Disinterest,disaffection, and participation in presidential politics

Undue emphasis on the decline of voter turnout in national elections and its interpretation as indicative of political malaise are likely to make for erroneous understanding of the American democracy. Evidence from studies of the national electorate conducted between 1952 and 1978 shows that the explanation for declining turnout is not to be found in commensurate diminution in political interest or involvement, or in a decreasing sense of civic duty, feeling of political efficacy or trust in government. Where patterns of change have coincided, further analysis indicates an absence of possible cause-and-effect relationships. The decline has been chiefly limited to those population sectors characterized by lack of interest or involvement in national partisan politics. The article concludes with a projection of likely developments in political participation, including turnout, in future presidential elections.An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Conference on National Elections 1980: Continuity and Change in American Politics, Washington University, St. Louis, May 1980.     

Investigation of death through body writing: a case study

Various surfaces or substrates are often encountered in the examination of questioned writing; however, no writing is more interesting than that found on the human body nor more challenging when the writing in question is linked to a death investigation. The body of an 18-year-old male was brought to the State Crime Laboratory, Little Rock, Arkansas, with a gunshot wound to the head and several messages written on his arms and chest. This paper will discuss the examination of evidence used to determine the manner of death through a cooperative effort between the Medical Examiner's Section and the Questioned Document Section of the Crime Laboratory.     

Analyzing the nature of police involvements: A research note concerning the effects of forms of police mobilization

Studies of the police have reported that much of the work patrol persons do is service-oriented. However, many of those researches relied upon citizen-initiated involvements as units of analysis. Here the distinction has been made between reactive and proactive forms of police mobilization. When activity data are analyzed in this fashion, it is found that the police initiate a larger proportion of law enforcement activities than was supposed. The implications for research are discussed.