefits

Changes in the eligibility criteria for a survivor's benefit under the Social Security program resulted from a 1977 Supreme Court decision in the case of Califano v. Goldfarb. The Court ruled that legislation that required only men to prove past financial dependence on a deceased spouse in order to establish eligibility to a survivor's benefit violated equal protection guarantees in the Constitution. In a 5-4 decision, the majority of the Supreme Court Justices determined the constitutionality of the gender-based distinction by applying the heightened scrutiny test. For a statutory gender-based classification to be found constitutional under the test, the government must show that (1) use of a gender-based classification serves an important governmental purpose and (2) a direct and substantial relationship exists between the gender-based classification and the purported objective. The majority of the Court found the sex-based distinction was based on sexist assumptions about women, was not formulated to serve an important governmental objective, and, thus, was unconstitutional. Amid projections that elimination of the dependency test for men would increase annual Social Security benefit expenditures by as much as +500 million, Congress enacted a government pension offset provision to help minimize the cost increase. It required that any spouse or survivor who received or was eligible to receive a pension for his or her own work in noncovered public employment would have his or her Social Security surviving spouse's or dependent's benefit reduced dollar-for-dollar by the amount of the work-related pension. An exception clause was included in that legislation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A party system in transformation: The April 1992 Italian election

This article uses evidence from a survey of Conservative MPs to assess the importance of the divide over European policy in the British Conservative party. One key consequence of the conflict over Europe is its effect on the party leadership. Tensions over EC policy played a very substantial part in Margaret Thatcher's downfall and they continue to affect the premiership of her successor, John Major.     

Book reviews

Patterns of Democracy. Government Forms and Performance in Thirty‐Six Countries. By Arend Lijphart. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999. Pp.351, biblio., index. £26 (cloth); £10.95 (paper) ISBN 0–300–07893–5.

Critical Citizens. Global Support for Democratic Governance. Edited by P. Norris. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp.xv + 303, 37 figures, 59 tables, biblio, index. £45 (cloth) ISBN 0–19–829479–4.

Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Edited by H. Kitschelt, P. Lange, G. Marks and J.D. Stephens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp.xiii + 527, biblio, index. £45 (US$69.95) (cloth) ISBN 0–521–62446–2; £16.95 (US$27.95) (paper) ISBN 0–521–63496–0.

Comparative Public Policy ‐ Patterns of Post‐war Transformation. By Francis G. Castles. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1998. Pp.368, £59.95 (cloth) ISBN 1–858989–816–0; £19.95 (paper) ISBN 1–858989–823–3.

The Political System of the European Union. By S. Hix. London: Macmillan, 1999. Pp.ix + 427, 52 tables and 28 figures, biblio, index. £16.99 (paper) ISBN 0–333–71654‐X; £49.50 (cloth) ISBN 0–333–71653–1.

The Long Presidency. France in the Mitterrand Years, 1981–1995. By Julius Friend. Boulder, CO and Oxford: Westview Press, 1998. Pp.xi + 308, biblio, index. £30.95 (cloth) ISBN 0–8133–2850–0.

Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy. Edited by Mark F. Gilbert and K. Robert Nilsson. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland and London, 1999. Pp.xxxvi + 463. 18 tables. $65 (cloth) ISBN 0–8108–3584–3

Zukunft der Sozialpartnerschaft: Veränderungsdynamik und Reformbedarf. Edited by F. Karlhofer and E. Tálos. Vienna: Signum, 1999. Pp.301, 9 tables, 3 figures, ATS 350 ISBN 3–85436–297–8.

Geografia della cittadinanza sociale in Italia. By Valeria Fargion. Bologna: II Mulino, 1997. Pp.351, biblio, index. L.45,000 (paper) ISBN 88–15–06127–4.     

