Book reviews

Derek Bok, The State of the Nation (Harvard University Press, Cambridge and London, 1996), 483 pp., ISBN 0–674–29210–3

Philip J. Davies and Frederic A. Waldstein (eds), Political Issues in America Today: the 1990s Revisited (Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 1996), 275 pp., ISBN 0–7190–4225–9

Marino Regini, Uncertain Boundaries. The Social and Political Construction of European Economies (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995), 164 pp., ISBN 0–521–473771–3

Dietrich Rometsch and Wolfgang Wessels (eds), The European Union and Member States: Towards Institutional Fusion? (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1996), xvii + 382 pp., ISBN 0–7190–4809–5 (hb)

Stephen D. Morris, Political Reform in Mexico. An Overview of Contemporary Mexican Politics (Rienner, Boulder and London, 1995), x + 262pp., ISBN 1–55587–594–7 (pb)

Atilio Boron, State, Capitalism, and Democracy in Latin America (Rienner, Boulder and London, 1995), x + 262 pp., ISBN 1–55587–508–4 (hb)

Alexander Stille, Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and Death of the First Italian Republic (Vintage, London, 1995), 467 pp., ISBN 9–59–959491–9 (pb)

David Westerlund (ed), Questioning the Secular State: The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics (Hurst, London, 1996), 428 pp., ISBN 1–85065–241–4     

Exploring the type-of-crime hypothesis, religiosity, and spirituality in an adult male prison population

This study examined the association between measures of spirituality and religiosity and characteristics of current criminal conviction in a male prison population. Spirituality was operationalized as spiritual well-being and existential well-being. Religiosity was operationalized as frequency of religious service attendance, whether an individual considered himself to be religious, and how strongly an individual believed his religious beliefs influenced his behavior. Inmates whose convictions were property related reported greater spiritual wellbeing, were more likely to consider themselves religious, and to say that religious beliefs influenced their behavior than inmates whose crimes were not property related. Inmates whose convictions were drug related were less likely to consider themselves religious, and inmates whose conviction involved violence were more likely to consider themselves religious but less likely to endorse statements that religious beliefs influenced their behavior. The distinction between religiosity and spirituality is discussed in terms of the type-of-crime hypothesis.     

The reasonable citizen: A model for bridging ethics and politics in the EU

The ethical-political model of the EU needs normative rethinking after the pandemic. Using Dworkin's ‘thesis of continuity’ between ethics and politics, I argue that a strong model of the citizen, called on to exercise duties and civic virtues, is badly needed by the EU. The legitimacy of EU political institutions is not enough, if we want to promote the participation of citizens to their functioning. The basic point is that of arguing in favour of the model of ‘the reasonable citizen’, aimed to overcome the dominant liberal model of ‘citizenship as rights’. This is shown by the ‘European Social Model’, but its weaknesses need to be supplemented by a republican conception. In order for the reasonable citizen not to be just an abstract ideal, some measure of operationalisation is proposed through ‘progressively increasing constellations of common identities’; these rely on and respect the multiple demoi of the EU.     

When Women Run,Voters Will Follow (Sometimes): Examining the Mobilizing Effect of Female Candidates in the 2014 and 2018 Midterm Elections

Political Behavior - In this paper, we examine whether women candidates are more likely to spur turnout in election years when gender-related issues are central to the national debate. We argue...     

Violence in school: An investigation of physical,psychological, and sexual victimization reported by Italian adolescents

In Italy, numerous studies have been carried out regarding the phenomenon of bullying; however, studies on single incidences of sexual, physical, and psychological victimization at school remain scant. Therefore the aim of this study is to examine the phenomenon of scholastic violence with a broader perspective, as well as all the possible perpetrators including adults. The sample consisted of 277 adolescents (64% female), ranging from grade 6th to 13th (mean age = 13.29, SD = 2.19). Sixty-four percent of the participants were middle school students, the remaining were high school students. Results show that the most commonly reported type of victimization is psychological violence (incidence= 77%), followed by physical (incidence= 52%), and sexual victimization (incidence= 24%). These forms of violence are mainly inflicted by peers. The research confirmed the validity of the tool and its applicability in the Italian context for screening violent behavior at school.     

Partisan Differences in Nonpartisan Activity: The Case of Charitable Giving

How do political identities shape seemingly non-political behaviors, such as consumption activity? This paper explores the extent to which political divisions impact apolitical behaviors, focusing on the case of voluntary donations to charitable organizations. Drawing on recent work showing partisans’ differing use of “conspicuous consumption,” we develop and test expectations as to how charitable activity may differ for Democrats and Republicans. Using three national surveys, including an original two-wave panel study, we find sizable differences in overall giving between partisans, with Republicans giving more to charity on average. We show that partisan differences in religiosity, and not differences in beliefs about government spending or desires to signal economic status, explain partisan gaps in giving. Our findings contribute to our understanding about the broader consequences of political fragmentation in the United States and provide further evidence for the social, as opposed to ideological, roots of political identity.     

Separating the Shirkers from the Workers? Making Sure Respondents Pay Attention on Self‐Administered Surveys

Good survey and experimental research requires subjects to pay attention to questions and treatments, but many subjects do not. In this article, we discuss “Screeners” as a potential solution to this problem. We first demonstrate Screeners’ power to reveal inattentive respondents and reduce noise. We then examine important but understudied questions about Screeners. We show that using a single Screener is not the most effective way to improve data quality. Instead, we recommend using multiple items to measure attention. We also show that Screener passage correlates with politically relevant characteristics, which limits the generalizability of studies that exclude failers. We conclude that attention is best measured using multiple Screener questions and that studies using Screeners can balance the goals of internal and external validity by presenting results conditional on different levels of attention.     

The rejection of corporate management in Birmingham in theoretical perspective

Local Electoral Behaviour, William L. Miller (from Research Volume III, the Committee of Inquiry into the Conduct of Local Authority Business).

The 1985 County Council Election Results in England, Colin Railings and Michael Thrasher (Plymouth Polytechnic).