Election Timing,Electorate Composition,and Policy Outcomes: Evidence from School Districts

There is considerable debate about how election timing shapes who votes, election outcomes, and, ultimately, public policy. We examine these matters by combining information on more than 10,000 school tax referenda with detailed micro‐targeting data on voters participating in each election. The analysis confirms that timing influences voter composition in terms of partisanship, ideology, and the numerical strength of powerful interest groups. But, in contrast to prominent theories of election timing, these effects are modest in terms of their likely impact on election outcomes. Instead, timing has the most significant impact on voter age, with the elderly being the most overrepresented group in low‐turnout special elections. The electoral (and policy) implications of this effect vary between states, and we offer one explanation for this variation.     

Anomalous Anterior Papillary Muscle as an Autopsy Finding in Two Cases

Anomaly in the anterior papillary muscle (APM) is known to cause left ventricle outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, and this rare congenital condition could be a cause of sudden cardiac death. This anomaly and its hemodynamic effects is similar to valvular heart disease. In our two described cases, in which cause of death was, respectively, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and suicide by hanging, the cephalad portion of the left APM was inserted directly into the ventricular surface of the anterior mitral leaflet and chordae tendineae were absent in the area of the direct anomalous muscle insertion; the aberrant papillary muscle was very large and showed an exaggerated anterior displacement within the left ventricular cavity. The described anomaly is a cause of LVOT obstruction. This condition is considered to be rare, although incidence estimates do not exist. In the absence of other possible causes, this finding may indicate arrhythmia as being the immediate cause of death.     

Selling perestroika and new thinking to Southeast Asia: Gorbachev at his persuasive best

This article examines the Gorbachev regime's strategies in reorienting Soviet foreign policy toward the nations of Southeast Asia. It reviews and evaluates the tactics of public diplomacy and persuasion which Gorbachev and his advisers utilized extensively in their attempt to construct a new Soviet agenda toward Southeast Asia.     

Public Opinion on Privatization: Republic Differences

An American Sovietologist and two Soviet social scientists summarize the results of a public opinion survey on privatization carried out by Goskomstat SSSR. The survey was conducted in the fall of 1990. The analysis of data made in 1991 included all union republics and the Baltics. Specific survey questions were designed to test urban residents' attitudes toward private ownership of business, sales of state enterprises to individuals, hiring by private business, and stock ownership in private enterprises. Included in the paper are correlations of attitudes toward specific issues suggesting a deeper, more central mindset toward privatization. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, P12.     

Soviet Foreign Trade in Foodstuffs

Analysis of import dependence or of shares of imported food in consumption when measured in value terms is severely handicapped by the fact that Soviet foreign trade statistics are reported in world market values which differ from domestic prices and by the nonequilibrium nature of the latter. This study offers an alternative method of relating imports to consumption based on calorie measures. Having recomputed exports and imports in calories, the study shows that between 1970 and 1981 the USSR changed from a position of net exporter of food to a high dependence with about 22% of total domestic consumption provided by imports. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 421, 713.     

Soviet Transport Trends, 1950–1990

This paper examines links between the Soviet transport sector and other sectors of the economy. In the 1970s, the transport sector was perceived as a bottleneck. As growth slowed in the late 70s, howevar, the transport sector was able to meet the economy's demands. At present, the transportation of oil and gas is placing an increasing burden on the transport sector, but pipelines can absorb the demands, freeing up rail transport capacity for other commodities. The willingness of Soviet officials to make the appropriate administrative reforms, apply new technologies and increase investment in this sector will determine transport's ability to meet future demands. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 731.     

Laryngeal Choking on Food and Acute Ethanol Intoxication in Adults—An Autopsy Study*

Abstract: The retrospective autopsy study included 98 adults who died because of laryngeal choking on a bolus of food: 67 men and 31 women (χ² = 6.843, p < 0.01), average age 58.61 ± 15.87 years (range 26–92 years). Most of the subjects had poor dentition (χ² = 34.327, p < 0.01). Twenty individuals died in medical institutions, and 78 were nonhospitalized individuals. More than a third of the nonhospitalized individuals were under the influence of ethanol at the moment of death: average blood concentration 8.3 g/dL (SD = 11.0), ranged from 5.0 to 36.0. Nonhospitalized persons were at the moment of event more often under influence of ethanol than the subjects in control group (χ² = 38.874, p < 0.01), and at the same time significantly more intoxicated (z = −7.126, p < 0.01). Our study pointed out that poor dentition and impairment of the swallowing reflex, as a consequence of ethanol intoxication in individuals without mental disorders, were the most important risk factors for bolus death.