Racial Composition, White Racial Attitudes, and Black Representation: Testing the Racial Threat Hypothesis in the United States Senate

We make the case for why the racial threat hypothesis should characterize the relationship between states?? racial composition, whites?? racial attitudes, and black representation in the United States Senate. Consistent with this claim, we find that senators from states with larger percentages of African-Americans among the electorate and more racially conservative preferences among whites provide worse representation of black interests in the Senate than their counterparts. We also apply theories of congressional cross-pressures in considering how senator partisanship and region moderate the effect of white racial attitudes on black representation. Finally, consistent with the racial threat hypothesis, we show that the negative effect of white racial attitudes on the quality of black representation is stronger when state unemployment rates are higher.     

Self-defence, Defence and Pre-emption

Military supporters and critics often find each others' positions on war preposterous. The divergent attitudes of these two groups may derive from their view about the analogy, or lack thereof, between war and self-defence, an issue recently highlighted by the controversial question of 'pre-emption'. In general, bombing campaigns conducted abroad are better understood as pre-emptive acts of war than as literal acts of 'self-defence'. The support by governments of the weapons export trade is also difficult to reconcile with the 'self-defence' interpretation of war. Accordingly, those who reject 'pre-emptive defence' on the grounds that it exceeds the parameters of 'self-defence' should, in consistency, oppose bombing campaigns and the exportation of weapons as well.     

Invasion of the western Ampelmännchen

Since the unification of Germany in 1990, academics have debated the consequences of the integration of the former German Democratic Republic with the Federal Republic of Germany. We explore the rise of the Ampelmannchen within the context of the Ostalgie industry to argue that East Germans have turned to one imported institution as a vehicle for the expression of their interests and identity: the market. In contrast to other GDR icons, the Ampelmannchen is finding popular resonance because it is entirely untainted by the negative aspects of GDR life. Its economic success contributes to the creation of an eastern cultural identity.     

Attitudes toward the sale and use of drugs —A cross-sectional analysis of those who used drugs

Drug users from samples of six specific groups (both students and adults) were intensively surveyed on their differential attitudes toward the use of eight drug types. Resulting comparisons between groups, drugs, and attitudes provide a relative picture of the attitudes on drug use held by those who were users of drugs.Current research interest: Director of SUNY at Stony Brook Psychological Center, concerned with drug use among students on campus and its interaction with drug use by secondary school students in the community surrounding campus. Educational background: Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Illinois (Urbana) —particular emphasis in community mental health problems.