Growing inequality in black wages in the 1980s and the emergence of an African-American middle class

Much recent scholarship and popular discussion posits a substantial movement of African-American households into the “middle class.” Yet over the course of the 1980s, the proportion of individual black wage-earners receiving “annualized” (work experience-adjusted) wages and salaries in excess of about $35,000—three times the poverty line—fell by 22 percent, even as the share of African-Americans earning below the poverty line increased by a fifth. This was true for all age groups, and even for persons within the black community who had completed four or more years of college. The growth of low wage employment was most pronounced for black men between the ages of 25 and 34, among whom the incidence of below-poverty-level employment doubled. Black women aged 35–54 experienced relatively greater progress than any other part of the African-American community, but their gains lagged far behind those of comparable white women. We speculate on possible explanations for these developments, on the basis of which a potential public policy agenda is examined.     

Trust, Trusts, and Accountability: The Role of States in College Saving Plans

With the adoption of Section 529 plans, states have played an increasing role in college savings. When parents prepay for their children's college education, states invest the proceeds with the expectation that the investment returns will cover tuition increases. In times of fiscal stress, states decrease funding for higher education, causing schools to increase tuition. Because current investment returns have not kept pace with tuition increases, state managers have an even greater burden to ensure that these funds are managed properly. Our research interest is the fiduciary role of state governments in managing these plans in a volatile investment market.     

The formation Of a Canadian privacy policy: the art and craft of lesson-drawing

Abstract: For some cases of policy innovation, traditional models of the policy process based on assumptions of power and conflict are not helpful guides. This article suggests that it is often just as important to understand the pattern of learning or lesson-drawing that takes place during policy development. With reference to the formation of Canadian privacy policy, as expressed in the Privacy Act of 1982, it is demonstrated that the lessons drawn from the experience of other countries' legislative attempts to protect personal data were instrumental in shaping a Canadian policy. Lessons about the principles of data protection, the exemptions to those principles, and the policy instrument to implement them were drawn at critical stages from American, and other, experience. The fact that some lessons were drawn and not others, from some countries and not others, helps us understand why Canadian privacy policy is as it is today. The article concludes by noting the conditions for lesson-drawing across boundaries to influence policy: a basic consensus on goals; a low salience in public opinion; a dominant role for bureaucrats; a high degree of innovation; and the existence of exemplars. The timing, then, of foreign privacy laws was crucial, highlighting the importance of studying public policy in both comparative and historical perspectives. Sommaire: Dans certains cas d'innovation politique, les modéles classiques d'étude du processus politique fondés sur des hypotheses de pouvoir et de conflit ne constituent pas de bons guides. Cet article montre qu'il est souvent aussi important de comprendre dans quelle mesure on a tiré parti des lecons étrangéres au cours de I'élaboration d'une politique. Faisant référence à la formation de la politique canadienne de la vie privée, exprimée par le biais de la Loi de 1982 sur la vie privée, il démontre que I'expérience des tentatives législatives d'autres pays pour protéger les informations personnelles ont eu un rôle prédominant dans I'élaboration de la politique canadienne. À des moments cruciaux, on a tiré de I'expérience américaine et de celle d'autres pays des lecons sur les principes de protection de I'information, sur les exceptions à ces principes et sur les moyens de mettre ces derniéres en oeuvre. Le fait qu'on ait, de façon sélective, tiré certaines leçons de certains pays, nous aide à comprendre pourquoi la politique canadienne sur la vie privée est ce qu'elle est aujourd'hui. En conclusion, I'auteur décrit les conditions dans lesquelles les renseignements puisés d'autres pays sont susceptibles de contribuer à la politique nationale: un consensus fondamental sur les objectifs rechercheés, peu de préoccupations pour le sujet dans I'opinion publique, un rô1e prépondérant pour les bureaucrates, un degréélevé d'innovation et I'existence d'exemples concrets. De même, le moment ou les lois sur la vie privée d'autres pays ont été adoptées s'est avéré important, ce qui démontre I'importance d'étudier les politiques publiques dans une perspective comparative aussi bien qu'historique.     

The critical problem of cynical irony meaning what you say and ideologies of class and gender

ABSTRACT

Critical theorists such as Slavoj ?i?ek have for some years discussed the ideological significance of cynical or “blank” irony in fairly general terms. Less attention has been paid to the practical implications of such irony for critical semiotic analysis. With this in mind, this paper discusses the problems that sexist and “classist” jokes – specifically jokes about “chavs” – pose for the critical analyst. On the one hand, they seem to be saying deeply ideological things. On the other, their ironic nature means that they evade the claim that they are really saying, asserting, meaning anything. Theirs is a kind of blank irony which can be identified in all kinds of contemporary semiotic practice and is therefore an important phenomenon for critical analysts to get to grips with. The paper attempts to get to grips with it by outlining some semiotic clues to blank irony, and, more importantly, by suggesting some ways in which we might try to bring a critical perspective to bear in cases of cynical irony.     

Penal Disenfranchisement

This paper considers the justifiability of removing the right to vote from those convicted of crimes. Firstly, I consider the claim that the removal of the right to vote from prisoners (or serious offenders) is necessary as a practical matter to protect the democratic process from those who have shown themselves to be untrustworthy. Secondly, I look at the claim that offenders have broken the social contract and forfeited rights to participate in making law. And thirdly, I look at the claim that the voting ban is essential part of the justified punishment of serious offenders. These arguments have in common the feature that they attempt to articulate the sense in which rights imply responsibilities, particularly that voting rights should be conditional on one’s having met one’s civic responsibilities. I argue that the only interpretation of this view that could justify prisoner disenfranchisement is that which thinks of disenfranchisement as fair and deserved retributive punishment for crime. Against widespread opposition to, and confusion about, the importance of retributive punishment, I offer a brief defence. However, I conclude that even if legitimate retributive purposes could in principle justify prisoner disenfranchisement, the significance of disenfranchisement is such that it should be reserved for the most serious crimes.     