To blame or not to blame: influences of target race and observer sex on rape blame attribution

There is a paucity of research on the influence of racist and sexist stereotypes in rape blame attribution, including the jezebel and matriarch stereotypes of Black women. This study extends the literature by examining how victim race, perpetrator race, and participant sex affect perceptions of a rape survivor's promiscuity (jezebel stereotype) and strength and/or toughness (matriarch stereotype). The myth of the Black male sexual predator of White women is also investigated. Data provided partial support for the jezebel stereotype. There were also contradictory findings supporting and challenging the acceptance of the Black rapist of White women stereotype. No significant differences were found for the matriarch stereotype. Reasons for and implications of findings are explored.     

Gradgrinding the Social Sciences: The Politics of Metrics of Political Science

This article employs an interpretive approach, and in the light of contributions to this symposium by Butler and McAllister, and McLean et al ., holds that metrics of research 'quality' are socially constructed and hence are as 'subjective' as peer review. Thus it rejects the use of stand-alone metrics as an 'objective' basis to inform funding allocations. Rather, the optimum method of 'quality' assessment is a panel-based exercise with expert judgement informed by a range of discipline-sensitive metrics and peer review of publications. The article maintains that the politics of metrics of political science conceals interests about the foundations of social scientific knowledge, and so the dispute over metrics and peer review is a metaphor for the conflicting epistemological preferences of UK political scientists. It is also argued that metrics-led assessment subjects political science to 'Gradgrinding' on two fronts: that political science departments amount to less than the sum of their parts, and the audit culture strips the discipline of its humanism.     

Authoritarian attitudes and support for radical right populists

ABSTRACT

This paper examines which parties attract support from people with authoritarian attitudes by comparing multi-party systems to a pure two-party system (the US). It proposes reasons why radical right populist (RRP) parties may serve as outlets for illiberal sentiments in multiparty systems, and offers reasons why such attitudes could correspond with support for the US Republican Party. Some have raised concerns about democratic deconsolidation in liberal democracies. There is limited evidence here consistent with deconsolidation. Politically authoritarian attitudes do exist among a small but non-trivial proportion of electorates in established democracies. In multiparty systems people with such attitudes were more likely to be supporters of smaller RRP parties that generally do not join government, but not centre-left or centre-right parties. However, US Republicans had supporters who resembled European RRP supporters in their politically authoritarian attitudes, and authoritarian attitudes were a notable predictor of support for Donald Trump in 2016.     

Squaring the circle? Collective and distributive effects of United Nations Security Council reform

Changing the composition and voting system of the Security Council, in an effort to increase the institution’s global legitimacy, is proving to be one of the most difficult hurdles to overcome for the global community of states represented in the United Nations (UN). This paper demonstrates that due to institutional hurdles, it is considerably more difficult today than it was in the early years of the UN to reach a winning coalition in the General Assembly to secure Security Council reform. In addition, the paper analyzes the effects that adapted patterns of voting, as prescribed by recent reform proposals, would have on the distribution of power among UN member states in the Security Council and on the probability that this institution can form a winning coalition, i.e., reach decisions. Our power and decision capacity computations are based on (modified) Penrose-Banzhaf-Coleman measures.     

Gender Inequality and Criminal Seduction: Prosecuting Sexual Coercion in the Early-20th Century

This article analyzes narratives of sexual consent and coercion in 15 criminal seduction cases tried in New York City from 1903 to 1918. I explore courtroom accounts of seduction to explain how dominant notions of masculinity and femininity constrain the effectiveness of sex crime laws. Unlike men, women in the Progressive era (1900–1920) who engaged in premarital sex faced potentially significant social costs in the form of unwanted pregnancy and ostracism. These women could sometimes seek redress by bringing felony charges against men who reneged on their promises of marriage. New York's "seduction law" not only criminalized betrayal but it also functioned as a tool in the prosecution of sexual assault. Yet a patriarchal ideology of romantic courtship embedded in the statute, and defense attorney strategies that drew on this ideology, limited the law's ability to address sexual coercion.     

Motivated Reasoning,Public Opinion,and Presidential Approval

Political Behavior - Presidential approval is a desirable commodity for US presidents, one that bolsters re-election chances and the prospects of legislative success. An important question, then,...