LATCHKEY CHILDREN AND AFTER-SCHOOL CARE: A FEMINIST DILEMMA?

Many children of working parents regularly care for themselves after school. Questionable findings about the danger of children's self-care (latchkey) arrangements are being used in an effort to obtain public funding for after-school care. The use of this evidence poses a dilemma for feminists and others. Arguing that latchkey children are at risk may improve the chances of receiving funds for child care. But it could also lead to unintended negative consequences for women. Emphasizing the risks of self-care could result in greater social opposition to working mothers. From a feminist perspective, the best argument for after-school care would be one that focuses on the special needs and circumstances of working parents, and does not rely on suspect data that suggest negative consequences of self-care for children's development.     

More than the sum of its parts? Itemizing impairment in civil cases

Purpose. The purpose of the present study is to determine whether making multiple damage awards influenced civil mock jurors' assessments of those damage awards. Specifically, how does making one decision for pain and suffering damage awards versus two decisions (one for mental pain and suffering and physical pain and suffering) versus four decisions (one for loss of enjoyment of life, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical disability/impairment) influence overall non‐economic damage awards. Methods. One hundred twenty undergraduates from a psychology participant pool read a case vignette that included information regarding four types of injuries that the plaintiff endured: loss of enjoyment of life, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical disability/impairment. Participants were randomly assigned to render either one award for pain and suffering, two awards (one for physical pain and suffering and one for mental pain and suffering), or four awards (one for each pain and suffering element). Results. Results indicated that participants who rendered four awards provided significantly higher overall non‐economic damage awards than participants who provided one overall award. The variability of damage awards also increased as the number of damage awards increased. Conclusions. Itemizing non‐economic damage awards into distinct injury categories can lead to an increase in overall non‐economic awards. Members of the legal arena should be cautioned against itemizing damages to prevent variability in non‐economic awards.     

Duverger's Laws: Between social and institutional determinism

Abstract. The purpose of this article is to relocate Duverger's Laws within the debate about the effects of electoral systems on the number of parties. Although Duverger's theory has always been seen as the best example of a purely institutionalist approach to the issue, it is possible to argue that this is only true if one overemphasises the meaning of the laws without considering Duverger's justification and explanations for them. However, if one takes into consideration not only the laws, but also Duverger's theories about the effects of electoral systems on the number of parties as a whole, one can argue that his theses do not have a purely institutionalist character and can therefore coexist with theories that try to take into account variables other than electoral rules.     

Book reviews

The Nationalities Question in the Post‐Soviet States Graham Smith (editor) New York and London: Longman Group, 1996, xiv + 524 pp. $21.00 pb (second edition)

Regional Power Rivalries in the New Eurasia: Russia, Turkey and Iran Alvin Z. Rubinstein and Oles M. Smolansky (editors) New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1995, xii 4‐ 290 pp, pb

Kochevaia tsivilizatsiia kazakhov: osnovy zhiznedeiatel'nosti nomadnogo obshchestva (Nomad civilisation of the Kazaks: bases of the life activity of a nomad society) Nurbulat Masanov Almaty: Sotsivest. 1995

Atlas Geopolitique Informatique du Caucase Nicolas Beroutchachvili and Jean Radvanyi (editors) Paris: Observatoire des Etats Post‐Sovietiques (INALCO) 1996

Aurel Stein. Pioneer of the Silk Road Annabel Walker London: John Murray, 1995, 393 pp, illus., £25

Empire's Edge. Travels in South‐Eastern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia Scott Malcomson London: Faber and Faber, 256 pp, £8.99, pb

Frontiers of Heaven. A Journey Beyond the Great Wall Stanley Stewart London: John Murray, 1995, 223 pp, illus, £16.99

Art and Nationalism in Colonial India 1850–1922, Occidental Orientations Partha Mitter Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, 475 pp, illus, index, £60     

