Policy views,constituency pressure,and congressional action on flag burning

Much of the rational choice literature suggests that constituency considerations will dominate decision-making when constituency concerns are pronounced and the issue is conducive to citizen audit. The 1990 House of Representatives vote on a constitutional amendment banning flag burning provides a good test of this argument. Drawing from a survey of legislators and polling data we argue that even in the face of salient constituency views legislators demonstrated a willingness to vote their policy views and cross their constituents. We explore how concerns about reputation and other considerations contributed to this phenomenon. We also suggest directions for future research.     

Time series evidence on shirking in the U.S. House of Representatives

This paper presents time series evidence on the voting behavior of members of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1990. The empirical results indicate that voting behavior of individual congressmen is remarkably stable over time. We find no evidence of economically significant last term effects on voting behavior, nor are there important effects of legislative tenure on voting patterns. The most significant deviations in voting behavior occur for congressmen who failed to win their reelection bid, suggesting that sizable deviations from previous policy positions may result in swift retribution by constituents in the district.     

Linking economic hardship to adolescent aggression

The relationship between economic hardship and adolescent aggression has been explored from various perspectives. Using survey and observational data on two-parent families in a midwestern rural county, the study identifies four important mechanisms that link economic hardship to the aggressive behavior of adolescents. Economic pressure stemming from low income, financial loss, and unstable work, adversely affects the marital relationship through the negativity of fathers. Negative marital interactions increase irritable parenting, making adolescent aggression more likely.This paper is based on collaborative research involving the Iowa Youth and Families Project at Iowa State University, Ames, and the Social Change Project at University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill. The combined research effort is currently supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (MH43270), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05347), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Program for Successful Adolescence, the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health (MCJ-109572), and a Research Scientist Award (MH00567).Ph.D. in sociology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Research focuses on the experience of adolescents in the changing rural economy.Ph.D. in sociology from University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill. Research focuses on life course development, particularly the short- and long-term consequences of economic hardship and military service on individual lives.Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington. Research focuses on family relationships in the context of social change.     

Political choice and the child labor statute of 1938: Public interest or interest group legislation?

Federal regulation of child labor (unlike that passed in early nineteenth century England) did not materialize until the New Deal of the 1930s. The present paper examines, using anecdotal and empirical evidence, the motives underlying the passage of depression-based child labor legislation embodied in the Senate vote on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Our study, which utilizes both dichotomous and trichotomous probit models of the vote, finds evidence that there were critical and dominantprivate as opposed to public interests behind the restrictions that the FLSA placed on child labor and the exemptions that it established.     

Structural deficits and infrastructure investment in the u.s. economy: an emerging policy and management crisis in capital expenditures

This article examines the impact and magnitude of underinvestment in the public infrastructure of the economy of the United States, and points to its implications for deficit reduction and economic growth. It becomes evident that the lack of both a complete inventory of infrastructure investment needs and a coherent future investment strategy at the federal level have led to a situation where the volume of public works investment in the United States has fallen critically short of what may be considered an optimum level. Recognizing the limitations of capital budgeting, a management perspective is taken in which increased planning and policy development at the national level emerge as necessities in achieving the type of results required to enhance economic growth and responsibly reduce the national deficit.