Reviews

Vladimir Shlapentokh, Soviet Intellectuals and Political Power: The Post‐Stalin Era. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1990, xiv + 321 pp., £19.95

Jadwiga Staniszkis, The Dynamics of the Breakthrough in Eastern Europe. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991, xiii + 303 pp., £25.00, $35.00.

Richard Sakwa, Gorbachev and his Reforms, 1985–1990. London: Philip Allan, 1990, xiv + 459 pp., £35.00 h/b, £12.95 p/b.

Julian Cooper, The Soviet Defence Industry: Conversion and Reform. London: Pinter Publishers, 1991, ix + 111 pp., £22.50 h/b, £8.95 p/b.

Elizabeth Winiecki & Jan Winiecki, The Structural Legacy of the Soviet‐Type Economy. London: CRCE, 1992, 133 pp., £6.50 p/b.

Marsha Siefert, ed., Mass Culture and Perestroika in the Soviet Union. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, 200 pp., $35.00.

Anne White, De‐Stalinization and the House of Culture. Declining state control over leisure in the USSR, Poland and Hungary, 1953–89. London and New York: Routledge, 1990, x+195 pp., £30.00.

Deborah Adelman, The ‘Children of Perestroika’. Moscow Teenagers Talk About Their Lives and the Future. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe Inc., 1991, xxiii + 256 pp., $24.95.

Michael Marrese & Sándor Richter, eds, The Challenge of Simultaneous Economic Relations with East and West. London: Macmillan, 1990, xviii + 216 pp., £45.00.

David W. Hunter, Western Trade Pressure on the Soviet Union. Basingstoke: Macmillan Academic and Professional Ltd, 1991, xii + 163 pp., £45.00

Pierre Maurer, La Reconciliation Sovieto‐Yougoslave, 1954–1958: Illusions et Disillusions de Tito. Cousset, Fribourg: Editions Delval, 1991, 474 pp., no price.     

Measuring Disparity in Government Procurement: Problems with Using Census Data in Estimating Availability

The Supreme Court's ruling in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson (1989) has restricted the use of government procurement assistance programs for minorities and women without the prerequisite support of a disparity study. Recently, an increasing number of disparity studies have been rejected by the courts as "junk science" and the related programs have been ruled unconstitutional. A central issue in these cases has been the approach used to estimate the availability of minority and women firms. Data from the Economic Census are commonly used as the basis for these availability estimates. However, there are significant problems and limitations with the Census data relative to the Croson guideline that the availability of women and minority firms should reflect the number of qualified, willing, and able firms. Given the number and difficulty of the required adjustments to the Census data, it is unlikely that these data will provide availability estimates that are accurate enough to allow for valid statistical tests of an inference of discriminatory exclusion. If minimizing court challenges is a goal of the public administrator who is responsible for the program, then the recommendation here is that a primary source of availability data should be considered. Furthermore, the information system needed to support the women and minority assistance programs should be designed and installed prior to initiating the program.     

Shame and Non-suicidal Self-injury: Conceptualization and Preliminary Test of a Novel Developmental Model among Emerging Adults

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is particularly prevalent during adolescence and emerging adulthood. The salience of shame during these developmental periods...     

Are Independent Councillors Really Conservatives in Disguise?

Abstract?A feature of English local political folklore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this article we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The article answers the question by reporting the findings of research conducted among Independent and Conservative councillors in England to explore the complex, multidimensional and fluid world that is Independent politics.