Strategic politicians,partisan roll calls,and the Tea Party: Evaluating the 2010 midterm elections

The 2010 midterm elections were politically and historically significant in several respects. This article offers a concise narrative of the congressional elections beginning with a discussion of the factors influencing the outcome of the historic election. We briefly consider established research on congressional elections and analyze the degree to which these theories apply to the specific circumstances in 2010. Throughout the article, we compare the 2010 midterms to two other recent elections, 2006 and 2008. We also examine several idiosyncratic aspects of the 2010 elections, relative to the historic midterm elections of 1994 and 2006, as well as the effects of the stimulus and healthcare reform bills and the Tea Party movement. We find strong effects for member votes on the individual roll calls, but little evidence of Tea Party influence on electoral outcomes.     

The stability of risk-seeking from adolescence to emerging adulthood

Purpose

The current study examines the stability of the risk-seeking component of self-control using a second-order latent class growth model.

Methods

Longitudinal data from 962 respondents from the NLSY79-Child and Young Adult sample are used to examine the stability of the risk-seeking component of self-control from ages 14 to 23.

Results

Data reveal three trajectories of risk-seeking (low, moderate, and high) that maintain strong relative stability from adolescence through early adulthood. Further, two trajectories of risk-seeking (moderate and high) maintain absolute stability, whereas the low risk-seeking group exhibits statistically significant decreases in risk-seeking over time.

Conclusions

The SOLCGA may provide a stricter test of the stability hypothesis since it accounts for measurement error in the construct prior to estimating the developmental trajectories. The results from the SOLCGA support Gottfredson and Hirschi's hypotheses that self-control will remain stable from adolescence into emerging adulthood.     

Mobilizing Truth: Agenda Setting in a Transnational Social Movement

This article provides a neoinstitutionalist account of how a transnational social movement (TSM) sets its agenda. A theoretical framework is presented to reveal how logics from the transnational and local organizational fields influence legal mobilization. To provide insight into how a TSM accommodates contradictory and competing logics within and between these fields, this article examines mobilization around a fact‐finding commission, sometimes called a truth commission, to address the ongoing social and political divides in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The findings, based on fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2011, are used to develop the theoretical concept of a quasi‐judicial medium, a legal body that, initially, will appeal to a variety of actors, but may be unable to adequately address existing divides. The conclusions point to further directions in the study of transnational legal mobilization, particularly the conditions under which the ambiguity of a movement strategy helps meet and/or moderate movement goals.     

Examining the link between assault victimization and ADHD among college men

Research on the victimization of college students has gained substantial ground in the past several years. A considerable amount of research has focused on predicting victimization among college women, with few studies focusing exclusively on college men. The current study utilized a large sample of college students to expand the literature on victimization among college men. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was examined as a risk factor for experiencing physical and verbal assault victimization within the lifestyles/routine activities context. The results indicated that college men with ADHD experienced assault at significantly higher rates than college men without ADHD. Additionally, ADHD was a significant predictor of both types of assault once other lifestyle and routine activity variables were controlled for statistically. Implications and suggestions for prevention on college and university campuses are discussed along with further research avenues and risk factor inclusion.     

Perceptions of Remote and Walk‐In Service Delivery in Family Law Cases

In recent years, the number of litigants representing themselves without legal counsel has increased across the United States. Courts have responded by creating programs and services to help litigants represent themselves. Self‐help centers nationwide use different models to deliver legal advice and information to unrepresented litigants. Some offer court‐based, walk‐in self‐help centers. Others provide services remotely via phone, web, email, video conferencing, and live chat. In Maryland, self‐help center services are offered at walk‐in centers and remotely by phone and live chat. This article examines litigants' perceptions of in‐person and remote delivery of legal advice and information on family law matters. Results revealed that all three service delivery methods have high satisfaction rates, but chat users were less likely to feel as though they knew what to do next. They were also less optimistic about their case than were phone or in‐person users.