The Validity of Mental Patients' Accounts of Coercion-Related Behaviors in the Hospital Admission Process

Although the recent development of a measure for perceived coercion has led to great progress in research on coercion in psychiatric settings, there still exists no consensus on how to measure the existence of real coercive events or pressures. This article reports the development of a system for integrating chart review data and data from interviews with multiple participants in the decision for an individual to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The method generates a most plausible factual account (MPFA). We then compare this account with that of patients, admitting clinicians and other collateral informants in 171 cases. Patient accounts most closely approximate the MPFA on all but one of nine dimensions related to coercion. This may be due to wider knowledge of the events surrounding the admission.     

Changing levels of political information in 1988 and 1990

The 1988 and 1990 National Election Studies indicate that the public is less politically informed in a low-stimulus election year than after a high-stimulus campaign. Although the same factors are responsible for what people know in each year, the process of becoming informed in an information-poor environment is slightly different than in an information-rich atmosphere. The data also show that, just as Angus Campbell's surge and decline theory predicts, core voters are slightly more knowledgeable than peripheral voters.     

Criminal identification comparison: aural versus visual identifications resulting from a simulated crime

This research was undertaken to investigate and contrast visual and aural/perceptual identifications of a previously unknown individual from a set of photographic and tape-recorded exemplars following a simulated crime. All participants were volunteers for the "criminal," the victim of an "assault," and all suspects drawn from a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) class; the "witnesses" were 61 students in a law class. The student/witnesses were divided into four groups. Group A made three identifications (serially) one day, one week, and two weeks after the crime took place. Group B saw the photographs and heard the tapes only once a week after the incident, and Group C only after two weeks had elapsed. Witnesses in a fourth group (D) followed the same schedule as did Group A; however, they were presented with foils similar in appearance and speech to the criminal. Group D was presented both the foil and criminal in the photographic lineup at the final judging session. The results demonstrated that visual identification can be quite accurate although not consistently or predictably so. By contrast, aural/perceptual identifications were relatively poor. No strong trends for latencies were observed, either for repeated trials or for procedures involving different initiation latencies; nor did confidence levels appear to be related to accuracy of judgment. Finally, when a similar looking foil was included in the identification task, there was a weak trend for the foil to be chosen more often in subsequent trials. These results support the position that eyewitness--and especially earwitness--testimony should be viewed by judges and juries with greater caution than has been the case in the past; by appropriate instructions, juries should be given assistance in interpreting and in assigning appropriate weight to this kind of testimony.     

The privacy commissioner of Canada: Multiple roles,diverse expectations and structural dilemmas

Abstract: The contemporary roles of the privacy commissioner of Canada are multiple: he can be an ombudsman, auditor, consultant, educator, policy adviser, regulator and judge. Yet, Canadian privacy legislation provides quite poor guidance as to how he should perform and balance these roles and tends to put emphasis on complaints‐resolution, a function that is less useful in promoting general compliance with the privacy principles. The analysis of the experience of privacy protection agencies, however, suggests that the most important powers are those that are general rather than specific, and proactive rather than reactive. The implementation of privacy protection law is as much an educational effort as a regulatory one, as much can be achieved in anticipation of policy and system development if privacy protection is built in at the outset. The successful implementation of privacy protection policy involves a considerable degree of learning and mutual adjustment and readjustment. It is not characterized by a top‐down process of command, control and sanction. The privacy commissioner is one among many actors involved in privacy protection policy in Canada, and his success is dependent on the recognition that he has many policy instruments at his disposal, besides the law, to encourage higher standards for the treatment of personal information by Canadian organizations. Sommaire: Le Commissaire à la protection de la vie privée du Canada joue à l'heure actuelle des rôles multiples: il peut être ombudsman, vérificateur, consultant, éducateur, conseiller en politique, responsable de la réglementation et juge. Et pourtant, les lois canadiennes relatives à la protection de la vie privée n'offrent que de médiocres directives quant à la manière dont il devrait s'acquitter de ces différents rôles et les équilibrer. Elles ont tendance à mettre I'accent sur la résolution des plaintes, fonction qui est moins utile pour promouvoir I'observation des principes du respect de la vie privée. L'analyse de l'expérience des organismes de protection de la vie privée laisse entendre cependant que les plus importants pouvoirs sont ceux qui sont généraux plutôt que spécifiques, et proactifs plutôt que réactionnels. La mise en aeuvre de lois sur la protection de la vie privée représente un effort autant éducatif que réglementaire, car de bons résultats peuvent être atteints si la protection de la vie privée fait dès le depart partie intégrante de l'élaboration de politiques et de systèmes. La mise en ceuvre réussie d'une politique de protection de la vie privée comporte un important degré d'apprentissage et d'ajustement et de réajustement mutuels. Elle n'est pas caractérisée par un processus pyramidal descendant de commande, de contrôle et de sanction. Le Commissaire à la protection de la vie privée est l'un des nombreux acteurs de la politique de protection de la vie privée au Canada. Son succès repose sur le fait qu'il dispose de nombreux instruments de politique, en plus de la loi, pour encourager les organismes canadiens qui traitent les renseignements personnels à adopter des normes très éelevées.