Book reviews

Iran and the Former Soviet South, Edmund Herzig, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, Former Soviet South Project, 1995, ix, 60 pp, £9.50

The Party of Unbelief: The Religious Policy of the Bolshevik Party 1917–1929, Arto Luukkanen, Helsinki: Societas Historica Finlandiae, Studia Historica 48, 1994, 274 pp

Russians Beyond Russia. The Politics of National Identity, Neil Melvin, London: Pinter/Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995, 170 pp

The Russian Policy Debate on Central Asia, Irina Zviagelskaia, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995, 41 pp

From the Gulf to Central Asia. Players in the New Great Game, Anoushiravan Ehteshami (editor), Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1994, 242 pp, £14.95

Empires in Conflict: Armenia and the Great Powers 1895–1920, Manoug J. Somakian, London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1995, 276 pp, £39.50

Turkey and the New States of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Buent Gokay and Richard Langhorne, London: HMSO, 1996, 35 pp, £5

Central Asia, A Lonely Planet travel survival kit, John King, John Noble and Andrew Humphreys, London and Hawthorn, Australia: Lonely Planet, 1996, 539 pp, £11.99

Ornament and Amulet. Rings of the Islamic Lands, Marian Wenzel, London: the Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1993, 304 pp, illus., biblio., index, £135     

Book reviews

Roger Pethybridge, One Step Backwards, Two Steps Forward: Soviet Society and Politics under the New Economic Policy, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990, xi, 453pp., $80.00.

Masami Arasi, Turkish Nationalism in the Young Turk Era. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1992, 168pp., index, $45.

Alastair Lamb, Kashmir: a Disputed Legacy 1846–1990. Hertingfordbury, Herts: Roxford Books, 1991, xiv + 368pp., £25 hardback, £12.50 paperback.

Peter Hopkirk (ed.), Reginald Teague‐Jones, The Spy who Disappeared. Diary of a Secret Mission to Russian Central Asia in 1918. London: Gollancz, 1991, £5.99 paperback.

Suroosh Irfani and Fazal‐ur‐Rahman (eds), Afghanistan: Looking to the Future. Islamabad, Pakistan: Institute of Strategic Studies, F‐5/2, 158 pp., $6 paperback.     

Book reviews

Waqf in Central Asia: Four hundred years in the history of a Muslim Shrine, 1480–1889 R. D. McChesney Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991, 319 pp

Des Ethnies aux Nations en Asie Centrale Olivier Roy (editor) Aix‐en‐Provence, France: Editions Edisud, 1992, 162 pp, paperback

En Asie Centrale Sovietique. Ethnies, Nations, Etats Olivier Roy (editor) Paris, France: Cahiers du Monde, Russe et Sovietique, and Editions de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1991, 166 pp, paperback

Asie Centrale. Aux confins des Empires, reveil et tumulte Catherine Poujol (editor) Paris: Editions Autrement, Serie Monde 1992, 253 pp, FF98, paperback

Le Cinema d'Asie Centrale Sovietique Jean Radvanyi (editor) Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 1991, 19 pp, FF270

Red Odyssey, a Journey through the Soviet Republics Marat Akchurin London: Secker & Warburg, 1992, 431 pp, £17.99 hardback

Medieval Persia, 1040–1797 David Morgan London: Longman, 1992, 197 pp, index, bibliographical survey, £10.90, paperback

Nomad. A Year in the Life of a Qashqa'i Tribesman in Iran Lois Beck, University of California Press and I. B. Tauris, London, 1991, 489 pp, illustrated, bibliography, index, £16.95, paperback

Untying the Afghan Knot. Negotiating Soviet Withdrawal Riaz M. Khan Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992, 402 pp, notes, index, £45.00.

Afghanistan Schuyler Jones (compiler) Oxford, Clio Press: 1992, 281 pp, £43.95

Agha, Shaikh and State. The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan Martin Van Bruinessen London: Zed Books, 1992, 373 pp, bibliography, index £19.95/US$35, paperback