Introduction: The State of State Employment

Public sector industrial relations is a somewhat neglected field of investigation. The relative neglect by industrial relations scholars is surprising given that public sector employees in Australia are much more likely to be unionised and work within larger organisations with formalised industrial. Moreover, it has been within public sector environments where the efficacy of public policy directions in industrial relations have been tested. Public sector environments are more likely to be characterised by structured bargaining and policy testing than much of the private sector. One of the purposes of this symposium, then, is to remedy this relative neglect of public sector industrial relations.     

Politics and Unemployment in Industrialized Democracies

This paper provides an empirical appraisal of the influence ofpolitics on the evolution of unemployment rates in 13industrialized democracies (12 European Union countries andthe U.S.) from 1960 to 1999. We conduct new tests ofopportunistic and partisan business cycle models, using richerdata and more general specifications than previous studies. Incontrast to most previous studies, we pay particular attentionto the importance of labor market structure in conditioningthe influence of politics on unemployment. We also investigatethe relationship between political stability and economicstability. The results suggest the existence of partisan effects, withhigher unemployment rates prevailing under ``right'' partiesthan ``left'' parties. There is more support for ``rational''partisan models that embody transient partisan impacts thanfor models with permanent effects. We find evidence that unionpower is associated with higher average unemployment rates,but that centralized bargaining institutions tend to lowerunemployment rates. The evidence also suggests that morefragmented coalition governments are associated with higherunemployment rates than single party governments.     

Female adolescents of alcohol misusers 1: Sexual behaviors

Studies show that children of alcoholics constitute an at-risk population. This study attempted to understand the impact of parental alcohol misuse on sexual behaviors of female adolescents, based on a sample of 1134 teenagers from alcohol misusing parents in Minnesota. Index adolescents were more likely to report having sexual intercourse as well as greater frequency of intercourse, history of pregnancy and greater overall pregnancy risk based on current patterns of sexual behavior and contraceptive utilization. Bivariate analysis revealed that gender of the drinking parent was also associated with the above variables. However, in multivariate assessment of protective and risk factors for adolescent pregnancy in the at-risk sample, maternal vs. paternal vs. both parents drinking was no longer salient. Pregnancy avoidance was associated in the index group with two-parent family structure and higher maternal education, while pregnancy history was associated with a history of physical abuse and perception of high levels of vandalism in the school setting.The study reported in this article did not utilize clinically diagnostic indicators of alcoholism. Hence the authors have deliberately avoided using the word alcoholics when referring to parents of study participants. The terms alcohol misusers and alcohol abusers have been substituted and are used interchangeably.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Research interests include identifying resilience factors in populations that are considered at risk and the usefulness of these factors in planning social welfare programs.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Research interests include children with chronic illness and disabilities, adolescent sexual decision making and international adolescent health care issues.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Research focuses on adolescent high-risk behaviors and resiliency, and interested in the translation of social research into social action, programs, and policy.     

Breadth and Intensity of Youth Activity Involvement as Contexts for Positive Development

Research has linked youth activity involvement to positive development. However, past studies have confounded at least two separable dimensions of involvement: breadth (number of activities) and intensity (participation frequency). Theory and the limited available evidence suggest that these dimensions may make independent contributions to development. Based on self-reports from 7430 high school students, this study assessed whether breadth and intensity dimensions were related to each other, to a typical aggregate measure of involvement, and to various indicators of positive development. Breadth and intensity were moderately interrelated and, in combination, they explained the majority of the variance in the typical involvement measure. Both dimensions were positively related to each development index. When examined simultaneously, only breadth had a unique relation with each developmental index. Further, evidence of nonlinear effects was found. Findings were consistent across age levels. Implications for measurement of involvement and interpretations of the extant research are discussed.

Vicarious Retribution in US Public Support for War Against Iraq

US public anger and desire to avenge the September 11, 2001 terror attacks were redirected toward Iraq partly because of its identity as an Arab and Muslim state. Online panel survey data reveal that citizens who were relatively angry about the terror attacks were more belligerent toward Iraq, an effect that was strongest among those who perceived Arabs and Muslims in monolithic terms. The angry desire to avenge 9/11 was more persistent for those who saw Arabs and Muslims in that light, and its effect on war support was partially mediated by worsened feelings about Arabs and Muslims in general. These findings help explain why public belligerence toward Iraq shot up right after 9/11, before President George W. Bush began alleging that Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al Qaeda.     

Gender and the Interplay of Source of Support and Peer Social Rejection on Internalizing Among Mexican American Youth

Gendered interpersonal processes may explain the elevated rates of internalizing symptoms among adolescent girls relative to boys. Two such processes are peer social rejection and social support. The current study assessed for gender differences in the effect of 7th grade peer social rejection on 10th grade internalizing symptoms, as well as the moderating effects of social support from family and from friends in a sample of 749 (49?% female) Mexican American adolescents, an understudied population with a unique social culture. Peer social rejection significantly predicted increased internalizing symptoms for girls. Although buffering effects of social support were not found, there were significant moderating effects of both sources of support for boys, such that at low levels of social support, peer social rejection was associated with decreased internalizing symptoms, and at high levels of social support, peer social rejection was associated with increased internalizing symptoms. The results help unpack the nuances of the interpersonal processes that lead to differential adjustment for adolescent boys and girls at this critical developmental stage.     

The Changing Face of Public Sector Employment

While it is easy, and almost a national sport, to criticise the traditional model of public sector employment as being too generous, there is a rationale for its distinctiveness. The career service model that endured for most of the last century was aligned to the bureaucratic form of public administration of that time. As public administration was 'transformed' into public sector management through the importing of private sector techniques, so too has public sector employment been varied in pursuit of greater efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness.